Zhengde Temple

Chapter 42: The Temple

In Li Huowang's experience, most temples were built on mountains. Temples built inside a city were relatively rare.

But that wasn't what he cared about right now. What he cared about was the name the incense-offering pilgrim had just spoken. "Zhengde Temple?"

Li Huowang's memory snapped back. Zhengkun's dying words to Danyangzi—they had been hunted by monks from Zhengde Temple before.

His heart began to race. He had found the right place. After everything he had been through, he had finally arrived.

Just then, as he rounded a bend, the view opened up before him.

Clean, smooth flagstones paved the way all the way to the foot of a wide staircase. At the top of those hundreds of steps, a solemn temple with ochre-red walls came into view, wreathed in swirling incense smoke.

Above the tall temple gate hung a black plaque bearing three large characters in vermillion: Zhengde Temple (正德寺).

The couplet on either side read:

Cultivate virtue, plant karmic seeds, and the Dharma body is perfectly realized.
The water is clear, the moon appears—a jade-covered dignity.

Beneath the thick, rising incense smoke, the entire temple was shrouded in white mist, giving it an utterly transcendent, immortal-like quality.

"Little Daoist, I won't go in with you. Please, go on ahead. Oh, and Xijing is different from Jianye—there's a curfew at night. Make sure you're back before dark."

Li Huowang took a deep breath and walked toward the steps, which were crowded with a surging tide of people.

Following the flow of pilgrims, he entered the temple. Several great halls stood before him.

At that moment, Li Huowang stood there like a reef in the human current, taking in everything around him.

He had found the temple. But the next question stumped him: How exactly was he supposed to approach the monks here?

Just walk up and say, "I'm Danyangzi's disciple"? They'd probably kill him with a single palm strike.

Before Li Huowang could come up with a plan, a monk from Zhengde Temple approached him first. After all, even in the thick of the crowd, Li Huowang's Daoist robe was far too conspicuous.

When the monk spoke, his words carried a purity of Buddhist flavor that the old beggar-monk from before couldn't even begin to match. "Amitābha. This humble monk is Jian Dun (坚沌). I greet you."

Seeing the portly monk before him press his palms together in a formal greeting, Li Huowang quickly returned the gesture. "Reverend master, an honor. This one is Xuan Yang."

"Benefactor, as a disciple of the Mysterious Gate, you have surely not come here to burn incense and worship the Buddha, have you? This way, please."

Li Huowang glanced at the bustling crowd around them, then nodded and followed the monk toward a side gate.

Staring at the incense-burn scars on the back of the monk's head ahead of him, Li Huowang began to turn over in his mind what he should say next.

They wove their way through the imposing temple buildings. The clamor of the crowd at the main gate gradually faded away. Eventually, they stopped beneath a golden ginkgo tree, beside a set of stone tables and stools.

"Benefactor, please sit." The monk Jian Dun sat down, slowly turning a string of prayer beads in his hands with unhurried calm.

He did not ask Li Huowang which sect or school he belonged to. He did not ask his purpose. He showed the pure, distilled essence of a Buddhist disciple's serene detachment from desire.

Li Huowang thought for a moment, then looked at the monk before him. "Danyangzi is dead."

Clatter.

The brownish-yellow prayer beads scattered across the ground.

Seeing the portly monk stand up, Li Huowang nodded to himself. He was right. These monks had definitely had dealings with Danyangzi.

"That cursed Daoist is truly dead? This matter is of grave importance. Please, benefactor, tell me everything from the beginning."

Since the monk wanted answers, Li Huowang would have to give him enough information.

Omitting the fact that he had taken the so-called Heavenly Scripture, Li Huowang told the monk everything that had happened at Qingfeng Temple.

"Reverend master," Li Huowang leaned forward slightly, his expression turning grim. "Under those circumstances, could Danyangzi really have become an immortal?"

He paused. "Or perhaps... he became something else?"

A breeze passed by, rustling the golden leaves of the ginkgo tree beside them.

"Benefactor, you say you truly heard Danyangzi's voice in your ear?" The monk Jian Dun's face was equally grave as he pressed for confirmation.

"Mm. Absolutely. And it wasn't just a hallucination. There was also the anomaly with the Xi Shen."

Recalling the scene, a flicker of agitation passed through Li Huowang's eyes.

"That Xi Shen, which couldn't be looked at directly, was about to crawl out of the darkness and eat me. But its body, hidden in the shadows, seemed to be pulled by something."

"I have no proof, but in my heart, I have a guess. The thing that pulled the Xi Shen back into the darkness... that was Danyangzi. Danyangzi, after he became an immortal."

The monk Jian Dun thought it over with a grave expression, then stood up. "Benefactor, please wait a moment. This matter is of great importance."

With that, Jian Dun pressed his palms together in a bow toward Li Huowang, then turned and hurried away.

He hadn't said a word, but his attitude had already conveyed a great deal.

Li Huowang looked up at the clouds in the sky. "As I thought. Danyangzi's business isn't over that easily."

Jian Dun returned faster than Li Huowang had expected. In less than the time it takes half a stick of incense to burn, he came hurrying back with a new string of prayer beads in his hand.

"Benefactor Xuan Yang, this way, please. The abbot wishes to see you in person."

Zhengde Temple was vast. Li Huowang wove through its halls for a good while before finally arriving before a magnificent main hall.

Through the hall's eight-open doors, Li Huowang could see inside: five enormous, majestic golden Buddhas, each over ten zhang tall, seated cross-legged in various postures.

On a cushion before the five golden Buddhas sat a figure in a kasaya robe, seen from behind. On his head was a Five-Buddha Crown, reminiscent of the one Tang Sanzang wore.

As Li Huowang walked in, he heard the monk's chanting. Because the hall was so vast and empty, the sound of the sutra even produced an ethereal echo.

Under the gaze of those five enormous golden Buddhas, Li Huowang found his pace slowing involuntarily.

The chanting stopped. The monk sitting cross-legged on the cushion slowly turned around.

When Li Huowang saw the monk's face, he was momentarily taken aback.

He was an old abbot with completely white eyebrows and beard. What surprised him was not his exceptionally kind-looking face, but his eyes.

They were pink eyes. Having spent so much time with Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang could recognize it at a glance. This man had the same condition she did: albinism.

"Amitābha. This old monk, Xin Hui, greets you." Abbot Xin Hui pressed his palms together, his voice calm.

"This one is Xuan Yang. I pay my respects to the abbot." After finishing his formal greeting, Li Huowang sat down facing him.

"Abbot, regarding Danyangzi—"

Li Huowang had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he was stopped by the Abbot's raised hand.

"Benefactor Xuan Yang, do you recognize the five Buddhas within this hall?"

Li Huowang shook his head. Xin Hui gently stroked his long white beard and explained, "In the center sits Vairocana of the Central Vajradhatu Realm. To the east, Akshobhya of the Eastern Realm of Manifest Joy. To the south, Ratnasambhava of the Southern Realm of Joy. To the west, Amitabha of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. To the north, Amoghasiddhi of the Northern Realm of Accomplished Deeds. Together, they are called the Five Tathagatas of Wisdom."

A flicker of impatience rose in Li Huowang's heart. What was this monk getting at, talking about all this irrelevant stuff?

"Abbot, we can talk about this another time. But right now, I need to ask—what exactly has Danyangzi become?"

Xin Hui pressed his palms together and looked calmly back at Li Huowang.

"He has become a Buddha."

There will be an additional chapter later tonight. Please be patient.