Qin Zheng sized up Xuzhu before him: thick brows, large eyes, a flat nose, a sturdy build, and hands covered in calluses. At a glance, he clearly did plenty of hard work in ordinary life.
"What sutras do you usually recite?"
"This humble monk has studied the Diamond Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and Patriarch Bodhidharma's Sutra on the Four Practices of Entering the Way under his master."
Xuzhu answered every question, the very picture of simple honesty.
Looking at him, Qin Zheng let out a faint sigh and said, "Seeing you today suddenly brought to mind an old story of an eminent monk who broke the precepts."
Xuzhu asked in puzzlement, "If he already broke the precepts, can he still be called an eminent monk?"
Qin Zheng smiled slightly. "This eminent monk was originally the state preceptor of Kucha. Back then, when Lu Guang conquered Kucha, he got the monk drunk and forced him to share a sealed chamber with the Princess of Kucha, making him break the precept against wine and the precept against lust.
"Later, when he regained his freedom and reached Chang'an, Yao Xing also honored him as state preceptor. He first bestowed a palace maid, who bore him two sons. After that, Yao Xing added ten singing girls and granted them to him, and even built a separate official residence solely for him and those women to live in."
His face full of disapproval, Xuzhu said, "How can a monk like that count as eminent? That he was forced to it in Kucha, with no way out, might be let pass. But later, when he went to Chang'an and became state preceptor, how could he still break the precepts of his own accord—and even have sons with women? A sin, a sin."
Qin Zheng said with relish, "But he is an eminent monk recognized by the whole Buddhist community. In his lifetime he translated seventy-four Buddhist sutras in all. The Diamond Sutra and the Lotus Sutra you studied were both translated by him.
"The terms 'great chiliocosm,' 'a single instant,' 'a snap of the fingers,' and 'flowers raining from the heavens' were all created by him. Would you say he counts as an eminent monk?"
Xuzhu's expression changed sharply. "Ah—the man you mean is Master Jiumoluoshi! He actually went through something like that? Why has my master never told me?"
Watching his shocked face, Qin Zheng asked further, "If you and Jiumoluoshi were to change places, what would you do?"
Xuzhu pressed his palms together, his face resolute. "Amitabha. This humble monk would keep the precepts without fail, and never break them."
Qin Zheng said with meaning, "You grew up in Shaolin from childhood and have scarcely come into contact with the temptations of the outside world. If you were ever to break the precepts, could you truly go on holding to a Buddha's heart?
"If one does not know the Spring and Autumn Annals, one cannot engage the world; if one has not mastered Laozi and Zhuangzi, one cannot forget the world; if one does not practice Chan, one cannot renounce the world. If you do not understand worldly affairs, then however many Buddhist sutras you read, it will only be castles in the air, and you will never grasp the true meaning of the Dharma.
"You would do better to come with me on a trip through the jianghu. First go and see the great chiliocosm outside, and broaden what you have seen and heard."
Xuzhu looked utterly blank. In his heart he seemed to be considering it in earnest. After a moment he came back to himself and said, "What the Benefactor says is not without reason. This humble monk will go report to his master at once, and see whether he can gain his master's consent."
Qin Zheng narrowed his eyes and smiled. "He will agree. First go to the Scripture Library and find an old sweeping monk. Have him put this book beneath Prajna Palm for me. Then pack your things and come find me."
As he spoke, he took out a book and handed it to Xuzhu.
Xuzhu took the book, turned, and walked out of the accounts office into the Scripture Library.
Once Xuzhu had explained his errand, a puzzled look came over the Sweeping Monk's face. Even so, under Xuzhu's gaze, he put the book in place. Xuzhu then went to the rear courtyard and found his master, Monk Huilun.
When he had heard Xuzhu's account, Huilun looked with a complicated expression at this disciple he had raised with his own hands, and said with a sigh, "I had planned to take you down the mountain next year for tempering. Now the temple has met with a great upheaval, and that plan can no longer be carried out. Since Benefactor Qin does not disdain your dullness, go down the mountain with him.
"But Xuzhu, you must remember: while you walk the jianghu, you must never break the precepts, and you must not neglect your daily practice either."
Shaolin Temple's finances were in trouble now. Even if Xuzhu did not leave, he would likely be sent to lodge as a visiting monk at some other temple.
