A Word That Made Him Whole!

Meanwhile.

Once the Young Novice Monks had left, Chen Cuo rubbed his stomach and took stock of the changes throughout his body.

After several days of breathing exercises, the greatest change was not his increased appetite but his body itself. At the very least, his muscles, bones, skin, and sinews had grown firmer, with strength coursing through them.

"After a little more practice, I might catch up with those guards who've trained their bodies since childhood."

After a brief check, Chen Cuo leafed through a few Buddhist scriptures. He pondered them for a while, shook his head, then sat cross-legged on the bed, lowered his gaze, and fell asleep at once.

The moment his form stabilized in the Dream Marsh, a thought carried him straight before the Facial Mask.

The Ghost-Faced Facial Mask had changed markedly since two days ago—

Its blue-purple appearance remained the same, but a faint glow now covered its surface, sending out rings of ripples.

Chen Cuo studied it for a while, then compared the Facial Mask in the Dream Marsh with the one he visualized in his mind.

The mask in his mind was still indistinct, but it held many more threads of Golden Light. It, too, sent ripples outward, though they were exceedingly faint.

He raised a hand, copied a Clarity Pill, and swallowed it. Then he closed his eyes, heightened his five senses, and concentrated on what he felt.

"Just as I thought, there's some connection between the two Facial Masks. Perhaps if I put the one in the Dream Marsh on my face, they'll become one!"

He opened his eyes again and slowly sorted through his thoughts.

"The mask in my mind came from my own visualization. I built it and gradually drew it together through breathing exercises, with Buddha Light mixed in. So far, it doesn't seem to have given me many unusual abilities. I don't even know whether I've stepped into the first stage of the Transcendent Realm."

He looked again at the distinct Facial Mask in the Dream Marsh.

"As for this one, whispers and chanting sound when I get close. It likely arose from the spread of the Painted Skin Essay—a crystallization of incense offerings, in a sense, and a gathering of thoughts. You could call it a collective creation. It probably holds some transcendent power, but I have no way to judge whether it harbors any hidden dangers."

Of the two Facial Masks, the Inner Mask sprang from his own will, while the one in the Dream Marsh might have sprung from the thoughts of many people.

"One person and many people. Both are tied to the Painted Skin Essay, and to me. I probably can make them one, but my understanding of the Incense Way is still only skin-deep. I can't act rashly."

At that thought, he could not help sighing.

"If only those two Daoists had told me more. I can't find anyone to ask now..."

Full of regret, Chen Cuo left the Dream Marsh and opened his eyes in the waking world.

"I wonder how Daoist Zhou is doing. Has everything gone smoothly? Has he found help? Can he bring back a few powerful figures? When will he return?"

Thinking of Zhou Youzi soon brought Chen Cuo's thoughts to the Ink Crane.

The thing was extraordinarily strange and coveted by others. Chen Cuo had brought it with him on this visit and kept it in a box beside his pillow, always close at hand.

"The Daoist said the Ink Crane could warn of Evil Ghosts. Could it also glimpse Buddha Light? Could I use it to investigate where the Facial Mask in the Dream Marsh came from?"

The more he thought about it, the harder it was to sit still. But given the Buddhist temple's many wonders, he decided he should choose the right moment.

"I'll only control it inside the room and use its eyes to examine myself, then see whether there are traces of Evil Ghosts. Even if they do discover me, I can donate some more money. It won't be a great matter."

With his mind made up, Chen Cuo was about to act when Chen Hai reported from outside that Huizhi, the Guest-Master Monk, had come to pay his respects.

Huizhi had always treated Chen Cuo with courtesy and respect, leaving him with a favorable impression. Chen Cuo was happy to talk with him. Over the past few days, he had borrowed several Buddhist scriptures to study the Facial Mask and Buddha Light, and whenever Huizhi visited, he would ask him a question or two.

So he set aside the idea of controlling the Ink Crane for now and had Chen Hai show him in.

"My respects, my lord." Huizhi greeted him as usual, then answered several of Chen Cuo's questions about the scriptures.

Chen Cuo fell into thought over the answers.

Huizhi hesitated, but finally asked, "From what I've seen these past few days, my lord, have you been attempting visualization?"

"Hmm?" Chen Cuo looked up sharply, narrowed his eyes, and studied the Guest-Master Monk before him.

Huizhi immediately felt a weight descend on him. Even his breathing grew labored.

He had just returned from the Temple Master and had turned the matter over in his mind again and again before finally summoning his courage. But now that the words were out, Chen Cuo's gaze made him want to retreat.

Just as Huizhi stood caught between advancing and withdrawing, at a loss for what to do, Chen Cuo suddenly smiled.

"Excellent, excellent!" Chen Cuo nodded. "To be honest, Dharma Master, I've been troubled because I have no one to guide me. If you're willing to offer me a little instruction, nothing could be better."

Huizhi breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "I wouldn't call it instruction. I can only share a few things I've learned for your consideration, my lord."

Chen Cuo exchanged a few courtesies with him, but soon got straight to the point.

"I spoke with several accomplished Daoists before, so I know a little about visualization and find it fascinating. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay long, and we never discussed it in depth. Since then, I've had to feel my way along alone. I still haven't grasped the essentials, and it's been troubling me."

