Unsheathed

Chapter 395 (4): A Bowl of Chicken Soup, I Don't Know

Chen Ping'an and his companions entered the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation without a problem.

Following their trip to Old Dragon City, this was the second city that flourished with an air of prosperity.

In the end, Chen Ping'an still decided to give Zhu Lian some gold and silver, allowing him to buy those novels and paintings that Shi Rou detested with all her heart.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping'an also found a time-honored shop where he bought some exquisite Xuan paper that cost one copper coin each[1].

Before entering the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation, Chen Ping'an had found a secluded area to move everything from his bamboo bookcase into his minimization treasure.

During their stay in the Hundred Flower Garden, Cui Dongshan had revealed to Chen Ping'an the secrets behind this grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism. One of the places that he mentioned was the White Cloud Daoist Temple, a temple in the Azure Phoenix Nation that was relatively unknown. Thus, Chen Ping'an had purposely taken a detour and avoided walking past this temple.

He had a nagging feeling that he had already used up all of his good fortune in the Lion Garden, so he definitely couldn't be too conspicuous right now and openly swagger into the view of the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan and the Imperial Tang Clan of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

While devouring food in a restaurant on a busy street, he heard the other customers from the city chatting about the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism that was already nearing its conclusion but still yet to actually finish. Everyone was filled with spirit and vigor as they excitedly discussed this event. Regardless of whether they supported Buddhism or Daoism, everyone was filled with unconcealable pride as citizens of the Azure Phoenix Nation. In reality, this was also a manifestation of a nation's power and fortune.

Chen Ping'an had witnessed this phenomenon in a few other places as well. For example, among the scouts of the Great Li Empire during that blizzard on the border, among the commoners in the capital of the Great Sui Nation, on that young girl in the horse-drawn carriage in Old Dragon City, and in Stalactite Mountain.

Several of the neighboring tables were discussing a mysterious event that had just occurred in the capital but was already widely known among everyone.

Chen Ping'an quietly listened to their discussions. Upon seeing Chen Ping'an listen so intently, Pei Qian slowed down her ravenous destruction of the delicious roast chicken and also pricked her ears up to listen.

When Zhu Lian saw this, he stealthily reached over with his chopsticks and attempted to steal a drumstick and place it inside his own bowl. However, with her sharp eyes and her quick movements, Pei Qian immediately used her chopsticks to block Zhu Lian's chopsticks. They stared each other down, and their chopsticks became a blur as they jostled for position and fought for the drumstick. Only when Chen Ping'an looked up to grab some food did the two people call a temporary ceasefire. When Chen Ping'an lowered his head and started to eat again, Pei Qian and Zhu Lian immediately started to do battle as well.

Chen Ping'an couldn't be bothered dealing with this pair of entertaining treasures. Instead, he was curious about the seemingly coincidental encounter and mystical exchange that the neighboring tables were talking about.

As it turned out, the capital had experienced a heavy downpour yesterday, and a scholar visiting the capital city had sought shelter under some eaves. Nearby, a monk had been walking through the rain with an umbrella.

And thereupon, an indescribably mystical exchange had taken place. The exchange was short, yet the words spoken were filled with meaning, allowing the customers at the nearby tables to come up with countless mystical explanations.

At the time, the scholar had asked the monk whether he could bring him along and let him take shelter under the umbrella as well. However, the monk had replied that he was in the rain, while the scholar was standing under the eaves where there was no rain. Thus, there was no need to assist the scholar. Hearing this, the scholar had stepped forward into the rain. However, the monk had bellowed loudly and told the scholar to look for an umbrella himself. In the end, the scholar had returned under the eaves in utter dejection.

Most of the customers were marveling at the profound Buddhist knowledge possessed by the Chan monk, claiming that this was an act of great benevolence and true Buddhism. Even though the scholar had also stepped into the rain, it was because the monk was holding an umbrella that he hadn't been drenched by the downpour.

