Chapter 7: The Virtue of Renunciation

  The doctors at the Second People's Hospital of the provincial capital were extremely busy that night.

  To quote the night shift director's words.

  "I've seen people break bones from fighting before, but never this many!"

  Greenstick fracture, compression fracture, impaction fracture, comminuted fracture, oblique fracture, spiral fracture.

  Fibula fracture, wrist fracture, patella fracture, calcaneal fracture, radial fracture, clavicle fracture.

  A thick stack of examination papers shocked the doctors, good professional quality had not made them stupid, although these varied diagnostic results made the old photographic instrument somewhat unbearable, fortunately, the fracture site of the injured person was not fatal. There is only one person, the bones on the entire right half of his body are basically broken, looking very miserable, even his mother can't recognize him.

  That night, the entire hospital was filled with incessant wailing sounds everywhere.

  Such a terrifying incident naturally shocked the entire provincial city.

  ……………………………………………

  Yi Tianxing didn't care about the sensationalism of the event, although he had heard some rumors from Yuan Ye. Because he was absolutely confident that on the night when something happened at the Provincial City University, none of the injured people in the eastern part of the city dared to reveal their names, and the people inside the school couldn't see each other's faces clearly.

  The university shooting incident in the provincial capital was always a hot topic, while the disappearance of Dongcheng's boss Biaozi and the close contact between Dongcheng's people and the orthopedic doctor finally made the Jianghu in the provincial capital understand the terrifying existence of Gu Jiajun. This case naturally also shocked the police and the school, although there is no evidence to prove that it was done by Yi Tianxing, but the previous surveillance video and the interrogation records of the classmates all confirmed that Yi Tianxing could not be unrelated to this shocking case in the provincial capital at the end of 1994.

  After that night, Yuan Ye, who had been watching with a loyal and honest expression, finally took the young master's orders and began to sweep through the village, including Jin Yang Square and the Plant Garden area. The Gu family started to take over the original business of Dong Cheng - although this was definitely not Yi Tian Xing's order. For a time, the Jianghu people in the provincial city couldn't help but feel a sense of insecurity, and the forces that originally belonged to Dong Cheng also hid, including the new recruit Xiao Zi, Xue Ye.

  Gu's family re-painted the landscape, but Yi Tianxing got into another trouble.

  The police need evidence to handle the case, but the current evidence is not enough to send Yitian Xing to jail... However, this evidence is sufficient to prove that Yitian Xing was involved in a fight, which is already enough to make the school furious.

  Yitian Xing began to go back and forth in various departments of the administrative building of Provincial University, day after day, accepting inquiries and waiting for the final result.

  Winter has arrived, and the overcast days in the provincial capital have gradually increased. Yitian Xing's mood is also slowly sinking in this cycle of repetition.

  In Guyang County, a conversation with the old fox couldn't solve the puzzle in his heart, but he had long been accustomed to living alone and thinking alone, so he didn't rush to ask anyone. On the contrary, the strong personality that he had deliberately concealed behind a smiling face since childhood gradually revealed itself.

  He touched a spot at the back of his head, and smiled faintly. This spot had been planted with a demon hair by his ancestors' master, and was refined by the residual aura of the True Martial Emperor on Mount Wudang, but for some reason, since then, his mood had begun to become more indifferent, and behind this indifference was a hint of ferocity.

  At this moment.

  He sat on the long bench in the administrative building, waiting calmly for the result of the meeting room. The school was holding a re-discussion meeting, and according to the news secretly investigated by the department counselor, those twelve Tibetan students might be given a lighter punishment due to the government's ethnic preferential policy, while the students who joined in the commotion would receive a warning penalty, only Yi Tianxing would likely be expelled.

  Expulsion? Yi Tianxing thought with some reluctance: "It seems that I really can't live a dull life." With a sigh, he couldn't help but feel a bit downhearted. After all, living a normal life and marrying a "not-so-normal" Lelie as his wife was the dream of this demon boy all along.

  The interior of the building was painted white, with a green wall skirt at the bottom. It didn't look particularly pleasing to the eye, and instead had a somewhat gloomy atmosphere reminiscent of a hospital. He sat woodenly on the long bench, staring in the direction of the conference room at the other end of the building. Earlier, someone wearing a Sun Yat-sen suit had gone in, but he didn't know what they were doing.

