Don't be such a naughty little brat!

  Beast Pets Are Shocking · Bad Little Boy, Don't Be Like This, Sinking Incense (6)

  Meng Zhen returned home and took a nap, then went to Chen Xiang's house at dawn.

  Chen Xiang signed a contract with Hong Chou, leaving his contact address as required. Mei Cai obtained the address from Xiao Hong and confirmed it with Guan Que before taking a bus to Xiang Ao Village. It was a small village in a county under D City, named after the many flower farmers who lived there; many of the spice shops in D City were also run by people from Xiang Ao.

  Misty cicada pressed the map to find the horse, when she found Chen Xiang's home, a question in her heart finally fell to the ground: The Chen family indeed still supported a small spice shop on the street, selling some loose incense and pagoda incense.

  There were few guests in the village, and the spice shop was even more deserted. Mo Zhen had to look carefully before he saw an old man sitting in the dim corner of the old house, wearing black clothes. His hair was all white, and he was hunched over making incense.

  The owner of the cloth shoe store opposite saw Mochen and shouted loudly inside, "Old Chen, someone has come to buy incense, hurry up and attend to the business."

  He said with a apologetic smile to Meng Xiang, "Old Chen is hard of hearing and often lost in thought, I'm afraid I've kept you waiting, Miss. Please forgive me."

  Foam cicada busy waving his hand, "You're too polite."

  Lao Chen finally stood up, "Miss, what incense do you want to buy?" After looking at Mochen from head to toe, he said, "Miss, your mind is restless and anxious. Why not use some calming incense to calm your mind? This box is relatively cheap, 150 yuan."

  A small box of incense sticks, not many branches, but already sold at this price, is not cheap. But Mo Ze still smiled, "If it's really agarwood, 150 yuan would be a great deal."

  Lao Chen was not unhappy, but instead delighted. He took a good look at Mo Xian and said, "A young girl like you who understands fragrance is rare."

  "I don't dare to." Mo Ze stuck out her tongue and smiled, "Actually, I was just making a last-ditch effort. Two days ago, I didn't understand agarwood at all."

  Lao Chen slightly raised an eyebrow, but politely didn't ask further, only saying, "There are often little girls who come to my shop, asking for agarwood by name, but not one of them is willing to spend more than 50 yuan on a box. I sell it to them, and watch as they happily leave with their purchase, it's really strange that they're actually willing to deceive themselves like this."

  Meng Cicada also smiled, "The mentality of those who go to the old market to dig up antiques is about the same, always thinking that they can get a pie from the sky and be the only one to grab it. They think they have a chance to pick out a real deal among all the fake goods in the market. When young girls buy agarwood, most of them are just buying the fragrance, even if it's added with fragrances, as long as the smell is similar, they're satisfied."

  Lao Chen raised an eyebrow again.

  Mo Yan admitted, "I heard the master of the Chinese medicine shop say that in the past, there were some medicinal agarwood in the shop, but now they can't be used. The master said that if you want to see the real eaglewood agarwood, you have to go to Xiangguan. If Chen's spice shop in Xiangguan doesn't have it, then the whole city of D doesn't need to look for it anymore."

  Lao Chen smiled at this.

  Lao Chen specially closed the front gate and led Xiaoyan to the back hall. He took out a small wooden box from the inner room.

  Moth cicada knew his eyes were dull, and after looking for half a day, he couldn't see anything special except that it was wood. Old Chen smiled, "The wonder of incense is never seen with the eyes. It's only when you understand it in your heart that it's truly wonderful."

  Misty cicada nodded, but was actually distracted. She carefully turned her head towards the inner room where Old Chen had just walked out - she wanted to know if those precious agarwood and sandalwood had ever summoned souls here.

  But she saw nothing, yet strangely heard what seemed like the sound of a wooden fish.

  Mò Tiān asked Old Chen, "Is there a temple nearby?"

  The old man's face changed suddenly, but soon calmed down. "Miss must have misheard. There are vendors selling rat poison on the street, and according to the old rules, they tap bamboo clappers."

  "Oh." The cicada lowered its head.

  She had seen the spirits of Little Rabbit, Butterfly and Meng Huan's soul, if there were also souls that refused to leave here, she believed she should be able to see them. Since nothing was seen, then even if the sound of the wooden fish was heard, it was probably just a misunderstanding.

  Lao Chen looked at the girl's face carefully and sighed, "Miss, you're a police officer, right? There's no need to be so secretive, just ask if there's something on your mind."

  With a slight tremble, she raised her head and gazed into Old Chen's eyes. After many years of handling fragrances, one's temperament would also be refined to the point where it could penetrate the soul, just like the fragrance itself.

  Misty's face turned red, "You misunderstood. I came for Chen Xiang, but I'm not a police officer. I just...just hope to use my own humble strength to find the murderer who killed Chen Xiang."

  Lao Chen was taken aback, "You're Chen Xiang's good sister?"

  The cicada shook its head.

  Lao Chen asked again, "Then, did Chen Xiang ever have a favor for you?"

