Chapter 134: Cao Guanzi

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. In the small thatched hut at the foot of the shaded side of Liangchan Temple, loud snoring resounded. It was an unglamorous young woman whose posture was far from graceful. Her limbs spread wide, occupying most of the bed. With a domineering turn, she accidentally kicked the bald middle-aged monk beside her off the bed. The poor monk sat on the ground in a daze for a long time, then got up, put on a plain white kasaya, and walked out of the room.

Two small rooms were separated by wooden partitions next door. The white-robed monk tiptoed into his daughter Dongxi’s room and tucked her blanket in. Her sleeping posture was exactly like her mother’s — restless. Next, he went to his disciple’s room. The little fool, Nanbei, was clearly having a good dream, probably about playing wildly with Dongxi somewhere, as he was just smiling to himself. The small, sparsely furnished hut was neat and clean. While the two women in the household always scattered their shoes and socks everywhere, the clumsy Nanbei was different; he was always meticulous about the placement of any item, just as he was when lecturing on Buddhist scriptures to the monks of the ‘Hui’ generation in the temple.

The white-robed monk walked out of the hut alone and went to the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas. The walls were adorned with vivid, painted Vajra Arhat Fist Techniques. The floor was uneven, marked by exactly one hundred and eight small foot-shaped indentations. Rumor had it in the martial arts world that this was a powerful demon-subduing divine ability of Liangchan Temple; whoever could meditate before the wall and correctly follow the one hundred and eight steps would be guaranteed a place among the top three martial artists in the world. The hall was called the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas because Liangchan Temple carved one Buddha statue here each year, and to date, there were over a thousand statues. The white-robed monk was both the guardian of the steles and the sculptor monk of the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas in this generation. Looking from the hall entrance, no two of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions were alike. Compared to them, the three sets of fist manuals were even more magnificent and grand. The first patriarch of Liangchan Temple once left a Buddha’s saying: “All who enter this hall, all who see, hear, perceive, and know, shall receive the seed of Bodhi liberation.”

A couplet hung inside the hall:“Since lotuses first bloomed with every step, three millennia have passed; this hall has been rebuilt to honor the Arhats.After enduring eighty-one tribulations, we wish to offer twenty-eight chapters, to universally benefit all living beings and bring them to fruition.”

However, ever since the white-robed monk returned from the far west to Tai’an City and then back to Liangchan Temple, he had carved only one Arhat statue. That was the same year he brought the young monk Nanbei back to the mountain.

The white-robed monk looked up at the thousand Buddha statues, now bathed in moonlight from the open doors, and sighed.

Young monk Wu Nanbei appeared behind the white-robed monk at some point and said anxiously, “Master, is Mistress going down the mountain again tomorrow?”

The white-robed monk replied with resignation, “Let her go. Anyway, there are only a few copper coins left in the alms bowl.”

Clumsy Nanbei sighed with a world-weary air, “After Dongxi went down the mountain a few times, now when she helps Mistress pick out cosmetics, she only picks the ridiculously expensive ones. What will we do in the future?”

“How did you wake up?”

“I just dreamed I was holding Dongxi’s hand, but then she smacked me on the head, and I woke up. Oh well. Hey, Master, why did you hit me?”

“What else did you do besides holding hands?”

“Nothing, just holding hands. What else could there be?”

“Really nothing? Monks don’t lie. All these Bodhisattvas and Arhats in the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas are watching you!”

“Uh, besides holding hands, I also told Dongxi I liked her…”

“No wonder you got hit.”

“Master, the old abbot said you are the reincarnation of the third Arhat, the Immaculate Arhat. The Buddhist scriptures say this Bodhisattva has no delusions or defilements, so why do Mistress and Dongxi always say you have a bitter gourd face?”

“The Chief Abbot also said you are Subhadra, the last disciple of the Buddha, who received teachings before the Buddha entered nirvana and attained Bodhisattva fruit. Sounds impressive, but why don’t I see you with limitless wisdom and eloquence? Let alone the temple and the foot of the mountain, among just the four of us in this hut, who can you win an argument against?”

