280: Implantation of Reincarnation Memories (Part 2)

She pounded desperately against the cold temple gates, her palms turning bright red. Her voice, hoarse and ragged, mingled with the sound of the rain and thunder, making her seem so helpless.

She did not know how long she had been pounding, how long she had been screaming.

Just when she was on the verge of despair.

"Creak."

The heavy temple gates opened a crack.

Liaochen walked out from within, holding a tattered oil-paper umbrella.

When he saw Shen Ruyan outside, soaked to the bone and pale-faced, his pupils constricted sharply, and his delicate face was filled with heartache.

"Lady benefactor, why are you…"

"Liaochen!" Shen Ruyan, as if clutching her last straw of hope, threw herself into his arms without a second thought. She clung tightly to his cold, damp monk's robe and burst into tears, all her grievances breaking through the dam in that moment.

"They want to force me to marry, to marry that playboy who only knows how to eat, drink, whore, and gamble."

"I don't want to! I don't want to marry anyone else."

"Liaochen, I only want… I only want to marry you."

Scalding tears mixed with the cold rain, soaking through his thin monk's clothes and scorching his heart.

Liaochen stiffened, the umbrella falling to the ground as the torrential rain instantly drenched them both.

He could clearly feel the trembling body of the woman in his arms, feel those scalding tears, and even more so, he could feel his own heart, which he had desperately tried to suppress with Buddhist scriptures, beating wildly in his chest.

All the rules and precepts, all reason and restraint, all his reverence for the Buddha and promises to his Master, at this moment, amidst the raging storm and rolling thunder, crumbled into nothingness and vanished into smoke.

Whatever salvation for all living beings, whatever purity of the six senses, whatever Reincarnation in the next life—he wanted none of it!

Trembling, as if using up all the courage of his life, he reached out his arms and pulled the woman who haunted his dreams tightly into his embrace!

With such force, it was as if he wanted to embed her into his very flesh and blood, never to be separated again!

"Ruyan." For the first time, he called her name, his voice raspy beyond recognition. "I can no longer save all living beings. From this day forward, I only want to save you."

Outside the Buddha hall, amidst the pouring rain and rolling thunder, they knelt on the cold ground.

There were no red candles or incense, no formal betrothal or marriage rites, no Phoenix coronet and rosy-cloud robes, no hall full of guests.

There was only each other as witnesses, with heaven and earth as matchmakers, and the thunderstorm as music.

"Before the Buddha, I make a vow for three lifetimes." Liaochen held her cold little hands tightly, his gaze firmer than ever before, saying word by word: "I will not save the world, only you."

Shen Ruyan's tears fell like rain as she nodded vigorously: "If you do not betray me, I will follow you through life and death."

However, how could secular laws and customs tolerate such a rebellious act?

The Shen family soon discovered the signs, and they were furious!

Master Shen brought a group of fierce servants and guards, charging straight up to Hanshan Temple. In front of all the monks in the temple, they dragged Liaochen into the courtyard, punching, kicking, and beating him with sticks!

"A mere lowly little novice monk! How dare you covet the daughter of the Shen family?!"

"A toad lusting after swan meat!"

"Beat him to death! Cripple his martial arts! Throw him out! If you dare to come within half a step of Ruyan again, I will take your dog life!"

Liaochen only knew some superficial, health-improving martial arts; how could he possibly resist?

He was soon beaten to his last breath, his Dantian destroyed. Like a pile of mud, he was tossed out of the temple gates and thrown onto the muddy mountain path after the storm.

Shen Ruyan was forcibly dragged back, locked in her boudoir, the doors and windows reinforced, and guarded day and night.

She resisted by refusing to eat, holding a pair of scissors to her throat to threaten them with her death.

Madam Shen, ultimately feeling heartache for her only daughter, threatened her husband with her own life, finally forcing a reluctant compromise. They agreed to postpone the marriage with the prefect's family, but she watched Shen Ruyan even more closely, almost never leaving her side.

Half a year later.

Only then did Shen Ruyan learn from Xiao Cui, who had secretly bribed the guards and snuck in to visit her, that Liaochen had not died that day.

However, because his injuries were too severe, he had wandered the streets, starving and cold.

Later, the people secretly sent by the Shen family found him, forced him to a cliff, where he lost his footing and fell, leaving no trace behind.

Upon hearing this news, Shen Ruyan was sitting by the window, quietly embroidering a picture of mandarin ducks playing in the water—her dowry, which she had prepared for herself.

The needle tip suddenly pricked her fingertip.

A bead of bright red blood rolled down, just happening to stain the eye of the mandarin duck on the embroidery, as if it were weeping blood.

She did not cry, did not make a scene, and did not even make a sound.

She simply sat quietly in front of the window, from which she could no longer see the peach blossom grove, for three days and three nights.

Then, she put away her maidenly rouge, powder, silk, satin, poetry, and songs.

She began to learn how to manage the family business, how to handle accounts, how to deal with all sorts of people, and secretly used the savings she had accumulated to cultivate her own manpower and influence.

She no longer mentioned Liaochen's name, as if it had only been a dream.

When the dream ended, there was no trace left.

Ten years.

In the blink of an eye.

The Shen family, having been drawn into court factional struggles, was seized upon by political enemies and suffered a crushing defeat.

Their property was confiscated, her father died of grief and illness in prison, and her mother could not bear the blow and died of melancholy.

The once prominent Shen family of Jiangnan vanished like smoke.

Shen Ruyan sold the last few pieces of jewelry she had hidden away and, taking the loyal Xiao Cui with her, lived under an assumed name, wandering throughout the Jianghu.

She endured much hardship and suffered much humiliation.

But strangely, whenever she was on the verge of despair and about to meet with disaster, she would always coincidentally turn danger into safety.

At first, she thought it was luck.

But after it happened many times, she began to suspect that there was a force in the unseen world protecting her from the shadows.

She remained calm and began to investigate in secret.

This investigation lasted several years.

The clues were intermittent, but eventually, they vaguely pointed toward a leader of wandering knights who had recently risen to fame in the Jiangnan area.

That person always wore a silver mask covering half his face, his whereabouts erratic and elusive, like a Dragon appearing and disappearing at will.

But his sword skills were superb, his heart righteous, and he specialized in opposing corrupt officials and bullying tyrants, earning him quite a reputation for chivalry among the common people.

A thought that made her heart almost stop began to uncontrollably breed and spread in the depths of her soul.

To verify this thought, she meticulously designed an accident.

She made herself accidentally reveal covetous wealth, was kidnapped by a local gang of powerful thugs, and was imprisoned in a secret stronghold.

That night.

The knight leader wearing the silver mask arrived alone, sword in hand!

The sword light, like a Dragon, shimmered in the night.

His sword technique was ruthless and precise, and with his own strength, he uprooted dozens of experts from the thug organization!

As the fierce battle was at its peak, a thug made a dying counterattack, slashing his blade toward the knight's face. He easily parried it, but the force of the blade swept away the silver mask on his face.

The mask fell off, hitting the ground with a crisp sound.

The soaring flames illuminated that face.

That face was much more mature than in her memories, weathered by the winds of life, with a hideous scar added to his brow bone, and his temperament had become cold and sharp, like a drawn sword.

But!

Those eyes! The outline of that brow bone! Those tightly pressed lips!

Shen Ruyan stood in the shadows, covering her mouth tightly, tears surging forth.