A Clash of Gods - Chapter 122
Chapter 122 Zhenming
When Yang Ning woke up, a beam of sunlight came in from outside the window, and it scattered in the room with light spots. He opened his eyes and looked around, only feeling very strange. He suddenly sat up and found the tingling sensation in his chest had disappeared.
He composed himself and looked around. It was an ordinary wing room. There were two small windows with criss-cross window bars, through which the light was coming in.
The furnishings in the room were very clean and concise. Besides the bed he slept on, there was another identical one on the opposite with some space between them two, which was very simple. Between the two beds, there was only a pine table and a few small pine stools. Tea cups and a teapot were on the table.
The quilt and sheets on the bed opposite were gray-white, with no other colors, and they were folded square.
On the opposite was a wall, and in the middle of it was a banner with a simple word, Qing!
Yang Ning frowned and got up from the bed. He only remembered that he had a sudden chest pain in the mansion, as if he was pricked by needles and stabbed by knives. Then he went into a coma, unconscious.
He woke up but found himself in such a place. He felt very strange. It was clear that it was not the mansion.
The door of the room was ajar. Yang Ning took a few steps, but felt a little weak. He didn’t know how long he had slept.
He came out of the room with warm sunshine on his body, who felt a little warm.
Outside the door was a small courtyard with a few pine and cypress trees as well as a few clumps of grass and trees. A bluestone path led directly to the courtyard gate. Yang Ning walked forward along the path and went out of the courtyard gate with a breeze coming to him. He walked forward a little, but saw a cliff like the tip of a knife in front of him. Near the edge of the cliff was a giant bell.
He looked around. Outside the courtyard wall, there was a path that could only allow one person to pass both on the left side and the right side. On one side was the courtyard wall, and on the other was the bottomless cliff, with only the sharp cliff which looked like the tip of the knife protruding forward.
Yang Ning was surprised, and then he realized that he was actually on a cliff.
He walked slowly, and reached the bell. There was a large stone under the giant bell with a slab on it. The slab was smooth with criss-cross lines on it. Yang Ning only took a look at it and recognized it as a Go chess board. There was a small stone on both the left and right side. Obviously, there were people playing Go chess here.
He was in a commanding position and overlooked the view. He could see the whole scenery. The mountains undulated and the shape was slightly curved, winding like a dragon. Between the mountains, he vaguely saw many ancient halls and courtyards, and a lot of steep places were equipped with bridges. Some palaces looked antique and beautiful, simple and solemn. Some were also magnificent, quite conspicuous under the sunshine.
Yang Ning was very surprised. He really didn’t know how he had come here, wondering if he transcended time and space again?
As he was surprised, he suddenly heard a voice behind, “Well, you have woken up? That’s great.”
Yang Ning felt the voice childish and turned around. He saw a little monk in kasaya. The monk was thirteen or fourteen years old, with a delicate appearance. He was holding a basket in his hand, and looking at Yang Ning happily.
Yang Ning was stunned, and felt strange, “You…are you talking about me?” He looked around, and there was no one else here. The monk could only talk to him. Yang Ning wondered, “You know me?”
The little monk said, “You have been here for two days. I am Zhenming. What is your Buddhist name?”
“Zhenming?” Yang Ning said, “Your name is Zhenming?”
“Exactly.” The little monk raised his palm, “This is the Buddhist name given by the abbot!”
Yang Ning hurriedly stepped forward and asked, “Zhenming, tell me, why am I here? What is this place?”
The little monk was really puzzled, “You don’t know where this is? This is the Temple of Great Light. Oh, you mean where we are now? We are on Tianbao Peak, which is the smallest peak among the Three Treasures Peaks of the Purple Mountain. However, the morning bell is here.”
“Purple Mountain? Temple of Great Light?” Yang Ning was confused, “What is the Temple of Great Light?”
Zhenming raised his hand and touched his bald head. He was embarrassed, “The Temple of Great Light is the Temple of Great Light. We, we are in the Temple of Great Light now. I don’t know what it is either.” He asked, “Master said you were injured and going to rest here for a while. Are you a disciple of the Temple of Great Light? Hasn’t your head been shaved yet?”
“Disciple of the Temple of Great Light?” Yang Ning immediately shook his head and said, “I’m not going to be a monk.”
Zhenming felt strange, “Not be a monk? But, but in the Temple of Great Light, isn’t everyone monk? If you are not a monk, why did the temple cure you?”
Yang Ning immediately remembered that he suffered a relapse when he was in the mansion. After thinking for a while, he figured it out in the mind and said, “You mean someone in the Temple of Great Light cured me?”
Zhenming nodded and said, “Yes. Two of my master helped you together. How do you feel now? My master said that you have not fully recovered, and it will take some time. So you live here for now.”
“Who is your master?”
Zhenming said, “My master’s Buddhist name is Jingchun. Don’t you know that?”
Yang Ning shook his head and saw two scars on the bald head of the little monk. He wondered, “Little monk, why there are only two scars on your head? Isn’t it nine scars?”
