‘I must seize this opportunity,’ thought Monk Huitong. He glanced at the woman in front of him, his voice as steady as possible.
“Your Highness, this humble monk has an old friend who has co from afar. I must go see him. I hope you will grant this favor.”
The woman in the peach-colored dress sat up straight and subconsciously turned her head to look toward the doorway, before turning back to Huitong.
“Since it is your old friend who has co to visit, I, Ruyuan, will not disturb you any longer, Master.”
The woman stood up gracefully and bowed to Monk Huitong, who stood up as well.
“Praise be to the Great Mingwang Buddha!”
Huitong returned the Buddhist bow and followed the princess to the doorway. When the door opened, they saw the capable female official standing there, with the monk who had co to announce the arrival of the visitor standing not too far away.
The princess smiled at the female official and spoke.
“Let us head to the monastery’s temple, then return to the other courtyard.”
As the princess spoke, Huitong winked at the monk beside her, who understood and quickly went to inform the individual waiting outside.
Ji Yuan waited for less than a quarter of an hour by the archway in the inner courtyard before the monk who had left in a hurry earlier returned.
“Praise be to the Great Mingwang Buddha! Benefactor Ji, my uncle asked to invite you over. This way, please!”
After chanting another Buddhist prayer, the monk gestured for him to enter. Ji Yuan bowed in return, thanked him for his trouble, and followed.
Although they were separated by a re open archway, the noise from outside Daliang Monastery seed to lessen considerably as they crossed the threshold. Inside, the atmosphere truly felt like a serene Buddhist sanctuary.
“Benefactor, this way, please!”
At each corner turn, the monk stopped to point the way.
After rounding the corner, as Ji Yuan and the monk continued forward, they happened to see a capable female official accompanying a woman dressed in a peach-colored dress slowly walking towards them.
In Ji Yuan’s vision, the female official’s movents were efficient, her breaths long and even. Coupled with her vigorous vitality and sparse yet solid scholarly aura, this suggested that she was a highly skilled individual holding an important post.
The woman in peach had a graceful figure and an air of nobility, with a hint of imperial aura accompanying her. She was undoubtedly a mber of the royal family. Combined with the previous rumors he had heard, her identity was practically obvious.
While Ji Yuan was observing the other party, the princess and her accompanying official were observing him in turn.
Ji Yuan walked with a leisurely air, exuding a sense of calm and ease. Even when his gaze swept over them, there was no hint of aggression. It was as if he were quietly admiring the scenery and glancing at the wildflowers. Moreover, he would look away after a couple of glances, exemplifying a gentlemanly deanor. Most importantly, he had a deep and thoughtful expression and was actually quite handso.
This society still valued appearances. If Ji Yuan had a swollen face covered in pockmarks and a bulbous nose, even the most refined manners would likely be ridiculed behind his back.
The two groups passed one another without exchanging a word. Only the monk, leading the way, quickly stepped forward and bowed with both hands clasped in greeting as the two won approach. Ji Yuan did not even pause.
After Ji Yuan left, both won subconsciously turned around to look at his retreating figure, only to find that he didn’t even turn his head to look back at them.
“This is Master Huitong’s old friend? He certainly has an extraordinary bearing!”
The female official, who was used to seeing the wealthy and the powerful, sincerely praised Ji Yuan. The princess beside her smiled as well.
“A visitor who could bring such joy to Master Huitong must not be an ordinary person.”1
The two exchanged a few words and slowly left. A short while later, Ji Yuan arrived at a secluded monk’s hall. There stood the young and handso Monk Huitong. Upon seeing Ji Yuan, he imdiately ca forward and greeted him with a Buddhist bow.
“Praise be to the Great Mingwang Buddha! It really is you, Mr. Ji!”
“How have you been, Master Huitong?”
Ji Yuan returned the greeting, and they briefly exchanged smiles and pleasantries, revealing that both of them were doing well.
Huitong nudged the monk beside him.
“Zhixing, you may leave now.”
“Yes, Master-Uncle!”
After the monk left, Ji Yuan finally uttered the words he had been holding back, in a slightly mischievous tone.
“Master Huitong, you must have quite a few won who are infatuated with you. Dealing with them must be more tiring than chanting sutras, no?”
“Alas… It’s even worse than that! It’s more strenuous than for than climbing mountains and performing rituals for the deceased! Please co inside, sir.”
The two sat down in the ditation hall. The table was the sa as before, and even the snacks and tea were left unchanged. Only the people seated there were different.
After exchanging so conversation for a while, Ji Yuan learned about what Huitong had been doing over the years.
“So, although the country of Tianbao isn’t exactly teeming with demons, it still faces internal and external troubles, showing signs of an unstable dynasty?”
“That’s right.”
Monk Huitong nodded.
“I first traveled around my own country of Tingliang. I stayed at Daliang Monastery for a while, then imdiately headed north to the country of Tianbao. The situation there had changed drastically in just forty years since my first visit. I ntioned my observations in detail in my letter to you, but it seems you did not receive it.”
Huitong had sent the letter to the foot of Tingqiu Mountain, where he asked the mountain god to forward it to the land of Dazhen, to be delivered to a post office in Dazhen and make its way to the postal service.2
Ji Yuan hadn’t been back in Ning’an County for years, so he wasn’t sure whether the letter had been lost en route, or whether it had been delivered and held in the governnt office because he wasn’t there. Ji Yuan hadn’t even returned to Ning’an County when Lu Shan Jun had transford.
“If the political and social climate are unfavorable, thirty or forty years is indeed enough for so people to devastate an entire country. The dynasty of Tianbao has been established for four hundred years, hasn’t it?”
Ji Yuan sighed and asked.
