Buddhist Gatha

Lin Su's heart immediately relaxed. That was it?

I thought they were going to sever some organ from my body. Scared me to death...

Third Elder swept his gaze across his face. Instead of panic and helplessness, he found relief. What was going on?...

Lin Su poured the elder a cup of water. "Master, this disciple has no Dao Root. Without cultivation, there is no cultivation to cripple, right?"

Third Elder froze...

A punishment that made Cultivators turn pale at the mere mention of it was as light as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze in his eyes. The reason was actually this.

Lin Su added, "As for expulsion from the sect, that matters even less. To be frank, Master, even without this incident, this disciple had wanted to leave the mountain. Without a Dao Root, staying in the sect is nothing but a waste of time. Why suffer through it? So today, I ask Master to tell this disciple where I came from. Do I have a household?"

It was a strange question. Why would someone need to ask others where they came from?

Yet coming from Lin Su, it was perfectly normal.

When he had transmigrated, the previous owner of this body had been struck by lightning, and his consciousness had vanished on the spot. He had asked his master who he was, but his master refused to tell him, saying only that he should devote himself to cultivation from then on, and that forgetting the distracting thoughts of household and family would be better.

Today, his path of cultivation had been cut off, and he was about to leave the mountain. His master ought to tell him.

Third Elder stared at the cup of water before him for a long time. The water in the cup moved without wind, Stirred Up into ripples. After a long while, he slowly raised his head. "Since matters have come to this, your master should tell you. Everything your master knows was, in fact, told to me by you when you first entered the sect. Whether it was true or false, it all came from your own mouth..."

Hearing this, Lin Su's expression turned a little constipated. What do you mean, old man? Are you shirking responsibility?

But the old man's next words shook him to the core...

He, Lin Su, was the Third Young Master of the Marquis of Dingnan's Estate in the Great Cang Kingdom. The Marquis of Dingnan's Estate had faced a calamity. His father, the Marquis of Dingnan, sought an answer from the Buddhist sect, and an eminent Buddhist monk had given him an eight-character gatha: "Three Dao Unification, shatter calamity and rise in greatness."

What did that mean? The more widely accepted interpretation was that the Lin Family had three sons, and if each chose one path and followed it through, they could break the calamity and lead the Lin Family into a great resurgence.

His eldest brother was a border commander, corresponding to the Martial Way.

His second brother possessed outstanding literary talent and was already a xiucai, corresponding to the Literary Way.

As for him, there was no choice. He could only choose the Immortal Way—cultivation was also called the Immortal Way—so his father, the Marquis of Dingnan, had dispatched capable men to send him across thousands of miles to cultivate at the Cloud Stream Sect.

—That was why he had come to the Cloud Stream Sect.

This was also what had left Third Elder so conflicted. Back then, he had respected the Marquis of Dingnan for guarding the border for the nation and had accepted this task. Yet in the end, he had been unable to help Lin Su enter the gate of cultivation. Now Lin Su even faced the punishment of expulsion. He felt deeply sorry for having accepted that commission.

Lin Su sighed. "So I came to the Cloud Stream Sect because of a Buddhist gatha. Master, was that eminent monk reliable?"

The old man said, "Your master does not know who that eminent monk was, but since he won your father's trust, he must have been an extraordinary expert with an exceptional background."

Damn! He kicked that ball away with impressive skill!

Lin Su shook his head. "No matter how extraordinary his background or profound his cultivation, he cannot get around one dead knot: my coming to the Cloud Stream Sect was clearly a mistake." He had no Dao Root and could not cultivate. That was an ironclad fact.

The old man agreed. "In truth, your master has long harbored a suspicion. It is not that I doubt there was anything wrong with the Buddhist monk's gatha. Rather, I suspect... you and your eldest brother got it wrong. Perhaps you are suited to the Martial Way, while your eldest brother is suited to cultivation."

