What Is the Dao? A Question of the Heart

Guest-Master Monk Huizhi walked quickly, mindful of the Presiding Monk's instructions. He dared not delay a moment.

When he reached the courtyard where Chen Cuo was staying, he explained his purpose to the Guard at the gate. The Guard was about to go in and announce him.

But just then, Golden Light blazed inside the courtyard!

The Guards seemed to notice nothing and continued toward the building.

Huizhi froze in shock. Clinging to a thread of clarity, he focused his thoughts on the White Bone Relic at his brow. A faint light glimmered in his eyes as he looked into the courtyard!

He saw Chen Cuo sitting cross-legged on the bed, radiance pouring from his body!

Suddenly, Chen Cuo opened his eyes. A piercing brilliance burst from them!

"Ah!"

Hui Wisdom cried out and staggered backward, clutching his eyes.

"..."

Inside the room, Chen Cuo had pierced the Evil Ghost's phantom with a single glare. Only then did he notice what had happened outside, leaving him speechless.

"Huizhi really has rotten luck. I seized the moment to strike, turning the thoughts in my eyes into blades that shredded the Evil Ghost's will. I didn't expect Huizhi to look in just then. I caught him in it too."

At that thought, he hurried outside, steadied the swaying Huizhi, and asked after him.

Hui Wisdom had recovered a little, but his thoughts were in disarray and his head was spinning. Even so, when Chen Cuo approached, he forced himself to bow.

When Chen Cuo asked how he was, Huizhi insisted he was fine. Chen Cuo invited him inside to rest, but Huizhi was even less willing to stay. After a few more words and much insistence, he hastily took his leave.

Hui Wisdom stumbled away from Chen Cuo's quarters. Though dizzy, he held fast to one thought and soon returned to the Presiding Monk. Then, with his eyes closed, he recounted what had happened.

"Golden Light protecting his body, brilliance in his eyes that you couldn't look upon?" The old monk was uncertain too. "This is no small matter. Go and recuperate for a while, and tell no one about it." As he spoke, he raised a hand and pointed through the air.

The stinging in Huizhi's eyes eased at once. He drew a deep breath, thanked the monk, and rubbed his eyes. But he found new insights in his mind, along with a sense of life's vast changes. The White Bone Relic at his brow had grown a little more solid as well, much to his amazement.

"You truly are fated to meet His Lordship." The old monk could not help sighing. Then he added, "Once His Lordship leaves the temple, you may return to the Inner Hall and devote yourself to cultivation. For now, though, see to your duties."

Delighted, Huizhi pressed his palms together and withdrew. Word of his experience that day soon spread, drawing plenty of envy. Temple rules, however, kept the others from visiting Chen Cuo over the next few days.

Meanwhile, after sending Huizhi away, the old monk remained full of doubt, his brows tightly furrowed.

"There were traces of divine power in Huizhi's eyes just now. Could His Lordship have already mastered the Heart Temple Method? That would be truly incredible..." At that thought, the old monk suddenly realized there was a question both he and the Temple Master had overlooked.

"Before His Lordship's reincarnation, what realm had he reached? What was his standing in the upper realm? Could he have been... beyond even the Beyond the Mundane realm?"

He could no longer keep calm. Drawing a deep breath, he resolved to raise the matter with the Temple Master as soon as he returned.

"I only hope His Lordship's progress slows a little, to something within reason. It mustn't interfere with tomorrow's affairs..."

After Huizhi left, Chen Cuo returned to his room. Looking at Little Pig and Little Turtle, he felt a surge of appreciation.

"These two truly deserve to be called Daoist Friends. I ought to treat them with respect."

Just then, Little Pig rolled over to the table, rubbed his back against it, smacked his lips, and looked around as though searching for food.

"..."

Chen Cuo shook his head and sat back down on the bed.

"The Evil Ghost and I have crossed swords now, in a way. We sensed each other across the distance, and I caught it off guard. I had the advantage, but I've also issued a challenge. Our final clash can't be far off..."

Yet the thought brought him no worry. His mind shifted instead to the Sixty-Four Gilt Characters within his heart.

"Facing the Evil Ghost is urgent, but it's only a short-term goal. Understanding the Supernatural Power Method and finding the path ahead—that should be my focus."

As he pondered, he picked up a Buddhist scripture, read and recited it silently, ordered his thoughts, and considered what he had gained. At last, he closed the book with a long sigh.

"To seek the Dao, I must first attain Longevity. Only with Eternal Longevity can I keep searching for the Dao. But..."

