Hearing Bao Zhu’s questioning, Guan Shan and Guan Yun were both stunned at the same time. Guan Shan was not good at lying, and some awkward expression appeared on his face as he said in a low voice: “We shouldn’t have received those people at the main gate.”
Yang Xingjian said: “Miss Fangxie’s question is very apt. This matter is quite strange, and I too would like to know the truth of it.”
Guan Yun immediately offered a smile and respectfully said: “The two benefactors don’t know – this is our master Monk Tan Lin’s unique way of charitable giving. With frequent droughts and floods, these are difficult times. When people are hungry for too long, they resort to cannibalism, which is a great sin. Our master cannot bear to see such hellish scenes, so he exchanges rice for the bodies of those who died of starvation, to prevent the corpses from being eaten by the starving people. They take away grain and can survive a few more days, while we collect the dead and bury them in the cemetery provided by benefactors. Each gets what they need. If the two benefactors are interested, you can visit the suburban cemetery when you have time.”
Yang Xingjian and Bao Zhu both breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Wei Xun had settled the donkey and ox cart and had been standing nearby for a long time. Hearing Guan Yun’s explanation, he suddenly interjected: “How do you know that the corpses you purchase died natural deaths? What if someone, driven by extreme hunger, deliberately killed people to exchange for rice?”
Guan Shan and Guan Yun saw that this servant in blue spoke unkindly and were unwilling to explain further. Guan Shan answered concisely: “We examine them. If we discover someone who died violently, we naturally report it to the authorities. It’s getting late now. If the sun sets, you won’t be able to see the temple’s most famous scenery. Please follow us monks for a quick tour.”
Under his urging, the group followed the two monks deeper into Great Toad Light Temple.
Toad Light Temple was originally named Brilliant Light Temple, first built by Northern Wei Emperor Xuanwu. It was originally a nunnery that was damaged during the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty and rebuilt in the early Tang. During the Tianbao Rebellion, Luoyang fell to the Uighurs twice, the population withered away with not even one in ten surviving. Toad Light Temple was fortunate to receive donations and support from an important figure in Luoyang, allowing it to regain its former glory.
Not to mention the grand architectural scale and luxurious decorations, what was most shocking was that the temple possessed a large number of Buddhist-themed murals. Almost no walls in the entire temple were left blank. The walls were painted with countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Dharma-protecting generals, meticulously depicting various supernatural transformations, birth stories, six realms of reincarnation, and other Buddhist allusions. The array was dazzling and countless.
As they admired the murals along the way, Yang Xingjian praised them endlessly, saying: “Master Tan Lin is elegant and skilled in painting. Becoming a monk in such a Buddhist temple is quite suitable for him. Surely he didn’t paint all these murals by himself?”
Guan Shan said: “Our master is already over seventy years old. His legs and feet are inconvenient, and in recent years he rarely picks up the brush himself. Some of these murals were left by ancient people from previous dynasties, some are works by famous painters from Luoyang, and some are by his disciples’ hands.”
He paused, then said proudly: “Before the painting sage Wu Daozi became famous, he lived in Luoyang for many years and left a large number of paintings here, which are priceless treasures of the temple. We still preserve the meditation hall where the painting sage once lived.”
The sun was half-set, and the light was getting dimmer. The two monks lit candles and led everyone toward the courtyard where the abbot resided, while walking and introducing the mural contents like treasured possessions.
Arriving at a large courtyard, Bao Zhu saw a giant osmanthus tree planted in the courtyard, thick enough that two people couldn’t wrap their arms around it. Guan Yun said: “This is Toad Light Temple’s second great scenic attraction – the Auspicious Clouds Osmanthus. This ancient tree is a thousand years old. Every year it’s the earliest osmanthus tree to bloom in the Luoyang region. The first branch of blooming osmanthus flowers is traditionally presented to the most noble lady in Luoyang. When Empress Wu was alive, eunuchs from the palace would come every year with golden plates to collect them.”
Yang Xingjian smiled: “Now the most noble lady in Luoyang should be the wife of the Eastern Capital Commissioner, shouldn’t she?”
