The return trip from the Golden Ring Residence took more than half a month. Wearily, he rushed to take a good bath upon returning to Earth.
As a northerner, he loved to soak in warm baths. Taking these baths helped him to relax quite a bit.
He switched on the television as he enjoyed the water. The first thing that came on was the news.
First up was a report about new air traffic regulations. Flying motorcycles were more frequently seen on the news, and several affluent people had already brought over their own from abroad. This time around, the country had reacted swiftly, implementing a new set of air traffic regulations that required all new flying equipment to be inspected and licensed by the relevant authorities first. Of course, anyone with half a brain knew that these licenses would be obtainable.
The next piece of news was slightly related to him, it was about "Golden Medical." This was the pharmaceutical company that Ren Baqian had collaborated with the Chen family to establish.
The lab was an independent entity and completely separate from the company.
Ren Baqian watched the news for a while, noting that they were talking about the new leukemia drug. At this point, the drug was still undergoing clinical testing and wasn't ready for commercial production. From the looks of it, things were going well as it had already made its way to the news.
Since Ren Baqian was in a special position, his collaboration with the Chen family was going extremely smoothly. There were always people of power who opened paths and provided assistance to ensure that things went well.
After watching the news, Ren Baqian switched the television off. He changed into a new set of clothes and headed down to where the empress was eating ice cream while watching a television series.
Ren Baqian felt a sense of deja vu. It seemed as though the empress would always be in this exact same position every time she came to Earth.
Ren Baqian slowly walked over and sat beside the empress. He picked up the empress's ice cream in passing, but realized his hand was empty just as he was about to take a bite. The empress was holding a Magnum ice cream bar in her left hand and a little snowman in her right.
It was indeed difficult to snatch food from right under her nose.
Ren Baqian craned his neck upward to stretch.
"Someone's outside," the empress said after tossing the Magnum ice cream stick into the trash.
"Who?"
"No idea." The doorbell rang just as the empress replied.
Ren Baqian dragged his slippers and opened the door to find a small, bald boy in dirty gray robes staring up at him. Ren Baqian estimated the boy to be about eight or nine and noted that he had a pleasant look with healthy cheeks and nice white teeth. The only thing that was off about him were the tears in his eyes.
"Arhat, I have finally found you," the little monk said through pursed lips, almost bursting into tears.
"You have got the wrong person."
Thump! Ren Baqian immediately shut the door.
"Ridiculous!" Ren Baqian mumbled as he walked away. The doorbell rang again.
Ren Baqian opened the door and stated seriously, "Wrong person!"
"My master asked me to find you!" cried the sad little monk.
"You have really got the wrong person… I'm no arhat, and I don't know who your master is…" If it had been someone else, Ren Baqian would have beat him until he ran. It would be terribly wrong to assault a little monk though.
Ren Baqian had a moment of inspiration. He finally understood why he couldn't defeat Tong Lan. She was too young to hit!
Ren Baqian sighed. He was still too kind and should probably get the empress to change his opponent.
"My master is Abbot Su Wen of Jingxin Temple! He told me that fate allowed him to meet you!" the little monk spat out rapidly and hastily grabbed his yellow cloth bundle. Opening it, he revealed four peaches that smelled heavenly. Their delicious scent spread throughout the house, occupying every possible inch of space.
Ren Baqian was momentarily stunned. Images of that refined monk surfaced in his consciousness.
He had met him once.
But why is this little monk here? How did he even manage to find me? What is he here for?
"These are spiritual peaches from our temple. Master told me to present them to you, Arhat." The little monk explained and wiped his saliva.
The amazing scent of the peaches was truly tantalizing. Even Ren Baqian found it hard to keep his hands away.
This was the first time Ren Baqian had experienced anything like this. Never in his life had he seen a peach that smelled so good that it made him salivate.
"What a pleasant smell." The empress's voice came from right behind Ren Baqian.
"Xing Ruo pays respect to you, my lady! I was tasked by my master to bring these!" The little monk raised the yellow cloth bundle. As a pair of lily-white hands shot out from behind Ren Baqian, two peaches immediately went missing.
Ren Baqian had nothing to say…
Now that the empress had grabbed two of those extraordinary peaches, Ren Baqian didn't have much choice but to let the little monk in.
Ren Baqian felt that Abbott Su Wen was a little odd.
Were these four peaches a part of some grand scheme of his?
Ren Baqian had dismissed his previous words as a mere coincidence.
This little monk finding him couldn't possibly be a coincidence could it?
Ren Baqian's image of that pretty-boy of a monk, Su Wen, was now shrouded in profound mystery.
"Come in!" Ren Baqian stepped aside to make way.
"Thank you!" the little monk greeted Ren Baqian with his palms clasped together and entered the house.
"Sit!" Ren Baqian brought the little monk into the house and pointed at the sofa.
"Why has your master sent you to find me?" Ren Baqian questioned.
Crunching sounds could be heard while Ren Baqian spoke. An entire peach had made its way into the empress's stomach. A stronger scent now filled the air, making Ren Baqian salivate like crazy.
"Master said that my destiny lies with you, Arhat," the little monk answered with his palms clasped together and used all of his willpower to avoid looking at the empress and her peach.
"What destiny?"
"Achieving Buddhahood."
"Who am I? How do you know that I'm the one Su Wen is talking about? Why do you call me Arhat?"
"You are a bodhisattva, an arhat. Because you are on the bodhisattva path," Xing Ruo explained.
"Bodhisattva path? Ren Baqian furrowed his brows.
"A wish to attain enlightenment and deliver all sentient beings from suffering," the little monk answered. "Walking this path is a deed of great compassion and is a goal that we can all hope to emulate."
Ren Baqian sat as still as a rock. A deep crease formed between his brows as he thought, Just how magical is this Su Wen?
He had recently conceived of the idea of introducing Buddhism to Tianjing Basin to give those people something positive to focus their time and energy on. Before he knew it, Su Wen had named him an arhat and sent him a monk.
Enlightenment? He was planning to merge Earth's technology with their martial prowess using religion as a conduit. He wasn't spreading Buddhism for its own sake.
Deliver all sentient beings from suffering… Was bringing technology over to improve production and raise the standard of living sufficient to be considered as delivering them from suffering?
Or was this simply referring to his act of introducing Buddhism?
No matter what it was, this was too much of a coincidence. Ren Baqian had chills running down his spine just thinking about it.
Those last words he spoke, perhaps they were for real.
Could it be that Su Wen really knew what he was going to do?
Was there really someone like that in this world? How was this possible?
"What did your master tell you before he sent you here?" Ren Baqian asked.
"Master said that I was a big boy already and that it was time to snatch others' men as well as women…" the little monk replied innocently.
Ren Baqian stared at Xing Ruo intently. Was this really what Su Wen said? That mysterious pretty boy of a monk?
Su Wen, you are pretty mischievous!
Looking past the surface, however, Ren Baqian found that there was deeper meaning to his words!
"This fruit…" The empress hadn't spoken a word since she ate one of the peaches.
"Is something wrong?" Ren Baqian stood up.
"It's really good…"
Ren Baqian thought, Your Majesty… You are really mischievous too…