The umbrella in the monk's hand symbolized the Buddhist teachings that could deliver all beings from suffering, so what the scholar truly needed wasn't the Chan monk to assist him, but the Buddhist teachings to provide salvation for himself that were missing from his heart. It was because of this that the Chan monk had bellowed loudly to wake the scholar up.

Zhu Lian was ultimately unable to snatch the drumstick away from Pei Qian, so he gave up and poured himself a bowl of chicken soup instead. After taking a sip, he pursed his lips and remarked, "The taste is only so-so."

Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "You're still a scholar at heart, so you naturally feel like the taste is very ordinary."

Zhu Lian nodded and replied, "That's indeed the case. To put in effort and work hard but not receive any rewards... If it were Young Master or the two brothers from the Lion Garden's Liu Clan, you would have readily offered your umbrella to provide that scholar shelter and accompany him home. In fact, the scholar might have even felt a lack of gratitude toward you if he had accidentally stepped into a puddle of water or had his shoulders become wet because of the rain.

"If it were a stinky Daoist priest, however, then perhaps none of this would have happened at all. The Daoist priest would have directly walked past without sparing so much as a glance for the scholar standing under the eaves."

Chen Ping'an pondered for a moment before smiling and asking, "What if the Chan monk offered to help the scholar after bellowing at him? What if they walked through the heavy downpour together? How would such a bowl of chicken soup taste?"

Zhu Lian swirled around the chicken soup in his bowl and replied with a smile, "It would perhaps taste much better."

Shi Rou finally understood what they were talking about.

Pei Qian was at a complete loss. In any case, she still needed to focus on eating her drumstick.

Chen Ping'an smiled at Pei Qian and said, "Don't just focus on eating your drumstick. Eat some rice as well."

Pei Qian nodded earnestly, and she leaned back slightly and showed off her bulging belly, replying with a proud smile, "Master, I've already eaten quite a lot."

In reality, many other strange things had occurred during the debate between Buddhism and Daoism in the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

There were monks who had split apart Buddhist statues with axes and used them as firewood, and there were monks who had wantonly consumed meat and wine in the bustling marketplace, loudly proclaiming that meat and wine were only transitory through their bodies, while Buddha would remain permanently in their hearts. Their voices had been deafening, and passers-by were inevitably inclined to ruminate over their statements.

On the other hand, the Daoist priests in the Azure Phoenix Nation had seldom spoken or acted in an astonishing manner. Moreover, it was said that the immortals and Spiritual Masters from the renowned Daoist temple were gradually losing ground to the Buddhists in the grand debate.

This was especially the case regarding the matter where an eminent monk from White Water Temple located in the south of the capital had killed a cat. In the beginning, this had seemingly been an issue that the Daoist priests could use to attack the Buddhist monks. However, the eminent monks had seemingly anticipated this attack, and they had expounded a series of solemn and dignified principles to ultimately render the Daoist priests speechless.

Chen Ping'an simply listened to these rumors and didn't think too deeply about them.

After lunch, Chen Ping'an brought Pei Qian and the others with him as he wandered around the marketplace.

He bought a set of Go stone containers made from green glazed porcelain, and even though they were very big compared to ordinary containers, they somehow managed to appear very exquisite and refined. This was quite remarkable. According to the shopkeeper, these containers had once been used in the royal palace of the Lofty Sky Nation, a nation that seldom produced porcelain wares. It was quite likely that the shopkeeper was telling the truth.

Chen Ping'an had worked in the kilns before, so it was well within his skillset to appraise these porcelain containers. Most importantly, the lids of the Go containers were original as well, and they hadn't been tacked on by someone else afterward. This significantly increased the price of the Go containers, with the shopkeeper asking him for fifty taels of silver. Chen Ping'an happily paid this amount.

Afterward, he bought a small gourd for Pei Qian, a type that was elegantly referred to as Gold Among Gourds[2]. This gourd was extremely small, yet its quality was extremely high. Back then in the Lion Garden, Daoist Nun Liu Boqi had stood atop the courtyard wall and used a similar type of small gourd to store the slug demon's true body.

