Read Novel Full Chapter 297: Exchange
Chapter 297: Exchange
Jiang Lanting stopped the sparring and said to Ding Songyan, Xie Fengchao, and Bai Qilin, "You three amuse yourselves for a while."
She had been taken in by Perfected Xiang as his youngest disciple when he was one hundred forty years old, which gave her a very high seniority in the Yin-Yang Order.
It just so happened I came to visit, and Perfected Xiang has something for Jiang Lanting to do... But that doesn’t prove anything. A master giving errands to his disciple is common, something that happens every few days... Ding Songyan watched Jiang Lanting hurry off, then turned to Xie Fengchao and said deliberately, "Your third grandfather failed to become a Heaven-Man again, which is a real pity and a shame, but there’s no need to be this downcast, is there? Since your branch went back to the old surname from Fang, you haven’t had a Supreme Master, and you’ve been doing fine, haven’t you?"
Xie Fengchao glanced at Ding Songyan.
"You don’t understand."
I understand all too well. Where there are people, there’s strife. Branch families and main families are prone to conflict to begin with, and your Xie family not only went back to its old surname but still holds the Fang family’s most lucrative business, so there must be plenty of scheming... Ding Songyan laughed openly.
"I may be a Brightnight Sect disciple, but I’ve seen how fickle people are and how cold the world can be. How could I not understand?"
Xie Fengchao sighed.
"Our Xie family is reasonably secure for now, but so many people have their eyes on the banking business. They all want a cut, and the greedier ones would like to push us out entirely. At Liheng Bank, the Xie family are only managers who happen to be related to the owners, not owners. How could we ever stand against them?"
"Besides, the main Fang family does have its prodigies, but plenty of useless, all-talk-no-ability people too. The thought of spending my whole life sucking up to them is suffocating.
"If our family could produce a Heaven-Man, we’d be one of the owners, true brothers of the Fang family, bound by shared blood."
If Bai Qilin hadn’t been there, Xie Fengchao would have cursed up a storm in the Flame Capital’s refined speech.
Still, he trusted this low-key, steady companion. Whatever went into his ears, he would never repeat it without permission.
"Fifth Young Master Xie always looks so splendid, but who knew there’s some bitterness behind it," Ding Songyan teased, then said seriously. "Relying on others is no match for relying on yourself. If you want the Xie family to produce a Supreme Master, then work harder yourself."
Xie Fengchao’s expression shifted several times, and he gritted his teeth.
"You’re right!
"In youth, one should set lofty ambitions. If one doesn’t even dare think of the Heaven-Man Realm in youth, are they to wait until they’re seventy to think about it?"
Ding Songyan glanced at Bai Qilin, leaned toward Xie Fengchao’s ear, and said softly,
"I forgot to tell you. My senior sister is about to enter the Dharma Realm, within a month at most.
"Keep it secret. Don’t tell anyone for now."
Xie Fengchao’s eyes suddenly went round.
A Dharma Realm Grandmaster before twenty-three?
I knew Miss Zheng was talented and formidable, but I never imagined she’d be this terrifying!
"Let me tell you one more thing." Ding Songyan was determined to provoke him to the end. "I’m close too."
"..." Xie Fengchao turned to look at Ding Songyan in a mix of shock and disbelief, nearly bumping into him.
Wait, how long have you been in the Brightnight Sect?
Is your talent even higher than your senior sister’s?
What kind of freak monster is this...
As his thoughts raced, Xie Fengchao gritted his teeth.
"After the New Year’s festival, I’m leaving the capital to travel the jianghu again!"
I absolutely can’t let this senior-sister-and-junior-brother pair leave me too far behind!
See, isn’t your drive up now? Aren’t you full of motivation, no longer lingering over the Flame Capital’s pleasures it has to offer? No need to thank me, it’s just what a good friend does... Ding Songyan smiled, struck up a chat with Bai Qilin, and left Xie Fengchao to calm himself down.