The two monks nodded in agreement.
Bao Zhu squinted and looked up at the tree, seeing that small flower buds had already formed on the treetop. Osmanthus flowers usually bloom near the Mid-Autumn Festival, but now it was only the fifteenth day of the seventh month and buds had already formed. This showed that the blooming time would be much earlier than ordinary osmanthus trees – it was indeed a special flowering tree.
Shisan Lang twitched his nose and sniffed, asking: “Why do I smell a sour rice wine scent?”
Abstaining from alcohol was one of the precepts that Buddhist temples must observe. The appearance of wine smell in a temple was even more suspicious. Guan Yun quickly explained: “Young monk, don’t speak carelessly. This osmanthus tree uses wine lees as fertilizer, which is why the flowers it produces are both fragrant and beautiful. This is a secret the temple never shares with outsiders.”
Wei Xun sneered coldly: “There’s famine outside, yet you have surplus grain to brew wine for trees to drink. Merciful indeed, merciful indeed.”
The two monks were extremely embarrassed. This servant in blue frequently spoke rudely, yet his master didn’t stop him, which puzzled them greatly. Guan Yun said: “The wine lees are purchased from the city. There is no wine in the temple.”
Yang Xingjian knew well that such large Buddhist temples must have powerful patrons and contributions from wealthy benefactors from all directions to sustain themselves. Therefore, possessing various scenic attractions or special Buddhist treasures in the temple were necessary means to attract visitors.
Tan Lin had served as an official in the court for nearly forty years. Although he never wore the purple robes of third rank, through wind and rain, political changes, he was able to survive three dynasties without falling. These skills of adapting to circumstances and advancing or retreating appropriately were absolutely essential.
Today, just because an official brought his beloved daughter to visit, they could waive the rule against allowing female pilgrims to stay overnight. Presumably at appropriate times they could also bring out fine wine and delicacies to entertain distinguished guests. Of course, since such things were beneficial to their side, there was no need to expose them. Yang Xingjian laughed it off, praised the osmanthus fragrance a few times, and let the matter pass.
Passing through the osmanthus courtyard and a covered corridor, the two monks didn’t introduce the murals here but quickened their pace forward. Bao Zhu casually glanced at the wall and immediately exclaimed in surprise: “What is this?”
What was painted on this wall was the Buddhist story of “Mulian Saving His Mother.” The Buddha’s disciple Mu Jianlian’s mother, because she killed living beings and ate meat, fell into the hungry ghost realm of hell after death. Mulian observed hell and discovered his mother enduring hunger and suffering. He used his supernatural powers to bring food to his mother, but when the food reached her lips, it burned to charcoal. Mulian was in extreme pain and sought help from his teacher. The Buddha taught him to hold the Ullambana Assembly on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, borrowing the power of monks from all directions to help his mother transcend.
Mulian followed the Buddha’s instruction and through the method of feeding monks, managed to feed his mother and save her from hell, allowing her to ascend to heaven. This was the origin of the Ullambana Festival. Tomorrow, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, according to Buddhist custom, temples would hold grand dharma assemblies, using the story of Mulian saving his mother to encourage the masses of believers to generously donate to feed monks, indirectly helping transcend their own deceased relatives.
Mulian saving his mother was one of the most common subjects in Buddhist murals. However, the technique used in this long painting was unprecedented. Even Bao Zhu, who had seen countless top-quality works in the palace, had never seen anything like it.
The entire painting showed almost no outline sketches, but instead used rich, saturated colors to directly shape each figure in the hungry ghost realm. The hungry ghosts in hell were withered and sallow like the starving people they had seen along the way, with limbs like poles, swollen bellies, and expressions filled with emptiness and despair. Where light and shadow created depth, the concave and convex feeling of bodies tortured by hunger seemed ready to emerge from the wall. The style didn’t emphasize symbolic representation but focused entirely on realism.
Even more terrifying was that the eyes of each ghostly being seemed alive. Their gazes slowly moved according to different viewing angles, staring intently at the observer. Under the dim light of the setting sun, this work depicting hellish scenes had extreme impact. The ferocious and terrifying hungry ghosts seemed about to leap out from the mural and bite a piece of flesh from living people.
