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Chapter 93 – I came to guide you to enter Buddhism
Since he wanted to drink tea, Chu Qing-Yan found a tea shop. Although the place wasn’t big, it was neat and clean.
“Honored guest, what kind of tea do you want to drink?” A waiter enthusiastically asked with a towel over his shoulder.
After the group of people sat down, Chu Qing-Yan smiled and asked. “May I ask proprietor, what kinds of tea do you have?”
“We have Oolong tea, Bi Luo Chun, Tie Guan Yin, and all kinds of flower tea.” The waiter familiarly replied.
“What kinds of flower tea do you have?” Chu Qing-Yan became interested in the flower teas.
“We have Jasmine tea, chrysanthemum tea, osmanthus tea, water-lily tea….”
Chu Qing-Yan waited for him to finish before turning to speak to Xu Xian who sat there peacefully as a beautiful male. “What tea does the great master want to drink?”
“I’ll let female benefactor decide.” Xu Xian smiled in reply.
Chu Qing-Yan felt that the water-lily tea wasn’t bad and really suited his temperament, so she asked for a pot.
The waiter immediately responded and turned around to go prepare the tea.
Chu Qing-Yan held her chin in her hands and looked at the person in front of her. She felt that this way of looking at each other, yet not saying anything was quite awkward, so she thought of a topic to break the ice.
“Great master, awhile ago I saw you make those people retreat with just a wave of your hand, is that the legendary inner force?”
Xu Xian heard this and smiled faintly. “You could say it like that.”
“The great master doesn’t seem very old, how long has it been since you entered Buddhism?” The tea hadn’t come yet, so Chu Qing-Yan racked her brains for a topic to discuss.
“Since childhood, I’ve been brought up in the temple.” Xu Xian replied.
Eh, after he finished saying that sentence, it was another awkward silence.
Xu Xian seemed to have seen through that she was looking for a topic to discuss and smiled faintly. “Benefactor doesn’t need to especially take care of me, just being casual is fine.”
She was seen through so easily? Chu Qing-Yan rubbed her nose, fortunately the tea came just in time to help cover her discomfort.
Xi Ning stepped forward to pour tea for two people. Chu Qing-Yan picked up a cup and blew on it. She took a sip and found the taste wasn’t bad, the faint water-lily scent also had a bit of bitterness, there must’ve been lotus seeds placed inside. It had the efficacy of alleviating fever and was also good for detoxification.
“The taste isn’t bad.” Chu Qing-Yan praised from the bottom of her heart. When she put down her cup, she saw Xu Xian just sitting there, one hand holding the Buddhist beads and the other hand was stretched forward. He had his eyes closed and gave off a feeling of being isolated from the outside world.
She couldn’t help but happily exhale a breath. “Great master, did you come to smell the tea fragrance instead of to drink the tea?”
Xu Xian smiled faintly. “The fragrance is a part of the tea, just knowing a little will let you know its taste. Whether to drink it or not is actually not that important.”
Chu Qing-Yan raised a brow. This person was too dull, drinking tea was like chanting a sutra. But no matter how he drank the tea, it had nothing to do with her. In any case, she was only responsible for paying for it.
Just as Chu Qing-Yan was drinking her second cup, the person in front of her opened his eyes to look toward her with neither sadness nor joy in his eyes. “Female benefactor, this poor monk has one thing he doesn’t understand.”
“There are things that even Great master doesn’t understand?” Chu Qing-Yan was astonished.
“In this vast world, there would always be indissoluble matters. The road of Buddhism is one that seeks knowledge to achieve enlightenment along the way.” Xu Xian didn’t feel embarrassed because of her astonishment, on the contrary, he naturally and unrestrainedly replied.
“Able to be asked by the Great Master, Qing-Yan is very honored. Only, with Great Master’s experience and knowledge, I’m afraid Qing-Yan may not be able to answer your questions.” Chu Qing-Yan propped up her cheek with her hand and replied carelessly.
Xu Xian smiled slightly. “No matter. What this poor monk doesn’t understand is, when so many people don’t act upon their inner feelings, why did female benefactor stand up?” At that time, her servant at her side had no intention of helping that person. After traveling on so many roads, he had seen too many injust matters. It wasn’t that there weren’t people that come out to say some words of fairness, however, seeing someone as young as her and a female to boot, daring to heroically stand up, really flabbergasted him.
