Chapter 152: Paradox

In the wind and snow, a young Taoist wearing a deep blue robe stood under the plaque, one hand stroking the little novice’s bald head, the other holding a book scroll, as if completely oblivious to his surroundings. The young Taoist’s hair was held up with only a crude branch, and despite it being the cold December winter, the blue robe was just a single layer, frighteningly thin.

The young Taoist, who called himself Zhang Li, smiled at the little novice, curled his fingers into knuckles, and tapped the novice’s forehead with a drumming sound. “Still blocking here? Is it that you didn’t understand my words, or that the name Zhang Li doesn’t carry weight in the jianghu anymore?”

The little novice stammered, “Oh, it’s Senior Donor Zhang Li. Please, come in quickly.”

Zhang Li patted his shoulder with the book scroll. “Lead my green ox inside, remember to find it a clean ox shed, and feed it three jin of vegetarian buns. They must have mushroom and green vegetable filling.”

The little novice was startled. “Huh? Feed it buns?”

Zhang Li squinted at him. “Got a problem?”

The little novice hastily shook his head. “No, no, I’ll go tell the kitchen right away. It’s just… at this time, green vegetables might be hard to find.”

Zhang Li waved his hand dismissively. “Then pickled cabbage filling.”

The little novice hurriedly agreed. “We have those. This monk ate pickled cabbage buns last night.”

“Who asked you?”

Zhang Li didn’t look at Chen Ji and the others, but self-importantly walked into the manor with gray walls and gray tiles. He patted the fallen snow off his body, and the little novice followed him humbly with small steps.

As soon as he entered, he saw a stone screen facing him, carved with eighteen Arhats looking majestic and angry. Zhang Li sighed as he passed the stone wall. “In the past, when Dao Court won this manor from Zen Sect, they refused to re-carve this stone wall no matter what. They insisted on letting every visitor see this place and know that this manor was won from Zen Sect.”

He casually asked, “I heard the bell just now from afar. Who won this round?”

The little novice hesitated for a moment. “It was the people behind you who won.”

Zhang Li’s steps paused. “Won against whom?”

The little novice said bitterly, “Won against our second senior brother Wu Zheng. Second senior brother debated on good and evil. He used the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’ as the topic.” Speaking of this, the little novice was somewhat unconvinced. “However, we still have several senior brothers left. Dao Court only has one left, so there’s still no chance of winning.”

Zhang Li didn’t pay attention to him but walked back to the door and eyed Chen Ji sideways. “You won?”

Chen Ji didn’t answer.

Zhang Li asked again, “You’ve thoroughly read Buddhist scriptures?”

Chen Ji still didn’t answer.

Zhang Li turned back to look at Bai Li on the horse. “She caught a wind chill, right?”

Chen Ji grunted in assent.

Zhang Li took out a gourd-shaped white porcelain bottle from his sleeve and poured out a black pill. “This is the Purple Void Origin Pill personally refined by my junior sister. It nourishes the origin. Although it’s not the specific medicine, it’s enough to save a life.” Saying this, he laughed happily. “You just won against the monk, so I’ll give you this pill.”

Chen Ji’s eyes brightened, and he immediately thanked him and took it, turning to feed it to Bai Li.

Zhang Li unhurriedly poured out another Purple Void Origin Pill from the white porcelain bottle and called out to stop Chen Ji. “I see this girl’s wind chill has entered her bones. One pill is definitely not enough. She needs to swallow two to recover.”

Chen Ji turned back and asked, “What are the conditions?”

Zhang Li laughed. “Smart person. To get this second pill, you have to follow me to debate scriptures. You only need to answer one question, or pose a question to stump one monk.”

Chen Ji asked, “What if I can’t do it?”

Zhang Li laughed. “This pill is not easily obtained. My little junior sister guarded the furnace fire for seven times seven, forty-nine days before opening the furnace to form the pill. If not for her feeling sorry for me, her senior brother enduring wind and meals outside, she absolutely would not take out this pill.”

“So?”

“So this item is precious. If you cannot do as I said, I cannot give you the pill.”

The little novice in gray clothes widened his eyes. “How can Dao Court pull outsiders to assist?”

Zhang Li was displeased and tapped his shiny forehead with a drumming sound. “In the past, when the Buddhist sect pulled Confucian officials to assist in battle, did my Dao Court say anything?”

The little novice hurriedly said, “But they don’t have invitations, and no proof of identity tokens either.”

Zhang Li sneered, “Probably your senior brother is just finding excuses because he doesn’t want to get involved in karma. No matter, I will bear this karma. Let them pass.”