  Mò zhān thought for a moment and shook her head, "On the contrary, we used to have disagreements."

  Lao Chen couldn't hide his shock, "Then why are you helping her?"

  "Perhaps there's no inevitable reason - it's just that I happened to be passing by, and I couldn't bear to watch her go like this. Maybe even if we catch the killer now, we can't bring back the life she lost; but at least, we can let her rest in peace."

  Lao Chen hung his head in shame, sobbing softly. "Compared to you, I'm a useless father. When I heard the news of my daughter's death, all I could do was cry for three days, and then I had to continue running my shop, living my life as usual - this numbness makes me unworthy of being her father."

  Misty cicada was also sad, but reached out to gently pat the old man's arm. "The dead are gone, and the living must continue. You didn't do anything wrong, let the police handle the case." In her heart, Misty cicada added another sentence: If the murderer wasn't a policeman who could be caught alive, then I will also do my best.

  Lao Chen wiped away his tears, "Ask your questions."

  Mò Tiān nodded, "I want to know, the story of the agarwood pendant that Chen Xiāng is wearing."

  Mò zhān came out of Chen's spice shop, took a one-hour long-distance bus, and arrived at Lianhua Mountain in Lin County. Lianhua Mountain is shaped like a nine-petaled lotus platform, hence its name; later, monks came to beg for alms and build temples.

  That monk was extraordinary, not just relying on his eloquence, but using his medical skills to treat the illnesses of the common people. When they recovered, he didn't even charge a medical fee, saying that the herbs were collected from the surrounding mountains and were a gift from heaven. The people were grateful for his kindness and voluntarily contributed money, bricks, stones, wood, and labor to help him build the Lotus Temple on the mountain step by step.

  There is a temple on the mountain, and in the temple there should be a Buddha statue. The monk didn't rest for two days, then went down the mountain to continue practicing medicine, hoping to welcome a compassionate and efficacious Buddha statue.

  "That monk didn't leave his name, so the local people all called him Lotus Monk. It's said that Lotus Monk once made a grand vow in the temple to build a sandalwood pavilion to worship Buddha... but he left and never came back after many years." The old man selling incense outside the mountain gate of Lotus Temple spoke slowly.

  He bought a stick of incense, lit it respectfully and placed it in the incense burner. He looked up at the Buddha statue and listened to the staff's introduction, only to find that it was actually the statue of Lotus Monk...Lotus Monk treated people's illnesses with kindness and great courage, and eventually built this temple; he went on a long journey to welcome the Buddha statue, but failed to return, so he himself became the deity worshipped in the temple...

  Perhaps there was originally no such great distance between man and Buddha, but just a single thought apart.

  The cicada doesn't understand Buddhist teachings, but is willing to offer a stick of incense for the lotus flower monk.

  On the way back, I kept hearing the sound of a wooden fish drum ringing in my ears.

  The long-distance bus was bumpy, and a peasant next to me still had a cage of chickens and ducks. However, amidst the bumps and the clucking sounds of the fowl, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

  It seemed like a movie unfolding before her eyes, she saw a monk striking a wooden fish, walking steadily along the mountain road, telling everyone he met about his grand wish. Because of his benevolent medical skills, the people were deeply moved and this time they donated not only silver and bricks but also the agarwood hidden in their homes.

  The Xiangyuan border, mostly inhabited by spice merchants, had a large accumulation of agarwood in their homes. From spring to summer, autumn to winter, Lotus Monk finally collected the required amount of agarwood after going through countless seasons. He happily hired a horse-drawn carriage and driver, loaded with agarwood, and rushed back towards Lotus Mountain.

  ...the distance to the realization of the macro-wish is only half a step away, and Mozhen can almost feel the joy of the lotus flower and the monk. But just at this moment, just in this half-step, everything came to an abrupt end.

  The car arrived at the station, and Meng Xian wiped away the clear tears from the corner of her eyes with her fingertips, got off the bus, and opened her phone.

  Mo Ye wasn't by her side, but he seemed to be able to sense her emotions, and surprisingly, he quietly listened to her finish the story without making a sound. Only when she said "I'm done", did Mo Ye softly ask, "So you're saying that the killer who harmed Chen Xiang is actually Lotus Monk?"

  The lotus monk collected a large amount of agarwood, but those who didn't understand the fragrance thought it was just wood. Those who understood the fragrance knew it was a huge fortune - so halfway through, someone killed the lotus monk for this agarwood.

  The lotus monk died with his obsession for the fragrance of incense, and because his grand wish was not fulfilled, he could not enter reincarnation. So he has been searching for this stick of incense all along.

  Many years later, he found that a small piece of the agarwood had been carved into an agarwood pendant and was being worn around the neck of another little girl in the Chen family...

  Everything seemed so logical and coherent, but Mo Xie interrupted, "No, that's not right. You're wrong. The murderer can't be the lotus flower monk."

  "Even if the person who killed him back then was Chen's ancestor, even if he really found Chen Xiang by following the fragrance of agarwood, but he absolutely wasn't the murderer."

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  Update 2 coming soon.