Duan Yu had not the slightest goodwill toward Jiumozhi, who had come to their door looking for trouble. In his heart, he already regarded him as a bandit and a robber.
So when Jiumozhi arrived at the Buddha Hall, Duan Yu did not show him so much as a pleasant look, and could not even be bothered to offer a greeting.
Seeing the several young men and women in the great hall, Jiumozhi paid them no mind. He only felt that Qin Zheng's figure was unexpectedly somewhat familiar.
Not long after announcing his name, he followed a young monk to Mani Hall behind the Buddha Hall.
Qin Zheng and the others followed him in. They saw that Emperor Baoding had already shaved his head and changed into monk's robes, and was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion with several monks.
Behind them, Master Kurong sat facing the wall, wearing an air of unfathomable profundity.
Jiumozhi stepped into the hall, pressed his palms together in salute to Master Kurong, and said, "Jiumozhi, a junior of the kingdom of Tubo, pays his respects to the senior master. Permanent and impermanent, the twin trees wither and bloom. North, south, west, and east—neither false nor empty!"
Hearing him recite the verse, Duan Yu asked quietly, "What do these four lines mean?"
Qin Zheng explained, "Aside from its temple-guarding treasure, the Six Meridians Divine Sword, Tianlong Temple also possesses a Wither-and-Bloom Chan Art. That is the art Master Kurong cultivates.
"Long ago, when the Buddha entered nirvana between the twin sala trees in the city of Kushinagara, there were paired trees to the east, west, south, and north. On each side, one of the two trees was in bloom and the other withered. They were called the Four Withered and the Four in Bloom.
"Later, someone joined this to Bodhisattva Nagarjuna's doctrine of the Middle Way, saying that the Buddha's passing between these eight trees meant neither withered nor blooming, neither false nor empty. From that, the Wither-and-Bloom Chan Art was created.
"Master Kurong has spent decades in quiet contemplation of withered Chan, yet he has only reached the realm of half withered and half in bloom. He cannot attain the higher realm of 'neither withered nor blooming, and both withered and blooming.'
"The moment Jiumozhi opened his mouth, he laid bare the origin of this Wither-and-Bloom Chan Art. He was making a show of it to overawe him."
As he spoke, he shook his head and said with a note of pity, "This art is meant to cultivate the Middle Way, yet what Master Kurong contemplates is withered Chan. That is a classic fall into the emptiness of annihilation. It violates the Buddhist teaching of neither permanence nor annihilation, of true emptiness and wondrous existence.
"In a sense, he has already set foot on a deviant path. Yet he has not walked far enough along that path, and he has never been able to open a road of his own.
"If he cannot come to his senses, then even if he sits in withered stillness until he dies, I fear he will never train this Chan art to its highest realm."
When his voice fell, everyone turned as one to look at his face.
Jiumozhi's eyes turned stern. His gaze, sharp as lightning, measured him, as if he meant to see through the thoughts in his heart.
The monks of Tianlong Temple frowned slightly. They were deeply displeased that Qin Zheng had said Master Kurong had taken a deviant path.
Feeling everyone's eyes upon him, Qin Zheng asked in puzzlement, "What are you all looking at me for? Did I say something wrong?"
"Amitabha. Many thanks to the benefactor for his guidance. Kurong bows his thanks!"
The cushion beneath him turned. Master Kurong, who had been sitting facing the wall, turned about. Solemn-faced, he pressed his palms together and bowed toward Qin Zheng.
Only then did everyone see Master Kurong's face clearly. That face was strange in the extreme. The left half was ruddy, the skin glossy and the flesh smooth, like an infant's. The right half was like withered bone. Aside from a sheet of scorched-yellow skin, there was no muscle at all. The bones jutted out, for all the world like half a skeleton, and the sight was deeply uncanny.
Frightened by that dreadful face, Duan Yu cried out and blurted, "Ah! Has Master Kurong fallen into qi deviation?"
Emperor Baoding hurriedly rebuked him. "Yu'er, do not be rude!"
Only then did Duan Yu realize he had said the wrong thing. He hastily apologized to Master Kurong. "This junior misspoke. I beg the master to forgive the offense of my discourtesy!"
