Chapter 34

Xu Fengnian woke up with a splitting headache, sat up unsteadily, and took a sip of spring water from a bamboo water bottle by the bedside. He then picked up a celadon bottle from the table and swallowed the last two pills. After drinking the remaining cold water from the bamboo bottle, his headache eased, and he immediately felt refreshed. He noticed the Sword Xiu Dong lying across a pile of secret manuals, reached out to grip it, and heard the metallic resonance of the blade. Only then did he realize that his internal energy was flowing smoothly, invigorating his entire body, as if he had boundless strength. Xu Fengnian instinctively wanted to draw the sword but suppressed the urge.

Stepping outside the thatched cottage, he saw the young monk riding a bull tending to the stove, cooking a pot of winter bamboo shoots. Xu Fengnian asked, "Were the chess pieces I lost stolen by you?"

The young monk played dumb, "I don't know."

Xu Fengnian frowned, but before he could threaten the monk with his sword, the young monk, feeling guilty, ran away in a panic. The winter bamboo shoots, which he had dug up with great effort, were left behind. Xu Fengnian walked to the stove, cooked the bamboo shoots, and slowly ate them all with chopsticks. Then he went to the cave under Xianfeng Peak and found a small pile of uncarved pebbles. He assumed the young monk was making amends. Xu Fengnian smiled, leaned against the wall, and followed the advanced sword techniques described in the "Lushuiting Jiazi Xijianlu," using Sword Xiu Dong to carve chess pieces. However, his first cut was too erratic, splitting a hard pebble in half. Xu Fengnian paused, sat cross-legged, and focused on his breathing. He had already noticed his heightened sensitivity during his journey. Now, he felt his internal energy abundant and clear, and the Daoist breathing technique "one breath in, one breath out, returning to the root, called fetal breathing," which he had previously only known as a mantra, now seemed profound. Xu Fengnian opened his eyes and muttered to himself, "Is this the Great Yellow Court?"

The young monk cautiously appeared at the cave entrance and smiled, "It is the Great Yellow Court. Your Highness, you mustn't waste it."

Xu Fengnian said sarcastically, "I have wasted it."

The young monk shook his head and smiled, "You're saying that too soon."

Xu Fengnian said calmly, "There are hundreds of books in the thatched cottage. Will Wudang accept them as a gift?"

The young monk smiled naively, "We will accept them!"

Xu Fengnian smiled, "Will Wudang accept a thousand taels of gold as incense money every year?"

The young monk thought for a moment and smiled bitterly, "I'm not sure."

Xu Fengnian laughed it off and waved for the young monk to leave. Hong Xiangxiang stepped out and then came back, whispering, "Your Highness, don't hold a grudge over the stolen chess pieces."

Xu Fengnian whispered, "Get lost."

Xu Fengnian spent half a day getting used to the force needed to hold the sword. Then, carving the chess pieces became easy. The pieces were smooth and round. After completing the set, he took a deep breath, but accidentally blew the pieces out of order, mixing the black and white ones. Xu Fengnian cursed in the Sichuan dialect, reorganized them, and went to the bamboo grove to cut two Luohan purple bamboo stalks, which he carried back to the thatched cottage. He spent a day weaving two chess boxes, a skill he had honed during his three years of travel. He placed the 361 pieces into the boxes and looked at the thatched cottage, where the secret manuals had not been moved. He then fastened his sword at his waist, held the chess boxes in both hands, and went outside to look at the desolate vegetable garden. The two maids, Sweet Potato and Green Bird, waited quietly. Only Hong Xiangxiang from Wudang saw him off, just like the small welcoming party when he arrived.

Hong Xiangxiang predictably sent him off to the Xuanwu Dangxing archway.

Xu Fengnian saw two hundred armored cavalry from Beiliang ready to depart. He looked back at Lotus Peak and asked, "What's that saying again?"

Sweet Potato giggled, "A century in the mountains, a millennium in the world."

Xu Fengnian smiled, "Has the white fox-faced person in Tingchao Pavilion reached the third floor yet?"

Sweet Potato shook her head gently, "Not yet. They're betting in Wutongyuan. I bet he will in a year and a half, with six taels of silver. Green Ant and the others think it will be even later."

Xu Fengnian sat in the carriage, "I'll bet ten taels of silver that the white fox-faced person will reach the third floor within a year."

Sweet Potato massaged his shoulders, and Xu Fengnian leaned against her chest, opened the chess box, and caressed a piece with his fingers, closing his eyes and softly saying, "A bit harder."

Sweet Potato, whose natural fragrance fades in winter, nodded and glanced at Green Bird, who she didn't get along with.

