Guidance
A bucket of cold water was poured over him, and his dazed mind finally began to clear. The hazy white surroundings slowly became clear and dissipated, followed by a chilling sensation spreading down his scalp. Gu Sidu heard someone calling his name, pulling him out of that chaotic state.
Where is the Bodhisattva?
Gu Sidu opened her eyes and sat up abruptly, still shaken. A wave of soreness and exhaustion washed over her. She felt suffocated, so incredibly suffocated; she felt uncomfortable and even nauseous.
"You're awake." A cold voice came from afar, like heavenly music, or the guidance of a distant Western deity.
Gu Sidu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a white figure, as white as the bright moonlight. The figure was dressed in white with lotus patterns embroidered on the body and had a gentle face. This face was devoid of joy or sorrow, thought or anger, which calmed the mind and made people forget worldly desires.
Gu Sidu was stunned for a moment, unable to turn around.
"Gu Sidu, are you out of your mind from the heat?" A reproachful remark pulled Gu Sidu back to his senses. Only then did he notice that there was another person in the room, standing next to the Bodhisattva statue. It was the woman who had scolded him for looking at her too much earlier.
They were all dressed in the robes of monks from the temple.
"Come quickly to pay homage to the Guanyin you seek."
Gu Sidu suddenly realized that the Buddhist nun who had spoken to him earlier was the Bodhisattva he had been trying to summon for two hours, and the savior who had pulled him back from his delirium. No wonder they knew his name, and no wonder someone called him.
"Bodhisattva, please save me!" Gu Sidu immediately got out of bed, knelt down and bowed devoutly, refusing to get up for a long time.
"You fainted from the heat and couldn't wake up, so I had someone pour a bucket of cold water on your head. Now you're awake. Do you still have any requests?"
Jiang Yufan watched the farce unfold as Gu Sidu woke up. She thought Gu Sidu was a very strange person, someone who would do unexpected things with a straight face. She wanted to give Gu Sidu a word of advice, to tell him that such enthusiasm was hard to extinguish and would eventually be doused with cold water, and that he should be careful about his choices.
She hoped Gu Sidu could understand that, after all, if she were to be exposed on the way down the mountain, the resulting public condemnation would be something Jiang Yufan would have to bear herself. Although Jiang Yufan felt that the abbot's words made sense, she was still unsettled and still felt that this trip was not advisable.
She couldn't persuade the abbot, but she could persuade Gu Sidu.
With success imminent, Gu Sidu nodded, as if he understood, and said to Jiang Yufan, "I've thought it through, I have another request!"
Jiang Yufan felt a chill run down her spine. She understood that the person in front of her was going to kill her without any mercy. She took a deep breath and looked at Gu Sidu's devout face again. Jiang Yufan felt annoyed, just like the expressions on the faces of the people when she first dressed up as Guanyin.
The long silence froze the room, like gold sinking to the bottom or a stone sinking into the sea.
Gu Sidu was a little afraid that his heart was not sincere enough, so he tentatively called out again, "Bodhi... Bodhisattva?"
What are you begging for?
Gu Sidu was as stubborn as a rock, leaving Jiang Yufan utterly helpless. She stood up and stepped forward. This action startled Gu Sidu, who immediately took a few steps back, fearing he might offend the Bodhisattva and cause further disrespect.
Jiang Yufan lowered her head, looking at the person on the bed who respected her immensely, and the person who was asking for her begging in a humble and subservient manner. Jiang Yufan was so angry that she laughed.
"Look at me like this, am I a Bodhisattva? Do you expect me to be any more than a fool?"
It does seem somewhat unlike... However, Gu Sidu seemed to have made up his mind and raised his head to look at Jiang Yufan: "But a Bodhisattva has a thousand faces and a thousand appearances, and every face is the appearance of a Bodhisattva. How could a mortal dislike a Bodhisattva?"
The fallacy was used perfectly, just right to suffocate Jiang Yufan.
It was a request that was inevitable, and there was no escaping it. Perhaps this was a destined tribulation, a fate that Jiang Yufan had to bear. Perhaps Heaven had opened its eyes and realized that Jiang Yufan, who had been tricked into coming to the temple with a few lies, should not be in the temple. Eight years had been too long. Perhaps it was Heaven, or perhaps there really were gods and Buddhas, who wanted Jiang Yufan to leave this place.
Since that's the case, there's no point in struggling anymore.
Jiang Yufan sighed softly and looked at Gu Sidu.
What do you want to ask for?
Seeing that Jiang Yufan had relented, Gu Sidu told Jiang Yufan all his troubles and worries. He said, "I have been living for two years now, and I should be living a life of great success. But I never thought I would end up like this, with everything going wrong and my path full of obstacles. So I want to invite a Buddha statue to my home so that the gods and Buddhas can protect me and spare me from the suffering of wandering and displacement."
At the age of twenty, Gu Sidu passed the imperial examination with flying colors and became a new Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). This was a blessing that many people would like to ask for but dare not ask for. Among the candidates in that year, there were fifty or sixty-year-olds, and the youngest was still thirty or forty years old. Gu Sidu became the most eye-catching and dazzling one.
But after he entered officialdom, everything changed.
He faced setbacks at every turn and was never given important positions. His aspirations were ignored when he voiced them, and he was assigned only menial tasks in the Hanlin Academy, completely unsuitable for his ambitious dreams. Although he possessed considerable talent, which of his fellow officials hadn't been outstanding talents, achieving top honors in their time? They had spent ten years studying diligently, reaching their current positions in their forties, while Gu Sidu had only used half their time. Why should Gu Sidu be allowed to rise to prominence so quickly?
Those good jobs never fell to Gu Sidu; his unfulfilled ambitions were entirely his own doing.
