Gu Yingjie walked to the river and carefully cleaned the wound on his arm. Then he heard a man and two children talking on the road. He looked up and saw three Taoists, each carrying a bamboo basket, walking towards the top of a mountain. He slowly followed them and trailed them up the mountain, listening along the way to the quiet birdsong.
One boy noticed that Gu Yingjie had been following them. He stopped and grabbed the man's hand. He said, "Shixiong, that person has been following us for a while."
Bao Zhi turned around and saw Gu Yingjie. He walked up to Gu Yingjie and asked gently, "What can I do for you?"
Gu Yingjie replied, "Daoshi, it's very quiet here. I just want to rationalize my mind."
Bao Zhi smiled and invited him. "Benefactor is welcome to stay as long as you like. Our temple is not far from here." He pointed to a dilapidated ancient temple situated on the mountain. "The five of us live in the temple. Master and Da shixiong have not yet returned."
Gu Yingjie said, "Thank you."
Bao Zhi smiled and said, "It looks like it's going to rain, we have to hurry up."
Gu Yingjie followed Bao Zhi and the two children up the steep mountain road. When he arrived at the temple, he saw a gray-haired old Taoist sweeping the floor.
Bao Zhi smiled and greeted him, "Shifu."
The two young boys ran to the old Taoist. The old Taoist looked at Gu Yingjie and smiled.
Bao Zhi said, "Shifu, when we came back, we found this benefactor on the road."
Gu Yingjie said, "Sorry, I'm going to trouble you for a few days."
The old Taoist studied him. "We met before, but you were still blind at that time."
Gu Yingjie, surprised by the recognition, replied, "My blindness has been cured. How may I address you?"
The old Taoist replied, "People call me Liang Daoshi."
Gu Yingjie replied, "Liang Daoshi, if you don't mind, I will stay here for a few more days."
Liang Daoshi said, "You are welcome to stay as long as you want."
Bao Zhi looked around, a sudden question occurring to him. "Shifu, where's Yongzheng shixiong?"
Liang Daoshi replied, "He will be back when he finishes his task."
On the second day Gu Yingjie stayed in the temple, he sat quietly and listened to Taoist Liang teach his disciples. He felt his heart calm down. He began to help clean the temple courtyard by sweeping leaves. Soon, he was helping the three Taoist brothers manage the farm. In a blink of an eye, he had lived in this ancient temple for three months.
One evening, as he was sweeping the floor, Taoist Liang walked up to him.
Liang Daoshi asked, "Benefactor Gu, is your mind better?"
"Yes," Gu Yingjie replied.
Liang Daoshi then spoke of Gu Yingjie's internal state. "I can feel the powerful force flowing in your body."
Gu Yingjie tried to reassure the elder. "Liang Daoshi, don't worry. I won't hurt anyone. No matter how hard I try, I won't be better than this."
Liang Daoshi offered wisdom rooted in Taoist philosophy: "With no desire, at rest and still, all things go right as of their will. The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world. Through this, I learned the advantage of taking no action." He smiled gently at Gu Yingjie and walked away.
Gu Yingjie looked up at the tree, only to see a leaf slowly falling. The wind immediately changed its direction of departure as soon as the leaf hit the breeze. Gu Yingjie picked up five leaves in his right hand and sent the five leaves into the big tree with internal force. The five leaves flew straight to the tree at the speed of light, sticking firmly to the wood.
Gu Yingjie picked up five more leaves and waited. When the wind blew over him, he let go of the five leaves. This time, the five leaves went directly through the tree, creating five small holes on the trunk.
Gu Yingjie murmured, "I understand now. So, this is the secret of the 'Silver Leaf' manual. Use the energy of others as an advantage." He immediately dropped his broom and hurriedly chased after Liang Daoshi.
Gu Yingjie found Liang Daoshi meditating under a tree where he frequently sat. Gu Yingjie knelt in front of the old Taoist and said, "Liang Daoshi, thank you so much for your advice. Staying here, I cleared my mind and refocused on what is most important to me. I realize that I will suffer even more after revenge. I will find the person who ordered the killing of my mother, but I will try to understand and will not hold hatred."
Liang Daoshi smiled and offered a final piece of wisdom. "He who overcomes himself is the mightiest."
In the front house of Yan Zhanjin, Zhu Mingyang and Yan Zhanjin were grinding herbal medicine behind the house when they heard a woman shouting whether anyone was at home. When Zhu Mingyang walked to the front of the house, he saw Yuan Chaomei standing on the side of the fence. His face immediately turned dark.
Zhu Mingyang asked sharply, "What are you doing here?"
"Is Yingjie at home?" Yuan Chaomei asked, ignoring his hostile tone.
Zhu Mingyang sneered, finding her question interesting and funny given the heartbreak he had just suffered. He asked, "Why do you think Yingjie is here?"
Yuan Chaomei explained, "Xiao Bai brought me here. He can't be wrong."
Zhu Mingyang flatly denied it. "He is not here."
Yuan Chaomei simply said, "Guard Zhu."
Zhu Mingyang said angrily, "Miss Yuan, your husband is not here, you can leave."
