The morning bell and evening drum remained unchanged for a hundred years, yet days in the mountains dragged like years. Jincan Temple lacked an abbot in charge, but it had gained an elegant merchant visitor.
Zixiu’s efforts and planning had not been in vain. Having altered his appearance and identity, he now moved freely throughout Jincan Temple; apart from Kaijie and Mowen, not a single person recognized him.
The monks in the temple only knew that over the past few days, Kaijie had frequently been seen walking the grounds with an exceptionally refined merchant guest, while their own abbot, Zixiu, was recuperating from an illness deep in the mountains. For now, all large and small matters within the temple remained under Kaijie's sole management.
Chapter 560