Didn’t expect he wanted to ask about this matter. Chu Qing-Yan smiled lazily. “Great Master, I was merely doing something that I wouldn’t want to regret later.”
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“I can’t just not try to save someone who is in danger of dying. Perhaps great master feels that I have overestimated my abilities, but I only thought of this; if that person was me, and nobody was willing to step forward bravely, I would feel only despair at this world. I’d feel as if among people, there is no benevolence. I believe in the butterfly effect. If one person stands up, it will always affect other people. One person affecting another, this kind of thing, will then influence more and more people to stand up.” She merely expressed her way of thinking from the modern world. But she knew that in the ancient times, there was a clear hierarchy. People with power would always sit high up in control and the common people on the ground would be regarded as petty and low like ants. Who would care about being kind or not. High officials and nobility only cared about power while the common people cared about food and shelter. Although her modern views didn’t seem to have any contradictions with the views here, there didn’t seem to be any agreements either. When she thought up to here, she felt somewhat sorrowful.
Xu Xian was silent for a moment before raising his head to look towards her. In his compassionate eyes, there was a trace of a different gleam. “Female benefactor has a benevolent heart.”
“Many thanks for great master’s praise.” Chu Qing-Yan smiled, not paying any mind to it. Actually, this wasn’t at all rare because in the modern world, a lot of people would stand up. Because in the end, there would always be more good people than bad people. Moreover, in a society ruled by law, bad people dare not be this savage. Even if they relied on their status to oppress others, they would be exposed by the internet and become the butt of public criticism. It was just a different dynasty and she merely did what she had wanted to do, nothing more!
“If it happened again, would female benefactor still take action to save her again?” Xu Xian continued to ask.
Chu Qing-Yan thought for a moment. “I’ll size up the situation before making a decision, after all striking a stone with an egg wasn’t my original intention. You have to act within your own abilities and not be impulsive.”
Xu Xian smiled faintly, although her answer somewhat contracted her previous answer, but after careful analysis, one could understand the meaning behind it.
“Female benefactor wants to exercise restraint in this kind of matter?”
Chu Qing-Yan looked at him puzzledly. “What does Great Master mean?”
“Using benevolence to change the world, let events like today happen less.” Xu Xian smiled faintly.
Chu Qing-Yan opend her eyes wide, why couldn’t she understand his meaning?
Seeing her still looking blankly at him, Xu Xian patiently said “This monk will allow you to enter Buddhism and follow by this monk’s side in the future to spread the way of the Buddha. Use Buddhist doctrine to reform the people in the world, making good people even more virtuous and guide bad people towards benevolence.
Chu Qing-Yan felt that she had just heard an gargantuan joke, there was actually someone who was trying to convince her to leave home to become a Buddhist nun. If it was in the modern world and her parents heard this, she feared that they’d think he was babbling nonsense. Her dad would just knock him down with a flip of his hand and throw him out of the house okay!
Just when Chu Qing-Yan was about to laugh out loud, she saw the pure, handsome youth facing her with a smile in both eyes and seriously looking at her. Then Chu Qing-Yan’s laugh froze on her face.
She asked in disbelief. “Great Master is joking right?”
“Monks don’t tell lies.” Xu Xian smiled faintly but his tone was earnest.
“Why me?” Chu Qing-Yan couldn’t help but ask.
“Because you have fate with the Buddha.” Xu Xian replied.
Chu Qing narrowed the corner of her eyes, which eyes of his saw that she had fate with Buddha?
“Great Master, are you often like this, misleading a bunch of kids with no experienced in the way of the world into entering Buddhism?”
Xu Xian did not get angry at her dissatisfied questioning and rude tone, on the contrary, he smiled slightly saying. “You indeed aren’t the first that this poor monk recruited.”
Chu Qing-Yan immediately believed her thoughts earlier, sure enough, this person was swindling others again.
Then she heard him say immediately after. “However, this poor monk doesn’t easily accept disciples. You are the first one.”
She raised her head in surprise and encountered his eyes. It was as if she had seen the water-lily in the depth of his eyes bloom. He was so noble and pure, making people unable to look straight at him.
Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
Oh my. Buddhism as a force for good is nice. Buddhist monks taking disciples seems one part necessary, one part contradictory. Wouldn’t a disciple be a worldly tie? Isn’t the point to learn to live in the now, connected but without ties, that one may finally cease reincarnating over and over, and move on to…whatever lies beyond this life?