The tremor upstairs left Liuwa rather bewildered with fright, unsure what had happened. He wanted to check on the Geshe, but feared disturbing him.
After a while, Qu Zan said unhurriedly, "Nothing is wrong. Carry on with your work."
Only after hearing the Geshe's instructions did Liuwa relax a little.
Qu Zan, meanwhile, was quite pleased inwardly. Combining mudras and incantations with visualization-the union of these three mysteries-had greatly increased their power, multiplying it several times over.
He continued reading the scripture and studying.
Knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the gate of Qu Zan's courtyard residence.
Liuwa quickly put down his broom and ran to the entrance, opening the door with a creak.
Guocuo was slightly taken aback to see an unfamiliar servant opening the door for him.
Liuwa bowed and said, "Sir, what can I do for you?" He knew the man before him was also a Geshe. Suppressing his timidity, he tried hard to smile so as not to disgrace Geshe Gyatso.
Guocuo smiled. "Is Geshe Gyatso home?"
"Yes, sir," Liuwa said. "I'll announce you."
Liuwa turned and ran to the main building, where he found that Geshe Gyatso had already come downstairs and was sitting in the reception hall.
Qu Zan said, "Show him in. Bring some tea-"
"Yes!" Liuwa hurried back to the entrance and told Guocuo, "Please come in, sir."
Guocuo followed the boy into the reception hall.
Liuwa then went to the kitchen to boil water and prepare tea.
Guocuo said with a smile, "Gyatso, I hadn't expected you to hire yourself a servant."
"It is better to have one. After all, there will be guests to receive and see off. It'll also be more convenient to have someone run errands and deliver messages," Qu Zan said.
"That's how it should be," Guocuo