  Around eleven o'clock, the conference room door opened and the meeting attendees gradually dispersed. The department head first escorted the middle-aged man in a Sun Yat-sen suit out of the door, then turned back to walk in front of Yi Tianxing, smiling all over his face: "I fought for it, but the school disagreed, the school is most afraid of students coming into contact with those social dregs." Paused and said: "Don't mind me using the two words 'dregs'?"

  Yi Tian Xing thought for a moment, smiled and replied: "No offense. Although sometimes I am also part of the dregs, but this cannot change the fact that the dregs are just dregs."

  The department head sighed and said: "Stay in school for a year of observation."

  Yi Tian Xing thought he had misheard and slightly tilted his head: "You mean staying in school?"

  "Yes."

  "Thank you." He stood up and bowed deeply to the department head.

  Department Head smiled and said: "No need to thank me, the person you should thank is outside, go ahead."

  Watching the old man walk slowly away in the quiet corridor with his back bent, Yi Tianxing suddenly felt a strong urge to lament about life.

  Unfortunately, he didn't have time to indulge in sentimental thoughts about life at this moment - his life after coming to the provincial city was indeed complicated, uninteresting and tense, making him lose a lot of interest in lamenting the passing of spring as he used to do in Gaoyang County. If one's own life is a riddle, then let oneself slowly figure it out; however, in this process, he didn't want to miss out on his desired happiness, so to ensure his own happiness, he had to first secure his own life, at least the trajectory of his life. Many "becauses" and "therefores" - actually, it was just that he had to use the time he would have spent lamenting the passing of spring to go see the person who helped him.

  The man wearing a Sun Yat-sen suit.

  In 1949, there were only three types of people who would still wear a Sun Yat-sen suit. One type was those who couldn't afford to buy other clothes, such as migrant workers. Another type was those who looked down on other clothes, like a certain professor at the university where Yi Tianxing studied. This professor vowed to fight for the Three Principles of the People all his life, and after 1949, he found it difficult to openly fight, so he vowed to wear Sun Yat-sen suits for the rest of his life. The third type was government officials, such as the one standing at the entrance of the teaching building looking at Yi Tianxing.

  The official had a slightly bald head and a smile that seemed to be frozen in place, as if it was suitable for all occasions.

  "Hello, Yitianxing fellow student, do you have time to chat with me for a bit?"

  Yitian Xing secretly despised these people's rhetoric in his heart, put on a smile and got into his car, which was a Shanghai-made Santana.

  The driver was not in the car, Yitian Xing looked at this disheveled government official and said: "Thank you for your help."

  "No need to be polite, last time your Uncle Guo asked me to take care of you over the phone. I've been busy with meetings in Beijing recently and didn't expect something big like this to happen, it's a bother for you." The bald official patted him on the shoulder, another standard official gesture, "My surname is Tang, my name is Tang Yitong, just call me Uncle Tang from now on."

  Yitian Xing smiled and scratched his head, knowing who the person in front of him was. It turned out to be the nephew from the Education Department that Old Master Gu had mentioned last time.

  "What position is Tang Shu holding in the hall now?"

  "Deputy director, a life of running errands. When the department needs to go to Beijing for meetings and get scolded by those big shots, that's when people like me come into play." Tang Yitong said with self-deprecation, perfectly timing his gesture of rubbing his nearly bald head to show his hard work.

  The two of them chatted a few more sentences, blandly and without enthusiasm. Yi Tianxing couldn't match the patience of this kind of official, so he smiled and said: "This time's matter has troubled Uncle Tang, I don't know..." He didn't finish his sentence, waiting for the other person to continue.

  The following is coming soon.

  "The provincial university is a national key university, directly under the Ministry of Education. For something like skipping class last time, my intervention was useful, but this matter has had a very bad impact on society. If only I speak out, it's probably useless." Tang Yitong said: "Today, one is to talk to the school leaders and explain the situation, two is to take you to meet someone and have dinner."

  "Who is it?"

  "Pan Bureau of Provincial Capital Police Department."

  The car drove into Baotong Zen Temple with two people on board.

  Baotong Chan Temple is a major temple in the provincial city, although it is not as famous as Guiyuan Temple, it is still a scenic spot with many pagodas. The temple was built during the Liu Song period of the Southern Dynasty, and it is unknown how many years older than Guiyuan Temple which started to be built during the Shunzhi period. The temple is located at the southern foot of East Mountain in the provincial city, facing south, with a large lake on the east side that calms the mind, and connected to a famous Taoist temple on the west side. The whole temple was built against the mountain, hidden among the green pines and bamboo, with an atmosphere of solemnity, simplicity and elegance that cannot be concealed.