Of course, the small gourd that Chen Ping'an had purchased for Pei Qian was only an ordinary trinket for one to play around with.

Chen Ping'an had taken a fancy to it straight away, and upon seeing Pei Qian's eyes glued to it as well, he had decided to purchase it for his disciple.

This was because in Pei Qian's mind, one needed to be like her Master, Chen Ping'an, when one traveled around the cultivation world. It was necessary to have a gourd to store and drink wine.

Even at a glance, it was clear that the small yellow gourd was an outrageously expensive item. Pei Qian felt like its size was a perfect match for her current age, but she hadn't dared to open her mouth and ask her master to purchase it for her. Upon seeing Chen Ping'an voluntarily purchase it, however, the wide smile couldn't be wiped from her face. Carefully holding the small gourd in her hand, Pei Qian loudly announced that she was going to drink wine.

However, the inevitable knuckle to her forehead quickly caused her to squat down in pain. Even though her forehead ached, Pei Qian was still filled with utmost joy.

————

Inside White Water Temple, the monk in white kasaya sat beside the well that had been sealed for many years and murmured, "We've lost, we've lost... It wasn't Buddhism that lost, but it was we who lost..."

Tears streamed down the face of the young monk as he gazed into the distance and lamented, "For the common people to learn from my actions is for them to enter a demon's den. I was wrong... I was wrong..."

————

Near the White Cloud Daoist Temple located in the capital, a woman once again unleashed a torrent of abuse at the Daoist temple after her child lost their paper kite to the tall trees.

The middle-aged temple master hid far away, and the young Daoist priest sobbed as he walked over to his master, saying in an upset voice, "Master, how about we chop those trees down? We're always abused by the residents living nearby, and even the worshippers have been scared away as a result. Our temple will genuinely receive no incense offerings in the future, and that will lead to us starving as well. Master won't be able to buy any books in the future either."

The middle-aged temple master naturally wouldn't chop those ancient trees down, but he had no option but to console his young disciple at this moment, especially with how upset he looked. He held the young Daoist priest's hand and led him to the study. The young Daoist priest sniffed, and he was a little body who had already experienced and overcome many challenges in the White Cloud Daoist Temple. Thus, he quickly regained his childish innocence after calming down.

In any case, he had already gotten off lightly. After all, some of his senior brothers had even been raked in the face by those aggressive women who were unhappy with the noise pollution caused by their morning bell and evening drum. Because of this, his senior brothers always had to scurry along like unwelcome rats whenever they left the Daoist temple to run some errands. However, everything would be fine once they grew accustomed to this.

Indeed, his master had told them that this was part of cultivation. During summer when everyone was feeling too hot to sleep at night, their master would also feel the same way and be unable to fall asleep. He would also make his way outside and rock a fan back and forth as he sat under the shade of the large trees.

One time, the young Daoist priest had asked his master why this was. They were Daoist cultivators, after all, so after cultivating for so long, their calm minds should naturally lead to a cool body, should it not? That being the case, why did they still feel so hot?

His master couldn't explain this either, so he had simply responded with a smile.

Upon seeing this, the young Daoist priest had angrily snatched the fan from his master's hand. Fortunately, the temple master was someone who never got angry at anyone.

After consoling his young disciple, the middle-aged temple master retrieved an elementary Confucian text for the little boy to read.

He then continued to read the Legalist book on his table.

Just then, he had read the sentence: Governing a nation is like taking a bath. It's inevitable that one will lose some hair, but this is still something that must be done.[3]

After reading this, the middle-aged temple master had raised his calligraphy brush and started to make notes. More precisely, he was starting to make notes again. Indeed, the page was already filled with countless notes, so much so that there wasn't even space for a single needle to stand. Thus, he had no option but to retrieve the cheapest paper to write down his notes. When he finished, he would place this piece of paper between the two pages.