Yuan Chaomei hurriedly explained, her voice urgent, "Zhu-xiong! Yingjie hasn't gone home yet, Master Gu is sending someone over, and the people are here to bring Yingjie back. I'm here to tell you two that you need to leave before they come."
Zhu Mingyang was confused. "What are you talking about? The young master is not at home, that is not my problem. I am no longer working for the Gu household."
Yuan Chaomei's frustration grew. "Are you sure he has never been here?"
"He is not here, and you have no reason to be here too," Zhu Mingyang insisted, trying to end the conversation.
Yuan Chaomei shouted, her composure finally breaking, "Zhu Mingyang, are you absolutely sure Yingjie is not with you?"
Zhu Mingyang looked at her face and found her expression genuinely worried. He approached the fence and said, "Since we left Jinfeng Sect, I haven't seen him."
Yuan Chaomei panicked. "He is not here, where is he?"
Zhu Mingyang, confused by her distress, demanded, "Speak clearly."
Yuan Chaomei revealed the truth of Gu Yingjie's sacrifice. "He went to find you three months ago. I told him where you were. I thought he was always by your side. If he is not here, where is he?"
"What are you saying?" Zhu Mingyang asked, the timeline not making sense.
Yuan Chaomei clarified their marital arrangement. "Zhu-xiong, between him and me, our love is the love of brother and sister, nothing more."
Zhu Mingyang, still believing the marriage was real and the source of his pain, hit back with the only piece of damning evidence he had: "If it's just a relationship between sister and brother, why did you become pregnant?"
Yuan Chaomei, realizing the depth of the misunderstanding that had secured Zhu Mingyang's freedom, threw his own toxic possessiveness back at him. "Zhu-xiong, if I were not pregnant, would you be willing to leave him?"
"No," Zhu Mingyang admitted instantly.
Yan Zhanjin walked out from behind and shouted, "Mingyang, who is that?"
Yuan Chaomei saw Yan Zhanjin approaching them. Her face was set in anger, and she delivered a final, devastating blow. "Zhu Mingyang, you are such a bastard! No wonder Yingjie said that one of the cruelest things a person can do to another is to pretend that they care more about them than they do." She jumped onto Xiao Bai's back. She looked angrily at him. "Next time you see Yingjie, remember to thank him for giving you and your new lover such a beautiful and happy life."
Gu Yingjie saw Bao Zhi and the two children carrying bamboo baskets. He walked quickly to Bao Zhi and asked, "Where are you guys going?"
Bao Zhi said, "Gu-xiong, we go to the village to collect donations every four months."
Gu Yingjie, driven by a renewed focus on life, requested, "I want to go with you, can I?"
"Sure," Bao Zhi replied.
Gu Yingjie followed Bao Zhi and the two children down the mountain. They walked along the path of the creek. Gu Yingjie's eyes immediately caught two people washing clothes from behind, and he knew that the other person was Zhu Mingyang. Following the three brothers, he also listened to the fading conversation between Zhu Mingyang and Yan Zhanjin. He looked at them—the two of them were doing laundry happily. He stopped and stared at them.
The little boy called out, "Da ge, hurry up."
Gu Yingjie hurriedly followed behind the three brothers, moving his gaze away from the creek.
When Zhu Mingyang and Yan Zhanjin looked up at the open road, they saw the four Taoists walking into town.
Yan Zhanjin smiled at Zhu Mingyang, and he said, "Ming Yang, when we get home, leave two baskets of medicine at the door for the Taoists."
When the sun went down, Gu Yingjie and the three brothers returned to the temple. When they came to Yan Zhanjin and Zhu Mingyang's house, they saw two baskets of medicine hanging on the fence.
Bao Zhi said, "Gu-xiong, go get those two baskets. They usually leave medicine for us."
Gu Yingjie walked to the fence and heard laughter coming from behind the house. He smiled, took the red string with the green round pendant from his neck, and hung it precisely where he took the basket.
He smiled and murmured, "Mingyang, hearing your laughter, I know I made the right choice. Goodbye." He took the other basket and continued to follow the three brothers, walking away from the sound of the happiness he had paid for with his own heart.
Early the next morning, when Yan Zhanjin went to the house to water the flowers, he saw a red string hanging on the fence with a green round pendant. He took it and walked back inside, where he saw Zhu Mingyang washing his face.
Yan Zhanjin asked, "Mingyang, is this yours?"
Zhu Mingyang took a look and shook his head.
Yan Zhanjin insisted, "Why isn't this yours? The word Zhu is engraved on it."
Zhu Mingyang immediately snatched the round pendant from Yan Zhanjin's hands. He felt the familiar pendant and the engraved word, and the realization hit him: Gu Yingjie had been here. He asked urgently, "Do you see anyone?"
"No, since the Taoists from yesterday, no one has walked past our house," Yan Zhanjin replied.
"Where is this temple?" Zhu Mingyang demanded, his mind racing.
"There is a mountain," Yan Zhanjin said, pointing to his left.
Zhu Mingyang ran out the front door and disappeared up the mountain road.