Ye Tian felt quite uncomfortable in his heart, was he really seen through just like that? How embarrassing!
The old man finally put down the book in his hand with great distress, adjusted his robes, and still majestically sat on the cushion, tilting his head to look at Ye Tian, "Sit down, don’t stand, my neck is stiff."
Ye Tian obediently sat down. The Great Zen Master sat on the cushion, while he himself sat on the ground.
Seeing him so obedient, the Great Zen Master felt that he should take advantage a little more, "Go and fetch me two more books."
Ye Tian obediently handed over the book hidden in his bosom, his expression even more serious, "Big brother, this is the most valuable one, you must treasure it well!"
Glancing at the cover, the Great Zen Master’s eyes gleamed cunningly, an eyebrow raised, "Sora Aoi’s?"
Both gave each other a knowing smile.
Ye Tian served meticulously, and the Great Zen Master enjoyed it all the more righteously without a word, solemnly taking the book and then immersing himself in reading it without saying a word. There wasn’t a trace of displeasure anymore.
"Big brother? Big brother?"
Ye Tian tentatively called out a few times, and as expected, this old fellow really had superb concentration, not even turning his eyeballs. Seeing him , Ye Tian no longer disturbed him but just silently waited.
After a long while, once the Great Zen Master had finished browsing the book, he placed the beautifully packaged magazine between his hands, slightly closed his eyes, and sighed, "This is a masterpiece, rare and precious. I am honored to have read this book."
A faint blissful smile appeared on his lips.
Seeing an opportunity, Ye Tian said, "Big brother, if you want to see more, I can get more for you."
"People in Buddhism should practice abstinence, how do you not understand anything? Where did your meditation go these past days?"
"Heh heh, isn’t it because I lack talent, unlike Master’s great wisdom?"
The Great Zen Master nodded, "That’s true."
"Big brother, could you teach me a move or two, so in a few days time, I won’t embarrass myself on stage?"
The Great Zen Master looked at him and asked, "Do you really want to learn?"
Looking at Ye Tian, he could see the slight melancholy and sorrow in his eyes, the old Zen Master said softly, "I only hope you don’t turn out to be the second Bodhi."
Ye Tian closed himself off for five days until the day the Buddhist Law conference was convened.
During the era of Tang Dynasty, when Tang Xuanzang returned from the Western Regions, thousands of people in Chang’an City emptied the streets. Emperor Tang himself bathed and changed clothing to personally welcome him, all to catch a glimpse of the State Preceptor’s elegance, not all among these thousands were Buddhists, this is speaking of the grand scale of the event. Ye Tian had only heard about such events from storytellers on the street corners when he was young. The grandest event he had actually seen was during military drills, where the rumble of armored vehicles passed by, which was nothing but warfare sand and weapons, completely different from the grandeur of Buddhist Law.
The Great Zen Master looked dejected, holding a treasured edition of Sora Aoi and closely reading it, occasionally raising his head to ponder, as if considering if the posture was correct and anatomically appropriate. Over these two days, the old guy had argued with Ye Tian no less than two hundred times, always with the old man claiming victory. After losing, Ye Tian obediently clambered up the tree, standing at the treetop all night. Initially, in the middle of the night, one could intermittently hear a thud from the courtyard, and after a time, another thud would sound. By the third day, there were fewer noises in the courtyard, and the old man could finally sleep soundly through the night of the Buddhist Law conference.
That day, early in the morning, Ye Tian woke up, but the old Zen Master was meditating cross-legged on the cushion and showed no intention of moving.
"Big brother, aren’t you going to take a look?"
The old Zen Master opened one eye, slanting it and raising an eyebrow, "I have watched it for decades, I’m sick of it. You just take care of bringing those three things back."
Ye Tian scratched the back of his head, "That’s a bit tough. I’m concerned without you there to support me."
"Scram! I have talked with you about so many things, and you haven’t reported back anything, shameless! Scram scram scram! If you can’t bring the things back, you deserve to be beaten to death. That young man before, it only took three days of teaching for him to attain enlightenment. You, on the other hand, have taken so much from me over time and still can’t hold yourself up!"
"At least it’s a clump of soil, gold shines anywhere, right..."
Ye Tian was about to approach with a joking smile but was deterred by the old man’s glaring eyes, which were round as beads. He turned around and walked away dejectedly.
The Great Zen Master watched as Ye Tian ran out the door, a smile spread across his face, and he sighed deeply, "If you really encounter that big tree, don’t withstand it stubbornly!"
Following the Political Commissar’s advice, Ye Tian decided not to meddle in political turmoil, as for the consequences, that was not his concern. After all, it was the domestic people’s intention; in the end, they could just push the blame to others, their dirty business, not his bother.
Regarding the Buddhist conference, it seemed to Ye Tian like a bunch of satiated people making a racket. Yet still, this noisy session managed to attract people from all over the world, which was interesting. Ye Tian thought to himself, perhaps there was indeed a particular domain in these discussions of Buddhism that he was unaware of.
During the days he stayed in the temple, what the old man told him most was to encourage him to contemplate more on Buddhist Law and to read some Buddhist scriptures. Although not necessarily improving much power, it was still good for refining the mind. Following his advice, Ye Tian rummaged out numerous Buddhist texts from that dilapidated room, among them were unique and valuable editions, including some old printed books from hundred years ago using movable type printing, with each page turned, yellow papery scraps rustled and fell. Afraid of being blamed by the old man, he quickly threw them back into the pile of dust, the soft sunlight dispersed through the fine dust floating in the air. However, he could not escape the keen eyes of the old man; his usually not reading now suddenly seemed pained, watching Ye Tian with a gloomy face, sending shivers down his spine, and ended up obediently climbing up the treetop to jump down, just to accommodate the old man’s demand of hearing that sound.
In the end, after selecting from the pile of books, he took out one that was barely legible, holding it like a treasure, he climbed up the tree branches and read through the night.