Setting out

In Chang'an City.

Only after Guanyin left did the assembled civil and military officials recover their senses.

King Tang suddenly rushed forward and seized Xuanzang's wrist.

"Master!"

Tears filled King Tang's eyes, and he was so overcome that his words tumbled out:

"What fine words: speak to everyone you meet, deliver everyone you find suffering!"

"You actually dared to question Guanyin Bodhisattva to her face!"

"Truly, you are the foremost eminent monk of my Great Tang!"

"With a man like you in my Great Tang, why should I fear for the realm's stability? Why should I fear that the Buddhist Dharma will not flourish?"

"Attend me! Make the preparations at once. I shall become sworn brothers with the master!"

His expression calm, Xuanzang looked at the excited emperor before him and shook his head.

"Your Majesty is too kind. Everything I said arose from my own heart, so I dare not agree to become your sworn brother."

"Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with revering the Buddha and the Dharma."

"But the eternal stability of your realm cannot rest on me, nor can it rest on the Buddhist Dharma."

"I know Your Majesty to be a wise ruler. If you continue to put the people first, devote yourself to good governance, and let your subjects live and work in peace, the Great Tang's realm will surely endure."

"Then Your Majesty will be a true Buddha, without waiting for the Buddhist Dharma to deliver the people."

Xuanzang bowed slightly.

"I go to the Western Heaven neither for the Great Tang nor for Your Majesty, but for my own cultivation, to resolve the doubts of the world and my own!"

King Tang was deeply shaken by his words.

He stood rooted to the spot, unable to speak for a long while.

The eternal stability of the realm cannot rest on the Buddhist Dharma.

Put the people first and devote yourself to good governance-that is to be a true Buddha.

Those words were like sacred balm poured over his head, like a staff striking him awake.

Ever since the affair of the Jing River Dragon King, he had spent years worshipping the Buddha and honoring the Dao, building temples far and wide, and holding Water and Land Dharma Assemblies to deliver departed souls...

Had he, the Son of Heaven of the Great Tang, truly been frightened out of his wits by ghosts and gods?

Li Shimin remained silent for a long time, then suddenly stepped back and bowed deeply to Xuanzang.

"One word from you is worth more than ten thousand volumes of scripture I might read, or a thousand rites I might hold."

"I have learned my lesson."

Xuanzang hurriedly stepped aside, unwilling to receive the bow.

"Your Majesty, such an honor is more than this humble monk can bear."

Li Shimin straightened, the excitement in his eyes now transformed into profound respect.

"If you do not wish to become sworn brothers, I will not force you."

"But I still wish to honor you as my Imperial Younger Brother-not for the title, but out of respect."

Xuanzang smiled faintly. "As Your Majesty wishes."

Early the next morning, outside Chang'an City.

The autumn wind sighed bleakly, and fallen leaves swirled through the air.

Li Shimin led his civil and military officials in personally escorting Xuanzang ten li, all the way beyond the city.

Two strong, sturdy attendants were already equipped for the long journey, heavy packs on their backs.

Beside them stood a magnificent white horse, the gleaming Purple Gold Alms Bowl hanging beside its saddle.

Li Shimin stepped forward and gestured at everything with a smile.

"Master, here is your Travel Pass. This Purple Gold Alms Bowl is for collecting food along the way. These two attendants are skilled men from the imperial guard; they will keep you safe throughout your journey."

"Accept them, and you may set out!"

"Your Majesty, I will accept the Travel Pass."

Xuanzang spoke calmly. "But the Purple Gold Alms Bowl and the attendants... I cannot possibly accept them."

Li Shimin stared. "Why is that?"

"A monk begs for food wherever he goes and should carry his meals in an earthenware bowl. To beg while holding a vessel of purple gold is greed for wealth, not the seeking of alms."

Li Shimin was speechless.

This master... truly practiced what he preached.

Xuanzang then looked at the two attendants, his gaze gentle.

"As for these two attendants..."

His voice grew a little lower.

"Your Majesty, the Western Heaven lies a hundred and eight thousand li away. Tigers and wolves roam everywhere, and demons run rampant."

"I have made a great vow. Even death would be part of my cultivation, and I would have neither resentment nor regret."

"But they are ordinary men, with elderly parents, wives, and children at home."

