Three Pure

Qu Zan said, "I've heard of the horrors of Vengeful Ghosts appearing and slaughtering entire villages. That was why I asked."

"Ghosts are already dead things. How could you kill something that is already dead?"

"Ghosts can't be killed?" Qu Zan murmured, feeling a chill despite the warmth. "What should people do if they encounter a ghost?"

He forcibly suppressed the yearning in his heart and asked with feigned casualness.

"Gyatso, you had best pray that you never encounter a ghost... humans cannot deal with ghosts."

"What about Living Buddhas and Dharma masters? Can't they deal with them either?"

"Of course they can," Huode said, his expression solemn and dignified.

"Ghosts cannot be killed, and humans cannot deal with ghosts. But Living Buddhas and Lamas can. Does that mean Living Buddhas and Dharma masters aren't human?"

Seeing that Qu Zan still wanted to ask more, Huode said, "Enough. Pondering all this will do nothing for your practice of the scriptures. Once you reach a higher stage of cultivation, you will naturally understand."

Huode also seemed quite wary of discussing Vengeful Ghosts and such matters. When Qu Zan tried probing indirectly afterward, Huode avoided the subject every time.

He did not know whether Huode was ignorant of it or simply unwilling to discuss it.

Still, learning something of these extraordinary secrets today had already been an unexpected delight for Qu Zan.

On his way back to the Servants' Courtyard, Qu Zan recalled Huode's words. To comprehend the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra, you need at least five years of dedicated practice of the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar, or Empowerment from a virtuous and accomplished master. Then what was mine?

Qu Zan's panel displayed:

[You practiced the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar and comprehended Lion's Roar Heart Mantra lv1]

The [Extensive Learning] talent let me memorize the scripture quickly, while [Patience] let me maintain unwavering concentration. The two positives multiplied, allowing me to quickly comprehend the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra.

This was equivalent to the "Heavenly-Gifted Bard" Huo De Lama mentioned before, or Empowerment from a sage.

Except mine was Empowerment from the panel.

Qu Zan had made up his mind: he could not tell the Lama that he had already comprehended the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra.

Otherwise, he feared that the Lama would be so astonished and shaken that he would crack open his skull and turn it into a Kapala Bowl.

Qu Zan discovered that he could also add points to upgrade the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra.

Whatever the power of this Lion's Roar Heart Mantra, I absolutely cannot test it inside the monastery. Besides, casting the mantra requires ritual implements, which I'll have to find outside as well. Once I get out of the monastery, I'll experiment with it a little.

From what Huo De Lama said, ghosts are far stronger than ordinary evil entities. They may even be something with no solution.

Qu Zan once again recalled the Vengeful Ghost he had encountered that day, the one he suspected was the Goddess of Eloquence.

The stench of rotting flesh emanating from her body and the ominous aura shrouding her had indeed left him with no way to fend her off.

I have nothing else to do anyway, and Huo De Lama granted me a day off. I'll go out and take a look, and see how Meiduo is doing.

The following day, Qu Zan asked Huode, the scripture teacher, to put in a word for him, and Miba, the steward, granted him a day's leave.

There was no such thing as leave for servants and monk slaves.

Neither sorrow nor joy showed on Miba's face as he looked at Qu Zan with a complicated expression. Out of consideration for Huode, the scripture teacher, he allowed Qu Zan to go out for a day and return the morning after the next.

When he heard that Qu Zan would be leaving the monastery for a day, Doje, who stayed by Qu Zan's side all day long, was rather reluctant to part with him.

Qu Zan asked quietly, "I'm going to look around the market this time. Is there anything you want to buy?"

Doje's eyes lit up. "Dried milk curds, butter candy, crispy milk skin, silverweed roots..." He rattled off a long list as though reciting a menu, all of it food.

Then his expression froze. He was just a poor servant monk-where would he get the money to buy any of it?

"Forget it. I've already entered the Buddhist faith. The dusty mortal world outside the monastery has nothing to do with me." The little fatty tried hard to squeeze an eminent monk's look of transcendence onto his face.

Qu Zan laughed. "I can't afford butter candy, but I can bring you some dried milk curds."