Zhenming was stunned, and hurriedly shook his head and said, “No, no. This is the ring scar. There are rules for the number of it. The numbers of the scar include one, two, three, six, eight, nine, twelve, and twelve. The Buddha has twelve ring scars. In the Temple of Great Light, only the abbot has nine scars. My master only has eight scars. My two scars are happy scars and I’m satisfied.”
Yang Ning then knew that in the Temple of Great Light, there were rules for the ring scars.
“Where is your master? How long do I have to stay here?” Yang Ning asked as he walked into the yard, “Do the two monks who treated me before need will help me again?”
Zhenming said, “You can’t call them the two monks. They and the master have gone down the mountain and now are not in the temple.”
“What?” Yang Ning stopped, “Then when will they come back?”
He was thinking that there were a bunch of things in the mansion. He left the mansion suddenly, and didn’t know what the situation was. Besides, he had an appointment with Tang Nuo, who would go to the capital to find him in half a month. After knowing he had stayed in the Temple of Great Light for two days, he thought about the time. If Tang Nuo kept her promise, she should be in the capital these two days. If she found the mansion and he was not there, where would she go since she was unfamiliar with the capital and knew nobody there?
He didn’t feel any discomfort on his body, but thought that if he recovered, it would be better to leave earlier.
Zhenming replied honestly, “They went down the mountain to conduct a religious rite. Master said it would take at least three days.”
“Three days?” Yang Ning frowned and said, “I see that there are lots of pavilions and halls in the Temple of Great Light, which can’t be a small temple. There must be lots of pilgrims. Why do they go out to conduct religious rites to make money? Are you short of money?”
Zhenming was stunned and wondered, “Make money? Why do we have to make money? The emperor passed away. Our abbot needs to sit in meditation. Ten of the Thirteen Monks went to the palace to do the Shui Lu Rite, which is the biggest religious rite. At least ten of the Thirteen Monks must be present in order to do it successfully. My master is one of the Thirteen Monks so he must go there.”
“What does the Thirteen Monks mean?” Yang Ning wondered, “Are there only thirteen monks in such a big temple?”
Zhenming hurriedly said, “No, no. There are over four hundred people in the temple. The Thirteen Monks refers to the thirteen eminent monks whose name has the word Jing, including the abbot.” He asked, “Don’t you know the Temple of Great Light? Qing, Jing, Zhen, Ru, Hai. Don’t you know it?”
“I really don’t know.” Yang Ning sighed, “Originally, I was in the capital. When I opened my eyes, I found I was here.”
Zhenming patted his head, “Yes, I almost forgot. You just entered the temple. Well, the master left in a hurry, and he didn’t tell me clearly.” He walked into the room with the basket, put it on the table, and said, “Have the meal now.”
Yang Ning felt really hungry at the moment. After entering the room, Zhenming had already taken out the food in the basket and placed it on the table. A small dish of tofu, a small dish of vegetables, and two bowls of rice.
“Is, is this for one person or for two?” Yang Ning couldn’t help asking. Not to mention two people, it was not enough for him alone.
Although Zhenming was ingenuous, he was not stupid. After knowing what Yang Ming meant, he said, “I’m not hungry. You can eat it all.”
Although Yang Ning was hungry, he was really embarrassed to let Zhenming watch from the side. He pushed a bowl of rice to Zhenming and said, “Let’s eat together.” He couldn’t help asking, “Is the Temple of Great Light really very poor?” Why is there only food like this?”
Zhenming explained, “The senior fellow apprentice of Five Cereal Hall said that if I wanted to cultivate my mind, I should eat less. He also said that I was young and I shouldn’t eat a lot. That is a crime of karma.”
“Is everyone else like this?” Yang Ning frowned.
Zhenming shook his head and said, “No.” He asked, “By the way, Ning, do you have a Buddhist name?”
Yang Ning had picked up the chopsticks and was about to eat. Hearing it, he put down the chopsticks, and said seriously, “Little monk, listen. I am not a monk. I am not a monk now, and I will never be a monk in my life. My life has nothing to do with the Buddhist and I will never become an honorable monk. So I will never have a Buddhist name.” Pointing at his chest, he said: “You can call me…Brother Ning!”
“Brother Ning?” Zhenming put his hands together, “In the Temple of Great Light, we call each other senior fellow apprentice or junior fellow apprentice. You, you just come here. I can only call you Ning, shall I?”
“Whatever you say. I no longer want to discuss it with you.” Yang Ning took up the rice bowl and quickly ate it all. He looked up and saw Zhenming staring at him blankly. He put down the bowl and chopsticks, and asked, “What’s up?”
“Ning, you look very hungry. You can eat this bowl of rice.” Zhenming pushed the bowl in front of him towards Yang Ning, “It’s okay for me to skip one meal.”
Yang Ning asked, “How far is the Five Cereal Hall away from here? How about we go get some more food?”
Zhenming waved his hand and said, “No, no. It has a fixed time to offer food and now it’s closed. It takes at least half an hour to get there. Even if we get there, the senior fellow apprentice of Five Cereal Hall will not give food to us.”
Yang Ning banged on the table and said angrily, “Who does he think he is? What the hell? They don’t even give enough food to us. What do they want to do?”