Lin Su smiled. "This disciple agrees with Master's judgment. My brothers and I must have assigned the tasks incorrectly. But it is more likely that my second brother and I got them mixed up. Perhaps I am better suited to the Literary Way."

The Literary Way—reading books!

There was a withered tree in his mind, and every leaf was a copier. Whenever it encountered books, it sprang to life and copied them directly. Such a Golden Finger, so deeply linked to books—what was that phrase again? A match made in heaven!

The old man rejected that idea outright. "That is absolutely impossible!"

His tone was as decisive as nails driven into iron!

Lin Su was truly unconvinced now. "Why?"

The old man said, "What do you think the Literary Way is? Do you think knowing a few characters means you are suited to it? The Literary Way is broad and profound. It is the Foremost of the Five Ways. Top Great Confucians of the Literary Way can slay powerful enemies with one stroke of the brush, shatter the firmament with a single word, and reshape heaven and earth—how miraculous is that? Correspondingly, its threshold is astonishingly high. Your second brother is already a xiucai and has forged an Azure Literary Platform. He is the one and only choice for the Literary Way. And you still want to switch with him?"

What?

Lin Su was a little dumbfounded.

What did he mean, slaying powerful enemies with one brushstroke, shattering the firmament with a single word, reshaping heaven and earth?

What was an Azure Literary Platform?

Why did this Literary Way seem nothing like the Literary Way he understood?

"Master, this disciple is about to leave the mountain and may never again have the chance to hear Master's teachings. Why not tell this disciple about the affairs of the world? As the ancients said: to transmit the Dao, impart knowledge, and resolve doubts—such is a teacher's grace."

Perhaps the words "as the ancients said" had placed a deeply rooted shackle around the old man's head.

Perhaps it was the faint sorrow of impending parting.

Perhaps, after years as the keeper of the Dao Seeking Pavilion, the old man's innate urge to discuss the Dao had flared up.

He spoke, and he spoke in considerable detail...

Lin Su's heart churned like rivers and seas, as though he had been struck by a Category Twelve typhoon in an instant...

This world was an incomparably wondrous one.

There was literature and martial arts, cultivation, demons, and devils, all together forming its fantastical foundation.

Most wondrous of all was the Literary Way.

Scholars were not symbols of frailty. On the contrary, they represented the most elite combat strength!

Poetry, Ci, songs, rhapsodies, Zither, Chess, Books, and Painting could invoke Literary Way Power and produce real destructive force!

Slaying powerful enemies with one brushstroke was not an abstract description. It truly could chop off heads.

Shattering the firmament with one word meant one could truly fly.

Reshaping heaven and earth was not an abstract literary device. High-ranking Great Confucians could truly make mountains collapse, make waters flow backward, and turn the earth upside down...

He also deciphered a sentence from the Library Pavilion yesterday. A disciple had said, "The Saintess is in a foul mood. Could it be that her southern journey did not go smoothly?"

Another disciple had answered that it had indeed not gone smoothly. She had encountered a Great Confucian.

At the time, he had thought those illiterate senior brothers did not understand how to use measure words. Now he knew that they had not said "great fish" at all, but "Great Confucian"—a special species of the Literary Way!

However, one matter was rather strange.

Lin Su asked, "Master, if the Literary Way is so wondrous, why has no one in the sect ever mentioned it? This disciple has been in the sect for months, yet today is the first time I have heard Master speak of it."

As soon as these words came out, Third Elder fell silent. The expression on his face was rather strange...

At last, he spoke...

"In the Cloud Stream Sect, the Literary Way is quite taboo. Your master will tell you the causes and consequences. First, I fear that if you do not understand the roots of the matter, you may violate a sect taboo again. Second, since we were master and disciple after all, I will teach you some principles of conduct.

"The sect has listed the Literary Way as taboo because the Sect Master was deeply harmed by it.