“Yes, it’s been a long ti. I once visited the country of Tianbao with my master, and thought that everything there was wonderful and amazing. But back then, my master said that even illiterate individuals could beco prefects or magistrates. Sotis, glory is just an illusion. I was young then and didn’t understand these things. Now, I think my master saw through it all back then.”
“Not all that glitters is gold!”
Ji Yuan murmured to himself, then asked another question out of curiosity.
“I wonder, is your master in the monastery?”
Monk Huitong chanted a Buddhist sutra.
“Praise be to the Great Mingwang Buddha! My master’s Dharma na was Fudu. He passed away thirty years ago, at the age of eighty-six!”
Ji Yuan frowned.
“Such an eminent monk only lived to be eighty-six? Does the Mingwang Buddha’s power not transmit the Dharma?”
“Life and death are determined by fate. Our Daliang Monastery is not a true Buddhist Dharma center. We have not even had an incarnation of the Mingwang Buddha manifest here. Although we possess so of the wisdom and Dharma of the Mingwang Buddha, unless aided by elixirs, not everyone can cultivate it. My master’s Buddhist teachings are profound, yet he still could not defy fate. However, I believe his soul will return to the throne of the Mingwang Buddha.”
To put it simply, those who were deeply versed in Buddhist teachings naturally possessed an enlightened state of mind, but their spiritual energy could not generate profound enough Dharma, and their physical functions could not withstand the passage of ti.
Ji Yuan shook his head. ‘Perhaps his soul can return to the throne of the Mingwang Buddha?’
Buddhism lacked the complete soul cycle found in the Taoist underworld. When an ordinary old monk passed away, unless there was in incarnation of the Mingwang Buddha, or a highly skilled Buddhist cultivator to guide his soul along, he would most likely still enter the underworld upon death.
But Huitong now possessed true Buddhist Dharma. He understood this issue to so extent, so Ji Yuan did not dig further in this area of questioning.
“By the way, Monk, what exactly is your relationship with that princess?”
“Oh, Mr. Ji, please don’t ntion it! You must have t that princess when you ca here, right? Don’t let her gentle appearance fool you, she’s actually very cunning. As the current emperor’s own sister, no one in the entire country of Tingliang dares to offend her. I don’t know why she took a fancy to a monk like . Dealing with her is exhausting!”
After all the important matters had been discussed, Monk Huitong began to pour out his grievances.
Huitong could only vent these things to Ji Yuan. Because of his special status at Daliang Monastery, he had no one to confide in. Although many monks claid that the mont they were ordained, shaving their heads also shaved off their worldly troubles, the monks themselves also had their own troubles.
“Haha, I see that the princess is young, elegant, and graceful, and quite beautiful as well. Monk, have you ever thought about returning to secular life? I see that although your Buddhist teachings are profound, your Buddhist nature is not that of a ditative old monk. Why not consider it?”
“Sir, please don’t make such jokes. If the Princess hears, it will be terrible.”
Hearing Ji Yuan’s words, the aura and status of an eminent monk around Monk Huitong vanished considerably. Even though he knew no one was outside, he still cautiously glanced at the doorway, then said with a wry smile.
“His Majesty actually issued a special decree for his own sister, ordering to tutor the Princess in the classics. But she’s not really here to learn the classics…”
Ji Yuan laughed.
“Haha, she’s just lusting after your body?”
“Well…”
Hui Tong’s face stiffened for a mont. Although Mr. Ji’s words sounded extrely awkward, he couldn’t say anything to refute them.
Daliang Monastery held the state temple of Tingliang, and it had deep ties to the royal court of the country. Even though Huitong was a monk with genuine Buddhist teachings, he could do nothing but comply with the emperor’s decree.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. You’ll have to overco this love tribulation yourself. Oh, speaking of tribulations, I just rembered sothing. Did you ever give so pointers to a man nad Zhao Long at a temple in Dazhen? After he beca a monk, his Dharma na was Jueming.”
Huitong frowned and thought for a mont, then shook his head.
“This humble monk does not recall anything like that.”
“Oh, so there is simply another monk with the sa Dharma na…”
“The sa Dharma na as ?”
Huitong pondered with traces of confusion. That being said, the character “Hui”3 was indeed used frequently in temples and monasteries.
“Monk, there’s no need to worry.”
Ji Yuan smiled and used his supernatural eye to observe in a certain direction, as if penetrating the wooden walls of the room, looking towards the largest hall in Daliang Monastery, the Mingwang Buddha’s Hall.
There, the smoke and scent of incense filled the air, and the faint sound of chanting lingered in the space.
“If I rember correctly, your main buddha is the Mingwang Buddha of Inscription?”4
“Indeed, it is the Mingwang Buddha of Inscription. What do you see, Mr. Ji?”
Monk Huitong knew that the person before him was a highly accomplished master and would not speak for no reason.
“Your Daliang Monastery has worked so hard for so long, with the Buddha statues in the hall listening to sutras every day and being imrsed in the power of incense and faith. The manifestation of the Mingwang Buddha is finally showing so promise. It is said that when the Mingwang Buddha manifests in his incarnation, his true form will personally descend. I wonder if this is true?”
Ji Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked at Huitong.
“Uh, this humble monk’s cultivation and knowledge are too shallow to answer your question, sir.”
Once there was an incarnation of the Mingwang Buddha in Daliang Monastery, regardless of how strong this incarnation was, Daliang Monastery would no longer be an ordinary Buddhist monastery. It would beco a true center for the Dharma, essentially a newly ergent place of cultivation.
T/n: LOL, lady, I think you have the wrong idea… Huitong was ecstatic to be freed from your presence XD T/n: buddy imagine if you could just casually ask a whole mountain god to send your letters 慧 (huì): intelligent 印 (yìn): to print/to mark/to engrave/to seal
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