In fact, given the current atmosphere of the Taoist discussion, Ji Yuan and the old monk Foyin were well aware of every movent around the monastery grounds, from the smallest blade of grass to the swaying of the trees. They were naturally aware of the Daliang Monastery’s dismissal of the pilgrims and the three n’s investigation.
Daliang Monastery’s dismissal of the pilgrims and subsequent closure allowed the two of them to act more freely; otherwise, the phenona would not have spread as soon as the visitors left.
Over the years, Ji Yuan had beco accustod to the wondrous power of his inner world. His mastery of the creation of his own heaven and earth was no longer rely a matter of skill; it naturally manifested itself to support his argunts as he discussed the Tao.
Furthermore, with the influence of his deductions of Cloud Mountain Temple’s “Wondrous Technique of Heaven and Earth,” even the starlight in the sky seed to be affected, light constantly falling to the earth.
To Ji Yuan’s surprise, the old monk Foyin also possessed a remarkable inner world, with strange phenona were constantly manifesting themselves from his inner realm as they discussed the Tao, including flowers, trees, red clouds, and Buddhist sounds.
This was like eting a worthy opponent in chess or drinking with a kindred spirit, a feeling that Ji Yuan and the Old Dragon had never experienced before during their own discussions of the Tao. Although Ji Yuan knew that the old monk Foyin would never have an inner realm that felt as real as the real world, this was still a pleasant surprise.
Many of the older monks at Daliang Monastery were now acting like firefighters, sealing off their inner spiritual senses to minimize the impact of the discussion of the Tao, and doing their best to ignore the various illusions, helping other monks who had succumbed to the influence of the phenona within the grounds of the monastery.
Those who were completely unconscious were moved to the outer areas unaffected by the sounds of the Tao. Since all the monks’ quarters were in the inner courtyard, they had to clear out so of the front halls and temples to house the monks.
For those who were less affected but were still unsteady, they were quickly moved further away, or simply woken up and allowed to leave on their own.
The three experts who had been frightened and left Daliang Monastery only truly breathed a sigh of relief once they were far away from the monastery, and had passed through the market square outside the grounds.
The three of them, slightly out of breath, looked at each other and then back towards the direction of Daliang Monastery. Once they left the monastery grounds, they felt that the surrounding night had beco considerably darker, while the direction of Daliang Monastery seed to be shrouded in a hazy starlight.
“All that just now… you all saw it too, right?”
The man surnad Tan, his emotions still running high, asked the elder and younger Tang brothers.
“Yes, it was unforgettable.”
“Sa here, it’s unbelievable!”
Even now, strange or desolate voices still lingered and echoed faintly in the three n’s minds.
“Let’s go and report back to the Sixth Master.”
The capital of Tongqiu Prefecture was only separated from Daliang Monastery by a stretch of forest and so villages and fields, a distance of less than ten li away. Ordinary people could walk from the city to the entrance of Daliang Monastery in about half an hour. However, these three n were highly skilled in movent techniques, and soon returned to Tongqiu Prefecture’s capital in no ti at all. They climbed over the city wall in the western edge, where a brazier was lit.
The three continued walking without pause and soon arrived at a large mansion in the city. After knocking on the door, the gatekeeper, who had been waiting, quickly ca out to open the door and welco them in.
A little over fifteen minutes later, in the guest hall of the mansion, a slightly overweight man of about fifty years old listened to the three n’s brief report. He looked sowhat astonished, and held a cup of tea in his hand for a long ti without moving.
“Are you saying that the deeper one goes inside Daliang Monastery, the more illusions one can see, and the more strange and terrifying sounds one can hear?”
The man surnad Tan frowned and corrected him.
“Replying to Sixth Master, the sounds were not frightening, just very strange. We tried to block our ears with our internal energy, but it didn’t help much. The more we listened, the more dizzy we beca, and the more hallucinations appeared before our eyes.”
“That’s right, Sixth Master. At first, the illusion I saw was a pool of water where golden lotuses were blooming. Strangely, although I don’t dislike gold and silver, I wouldn’t want to pick a golden lotus just because I saw one, but I rushed towards the pool, as if I knew that getting those few golden lotuses would be very important. Then I fell into the water with a splash.”
“Yes, yes, Brother Tan and I thought our brother would wake up after falling into the water, but we didn’t expect that he would still be struggling in the water, refusing to get up, shouting that he was looking for the golden lotuses.”
The man they called Sixth Master then lifted the lid of his teacup, brushed aside the floating tea leaves and stems, and took a sip of tea. His eyes wandered over the lamp beside him.
“Such a thing… As expected of the national temple that was bestowed with a gold plaque by the late emperor. Its closure at this ti truly seems to be due to so mighty power of the gods, immortals, and Buddhas…”
After muttering to himself for a mont, the man turned to look at the three people waiting quietly to the side.
“You’ve worked hard. Go and rest. You don’t need to worry about the rest.”
“Yes, sir!”
The three answered in unison, and then hurriedly left. The drowsiness in their heads had lingered, and they desperately needed a good night’s sleep.
After the three n left, the man known as Sixth Master imdiately returned to his study and began writing a letter. He wrote several pages before summoning a steward and giving him instructions to deliver the missive.
At the sa ti, in a mansion called the Departing Flourishing Blossoms Villa1 within Tongqiu Prefecture, the eldest princess lay on her bed with her head hanging over the edge, staring blankly at the beams and ceiling.