Bai Qilin was actually quite curious what Second Ding had said to make Fifth Young Master Xie go from dejected and gloomy to brimming with drive, as if someone had lit a fire under his backside, but he restrained himself and didn’t ask.
After a while, Jiang Lanting returned to the courtyard holding a sandalwood box and said to Ding Songyan and the others, "My master asked me to deliver something to Shilin Temple, for Divine Monk Dazhi."
For Divine Monk Dazhi? Ding Songyan tensed and asked as if casually, "Does Perfected Xiang have a friendship with Divine Monk Dazhi?"
That doesn’t seem right. Divine Monk Dazhi is only around sixty, of the same generation as the Gold and Silver Twin Swords and other Supreme Masters. Perfected Xiang is over a hundred and fifty, at least three generations apart, and Perfected Xiang hasn’t made a move in nearly forty years, when Divine Monk Dazhi had barely set foot in the jianghu...
"No." Jiang Lanting shook his head without a moment’s hesitation. "Divine Monk Dazhi gave a Dharma talk at Shilin Temple yesterday. My master heard about it, became interested, and wants to exchange views with him on the Way, its Virtue, and the Buddhist Dharma."
That sounds perfectly reasonable, but could it be a hint to me? If Perfected Xiang really is Jiang Weichen, is he saying something is wrong with Divine Monk Dazhi? Is there a reason behind the Demon Sovereign hiding in Shilin Temple earlier? Is he connected to Divine Monk Dazhi somehow? Mm, or maybe Jiang Weichen is just misleading me, or Perfected Xiang isn’t that elder at all and truly just wants to exchange views on the Way and Buddhism with Divine Monk Dazhi... Ding Songyan’s thoughts raced, and he couldn’t reach a judgment.
Just then, Xie Fengchao asked, "What are you delivering to Shilin Temple, what’s in that wooden box?"
"I don’t know either. Divine Monk Dazhi has to open it himself," said Jiang Lanting, equally curious.
As a direct disciple of Perfected Xiang and a newly advanced Grandmaster, he was the best person to deliver the wooden box, since the one on the other end was a Buddhist Arhat.
Jiang Lanting looked down at the white pleated skirt with red patterns and sighed regretfully.
"This isn’t suitable for the occasion. I’ll go change."
Using the Chaos Realm, Ding Songyan had already confirmed that the box held only a folded sheet of stiff paper, and guessed it was something like an invitation.
Before long, Jiang Lanting came back wearing a bamboo cap and a moon-white thick cloth robe, which hid his graceful figure. He said to Ding Songyan and the other two,
"Wait if you can, and if you can’t, go your separate ways."
How could I not wait for you, Young Master Jiang? I’m still hoping you’ll tell me what kind of person Divine Monk Dazhi is... Ding Songyan muttered silently.
...
Shilin Temple, in a meditation room.
Jiang Lanting met Divine Monk Dazhi and Monk Fumo.
The Buddhist Arhat was thin and short, not even 1.7 meters tall. Unlike Monk Fumo, who wore a simple gray monk’s robe, he wasn’t wearing a bright red kasaya either, just a plain yellow monk’s robe. His face was ordinary, his bearing unremarkable, with nothing unusual about him. If the guest-receiving monk hadn’t introduced him and Monk Fumo hadn’t vouched for him, Jiang Lanting would have overlooked him, taking him for one of Shilin Temple’s unremarkable monks.
"Greetings, Divine Monk. My master heard that your Dharma talk yesterday enlightened many people, and he’s curious and wishes to seek your guidance," Jiang Lanting said, presenting the black sandalwood box with both hands.
Monk Fumo took it, opened it, took out the invitation-like item inside, and handed it to Divine Monk Dazhi.
Divine Monk Dazhi unfolded it gently and saw rows of aged, vigorous ink characters.
The ink was black, the gaps were white, and the black and white interwoven, suddenly entering Divine Monk Dazhi’s eyes.