"When she was still the Saintess, she traveled the martial world and encountered a Great Confucian of the Literary Way. That Great Confucian harmed her, and she gave birth to a daughter—the Young Lady you saw today, the one who carried you out of the Dao Seeking Pavilion.

"That Great Confucian was no good thing. He began in chaos and ended in abandonment. From that day on, the Sect Master formed a deep enmity with the Literary Way.

"Five years later, the Sect Master traveled thousands of miles to seek vengeance from that beast.

"The result was a pile of gibberish...

"After she returned, she gave birth to another daughter. That daughter was Meng Zhu, the Saintess of the Cloud Stream Sect.

"Humiliated twice, the Sect Master's Dao Root was damaged, and her reputation suffered a devastating blow.

"The entire Cloud Stream Sect shares one hatred for the enemy. We all possess the awareness that to humiliate our Sect Master is to humiliate our ancestors, so the Literary Way has been made taboo.

"Therefore, when facing your fellow disciples of Cloud Stream in the future, do not mention the Literary Way. Moreover, you must remember that the most important thing in being a person is to hold firm to your bottom line and know what must not be done..."

Lin Su's eyes widened enormously...

Sect Master, the first time you were "harmed," it could still be explained as meeting the wrong person. But the second time you were "harmed," what was that called? You went thousands of miles to seek revenge, bold and high-spirited, then returned pregnant. Damn! What kind of revenge did you seek?

Out of respect for the Sect Master, and because he was still a Cloud Stream disciple for the moment, Lin Su did not voice any salacious remarks. He could only nod like a chicken pecking at grain.

Third Elder considered the matter back and forth, weighed it from every angle, and finally made up his mind. "Forget it. By sentiment, reason, and sect rules alike, you are not suited to remain in the Cloud Stream Sect. Go..."

Lin Su packed his clothes and personal belongings. Xiao Yao followed him in and out. For the first time, the smile vanished from her lovely face. At the door, Lin Su patted her head and told her, "Xiao Yao, your brother is leaving. Stay with Master..."

Xiao Yao's eyes suddenly misted over, tears glimmering within them...

Lin Su could not continue. "You want to come with me?"

Xiao Yao nodded desperately. "Brother, Xiao Yao can cook and wash clothes. Xiao Yao remembers all the dishes Brother taught her. Brother even said just now that Xiao Yao is especially good at plucking chicken feathers..."

In one breath, she embellished every one of her virtues, then raised her head and looked at Lin Su with eager, pleading eyes.

Third Elder's voice came from beside them. "Take her with you. There should not be any shortage of one pair of chopsticks in the Marquis's Estate."

Lin Su considered for a moment. "The mountain is quiet and peaceful, but everything below the mountain is unknown. It may be the brocade clothes and jade meals of the Marquis's Estate, but it may also be calamities piled upon calamities. Fine, we will go together. If we cannot make a living when the time comes, we can hold each other and cry."

Xiao Yao cheered, grabbed Lin Su's sleeve, and wiped her tears on it.

On his final night at the Cloud Stream Sect, Lin Su once again cooked Third Elder a lavish dinner. Unfortunately, there was no wine.

After the meal, Third Elder sat alone atop the Dao Seeking Pavilion, silent.

Xiao Yao sat beside Lin Su's bed. No matter how he urged her to sleep, she refused. Once Lin Su fell asleep, the girl clutched his sleeve. At last, unable to withstand her eyelids battling each other, she too fell asleep. Even in her deepest sleep, she did not release Lin Su's sleeve. She feared her brother would slip away in the middle of the night.

The next morning, they prepared to set out.

Just as Third Elder was about to see him off, a Silver Boat tore down from the sky and landed outside the courtyard gate. Lin Su's heart tightened. Before leaving, was there still one more calamity?

Though he had "treated her illness" the day before, heaven and earth could bear witness that he had not truly crossed any great line. But she was a Saintess steeped in feudal Propriety and Law!

And afterward, he had learned that her household had the "painful" memory of being hurt by men again and again!