“What is Huitong doing… What has happened at Daliang Monastery…?”
…………
Daliang Monastery was undoubtedly a famous scenic spot in Tongqiu Prefecture. Not only did the people from both inside and outside the capital of Tongqiu Prefecture flock to Daliang Monastery to pray for blessings, but it was also a must-visit tourist destination.
However, at the beginning of the tenth lunar month, Daliang Monastery suddenly closed its gates, and those the temple gates had remained shut for five, ten, and now twenty days.
It was only due to the fact that the monks from Daliang Monastery needed to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables that the people in the surrounding area knew that the monks inside were still eating, drinking, and relieving themselves normally.
With Daliang Temple Monastery closed, various rumors and gossip circulated among the locals, leading to several different versions of the story.
So said that Daliang Monastery was receiving imperial relatives. Others claid that the abbot of Daliang Monastery had passed away. Still others wondered whether Daliang Monastery had been receiving too many pilgrims in recent years, and the monks wished to have a period of quiet reflection.
Even when the monks of Daliang Monastery went out to purchase supplies, they remained silent about matters within the monastery. At most, when soone asked if the abbot was still alive, they would helplessly reply that the abbot was well.
No monk in Daliang Monastery could remain within range of the discussion of the Tao for long. Even Huitong had left the area early on, sleeping on the floor in the outer halls with the abbot and the other monks.
This wasn’t sothing one could simply listen to and then sleep through; without proper cultivation and refinent, forcing oneself to listen again might an missing out on the later material and forgetting the earlier parts, which would be a net loss. Moreover, the later parts grew increasingly profound; to put it in layman’s terms, it was “simply no longer sothing a human could understand.”
By early on in the eleventh lunar month, the discussion between the Venerable Master Foyin and Ji Yuan finally ca to an end. Both had gained benefits and needed to digest what they had learned properly, to better transform them into aids for their spiritual practice.
Their two voices ceased, but the thick fog that enveloped Daliang Monastery did not dissipate. Even to Ji Yuan and the Old Monk Foyin, strange phenona still appeared within the swirling fog: Buddhist disciples walking, dragons and serpents flying, and stars falling from the sky as lotus flowers blood on the ground.
The Old Monk Foyin and Ji Yuan both stood up from their prayer cushions; one perford a Buddhist bow, and the other bowed with his hands clasped respectfully.
“A discussion with you, sir, is worth more than a hundred years of spiritual practice!”
The old monk’s voice was calm yet filled with uncontrollable joy, and Ji Yuan responded with a beaming smile.
“Master, you flatter . A discussion with you, sir, is of imasurable value, and has far exceeded the worth of a century of spiritual practice!”
Both were offering complints, but they were both telling the truth. Both Ji Yuan and the Old Monk Foyin had a feeling that if they had had the sa discussion but with people of the sa practice, for example the forr with another immortal or the latter with another Mingwang Buddha, they might not have received the sa profound gains as they had from this discussion.
Only today, with the perfect place, perfect ti, and perfect people all in harmony, could this rare and precious opportunity be seized.
It was dawn; the sun had just begun to peek out over the horizon, and a golden line of rosy light was just appearing to the east.
The old monk looked in the direction of the monastery’s bell tower, then at the surrounding mist, before speaking to Ji Yuan.
“The lingering regrets between us must be dispelled. Sir, would you like to strike the morning bell of Daliang Monastery today?”
Ji Yuan smiled and shook his head.
“Let the master strike it. After all, this Daliang Monastery will be one of the master’s small ritual sites in the future.”
“Hahaha, it might not be so small in the future!”
The Old Monk Foyin walked away slowly, while Ji Yuan remained standing under the tree. A mont later, the long-absent bell of Daliang Monastery rang out.
“Dong… Dong… Dong… Dong…”
The sound of the bell echoed far and wide, not only throughout the entirety of Daliang Monastery, but also carried beyond the monastery grounds, into the countryside, even faintly reaching the capital city of Tongqiu Prefecture.
As the bell rang, the hazy, bizarre fog that had been obscuring the monastery and creating a eerie atmosphere gradually dissipated. However, Ji Yuan believed that the mist had not truly disappeared. If, one day, the weather conditions were just right, and Daliang Monastery were shrouded in fog once more, strange and supernatural events might occur again.
Although this was just a fleeting feeling in Ji Yuan’s mind, it was remarkably accurate.
The monks of Daliang Monastery woke up almost imdiately, realizing that the discussion between the two eminent Taoist and Buddhist masters had finally co to an end.
Most of the surrounding residents and those in the capital of Tongqiu Prefecture were still asleep, but so woke up imdiately upon hearing the distant bell, and listened intently.
However, at that mont, most people were unsure where the bell ringing ca from, or even whether or not they were just hearing things, until they asked around after dawn and learned that other people had also heard it.
Not long after, news spread that Daliang Monastery would reopen to pilgrims the next day, leading people to associate the bell sound with the monastery, thus adding a touch of mystery to the event.
繁花 (fánhuā): flourishing blossom/a mass of flowers, 别 (bié): to leave/to part from/to differentiate/to avert OR (biè): to change opinions –> it’s a very flowery (if you’ll pardon the pun) and luxurious na for a residence
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