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 (Chapter 2 - Cursed Child, Beloved Child 2)

“Ah! Master Monk is here!” One of the children resting on the side of the path spots the monk approaching from the desolate main road, immediately calling for others’ attention.

The children bow their head slightly to the monk before resuming their task, the ones that are currently resting look at the monk with hopeful eyes. The monk straightens his left hand vertically, resting his thumb over his heart, returning the greeting. The prayer beads in that hand didn’t sway one bit in the process.

“Master Green Wisteria.” An elderly man walks toward the monk, his back hunching slightly, his hands dyed in a brownish yellow hue, similar to his robe.

“Na Mo Em It Tuo Fo, well done, *well done.” The bald monk, with a contemplative look behind the muslin veil, bows slightly in greeting. The monk has done a mass burial for a different village more than a decade ago - that suffered the same epidemic, where it has only just started recovering. According to the records in his sect, the innumerable villagers would fall in despair each time this disease appeared. This is the first time he has seen villagers themselves trying something to combat the disease, this was something that was only previously done by Physicians, Sages, Saints and Immortals.
 

[T/N: 南無阿彌陀佛 善哉善哉 is the phrase often used in buddhism, where 善哉 is pretty much meaning “Very Good/Excellent/Well Done” praising or encouraging good karmas, deeds and so forth. But… he chose to use 善災 which sounds the same, but has a different meaning which translates into “GoodKindCharitableGentle Disaster”. I thought it was a typo at first since it was written as “南無阿彌陀佛, 善哉善災” as 哉 and 災 are homonyms. Then I remembered that the fucker is a cheeky bastard that makes offhanded puns like that even in email replies -.- So for all intent and purpose, everyone else aside from the monk hears it as “well done, well done”, when only he himself knows that he said “well done, (implying/hoping that this will be a) gentle disaster”. I can’t go with either literal translation nor a localized adaptation, hence this lengthy T/N to explain this T.T]

Two Weeks Later, Village Square


 

“Little White, Little Cloud! Come on, come on over! Someone wants to meet you!”

Ming’s father’s face starts twitching, a torrent of thoughts rushing into his head. He walks up from behind the monk to try and apologize, but the monk is mumbling as two figures approach from the field.

“Master Monk, here they are.”

““BAAAAAA!””

kaka

The prayer beads that have never left the monk’s hand since his arrival fall onto the field, making a soft scattering sound. The father, seeing the reaction, seems scared and enraged, and grabs the boy by the arm.

“I’m so sorry, Master Monk. He’s normally never so mischievous, I will give him a good spanking when we get back, please don’t take this to heart. Ming! Apologize right now!”

Ming pouts once more, scrunching his eyebrow, clearly upset. Except that expression is not suited for someone his age and stature, making him look cute instead. “Why are you so stupid, dad?!”

“Just how far are you going to go with this prank of yours?!” The man roughly drags the boy’s arm, making him stand in front of the monk. With his large left hand, he forces Ming’s head to bow down in apology.

“…cognosy.” The monk’s unfocused eyes correct themselves, becoming bright. “Mister, please, he’s likely not playing a prank.” The monk bends down and picks up the prayer beads before looking at Ming in the eyes. “Well done, well done. Can you get them to show me the things used in the treatment?”

“No. But I can. It’s just over there.” The boy yanks his arm away from his father, running into a copse of trees. The monk bows slightly to the father before following with steady steps. The villagers keep their distance, but are stretching their necks to try and piece together the spectacle.

“Darling, don’t tell me… I am actually stupid…?”

“Why don’t we follow them as well, honey?” The woman dodges the question as she follows the monk as well.

““BAAAAAA!”” The two white goats likewise follow the woman, leaving the man standing with the villagers behind him.

At the copse, the trees are of uneven colour, as the wood near the bottom seems to be stripped of their bark.

“They took those dried up cow bitters over there, chew it for a long time and then spit it on the tree. The spring mustard here, do the same. And then they bite the top of some willow saplings and chew on them before eating them as they rub their bodies on the spot they spat the chewed up plants on the tree.” Ming is showing the monk all the plants the goat used, moving left and right, with his fingers excitedly dancing towards the different spots.

“Well done, well done. Little friend, how did you know about zoopharmacognosy?”

The boy stops his excited gestures and tilts his head. “Sofarmanose?”

The monk closes his eyes, patiently rephrasing the question. “How did you know the goats’ medicine would work?”

“Oh, because when they get sick, they go into the trees and eat the herbs that we eat when we get sick.”

The answer may seem incomplete, but the monk understood its implied meaning. “Well done, well done. Little friend, you might have just saved ten thousand people.”

“What is ten thousand people? Is it edible like steamed buns?”
 

[T/N: Monk said 萬人 (man yun), which means ten thousand people. Ming doesn’t know the word 萬, so he replaced it with a similar sounding word that he knows, which is 曼. 曼頭 (man tou) means Steamed Bun (manjou for the japanese pronouciation). Hence him wondering if it’s food, not that he’s a cannibal]


The rubberneckers turn their heads towards the teenager. His voice also catches the attention of Ming and company, causing them to look at each other. The group then silently makes their way back to the Village Square, where the usual meeting will take place, a routine that occurs every time the Chief travels outside of the village and returns.


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