Confusion showed in his eyes.

"What is the Dao?"

He recalled everything he had encountered since meeting Zhou Youzi.

"Daoist Zhou follows the path of cultivation. This Buddhist temple follows the Way of Incense. I've also sought the Incense Offering Method to fight the Evil Ghost. But can a method of incense offerings truly be called a Dao?"

As he pondered, the Sixty-Four Gilt Characters in his heart suddenly began to spin and dissolve. His progress surged ahead.

"If this method is a Dao, then the Temple Dragon King should have attained it. Why was he still so troubled?"

Nearly half the golden characters had dissolved, but Chen Cuo sensed an obsession within them—the Temple Dragon King's obsession. He decisively withdrew his awareness, slowing the process.

"I can't dissolve them all through thought alone. Part of it requires visualization. Only after establishing a deity in my heart can I truly master them. I can't put that off any longer."

Clink, clink, clink...

A clinking sound came from beside his feet. Little Pig was drinking from a cup held in his mouth, his eyes still roving about.

Chen Cuo watched him in silence. What had happened to having no appetite for ordinary food and wanting only incense offerings? Little Pig's mouth hardly seemed to stop moving.

Still, grateful that Little Pig had taught him a method, Chen Cuo rose and asked what he wanted to eat.

Little Pig hemmed and hawed before admitting he wanted White-Flour Steamed Buns. Chen Cuo clapped his hands and ordered some prepared, then said, "Please have a seat, Brother Pig. There's something I'd like to ask you."

Little Pig immediately scrambled up onto a chair and sat down.

"Oink. Go on, then. What do you want to ask?"

Chen Cuo said, "When the Dragon King Temple was first built, it was to worship the dragon king in the river, wasn't it?"

"That's right, but Old Dragon's clay idol took over afterward." Little Pig nodded. "That dead Old Dragon King was lucky. If he'd run into me, I'd have made him hand over the Divine Seat without a fuss!"

Chen Cuo silently worked through the timeline. "Then the temple's founding may date back to the Two Han Dynasties, or even Pre-Qin times. Incense offerings flourished then. But the dragon king broke Heavenly Law for some unknown reason and was executed. The temple was left without a master and fell into ruin. In the Jin Dynasty, its clay idol received incense offerings and a Blood Sacrifice, allowing him to be born. But he was too weak to answer the wishes placed in those offerings."

"What a pity!" Reminiscence crossed Little Pig's face. "Even I couldn't save him! Oink!"

Little Turtle gave a low, murmuring squeak.

Chen Cuo continued, "From what I saw, the Temple Dragon King was desperate to seek the Dao. It seemed something weighed on his heart."

Little Pig hesitated, then said, "Old Dragon couldn't let it go. He thought his birth was wrong, so he spent his whole life searching for why he'd been born and what it all meant. I say he thought too much. If he was unhappy, why not break free of that Clay Idol Prison, go out and champion Righteousness, and prevent tragedies like the one that day? Wouldn't that set his heart at ease? What was there to fret over? Oink!"

Chen Cuo's heart jolted. He pondered Little Pig's words, and once his thoughts grew clearer, he cupped his hands and bowed. "Thank you, Daoist Friend!"

"Think nothing of it! Just don't forget your promise!" Little Pig waved a hoof with a magnanimous air.

Chen Cuo nodded. Their conversation had lifted much of his confusion, and the thoughts Little Pig had offered earlier had helped him immensely.

The Temple Dragon King's parting gift held not only a method of cultivating through incense offerings, but also his insights and experience. Chen Cuo's cultivation was still too shallow to understand them all, yet he could already sense something within them.

Just then, Chen Hai led several people in with buns and other food. Little Pig was delighted at the sight and rushed over to eat with gusto.

Watching him, Chen Cuo felt both glad and relieved.

A moment later, he laughed at himself. "I haven't refined those characters yet, and they've already affected me." Still, he made no move to drive those feelings away.

After a while, Chen Hai returned. He treated Chen Cuo with even greater reverence and reported that once Jiang Yi's essay had spread, there had been no further complications.

Chen Cuo nodded without asking more. Instead, he listed several items for Chen Hai to prepare and added, "Have them ready before noon tomorrow."

Chen Hai was puzzled, but he did not dare ask. He nodded and accepted the task.

That night, Chen Cuo went to bed early after dinner. He entered Dream Marsh, manifested the Four Treasures of the Study, and wrote down and organized his insights, making his final preparations before establishing a deity in his heart.