After completing the stone statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Lu Bian had timed the work to take exactly forty-nine days.
Lu Bian did not really know what significance the number forty-nine held, but a saying circulated among the people of the Great Song: after a particular event or thing had lasted forty-nine days, it would undergo a mysterious change.
Lu Bian had deliberately made the carving take forty-nine days as a way of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do."
The statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva was finished, and it looked lifelike.
Though it was made of stone, the pure white robe covering Guanyin Bodhisattva seemed so light it could flutter in the wind. Its natural lines and folds looked just like those of real clothing.
The Bodhisattva's face was kind and dignified, her gaze gentle. Her eyes were lowered as if she pitied all who suffered, while the faintest smile played at the corners of her mouth, making her seem warm and approachable.
In one hand, she held the Jade Purifying Vase, which bestowed grace and saved the world. With the fingers of her other hand, she pinched a drooping willow branch. She seemed both still and in motion, as if sweet dew were about to drip from its leaves.
The Great Merciful and Great Compassionate, Savior of the Suffering and Distressed, Miraculous Guanyin Bodhisattva of South Sea Putuo Luojia Mountain stood upon a lotus pedestal. Her image appeared before the eyes of the world, yet she seemed to exist apart from it all.
"Rain? Why is it raining?" A passerby lifted a hand to feel the drops.
A light rain suddenly began to fall, lasting several hours.
In the rain, Lu Bian gazed blankly up at the statue he had carved with his own hands. The passersby who had stopped to watch stood staring at the Bodhisattva, transfixed.
The rain soaked everyone's clothes, but no one there felt cold or damp.
The rain washed the statue clean, carrying away every speck of dust. The water flowed onto the ground and was absorbed by the earth, making everyone forget how the dust had once flown and swirled around the Bodhisattva as she was carved.
"Ah?"
Lu Bian sensed a gaze. By the time he noticed it, it had vanished.
Following the last trace of that gaze, Lu Bian stared at the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva, uncertain and amazed.
"..."
Could Guanyin Bodhisattva have been looking at him just now?
It was certainly possible.
The rain gradually stopped.
The clouds shifted across the sky, and a shaft of sunlight fell through them, shining squarely on the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva.
"Ah!! The Bodhisattva has revealed her divine presence!!"
A wondrous optical phenomenon appeared on the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva. A hazy glow shimmered behind her.
Everyone who had come to see the spectacle fell to their knees.
Even Lu Bian bowed before Guanyin Bodhisattva and paid his respects.
This was no coincidence.
Guanyin Bodhisattva was watching what was happening here.
After paying his respects, Lu Bian rose and turned to look at the people behind him.
They all had their heads bowed, softly murmuring something to the statue and praying for the Bodhisattva's protection.
"Sir..."
An old man came up beside Lu Bian and grasped his wrist.
Looking at Lu Bian's striking, heroic appearance, the old man could not think of what to call this sculptor.
"You must be a revered attendant of the Bodhisattva!"
"No, I'm not. I'm just an ordinary man."
Lu Bian gently removed the old man's hand from his wrist.
"This old man is being presumptuous, but would you be willing to sculpt a statue for me, Master?"
"What kind of statue?" Lu Bian asked.
"A statue of the Bodhisattva, of course."
"Not here in Dongjing City, but back in my hometown." The old man pleaded with Lu Bian, grabbing for him again, afraid he might suddenly soar away on the clouds.
"All right." Lu Bian nodded.
"My hometown is Luzhou. I hope you'll understand that the journey will be long and tiring."
"I'm not so delicate. It's only a trip to Luzhou."
"But I can't leave just yet. I have to find a place for the Bodhisattva." Lu Bian said.
"!!!"
When the people present heard Lu Bian say this, they all turned to look at him, barely able to contain their excitement.
Some were about to shout something to Lu Bian, but then the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva caught their eye, and they immediately shut their mouths.
They absolutely must not interfere with Lu Bian's thoughts or actions.
Where the Bodhisattva's statue would go had already been decided by fate.
Lu Bian stood beside the statue for three days.
He simply stood there in silence.
He was lost in thought.
Worshippers came to pray, then left. The surroundings were utterly quiet; no one raised their voice. Even the Dongjing authorities sent people to maintain order.
"Your Majesty, look..."
"I see..."
"So that's the extraordinary man?" the Emperor asked, looking at Lu Bian.
The emperors of the Great Song referred to themselves as "Your Majesty." Word of Guanyin Bodhisattva's divine manifestation had reached the palace over the past three days, prompting the Emperor of the Great Song to come in disguise.
"Why doesn't that extraordinary man move? What is he thinking?" the Emperor of the Great Song asked.
"They say he's thinking about how best to place the Bodhisattva's statue."
"On the roadside, with people and carriages coming and going, it does seem disrespectful to the Bodhisattva," one of the Emperor's guards explained softly.
"Mm..."
"What if we chose a place outside Dongjing City and built a new Guanyin Temple for the Bodhisattva?" the Emperor of the Great Song proposed.
"Good, good. Let's do that." The Emperor smiled and clapped his hands.
"Your Majesty, where will the land come from? And where will the money to build the temple come from?" asked a civil official standing beside the Emperor in disguise.
"I'll pay for it," the Emperor of the Great Song said.
"And provide the land, too."
"Go and see to it," the Emperor ordered.
"Heh..."
The Emperor gazed at the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva and let out a long breath. After seeing the statue, his mind had grown clear; all the tangled thoughts that had troubled him were swept away. His ears and eyes felt sharp and clear.
"So it's real..." the Emperor murmured to himself.
"An extraordinary man," the Emperor praised Lu Bian.
Standing beside the Bodhisattva's statue, Lu Bian looked like a statue himself: handsome, strong, and every inch a peerless hero.
"Hey, you there!"
Suddenly, someone called out loudly, drawing everyone's eyes.
A bald, burly man, eight feet tall, walked up to Lu Bian.
At seven feet tall beside the man's eight, Lu Bian had to tilt his head up to look at the dark, muscular giant who seemed to have come looking for trouble.
"Why did you bring the Bodhisattva here?" the bald man asked Lu Bian.
"..." Lu Bian looked at the man without answering.
"Hey, hey." The bald man sighed twice.
"There's a place that's in dire need of a statue of the Bodhisattva."
"You don't need to keep worrying about it."
As soon as the bald man finished speaking, a breeze suddenly swept across the ground!!
The sudden gust made everyone squeeze their eyes shut.
When the wind died down and they opened their eyes, the bald man and the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva were both gone.
Lu Bian had not been blown into closing his eyes.
Now dust had gotten into them, making him shed tears.
"Why is that extraordinary man crying?"
The Emperor was bewildered. Had the immortals and Bodhisattva manifested themselves again just now? Where had the compassionate statue gone? And what about the bald man?
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