However, Gu Sidu couldn't let it go, so he specifically chose the most unusual method from among so many options: to invite a Buddha to protect him.
This was the most useless method in sight, but Gu Sidu insisted on it.
"Who told you that if you invite gods and Buddhas into your home, they can protect you from these disasters and help you achieve what you desire?" Jiang Yufan found it all absurd.
"As for myself, think about it. When people have distracting thoughts and can't see them clearly, they go to temples to pray to the gods and Buddhas. It's too troublesome for me to go. I have to run to the temple every time. I might as well bring it home. This way, my intention is more sincere and the Bodhisattva will know more."
That's really a good idea. Jiang Yufan's lips twitched slightly. Was the person in front of her really someone who had passed the high school entrance exam at such a young age and was so talented? Jiang Yufan felt that there was something wrong with him; his brain didn't seem to be working very well.
At this moment, the brilliant but somewhat dim-witted man got off the bed, bowed respectfully to Jiang Yufan, and said in an extremely devout tone: "Please, Bodhisattva, guide me through my confusion."
Jiang Yufan said, "I can't give you pointers; I'll only make you more lost."
"No, you can guide me. You are a Bodhisattva, compassionate and kind. Everyone says you are very effective. Buddhism teaches to save all sentient beings. You have saved others, so why can't you save me? Am I any different from others?"
"I will offer incense at Chenxiang Temple, and I ask the Bodhisattva to give my little rascal some guidance."
Offering incense is a matter of personal choice for worshippers, depending on their desires and the urgency of their wish to be fulfilled—there's no fixed rule. However, offering incense to a deity or Buddha statue is a different story. Moreover, this particular Buddha statue is the signature piece of Chenxiang Temple, something everyone aspires to own, making the incense offerings even more substantial.
Temples always need these incense offerings, and the abbot cannot refuse. Jiang Yufan knew that she would have to rely on herself to make a final contribution to Chenxiang Temple.
She should have agreed; she should have repaid for the eight years of shelter she had received.
But she's a fake saint!
If she went down the mountain with Gu Sidu, wouldn't that make her a swindler and cheater of Gu Sidu? In the past, she only took on that kind of name to maintain the temple's incense money. With the help of others, she could be considered to have achieved her goal. But with only Jiang Yufan herself, Jiang Yufan could not provide any help for what Gu Sidu asked for.
That's a scam.
Those who are trapped in it are unable to see through it and remain stubbornly deluded.
Jiang Yufan sighed. She couldn't bear to go against Gu Sidu's burning gaze any longer. She said, "Let's make this clear first. Even if you offer me up, it might not solve your problem. Do you really want to waste this money?"
“How could this be a waste of money? Don’t worry, Bodhisattva, I have the money.”
Jiang Yufan fell silent once again.
Even if I'm a fake bodhisattva?
“Even if you are a…” Gu Sidu murmured, repeating halfway through, when he suddenly looked up at Jiang Yufan.
Finally, Gu Sidu started to listen to some human words. Jiang Yufan looked at Gu Sidu and nodded. She said, "I am a fake bodhisattva."
Gu Sidu quickly laughed and said to Jiang Yufan, "I understand. This is a test from the Bodhisattva to see if I am sincere. Now that things have come to this, Bodhisattva, please stop testing me. My sincerity is like a surging river, and your miraculous deeds have spread throughout the world. There is no need to verify them anymore."
"If the Bodhisattva cannot protect me, then it is because my own intention is not sincere, and I should offer more incense."
There was no hope. Jiang Yufan raised her head and stopped looking at Gu Sidu.
This person is just weird; maybe the heat has messed up their brain too.
Where there's a will, there's a way. After standing in the courtyard for two hours, Gu Sidu finally got his wish and invited the deity back to his home. According to the deity's wishes, the holy chalice cast indicated that this trip needed to be low-key and not ostentatious. This was also Jiang Yufan's idea; being too ostentatious might attract unnecessary trouble, and Jiang Yufan also preferred quiet.
When Jiang Yufan came to Chenxiang Temple, she brought nothing with her, and now when she leaves, she takes nothing with her either. Eight years of her life have been crammed into such a small bundle. Anyone would feel a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a complex emotion encompassing both emotion and reflection). Jiang Yufan never imagined that one day she would actually have to leave Chenxiang Temple.
She had escaped, feeling this wasn't a place for her, but fate's twists of destiny brought her back again and again, unable to escape. Despairing and with nowhere to go, she was persuaded by the abbot to stay, but now it was the abbot who was sending her away.
Daoyun was appointed by the abbot to accompany Jiang Yufan on her journey to cultivate. Before their departure, Daoyun stood at a distance with their bundles and belongings, waiting for Jiang Yufan to say goodbye to the abbot.
The abbot was still as kind and gentle as ever, and he always looked at Jiang Yufan with the same warm and gentle demeanor.
“Abbot, I don’t know when we will meet again after this journey, or perhaps we will never meet again. Thank you for your care over the years.”
“I remember when you first came here, you always thought about leaving. You are destined to leave this place, so just go on the path you are meant to take. Everything is fine here, so there is no need to worry about it.”
Jiang Yufan nodded. She should have left long ago. She bid farewell to the abbot and was about to descend the steps when she turned back. She looked at the abbot: "Do you still give the same answers to the questions I asked you before?"
The abbot remained silent, only smiling and nodding.
Throughout, Buddhism provides the same guidance.
Jiang Yufan didn't ask any more questions. Waiting at the temple gate was the carriage prepared by Gu Sidu. Eight years had passed in the blink of an eye. At this moment, Jiang Yufan seemed to be a young lady who had come to Chenxiang Temple to offer incense. After talking about Buddhism with the abbot, she returned to the mortal world without experiencing the ups and downs or the bitterness of betrayal.
It all feels like a dream.
Life is like a dream.
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