【Thirty-Four】The Solution to the Spell Turns Out to Be Very Simple

Huang Lihua returned to Switzerland after a long and tiring journey and immediately went to the bank to transfer a sum of cash. Afterward, he returned to Paradise Hotel. When General Manager Wilson saw Huang Lihua return alone, he knew that he had failed to accomplish the mission assigned to him by the princess.

Wilson reminded him, “Lihua, the princess is waiting for you at the castle.”

“After I put down my luggage and get some rest, I’ll go to the castle to see the princess,” Huang Lihua said. He then picked up his suitcase and headed toward the stairs.

Huang Lihua entered Sky Castle, where Maria was already waiting for him in the main hall. Standing beside the princess were the Dragon Knight and Grand Mage Rufus.

Lihua came to the foot of the steps, clasped his hands, and said, “Princess, I failed to accomplish the mission. I did not handle the matter properly. Please punish me.”

Hearing this, the princess turned around and said calmly, “I know you did everything you could. If even you could not persuade the couple to come back, it shows just how deeply I have hurt David.”

Hearing the self-blame in the princess’s words, Lihua felt somewhat relieved. But, as expected, Rufus said, “There must be some hidden reason why David and Eileen do not want to return. I am willing to make the trip myself and try to persuade the couple to come back and serve the princess.”

The Dragon Knight, however, was not optimistic. He reminded him, “Grand Mage, although your magical powers are formidable, David and Eileen are no longer the people they once were. If you intend to use brute force, I’m afraid you won’t gain anything from it.”

Rufus gave a bitter smile. “Of course I won’t use force against David and his wife. I know that my abilities are no match for David. However, if I go there and still cannot persuade the two of them to change their minds, the princess can consider using…”

Before Rufus could finish, Maria raised her hand, signaling him to stop, and Rufus wisely fell silent at once.

“I would never treat David that way. In his previous life, he already gave my father one of his lives, and in this life, he helped me eliminate Anderson. I will neither hurt him again nor have the heart to do so,” the princess said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Seeing this, the weight in Huang Lihua’s heart quietly lifted. He thought to himself, “So the solution to the spell is simply these three words: ‘I cannot bear to.’ The princess truly is a woman of deep loyalty and feeling.”

Rufus sighed. “Sigh... Since the princess has no intention of using her ultimate weapon, even if I find David and his wife, all I can do is patiently try to persuade the young couple, and my efforts will most likely be in vain.”

The princess said, “You should still make the trip, shouldn’t you? Grand Mage Rufus, help me personally deliver a handwritten letter to David.”

Rufus said, “Very well. I hope this journey can help the princess put one of her burdens to rest.”

The princess beckoned to Huang Lihua. “Painter, you understand Chinese. I would like you to come to my study and help me write that letter.”

Huang Lihua clasped his hands and said, “Please lead the way, Princess. I will accompany you.”

The princess waved her hand. “Everyone, withdraw and get some rest.” Rufus and the Dragon Knight immediately clasped their hands, turned around, and left the hall.

The master and servant walked one after the other, with two attendants following behind them, and entered the princess’s study.

The study had circular white marble walls and a waist-high stained-glass window facing the courtyard garden. An entire curved wall was lined with bookshelves, neatly filled with numerous classical texts. In one corner stood an ivory harp. Beneath the window was an oval desk inlaid with amethyst, accompanied by a long bench. Two Eastern Buddhist scriptures lay on the desktop. An attendant brought over a tall-legged chair. Huang Lihua immediately noticed the two Chinese Buddhist scriptures on the desk, The Diamond Sutra and The Shurangama Sutra, and thought to himself, “The princess actually takes the initiative to study Eastern Buddhist scriptures as well. No wonder she is so knowledgeable and perceptive.”

The princess picked up the copy of The Shurangama Sutra from the desk. Each section contained a translation. She opened it to a marked page and pointed to a passage. “Painter, please help me transcribe this passage of Chinese scripture.”