The little novice pouted. “Based on what do you command me? This Lu Hun Mountain Manor already belongs to my Yuan Jue Temple. Your words don’t count.”

Zhang Li stroked his bald head and sighed. “Your senior brother doesn’t dare say such nonsense to me. Quickly shut up, otherwise, Dao Ye will slap you.”

The little novice shrunk his neck.

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Li. “Let me try the medicine first.”

Zhang Li smiled. “Please do.”

Chen Ji braved the wind and snow and walked outside the door, gently handing the pill to Bai Li’s mouth. “Quickly eat it, see if it works.”

Bai Li bit the pill and swallowed it with difficulty, but she instantly turned rosy, and her eyes were no longer weak and listless. Bai Li propped herself up and slid off the horse, but she was still somewhat shaky when walking. This pill was miraculous, as if it seized the creation of heaven and earth.

The Prince’s eyes brightened. “Is this the medicine official method of Huangshan Dao Court?”

Zhang Li answered with a smile. “Precisely.”

Chen Ji stood in the snow and pondered for a moment, then turned and handed the horse reins to another little novice at the door. He said to Zhang Li, “I do have a question I can try. As for whether I can stump those monks, I don’t know.”

Zhang Li laughed carefreely. “Give it a try.”

Chen Ji and the others followed Zhang Li into Lu Hun Mountain Manor, walking between the high gray walls, as if shuttling through dark valleys. Looking up, the gradually brightening sky was only a slit.

Zhang Li saw Chen Ji looking up and followed his gaze. “I also don’t know what that group of monks wanted to hide here in the past. They actually built this Lu Hun Mountain Manor like a canyon. My Huangshan also has a scenery called ‘One-Line Sky’, just below Manjushri Cave. You can see it when you cross the Immortal Bridge. People walking in it, looking up at the long sky, the blue sky remains only a line. If it’s not noon, you can’t see the sun or moon.”

He turned back and looked at Chen Ji, smiling. “The place where my Huangshan Dao Court is located is the world’s foremost Qi Peak, said to be the place where immortals refined sword pills and ascended!”

Chen Ji was startled. “Sword pills? Is it the sword seed of Jing Dynasty Martial Temple?”

Zhang Li shook his head. “That, I don’t know.”

Chen Ji pressed on. “What was that immortal called?”

Zhang Li also shook his head. “I don’t know either, I only know that under Fu Gu Peak there is a ten-thousand-year cave mansion, and in the cave mansion, the two characters Xuanyuan are engraved. That immortal was probably called Xuanyuan, ha ha ha, I guessed.”

Chen Ji’s heart thundered. Xuanyuan! He finally heard the name Xuanyuan from someone else’s mouth. The green mountain dream in this world finally had a foundation. He concealed his excitement and calmly asked, “Does Huangshan Dao Court have any records of this Xuanyuan’s history?”

Zhang Li shook his head. “No, he is not a person of my Dao Court. When my Dao Court established the Taoist temple on Huangshan, his cave mansion was already there. My Huangshan has numerous Qi Jing. If you can win against the monks this time, you are welcome to come to Huangshan as a guest.”

Chen Ji’s face was strange. “What if I don’t win?”

Zhang Li laughed happily. “Then don’t come.”

Chen Ji: ……

He didn’t know how long they walked, but it gradually became noisy ahead. Stepping out of the ‘canyon,’ they saw a vast dojo filled with literati and scholars, whispering to each other. Around this oval dojo were more than ten levels of steps, with the literati and scholars sitting in order on the stone steps, letting the heavy snow fall on them.

In the dojo’s Eight Trigrams pattern covered by snow, only the eyes of the Yin-Yang fish each had a cushion. On one cushion, a young monk wearing a gray robe sat cross-legged. On the other side, the cushion for Dao Court remained empty.

Zhang Li led Chen Ji and the others to a group of Taoists in the middle and asked curiously, “Why is no one fighting?”

A little Taoist turned his head and saw Zhang Li, immediately overjoyed. “Senior Brother Zhang Li is here. Quickly make way, Senior Brother Zhang Li quickly go teach that arrogant bald one a lesson.”

“Senior Brother Zhang Li, why are you a day and a night late?”

Zhang Li raised his hand to silence the voices of the young Taoists. “Wait, wait. How many people has my Dao Court lost now?”

A little Taoist hesitated. “Already lost eight people, still one more to go.”

Zhang Li asked again, “How many opponents are left?”

The little Taoist hesitated again. “Opponent still four people.”

