Chapter 44 - Righteous Monastery

Chapter 44 - Righteous Monastery

Within the five-Buddha hall, Li Huowang met Abbot Xin Hui once again. However, this time the abbot wasn’t alone; there were four more elderly monks sitting in a row behind him.

“Since you’ve returned, Benefactor Xuan Yang, let’s get straight to the point. We need to hold a Great Fast to offer salvation to him,” said the abbot.

“Right, abbot, let’s start,” replied Li Huowang immediately.

“Take it easy, Benefactor. Dan Yangzi’s karma is still connected to you. Before we can perform this ritual, we need you to calm your mind.”

“Calm my mind?” Li Huowang was puzzled.

“Amitabha! Benefactor, your mind is quite restless and troubled,” said the abbot.

Before the abbot could even finish speaking, Li Huowang retorted in a stern and loud voice, “I’m not sick!”

His voice was so loud that Li Huowang even startled himself.

Li Huowang could see the five elderly monks gazing at him thoughtfully. He took a deep breath and clenched his trembling fists. “May I ask, abbot, what it is that I must do in order to calm my mind?”

At that moment, a yellow-covered scripture was presented to him. “Take this Emptiness of the Five Aggregates[1] Sutra, and recite it three times a day.”

Li Huowang took it and flipped through the scripture; it was full of obscure Buddhist scriptures that he could not understand in the slightest.

“Just reciting it will do? There’s no specific technique? Or no need to eat anything?” asked Li Huowang. Such a simple step was way beyond his expectations.

When he saw Abbot Xin Hui shake his head, he took the scripture and started heading out. Right as he was about to exit, he turned around to look at the elderly monks sitting cross-legged on their prayer mats.

“Abbot Xin Hui, does the Righteous Monastery have any cultivation techniques?” asked Li Huowang.

“Naturally. As long as Benefactor is willing to shave his head and join our monastery, you may freely access our entire Scripture Repository.”

Upon hearing that, Li Huowang turned and left; it was not possible for him to become a monk.

“Benefactor Xuan Yang, why don’t you stay in the temple during this period? It’s also troublesome for us if you keep coming and going from the monastery like this,” said Abbot Xin Hui just as Li Huowang was about to leave.

There was someone kneeling before the figure of the Bodhisattva; the one who had just entered was not some monk, but a woman.

A woman? In the temple this late at night?

Before Li Huowang could even make sense of what he was seeing, the woman began to silently pray.

“Oh merciful and compassionate Bodhisattva, I beg you, please give me a son. If I don’t give birth to a son this time, I’m going to be sold away.”

Just as she was praying, a half-naked monk who had been behind the statue approached her before gently covering her eyes with a red cloth. Her body trembled ever so slightly, but she did not resist. Soon, her breathing started becoming heavier and heavier.

Soon, seven or eight bald-headed monks walked out from the surrounding darkness, each with their hands clasped together as if they were praying. Then, they slowly surrounded her.

This is the truth behind the effective child-bearing prayers?!

Li Huowang was dumbfounded as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him, toppling his previous understanding of the Righteous Monastery.

Suddenly, he sensed something and quickly turned around to see Jian Dun, standing in the courtyard while illuminated by the moonlight.

I’ve been discovered!

Jian Dun did not say anything as he looked at Li Huowang, only gently beckoning with his hand before turning to leave.

Li Huowang glanced at the chaos within the temple one last time before following Jian Dun quietly.

Jian Dun did not bring Li Huowang anywhere special, but only to his residence. Then, he lit up the oil lamp and sat down on a stool.

“I know what Benefactor must be thinking—that the Righteous Monastery’s monks are impure? But does Benefactor believe all the worshipers to be fools? Why would they come to pray so late at night?” said Jian Dun.

Standing at the door, Li Huowang did not say anything, waiting for him to continue.

“If they want a son, then we’ll give them a son. As monks, we are just that compassionate, and thus we do good deeds,” continued Jian Dun.

Li Huowang could not help but frown. “Then there must be a lot of those ‘good deeds’ of yours roaming around here.”

“The Righteous Monastery’s disciples have never proclaimed that our prayers to the Bodhisattva are effective. All those rumors have just been spread around by the worshipers themselves. We didn’t say anything, and they didn’t ask anything.”

1. The five aggregates are form (or materiality), sensations (or feeling), perception, mental formation, consciousness ?Chart your course back to the origins of this substance at n0v^lbin