Chapter 44: Zhengde Temple

Chapter 44: Zhengde Temple

Within the Hall of the Five Buddhas, Li Huowang met Abbot Xinhui once more; this time, the abbot was not alone, for four elderly monks sat in a row behind him.

"Since you have come, Benefactor Xuanyang, let us not mince words. We must hold a grand universal feast to deliver his soul."

"Very well, Abbot, let us begin," Li Huowang replied without hesitation.

"Patience, Benefactor Xuanyang. The karma of Danyangzi rests upon your shoulders. Before this ritual can commence, you must first calm your mind."

"Calm my mind?" Li Huowang asked, puzzled.

"Amitabha. Benefactor, your mind is far from calm; your mind is afflicted."

Before the abbot could finish, Li Huowang retorted sharply, "I am not afflicted!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Huowang was startled by the sheer volume of his own voice.

Seeing the five old monks gazing at him with profound meaning, Li Huowang drew a deep breath and clenched his trembling fists. "May I ask, Abbot, what must I do to calm my mind?"

A scripture with a yellow cover was presented to Li Huowang. "Take this Scripture of the Five Aggregates Being Empty back with you, and recite it thrice a day—morning, noon, and night."

Li Huowang took it and flipped it open, finding it filled with obscure Buddhist texts, so convoluted that he could not grasp a single meaning.

"Is reciting it enough? No cultivation techniques? No special elixirs to consume?" The simplicity of the steps fell far short of Li Huowang's expectations.

Seeing Abbot Xinhui shake his head, Li Huowang took the scripture and turned to leave, but just as he neared the door, he turned back to look at the old monks seated cross-legged on their cushions.

"Abbot Xinhui, does Zhengde Temple possess any cultivation techniques?"

"Naturally we do. Should the benefactor be willing to shave his head and join our order, he may peruse the Scripture Pavilion at his leisure."

Hearing this, Li Huowang turned and walked away; becoming a monk was out of the question.

"Benefactor Xuanyang, why not stay at our temple for the time being? Running back and forth like this is troublesome for you and for us."

This time, Li Huowang did not refuse; since he had already chosen to trust them, remaining overly guarded over such a trifle would only make him seem petty.

A secluded wing room in Zhengde Temple was prepared for him, and Li Huowang stayed there quietly, studying the scripture they had given him.

For the first few days, Li Huowang was somewhat on edge, but upon realizing that no one in the entire temple paid him any mind—not even when he wandered into the bustling main hall to watch the monks interpret fortune sticks—he gradually relaxed.

Late at night, accompanied by a single oil lamp, Li Huowang held the scripture in both hands and chanted. "My life is exhausted. The holy life has been lived... what had to be done has been done. There is no more coming to be. When this teaching was spoken, the minds of the five bhikkhus were liberated from all defilements. They believed, accepted, and practiced..."

When he first began reciting the so-called Scripture of the Five Aggregates Being Empty, Li Huowang felt nothing, but as the days passed and he found his sleep growing ever more restful, he realized the text truly held power.

Having calmly finished a recitation, Li Huowang slowly closed the book, blew out the oil lamp, and prepared for sleep, his mind already plotting his next moves.

"Once Danyangzi is dealt with, I will go find the Black Taisui. If I can stabilize my condition, I can finally live a steady life in this world."

"But that Black Taisui looks quite ferocious. If I actually catch it, how am I supposed to bind it and carve off its flesh to eat every month?"

"Right, and then there is strength. I must gain enough power to protect myself, but that is easier said than done."

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly caught a fleeting shadow of a head passing by the door, and his body instantly tensed.

"Is someone in the temple watching me?" Li Huowang slowed his pace, creeping toward the door and sliding back the bolt.

He yanked it open just a crack; the moonlit courtyard outside was completely empty. Li Huowang cautiously poked his head out and spotted, in the distance, the hem of a yellow monk's robe swiftly disappearing into a dark corridor.

"What is this temple up to?" After a moment's thought, Li Huowang slowed his steps and followed.

Quickening his pace, Li Huowang caught sight of the bald head ahead under the moonlight. He could not see the monk's face from behind, but the absence of any ordination scars suggested he held little status in Zhengde Temple.

And so, through the deathly silent temple, one walked ahead while the other followed far behind.

As they walked, the monk suddenly darted aside, slipping through the ajar door of a side room.

Li Huowang was about to slip in after him, but reconsidered, turning instead to the other side of the hall and wetting his finger with saliva to poke a hole in the paper window.

Compared to the Hall of the Five Buddhas where the abbot resided, this hall was small, even cramped; the Bodhisattva enshrined within, one hand forming a mudra and the other holding a vase, was barely human-sized, and only two candles burned on the altar, casting the hall in deep gloom.

Someone was kneeling in prayer before the Buddha, but it was not the monk who had just entered—it was a woman.

"A woman? Here in the temple in the dead of night?"

Before Li Huowang could puzzle it out, the woman began to murmur in a low voice.

"Oh, great and merciful Bodhisattva, I beg of you, grant me a son. If I fail to bear a son, my husband will sell me off."

Even as she spoke these words, a half-naked monk quietly emerged from the shadows behind the Bodhisattva statue.

He drew a strip of red cloth and gently blindfolded the woman.

The woman trembled violently but did not resist; her breathing grew heavy, and with each inhalation and exhalation, seven or eight bald heads emerged from the surrounding darkness, pressing their palms together and slowly closing in on her.

"So this is the truth behind their miraculous fertility blessings?" Staring at everything inside, Li Huowang was dumbfounded, his entire perception of Zhengde Temple shattered.

Suddenly sensing something, he spun around sharply, only to see a monk named Jiandun standing like a statue in the bright moonlight of the courtyard. "I have been spotted!"

Looking at Li Huowang, Jiandun said nothing, merely giving a slight wave of his hand before turning and walking away.

Casting one last glance at the chaos unfolding inside the hall, Li Huowang quietly followed him.

Jiandun did not lead Li Huowang anywhere else, but back to his own quarters, where he lit the oil lamp and sat down on a stool.

"I know what you are thinking, Benefactor. You probably believe the monks of Zhengde Temple have not severed their worldly ties. But do you truly think those pilgrims are fools? Why else would they come to worship in the dead of night?"

Standing at the doorway, Li Huowang remained silent, waiting for the other to continue.

"When people want a son, we give them a son. Monastics are driven by compassion; this is an act of charity."

Hearing this, Li Huowang could not help but frown. "Then you certainly do a great deal of this charity on a grand scale."

"No disciple of Zhengde Temple has ever claimed our Bodhisattva grants miraculous fertility. It is the pilgrims who spread the word themselves; we never said it, and they never asked."

(End of Chapter)