At the thought of Xuzhu's honest, simple nature, he knew that anywhere else Xuzhu would certainly be bullied. Better to let him follow Qin Zheng down the mountain. At the very least, by Qin Zheng's side, Xuzhu would not be left to go hungry.
Xuzhu knelt and kowtowed. "Your disciple will faithfully follow Master's teachings, and strive to finish his tempering and return as soon as he can."
Huilun helped him up. Even as he earnestly impressed upon him, point by point, what he must watch for after going down the mountain, he took two taels of loose silver from his private savings and packed them away for Xuzhu.
After bidding his master farewell, Xuzhu shouldered his bundle, found Qin Zheng, and followed him down the mountain.
At noon the next day, Jiumozhi arrived, travel-worn, at the foot of Shaolin.
Seeing monks leaving along the road in small groups, bundles on their backs, he was full of doubt. He caught one monk and asked, "Master, where are all of you going?"
The monk saw that Jiumozhi bore a solemn, majestic presence, the very image of an eminent monk who had attained the Way. He pressed his palms together and said, "In answer to you, Master: our Shaolin Temple has met with a great calamity. The Bandit King Qin Zheng has seized our fields.
"The temple can no longer sustain its daily expenses. We have no other course but to lodge as visiting monks at other temples."
Jiumozhi's heart lurched. Disaster—it seemed he had arrived a step too late!
At once he drew that monk closer and questioned him carefully. Once he had a clear account of what had happened the day before, he froze where he stood, staring and speechless, and did not even notice when the monk left.
Xuanci was the real Murong Bo, and the Murong Bo he knew was only a stand-in?!
Both of them had fled now, and the Beggar Gang was hunting them everywhere?
Because a rebel abbot had appeared, the court had granted Shaolin Temple's fields to Qin Zheng, and now Shaolin, unable to support its disciples, was nearly disbanding?
In an instant, Jiumozhi found that this jianghu had become something he could not understand at all...
But he quickly came back to himself. Shaolin Temple had dispersed so many disciples—he could go and seize the secret manuals!
Jiumozhi's eyes lit up. Using his lightness skill, he reached Shaolin Temple, avoided the monks, and slipped into the Scripture Library.
He searched among the packed shelves for a while and at last found where the secret manuals were kept. On the shelves he rapidly hunted for Shaolin's sect-defining treasure, the Yi Jin Jing.
After rummaging a short while, he finally found a yellowed book beneath Prajna Palm. On the cover, three large characters leapt to the eye: Yi Jin Jing!
Jiumozhi was wild with excitement, and the corners of his mouth lifted before he knew it. Yet when he opened the pages and saw what was inside, he went utterly still.
The pictures of unclothed men and women in all manner of poses flushed him red with rage. "This is the Yi Jin Jing? Damn it, these are plainly spring-palace pictures!"
As his words fell, two figures burst in one after the other. They were Xuan Nan and Xuanku, patrolling the temple.
Seeing that a foreign monk had broken into the Scripture Library and was still holding a copy of the Yi Jin Jing, Xuan Nan blazed with anger. "Who are you, daring to come to our Shaolin to steal the Yi Jin Jing? Surrender at once!"
In his fury, Jiumozhi hurled the Yi Jin Jing at him. "Shaolin Temple hides spring colors in secret—shameless to the extreme! I, Jiumozhi, am ashamed to keep company with lecherous monks like you!"
Xuan Nan caught that "Yi Jin Jing" with great care, utterly baffled. "What are you saying? Are you Jiumozhi, the State Preceptor of Tubo?"
Jiumozhi gave a cold snort, turned, and leaped out the window. Xuanku made to give chase, but Xuan Nan seized him by the arm. "Junior Brother, do not pursue him, lest we fall for a trick to lure the tiger from the mountain."
Xuanku paused a moment, then nodded. "Fortunately he did not take the Yi Jin Jing away. Let it go at that. But how did the Yi Jin Jing come to be in the Scripture Library? Haven't we always kept it in the Bodhi Court?"
Xuan Nan was puzzled as well. Frowning, he opened the "Yi Jin Jing" in his hands, and in an instant his face turned scarlet. He said, furious beyond measure:
"No wonder Jiumozhi said Shaolin hides spring colors in secret. He was not wrong! Which lustful monk put this book here?!"
The broom in the Sweeping Monk's hands paused slightly. "..."
How did I, this old monk, become a lustful monk?
Chapter 33