xymnovel Chapter 14 Encountering strange people in the 9-layer pagoda
Chapter 14 Encountering strange people in the 9-layer pagoda
Gao Xingzhou wanted to take the opportunity to give a few more words of advice, but Gao Huaide's eyes darted around and he quickly made an excuse that he had made an appointment with his sister and had to be punctual.
His daughter had previously informed him about the Buddhist ceremony and incense offering. The place was not far from Yacheng, and she would be accompanied by attendants. Gao Xingzhou was not worried about safety and had already agreed to it.
"Well, it's rare for Xuan'er to go out, so don't keep her waiting. You two should go quickly."
Gao Huaide gave him a wink and quickly pulled his younger brother away.
You may listen to the story to the end, but I will politely decline any admonitions. Now, call your sister and let's go out and play.
……
Two riders led the way, followed by a carriage that drove out of the government office, with more than ten attendants surrounding and escorting them to Pagoda Mountain outside the city.
Baota Mountain was called Fenglin Mountain during the Sui Dynasty. A small road winds its way from the foot of the mountain to the city. It was named after the nine-story pagoda that stands on the top of the hill.
Although Gao Huaide was young, he was quite skilled at riding. He loosely held the reins and swayed back and forth with the white horse he rode, looking very relaxed and content.
The other rider was the young girl, who had changed into light clothing and steadily controlled her horse forward.
"Sister Xuan, will you ride with me in the car?"
A young child poked his head out of the car and grumbled unhappily.
"Liang-di, it's so cramped riding in the car. The weather's nice, let Xuan-jie relax a bit."
"Hmph, you're bullying me because I'm young and not old enough to learn how to ride a horse."
The second son, Gao Huailiang, is six years old this year. He shrank back into the car, sulking alone.
A moment later, the girl got into the car and said softly, "Brother Liang, I'll accompany you."
After a pause, she comforted him, "You don't need to worry. Father will definitely give permission next year, and then my brother and I can ride together on our trip."
Gao Huailiang was overjoyed upon hearing this and wanted to pinky swear with the girl: "Sister Xuan, it's a promise, it's a deal."
Gao Huaide rode ahead, and Baotashan was only a dozen miles away from Yacheng. He could arrive in no time by urging his horse on. However, his sister and brother were sitting in the carriage behind him, so he could only patiently ride slowly.
Two attendants urged their horses to follow.
At the beginning of the year, Gao Huaide was appointed to the important post of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, and Gao Xingzhou arranged for two men to serve his son and handle many affairs on his behalf. (Note 1)
A man named Lu Qian was around fifty years old. As his name suggested, he was a gentleman, upright and prudent, and could always arrange all matters inside and outside the home perfectly. Moreover, because he was literate, he also served as Gao Huaide's tutor.
The other man was named Fu An. He was illiterate, a strong man in his early forties, and came from a poor family, yet he had a noble-sounding name.
Fu An was physically strong, but he looked timid and cowardly. He was missing a finger on his left hand, which he admitted he cut off to quit gambling. He was also missing half of his ear, which was said to have been bitten by his wife when she ran away.
He usually runs errands and does odd jobs, never shirking his responsibilities. His nickname isn't very nice; he's known as "Dry Bird Head."
Gao Huaide once asked what it meant, and Fu An was about to explain in detail when Lu Qian interrupted him with a laugh and a scolding: "It's not a good thing, young master, don't listen to him."
"I've worked hard all my life and I'm still single. I'm just a useless piece of dried bird's head."
Gao Huaide was completely baffled by Fu An's self-deprecating remarks.
Seeing the young mistress of the household return to the carriage, Lu Qian coughed lightly: "Does the young master know the origin of this Pagoda Mountain?"
Gao Huaide loved listening to stories, so he urged him to tell one quickly.
Lu Qian leaned closer, lowered his voice, and began to describe it vividly.
"Two hundred years ago, a woman appeared in Yanzhou. She had fair skin, was quite beautiful, and was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She said she had wandered here alone, which was truly pitiful and lamentable."
Lu Qian stroked his two whiskers, shaking his head and saying, "All the young men in this prefecture play with him, and he is intimate with them, offering himself to them without any resistance."
Gao Huaide, who had a rudimentary understanding of literature, asked, "What does 'intimate sharing of pillows' mean?"
"Haha, young master, you might as well think of it as a fun game; you'll see in time."
As Lu Qian recounted the scandalous tale, his expression remained serious. He sighed, "Who knew that such a blissful life wouldn't last more than a few years before this woman died. The people of the prefecture were all deeply saddened and pooled their money to prepare her funeral. Since she had no home to return to, she was buried on the left side of the road."
"Young master, do you think these people from the prefecture are all filled with sorrow?"
Gao Xingzhou's household was full of maids and singers. Although Gao Huaide was young and naive, he guessed that it was nothing more than matters between men and women. He told Lu Qian not to keep him in suspense and to just tell him.
"Until the Dali era more than 150 years ago, a fat foreign monk came from the Western Regions, saw the woman's tomb, sat cross-legged, performed the rituals, burned incense, and circled around it in praise for several days."
The people of the state were astonished and puzzled: "This is a promiscuous woman who sleeps with anyone. Why would a monk respect her?"
The foreign monk replied, "This is beyond your knowledge, sir. This is an incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, who has come to guide ordinary people in the world back to the right path."