“Alas, the old abbot likes to say good things about everyone. There’s nothing to be happy about when praised.”

“Master, how about you teach me to play chess?”

“Why do you want to learn chess now?”

“Dongxi asked Mistress to buy two boxes of chess pieces down the mountain, but Mistress doesn’t know how to play. Dongxi said she can’t beat you, so she can only play with me.”

“My daughter is the smartest in the world, but when it comes to learning chess, her comprehension isn’t exceptionally brilliant. She might not even beat you. Then Master’s copper coins would be wasted again.”

“It’s okay, I’ll let her win.”

“Idiot! How many games can you let her win?”

“A lifetime, I guess. Anyway, it won’t be many decades until I achieve sarira.”

“Alright, Master hasn’t touched a chess piece in some years. Go fetch the chess boxes.”

“Now? How dare I go to Dongxi’s room? I’d be beaten to death! And I wouldn’t dare to run, what if I ran into the Stele Forest like before and Dongxi couldn’t find me? Then Mistress would only give me half a bowl of rice.”

“Where the Way lies, I will go, even if I face thousands—you don’t understand even this principle? What kind of Buddha are you cultivating?”

“Master, isn’t that a famous warning from a Confucian sage down the mountain?”

“Is that so?”

“Absolutely! Oh, I used to always hear the abbots in the temple say you were amazing at lecturing on Buddhist principles at the decade-long Lotus Platform discussions, even those scholarly Confucian scholars and Taoist masters admired you. Looks like they were just bragging too. Master, did you secretly give them copper coins?”

“Nonsense! Doesn’t your Mistress keep an eye on all of Master’s private money?”

“But the clay pot under the ‘Twenty Inscriptions of Longmen’ stele behind the hut, wasn’t that what you just had me bury two days ago?”

“Ha, Nanbei, the moonlight is nice today. You wait here; Master will go get the chess boxes.”

A moment later, the white-robed monk returned with two boxes of chess pieces and a crude chess board Dongxi had Nanbei chop a tree to make. The master and disciple sat on the floor in the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas. The white-robed monk rolled his eyes at the crooked lines on the chessboard and cast it aside, instead using his finger to carve seventeen vertical and horizontal lines into the floor. The hall floor was meticulously paved with special stone material, which people called the “Vajra Mirror Surface.” Even a supreme enlightened swordsman once struck it with a sharp sword and left no mark. Thus, the one hundred and eight clear footprints particularly highlighted the sacred divine ability. Young monk Wu Nanbei was not surprised by his master drawing lines with his finger; he just said with a mournful face, “Master, the Chief Abbot is fine, but the other abbots will surely lecture me on Buddhist teachings for days and nights.”

The white-robed monk said indifferently, “Let them drone on.”

The young monk said indignantly, “But they don’t like to drone on at you, Master; they only pick on me and won’t let go!”

“Droning on” was a unique catchphrase used by this eccentric family of four in the temple.

The white-robed monk ignored him, glanced at the nineteen-line board, let out a sound of surprise, thought for a moment, and then clapped his hands and laughed, “Excellent, what a pity there’s no wine. Years ago, Master played two draws with an old rogue on fifteen- and seventeen-line boards. He angrily boasted that if it were a nineteen-line board, Master wouldn’t be his match. But looking at the situation back then, that rogue wasn’t very keen on being the first to suggest a nineteen-line board. Clumsy Nanbei, do you know who first conceived it?”

“It seems to be Xu Fengnian’s second sister, named Xu Weixiong. What a grand name. Dongxi has envied it for a long time, complaining that you, Master, weren’t careful at all when naming her back then. Heh, actually, I think Dongxi is a lovely name, but I just don’t dare say that to Dongxi.”

“It’s that little rascal Xu Fengnian again! Master will have to note down a few ‘knife attacks’ against him in the ledger when I get back!”

“Master, you note down 'knife attacks' every day now. If Xu Fengnian really comes to the temple in the future, what should I do? Should I help Dongxi or you, Master?”