Green Bird remained silent but looked at the prince's forehead with a keen gaze.

The two maids' thoughts were unspoken.

The two hundred cavalry entered Liangzhou, and the citizens on the main road made way. Xu Fengnian stopped the carriage halfway and sent Sweet Potato to a favorite beef shop to buy some braised beef. The meat here was the most flavorful, the beef the best in Beiliang, and the secret sauce the best of all. The soy sauce on the table was coveted by many diners, but none had succeeded in stealing it. Xu Fengnian and his friends, Li Hanlin and Yan Chij, often came here after their misdeeds. Li Hanlin was so domineering that he almost moved the entire century-old shop. If Xu Fengnian hadn't pleaded with the old shopkeeper, who was in tears, the citizens would have lost this authentic taste. Of course, it was mainly to satisfy his own picky taste.

The most interesting thing wasn't the braised beef but a delicate little girl in the shop, said to be a distant relative of the shop owner. She had first come to the city five or six years ago, holding a rope tied to a black and white bear-like cat, neither a bear nor a cat. After much research by the literati of Liangzhou, it was determined to be a "mammoth," or panda, known to eat copper and iron. However, no one had heard of any household metal being stolen. Instead, the girl often held bamboo branches and leaves. Xu Fengnian hadn't seen the girl and the big cat since his return from his travels. Before his travels, he often teased the girl, and Li Hanlin tried to steal the soy sauce but was hit by the girl with a bamboo branch. If not for Xu Fengnian's intervention, the girl and her pet would have been locked in a cage.

While waiting for the beef, Xu Fengnian saw an old beggar shivering against the wall, his face blue from cold and hunger, near death. Rich people enjoy winter, even without the luxury of heated floors, because they can wear luxurious fur coats, which is more dignified. But all poor people dread this season.

Besides the ragged old beggar, Xu Fengnian saw a frail figure squatting nearby, with a young monk in a green and light red robe standing beside her. The monk said something and then ran off.

Xu Fengnian frowned, "Though there are many Buddhist sects, the rules for wearing robes are similar. No young monk should wear such a color, which is reserved for lecturing monks. Moreover, monks should wear full robes when traveling, not just one shoulder exposed. That monk has his left shoulder exposed."

Xu Fengnian smiled, "Where did this little monk come from?"

Xu Fengnian, influenced by his mother's lifelong devotion to Buddhism, was well-versed in Buddhist etiquette.

Green Bird corrected, "The little monk has his right shoulder exposed."

Xu Fengnian laughed, "What a strange little monk."

Xu Fengnian, known for his ill repute in Beiliang, was always kind to monks, often giving alms. Most monks would not accept money, and Xu Fengnian didn't mind. As a result, many fortune-tellers in Liangzhou had become cheap monks, caring more about the prince's alms than any moral code.

Xu Fengnian suddenly narrowed his eyes, focusing on a middle-aged monk of the Esoteric School, wearing a large red robe, with a gaunt face, who walked to the wall and showed compassion to the dying beggar.

When the young monk, wearing an inappropriate robe, rushed back with a steaming basket of buns, he found the old beggar had passed away.

The Esoteric monk bent down, held the old man's hand, and recited prayers for the dead.

The young monk handed the buns to the girl, who stood up and bowed in silence.

Xu Fengnian watched, feeling a bit moved.

Two monks, one big and one small, regardless of where they came from or where they were going.

Raising a hand is Zen.

Bowing is also Zen.

Sweet Potato entered the carriage, and Xu Fengnian suddenly found the braised beef, which he had been drooling over on Wudang Mountain, a bit bland. He set it aside and said softly, "Even if I have the Great Yellow Court from the Wudang patriarch, I still prefer monks more. The Two Zen Temple, which only understands two Zen principles, and the Lantao Mountain, known for its ascetic monks, seem more endearing than Wudang and Longhu."

Xu Fengnian prepared to return home and, seeing the girl's profile, felt a sudden surge of happiness. He picked up the package of braised beef, stood up, and smiled, "Sweet Potato, Green Bird, I'm going to see an old acquaintance. You two go back first."

Xu Fengnian left the carriage, waited until the Beiliang cavalry had left, and then walked to the wall corner.

Xu Fengnian liked the girl, whom he wasn't very familiar with. When he and Old Huang were in their most destitute times in Langya Prefecture, they coincidentally met this runaway girl, who claimed to be a wandering female knight. She had a few silver coins and copper pieces left, which was already pitiful. After a misunderstanding, she generously treated them to a large meal of fish and meat, then was left penniless. They lived in poverty and misery for about a month,