Xue Wenfa turned to look at Big Fatty Monk. The other man smiled like Maitreya Buddha.
He hated monks.
Because they were Doctors' sworn enemies.
If a patient was cured, they hurried to the temple to fulfill their vows, offering a hefty sum in incense money and declaring the Bodhisattva truly efficacious.
If the patient could not be cured, the family beat the Doctor senseless before going to the temple, where the monks said the patient's fate was simply so, that the family had not been sincere enough, and collected another sum in incense money.
Such customs prevailed throughout the Eastern Lands.
Thus, people sought the mysterious and the false, but not truth and reason.
Those who sought the latter struggled at every step; those who sought the former enjoyed a smooth road all the way.
Yet mystery and falsehood could only work within, not without. Outsiders did not believe in your monks or your Dao. So whenever they suffered a beating from the outside world, the atmosphere improved for a generation.
"I don't believe in Buddha, nor do I seek Buddha," Xue Wenfa said seriously.
"Hehe, Buddha is merely a symbol, just a convenient way of putting it. Buddha is reason, truth, reality. It is in the heart, in the flowers, in the mist," Big Fatty Monk said solemnly.
"Using old bottles for new wine?" Xue Wenfa understood somewhat.
No wonder Big Monk had taken a liking to him. He had probably valued Xue Wenfa's willingness to break through worldly conventions and ritual teachings in order to save lives.
"Benefactor, your comprehension is excellent. To cleanse this world, you must first accommodate it. If you wish to shatter the myth of the Fountain of Youth, you must first learn true principles, then teach them to the people. Once people