“What do you think?”

“For now, I’ll help Master, then later I’ll help Dongxi.”

“Nanbei, Master really didn’t realize before, you’re not clumsy at all.”

“Of course not!”

“Clumsy or not clumsy, the day you’re no longer clumsy, Dongxi really won’t like you anymore.”

“Ah? Master, don’t scare me, I won’t be able to sleep tonight! I won’t have the energy to cook for you all tomorrow.”

“In that case, just pretend Master didn’t say that.”

“Master, I won’t learn chess. I want to go outside Dongxi’s room and chant scriptures.”

“Clumsy Nanbei, Master tells you chanting scriptures is useless. Scriptures and these thousand Buddhas in the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas are dead things. If merely chanting could produce sarira, the Chief Abbot would have burned tens of thousands already. Never mind that, I’ll teach you chess.”

The white-robed monk briefly explained the rules of Go. In the first game, he gave Nanbei a handicap of six stones. Both master and disciple played quickly. The clumsy young Nanbei naturally lost. In the second game, with a handicap of five, the young monk still lost. In the third game, with a handicap of four, the young monk lost three consecutive games.

The white-robed monk frowned, “Nanbei, this won’t do. How will you let Dongxi win tomorrow, and still make it look like you’re not letting her win?”

The young monk, whose face became solemn when serious, nodded and said, “Master, I will play with more focus.”

In the fourth game, with a handicap of only three stones, ordinarily, the less the white-robed monk conceded and without deliberately letting him win, the worse the young monk’s game should have looked. Yet, in fact, over these four games, the young monk’s position gradually improved.

In the fifth game, the white-robed monk looked at the sky and said, “This game, no handicap. If you can last until one hundred and sixty moves, you win. Then you can go play chess with Dongxi tomorrow.”

Clumsy Nanbei nodded vigorously and hummed. Just as he was about to play white first, he accidentally saw an ant scurrying across the kasaya. The young monk smiled genuinely and gently extended two fingers, still holding a chess piece, allowing the small ant to crawl onto his hand before placing it on the ground. After it had moved far away, the distinct sound of a piece falling resounded on the Vajra Mirror Surface.

In this game, the young monk indeed lasted over one hundred and seventy moves.

The white-robed monk did not play any more games. He smiled and asked, “Are you asleep now?”

The young monk touched his bald head and said happily, “I got it!”

The white-robed monk waved his hand and said, “Go on. Leave the chessboard and chess boxes here.”

The young monk said, “Oh,” and got up to leave the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas.

The white-robed monk, sitting cross-legged, waited until his disciple had walked far away, presumably back to the hut. Then he rested his chin on one hand, leaning to one side as he gazed at the chessboard.

The white-robed monk stretched lazily and murmured, “Cao Changqing, still so patient. No wonder he’s called Official Cao.”

Aside from his words, the hall remained in a heavenly silence.

The white-robed monk reached out and grabbed; a dozen white pieces on the ground suddenly floated into the air. With a gentle flick, the pieces shot like a sudden rain to one side.

A moment later, a refined man dressed in a scholar’s green robe leisurely appeared in the hall. He held the sixteen pieces in his hand. With each step, he flicked a piece, its trajectory invisible in the air. In a blink of an eye, fifteen pieces adhered to the white-robed monk’s kasaya. This unconventional monk, who drank wine, ate meat, and even married and had a daughter, remained utterly still. However, the thousand Buddha statues in the hall swayed in unison, as if under a massive invasion by heavenly demons. Especially the statues of the wrathful Vajra Bodhisattvas and Arhats, their swaying movements were particularly terrifying, likely caused by the powerful ripples of vital energy from each of the fifteen pieces striking the white-robed monk’s kasaya, causing such an anomaly.

The elegant and extraordinary middle-aged scholar had only one piece left in his hand. He smiled, “Indeed, no one in this world can break your Vajra Realm.”

