Inquiries and Revelations

Watching Yudie and Jingyue relax, Su Qing couldn't help but smile. She didn't intend to join their playfulness, instead simply riding her horse through the streets of Chang'an.

Returning to Chang'an after so long, Su Qing was in no hurry to return to her old courtyard. Instead, she took Yudie and Jingyue on a stroll through the city streets. Over the years, Chang'an had grown much more prosperous and bustling. Walking through the streets, Su Qing felt a sense of trance, almost as if she could no longer recognize the place.

The group walked slowly, admiring the city's splendor. Despite their slow pace, Su Qing eventually led them to the outside of her former residence in Chang'an.

The lintel of the courtyard remained the same, though it had aged significantly.

"Is this Big Green Sister's home in Chang'an?" Jingyue asked, seeing Su Qing stop. She guessed that Su Qing must have lived here before.

Su Qing nodded slightly and said, "Indeed... but I haven't been back for a long time. I don't know what it's like inside now."

When Su Qing left, she had entrusted the courtyard to her servants, but she had been gone for so many years. Those servants had likely moved on long ago.

"I see... regardless, let's go in and take a look first!" Jingyue said with a smile. She didn't have high demands for living conditions, especially after years of long-distance travel and sleeping under the stars. As long as she was with the people she wanted to be with, it was enough. Besides, even if it was a mess inside, it would be livable after a bit of tidying.

Su Qing nodded at Jingyue's words. "You're right about that."

She pushed open the gate and led her horse into the courtyard. The layout was as it had always been, but it appeared quite desolate. Some of the greenery she had planted had withered, while others had grown lush and wild, as if the courtyard had turned into a small forest. It was completely devoid of the breath of life. Just as she had expected, the servants were gone, and the place had fallen into ruin.

"I didn't expect that after being away for so long, no one had seized this place. I suppose that's a bit of good luck," Su Qing thought helplessly, looking at the overgrown yard. She wouldn't have been surprised if someone had moved in; she could have simply taken it back or found a new place. But the fact that it remained vacant saved her from unnecessary trouble.

Walking through the yard and seeing the traces of her past, Su Qing found it quite interesting.

"Yudie, let's clean this place up! In the future, when we have nothing to do, we can come back here to stay," Su Qing said to Yudie with a smile.

Su Qing didn't plan to stay in Chang'an forever. Once the final matters were settled, she would naturally return to the Changbai Mountains. However, keeping this house in Chang'an was necessary; she could bring Leng Xiang and the others here for visits in the future.

Hearing Su Qing mention cleaning, Yudie blinked and then hopped out from a cluster of flowers. "Then... can we keep some of these flowers?"

"Of course. Some of them have grown quite well; they'll look nice if we keep them."

"Yay!"

"I'll help too."

"Yes, if we work together, we should finish quickly." Su Qing stretched her shoulders, looking at the messy rooms. "Still, I'll eventually need to hire some servants. It's a bit of a hassle to clean everything ourselves every time we return."

Yudie didn't have any particular opinion on the matter. For her, things involving thinking or decision-making were best left to her mother.

As the group got to work, Chaoyan, on the other side of the city, finally saw her master return.

Inside the nunnery, Chaoyan sat face-to-face with Guanyin. Guanyin still wore the appearance of Chaoyan's master—a kind-faced, middle-aged nun. However, having traveled one hundred and eight thousand li and met the Buddhas of the West, Chaoyan could clearly feel that the master before her was very different and extraordinary. Moreover, Chaoyan already knew the truth.

Her master was Guanyin Bodhisattva.

She took a deep breath. After a moment of silence, she chose to ask directly, "Master... are you truly Guanyin Bodhisattva?"

Guanyin was not surprised. She nodded and said, "Yes, I am."

"So... you lied to me, just like my godmother did?"

"Yes." Guanyin nodded. She then performed a hand seal, instantly reverting to her true form. "I lied to you so that you could cultivate with a focused mind and walk those one hundred and eight thousand li yourself."

Chaoyan fell silent for a while. She had countless questions she wanted to ask, but at this moment, she didn't know where to begin.

"Then... Master, how many other things have you lied to me about?" Not knowing where to start, Chaoyan simply threw up her hands and asked broadly.

Guanyin paused. She had lied about quite a few things. Where should she begin?

"...Fine, I shall tell you everything."

Chaoyan blinked, and as Guanyin spoke, her eyes gradually lost focus. She was stunned once again.

Guanyin told her many things, naturally including the truth about her parents. However, Guanyin didn't go into excessive detail, merely explaining that Su Qing had saved them at the time, but for certain reasons, their survival had to be kept a secret.

After listening to Guanyin, Chaoyan sat in a daze for a long time. Finally, she asked foolishly, "So... I'm not an orphan?"

"Correct," Guanyin nodded. "Your parents are currently running an inn in Jinzhou. If you wish to see them, I can give you the detailed address so you can reunite with them."

Chaoyan grew quiet before asking, "In my parents' eyes... am I alive or dead?"

"Dead, naturally," Guanyin replied.

"Then please tell me where they are. I want to go see them..."

"Are you going to reveal yourself?"

"No... I have already left the secular world," Chaoyan sighed. "I just want to take a look..."

"Even as a monastic, you can still acknowledge them."

