Mantra

Sure enough, as they continued looking through the scrolls, they found the painting that had sealed Foolhardy inside.

Zhang Changgeng asked despairingly, "Lord Wang, what are we going to do?"

Wang Qilin reassured him, "Don't be afraid. The young lad's life is in no danger inside the painting. I'll find a way to get him out as soon as possible."

Zhang Changgeng clutched his wrist tightly. "Lord Wang, you must do everything you can. I-I only have six grandsons now..."

"That many? I thought you only had one left," Xu Da said.

Zhang Changgeng shot him a glare. "I may have many grandsons, but not one of them is expendable. I cannot lose a single one."

"Rest assured," Wang Qilin said. "I'll find a way to save him."

His hands trembling, Zhang Changgeng said, "Lord Wang, you must find a way. Well, well, I have nothing to repay you with, but I still have a few Nine-Herb Great Replenishing Pills at home..."

Wang Qilin flung his hand aside. "What sort of man do you take this official for, Divine Physician Zhang?"

Zhang Changgeng caught on and nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. An incorruptible official, with nothing but a zither and a crane."

Apart from the portrait of Zhang Yuning, which they left behind, all the other scrolls were gathered up and taken back to the post station.

Xie Hama made a point of pulling a sheet of paper from the screen's hidden compartment. He said it had been made from the cured hide of an exotic beast. He could not say exactly what beast, but it was certainly something good.

So Wang Qilin put the sheet away.

Xu Da asked, "Why didn't you take the replenishing pills when the old man offered them?"

Wang Qilin shook his head. "Wouldn't that be soliciting a bribe? I don't do that sort of thing."

The old divine physician had never cheated him. How could he ask for the man's Nine-Herb Great Replenishing Pills at a time like this? Wouldn't that be taking advantage of his misfortune?

Lord Wang was a man with boundaries.

If he needed replenishing pills, he would rather write an IOU and buy them on credit than accept a bribe.

Principles!

After refining five pills, the Furnace of Creation still had one flame left. He had gained another tonight, so it now held two flames.

Back at the post station, Wang Qilin tucked Chan Master Sun's handwritten copy of Baopuzi close to his body. After some thought, he also slipped the newly acquired sheet, made from the cured hide of some unknown exotic beast, into his robes.

He wanted to see whether it could refine two different things at once.

While the Furnace of Creation worked, he went to sleep.

An automated furnace really was handy.

When he woke early the next morning, he heard his elder sister scolding someone in the courtyard. He pushed open the window and looked out with a yawn.

The morning sun rose, its gentle rays illuminating the scene of a mother beating her son. It was very heartwarming, very gentle.

Wang Qiaoniang held a broom and struck it against the ground to frighten Heidou, who kept wiping away his tears.

Wang Qilin took his tooth mug, scooped a cupful of water from the water vat, and rinsed his mouth. "Sister, you need patience when teaching a child. You can't keep beating him."

Heidou nodded furiously.

Wang Qilin looked at him in amusement. "What did you do wrong this time, brat? Wet the bed?"

Heidou shook his head hard. "No, Uncle, no. Dou came outside to pee last night."

Wang Qilin asked Wang Qiaoniang, "Then why are you beating him?"

Wang Qiaoniang hesitated.

Wang Qilin frowned. "We're family. Just say it."

Wang Qiaoniang said, "He came outside to pee last night, and he peed in the water vat."

Wang Qilin looked at his tooth mug, then at the water vat. "This one?"

His little face scrunched up, Heidou defended himself. "I was half asleep! I thought it was the chamber pot."

Wang Qilin stroked his skyward-pointing braid. "No need to say any more. Uncle understands. Come on, let's have breakfast first."

Heidou gave him an innocent, carefree smile.

Wang Qilin then told Wang Qiaoniang, "Beat him after breakfast. You'll have more strength then!"

The smile slowly froze.

Breakfast was dumplings-shepherd's purse and pork dumplings.

Shepherd's purse flourished at this time of year, lush green and tender enough to delight anyone. This was also when it tasted best, fresh and fragrant.

What farmer's daughter lacked skill in the kitchen? Made with sorghum and sweet potato flour mixed in, the dumplings were not particularly white, but they were plump and round, like little dark fatties sitting on the plate.

Wang Qilin first went to make a devout offering. "Bless your descendant so he can break the curse on him. Otherwise, you won't have any more dumplings to eat."

Once he returned, Heidou impatiently stuffed a dumpling into his mouth, and a thoroughly contented smile immediately appeared on his little dark face.

Wang Qilin asked, "Is it good?"

Heidou nodded hard out of habit. "Mom's dumplings are so tasty."

"Then eat plenty. A full belly will help you take a beating."

Horrified, he wanted to put down his bowl and stop eating, but the dumplings smelled too good. The mere thought made tears shamefully trickle from the corner of his mouth:

"Forget it. If I'm getting beaten, I'm getting beaten. I'll fill my belly first."

