THE SIGN [IND-ENG]

Chapter 7 - ENG

Case File: SIO1

 Hero [The Murderer Surrendered to the Police]

Why do you have to drive me away? Luang Pu. How come I can't know it, too?

Because I'm the one who brought Phaya here. Tarn thought while eavesdropping on the wooden door with a little frown on his face as he couldn't hear the muffled voice inside clearly.

When the door flapped open, Tarn almost nosedived onto the ground. Luckily, he still managed to keep his balance. Tarn faced up and quirked a smile at Phaya.

"You finished talking?" Tarn asked with a feeble voice. He was quite embarrassed to be caught in the act by the person inside. Phaya cast a reproaching glance at Tarn, but still stepped aside for the other to let Tarn in, nevertheless.

"Tarn, come in." Luang Pu called on him. Tarn hurriedly walked in and sat down.

"Luang Pu, about Phaya..."

"When you go back to work this time, be mindful.." Luang Pu's voice remained a sense of tranquility. Tarn pursed his lips and listened carefully. "Don't get carried away by

self-indulgence until you lose touch with mindfulness."

Tarn's face grew droopy, hands folded in respect while cocking an ear.

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."

Luang Pu locked the gaze on his little pixie, knowing all too well how quietly headstrong his naughty pupil was. Regardless of how intense his solicitude was, he could only offer a helping hand to the best of his ability. Luang Pu twirled around to pick something from the monk's sack. Then he handed clean, yellowish money porches to Tarn and Phaya each.

"Please mark my words. Only your mindfulness and wisdom will set you free from the karmic tapestry. Keep doing good deeds to keep earning merit." Luang Pu paused before shifting his glance to Phaya. "..Use your good deeds as your defense, and everything will fall into place at the end."

Phaya held still in the deep thought of Luang Pu's teaching. It means that Luang Pu

had already resolved all his former doubts.

"Yes. Please don't worry, Luang Pu. Tarn will never perform misdeeds."

Luang Pu landed his eyes on Tarn before gradually shutting those eyes down and resuming his meditation state. Tarn and Phaya exchanged their gaze, nodded to each other, paid homage, and left by the monk's cell door. Behind the backs of two young police officers appeared a luminous, golden-hued figure at the front door. The man, grand and tall, had a complexion akin to harvested hay was adorned in golden ornaments studded with red-blooded gemstones. He stood still, radiating a furious glow as he fixated on the antique wooden door until it flung open, revealing a holy man inside who was immersing in the depths of meditation.

'Please don't interfere with matters that aren't yours.' That low-pitch, stern, and imperious voice roared. Those bloodshot eyes gleamed with rage.

The ascetic figure responded with a serene tone.

I just did it out of a duty-bound sense I deem necessary.

'Duty? Or do you actually want to intrude? Without you, he would have returned to abide with me in days of yore...' Both hands clenched when evoking the spirit repossession ritual in earlier times. He was close to accomplishing it. Until the arrival of the venerable monk's obstruction, that task had fallen unfeasible.