The young Daoist priest wasn't especially fond of reading, and he had always preferred to have his master read him stories in the past. He put his book down and walked over to his master, only to see the middle-aged temple master scrawling down notes and having his calligraphy brush become a blur. The young Daoist priest couldn't understand what his master was writing, so he stood on his tippy-toes to glance at the contents of the book. He then turned around to look at his master and asked in curiosity, "Master, what are you writing?"

The middle-aged temple master put down the calligraphy brush in his hand, returning it to the brush holder that he had personally carved from wood before smiling and replying, "I comprehended something new after re-reading a Legalist saying, so I decided to record my comprehension such that I can remind myself the next I read it again. That way, I can know what I was thinking in the past, and I can use it to verify what I'm thinking in the future. After polishing and refining this again and again, the knowledge from the sagely texts can one day transform into my own knowledge."

"Oh, is that so?"

However, the young Daoist priest was still a little unhappy, so he asked, "Master, we're not willing to chop those trees down, but we're always abused and despised by the residents in the surroundings. They complain about this and complain about that, and it feels like everything we do is wrong in their view. When will this end? My senior brothers and I are quite pitiful."

There was a kindly expression on the middle-aged temple master's face as he smiled faintly and said in an apologetic voice, "Don't blame our neighbors. If you're feeling angry, then just blame me, your master. After all, your master... still doesn't know the answer to your question."

The young Daoist priest scratched his head. The Daoist priests in the White Cloud Daoist Temple all wore square kerchiefs on their heads instead of hibiscus hats, fish tail hats, or lotus flower hats. There was an expectant look on the young Daoist priest's face as he asked, "Then when will Master know the answer to this problem?"

Even though the so-called answer that the master and disciple were talking about were completely different things, the middle-aged temple master still sighed and replied in a patient voice, "I still don't know."

The young Daoist priest suddenly giggled and patted his master's arm, saying, "There's no hurry, Master. We're not in a hurry at all. Do you need me to massage your shoulders?"

The middle-aged temple master finished making his notes on that Legalist saying, and he pondered for a moment before picking up a Buddhist scripture from the table, one that contained almost one hundred Buddhist stories. However, he was in no hurry to open this Buddhist scripture up, and he suddenly smiled and remarked, "Buddha should be much more anxious than we are. However, even Buddha isn't feeling anxious, so why should we feel anxious?"

As if recalling something, the young Daoist priest suddenly said, "Oh, that's right. Master, Senior Brother said that the rice vat is almost empty."

The middle-aged temple master nodded and replied slowly, "Got it."

The young Daoist priest rolled his eyes.

Master is always like this. In the end, does the White Cloud Daoist Temple not have to tear down the east wall to mend the west wall as usual?

However, the young Daoist priest suddenly saw something strange. It was as if a shimmering golden breeze entered from the window and flipped open the book on his master's study table. Afterward, it was as if the entire room were turned over and refreshed.

The young Daoist priest blinked several times, and he eventually concluded that he had definitely been seeing things.

However, his master had closed his eyes, and it was as if he had fallen asleep and was nodding off right now. It was very likely that his master had become tired from reading too much. With this in mind, the young Daoist priest quietly made his way out of the study and gently closed the door behind him.

————

Chen Ping'an looked up and gazed toward someplace.

"What's the matter? Pei Qian asked.

"It's nothing," Chen Ping'an replied with a smile.

1. Xuan paper is a kind of paper originating in ancient China used for writing and painting. Xuan paper is renowned for being soft and fine-textured. ☜

2. Gold Among Gourds (草里金) is a legitimate type of gourd, and it specifically refers to small gourds that measure less than two centimeters in length. When it comes to small gourds, the smaller they are, the more valuable they are. Among them, Gold Among Gourds are the smallest and most valuable. However, it might not necessarily be so small in the context of this novel. ☜

3. This is a sentence from Han Feizi, an ancient Chinese text from the 3rd century BC attributed to the Legalist political philosopher, Han Fei. It means that losses and sacrifices are inevitable when governing a country, but this is no reason to abandon governance. ☜

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