Huang Lihua took the Buddhist scripture and carefully read the passage and its translation:

“You carry my destiny. I still owe you a debt. Thus, through countless eons, we remain entangled in the cycle of life and death. Your love is in my heart, and I have compassion for your form. Through countless eons, we continue to be bound by this karmic connection. As a result, the cycle of karma and its consequences persists.”

An attendant immediately prepared silk paper and a quill pen and spread them across the desk. Huang Lihua steadied his breathing and began transcribing, but his thoughts could not help churning inside him: “So the princess has been suffering so deeply in her heart. How could she not want David by her side? Oh... the only person in the princess’s heart is Xiaoyang...”

After he finished transcribing the passage, the princess took out a handkerchief and said, “Painter, this poem is something I wrote for David. Please have Father John translate it into Chinese and include it with this letter, then give both to Grand Mage Rufus.”

Knowing Each Other in This Life

But once we meet, we know each other;
What is meeting compared with never meeting?
If only I could sever my ties with you,
So that I would not spend life and death longing for you.
—“The Passionate Monk,” Tsangyang Gyatso

In this rolling mortal world,
amid the vast sea of humanity,

I once thought that once I entered the monastic path in this life,
I would cut away passion and desire,
knowing neither sorrow nor joy.

After the ellipsis,
there should have been nothing but a blank space.

Until I met you,
only then did I realize
that you are the unavoidable lesson
of the second half of my life.

In the valley, I am the evening cloud,
wandering, lingering, and lost.

You are that ray of sunlight,
breaking through the darkness in my heart,
illuminating the entire valley.

The morning bell rings leisurely,
its echo striking the mountain walls again and again.

I am a pinecone,
hanging from a pine branch,
picked and opened by you,
revealing the pine nuts
that contain all the love of this lifetime.

You tenderly care for me,
saying that you will stay by my side,
like sunlight and rain and dew,
waiting for me to change my heart,

to awaken
and let whatever remains of the second half of my life
send forth tender green shoots
and bear the enlightened fruit of wisdom.

If Heaven has feelings,
should I believe in reincarnation?

Should I believe in you,
and let you ferry me
to the other shore of wisdom?

I once feared that too much love
would damage my Buddhist practice.

In truth, how fortunate I am
to have known you.

Across countless rivers and mountains,
let us walk hand in hand
and accompany each other on the journey.

“To be true to the Buddha,
and true to the one I love.”

I have finally attained enlightenment.
If I am truly without emotion and without love,
then in this lifetime of spiritual cultivation,
I will surely never see the Buddha.

After reading the poem line by line, Huang Lihua deeply felt the princess Maria’s profound and devoted love for David. It had pierced through both his previous and present lives. Tears glimmered involuntarily in his eyes, and he was deeply moved by the fate that had toyed so cruelly with these two people who loved each other but were never destined to be together.

Grand Mage Rufus, carrying the princess’s handwritten letter, traveled all the way to Taiwan. From the major cities to the small countryside, from the seaside to the deep mountains, Rufus remained disguised throughout his search, yet he never sensed David’s presence. Even on an island as small as Taiwan, how could he possibly find the couple?

Standing along Tamsui’s Golden Waterfront, Rufus stared blankly at Guanyin Mountain across the river, most of which was hidden beneath dark clouds, and thought to himself, “The sea of humanity is vast. Finding Lin Xiaoyang and his wife may come down to nothing more than luck.”

At that moment, in a deserted island harbor in Penghu, a small yacht was anchored offshore. On the deck, Xiaoyang and Minhua were busy hanging cleaned and gutted fish from a net line. The dried fish, once exposed to the sun, could be preserved for a long time and served as their food supply.

“Minhua, are you getting used to this life far away from the noise and turmoil of the world?”

“It’s wonderful! Every day we have different kinds of seafood to eat, seabirds for company, and whenever we have free time, I paint and sketch. I have nothing to complain about with a life like this.”

“Following me to wander to the ends of the earth, I must have made things difficult for you.”

Minhua smiled and said, “I don’t feel that way at all! As long as I have you by my side, every corner of the world feels like paradise.”