  After getting off the car, Yitian took a deep breath of the temple's atmosphere. He didn't know if it was because of his Buddhist studies or because he had lingered in the temple for many days, but as soon as he entered the temple, he felt extremely comfortable. Raising his head, he saw the mountain gate of the Chan temple. The screen walls on both sides of the gate were towering high, with glazed tiles overlapping like fish scales. On the lintel above the gate, there were four large characters: "Baotong Chan Temple". These four characters were round and smooth, showing great skill. Yitian unconsciously praised them, saying: "What a wonderful handwriting."

  At this time, he did not know that these four characters would bring him great opportunities later on.

  Shamyyi welcomed him into the mountain gate, and several people walked along the release site, Tianwang Temple, Daxiong Treasure Hall, Wanfo Temple, and were about to arrive at Fajie Palace when Tang Deputy Director waved his hand and led him into a small courtyard on the side.

  The whole way was very quiet, and Yitian Xing broke the silence with a smile: "Baotong Temple's vegetarian food is famous, but the dining hall should be on the left side of the mountain gate. Tang Shu brought me into the temple to eat, isn't he afraid of disturbing the Buddha?" Tang Yitong smiled: "What's the point of eating at the outside dining hall? The real delicacies are all inside the temple, and not everyone can eat them."

  The small courtyard is quite secluded and serene, with a few plum branches standing proudly in the corner of the wall against the wind.

  There is one person standing beside the plum tree in the courtyard to welcome you.

  "Thanks for your trouble, Director Pan." This was the second time Yi Tianxing had received help from this provincial police chief, and although he didn't know what the other man wanted today, he still needed to express his gratitude.

  After sitting down, a table of vegetarian dishes was served. Director Pan, who was wearing casual clothes today, chatted for a few sentences without mentioning the main topic, only making small talk about the weather and the full moon. Yi Tianxing also understood the habit of these characters' conversation, so he suppressed his temper and waited. After several rounds of serving dishes, Yi Tianxing finally lost his patience and couldn't help but sigh: "I've never understood why the vegetarian dishes in temples are made to look like meat dishes."

  He pointed to a dish of stir-fried pig intestines and said, "I don't know what this dish is made of, but it looks like pork intestines stuffed with fragrant meat. How can the monks eat such a vegetarian dish?"

  Tang Deputy Director and Pan Bureau Chief exchanged a glance, not knowing what this young man was going to say. Tang Yitong smiled and said: "Isn't Buddhism about everything returning to one? It's all just external appearances, why bother with so much."

  Yi Tianxing shook his head and said, "All things return to one, that's the plaything of Taoism. The appearance of skin and flesh is all false, originally it was a vegetarian dish, but it had to be made into a meat dish appearance, this is truly dressing up."

  Director Pan's eyes sparkled with interest: "And what does Yi Tong think?"

  Yi Tianxing shrugged and said, "This is the same principle as what Lao Meng said about a gentleman keeping a distance from the kitchen."

  "What's going on?" Tang and Pan both looked like they were all ears.

  "The monks want to eat meat, but they don't dare to, so they make something that looks like meat to satisfy their cravings." Yitian Xing plucked a piece of celery and put it in his mouth.

  Director Pan pointed at the plum blossom tree at the corner of the courtyard wall and smiled: "Is this what they mean by 'gazing at the plum blossoms with longing'?"

  Yitian Xing smiled and shook his head: "It's very hypocritical."

  Director Pan heard the sarcasm in his tone, first stunned, then burst out laughing: "Indeed quick-witted and sharp-tongued, so I won't hide it anymore."

  "Please go on." Yi Tianxing smiled.

  "Do you know Yi Tongxue and Benku Dashi from Huiyuan Temple?" Director Pan gazed into his eyes.

  Yi Tianxing said: "Director Pan, you're laughing, don't you remember the last time you bailed me out of the detention center?"

  "There's something I'd like to ask Yidai Xiangtong to tell Master Ku, so let me confirm." Director Pan's voice wasn't loud, and Tang Yitong continued eating with his chopsticks, seemingly not listening seriously.

  Yi Tianxing was slightly surprised and slowly said: "Director Pan should be familiar with Master Bin Ku, what's not convenient to say directly?"

  Director Pan sighed: "He is the vice chairman of the CPPCC, and this matter has been discussed for two years, but we have not been able to get his approval."

  Yi Tianxing subconsciously thought that this matter would definitely be tricky, and without thinking, he said: "You can't do it, how can I?"