Without any apparent movement from the white-robed monk, the fifteen white pieces fell from his kasaya to the ground, then as if imbued with spirit, quickly rolled back to their original positions on the Vajra Mirror Surface.

The white-robed monk said calmly, “Just Official Cao’s fifteen Finger Profound. Why don’t you try your Celestial Elephant Realm?”

The slender scholar smiled, gently dropped the piece in his hand to the ground, and hopped forward a few times. It, too, returned obediently to its original position, just like the fifteen. He shook his head, “I won’t try. That year, the number one person from Beimang, rumored to be able to contend with Qi Xuanzhen, came south to Liangchan Temple. He still couldn’t harm you in the slightest. However, you did stomp out one hundred and eight Vajra Imprints on the ground in your anger. But I am very curious, why do you prefer draws in chess games, just as your fights with others end in draws? Back then, Huang Longshi played against you with the lives of over three hundred monks, each representing a single move. Forty-three people died in that game, fortunately, you managed a draw. Later, after the Spring and Autumn War, Huang Longshi forced you to play again, using hundreds of Buddhist temples across a hundred prefectures in the world as chess pieces—lose one, a temple would be destroyed; win one, the Liyang Dynasty would build another. Why did you still draw? After studying the chess records, I saw that in the first game, your winning chance was indeed not high, but in the second game, you clearly had the potential to defeat Huang Longshi.”

The white-robed monk looked up at the renowned Official Cao. Similar to himself, this man had also personally played chess with Huang Longshi. It was said their games reached near the endgame stage. Official Cao was certainly more than a cut above those imperial court grandmasters. Yet, facing such a figure whom the world considered a celestial being, the white-robed monk remained unperturbed, saying calmly, “If I told you I was in a hurry to go home and cook for my wife, would you believe me?”

Official Cao, hearing this rare joke, surprisingly did not laugh. He sighed with regret, “Now you even have a daughter, so you have no patience to play to the endgame with me. It seems I won’t have the chance to play chess with you.”

The white-robed monk scoffed, “Who would want to play chess with you? A single game could last for months or even years.”

Official Cao, whose real name Cao Changqing was now largely forgotten, sat opposite the white-robed monk. He glanced at the chess board, whose every move was already etched in his mind, and smiled, “This disciple of yours is truly remarkable. He is indeed considered the hope of Buddhism for the Dharma-ending Age.”

The white-robed monk said calmly, “Cao Changqing, my temper is not as good as you think.”

“You’re willing to play chess with me, and I’m not willing to fight with you. Here, I found some good wine for you in the imperial palace.”

Official Cao took the wine gourd from his waist and tossed it to the white-robed monk. Then, with his left hand, he picked up a white piece and gently placed it, seemingly knowing that the white-robed monk would not play against him. With his right hand, he picked up a black piece and placed it on the ground for his own amusement, saying, “Don’t worry, I’d rather contend with Deng Tai’a’s peach branch than get involved with you. The world only knows your Vajra Indestructible form, but I know the terror of your wrathful Vajra.”

The white-robed monk took a sip of wine, frowned, and asked, “That Han Renmao didn’t manage to stop you?”

Official Cao played pieces on both sides of the board, shaking his head, “I happened not to encounter him this time.”

The white-robed monk wiped his mouth and asked, “You, a fallen scholar of Western Chu, are still thinking of finding that little princess burdened with destiny and restoring the kingdom?”

Official Cao’s expression turned melancholic, “How could I not think of it? They all say she perished with His Majesty the Emperor, but I have always refused to believe the little princess died. The dragon qi of Western Chu still remains; the Imperial Astronomical Bureau just doesn’t dare to admit it.”

The white-robed monk tilted his head back and drank some wine. “Cao Changqing, have you come for my calendar? The Liyang Dynasty adopted the old calendar, originally claiming to be blessed by heaven. But after annexing eight kingdoms, it is clearly no longer suitable. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau is busy with this, while I’ve been intermittent and not in a hurry. Are you thinking of manipulating things? To preserve a slim chance for your deposed little princess to restore her kingdom?”

