Chapter 253 — The Monk's Heart Awakens

"In the Heart Zen Hall there are also those who do not practice silent-mouth. It is a good thing you came along with me; had I come alone, they would certainly have nagged at me. You are the Demon Cult's Hierarch, and these days they would rather nag at you; and when they cannot out-nag you, this scene from the Hall of Heavenly Dragons will play out again. " The blind elder shook his head.

"Then we will not go. Most in the Great Thunderclap Temple are false monks; those who match inside to outside, knowledge to action, are few. The moment you say they are wanting, they will quarrel with you — and to bring a person to heartfelt assent is the hardest thing of all. They cannot break their veil of delusion. They love to take a simple truth and make it complex, to talk you in circles; follow them onto their ground and you have lost. " Old Master Huo said: "A truth well told is still only a truth; in the end it comes down to what is done.

In this world there truly are few real monks; most are false. Those who open their mouths and let fall a shower of flowers, quoting scripture and canon — all false; they can only show off, never do. One in a hundred is real, and that is a gift from heaven. The Tathagata has grown old, slack in his teaching; these last years he seems willing but powerless. " He had never been fond of many words, but revisiting an old place, his tongue had somehow loosened. The monk Jingming and the others watched them walk away, and looked at one another.

"Sinister.

This Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult is truly sinister.

" A white-browed monk sighed and said: "The Tathagata's keeping him in the temple may well prove no blessing to our Great Thunderclap Temple.

" Another presiding monk said: "That the Tathagata wants to keep him, I cannot fathom. He is the Demon Cult's Hierarch — which Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult was ever easy to deal with?

" The white-browed monk Jingming said: "There is no need for wild guesses. The Tathagata's meaning was to steep him in Buddhist law, to let him know how vast it is, so that he would forsake evil for good and take refuge in the Buddhist gate.

The Tathagata originally had his eye on him and wished to take him as a disciple; but it happened that the founder of the Dark Demon Cult arrived first and snatched him away. " The white-browed monks were astonished. They knew his bond with the old Tathagata was deep as that of master and disciple, and that few matters were kept from him; they said hurriedly: "Such a thing happened? " The white-browed monk Jingming said: "That Ximilo was the token of it.

Who would have thought he would casually give it away to a monkey? The Tathagata took it that the affinity was severed, and so did not go looking for him.

In truth the Tathagata had a second reason for keeping him here: with this Hierarch Shen, the Dark Demon Cult shows its first omens of revival. The Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult is close to the Imperial Preceptor Jingping; in this snow disaster, the Hierarch, farsighted, ordered the whole cult to aid the emperor in relieving the stricken. With the emperor and the Imperial Preceptor Jingping as its arms, the Dark Demon Cult is bound to flourish throughout the realm. " The faces of the white-browed monks changed greatly; they stamped their feet and said: "How can this be permitted? " The white-browed monk Jingming said: "If this Hierarch Shen were kept forever imprisoned in the Great Thunderclap Temple, the Dark Demon Cult would be without its Hierarch, the momentum of its revival would be broken, and demon would wane as Buddha waxed — a blessing for our Great Thunderclap Temple. Even if the Dark Demon Cult wished to find another Hierarch, I fear it could never find one so outstanding. As for the third reason.

.

. " In his eyes Buddha-light flickered bright and dim. He said quietly: "It is the next Tathagata. The old Tathagata lacks the boldness of the Dark Demon Cult's founder — the boldness to choose a green boy and make him Hierarch. His heart still favors the Horse King God, whom he deems fittest to inherit his mantle.

A pity. . . " The other white-browed monks exchanged glances and sighed in one voice: "A pity.

" The little monk Chenghuai came over in a daze and said to the white-browed monk Jingming: "Master, I.

.

. " Seeing him so out of sorts, Jingming consoled him: "Good child, you have been bewitched by the words of the Demon Cult's Hierarch. Devils are best of all at bewitching men's hearts — and how much more so the Demon Cult's Hierarch?

" "But I felt there was sense in what he said.

. . " The white-browed monk Jingming laughed heartily.

"Good child, our temple's sutras contain many judgments on devils.

Go and see what the ancients said, and you will resolve it yourself, without any need of my guidance. " Chenghuai remained unsettled in mind. The white-browed monk Jingming frowned. He knew the shock Shen Mu had dealt this little monk was too great; better to give him something to do, to occupy his thoughts.

So he said: "First go tend to your elder brothers' wounds, then set the dragon pillars upright again. Broken as they are, they can still be glued.

" Chenghuai assented and hurried off to help his elder brothers of the Hall of Heavenly Dragons and to tend the injured. But the monks gave him no pleasant looks; one after another they flicked their sleeves and drove him off.

Chenghuai stood blank for a moment, then went to raise the fallen dragon pillars. Several monks came and shouldered him aside. He pushed his way back in, and someone's palm — he never knew whose — knocked him to the ground. Chenghuai sat there staring blankly at the crowd, then silently rose and went to the scripture library to read the sutras.

Yet the truths in those sutras would not enter his head, try as he might. The white-browed monk Jingming was also setting the Hall of Heavenly Dragons to rights when he suddenly caught sight of Chenghuai walking down the mountain with a small pack on his back. Something stirred in his heart, and he called out: "Chenghuai, have you brought the sutras?

" Chenghuai halted: "Master, I have brought a copy of the Heart Sutra.

" The white-browed monk Jingming nodded: "Go down the mountain, then. Turn back before it is too late.

The sea of suffering is boundless; turn your head and there is Mount Sumeru — there is the Great Thunderclap Temple.

" Chenghuai knelt, knocked his head twice to him, and turned and went. Behind him the bell of the Great Thunderclap Temple sounded.

The sun stood at the zenith; the sunlight cast the little monk's shadow down the mountain, drawing it long.