Yin Tingxue looked up at her, unsure of what to say for a moment.

The Princess saw this and smiled knowingly, "Thinking about him?"

"Sister Weiyang…Aren't you thinking about him?" Yin Tingxue asked.

The female crown snorted coldly, "It should be him thinking about me."

Although she spoke this way, the little fox knew that the Princess missed him very much. In the past four days, every night, she would cover her face with her sleeve. In the silent night, she could faintly hear insects chirping, and when Yin Tingxue got up the next day, she would see the Princess's sleeves were wet.

They looked like tear stains.

Since the underworld, Yin Weiyin has loved him deeply, this the little fox always knew.

Compared to her, Yin Tingxue had never shed tears; she was hardly even seen to worry.

"Thinking about him is useless. He will definitely be fine," the female crown gently consoled.

"I know." Yin Tingxue responded.

The female crown saw her sitting alone by the window, gazing afar, and didn't say any more. She merely sighed softly like a grand lady and then lay down to sleep with her clothes on.

Not knowing how much time had passed, maybe an hour or two, Yin Tingxue was still sitting by the window gazing out.

The night after the Lantern Festival was very cold and silent. Icicles hung from the eaves, dripping down with a tick-tock sound. The gentle snoring of the female crown sounded in her ears. Near Yin Sword Mountain, Sister Weiyang was sleeping soundly, yet Yin Tingxue was restless, her eyes occasionally looking here and there, lost in thought.

"Woof woof..."

The barking of a little dog came from outside the window.

A yellow dog was tied under the post.

The innkeeper said it was sick. After giving birth to puppies, it had a serious illness. It was frail as bones, with sores on its body and buzzing mosquitoes waiting for it to close its eyes and die. But even so, when the puppies howled and clung to it to drink milk, it still gritted its teeth, propped up its body, and fed the children with its shriveled breasts.

Yin Tingxue watched this sight, her heart tightened.

She thought of her mother. Back then, her mother was also emaciated, touching her head over and over again on a winter night.

As she thought,

Chen Yi's face flashed through her mind.

How was he doing?

The thought passed by, and Yin Tingxue suddenly shivered in fear. How was he now? Was he also on the brink of death, struggling to hold on, surrounded by the buzz of mosquitoes?

Amidst her thoughts, Yin Tingxue suddenly heard another sound.

Thump thump.

It was entirely without reason, like the striking of a wooden fish.

She turned her head and found a nun in a kasaya standing behind her.

Yin Tingxue immediately recognized her, "It's you..."

The nun smiled faintly and said, "It's me."

Yin Tingxue's breathing became slightly rapid. She had met this nun before. The nun claimed to be her mother, and she had taken her to see the Yintai Temple in her heart.

Chen Yi said she was Master Zhihui.

"How come you are here?" Yin Tingxue asked in surprise.

"As long as you have me in your heart, I will be here. If you don't have me in your heart, I won't be here," Master Zhihui said, clasping her hands together. The golden rings of the Zen staff buzzed lightly, "If you see me in form or seek me in sound, then you are on the wrong path, and cannot see the Tathagata."

She had heard that part of the Buddhist scripture before, and Yin Tingxue knew what it meant.

The little fox hesitated, wondering whether to call someone.

Master Zhihui seemed to see through her thoughts and chuckled softly,

"If it weren't for me covering your tracks along the way, you might have already been caught by the Pavilion Master of Xique Pavilion."

"You...helped us?"

"A monk does not lie, I naturally helped you," the nun then chanted a Buddhist hymn.

Yin Tingxue scratched her head. She had heard from Chen Yi that this nun wasn't a good person, but one does not strike a smiling face, and since she helped them, Yin Tingxue couldn't speak ill of her.

She pondered for a moment and asked, "What does the Master want?"

Master Zhihui candidly replied, "To enlighten you to become a Buddha, how about it?"

Yin Tingxue fell silent abruptly.

After a good while, she said softly, "I don't want to become a Buddha."

Master Zhihui seemed to have anticipated this and wasn't angry but rather smiled gently,

"I knew you would say that."

Yin Tingxue was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

But then she heard the nun say,

"However, he's going to die, you know?"

Yin Tingxue froze instantly, a buzzing sound in her mind, turning it blank.

She had the Heavenly Ear Technique, and a single listen told her the nun wasn't lying.

Master Zhihui slowly said, "I calculated earlier, only you can save him. If you become a Buddha, with immeasurable merits, you will have great abilities, so saving him wouldn't be difficult at all."

After a good while, Yin Tingxue came back to her senses, her face pale, "He really is going to die?"

"Indeed."

"How could he die?"

Master Zhihui seemed to hear a joke, and continued,

"He is also human, subject to the eight sufferings of life such as birth, aging, sickness, and death, and he cannot escape them.

How could he not die?"

The buzzing in Yin Tingxue's mind grew stronger, her fingertips trembling constantly, her face turning extremely pale.

Perhaps the impression Chen Yi left on her was too deep; she had seen him escape danger many times, as if nothing ever happened.

She had never imagined what he would look like when he died.

The cold wind hit her face, and Yin Tingxue shivered.

But now...

He was about to die?

"I want to save him!" she blurted out hurriedly.

Master Zhihui slowly said, "Don't rush, you must understand to become a Buddha and save him."

"Understand what..."

"Zen." Saying this, Master Zhihui pointed outside, "Do you see that yellow dog?"

Yin Tingxue certainly could see it, the emaciated yellow dog was still nurturing its children.

"Do you want to save it?"

"Yes..." Yin Tingxue followed her compassion and said.

Master Zhihui smiled slightly, remaining noncommittal.

The next moment, Master Zhihui waved her hand, and the scene instantly blurred, enveloped in a thin mist.

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