Standing before such an extremely realistic giant mural, no one could help but feel fear and trembling. Bao Zhu felt her hair standing on end, her hands and feet ice cold, and unconsciously moved closer to Wei Xun.
Wei Xun imperceptibly stepped back half a pace, shifted his footing, and moved between Bao Zhu and the mural to block her view, saying to her: “If you’re afraid, don’t keep staring at it, lest you have nightmares tonight.”
Only when he reminded her did Bao Zhu realize that her gaze had been firmly captured by the mural. This hell painting seemed to have some mysterious magic power that made people both fearful and unable to resist looking again and again. Raising her hand to touch her forehead, she found it had already broken out in a layer of cold sweat.
Yang Xingjian was greatly amazed and asked: “Could this Mulian Saving His Mother be an authentic work by the painting sage? But these colors look so fresh.”
After Wu Daozi became famous, he became an imperial court painter. The palace preserved many of his works, and Bao Zhu had seen many of them. She said with a trembling voice: “Master Wu was skilled in orchid leaf drawing. The so-called ‘Wu’s flowing robes’ most emphasized outline sketching. This is completely different from his technique.”
The two monks hadn’t intended to introduce this mural, but being questioned directly by the Yang father and daughter, and with the young lady clearly being knowledgeable, they could only answer truthfully: “This was painted by Wu Guancheng.”
Yang Xingjian was startled: “The painter is also surnamed Wu? Could he be a descendant of the painting sage?”
Guan Yun shook his head: “Guancheng used to be our fellow disciple, but he has now returned to secular life and changed his surname to Wu after his wife’s family name.”
Yang Xingjian had heard that Wu Daozi once created a “Hell Transformation” painting at Jingyun Temple in Chang’an. Due to its gloomy and miserable expressive power, observers would break out in cold sweat with hair standing on end. The residents of Chang’an feared falling into the hell depicted in the painting, and overnight they all switched to vegetarian diet. Butchers in the eastern and western markets all changed professions, and Jingyun Temple became famous because of this. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the Tianbao Rebellion.
Tomorrow was the Ullambana Festival. If Toad Light Temple possessed such an exquisitely wonderful Mulian Saving His Mother mural, it would surely become a unique attraction in Luoyang. Why didn’t Guan Shan and Guan Yun introduce it specially? He guessed that perhaps because the painter had returned to secular life and married, becoming like strangers to his former monastery, they didn’t want to mention it much.
A young monk came hurrying over, pressed his palms together and bowed to everyone, respectfully saying: “Two senior brothers, two benefactors, the abbot says he can receive visitors now.”
Guan Shan was relieved and quickly said: “Let’s go quickly.”
As the abbot of Great Toad Light Temple, Tan Lin should have lived in the abbot’s quarters within the temple, but the place where he resided was independent of the entire building complex – a solitary, tall main hall standing due north, connected to the main temple only by a long covered corridor. The great hall was over twenty zhang high, with wind stirring through doors and windows, clouds rising from beams and pillars, creating a solemn and magnificent atmosphere. Under the backdrop of such majestic Buddhist architecture, worldly people appeared even more base and insignificant.
The plaque in the hall bore three seal script characters: “Return to Impermanence.”
Guan Shan said: “The Buddha’s ‘Great Parinirvana Sutra’ says: ‘All conditioned phenomena eventually return to impermanence; those united in love and affection must ultimately part; all dharmas are thus, one should not grieve.’ Our master daily practices meditation and contemplation in this Return to Impermanence Hall, clarifying his mind and seeing his nature.”
As the group entered the corridor and approached the great hall, they all smelled a strange odor – hidden beneath the sandalwood incense burning in censers, mixed with threads of foul stench, making people very uneasy.
Wei Xun smelled this peculiar odor and frowned.
Shisan Lang was equally suspicious and quietly asked: “Senior brother, this is a pure Buddhist place – how can there be the smell of corpses?”
Wei Xun didn’t answer. The two martial brothers raised their vigilance and positioned themselves left and right behind Bao Zhu as guards.