"Master, you don't need to explain so much to a mere guest. I can't control your actions. Please leave now; I need to sleep," Li Huowang said, dismissing the monk.
Jian Dun pressed his palms together and bowed to Li Huowang before heading toward the door. As they brushed past each other, Jian Dun's voice drifted lightly through the air.
"Don't look down on Buddhism. Before I became a monk, I was a Taoist. The Daoist tradition is much the same; it's just that you don't know it."
Jian Dun left, and the room fell silent. Li Huowang turned his gaze toward the temple in the distance, shrouded in darkness. But now, there was no longer any sense of awe or solemnity.
Li Huowang exhaled slowly toward the darkened temple, "This filthy place... is there no clean spot here?"
Since the events of that night, Li Huowang had avoided leaving the temple at night, not wanting to disturb the monks' activities and risk earning their enmity.
As the days passed, his mental state improved, and he had fewer nightmares.
Just as he was about to ask the abbot when the next ceremony would begin, someone came to him ahead of time.
"Master Xuanyang, the great feast for universal salvation is about to begin preparations. The ceremony will take a lot of effort, so please refrain from moving around for the time being."
"Alright, tell the abbot that I understand," Li Huowang said to the young monk before him.
Just as the young monk was leaving, a familiar figure appeared, looking pleased.
"Little Daoist, so you're staying here. Why didn't you tell me?"
It was the old beggar, but he was no longer in the same ragged state Li Huowang remembered. Now, he wore a new yellow monk's robe, his face and body clean, his demeanor more lively.
Although their meeting was coincidental, Li Huowang felt a sense of familiarity and warmth in this strange place.
"How are you doing here, monk?"
"Not bad. I'm well-fed and warm every day, but it's uncomfortable not being able to do any good deeds in the temple."
Mention of good deeds reminded Li Huowang of the events from that night. He sighed as he looked at the old monk. "Don't worry about it too much. Stay well. This temple might be dirty, but at least it won't let you go hungry."
"Come on, little Daoist, let me show you where I work. It's huge!" The old monk pulled Li Huowang eagerly toward the door.
"It's so hot out, maybe next time," Li Huowang said, his interest waning. He had no desire to tour the temple.
"Come on! You'll definitely regret it if you don't see it! It's so interesting!" The old monk insisted, practically dragging Li Huowang out of the room.
After a series of twists and turns, Li Huowang found himself in a spacious open courtyard of Zhengde Temple.
It was here that he realized how vast the temple really was.
"Clang, clang, clang!" Dust flew up from the ground as several monks, their hands wrapped in bandages, wielded chisels and hammers, chiseling at statues of Buddha.
The statues were arranged in two rows, one to the left and one to the right, extending far into the courtyard.
Beneath the sun, the monks' bald heads shone, sweat pouring down as they focused entirely on their craft.
"Is this where you work? It doesn't look great," Li Huowang commented, frowning slightly and covering his nose to avoid the dust.
"Yeah, I'm in charge of moving the useless broken stones. But even these Buddha statues have a bit of my work in them," the old monk said, sounding proud of his position.
The two walked between the unfinished statues, observing the various shapes and forms of the works.
Monks occasionally passed by them, but no one seemed to mind, as though they were invisible.
"The monks at Zhengde Temple aren't making these statues for themselves. It's obvious—they're going to sell them to the pilgrims. These monks are good at generating income," Li Huowang thought, a trace of disdain in his words.
After the previous incident, he wasn't particularly shocked by this revelation.
"But that's not all! There's more ahead!" The old monk said excitedly, leading Li Huowang toward a nearby gatehouse.
Li Huowang was about to follow when a sudden sense of dizziness struck him. He stumbled, feeling faint.
"Hey, hey, hey! Little Daoist, what's wrong with you?" The old monk noticed and rushed back to support him.
"Are you alright? Did you catch a chill? You should go back and rest for a while," the old monk suggested, concerned.
Li Huowang shook his head, feeling a little better as the strange sensation faded. "I'm fine. Let's keep going."
"Alright, but if you really caught a chill, you need to stay in the sun. Let's continue," the old monk said.
Li Huowang glanced up at the blazing sun above. "Could I have heatstroke? It hasn't even been long since the new year, and I don't feel hot at all."
Feeling no more ill effects, he took a step forward, ready to follow the old monk.
But just as he raised his foot, he noticed a strange change in the sounds around him. The rhythmic sound of chisels hitting stone had shifted to the wet slap of flesh against flesh.
"Hmm?" Li Huowang turned his head in confusion and looked toward the right, where the stone carvings had been. His body froze.
The stone statues were gone, replaced by a mass of white flesh—monks, their eyes closed in pious devotion, huddled together in a writhing mass, performing acts that only men and women would engage in.
"What... what is this?" Li Huowang took a step back, his eyes wide with shock.
He slowly raised his head, squinting at the glaring sun above him. He wasn't seeing things.
He turned around, and to his horror, the statues that had once stood behind him had also transformed into grotesque heaps of flesh.
"Monk! Let's go!" The old monk called out excitedly from ahead, as though showing off a new discovery.
Li Huowang hesitated, his body trembling as he inhaled sharply. But he forced himself to follow the old monk through the grand gate and into another wide courtyard.
This courtyard, too, was filled with these grotesque "flesh mountains." However, it wasn't just humans anymore—pigs were also caught in these horrible masses.
They screamed in agony, but the piles of monks, their faces filled with religious fervor, were like sludge, trapping the animals inside.
"Look, the sculptures of the qilin and stone lions look so realistic! I wish I could carve like that," the old monk said, oblivious to the horrors around him.
Li Huowang mechanically followed, his eyes scanning the grotesque scene. He saw dogs, horses, cows, and donkeys—each part of a twisted landscape.
Upon closer inspection, he made a horrifying realization—many of these monks were neither fully male nor female, but hermaphroditic, beings of both genders!
His mind was in chaos, buzzing with confusion.
Suddenly, the old monk grabbed his arm and pulled him into a large, empty hall.
But the slapping sounds didn't cease. In fact, they grew louder, echoing through the empty hall.
Li Huowang's neck stiffened as he slowly turned to look inside. The higher his head tilted, the smaller his pupils became.
"Look!" The old monk pointed upward, a childlike grin on his face. "Isn't that a magnificent statue of Buddha?"
Annotations:
佛门 (Buddhism): Refers to the monastic community and religious order of Buddhism. Here, Jian Dun hints at his own deep knowledge of Buddhist practices despite his former Taoist background.
道士 (Taoist priest): A practitioner of Taoism, a Chinese religious and philosophical tradition that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao, or "the way." This is mentioned by Jian Dun to highlight his previous role before he became a monk.
香客 (Pilgrims): In Chinese Buddhist temples, "香客" refers to the worshippers or pilgrims who come to the temple to offer incense and prayers. This term is often associated with people visiting temples for spiritual benefits.
麒麟 (Qilin): A mythical hooved chimerical creature in Chinese culture, often depicted as a good omen bringing prosperity or longevity.
阴阳人 (Hermaphrodite): This refers to someone who possesses both male and female biological characteristics. The presence of such beings in the temple hints at a deeply unsettling and unnatural distortion of religious practices within the temple.