The woodcutters stared blankly as Su Mo and Master Hui Kong debated Zen for ages, then exchanged utterly bewildered looks.
"Young man, it's chilly in this rain. Care for a drink?" the woodcutter carrying wine asked Su Mo tentatively. As for Master Hui Kong, he did not even ask... monks could not drink, after all, could they?
Su Mo smiled faintly and turned to Little Girl. She understood at once, took a flask of wine from the bag beside her, and handed it to him.
Su Mo accepted the flask and said to the woodcutter with a smile, "How could anyone roam the world without bringing wine?"
The woodcutter froze, then all the woodcutters burst out laughing. "Haha, you're a kindred spirit too, young man!"
"Come on, come on, let's have a drink."
Su Mo immediately hit it off with the woodcutters. Watching him drink and chat merrily with them, Master Hui Kong gave a rueful chuckle. "The mortal world is a sea... why sink so deeply into that sea of suffering?"
Su Mo clinked his flask against the woodcutter's and slowly took a sip. Shaking his head, he asked, "Master, if the wind blows and a banner moves... is it the wind moving, or the banner?"
Hui Kong smiled and said slowly, "It is not the wind moving, nor the banner moving. It is your heart moving, good sir."
"The heart moves... without attachment to appearances, the heart remains still." Su Mo nodded, then continued the discussion with Buddhist teachings. "But the Buddha also said: all phenomena bear the mark of emptiness, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing."
"The original face of all phenomena is emptiness, and their true nature is also emptiness. All phenomena have never departed from emptiness, hence the saying