Scourge Messenger

Chapter 17: A Chance to Repent

"Namo Amitabha Night, Duotagadu Night, Duodikadu Night..."

In a room at the Tzu Chi Center, Ben Zhizheng held an elderly man's hand and chanted the mantra of the Pure Land Rebirth Mantra in a low voice. Even with the windows open for ventilation, the strong smell of medicine, cheap wax smoke, damp bedding, and the odor of decaying organs still lingered in the room.

If death had a smell, it would be the smell of this room.

However, Benzhi did not show any disgust. He slowly and compassionately recited the mantra for rebirth and closed the old man's eyes. Two kind workers from the Tzu Chi home came in and wrapped the old man with a mat.

"Put it on the oxcart at the back and send it to the county's Louze Garden tomorrow morning."

"Yes, little master."

The monks from the errand department had been on duty at Tzu Chi Hospital for the past few days, making three nightly rounds of the wards. This was the first round, and after that, they were allowed an hour's sleep. When Benzhi opened the door to the ward, it was like opening into a murky hell. The faint but distinct sounds of groans, sighs, and breathing filled the air. The few candles couldn't illuminate the vast ward, only the faces tormented by illness, filled with despair.

Benzhi was not a monk from Xuanhuyuan, so naturally he could not treat illnesses. He just came to see if the patients needed any help, such as feeding them water, turning them over, wiping sweat, and cleaning up dirt. This was undoubtedly a tedious and thankless chore. When he encountered an incontinent patient, Benzhi would also look embarrassed, but he would still complete his night patrol work conscientiously.

"Amitabha."

After chanting a Buddhist mantra, Benzhi closed the door of the ward. When he passed the entrance and saw the person standing at the door, his face suddenly turned pale and he subconsciously took two steps back and bumped into the beam.

"you you you……"

The man standing at the gate was small and frail, but his hair was smooth and his skin fair. Even wearing only a cloth shirt and no shoes could not conceal his natural beauty. Anyone who saw him would secretly praise him as a handsome young man. However, Benzhi was filled with inexplicable fear - he had just lured this man into a trap half an hour ago!

All the boys and girls who fell into the trap never appeared in front of Benzhi again, not a single one.

"Hello, little master. Can I stay here for free? I came here because I heard it's free. If it's really free, I'll go and tell my brother to come along."

Benzhi's mind moved, and he asked, "You...what's your name?"

"My name is An Liu."

Anwu and Anliu, it turns out they are two brothers, but they look too much alike... Are they twin brothers?
Benzhi breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that An Liu was still waiting for his reply, he nodded and said, "It's free."

"Well, take me in."

"Aren't you going to go find your brother?"

"I left a mark. He'll come over when he sees it."

Benzhi didn't say much, and led Anliu to the depths of the Tzu Chi Institute. Benzhi had walked this road countless times, and the Tzu Chi Institute was a place he was extremely familiar with, but for some reason, he felt more and more anxious the more he walked, as if he was walking into the bloody mouth of a giant beast.

When they reached the door of the utility room, Benzhi paused for a moment, but immediately took Anliu to a single room inside.

"I thought it would be a big bunk bed?"

"Tzu Chi will reserve a relatively clean single room for the night. If a devotee comes to see how the Tzu Chi is doing, we'll invite him to stay here," Benzhi said. "It's late today, and no devotees will be coming to Tzu Chi. You can stay here tonight. The bedding is old, but it's clean."

"If you want to wash, there's a well outside in the yard." "The toilet is in the corner of the yard."

After explaining the precautions, Benzhi was about to leave. He just wanted to go back to his room and recite the Diamond Sutra and then go to sleep, without thinking about anything or doing anything. However, as soon as he turned around, he heard An Liu stand up and say, "My brother should be here soon. I'll go look for him outside."

After a brief hesitation, Benzhi turned to Anliu and said, "I need to carry a bucket to the yard. Can you help me?"

Soon, same utility room, same location.

An Liu didn't notice anything and stood obediently on the other side of the bucket.

Benzhi felt relieved after seeing this. He almost thought that it was Anwu who came back to claim his life - Bah, bah, bah, there was no such thing as claiming a life. They were just being sent to worship the Buddha and enter the great bliss and great compassion. I am not doing any evil, but saving everyone.

The moment Benzhi reached out to pull at the hemp rope, Anliu conjured a rope from nowhere and snared it around Benzhi like a loop. A restraining object like a rope would naturally trigger the Buddha's blessing, and Benzhi could break free with just a little effort. However, the problem was that the mechanism had already been triggered, and Anliu, holding the rope, had already fallen!
Everything was happening very quickly. Benzhi, who was tied with a rope, was dragged into the cave. Even if he broke free from the rope in the slide, he had to slide with Anliu into the unknown depths of Chang'an City, and into the only forbidden area in Anguo Temple that he had never entered!
"Ah!"

Even after falling into the straw, Benzhi screamed in pain from the multiple bruises he sustained on the slide. He opened his eyes and saw the monk outside the iron railings. He immediately shouted, "Brother, save me!"

"You are... Benzhi from the miscellaneous yard? How did you manage to fall down?"

"He put a rope around me and I slid down with him!"

Benzhi looked at Anliu in shock and fear, but found that he could not tell who was who at all - Anwu and Anliu standing together, they were so similar that even their eyebrows were exactly the same. Apart from the wrinkles on their clothes, there was no difference.

The monk frowned. "Who are you? Did that kid know about the Tzu Chi Institution's mechanism from the beginning? Impossible... Could it be that the brat who came in first spread the news? Whatever, he's already been locked up anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Do you want to open the door?" asked another monk.

"Bullshit, look at those two guys squatting by the prison door. Won't they run out as soon as the door is opened?"

"Use kerosene."

"Okay." An Liu smiled and said, "Come, you burn me, I promise not to hide, and then I will go over and hug this harmful little monk to see whether he hides relics or a vicious heart."

"No, no!" Ben Zhi knelt on the ground, trembling, begging for mercy: "Donor, I really didn't mean to hurt anyone, please let me go. Brother, brothers, please don't burn it!"

"You didn't mean to hurt anyone?"

The person who spoke wasn't An Liu, but a pale young woman lying on the ground not far away. Her voice was weak, but one could still hear the hatred clenched in her teeth: "You little monk, I, I trusted you so much, I specially brought you vegetarian food, you said I would buy whatever the Tzu Chi Center needed, and you actually, you actually lied to me like this, lied to me... Wuuwuwu..." As she cursed, she began to sob softly, but soon the sound faded - she was too hungry to even cry.

Benzhi was trembling all over, his head lowered to the ground, not daring to look anyone in the eye. He stammered, "I, I don't know. This was all Master's order. My brothers and sisters all did it this way. I don't know, I really don't know... I never intended to harm anyone..."

An Liu suddenly said, "I gave you a chance."

Benzhi shuddered all over and stopped talking.

(End of this chapter)