  Director Pan noticed his evasion and smiled slightly, not mentioning it for the time being. Instead, he asked: "That Ye and Old Man Gu are acquainted is also quite beyond my expectations."

  Yi Tian Xing smiled and said: "Not just you? I myself am still confused right now."

  This sudden remark left both Director Pan and Deputy Director Tang bewildered. Yi Tianxing smiled again, "You two uncles are big shots in the officialdom, no need to mind my nonsense."

  Director Pan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Comrade Yi, or should I call you Young Master Yi?" Although he said so, his eyes were filled with a hint of teasing.

  Yi Tian almost spat out his vegetarian dish and hastily waved his hand: "Absolutely not, being classmates is better."

  "Recently, many things have happened in the provincial city, you're aware of that, right?" Director Pan didn't look at Yi Tianxing and poured himself a cup of plain wine.

  "What's going on?" Yi Tianxing started pretending to be confused.

  Director Pan smiled and shook his head, turning to Tang Yitong and saying: "Tang Hall, you have no idea what kind of energy your nephew has in the provincial city." He said calmly and tastelessly: "You've been in the provincial city for several months, always being quiet and obedient, but I didn't expect that once you took action, it would be so swift and thunderous. Although no one died that night, the impact was extremely severe, and I deeply regret this incident."

  Yi Tianxing thought to himself, "Who would have thought that someone would take the initiative? It's still that Eastern City's Bi Zong who delivered it to my doorstep." Frowning and looking bitter, he said, "Director Pan, I am a law-abiding citizen."

  "I know." Director Pan stared into his eyes: "I'm a government official, maybe some things I don't find it convenient to show my face, need to take some other paths. But some big things on the surface, I stand firm. Everyone in the provincial city knows that corrupt officials may exist, but absolutely cannot be surnamed Pan. If I didn't know you've been restraining Yuan Ye and his gang since you came to the provincial city, I wouldn't have taken the risk to see you today."

  "There is a company called Pengfei Gongmao, which has been quite active recently. But someone who used to be in Dongcheng is now nowhere to be found. Can you, Yi classmate, show me the way?"

  Yi Tianxing thought for a moment, then lifted his head and smiled: "Does Director Pan need that person?"

  Director Pan said: "Just having a person is not enough. If I want him, I can get him at any time." He paused and continued: "I'm talking about before he went missing."

  Yi Tianxing understood his meaning. As the head of the provincial police department, it wasn't difficult to catch a notorious figure in the province. However, since things had blown up, they needed some decent evidence to wrap up the case. Since this person didn't seem interested in dealing with Gu's family for now, the unlucky one would be Chengdong. Recently, Yuan Ye had been using Chengdong's life as leverage, taking over his business on the provincial road, and was likely to gain something from it. After thinking for a moment, he said: "The Pengfei Industrial and Trading deal should be finished soon. Whatever Pan Bureau needs, I think they can get it."

  Director Pan clinked glasses with him: "This gift is not small."

  Yi Tianxing found that the police chief was more sincere than he had imagined, and said: "I'm sorry to trouble you."

  Director Pan said: "Recently, the province has given instructions to crack down on public security in the provincial capital. There will probably be a month of strict crackdowns. I don't want to see anyone causing trouble again."

  Yi Tian Xing Dao: "Thank you."

  Both sides gained something, and the scene at the table became lively again. The deputy director Tang, who was indeed from an educational background, was knowledgeable and learned. He told a few jokes about the Eastern Jin Dynasty that had some ancient charm, which made the simple dishes and light wine have a few more indescribable flavors.

  The table was in a lively atmosphere, and a monk wearing a kasaya came in from outside the temple.

  No one knew what identity that person was, Director Pan and Deputy Director Tang stood up simultaneously, and Yi Tianxing followed suit in a daze.

  Director Pan hastily made a polite gesture: "Isn't the abbot in quiet meditation? I'm just having some vegetarian food with friends, and I wouldn't dare disturb you."

  It turned out to be the abbot of Bao Tong Chan Temple.

  The abbot smiled slightly, but didn't speak to Director Pan. Instead, he bowed to Yi Tianxing: "Mr. Yi came to the temple today, yet refused to see me; how regrettable."

  Director Pan knew that Yi Tianxing had some connection with the Temple of Return to the Origin, but he never expected that the old abbot of Baotong Chan Temple would also be so respectful and courteous to him, which made him feel a little uneasy in his heart. Tang Yitong was a close relative of the Gu family, and it was unthinkable that the Gu family had produced such a young master, who seemed even more refined than Old Master Gu when he was active in the provincial city, and could even get the director of the police bureau to entrust him with tasks and have the abbot of Baotong Chan Temple personally visit him.

