In this harsh environment, no one has it easy. Whether it’s Xuanzang or Daoxin, when it comes to moral character and personal virtue, they are absolutely top-tier choices. However, once the survival of their own sect is involved, they will employ all kinds of methods—good ones, bad ones, despicable ones, shameless ones, and even some inhumane tactics are devised and executed by these supposedly good people.
They say Buddhism emphasizes tranquility of mind and freedom from desire, not caring about worldly possessions. But now, looking at Daoxin’s appearance, Yun Ye completely disbelieves such deceiving words. Daoxin has been vegetarian for years, wears simple clothing, and when traveling short distances, chooses to walk, believing this to be a form of spiritual cultivation. The old monk once said that he could live quite well on two measures of rice per month, and Yun Ye believes this—given Daoxin’s character, he wouldn’t lie about such things.
It sounds contradictory, but these two extremes truly coexist in him. One Daoxin shows compassion for heaven and pity for humanity, never falling behind in helping the poor and relieving suffering. The other Daoxin, in order to pay less taxes and restore Buddhism to a transcendent status, stops at nothing. At this moment of Xuanzang’s return, these two completely different versions of Daoxin achieved perfect fusion within him.
The old monk who had just been stepping on chrysanthemums with solemn dignity has now become a petty, scheming bald donkey scrambling for scraps, leaving Yun Ye momentarily unsure how to respond. Everyone is just trying to make a living; no one intends to harm anyone. Daoxin worries that Yun Ye will jump out and expose everyone’s various lies, which is why he doesn’t hesitate to lower himself, hoping to move Yun Ye with his friendship with Xuanzang and make him show mercy.
“So Marquis Yun is interested in these matters. Why not have Marquis Yun bring your esteemed son to my humble temple for a chat?”
“Thank you for the Master’s kind invitation, but unfortunately, the Academy’s major examinations are imminent. Yun Ye truly dares not slack off. These coming days, I must completely seal off Yushan so the students can study in peace. Coming out today to see an old friend return home already violates the Academy’s rules—how dare I make one mistake after another? Master’s kind intentions, Yun Ye appreciates them.”
Hearing that Yun Ye planned to go into seclusion, meaning he wasn’t preparing to help anyone and would focus wholeheartedly on preparing for this year’s major examinations, Daoxin smiled and congratulated the Academy students on their success, wishing them victory and frequent good news.
Yun Ye gratefully accepted the old monk’s blessings. Seeing the monk go downstairs and leave, he said to Dan Ying: “You should also prepare and take the examination. Always wandering around aimlessly like this isn’t a solution.”
“Big Brother, you know about my family situation. How could I possibly serve as a subject to my father’s killer? This is fine. After Daya comes through the door, I’ll just quietly live my own life. No need to suffer that indignity.”
Yun Baobao sat in his father’s arms, staring at the shopkeeper’s fat face, then turned away in disgust, startled by the ugly person. The young master’s temper flared up as he pointed at the ugly shopkeeper to complain to his father, hoping to drive the ugly person away.
Since Dan Ying himself didn’t like being an official, Yun Ye didn’t force him. He found a piece of pig liver from the plate and stuffed it into his son’s mouth, letting him chew it like a steamed bun. Li Rong could already feed herself and was eating enthusiastically with a spoon.
As Xuanzang walked away, the crowd on the main street also dispersed. Only those devout worshippers, holding incense, followed in Xuanzang’s footsteps to Jianfu Temple. Today there would be a great dharma assembly there, and Xuanzang would recount his journey westward. It was said that all the famous and notable nobles of Chang’an were on the invitation list. Yun Ye suddenly smiled—this was someone else’s war, nothing to do with him.
The Buddha in the Buddhist scriptures is actually no different from ordinary people. Eating spoiled food would upset his stomach, and being ambushed would injure him. But somehow, as the stories spread, he became an omnipotent being with vast supernatural powers.
Yun Ye believed that Buddhism’s spread was more like the transmission of thought rather than magical skills. He really wanted to say that those monks were all crooked-mouthed monks who, fearing their ideals wouldn’t be accepted by the masses, artificially added countless corruptions, while the essence was forgotten by people with utilitarian hearts.
Bodhidharma first transmitted Chan Buddhism in China: “Point directly at the human heart, see one’s nature and become Buddha, establish no written words, transmit outside the teachings.” Buddha held up a flower and smiled slightly, Mahakasyapa understood—this is considered the beginning of Chan Buddhism. “Establish no written words” means that Chan is separate from written words; language and written words are merely symbols describing all things. This is also why Huineng didn’t recognize a single character yet comprehended the Buddhist scriptures—as long as one understands their own mind and nature, they can become Buddha.
The common people don’t understand what they want, and the monks haven’t taught them well. So, crossing the river on a reed, facing the wall for nine years, cutting off one’s arm standing in snow, returning west with one sandal—these beautiful and moving stories became all of Bodhidharma, while the meaning of holding the flower became an intellectual contest.
Xuanzang probably couldn’t stand the corruption by crooked-mouthed monks either, which is why he decided to go to Tianzhu to seek the dharma. When he arrived in Tianzhu, he discovered that the eminent monks there were nothing special. He waited eighteen days and no one dared come up to debate Buddhist doctrine. After winning without a fight, the Faxiang-Weishi School was already established in his mind. Yun Ye was right—why not write a scripture yourself?