Official Cao suddenly stood up, bowing deeply, refusing to straighten his back for a long time.

The white-robed monk sighed, “Cao Changqing, do you truly not know this is an act of defying heaven and altering fate? Are you unaware of the fate of the previous Heavenly Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain?”

Official Cao, who in twenty years had almost single-handedly become the supreme figure of the martial arts world, with an arrogance second to none, still did not straighten his back.

The white-robed monk hesitated, then said in a deep voice, “It’s not that I won’t help, but it’s the trend of the times. Old Western Chu fundamentally cannot succeed. What if the old Grand Tutor Sun Xiji conspires from within and without? Do you really think everyone in the world is a fool waiting to die? Xu Xiao and Gu Jiantang are not dead, the six feudal kings are not dead, and now there’s Zhang Julu, and that one in the imperial palace. Cao Changqing, Cao Changqing, sages only speak of turning the tide when it’s about to capsize, but the tide has already passed, the overall situation is set. What more can you do? Not to mention you, even a celestial being like Qi Xuanzhen is useless!”

Official Cao straightened up, speechless and with a desolate expression.

Outside the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas, lightning flashed and thunder roared. Soon, the rain poured down.

The white-robed monk looked down at the white pieces Official Cao had played in place of his disciple, resolutely ignoring them. Where was Official Cao’s flawless endgame? For a moment, he felt a twinge of sadness and let out a long sigh, “Oh well, oh well. This jar of wine is good wine. I can only guarantee that this little princess of Western Chu won’t die. As for the rest, I’m powerless to help. If you push your luck, at most I’ll go down the mountain to the imperial palace and get a jar of wine to return to you.”

Official Cao bowed again, then turned gracefully and walked into the heavy rain.

Indeed, “Where the Way lies, I will go, even if I face thousands.”

The Confucian spirit endures.

Even though the white-robed monk was in the Buddhist sect, he felt a touch of sorrow.

The young monk, startled awake by the thunder just as he was about to fall asleep, hurriedly grabbed a oiled paper umbrella and ran over. Seeing a jar of wine in his master’s hand, and recalling the middle-aged scholar who had just walked out of the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas, he asked curiously, “Master, did that scholar gentleman give you this wine?”

The white-robed monk nodded.

Clumsy Nanbei closed his umbrella and grinned, “I was holding one and carrying another, and I just happened to meet that gentleman, so I lent him one.”

The white-robed monk glared, “Why lend it to him? When will he ever return it to you! An umbrella costs quite a few copper coins!”

The young monk looked troubled, “Then what should I do? The Chief Abbot doesn’t give me copper coins for lecturing in the temple. It’ll be terrible if Dongxi and Mistress ask about it tomorrow.”

The white-robed monk said helplessly, “Forget it, just say I bought the wine.”

The young monk gratefully exclaimed, “Master!”

The white-robed monk rolled his eyes, “Master needs to go to the temple’s scripture repository to hide from your Mistress. You go to sleep.”

The young monk said nervously, “Master, should I just tell Mistress the truth?”

The white-robed monk stood up and sharply knocked a chestnut on his clumsy disciple’s forehead. “Idiot!”

The young monk smiled brightly.

The white-robed monk earnestly instructed, “Nanbei, if Mistress is angry tomorrow, the most that will happen to you is less food and more chores. But if your Mistress is in a bad mood, doesn’t she always like to go down the mountain and buy clothes she’ll only wear a few times a year? Those are all Master’s hard-earned money!”

The young monk suddenly understood.

The white-robed monk smiled, “Go on, go to sleep.”

The young monk hummed and said, “Dongxi is afraid of thunder, so I’ll go outside her room and chant scriptures for her.”

The white-robed monk rubbed his bald head, thinking of his disciple.

Standing at the entrance of the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas, watching clumsy Nanbei run through the mud, unmindful of the rain, the white-robed monk murmured, “Clumsy Nanbei, you possess a Zen teaching: to not disappoint the Tathagata, nor to disappoint your beloved.”