Huizhi hastened to say, "The visualization methods of the Daoist immortals differ from those of Buddhism in many ways. You mustn't treat them as one and the same, my lord, or conflicts may arise."

Chen Cuo smiled. "That's all right. Tell me what you know, Dharma Master. I'll take it as a reference."

Huizhi was worried he might disrupt the Reincarnated Immortal's path. But remembering the Temple Master's advice, he finally dared to say, "My Apprenticeship is shallow. In truth, I know only the outermost layer. I'm still standing at the door, unable to enter. Consider my words a brick cast down to draw forth your jade, my lord."

Chen Cuo sat up straight and listened attentively.

Huizhi said, "Our temple follows the Mahayana tradition. It's said our earliest Patriarch inherited the central teachings of the Mahayana Emptiness School. When he failed to spread the teachings in the north, he came south and founded a temple, though not here. Later, a Patriarch of an earlier generation—the current Temple Master's teacher—received guidance from Master Senglang, an eminent monk from the north. He came to understand the Three Treatises and won the regard of Emperor Wu of Liang. That laid our foundation. Then, when Gaozu established this dynasty, we obtained this blessed ground!"

Chen Cuo listened with keen interest. He knew this was more than a history of the temple's development; changes in its factions and Divine Ability were likely hidden within it.

Seeing this, Huizhi relaxed and continued, "After that Patriarch laid the foundations of Guishan Temple, he made the Three Treatises its Dao Foundation..."

"Buddhism speaks of a Dao Foundation too?" Chen Cuo could not help interrupting.

Huizhi explained, "Here, 'dao' means the path one seeks, not the name of a school. Besides, after Buddhism entered the eastern lands, many great translators rendered its essential teachings into Chinese."

Chen Cuo nodded to show he understood.

Huizhi added, "Guishan Temple is also on good terms with Zhiguan Temple on Mount She—that is, Qixia Mountain—because our lineages have similar roots." Then he caught himself. "I've strayed from the subject. Let's return to the foundations of visualization."

Chen Cuo smiled. "I enjoy hearing these things too, but we can speak of visualization first."

Huizhi nodded. "The Three Treatises offer three paths of instruction for visualization. The first is Dispelling Heresy and Revealing the True; the second is the Two Truths of Ultimate and Conventional Reality; the third is the Eightfold Middle Way of Negation. To practice the Three Treatises Contemplation Method, one must study the Buddhist scriptures alongside it, with each advancing the other. My learning is shallow, and I haven't studied the scriptures deeply. I can barely be said to have entered the door. Much remains unclear to me, and I have yet to glimpse the shadow of Buddhahood."

The moment Chen Cuo heard Dispelling Heresy and Revealing the True, he thought of his own situation and wanted to ask about it. He held back until Huizhi finished, then said, "So glimpsing the shadow of Buddhahood marks the completion of your school's first stage of the Transcendent Realm?"

"Precisely." Huizhi pressed his palms together. "All living beings possess the awakened nature of Buddhahood, but it is veiled by passing dust, so they cycle through life and death. If they can brush that dust away, they can glimpse the shadow of Buddhahood and condense a White Bone Relic."

Chen Cuo considered this for a moment. "What is this passing dust? How does one brush it away?"

Huizhi replied, "It is everything one gains from the human world: prejudices, opinions, ways of seeing. People have so many desires that their minds grow clouded. It is like falling into dust—the more they struggle, the more it hinders them. If they can cast these things aside, attain perfect stillness, and seek nothing more, their awakened nature will reveal itself. They can become a Buddha where they stand and leap beyond the Five Elements of the mortal world!"

As he spoke, longing and yearning showed on his face.

Chen Cuo frowned. Something about those words struck him as strange. He glanced at the Buddhist scriptures beside him, and the many strands of thought in his mind suddenly joined together.

A flash of insight crossed his mind, and he said, "Young Dharma Master, I don't think what you said is quite right."

Huizhi snapped back to attention, his face full of surprise. "What insight do you have, my lord?"

Chen Cuo pointed to the scriptures beside him. "These past two days, I've read several Buddhist scriptures. They speak of life and death, nirvana, the ordinary and the Sage, clarity and delusion. From what you've said, it seems that seeing through these things and losing all attachments will make one a Buddha. But if you want to become a Buddha, isn't that desire itself an attachment? Isn't seeking Emptiness precisely what keeps you from being empty? If you seek something, how can you seek nothing?"

"Seeking Emptiness, yet not being empty? Seeking Emptiness means one isn't empty! Seeking to gain nothing is itself seeking to gain something!"

Huizhi's eyes flew wide. Horror crossed his face. At last, he pressed his palms together, his whole body trembling.

"Life and death, nirvana, the ordinary and the Sage, understanding and delusion—all are names that exist in relation to one another, with no nature of their own. That is dependent origination! So that's it! I understand!"

Hum!

The next moment, a faint halo appeared behind his head, and a glimmer of Golden Light shone in his eyes.

He had clearly glimpsed the shadow of Buddhahood.

The first stage of the Transcendent Realm was complete!

"..."

Chen Cuo stared at him, dumbfounded. What is this supposed to be? Weren't you here to guide me? What's happening now?

Not far away, an old monk meditating in the hall suddenly opened his eyes and looked toward the rear courtyard in astonishment.

On the hilltop, the Temple Master had been chanting scripture with his head bowed. He abruptly looked up and froze.