Doje's composure crumbled in a second.

"Really? That's wonderful! I'll owe you the money for now and pay you back once I have some."

"No need for that. I can still afford to treat you to some dried milk curds," Qu Zan said.

"When you get back, I'll take you somewhere fun in the monastery. I kept saying I'd take you before, but we never had the chance. This time, when you return, I'll definitely take you to see it," Doje said.

As he spoke, he winked and waggled his eyebrows.

Qu Zan watched in utter bewilderment, his mind full of questions.

At the rear gate, Qu Zan handed his exit papers to the warrior monk on guard for inspection. After confirming that everything was in order, the monk opened the monastery gate.

Once outside, Qu Zan felt that the sky was high and the clouds distant, the world immensely vast.

Dressed in purplish-red monastic robes and a monk's skirt, with hemp shoes on his feet, Qu Zan walked along the road.

Every so often, passersby he encountered turned aside, removed their hats, bowed with palms pressed together, and respectfully wished him good fortune.

Inside the monastery, Qu Zan was merely a servant monk. Outside, he gave himself his own status. Wearing these robes, he was an honored monk.

He soon reached the wooden shack he had rented. The door was shut tight and locked from within.

Qu Zan knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came a familiar little girl's voice.

"Meiduo, it's me," Qu Zan said.

Hurried footsteps followed, and the door swung open, revealing Meiduo's somewhat round face.

Her cheeks still glowed with the ruddy flush of the plateau.

Her face had filled out considerably, and she looked sturdier than before.

At the sight of Qu Zan in purplish-red monastic robes, his hair shaved to a close crop, Meiduo was a little timid at first. Once she recognized her brother's face, she threw herself into his arms.

"Brother!" The little girl burst into tears of excitement.

Qu Zan rubbed her head and said, "You seem to have grown quite a bit taller, Meiduo."

Meiduo wiped away her tears and looked at Qu Zan's red robes.

The little girl was still timid. Joy and desolation appeared on her face as she said respectfully, "Venerable teacher."

"Don't call me venerable teacher. I will always be your brother." As he spoke, he took a bag of dried milk curds from inside his robes. He had made a point of buying some just before coming here.

Meiduo and Qu Zan went into the wooden shack.

Qu Zan asked, "Where is Duimu Aji-la?"

"Duimu Aji went to milk the yaks," Meiduo said. After taking Duimu as her godmother, Meiduo had begun calling her Duimu Aji.

"Milking?"

"Duimu Aji said she couldn't sit idle either, and that we couldn't just keep eating away our savings. She wanted to share your burden, so she found a job milking, not far from here.

"She earns some black tsampa every day, and sometimes she can even bring me some milk curds from the buckets."

Meiduo ran to the pile of straw that served as a bed, lifted a stone, and took a round object from beneath it. Holding it in both hands, she presented it to Qu Zan. It was an egg.

"Duimu Aji found this on the road once. She told me to eat it. If you roast it in the hearth, it tastes really good," Meiduo said.

"Brother, you eat it." She lit the hearth, set water over it to boil, then coated the egg in mud and placed it among the embers to roast.

Qu Zan shook his head. "Meiduo, now that your brother has become a monk, I can't eat things like this."

Monks in Mìdì could eat only Three Pure beef and mutton.

Beef and mutton were permitted provided they had not seen the killing, heard the killing, or had the animal killed for them. In other words, animals they raised themselves were forbidden, but meat bought at the market or given by believers as alms was allowed.

In Mìdì, commoners and monks alike observed dietary prohibitions: fish, chicken, horse, and donkey could not be eaten. But for the poor, merely avoiding starvation was enough. Who could worry about dietary prohibitions?

As for the nobility, they ate whatever tasted good and played with whatever was fun. What scruples would they have?

Qu Zan refused because he wanted to leave it for Meiduo, so that she could eat more and grow stronger.

Watching Meiduo eat the egg in tiny bites, Qu Zan thought that he would have to earn more Secret Silver in the future.

This little girl was far too thin and frail.

Qu Zan said, "Let's go to the market and buy some beef and mutton today."