Buddhism in Tianzhu had already become a tool to imprison people’s minds. The Brahmins (priests) were extravagant and lustful, extremely cruel and vicious—at the slightest disobedience, they would kill, calling it “salvation.” The sacred women in Hinduism had almost become synonymous with prostitutes. Xuanzang didn’t believe such a sect could exist with the purpose of loving the world and saving all beings.
There is a legend that goes like this: if the arrival of the Age of Decline cannot be prevented, then simply kill all believers, let the Age of Decline come early to destroy this old world, and then have a new Buddha save humanity—what a dark mindset this is.
Xuanzang went to Jianfu Temple. Yun Ye took his children home. The whole family had long been ready to go into the mountains. Hong Cheng had already sealed off Yushan at this time. The huge gate on the mountain road had been installed and positioned, just waiting for Yun Ye to return to the mountain before it would slowly close.
After the gate closed, Yushan immediately became quiet. The garrison soldiers sent by the Emperor strictly enforced the mountain closure order. For a time, the noisy Dongyang River returned to its former tranquility. Yun Ye also began to bury himself in books, beginning his own arduous cultivation. Before his death, Yan Zhitui had given him a reading list that required Yun Ye to study carefully. Li Gang also added some, and the Old Man of Taishan was not to be outdone. When those books were found one by one by the library steward and piled in front of Yun Ye, he felt his temples throbbing. A pile of books as tall as a person—how long would it take him to read them all?
Reading notes? Daily reflections? Don’t you know that those predecessors who wrote ancient books couldn’t speak without using classical allusions? Opening the first book, Yun Ye discovered he was an idiot. He recognized every character, but what did they mean together? The Land of Huaxu? Ten Spirits Supreme Unity? In one line of thirty characters, there were eight whose meanings he couldn’t comprehend—how could he read this? To understand these eight characters, he’d have to find their sources. If the books explaining these eight characters had more obscure allusions, wouldn’t he have to find those sources too? Good heavens, this was an unsolvable vicious cycle.
“You actually don’t know what the Land of Huaxu is? Nor what the Ten Spirits Supreme Unity means?”
Yun Ye knew that Scholar Wenhai looked at him like looking at a piece of excrement. However, the task Elder Yan Zhitui assigned on his deathbed had to be completed, so he could only shamelessly seek instruction from Scholar Wenhai.
Wenhai sighed and said: “The Land of Huaxu comes from the chapter ‘Yellow Emperor’ in ‘Liezi.’ The Yellow Emperor took a nap and dreamed of traveling to the land of the Huaxu clan… That country has no rulers or chiefs, everything is natural. Its people have no cravings or desires, everything is natural. They know not the joy of life nor the hatred of death, so there is no premature death; they know not closeness to self nor distance from things, so there is no love or hate…” Half an hour later, Yun Ye finally understood what the Land of Huaxu was—nothing more than a variation of Peach Blossom Spring. Boring literati fantasized about a utopia and spoke through the Yellow Emperor’s identity. A problem that could be explained in one sentence—did it really need an hour-long eloquent discourse?
He didn’t want to know what the Ten Spirits Supreme Unity was anymore. If he got caught by the old man again for another hour-long lecture, he’d rather commit suicide. It was nothing more than a fabricated deity anyway. Based on his own reasoning, Yun Ye roughly understood what Yan Zhitui had been researching for half his life—the old man had spent half his life researching the improvement of social systems.
This book was written by the old man himself. The opening broke the topic by extolling the Land of Huaxu that the Yellow Emperor dreamed of. It seemed he had great insights into governing through non-action. This isn’t reasonable, old man! Why didn’t you say so when you were alive? History has proven that eating from a common pot doesn’t work—eating from a common pot ultimately results in everyone starving to death.
Needless to say, the old man must also have discussions of “Peach Blossom Spring Record.” Yun Ye picked up the book and searched word by word for these characters. Sure enough, when the book was written halfway through, the words “Peach Blossom Spring” indeed appeared. Between the lines was full of longing for crisscrossing paths, chickens and dogs heard from afar—the old man was thoroughly sick of the feudal dynasty’s constant pattern of one rooster dying, another crowing.
Yun Ye was also sick of it, but he clearly knew that now was the peak period of feudal imperial power. Li Er’s heroic talent and bold strategy had gathered all power under heaven into one house, adopting methods of strengthening the center and weakening the branches. Just look at Chang’an’s garrison troops—sixty percent of the elite forces surrounded Chang’an. Wherever there was rebellion, an army would immediately strike. Whoever rebelled would die.
There was no need to memorize the old man’s book by rote—just understanding his thoughts was enough. He only needed to remember the last few sentences in the letter the old man left him. When Li Gang asked about it later, he’d say he finished reading it and use those few sentences to deflect.
“Boy, I know you have no interest in finishing this old man’s book, but you understand this old man’s thinking, right? However, this old man still wants to tell you something—that is, the Land of Huaxu exists. In the fifth year of the Daye era, this old man met one of them. His insights were completely different from ours, his speech had ancient tones, and he claimed to come from Huaxu. This old man entertained him for a day, and the next day there was no trace of him.”
“You are also very strange, but this old man finally determined that you are still a descendant of our Han family. Your yellowing eyeballs indicate that your bloodline also has barbarian ancestry, which is the result of Han-barbarian cohabitation—not surprising. Most people of the Great Tang are now like this. What’s suspicious is your teacher. This old man strongly suspects that he comes from the Land of Huaxu, not some nonexistent White Jade Capital.”