Chapter 18: Courtesy demands Reciprocity

West of the city, Taian Temple.

Master Guanghong stood before the Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas, gazing calmly into the distance as he turned the prayer beads in his hand bead by bead.

Building Daoist and Buddhist temples in the city center might not be conducive to peaceful cultivation, but it certainly attracted the most incense and offerings. Though it wasn't yet noon, Taian Temple was already teeming with an endless stream of worshippers. The blue smoke from the incense burners could be seen from several streets away. No temple outside the city could match this.

“Master Guanghong.”

“Amitabha[1].”

Whenever a familiar worshiper passed by and greeted him, he would lower his head and respond with a smile, but his inner thoughts were far from peaceful.

He had sent paper Yakshas the night before to cause trouble for that meddlesome cultivator in the city, but they never returned and had silently lost contact with him. The technique of creating paper Yakshas was not as simple as just drawing Yaksha and symbols on a piece of paper. It required long-term accumulation to make them come alive and imbue them with spirituality. Continuous sacrifices and refinement were necessary to give the Yakshas strong bodies that were impervious to weapons.

Those two sheets of paper were expendable. Their loss was not significant. However, losing the spirituality within them meant he had to start over from scratch.

Years of accumulation, and two-thirds were gone.

Master Guanghong knew his opponent was remarkable, but he was really reluctant to accept it.

He had thought that perhaps the opponent just happened to see that these were paper Yakshas and just happened to know to use fire to counter them, thus winning the first round. So he sent out a dream demon he had nurtured for many years for a second magic battle last night.

He cast the spell during the third watch but unexpectedly the dream demon had not returned by the fifth watch, and only came back late when dawn approached.

It turned out that his opponent had posted a talisman at the entrance.

This talisman alone kept the dream demon lingering outside the door, anxiously unable to enter. It was forced to return as dawn approached.

The dream demon frequently entered people's dreams to create nightmares or pleasant dreams. It was a significant aid for swindling people out of incense and offerings. It could take lives in dreams, undetected by gods or ghosts. Nurtured by years of temple incense and offerings, the dream demon's abilities and intelligence were far superior to ordinary demons and ghosts, yet a little talisman had blocked it.

Master Guanghong was deeply alarmed at once.

Aside from the Yakshas and the dream demon, he had few skills left. Now he realized that the opponent's skills far surpassed his own.

In his unease, he commanded the last paper Yaksha and a few paper soldiers and generals to stand guard inside his room. He only felt somewhat calmer when he heard the temple's bell at dawn. When a disciple came to call him for a meal, he finally emerged from his state of terror and gradually came to a realization.

How would a newcomer to Yidu know it was him?

Yidu was a vast city with a sea of people. How would he find him? Who would dare to suspect that a senior monk from Taian Temple was behind the night-time supernatural attacks?

Without his noticing, it was already noon.

Master Guanghong turned to see a young novice ringing the bell in the garret.

Ding! Dong!

The melodious bell sound carried very far.

Song You ascended the steps, dressed in an old robe.

The calico cat followed him, constantly looking around.

Worshippers by his side were endlessly coming and going.

Among them were many

jianghu

people. It was uncertain whether they were accustomed to lodging in temples or had managed to sneak into the city without travel passes and had no choice but to stay here.

“The incense and offerings are truly abundant.”

Song You was a cultivator coming from a Daoist temple which he was heir to. Thus the monks here were somewhat peers in the same industry. Upon seeing so many worshippers, his first thought was to estimate how much in donations this would bring in daily based on the income model of Hidden Dragon Temple.

A temple manager must handle daily necessities.

Even cultivators need to eat.

“

Meow

…” The calico cat behind echoed him, raising her head high at the same time to look around at the Buddha statues in the temple and the huge furnace cauldron filled with incense sticks.

If she had known earlier that they were visiting other people's temple, she probably wouldn't have wanted to come. If she had known it would be such a large temple with dazzling golden deity statues and clouds of incense, she definitely wouldn't have come.

But now, she could only brace herself and go forth. “

Meow

…” She was trying hard to pretend to be an ordinary cat.

Song You didn't understand what she was saying but slowed his pace to let her catch up. He walked alongside her, looking around as they went.

He wanted to learn from the advanced experiences of his peers in the same industry.

In terms of expanding numbers of followers and attracting incense and offerings, Buddhism in Great Yan dealt Daoism a crushing defeat.

Great Yan's Daoism emphasized living according to one's desires and being unrestrained. Living and cultivating in the way one wished was preferred. If worshippers came, they might be ignored. Even financial backers were often not treated with much importance.

Compared with Buddhism, it was more or less somewhat aloof from politics and material pursuits.

Great Yan’s Buddhism was much more professional in this regard. Not only did they have stronger missionary zeal, but they also catered better to the notions of believers and those in power.

Buddhism's services were also more extensive.

Take Taian Temple for example…

In addition to incense and incense oils, selling small trinkets and various consecrated items, exorcism and healing, funerals, naming services, they also provided lodging and loan services. Some large temples owned a thousand mu[2] of land, which they rented out to tenant farmers for profits. Some city temples even acted as commercial markets where peddlers who set up stalls had to pay them fees.

As for Great Yan's Daoist temples...

If you were seeking lodging, it would depend on the temple owner’s mood.

“They can’t be compared.” Song You thought.

