Without giving him another chance to speak, Ye Tian finished the beer in the bottle, put down the empty bottle, and walked away alone, leaving Qiao behind, helpless.
In fact, he wasn’t off to so lucrative business deal; he was rely summoned by his boss for a scolding, and at the sa ti, resources were allocated to protect the boss who ca to collect the Ghost Seal. Aside from that, all Qiao knew was that this boss was also a rcenary turned antique-lover, a Huaxia person, beyond that, he knew nothing else.
Another Huaxia person.
Lately, Qiao’s heart harbored an extraordinary resentnt towards Huaxia people!
...
After leaving the Daylight Tavern, slling strongly of alcohol, Ye Tian headed towards the courtyard of the Esoteric Master. He wasn’t aiming for anything else but the White Bull in the yard, capable of swallowing the Sky Water Dragon Pillar. It’s said every immortal has a mount, and on this trip to Nepal, he couldn’t take much else, but taking a White Bull back to show off would be nice; topple the White Bull, hang books on its horns—it all felt quite like an immortal.
However, the White Bull was still lying on the ground, snoring, extinguishing much of Ye Tian’s good mood along the way.
The Esoteric Master, who was ditating under the green vines in the courtyard, was startled upon seeing Ye Tian push the door and enter. Then he was greatly alard, wondering where Ye Tian’s cultivation level ca from. A rise to heavens in one step?
"Have you already perceived it?"
"Perceived what?" Ye Tian, crouching on the ground, kept fiddling with the bull’s ears, not wanting to disturb the Esoteric Master, but she had noticed him long before.
Originally turbulent inside, the Esoteric Master, upon looking into Ye Tian’s eyes again, was bewildered. People who’ve perceived the Zen should be pure, without worldly disturbances; however, this young man’s eyes were filled with deep sadness, calm on the surface, yet internally intertwined with the mortal world in an indiscernible chaos.
This was indeed strange.
"Do not disturb its rest."
"This beast?"
Ye Tian, indignant, played with the lazy White Bull’s ears a few more tis, still eliciting no response.
"This White Bull is not a re beast." The Esoteric Master’s tone, devoid of any irritation, was as bland as boiled water, as she gently closed her eyes and no longer spoke, continuing to ditate under the green vines.
With no one to talk to, Ye Tian found it boring. He had wanted to learn so life-saving skills from this ’old lady’, but now, arriving here, she ignored him completely. In the whole courtyard, the only ones with a face and a mouth were the mud statue of the Three-eyed Bodhisattva in the hall and this snoring lazy White Bull.
"Master, this White Bull, it seems like it’s ti," he comnted abruptly, causing the recently cald Esoteric Master to open her eyes again, "Have you noticed?"
"It’s been sleeping for nearly a week, and it drank so much water before sleeping. Even if it’s holding its urine, it should wake up. No worries, let’s wait a bit longer, maybe by the Seizing Body Conference, I can still lead this fellow to cheer on. If it doesn’t wake up, if I lose, I’ll just butcher it and serve it up Teppanyaki-style."
Expecting to hear so peculiar words from this strange man, the Esoteric Master was instead slightly disappointed by his nonsense.
"Master, what kind of Zen are you cultivating?"
The Esoteric Master closed her eyes again, "What I cultivate is not Zen. Buddhism cultivates Zen; our Esoteric sect belongs to Tibetan Buddhism, that is, Lamaism. We cultivate the mind, not Zen."
"Cultivation of the mind? Isn’t cultivating the mind the sa as practicing Zen? What is Zen, and what is the mind?" Ye Tian asked, tilting his head without pausing from stroking the cow’s ears.
Ye Tian’s series of questions stumped the Esoteric Master who was ditating.
What is the mind? What is Zen? These questions truly puzzled the Esoteric Master.
She had asked her own master the sa questions, but it seed he couldn’t provide an answer either, only telling her that she would gradually understand in ti.
Gradually understand? Decades have passed; is that not slow enough? Now another person is asking the sa questions; should she tell him that he will understand in ti, this vague answer? Vague? Since it was the Master who said it, that ans the answer must be correct, perhaps it is just her own diocre ability that prevents her from fully understanding her master’s aning.
"Master, you haven’t answered my question yet."
Looking at the ivy leaves swaying in the breeze in front of her, the Esoteric Master said, "Look at this leaf. You tell , is it moving by itself, or is it being moved by the wind?"
Ye Tian glanced at it while his fingers continued to twirl around the ears of the White Bull.
"Moved by the wind. Not of its own volition, yet inevitable."
"This is Zen. The world’s great paths are nurous, all falling under the realms of the Heavenly Dao and Human Path, yet every path is filled with hardships. More painful still is that one must walk this path regardless. The choices we make amidst helplessness, moving forward, that is the practice of Zen."
"If that’s what you say, Master, then this Zen seems to be a bitter fruit of helplessness?"
"All life is suffering; to penetrate this suffering is to practice Zen."
Ye Tian tilted his head and thought for a mont, then shook his head and lowered it to continue playing with the ears of the White Bull, "To , practicing Zen seems like a process of self-verification for bored people. They have good days yet choose to understand suffering. Isn’t the essence of all things suffering? In the end, it’s just masochistic. Dust returns to dust, earth to earth, leaves return to their roots, and the old have their dependents, which is enough. Seeing through the fleeting pleasures of life is sufficient. If you get caught up in that dead end, then Zen becos even more elusive and incomprehensible."
Dust to dust, earth to earth?
The Esoteric Master planted these words deep in her heart.
"Is this your understanding of Zen?"
The Esoteric Master sighed, it seed that the answer was not wrong, but still it felt like it was missing sothing.
Ye Tian released the cow’s ears and pursed his lips, "If I could truly practice Zen, I wouldn’t be in such a desperate state now, needing to fight for my life on stage."
"Fighting for life is one thing, practicing Zen is another; do not confuse the two."
Ye Tian sat on the ground, chewing on a blade of grass, leaning against the White Bull, and looking up at the blue sky, "I have never seen a great Zen Master fight with anyone either; just happily staying inside his little thatched cottage." Rembering how the Great Zen Master enjoyed reading a Forbidden Book, Ye Tian couldn’t help but laugh, but this laugh suddenly drained his mood, leaving him with a forced and ugly smile.
The Esoteric Master closed her eyes again, repeatedly mulling over the phrase "dust to dust, earth to earth."
One was ditating cross-legged, the other leaning against the White Bull introspecting, both seed completely unrelated, yet deeply connected to each other.
As the sun climbed overhead, Ye Tian squinted at the sky, not bothering to shield his eyes, finding the sun splitting into two, then three, a fascinating sight.
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