In those turbulent times, military generals, having killed many, often worshipped Buddha in an attempt to atone for their sins. Gao Huaide, however, couldn't understand how that woman, who frequented the brothels, could somehow guide people to the righteous path.
"Hehe, young master, you are unaware of this."
Lu Qian imitated the Hu monk's tone and praised, "Looking at his appearance, one cannot help but be captivated. Once you have intercourse with him, your desires immediately fade, because he possesses great magical powers."
"And then, what does it have to do with Pagoda Hill?"
"The foreign monk claimed that if people did not believe him, they could break open the tomb and see for themselves, and their remains would surely be extraordinary. The people opened the tomb and broke open the coffin, and saw that the bones all over his body were hooked together like locks, and were the color of gold. Indeed, he was no ordinary person. So they built this pagoda to enshrine the image of the Bodhisattva with the golden lock bones, and the mountain was renamed Pagoda Mountain."
Lu Qian went on and on, but Gao Huaide seemed unconvinced and questioned, "Last time you said it was less than a hundred years ago, right during the Huichang persecution of Buddhism by Emperor Wuzong of Tang. Who would build a pagoda for a Bodhisattva? Don't try to fool me into thinking I'm young and ignorant."
His words, even when slightly harsh, carried the imposing authority of someone in a superior position.
Lu Qian quickly smiled and explained that he had not made it up, but was relaying the record in "Continued Records of Strange Tales" written by Li Fuyan, the military governor of Lingnan, a hundred years ago.
Gao Huaide thought to himself that this military governor was quite leisurely, having the time to write books and collect such strange tales and theories. He thought that Lingnan was a suitable place for retirement, and he would like to go and see it if he had the chance.
After chatting for a while, we soon arrived at the foot of Pagoda Hill.
The three siblings began climbing the mountain, and along the way, Gao Huaide parroted the stories that Lu Qian had told him.
The girl praised, "Guanyin Bodhisattva sacrificed herself to save evil people; she has great compassion."
The younger brother, however, said, "I have heard Confucius say: 'Food and sex are human nature.' This Bodhisattva has extinguished human desires, but his intentions are wicked."
The girl frowned and scolded, "Don't blaspheme the gods. Besides, the idea that food and sex are human nature was raised by Gaozi during his debate with Mencius. Don't attribute it to the most holy teacher."
Gao Huaide seized the opportunity to kick him while he was down: "Ha, Brother Liang must not have been paying attention in class."
The younger brother immediately retorted, "It's better than you using martial arts as an excuse to skip class and go to the opera."
"Alright, alright, you all act so well-behaved in front of your father, but you show your true colors as soon as you step outside."
They bickered as they climbed the mountain. Pagoda Mountain wasn't very high, and the boy was quick and agile, while the girl moved with graceful steps. They reached the top in less than half an hour.
Upon reaching the nine-story tower at the mountaintop, the girl paid her respects to each floor. Gao Huaide, impatient, strode directly to the top floor, where he found a person snoring loudly and fast asleep.
Just as Fu An was about to wake the man, Gao Huaide told him not to worry about him and instead gazed into the distance.
Looking out, the entire city of Yanzhou unfolded before his eyes, filling him with immense joy. Gao Huaide couldn't help but let out a long howl, followed by a soft sigh behind him.
"You'll have a life of wealth and honor your whole life, why do you have to meddle and disrupt the natural order?"
Gao Huaide suddenly turned around. The man had woken up at some point and sat up cross-legged, still looking sleepy.
Judging from his appearance, he was around sixty years old. He stretched and sighed, "More than three hundred years ago, the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger fought each other. We finally got back on track, but now it looks like another anomaly is about to appear. Can't people sleep peacefully anymore?"
Gao Huaide was confused. What was this about the Azure Dragon and White Tiger? Had he encountered a charlatan?
"It's fate."
The old man stood up and walked over to him.
Fu An stood between the two, and the old man didn't mind. He pointed to Yanzhou City and said, "Originally, it would be more than a hundred years before a wise man who would worry about the world's troubles before enjoying its pleasures came to govern this place."
Then it points to the west: "Wu Qi, a famous general of the Warring States period, led the Wei Wu soldiers to garrison here and won a great victory over the Qin army, hence the name Wu Qi Town. A thousand years later, a group of virtuous people made a long march from afar to this place, and once again used Yanzhou as their base to save the nation and survive."
The old man then pointed northeast. If Gao Xingzhou were here, he would surely be surprised that the old man's idea of building a fortress coincided with his own.
"The military governor's choice of that location to establish a town demonstrates his keen insight." (Note 2)
The old man finally pointed to a mountain range to the south: "Do you know why they were able to achieve such great things? Because the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor is here, the very source of the destiny of the Chinese nation!"
Gao Huaide initially found his explanations of the geography somewhat interesting. However, when the charlatan began talking about things a hundred or a thousand years into the future, he thought to himself that these days, charlatans were exaggerating their claims more and more outrageously.
The old man seemed to know what he was thinking: "You must think I'm a fraud, young man. How about we make a bet? The governor is currently troubled by a question. If you can answer it satisfactorily, I will tell you the answer, how about it?"
Gao Huaide, hearing the old man's boastful tone and being naturally curious, figured it wouldn't hurt to listen, so he let the old man ask as many questions as he wanted.
Listen carefully.
The old man's expression was solemn and dignified as he asked seriously, "Is it acceptable to cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun in exchange for the supreme throne?"