In theory, with gods and Buddhas in abundance in this world, Daoism, as Great Yan's native religion, had the advantage of time and place. According to Great Yan legends, the Heavenly Palace managed ten thousand gods and Great Emperor Chijin of the Heavenly Palace had the authority to command the Lord of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Thus it shouldn't be so easy for foreign Buddhism to gain the upper hand. Yet in reality, Buddhism had firmly established itself just on the basis of its strong operational capability and cohesion after it entered Great Yan. Further, it has expanded rapidly.

Song You had no particular opinion on this.

He was just a fake Daoist priest, and in addition he actually understood in his heart that gods and ghosts both came from humans. Moreover, there was no fundamental difference between Buddhism and Daoism. Both had great and common people as well as good and evil ones. There’s no difference in human intelligence based on religious preference.

After all, they were all just people.

With these thoughts, Song You had already wandered around the whole temple and eventually reached the Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas right in the center.

He stopped at the entrance.

Looking up, he saw the couplets on both sides of the door.

“Be a good person, with a righteous heart, you will have good health, a stable soul and restful dreams.”

“Do some good deeds, heaven and earth will bear witness, and you will be respected by gods and ghosts.”

Song You smiled and stepped inside.

A strong scent of incense greeted him.

The appearance of the Lord of Ten Thousand Buddhas statue in the center was solemn. He was surrounded by Bodhisattvas with either kindly or compassionate expressions while the guardian deities on both sides had awe-inspiring, glowering faces.

Incense smoke rose in spirals like clouds or mist.

Many worshippers knelt on the prayer cushions. There were men and women, the young and the old. Some prayed silently, others aloud, some kowtowed and then got up to leave, while people came in continuously from outside to take their places on the prayer cushions.

Countless wishes glowed, burning hotter than the sun.

Chaotic voices filled his ears.

Some prayed for the Bodhisattva to heal their family members’ severe illnesses, others prayed to the Buddha for business success, for children to succeed in life, or to cure infertility. The voices of their desires and pleas entered his ears.

“Sigh...”

There are always three sticks of incense before the Buddha, but human life is filled with countless worries.

After Song You finished sighing and he looked around but he saw no monks there.

Checking the time, it was already mealtime.

He also went up to offer three sticks of incense. When he looked back at the calico cat, he saw her hiding outside the hall's threshold. The threshold was somewhat higher than her, and she was standing on her hind legs with her front paws on the threshold. She poked her little head over the threshold and peered anxiously at him.

Song You chuckled and walked out. “Let's go.”

“Where to?”

“To the Hall of Five Observances.”

“What is that?”

“A place for dining.”

“Are you going there to eat?”

“Maybe.” With that, Song You suddenly stopped and threw a few wen into the donation box. He had decided to have lunch there. “I've heard Taian Temple's vegetarian meals are quite famous. I don’t know if they’ll let you in.”

“

Oh

...”

Lady Calico was still shaken by the top-tier big shots in the same industry they'd encountered earlier. She subconsciously didn’t dare to act rashly in this place so she followed obediently.

Fortunately, the novice at the Hall of Five Observances did not stop her.

The hall was bustling with seated worshippers inside and there were also many monks eating. At Taian Temple, monks and worshippers ate together though most monks sat with other monks and worshippers with other worshippers. They only mixed when there were really no seats left.

Song You scanned the room coolly and then walked towards one of the few empty seats.

“Master, may I sit here?”

Master Guanghong subconsciously sized Song You up…

He held a high position in Taian Temple as well as in the hearts of worshippers. Even though Taian Temple monks and worshippers dined together, most worshippers would not sit with him at the same table to show their respect. Usually, only honored guests would have the courage to come over or be invited by him.

This person did not seem like an honored guest.

Yet, seeing that he was a stranger and noticing that the hall was nearly full, he more or less made up his mind.

No matter what, he certainly wouldn't go as far as to refuse.

“Benefactor[3], please go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

Song You smiled and sat down to dine with Master Guanghong, two other monks, and three honored guests at the same table.

There weren’t any good dishes. He had a bowl of vegetable porridge with pickled radish, fermented bean curd[4], and two small plates of appetizers. He felt they tasted ordinary. He more or less realized that the vegetarian meals here might be famous due to their accessibility to the lower classes and long-term donations of porridge to charity.

Meanwhile, the others at the table finished their meals in succession and left politely after taking their leave. However, Master Guanghong was preoccupied, and ate more slowly.

As he ate, he suddenly heard someone call him.

“Master Guanghong.”

Master Guanghong looked up and saw it was the young worshiper who had arrived last. He was gazing at him coolly.

At some point, a cat appeared and sat beside him.

“Amitabha.”

Master Guanghong temporarily set aside his worries, and placed his chopsticks on his bowl. He joined his palms, and asked mildly, “Do you recognize me?”

“I do.” The worshiper smiled, still staring at him. He continued, “But it seems Master Guanghong does not recognize me.”

“

Hmm

?”

A sense of foreboding suddenly arose in Master Guanghong's heart, and he quickly confessed, “I am forgetful, may I have your name...”

“My name is Song You.”

“Who?”

Master Guanghong was instantly shocked, his eyes widened.

His reaction instantly drew many curious glances.

1. Amitabha is the name of a Buddha, Buddha Amitabha. The actual meaning of Amitabha in Sanskrit is something akin to Boundless/Unlimited Light/Enlightenment. ☜

2. Traditional unit of area equivalent to one fifteenth of a hectare. ☜

3. Term used by a monk to address a layperson. ☜

4. Chinese condiment of preserved tofu. Refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_bean_curd ☜