"But I don't know this place. It must be after I was sealed that Master visited," Yaoyao guessed. "Oh, right, Chengfeng, go and see what this temple is called?"
"Ziyang Temple," I said. I had seen it during our warm-up.
"Ziyang Temple, Ziyang... Ziyang. I get it. These two characters must come from Bai Juyi's poems. Master liked Bai Juyi the most," Yaoyao said confidently. "But which poem could it be..."
I quietly took out my phone to search and quickly found it, showing it to Yaoyao.
When planted on the immortal altar in what year,
Transplanted to the Buddhist home morning and evening.
Though in the human world unknown to men,
I name it the Purple Sun Flower for you.
Yaoyao nodded. "It should be this one."
After speaking, Yaoyao leaped onto the base of the stone statue and circled it halfway. I followed her to the back. Yaoyao took a deep breath, closed her eyes, seemingly performing her qi-sensing technique. A moment later, she opened her eyes and patted the statue's lower back twice. A mechanism in the lower back was triggered, and a small drawer popped out. Amazing!
Yaoyao took a bamboo slip from the drawer, jumped down, and showed it to me.
It had Chinese characters, also a poem.
Know that all phenomena are non-phenomena;
If dwelling in Nirvana, there is still abundance.
When words are forgotten, understanding is gained at once;
Speaking of dreams within dreams, a double void.
How can illusory flowers yield fruits?
Why seek fish in mirages?
Movement is Zen, Zen is movement;
Non-Zen, non-movement, is thus.
"Is this also a poem by Bai Juyi?" I guessed. The first line, "all phenomena are non-phenomena," was clearly Buddhist. Bai Juyi had a deep understanding of Buddhism, and many of his verses contained Zen insights.
"My knowledge of Chinese culture is average. I only know 'Li Li Yuan Shang Cao' by Bai Juyi. You look it up," Yaoyao said.
I was a little better, knowing "Furong Zhang Nuan Du Chun Xiao."
Upon checking, it was indeed, titled "Reading Buddhist Sutras."
Although Yaoyao didn't know Bai Juyi well, her understanding of classical Chinese was far deeper than mine. After reading it a few times, she grasped the meaning of the verses, murmuring, "Within Buddhism lies the Tao, and within the Tao lies Buddhism, harmonious and transparent, heaven follows nature."
"...What does that mean?" I asked, scratching my head.
"It's hard to explain. Anyway, whether it's Buddhism, Taoism, or our Shamanism, the ultimate teachings are the same: life and death cycles, all things have spirit, cause and effect are impermanent, and we must follow nature."
I still didn't quite understand.
It seemed Yaoyao didn't want to delve deeper into the matter. She considered it a memento left by her Master, smiled, put away the bamboo slip, and clapped her hands. "Let's go, down the mountain."
"Down the mountain? Aren't we staying here overnight?" I asked.
"I've understood. I know how I should teach you now, and it's not this way."
"Then what is it?"
"Oh, let's go!" Yaoyao said in a sweet, cooing voice, hugging my arm as we left Ziyang Temple. I wondered if her Master's spirit in heaven would be displeased if he saw her acting so affectionately with me. By seniority, Yaoyao was my Master, an elder.
I had to summon the Eagle Demon again and returned to the parking lot the same way we came.
"Yanan, why don't you come with us back to Benxi City?" I said. I felt bad for bothering her twice. "There are clothes in the trunk."
Demons couldn't wear clothes when they transformed, so when I bought the cars, I had also prepared several sets of loose sportswear in the trunk of each car for them to change into at any time. As for inner wear, honestly, none of them were very particular about clothing, whether they had it or not.
After driving back to the hotel, I knocked on the door. The Fox Demon said Shen Xingyue's alcohol had hit her hard, and she was lying on the bed, completely out of it. Since I couldn't leave until she woke up and I had nothing pressing to do, I decided to extend the hourly room to an overnight stay and booked two more rooms.
As it was nearing dinner time, Jin Xiaomei called to ask if I needed her to arrange catering.
I said no, we could just grab something casual ourselves.
The eagles, foxes, and bears didn't need to eat. They had all eaten their fill during the previous battle at the Laogua Ridge tunnel and wouldn't need to eat for another week (as they had consumed the most essence). Just as I was about to take Yaoyao to explore the local night market, the Fox Demon next door called, saying Shen Xingyue had woken up. I went to check on her. As expected of a martial artist, her ability to metabolize alcohol was strong. Apart from a slight scent of alcohol on her body, her mental state was no different from before she got drunk.
"Are you hungry? Mu Jige and I are going for dinner. Want to join us?" I suggested.
I had only said it out of courtesy, but to my surprise, Shen Xingyue rubbed her head and nodded, telling us to wait for her downstairs.