Chapter 24: Visiting
"What a treasure, this monk is quite generous, to casually give this away. But it makes sense, since it bears his mark, he can find it no matter where it is," Lin Fang muttered to himself.
"What should we do? That monk won't come looking for us, will he?" Little Fox suddenly grew nervous.
"Don't be afraid. Once I've shielded his senses, he'll regret this too late," Lin Fang said with a confident smile. He lightly brushed his hands over the alms bowl, and mana manifested as a thin layer of gauze covering it. This was a small trick he learned after practicing the Leakless state, requiring extremely high control over mana.
Meanwhile, a monk who was still begging in the city instantly sensed this and his normally calm face showed a look of surprise. He hurried towards the city gate, at this moment, his connection to the alms bowl was severed.
At the city gate, Wang Er was excitedly recounting yesterday's gains. He had sold the alms bowl for a good sum of money, and last night, they all went to the most expensive restaurant in the city and drank merrily.
"Big brother is incredible, to think that such a small alms bowl could be worth so much," Wang Er flattered the City gate official, trotting behind him.
To his dismay, the City gate official didn't show a hint of joy upon hearing the flattery; instead, his expression darkened and he scolded Wang Er, "Shut your mouth. This matter stays in your bellies, don't let anyone else know."
"Big brother, what's wrong?" Wang Er sharply picked up on the official's expression and couldn't help but grow tense.
"Last night, the entire family of the Pawnshop owner was killed by robbers, dozens of them, not a single survivor. The blood dyed the entire yard red, like the Ghostly Realm," the City gate official whispered.
Wang Er was chilled to the bone. He had been drinking the previous night and had slept until well past dawn. He had not had the chance to catch up on the city's news and hadn't expected such a major incident to occur.
"Good heavens, this is a serious matter. Our Baoxiang Kingdom hasn't seen such a major case in a long time," Wang Er said with astonishment, fear still present on his face.
They often loitered around the city and had their share of dodgy dealings, but they were always measured in their actions, rarely ever resulting in loss of life, not to mention wiping out an entire family.
"This matter has even reached the King; he is enraged and has ordered a thorough investigation. Keep your mouths tightly shut. If word leaks, you'll inevitably spend a few days in the big jail," the City gate official warned.
Upon hearing this, Wang Er nodded vigorously, but inside he wondered whether the slaughter of the Pawnshop owner's family was related to the alms bowl he had sold. He'd often heard those bald monks of Buddhism talk about karma – perhaps this was retribution for desecrating the Buddhist Treasure.
His fear grew the more he thought about it, wishing he could find a temple right away to pray for peace of mind.
Turning around, he saw his underlings looking ahead with shocked faces. As he turned, he saw the Monk in the kasaya approaching.
"Where is my alms bowl?" the monk asked, staring straight at the City gate official.
At this moment, the City gate official was also a little panicked, the aura of the monk seemed different from yesterday; it was quite intimidating. He quickly conjured a smile, "It's you, Master! Have you managed to raise money?"
"Where is my alms bowl?" the monk's brows furrowed fiercely, like a ferocious beast ready to pounce.
"Forgive me, Master, I kept the alms bowl yesterday, planning to return it to you after your alms round ended. But my brother here, having lost everything to gambling, got tempted and stole it to exchange for money," the City gate official said innocently, his gaze fixed on the monk's face.
"You're lying."
With those words, the once formidable City gate official fell to his knees with a thud, begging wretchedly, "Please forgive me, Master. It was wrong of me to be greedy, but the alms bowl is truly not with us anymore."
After that, he discreetly signaled Wang Er, who, understanding the hint, quickly came forward and told the monk about the incident at the Pawnshop.
The monk was rendered speechless; the alms bowl could have fallen into the hands of the robbers. But how could these commoners have erased the mark he left on his alms bowl without a trace?
"Take me to the Pawnshop owner's house," the monk said coldly.
"Master, that's where people just died," Wang Er whispered a reminder from the side.
"Lead the way!"
Wang Er glanced at the monk's expression and then led the way, his heart pounding with fear. They took several turns and soon arrived at the home of the Pawnshop owner, where a strong stench of blood wafted from afar.
The monk frowned slightly and was about to enter when a group of soldiers blocked their path, stating, "This is a crime scene, no civilians allowed."
"I am Monk Faming from Mount Ling. The owner took my alms bowl, and I have come especially to retrieve it," the monk declared with palms pressed together.
"Monk Faming, it's not that I won't let you in, but the precious items inside the house have been cleared out; I'm afraid your alms bowl is among them. Going in would be futile," the soldier discouraged kindly.
"No matter, I have my ways," the monk replied.
The soldier looked at him with surprise, and after seeing the monk's confident face, he let them enter after thinking for a moment, with the caution, "Don't touch anything, to avoid damaging the scene."
As they left, someone asked the soldier, "That's quite the guts you have. Aren't you afraid of making a mistake and being blamed by the higher-ups?"
"This case is clearly the work of that clerk in collusion with outsiders, an inside job. But this man's background is unknown; the family registry information he left was all fake, likely some local bandits in disguise. Protecting the scene is just to avoid panic. I see this monk has an extraordinary air about him, perhaps he has some skills. If he can find some clues, wouldn't that be to our credit?"