Distorted World

Dharma

In the ancient temple of Lin'an, the moon hung full in the sky.

The Lin'an Temple was like a recluse in Liuzhou City, concealed by verdant bamboo and winding paths leading to seclusion. Far from the mundane world, with evening drums and morning bells, a few strands of orange-red light chased the sunset until they vanished together.

"Master, the sun has set. Will the person you've invited come? He is..." The young monk's voice betrayed his youth, hesitating mid-sentence.

"Amitabha. This body is finite, but the Dharma is boundless. It illuminates all directions, guiding lost souls away from suffering towards enlightenment and early attainment of Buddhahood." The old monk's eyebrows were as white as snow-laden pine branches, furrowing the lines on his forehead. He recited the "Malan Sutra" over and over again, unchanged for decades, and the scriptures he had copied filled nearly half a room.

"I have invited him in the name of Lin'an Temple; he will surely come," said the old monk, whose dharma name was Nianchu. Since the establishment of Lin'an Temple, he had been copying scriptures and recording ancient books year after year without ever stepping out of the temple.

"Xiao Ke, tell me, 'My heart is like the moon, traveling through perilous times, illuminating all with its radiance'—which scripture does this sentence belong to?"

"Master, it's from...it's from the 'Zhao Hua Jing', uh oh!" A bamboo slip struck Xiao Ke's head at Nianchu's hand.

"No, it's from the 'Moonlight Sutra'. How can you not memorize thousands of characters of scripture? This was personally written by Master Jing An, one of the Five Buddhas. Where else would you find such good teachings? Go kneel and copy scriptures, no dinner for you tonight!" Rising, Monk Nianchu’s red robe glowed under the lamplight as he left with a sweep of his sleeve.

Upon hearing this, the young monk bowed respectfully to his master, then walked away with a sorrowful expression.

Opening the envelope, inside were several thin papers and a white jade pendant carved into the shape of a lotus flower.

Bai Changming picked up the white jade, rubbed it between his fingers, and held it up to the light of a glass lamp.

"So, it's Han Shan jade." He couldn't help but sneer.

Among the varieties of white jade carvings, Hetian jade and mutton fat jade were the most precious, known for their lustrous and fine texture, making them extremely valuable. Han Shan jade, however, was considered medium to low grade, more commonly found on the market. Because it resembled the aforementioned types at first glance, it was often used to deceive.

Having navigated the officialdom for over two years, Bai Changming had seen all kinds of jewels and treasures. He once gave away an entire piece of Hetian white jade seal without blinking, so how could he fail to recognize a mere piece of white jade?

Taking out the papers, Bai Changming read them with narrowed eyes. Besides a passage from the "Moonlight Sutra" teaching methods of self-redemption, there was nothing else. Sniffing the corner of the paper stamped with the Lin'an Temple seal, he detected the scent of incense and sandalwood.

After pondering over Lin'an Temple's possible intentions and corresponding countermeasures, seeing that there were no other engagements on the agreed day, he brought the letter close to the candle flame, watching the fire consume the paper bit by bit.

"Redemption" was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, especially something as amateurish as this.

What Bai Changming did not notice, however, was a strand of animal hair deliberately dyed to match the color of the paper, hidden by complex spells to conceal its presence.

"Amitabha, so it was burned. Have I wrongly accused him?" Monk Nianchu clasped his hands together, beads rolling in his fingers.

"Xiao Ke, come help me light the incense."

"Master, didn't you just tell me to copy scriptures this afternoon...?" Before he could finish, he heard another stern command, "Come here," sighed inwardly, and hurriedly responded, rushing to stand before Nianchu to offer the incense.

With half-closed eyes, Nianchu observed Xiao Ke's hesitant movements: "Ask."

"Master, why do you suddenly burn the Lengyan incense, which has been sealed in the cabinet for over twenty years?" Considering that Lengyan incense was traditionally used to exorcise demons and spirits, his eyes widened, "Master, is there a demon in Lin'an Temple?!"

Nianchu took out a bronze mirror from his robe and handed it to him. In the mirror, fierce winds howled, lightning flashed, and merely holding it made one hear whispers of a woman's voice alternating between soft murmurs and shrill laughter. Various forms appeared before Xiao Ke: a beautiful woman with a serpent's body, a spider with a thousand arms, a cocoon covered in white threads... Just as he let out a scream of terror, Nianchu snatched back the mirror and muttered an Amitabha.

Shaking his head, "The Demon-Exposing Mirror has been activated; the demon is not in Lin'an Temple but within Liuzhou City. Xiao Ke, do you know that the more powerful the demon, the less it looks like one?"

"Master, are you suspecting someone in the court?"

"Amitabha, heaven and earth have their rules. Humans are humans, and demons are demons. I have witnessed many storms in my life, and if anyone defies the heavenly way, I will not tolerate it."

At that moment, Bai Changming sneezed in his room, feeling a chill, and looked up to see that rain had begun to fall heavily outside, with distant flashes of lightning.

"How did Master know he was a demon?" Xiao Ke asked.

Nianchu remained silent, standing upright with closed eyes, chanting silently. Suddenly, the scriptures printed on his robe emitted a blinding golden light, each character floating in the air and enlarging to enclose the entire room completely. After flickering twice, the characters disappeared.