Master Kurong smiled faintly and said, "What crime have you committed? This poor monk departed from the Middle Way of the Eight Negations and strayed onto the deviant path of contemplating withered Chan. It was indeed qi deviation. Had this benefactor not awakened me, I fear I would still be lost upon that deviant path."
With that, he looked toward Qin Zheng with gratitude in his eyes.
Qin Zheng shook his head and sighed. "It seems you still have not understood what I meant.
"There is nothing wrong with contemplating withered Chan itself. Your problem is that you are only withered and not alive, sitting lifeless in withered stillness. That is not true Chan. If you could comprehend from it the true meaning of the cycle of life and death, you could turn from death to life and from withering to bloom, and open a new path of cultivation for the Wither-and-Bloom Chan Art.
"But you contemplate withered Chan without understanding its true meaning. That is why I said you have not walked far enough along this path.
"The greatest problem with you is not, in truth, a lack of talent for martial arts. It is that you have only a smattering of the Buddhist Dharma, and cannot understand a secret manual written in Buddhist terms!"
Master Kurong's body trembled. He closed his eyes and chanted the Buddha's name. "Amitabha. My fault, my fault!"
Seeing that Qin Zheng had left Kurong speechless, Jiumozhi could not help growing wary. He stepped forward, saluted Qin Zheng, and said, "Your views are singular. You are surely no nameless man. May I ask your honored name?"
Qin Zheng cupped his hands. "Longmen Escort Agency. Qin Zheng."
Inwardly startled, Jiumozhi bowed slightly and said, "So it is the Great Hero of Guanzhong in person. I slighted Hero Qin earlier. This humble monk was discourteous."
Qin Zheng’s name had long thundered in Jiumozhi’s ears. The western Qinling was a buffer where the Northern Song, Western Xia, and Tubo bordered one another. Within that region, every mountain bandit and commoner obeyed the orders of Qin Zheng, the Bandit King.
Whichever state could win him over would hold an absolute advantage when war broke out. Jiumozhi therefore had no choice but to treat him with courtesy.
Qin Zheng smiled. "There is no need for the State Preceptor to stand on courtesy. Carry on. Pay me no mind. I only came to watch the excitement."
Jiumozhi gave a slight nod, then looked again at Master Kurong and said with every appearance of sincerity, "This humble monk has one true friend in this life, Mr. Murong Bo of Gusu.
"In years past, when Mr. Murong spoke of the sword arts under heaven, he firmly believed that the Six Meridians Divine Sword of Tianlong Temple in Dali was first among all swords in the world. He grieved that he had never seen it, and counted it the greatest regret of his life.
"Now that Mr. Murong has passed away, this humble monk wishes to copy a sword manual, take it before Mr. Murong's grave as an offering, and fulfill Mr. Murong's last wish."
When he finished, he clapped his hands. Someone presented a wooden chest. From within it he took out three volumes and set them before everyone.
"These three volumes of martial-arts essentials were written in Mr. Murong's own hand. They set forth the essentials, training methods, and counters of Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts.
"This poor monk is willing to exchange these three volumes for your honored temple's Six Meridians Divine Sword."
When he had spoken, Jiumozhi, perfectly at ease, demonstrated before everyone the power of three finger arts: Flower-Pinching Finger, Tala-Leaf Finger, and Formless Kalpa Finger.
These three finger arts were extraordinarily marvelous, and their might was astonishing as well. The people of Tianlong Temple praised them again and again, thinking that if they could learn them and verify them against the One Yang Finger, it would surely be of great benefit. They could not help but be tempted.
While the monks' hearts swayed, Duan Yu beside them was also watching, dazzled and entranced. He could not help cheering, "Wonderful! This is much better to watch than the monkey shows on the street!"
As the words landed, Jiumozhi's figure stalled. The internal energy in his body nearly went astray, and he at once turned a furious glare upon Duan Yu.
Realizing he seemed to have said the wrong thing, Duan Yu hurriedly fell silent. Under everyone's astonished eyes, he drew his head in and said quietly, "Did I say the wrong thing again?"
Qin Zheng's eyes lit up. Like a sect ancestor gazing upon a newly chosen Holy Son of the sect, he encouraged him with a face full of gratification. "Don't mind them. After all, you're the Heir of Dali. What ill intent could you have?
"If you can talk like that, then say a little more. You ought to know that even if I deliberately picked a quarrel, I couldn't come up with words like these!"
Chapter 9