Countless black and white strokes danced and shifted, rapidly evolving into the great sun, bright moon, stars, high mountains, deep seas, and more, forming a well-framed world that embraced the myriad things, with all forms complete, giving one a glimpse of the Way and its Virtue, enough to bring tears to the eyes.
This feeling gradually faded from before Divine Monk Dazhi’s "eyes." The characters were just characters again, the ink was ink, and the gaps were still white.
Divine Monk Dazhi was silent for a moment, then chanted a Buddhist proclamation.
"Namo Amitabha. I heard that Perfected Xiang became a Heaven-Man through the Great Thousand Method, and today I see he truly lives up to his reputation."
He set down the calligraphy in his hand and gripped the brown prayer beads hanging at his chest, his lips moving as if reciting sutras.
After a moment, the thin, short divine monk took off one bead, placed it in the black sandalwood box, and personally returned the box to Jiang Lanting, "This poor monk’s grasp of the Dharma is shallow. I beg Perfected Xiang’s guidance. Sorry to trouble you, Benefactor Jiang."
Jiang Lanting glanced at his master’s calligraphy a few times but saw nothing strange. He had no choice but to leave the meditation room, and under the open and covert gazes of many monks, return to the Yin-Yang Temple. In a courtyard with rockeries, flowing water, flowers, and trees, he found Perfected Xiang.
It was nearly midwinter, but this place felt like early spring.
Perfected Xiang was tall, about 1.85 meters, with delicate features and a handsome face. By looks alone, he could be called a man or taken for a woman without any impropriety. Although he was over a hundred and fifty, there were few wrinkles on his face, his skin was smooth and glossy, and his hair was entirely white but didn’t look dry or withered. It was lustrous and shining, tied in a Daoist topknot and pinned with a jade hairpin.
"What did old Monk Dazhi send back?" the Perfected One, in a water-blue Daoist robe, asked in a teasing tone.
Jiang Lanting handed the wooden box to his master and said curiously, "A prayer bead. Master, what does that mean?"
Perfected Xiang didn’t answer. He opened the box, took out the brown prayer bead, and held it in front of Jiang Lanting’s eyes.
In an instant, Jiang Lanting saw the bead come alive, a bodhi seed quickly growing into a towering tree.
The tree was eaten by insects, snapped by wind, flooded by water, then struck by lightning, caught fire in a roaring blaze, became charcoal, and returned to ash.
From the ashes, a speck of new green emerged and kept growing.
Another cycle.
Jiang Lanting stood dazed, feeling it, and by the time everything before his eyes dissipated, he still hadn’t snapped out of it, still immersed in the sorrow of endless repetition.
"Understand what it means?" Perfected Xiang asked leisurely.
Jiang Lanting shook his head in confusion.
"The great thousand myriad forms are nothing more than formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness." Perfected Xiang shook his head with a smile. "That monk really knows how to curse someone out."
I see... Jiang Lanting tried asking,
"Master, should we reply to Divine Monk Dazhi?"
Perfected Xiang looked at Jiang Lanting and chuckled.
"Exchanges among the righteous stop just before crossing the line. It’s not as if we’re dealing with evil demons and heretics."
Jiang Lanting had no objection. He bid his master farewell and left the courtyard.
On the way back to his own quarters, he savored the experience he had just had and found it quite profound.
Is this what a Heaven-Man is? Jiang Lanting sighed spontaneously.
In his own courtyard he found Ding Songyan and the other two still waiting. Young Master Brightstream immediately perked up and began showing off this experience.
Ding Songyan listened very carefully, asking questions from time to time, and pieced together in his mind an image of Divine Monk Dazhi.
It bore no resemblance to the Demon Sovereign, and he was much shorter too.
Is it really not a hint? Whether Perfected Xiang is Jiang Weichen is still up in the air... Ding Songyan frowned slightly.