"...I will think about it seriously."

"Then decide for yourself." Guanyin looked at Chaoyan and reached out as if to pat her, but ultimately pulled back. "Do you have any other questions?"

Chaoyan remained silent for a moment, then nodded. "I do have some... Are the scriptures I brought back truly useful?"

"Of course. the reason for the pilgrimage was real."

"I see... then I am relieved." Chaoyan nodded, letting out a breath of relief knowing her journey wasn't in vain.

Seeing that Chaoyan seemed to have no more questions, Guanyin said, "If there is nothing else, then come with me. I will take you somewhere."

Chaoyan was startled, then nodded, but added, "Actually... I have one more question. I intended to ask the Buddha before... but after seeing him, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. So I must ask you, Master..."

Guanyin glanced at her. "Speak. What is it?"

"Can a Buddha also marry?"

"..." Guanyin was momentarily stunned. To be honest, she hadn't expected Chaoyan to ask such a question. After a pause, she asked, "Why do you ask this?"

Chaoyan answered honestly, "When Godmother and I passed through a certain city, a king once shot the son of Mahamayuri Bodhisattva and faced retaliation. So I was wondering... can a Bodhisattva also marry and have children? Isn't one supposed to sever all mortal ties after following the Buddha?"

Guanyin's brow twitched slightly. How should she answer this?

"Some Bodhisattvas indeed can... In truth, most rules are used to bind mortals. Once one becomes a Bodhisattva, there are not as many restrictions."

After a moment of silence, Guanyin gave this answer.

"Is that so?" Chaoyan nodded and then asked, "Then I can marry as well?"

Guanyin suddenly had a bad premonition, but she still nodded. "In a sense, yes."

"I see..." Chaoyan smiled as if she had figured something out and said no more. She simply asked, "By the way, Master, where are we going?"

Seeing Chaoyan stop her line of questioning, Guanyin's brow twitched again. However, she didn't press further and replied, "To the South Sea Purple Bamboo Grove, to meet your senior brothers and sisters."

"My senior brothers and sisters?"

"Yes! Let's go!" Guanyin nodded calmly and performed a hand seal. Suddenly, an auspicious cloud rose, carrying Chaoyan toward the South Sea Purple Bamboo Grove.

While Chaoyan and Guanyin left Chang'an, Su Qing and the others were busy cleaning the courtyard. It was a complete mess and wasn't something that could be finished in a short time. It took them over two hours just to get it into a manageable state. Furthermore, because many items in the house were broken and unusable, they would need to buy new furniture.

Fortunately, not everything needed replacing.

"Speaking of which, there are quite a few rats in this house; many pieces of furniture have been gnawed on," Su Qing said helplessly. "I should find a chance to raise a couple of cats in this yard."

"Raise cats?"

"To catch the rats. We can't let the rats become the masters of the house when we're away."

"Oh~ I thought Mother wanted to raise cats like she raises the horse!"

"What are you thinking? I'm not that idle."

Su Qing tapped Yudie's somewhat dim-witted head, then leaned back in a chair, watching the orange sunset. She muttered to herself, "I wonder how things are going with Guanyin Bodhisattva... if she's having as much of a headache as I did."

"Chaoyan likes to ask so many things... she's probably answering her questions, right?"

"Most likely." Su Qing nodded with a chuckle. "But let Senior Guanyin deal with the headache herself! It's rare to have a chance to let her feel it too."

As Su Qing chatted with Yudie, she suddenly heard a knock at the door. Su Qing was surprised and went to open it. She thought it might be a visitor, but it turned out to be a neighbor. Life in the mortal world had its mundane moments.

The day passed quickly. The sun set and rose again to a clear morning.

Having cleaned the house yesterday, Su Qing planned to visit Spirit Mountain today to ask Tathagata Buddha a few questions. However, she didn't intend to take Yudie and Jingyue with her, as she had other tasks for them.

"You want us to buy furniture?" Jingyue was stunned and then asked, "But I don't know much about that..."

"It's fine... just pick what you like," Su Qing said with a smile. "Besides furniture, hire a few servants. We won't be living here all the time, so the courtyard needs people to look after it."

"What about Yudie?"

"She'll go with you! This girl might not be the smartest, but she knows how to buy things."

Yudie: "..."

Jingyue fell silent for a moment, then nodded helplessly at Su Qing. "Fine, I understand. Since you don't plan to take us, I won't ask more."

Su Qing smiled and nodded. "Then I'll leave it to you."

Jingyue curled her lip but said nothing more.

Having arranged matters in Chang'an, Su Qing mounted her Somersault Cloud and headed toward the Western Heaven. Before long, she arrived directly outside the gates of the Great Thunder Monastery.

The guarding Vajras were not at all surprised to see Su Qing again. It seemed the Buddha had already given instructions.

"Greetings, Azure Spirit Sovereign. The Buddha already knows of your arrival and has commanded us to wait for you... Sovereign, please follow us," the Vajra said after bowing to Su Qing.

The Vajra still addressed Su Qing by her Daoist title, Azure Spirit Sovereign, which felt familiar and welcoming to her. She nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for your trouble."

The Vajra led Su Qing into the Great Thunder Monastery, weaving through the paths until they reached a pavilion behind the main hall. Inside that pavilion, several people were already waiting.