Assessment

[Pain reduction] You could reduce the pain you suffered through mindfulness and conscious control.

"This talent was fairly ordinary, but at a critical moment, it could still be quite useful."

Studying was wonderful. Just studying scriptures could let me comprehend innate abilities. Unfortunately, my position was low and my influence slight, so I couldn't browse the scriptures freely, Qu Zan thought regretfully.

He read scriptures too quickly and would have to wait a while before borrowing new ones from Scripture Teacher Huode.

Qu Zan finished his studies for the day and went back to his room to sleep.

Lying on the felt, however, he thought about how the weather was growing colder. He lived in a small room, but Meiduo was still in the little wooden hut.

The colder it grew, the more that drafty wooden hut would be a problem. He needed to earn more silver so his younger sister could live somewhere a little warmer.

Meiduo and Duimu were still sleeping on straw in the wooden hut. It would be far too cold in winter.

The Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly was coming soon. If I could earn a decent placing and win some silver, then, together with the secret silver I had on hand, I could rent a small house long-term, or a home with a courtyard-or even buy one.

Qu Zan did some calculations. He had roughly twenty-three taels of secret silver, a One-Eyed Dzi Bead, and a gemstone ring. He did not know whether that would be enough to buy a home.

That night, Qu Zan dreamed that he lived in a little two-story courtyard home. Sunlight spilled through the upstairs window, illuminating drifting motes of dust as he lay on a thick felt bed.

The azure sky in the distance set off the white, snow-covered mountains. Qu Zan got up lazily, comfortable from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, and drank a bowl of freshly stewed mutton soup in the morning, sprinkled with scallions and cilantro...

Wooo! Wooo!

Dawn had barely broken when the tremendous blare of the Dharma Conch woke Qu Zan from his lovely dream. Another day of his miserable life as a Scholar Monk had begun.

At lunch in the dining hall, Doje brought good news.

"Junior Brother, I found that gap-toothed old servant!" Doje said mysteriously.

"His name is Yeluo, and he's a servant who tends horses in the monastery stables. He's no senior figure in the monastery at all. I saw him from a distance-just a skinny little old man, nothing special..."

"Ah, Senior Brother, you can't judge a person by appearances. Even a horse keeper can turn out to be someone extraordinary!" Qu Zan said.

Sun Wukong, who wreaked havoc in Heaven, had once tended horses too, Qu Zan thought.

He felt that the old man was very mysterious. He had crept up beside the two of them without a sound, and he even knew that tunnel existed.

If possible, Qu Zan was still willing to befriend him.

"When you have time, take me to see him. We can pay him a visit together," Qu Zan said.

"Are we really going?" Doje said. "All right, then. After dinner tonight."

"I might not make it tonight," Qu Zan said. "The thing is, we have a monthly assessment tonight."

"Ah..." Doje looked at Qu Zan sympathetically.

Qu Zan and Doje agreed to visit the Gap-Toothed Old Man the following evening. Neither of them was an Attendant Monk anymore, so both had much more time available.

That afternoon, Qu Zan came to the small scripture hall. It was time for Nepa Lama's class again.

Even Qu Zan was a little nervous today, because the monthly assessment was that afternoon.

The monthly assessment had three parts: recitation, a written test on collected topics, and a scripture debate.

Those who ranked near the top would receive rewards, while those at the bottom would receive corporal punishment. Every monthly assessment would be recorded in the Scholar Monks' scores.

Qu Zan had a problem with getting nervous whenever he took a test. Whether in his previous life or this one, even a very simple test would make his heart race.

Nepa Lama entered the small scripture hall like a vulture. The Scholar Monks were so frightened that none dared raise his head.

"As you all know, today is the monthly assessment. Your monthly assessments will count toward your year-end assessment. The better you do each time, the more likely you are to advance early and become a Beqawa.

"This concerns your future, so be ready! The assessment is worth one hundred points: twenty for recitation, twenty for the written test, and sixty for scripture debate!"

Nepa Lama's voice was cold and sinister.

His eyes were indifferent and hollow, like two windows in an abandoned house, gloomy and deathly still.

"Yes!" the Scholar Monks answered.

He washed his hands and dried them with a dry towel.

"First, the recitation assessment. As everyone knows, recitation questions are free points." Nyepa swept his gaze across the room.

"Rusu, Minor Verses on Cause and Effect! The cause section..."

Rusu sprang to his feet, thought for a moment, and began reciting:

"There are six verses on causes: the acting cause... the co-arising cause... the same-kind cause... the associated cause... um... the easy-ripening cause..."

"How many verses are there altogether?"

"Six."

"How many did you recite?"

Rusu faltered. "Five."

"You should receive fifteen points, but I'll deduct another two. You were timid and shrinking as you recited the scripture. Your bearing was dreadful!"

"Yes!" Rusu sat down. Thirteen out of twenty was quite good.

Nyepa continued springing these spot checks on them one by one. Reciting like this tested both their memory and their ability to perform on the spot. If they thought for too long when their turn came, points would also be deducted.

Some of the poorer Scholar Monks could not recite a single word and received zero outright.

The highest score went to a Scholar Monk named Namkha, who earned eighteen points.

"Gyatso!" Nepa Lama called.

Qu Zan immediately rose from his felt mat.

"Minor Verses on Cause and Effect, the effect section."

Qu Zan began reciting, "There are five effects: the ripened effect, the dominant effect, the concordant effect, the effect of human effort, and the effect of disconnection...

"Verse on the ripened effect: morally neutral ripening is drawn by karmic force; good and evil causes summon conditions in another life..."

Qu Zan recited fluently, the five verses on effects flowing smoothly from his lips.

Hearing Qu Zan's recitation, the students beside him gave him a few surprised looks.

He had only been here a month, yet he was already this flawless. It did not show on the surface, but this fellow must have put in a great deal of grueling work behind the scenes.

Qu Zan was quite confident in his memory.

Nyepa nodded in satisfaction. "Good, Gyatso. As a new Scholar Monk, you've recited perfectly in your very first month. I'll give you twenty points."

Once everyone had finished reciting, Nyepa swept his gaze over them. "Recitation is a monk's basic skill, yet all of you did so poorly. You couldn't even match a new Scholar Monk who's been here less than a month."

Qu Zan felt black lines cover his forehead and inwardly wiped away sweat. Lama, could we please not paint a target on my back like this? I still had to get along in this class.

He instinctively sensed several sharp gazes shooting toward him from behind.

Qu Zan sat bolt upright, pretending that the person the Lama had praised was not him.

"All right, next is the written test. More free points. Twenty points handed to you..."

For the written test, the Scholar Monks used slender pieces of black charcoal to answer on square wooden boards.

"...Briefly define form phenomena, visible form, shape form, and objects, and describe the relationships among these four..."

After hearing the question, the Scholar Monks began answering.

For a time, scratching sounds filled the small scripture hall.

Nepa Lama walked slowly among the class, like a vulture choosing someone to devour, ready at any moment to find a piece of prey he could swallow.

During the test, if the Lama stopped behind someone, that person came under mountain-crushing pressure, picking at his forehead one moment and scratching an itch the next...

"Chima, if you dare peek at anyone else's answers again, I'll gouge out your eyes!" Nyepa snapped. It was as though he had eyes in the back of his head; he could easily see what was happening behind him.

Qu Zan thought, Nepa Lama had Vengeful Ghost Control inside his body. Trying to cheat right under his nose was asking for death.

I'll gouge out your eyes-in my previous life, that might have just been a teacher's angry rebuke. In Mìdì, he might actually do it, Qu Zan silently grumbled.