The shepherd's purse dumplings of early April tasted of spring.

Fresh.

When making the dumplings, Wang Qiaoniang had added pork fat rendered in an iron wok. Together with the moisture released by the shepherd's purse, it filled the dumplings with broth. That broth was the most delicious part, so savory it made the tongue tingle.

After breakfast, he returned to his room, closed his eyes, and looked into his sea of consciousness.

The Furnace of Creation truly seized the creative power of heaven and earth. Not only was it automated, it could multitask:

A golden Buddhist scripture and a picture floated above the furnace's mouth.

He could tell that this scripture was Buddhist because it bore the imposing, powerful image of a Buddha-a Vidyaraja.

To the left of the Vidyaraja image ran a vertical line of text: Trailokyavijaya Samaya Assembly.

On the right was one large character: Lin.

He did not understand what it meant. Taking out the scripture, he opened it to find a series of images: the Acala Vidyaraja Great Mudra!

After the images came a complex Buddhist incantation: the Vajrasattva Heart Mantra!

Once Wang Qilin finished reading the scripture, he understood. It recorded the essence of both Buddhist and Daoist cultivation.

The Lin Syllable Mantra!

The Lin Syllable Mantra from the Daoist Nine-Syllable Mantra, "Lin, bing, dou, zhe, jie, zhen, lie, qian, xing."

The Nine-Syllable Mantra had originally been a secret Daoist art, but Chan Master Sun had used his heaven-reaching power to combine the secret methods of Buddhism and Daoism. Each syllable was paired with a Buddhist great mudra and a Buddhist incantation, their fusion granting them supreme power.

The Lin Syllable Mantra, for instance, was paired with the Acala Vidyaraja Mudra and the Vajrasattva Heart Mantra. Once used, it granted boundless concentration, leaving the user unshaken and undeluded, with no demon or evil able to corrupt their heart or will.

Moreover, once it was activated, the user could temporarily borrow the spiritual power of heaven and earth.

That was truly formidable.

If the user stood somewhere rich in spiritual power, the Lin Syllable Mantra could make him invincible in battle, sweeping aside all opposition!

Shocking! Such a treasure actually existed in this world? Wang Qilin's eyes reddened after he finished reading!

Setting down the Buddhist scripture, he picked up the picture.

It depicted a Buddha whose face and form were ferocious and fierce in the extreme.

This Buddha wore a white horse's head atop his own, his long hair wild as a lion's mane. Skulls hung around his neck, and a tiger-skin skirt encircled his waist. He had three eyes, all glaring furiously, and eight arms, each holding something such as a skull bowl, a rope, a great snake, or a skull staff.

Wang Qilin had seen a similar image before: the ferocious god on Du Cao's back.

He focused on the picture and vaguely saw a wrathful Buddha stride out and roar furiously at him. "Serve as an official and bring blessings to your people! Deliver those in suffering and distress! Should you betray your conscience, this Vajra will surely slay you without mercy!"

Wang Qilin hurriedly shook his head and broke free of the vision. This was no ferocious god, but a great Vajra guardian of Buddhism: Hayagriva Vidyaraja!

Hayagriva Vidyaraja's wrathful form was born to subdue demons and remove obstacles, manifested for the benefit of all living beings. Behind it lay compassion for all beings, not fury or hatred.

Nor was this a Buddhist picture. It was a Divine Engraving Diagram.

A Divine Engraving Diagram was a divine object. In the New Han Dynasty, tattooing was called "body engraving," which was where the name "divine engraving" came from.

Such diagrams truly held a wisp of divine intent. Once one was placed against the back and its image tattooed onto the skin, that divine intent would be stored within the body.

That was how the ferocious god on Du Cao's back had come about.

Of course, the Divine Engraving Diagram in Wang Qilin's hands was far more precious than the one Du Cao had used. Du Cao bore an evil god, whereas this was a great Buddhist Vajra, a righteous deity.

But bearing Hayagriva Vidyaraja was even more dangerous than bearing a ferocious god. Hayagriva Vidyaraja hated evil bitterly and was upright and honorable. If the person bearing him lived an entire life with nothing to be ashamed of before their conscience or heaven and earth, Hayagriva Vidyaraja could protect them from all evil.

But if that person committed wrongdoing, Hayagriva Vidyaraja would personally send them to hell!

For instance, the moment Hayagriva Vidyaraja appeared just now, he had commanded Wang Qilin to rescue Zhang Yuning from the picture, because he had already made that promise.

So even with something good in his hands, he could not use it.

He could not possibly live this life with a clear conscience.

Xu Da and Xie Hama were even less able to use it. Who knew how many shameful things those two had done?

Thus, he could only put the Divine Engraving Diagram away for now and prepare to practice the Lin Syllable Mantra.

Before beginning, he knelt and bowed toward the ancestral graves as usual. "Ancestors, bless me. Bless your unfilial descendant so he can master the Lin Syllable Mantra. As long as I master it, I'll cover all your incense and candles from now on!"