Longxing Temple.

Once called Huangjue Temple, it was the place where Emperor Hongwu used to be a monk. It was only later that Emperor Hongwu personally bestowed it the name of Longxing Temple. To be more precise, Emperor Hongwu was 25 years old when he finally left the temple, before wandering the world, joining the Red Turbans rebel forces, before finally establishing one of the most illustrious dynasties in the history of Cathay.

The city-wide power outage had little effect on Longxing Temple. Monks were still going about with their evening classes, while an old monk remained seated in the middle of the main hall, leading a few other novice monks in the sutras that they were chanting. They were surrounded by dozens of lit candles.

Suddenly, the candles flickered wildly, and then returned to normal again. The old monk paused for a moment, and then spoke with an equally calm and placid voice, “You may be dismissed.”

The novice monks glanced at each other in dismay. Master Yuanzhi may appear to be kind, but they knew that in reality he was one of the strictest masters around, and he would never allow them to leave earlier than their regular dismissal time. Was something wrong with him today?

“Stand down!” Yuanzhi raised his voice and dismissed them for the second time. Naturally, the novice monks complied and bowed immediately, “Yes.”

“And close the door after you.”

With that, the novice monks...