Following beside the Abbot Venerable were Zhiyun and the Abbot Venerable's steward monk.
The Abbot Venerable's steward monk oversaw all the temple's affairs. Even the Granary Elder had to prepare two copies of each year's daily expenditures at a designated time and give one to this steward monk for inspection. Without the steward monk's seal, the review was not considered complete.
Moreover, the steward monk had the authority to redistribute all this wealth.
He was the Abbot Venerable's eyes and mouth within the temple.
Many matters passed through the steward monk before reaching the Abbot Venerable. The Abbot Venerable personally blessed him with secret mantras, performed the four empowerments for him, and taught him the secret Yidam practice.
What the steward monk saw was as good as seen by the Abbot Venerable; what the steward monk said was as good as spoken by the Abbot Venerable.
He was "the custodian of the temple's Sangha Jewel," one of the Abbot Venerable's most trusted confidants, and a vital link in the Abbot Venerable's control of the temple.
He was known as "the born secretary who never forgot anything he saw."
After following the Abbot Venerable into the fortified manor, he quickly located every place where wealth might be stored and began leading the monks in a search for evidence.
The Abbot Venerable, riding his white elephant, took no part in this plundering. He merely entered the watchtower and took out his bowl.
He began quietly reciting scriptures and mantras, paying no further attention to the mundane affairs around him.
This wooden bowl had already cracked, but the Abbot Venerable had found a craftsman to bind it with hoops. It was the rice bowl he had once taken to Zajuben Temple. All Sutra Student Monks had identical bowls, which they had to keep on their persons, licking them clean after every meal and tucking them into their robes.
Judging by this, the Abbot Venerable seemed a man attached to old things, unwilling to throw this object away.
He sat in the main room on the watchtower's second floor. Monks immediately lit a fire for him, warming the room, while others brought out a blanket, draped it over him, and lit incense as an offering.
The entire room was immediately wreathed in smoke.
Some burned aromatic offerings to honor the gods on the rooftop, while others hung prayer flags around the watchtower, both blocking the cold winds and declaring the identity of those inside. The monks moved in groups, never venturing out alone.
Those who had shut the fortified manor's gates lit fires throughout the manor, bathing the surroundings in light.
All the monks attended to their own duties, each completing the tasks at hand.
As the Abbot Venerable sat in the main room, cooking smoke immediately began drifting from the kitchen beside it.
It put all the monks at ease.
Someone first brewed a large copper kettle of butter tea and brought it over. Cradling his tea bowl in both hands, just as he had as a Sutra Student Monk at Zajuben Temple, the Abbot Venerable took a warm sip. Only then did he speak to the man beside him. "Zhiyun, now that Zhasa and the Dharma protectors of the four great temples have rendered such meritorious service, how do you think we should reward him?"
Zhiyun dared conceal nothing and gave the Abbot Venerable a full account of what he had done.
Hearing this, the Abbot Venerable nodded and said, "You did very well. You simply did not do better."
He closed his eyes, looking like a herdsman in his sixties, his close-cropped hair already graying.
Without being told, anyone would have found it hard to believe that he was the Abbot Dharma Venerable of Endless White Pagoda Temple.
Having said this, he fell silent, as though he had suddenly fallen asleep.
Monk Zhiyun lay prostrate on the floor, so frightened by the Abbot Venerable that he dared not utter a word.
Faced with this, he did not dare breathe heavily, afraid of displeasing the Abbot Venerable.
He did not know what he had done wrong to displease the Abbot Venerable. As the Abbot Venerable remained silent, he did not even dare breathe. After a long time, the Abbot Venerable suddenly seemed to wake and said, "Get up. What you did was not wrong."
Monk Zhiyun sat up from the floor. The Abbot Venerable said, "It is just that Zhasa will suffer.
"In doing this, you completely forgot what happened on the debate grounds. This time, Mingfa and the others suffered a great loss. Naturally, they will not let the matter rest.
"He would not dare vent his anger on me, so naturally, he will vent it on this child. Do you think this child can withstand it?
Even a 'Kalyāṇamitra' at the Sixth Stage of the Gradual Path has yet to cultivate an 'Immovable Mind,' receive the blessing of secret mantras, or learn the three mysteries.
"That is why the shattering of Buddha-nature is rare in scripture debates. But rare does not mean nonexistent.
"This year, we may witness it once."
As he listened to the Abbot Venerable's slow words.
Monk Zhiyun dared not speak, and the venerable abbot said no more either, leaving only the crackling of the firewood.
After some time, the Abbot Venerable asked, "How many days remain before the academy's scripture debate?"
"Venerable one, fewer than four days."
Monk Zhiyun spoke with the utmost care.
"Fewer than four days."
The Abbot Venerable said, "Then fewer than four days remain. This trial of the 'Outer Dao' must still be reported further up. It will take time."
At this point, he settled into the lotus position and said, "For this scripture debate, you will preside over the scripture master's Dharma seat."
Having said this, the Abbot Venerable spoke no more. Zhiyun did not dare speak either, and silence settled over the room again.
The strange rhythms outside were all kept beyond the fortified manor. The Abbot Venerable seemed lost in thought. Only the moon shone down upon the manor and its thick prayer flags.
The affairs outside had nothing to do with Lu Feng. His life over these past few days had been exceptionally regular: eating, chanting scriptures, and using the latrine during the day; eating and chanting scriptures at night.
He never took a single step outside this courtyard.
He had felt nothing at first, but later, after continually invoking the Six-Syllable Great Brightness Mantra, Lu Feng felt that all five of his senses had sharpened to a degree. He sensed that someone seemed to be outside the courtyard, though he could not be entirely sure.
"Is this what it feels like to recite mantras?"
Lu Feng found it wondrous. The human body had chakras, with a channel running through its very center and seven chakras along its length. He felt a clear radiance appear between his brows. Even in the darkness, that radiance resembled the moon of this Secret Dharma Region.
A layer of power was being nurtured within his body.
This was "Tummo."
But it was only being nurtured and had yet to manifest, a feeling of "drawing the bow without releasing the arrow."
As for the moon he sensed.
Luminous.
Eternally undying.
Whenever he chanted the mantra, Lu Feng always felt as though an "origin point" appeared before his eyes. It was Bindu, radiating boundless Dharma, boundless light, and boundless wisdom. The more Lu Feng recited the mantra, the closer he drew to this point.
Yet he could never touch it.
Under these circumstances, however, his body brimmed with strength.
His mind was clear, his body sturdy and healthy, and a bright moon lay hidden within him, between his brows.
With one sunset and one sunrise remaining before the scripture debate, Lu Feng suddenly saw the closed gate open. Master Zhiyun entered from outside, travel-worn, and said to Lu Feng, "Zhasa, you may go wash your clothes, change, and bathe. Tomorrow, you will come with me to take part in the scripture debate."
Lu Feng pressed his palms together, picked up his saddlebag, and presented one of the golden bowls inside to him with both hands. Master Zhiyun accepted it and said, "Tomorrow, stay by my side. You are not to go anywhere else."
He said, "Do exactly as I tell you, and I will keep you safe!"
Then he added, "There is no need to be nervous."
Before you continue