Zhang Li raised his eyebrows. “You group of little Taoists from Laojun Mountain don’t have good intentions. You want me to be the last one? If I lose, won’t I be the only one carrying the blame?”

“How could Senior Brother Zhang Li possibly lose?”

“Senior Brother Zhang Li, you will definitely win!”

Zhang Li said in a bad mood, “Stop flattering me. How can I win against four? My Huangshan Dao Court won’t carry this blame.”

The little Taoists were anxious. “If you don’t go, our Dao Court will definitely lose. Then all of us, more than ten people, will have to go to Yuan Jue Temple and shave our heads to become monks. Huangshan and Laojun Mountain are of the same branch, why should we divide ourselves?”

Zhang Li laughed in anger. “Wait, earlier my little junior sister asked you all to borrow pill formulas, why didn’t you say you were of the same branch then?”

“Ah, this…”

However, Zhang Li didn’t press the matter further with them. In Buddhist and Dao debates, Dao Court's honor was collective, and their loss was collective. He rolled his eyes and looked at Chen Ji, laughing. “You go. Win, and I’ll give you the pill.”

Chen Ji answered straightforwardly. “Okay!”

The little Taoists were surprised. “Senior Brother, who is this person?”

Zhang Li waved his hand. “I don’t know either.”

“Ah?” The little Taoists were shocked. “Such an important matter, how can we let an unfamiliar person go up? What if he loses?”

Zhang Li patted the back of his head, interrupting him. “He’s the person who just debated and won against the monk at the door. You all are usually arrogant and unwilling to read Confucian and Buddhist scriptures. How can you win without knowing yourselves and your enemies? Those monks have thoroughly read our Daoist scriptures and came prepared. If we don’t find someone who has thoroughly read Buddhist scriptures, we can’t win.”

When the little Taoists heard that Chen Ji was the person who won against the monk, they immediately looked at each other. A little Taoist asked, “Then Senior Brother, have you read Buddhist scriptures? Why don’t you go up!”

Zhang Li said as a matter of course, “I’m a Taoist, why should I read that stuff?”

Little Taoist: ……

Zhang Li lowered his body and whispered to the little Taoists under the stone steps, “Letting an outsider go up, even if we lose this last match, it’s the outsider who loses, and Dao Court can still save some face. If Dao Court itself loses, then there’s no face left at all.”

The crowd of little Taoists then understood. Zhang Li knew that Dao Court would definitely lose without a doubt, so he found an outsider to be a shield. They lowered their heads in shame. “But what if he loses?”

Zhang Li said leisurely, “As for the matter of shaving heads and becoming monks, if you really lose, you all just go be monks for one month. Then just say you want to return to secular life, that’s it.”

The little Taoists were stunned. “Ah? Return to secular life?”

Zhang Li said righteously, “What’s wrong? Does the Buddhist sect not allow returning to secular life?”

The little Taoists looked at each other and finally gritted their teeth. “Then let him go up.”

Zhang Li looked at Chen Ji. “You go ask the questions. Ask fiercely.”

At this time, Zhang Xia on the side whispered, “Only one person can go up in this debate, I can’t help from the side. I am a woman, I can’t go up to debate.”

Chen Ji silently pondered.

The Prince suddenly said, “Or I’ll go. It’s not glorious for them to win against me either.”

Chen Ji, Zhang Xia, and Bai Li looked at the Prince expressionlessly, not knowing what to say for a moment.

After a moment, Chen Ji pulled Wu Yun from his bosom and stuffed it into Bai Li’s bosom. “I’ll give it a try.”

The next moment, he walked onto the cushion and sat down. The monk opposite stood up and asked, “Buddhist and Dao debate, how can an outsider enter the field?”

Zhang Li said lazily, “This is a registered disciple of my Huangshan Dao Court!”

The monk angrily questioned, “When he registered, what name did he register under?”

Zhang Li stiffened. He had just forgotten to ask the young man his name.

Just when the field was at a stalemate, Chen Ji asked loudly, “Dare I ask the High Monk, if a ship is named ‘Universal Ferry Ship’, and over several years it is repaired and patched, eventually replacing every board, every part, then is this ship still the original Universal Ferry Ship?”

The dojo suddenly fell silent. The monks looked at each other, silent as cicadas in winter, with only snowflakes falling from the sky. Zhang Li, who was originally leaning lazily on the stone steps, heard this question and realized the more he thought about it, the more traps there were. He gradually sat up straight and looked towards the young man sitting cross-legged in the wind and snow inside the dojo.

Chen Ji hadn’t thoroughly read Buddhist scriptures, but he had read the world’s top ten paradoxes!