"How could I bear to drag two innocent lives along merely to ease my own journey, feeding them into the jaws of tigers, wolves, and demons?"

"How would that differ from murder?"

Xuanzang closed his eyes and pressed his palms together.

"If the road must be paved with the bones of innocents... then I would rather not fetch these scriptures."

At those words, everyone fell silent.

The two attendants jerked their heads up, their eyes instantly reddening.

They had already prepared themselves to die far from home. How could they ever have imagined that this master would defy the emperor for their lives?

Li Shimin, too, was shaken by those words and said, deeply moved:

"Imperial Younger Brother, how compassionate you are! I failed to think this through!"

"In that case, this horse... Imperial Younger Brother, surely you must accept the horse?"

He feared Xuanzang would refuse even that.

"I will accept the horse."

Xuanzang nodded.

"The journey is long. A horse can carry me."

The attendants were dismissed, and the golden bowl returned.

Standing alone beside the white horse, Xuanzang looked all the more solitary and frail.

At the final moment, Li Shimin approached with a wine cup in hand.

"Imperial Younger Brother, by what honored appellation are you known?"

"My secular name is Chen Yi, and my Dharma name is Xuanzang. I have not presumed to take an appellation."

"The Bodhisattva said that the Western Heaven holds the three collections of scripture. Why not take your appellation from those scriptures and call yourself 'Tang Sanzang'?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for bestowing this name."

Li Shimin lifted a cup of plain wine, bent down, pinched a little yellow earth from the ground, and flicked it into the wine.

His gaze earnest, he spoke with deep feeling.

"Imperial Younger Brother, this journey will take many long years, over distant mountains and far-reaching roads."

"Rather cherish a pinch of your homeland's soil than love ten thousand taels of gold in a foreign land."

"Please drink this cup!"

Xuanzang accepted the cup.

He lowered his head and looked at the cloudy wine, at the pinch of yellow earth resting at the bottom.

His homeland.

He thought of Chang'an in his own world.

He remembered the night before he secretly crossed Jade Gate Pass on his journey west.

Back then, no one had seen him off. There had been no wine, no soil.

Only a sky filled with stars, and a heart set on obtaining the true Dharma in the west.

And now...

Xuanzang raised the cup.

Then he turned his wrist.

Splash.

The wine spilled onto the official road at his feet, seeped into the yellow earth, and vanished in an instant.

Li Shimin's smile froze.

The atmosphere around them instantly congealed.

Yuchi Gong's hand was already on his sword hilt.

Xuanzang looked at the damp patch on the ground and spoke slowly.

"Your Majesty."

"I have long since taken my vows and may not drink wine. Plain wine is still wine; it disorders one's nature and clouds one's mind. I dare not break my precepts."

Li Shimin frowned slightly. "But this soil..."

"It is precisely because of this soil."

Xuanzang pressed his palms together and bowed slightly toward the damp earth.

"Your Majesty, this soil is too heavy."

"It is hard to leave one's homeland, and the closer one draws to home, the more one's heart trembles. I have made a great vow: until I obtain the true scriptures, I will never return. If I drink this homeland's soil, I will hide that longing deep within my heart, and I fear it may give rise to thoughts of turning back."

"I have scattered it upon the road, and the road lies beneath my feet."

"Thus, no matter how far I travel, the ground I tread will always be my homeland's soil."

"The soil of the Great Tang will accompany me all the way to the Western Heaven."

Li Shimin stood stunned.

A moment later, the displeasure in his eyes gave way to emotion, and then he laughed aloud.

"Excellent! What fine words-the road lies beneath your feet!"

"Imperial Younger Brother, you keep your precepts strictly and possess a unique understanding. You truly deserve to be called the holy monk of our Great Tang! It was I who clung to outward forms!"

"Go! I shall await your return with the scriptures in Chang'an!"

"When that day comes, I shall personally travel ten li beyond the city to welcome you!"

Xuanzang smiled faintly. "May your auspicious words come true, Your Majesty."

He took the reins and swung into the saddle.

As though sensing something, the white horse gave a long neigh and lifted its hooves.

"I take my leave."

No attendants, no golden bowl.

Only one man and one horse, galloping westward in a trail of dust.