  Yi Tian Xing smiled slightly, and just now his heart had turned to sense that the abbot of Bao Tong Chan Temple was also a cultivator in Buddhism, naturally understanding that the other party was showing respect for his identity as the guardian deity of his own sect. He joined his palms together and returned the courtesy: "Greetings, Abbot."

  The abbot also asked: "Can laymen see their nature?"

  "Failed."

  "After the feast is over, I would like to ask you, sir, to stay a little longer. There is one more thing that needs your help to resolve."

  Yitian Xing smiled and nodded.

  After Fang Zhang left, the eyes of Pan Tang and others looking at Yi Tianxing had something more. Director Pan closed his eyes for a moment, pondered for a while, and finally said: "It seems that I have found the right person. The matter of Guiyuan Temple must be troubled by Xiao Yi to help."

  Yi Tianxing was startled by the deliberate familiarity of the two words "Little Yi", and before he could open his mouth to decline, Director Pan continued: "If it were my own matter, I wouldn't want to ask someone like this either. How much more so...". Although the words didn't say it, a hint of helplessness slipped out, "It's just that this matter was entrusted to me by an elder, so please, Brother Yi, fulfill it."

  "Senior?" Tang, the deputy director who was listening on the side, finally couldn't help but suddenly speak up, "Are you referring to that person, Old Pan?"

  "That's right."

  Yi Tianxing slightly narrowed his eyes. He didn't know who this person was, but he knew that things were not simple. He made a please gesture, asking Director Pan to finish speaking.

  "What's the most popular thing in the provincial capital's official circles nowadays?"

  "This is really beyond me." Yi Tianxing scratched his head, thinking that the officialdom was as far away from him as ten million eight thousand miles.

  Tang Yitong seemed to be lost in thought: "The most popular is to respect Buddha and revere Tao."

  "Not bad." Director Pan said in a low voice: "Although these things are not likely to be done openly, everyone knows them in their hearts. The few people above who are not competing with each other? Every year at the beginning of the year, whoever can burn the first incense is very prestigious, and these ghostly affairs, who dares not believe? Just say that two years ago, Lin Mouren burned a stick of incense on Wudang Mountain, and his family's construction company was given 16 million."

  Director Pan sighed, "My elder is getting older and somehow believed in this, insisting on lighting the first incense stick of the year at Huiyuan Temple. But unfortunately, Master Benku is a true enlightened being who doesn't care about such things, no matter what price he's offered, he won't allow it. He's the vice chairman of the CPPCC and also a director of the Buddhist Association, what can we do? If not for this, why would I have come out to help you little brother last time?"

  He stared blankly, only now realizing that these high-ranking officials were willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single pillar of incense. Fortunately, he had encountered so many strange events recently that he was no longer the young scavenger from Gaoyang County, and after a moment's thought, his mind was made up. Upon further consideration, this wasn't a despicable act of murder or arson, but rather an opportunity for him to bring some silver to the Return to the Origin Temple, and as the temple's guardian deity, he could also make some merit... Thinking these jumbled thoughts, he smiled foolishly on the surface and replied, "The monks have no expenses, naturally they wouldn't think of this. I'll go ask."

  Director Pan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a hint of a smile.

  "I dare not deceive you, I'm currently dealing with a troublesome matter myself, and I must settle it before I can give you a definite answer. It's just that I don't know if this timing is suitable, after all, the new year is approaching in just a few days." Yi Tianxing said very seriously.

  Director Pan raised his cup and toasted: "With this sentence, I can also get along well with the old man, thank you first." After some deliberation, he said again: "Easy classmate, I know you don't have much connection with Gu's family, but for your own sake, I want to give you four words now."

  "You said."

  "Obey the law and discipline."

  Yi Tianxing scratched his head, thinking to himself that he really wanted to put the four words into practice, but unfortunately, he wanted to become a Buddha, yet there were demons all around him. When he first entered the provincial capital university, he had thought about washing away the two words "easy" and "lazy", but even Wei Gongzi, who had been through the imperial palace and brothels, couldn't do it, so how could he?

  He gazed at the mountain behind the temple, his face calm and serene.

  If you don't understand the cause of things, then you won't know loyalty. If you don't know loyalty, how will you know forgiveness?

  "Shi Nai'an's comment on Water Margin."