Chapter 181 — The Wordless Jade Wall

Ming Li could never have expected Master Pu Cheng to say such things, and for a moment he was struck dumb. In these days at Fan Yin Temple his state of mind had been utterly different from before—greatly peaceful and at ease—and in the depths of his heart he liked it exceedingly. Yet he was, after all, a man such as he was, and there were still things he could not let go.

He was silent a long while, then slowly raised his head and made a deep bow to Master Pu Cheng, saying, "I know that you speak to me in true sincerity, Master, wishing to enlighten this stubborn fool. But I am a man of the mortal world, drifting with its waves, and in that world there are countless ties that bind me—I cannot cut them away. Forgive me, Master, but I cannot accept your kindness."

With that he gave a long sigh and made to turn and leave, but Master Pu Cheng spoke: "Benefactor, wait."

Ming Li said, "Master, is there something else?"

A trace of thought passed over Master Pu Cheng's face. Slowly he said, "Your heart is as firm as rock, Benefactor, and I would not force you. But if you are willing, this temple has one request, and I hope you will grant it."

Ming Li was somewhat surprised and said, "What is it? Speak freely, Abbot."

Master Pu Cheng looked at him and said, "When my junior brother Pu Zhao came to such an end in those years, it was his own doing, and his guilt beyond forgiveness—yet at the root of it all, that creature of great evil, the Blood-devouring Bead, cannot be absolved of its part. Now my junior brother has passed from this world, but that evil thing remains upon your person, Benefactor, doing you harm."

Ming Li was silent a moment, then said, "Master means..."

Master Pu Cheng pressed his palms together and said, "Have no misgivings, young Benefactor; I mean no ill. It is only that the Blood-devouring Bead harbors a fierce and violent malevolence that harms others and harms oneself. In the years since my junior brother's passing, these ten-odd years, even as I grieved, I have never ceased to ponder this matter—and by heaven's grace I have devised a method, one that may perhaps restrain the malevolence of such evil things as the Blood-devouring Bead. I wonder, young Benefactor, whether you would be willing to try it?"

Ming Li's expression changed. The Blood-devouring Bead, for all its boundless power, had with that malevolence caused him untold suffering over these ten-odd years; even his temper seemed to have been slowly altered by it. Sometimes he thought of Pu Zhao's fate in those days, and thought that he himself might one day be mastered by that malevolence, and could not keep cold sweat from seeping out. Yet this was a thing he could never speak of to others; anxious as he was, he had no remedy—and now, unexpectedly, Master Pu Cheng had said such words, striking at the very place in his heart that he feared most.

Ming Li pondered a long while before slowly saying, "That the Abbot should possess such a remedy—how would it be done?"

Master Pu Cheng's face was solemn as he said, "The method is in truth simple; plainly put, it is only to use the Buddha's divine power and boundless compassion to dissolve all the malevolence of this world. Behind our Fan Yin Temple there is a place called the Wordless Jade Wall, over seven zhang high, smooth as jade. Legend says that in that year the founding patriarch of Fan Yin Temple, beneath that Wordless Jade Wall, came to full understanding of the Buddha's truth, and from this founded the Fan Yin Temple lineage."

Ming Li frowned, not understanding what this had to do with the malevolence of the Blood-devouring Bead, and heard Master Pu Cheng continue: "Thus that place is, within all the Sumeru range, where the Buddha's aura is most solemn and auspicious. If you will sit quietly there for a time, young Benefactor, and I lead a company of monks to form the Vajra Ring array about the Jade Wall, then with the auspicious aura greatly flourishing, it may perhaps suppress the malevolence of the Blood-devouring Bead that encroaches upon your body—who can say."

Ming Li was shaken. He had not expected Master Pu Cheng's eye to be so keen—that he had already perceived, at some unknown time, the disorder of the qi channels within him. He considered a moment, then said decisively, "I understand your good intent, Master. In that case, I shall sit beneath the Wordless Jade Wall for a few days. But after that, I must take my leave."

Master Pu Cheng pressed his palms together and nodded, smiling. "Rest assured, Benefactor; this temple would never dream of hindering you."

Ming Li nodded, turned, and walked out. Master Pu Cheng watched his figure disappear, sighed, and murmured to himself, "Junior brother, if your spirit lingers above, you ought to protect this child..."

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The Wordless Jade Wall, as Master Pu Cheng had described it, was in the rear mountains of Mount Sumeru. Ming Li had assumed it would be easy enough to find—yet that day, when all was prepared and he set out for the rear mountains with the brothers Fa Cheng and Fa Jing leading the way, they walked for the better part of an hour and still saw no sign of it.

Ming Li felt some surprise but did not voice it. Fa Cheng, ever thoughtful, saw the faint bewilderment in Ming Li's face and guessed at it, so he smiled and said, "Benefactor Zhang, are you wondering why the Wordless Jade Wall is so far?"

Since he had been asked, Ming Li saw no reason to conceal it, and said, "May I ask, Senior Brother, where exactly this Wordless Jade Wall lies, and how it came to be?"

Fa Cheng smiled as he walked and said, "That is a long tale. When the Wordless Jade Wall first appeared, naturally no one knows; all that is known is that a thousand years ago, when the founding patriarch of Fan Yin Temple was still a wandering monk, roaming the four quarters, one day by some mischance he strayed into the towering peaks and ridges of Mount Sumeru and lost his way, unable ever to find the road out again. With no recourse, the patriarch wandered at random through the mountain forests—and being born with a Buddha's affinity, he happened to see a cliff of stone smooth as jade. By then the patriarch was faint with hunger and thirst and worn out with weariness, so he rested beneath that jade wall."

Fa Cheng paused there, and Ming Li could not help asking, "Oh? And what happened then?"

A fork appeared in the mountain path before them; Fa Cheng gestured to the left, leading Ming Li down a slope, and said as they went, "Legend says that the patriarch sat beneath that Wordless Jade Wall for three days and three nights, and somehow, from his first state of desperate hunger and thirst, he gradually entered meditation, his heart at peace and his spirit settled, and entered the great perfection of our Buddha's gate. After three days, beneath that Wordless Jade Wall, he came to sudden enlightenment in the Buddha's truth. And moreover—" Fa Cheng turned his head and gave Ming Li a mysterious smile—"moreover, legend says that it was there, beneath the Wordless Jade Wall, that the patriarch grasped the supreme true dharma handed down through the generations of our Fan Yin Temple, the Great Brahma Prajna, and thereby established the standing of the Fan Yin Temple lineage among the cultivators of the world."

Ming Li was dumbfounded a moment, then shook his head. He found this legend of the Fan Yin Temple patriarch rather comical—there seemed to be altogether too much in it that rang false, and it had a wild, unrestrained air. He had held some vague hope for Master Pu Cheng's ritual; but now, hearing Fa Cheng tell it like a storyteller, he felt rather dispirited and could not help sighing inwardly.

Fa Cheng, careful as ever, noted every change in Ming Li's expression, but only smiled and led the way without a word. As for the tall, broad monk Fa Jing following behind them, he had always been a silent one, and he too said nothing.