Inside the Hall of the Five Buddhas, Li Huowang saw Abbot Xinhui once again, but this time he was not alone; four elderly monks were seated in a row behind him.
"Since you are here, Mr. Xuanyang, let's get straight to the point. We need to conduct a grand salvation ritual to deliver him."
"Okay, let's get started then, Abbot," Li Huowang responded without hesitation.
"Patience, Mr. Xuanyang. The karma of Master Danyang lies with you. Before we can proceed with this ritual, you must first calm your mind."
"Calm my mind?" Li Huowang asked, perplexed.
"Amitabha, Mr. Xuanyang, your mind is quite unsettled; you are afflicted in heart."
Before the Abbot could finish speaking, Li Huowang replied sharply, "I'm not sick!"
The moment he uttered these words, Li Huowang was startled by the loudness of his own voice.
Observing the meaningful gazes of the five elderly monks before him, Li Huowang took a deep breath and clenched his trembling fists. "May I ask the Abbot, how can I achieve a state of calm?"
A scripture with a yellow cover was presented to Li Huowang, "Take this 'Sutra of the Five Aggregates are All Empty' and recite it three times a day: morning, noon, and night."
Li Huowang took the scripture, flipping through the pages filled with obscure Buddhist texts that he couldn't comprehend at all.
"Just recitation will do? There's no cultivation technique? No need to consume anything?" The simple steps were far below Li Huowang's expectations.
Seeing Abbot Xinhui shake his head, Li Huowang picked up the scripture and headed for the exit. As he was about to leave through the doorway, he turned back to glance at the monks sitting cross-legged on their cushions.
"Abbot Xinhui, does Zhengde Temple have any cultivation techniques?"
"Of course, if you wish to shave your head, take the vows, and join our temple, you may peruse the Scripture Pavilion at will."
Hearing this, Li Huowang turned and left, knowing he could never become a monk.
"Mr. Xuanyang, why don't you stay at our monastery for a while? Running back and forth like this is troublesome for both you and us."
This time, Li Huowang did not refuse. Having already placed his trust in them, being overly cautious now would make him seem petty.
A separate chamber within Zhengde Temple was cleared out for Li Huowang, where he quietly stayed, looking at the scriptures that had been delivered to him.
In the beginning, Li Huowang was somewhat nervous, but once he realized that no one in the temple paid any attention to him, even when he went to the bustling main hall to watch monks interpreting divination sticks, he gradually let his guard down.
Late at night, accompanied by a single oil lamp, Li Huowang cradled the scripture in his hands and recited, "My life is ended. The holy life is established... all that should be done is accomplished; there will be no more coming to any state of being. As this Dharma is spoken, the group of monks... from all afflictions, their hearts were set free. With faith accepted and upheld..."
At first, while reciting the 'Sutra of the Five Aggregates are All Empty,' Li Huowang felt nothing, but as days passed and his sleep quality improved, he realized it was indeed effective.
After finishing his peaceful reading, Li Huowang slowly closed the book and blew out the oil lamp, preparing for sleep. He began to ponder his next actions.
"Once I deal with Master Danyang, I shall go after Black Taisui. If I can stabilize my condition, then I will be able to live in this world with ease."
"But that Black Taisui seems quite fierce. If I do capture it, how should I bind it, and do I have to cut flesh for it to eat every month?"
"Right, I also need strength, enough to protect myself. But that will be difficult too."
Li Huowang was deep in thought when suddenly, he saw a shadow of a Taoist flit past the door. His body instantly tensed up.
"Is there someone in the temple that's been watching me?" Li Huowang slowed his steps and leisurely walked over to the door, sliding the bolt aside.
He abruptly pulled open a crack, and the small courtyard outside, lit by the moonlight, was completely empty. Li Huowang cautiously peered out and saw a corner of a yellow monk's robe swiftly disappearing into the dark corridor in the distance.
"What exactly is this temple up to?" Li Huowang pondered for a moment, then slowed his pace and followed.
Quickening his steps, in the moonlight, Li Huowang noticed the shaved head in front of him. He couldn't see the face from behind, but the lack of scarring suggested that the person probably didn't hold a high position in Zhengde Temple.
And so it went; in the deathly quiet temple, one walked ahead while the other trailed behind from a distance.
As they walked, the monk suddenly darted inside a slightly ajar door.
Li Huowang was about to follow but then he thought better of it and turned towards the other side of the temple, wetting his finger with saliva to poke through the paper window.
Compared to the abbot's Hall of the Five Buddhas, this hall was not very large, quite cramped, in fact. The Bodhisattva enshrined within, with one hand forming a mudra and the other holding a bottle, was not only smaller than a person,
There were also only two candles lit on the offering table, casting the entire hall into deep shadows.
A woman was kneeling before the Buddha, not the monk who had just gone in.
"A woman? In the temple at this late hour?"
Before Li Huowang could make sense of this, the woman started to murmur softly.
"Oh great and compassionate Bodhisattva, I beg of you, grant me a son. If I do not bear a son, my man will sell me."
As she spoke these words, a bare-chested monk quietly emerged from behind the Bodhisattva,
Gently binding the woman's eyes with a red cloth.
Her body trembled violently but offered no resistance; her breathing grew heavier,
And as she inhaled and exhaled, several bald-headed monks with hands clasped moved solemnly towards her from the darkness that surrounded them.
...
"Is this the 'genuine' secret behind the temple's famed fertility blessings?!" Li Huowang, witnessing everything inside, was utterly dumbfounded, his previous perceptions of Zhengde Temple shattered.
Suddenly, he sensed something; turning swiftly, he saw Jiandun standing statue-like under the bright moonlight in the courtyard. "I've been spotted!"
Without a word, Jiandun merely waved his hand lightly and walked away.
After a glance at the chaos beginning inside the hall, Li Huowang quietly followed.
Jiandun did not lead Li Huowang elsewhere but brought him back to his quarters, then lit an oil lamp and sat down on a stool.
"I know what you are thinking. You probably believe the monks of Zhengde Temple are impure. But do you really think all those pilgrims are fools? Why would they come to worship late at night?"
Standing at the doorway, Li Huowang stayed silent, waiting for the other to continue.
"If people want sons, we give them sons. Monks carry compassion. We are doing good deeds."
These words made Li Huowang furrow his brow. "It seems you've done quite many 'good deeds' indeed."
"Zhengde Temple never claimed that praying to our Bodhisattva for sons was effective. This was something the pilgrims spread by themselves; we never said it, and they never asked."