Chapter 23: The Old Turtle Lectures on the Classics

  Xuanyangzi was short and stout, the large purple Taoist robe he wore was very loose, after sitting down, he looked like a ball. However, the crowd did not underestimate him because of Xuanyangzi's comical appearance, as an alien cultivator who could take charge of a sect, he must have had his own strengths.

  After Xuan Yangzi sat down, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "The Taoist school has three main scriptures that are commonly practiced by the disciples of the Three Purities. The first is the Yi Jing (Book of Changes), which can help one understand the great way of heaven and earth when practiced. The second is the Yin Fu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman), which can help one cultivate energy and nourish life when practiced. The third is the Can Tong Qi (Triplex Unity Scripture), which can help one use the yin-yang principle to control all things when practiced. However, the Three Purities refer to Yu Qing (Jade Purity), Shang Qing (Upper Purity), and Tai Qing (Great Purity). Each of these has its own scripture: the Yu Qing Jing, the Shang Qing Jing, and the Tai Qing Jing. As we are disciples of the Upper Purity, we should first practice and understand the scripture of the Upper Purity to clarify our affiliation with the Three Purities and seek self-cultivation and moral character. The Scripture of the Upper Purity says: 'The Dao is born from nothingness, and its subtle energy comes from the mysterious and unfathomable; the spirit condenses in emptiness, and its wonders transform infinitely without bounds; at the end of the day, there is a bright light that shines with clarity and tranquility...'"

  These scriptures were naturally familiar to Xuanyangzi, who slowly recited them from the platform. The crowd below listened attentively, and Mo asked was no exception. Reciting scriptures is a necessary practice for Daoist practitioners, and they must learn to understand them.

  But just a moment later, Mo asked began to frown. Xuan Yangzi spoke extremely slowly, and one sentence of scripture often had to be recited for a very long time. It was necessary to remember the scriptures he taught word by word, and only after connecting them into sentences could they be understood. Moreover, when Xuan Yangzi lectured on the scriptures, although his speech was very slow, he didn't pause at all, nor did he give people time to understand. It seemed like he was speaking slowly, but in fact, he was advancing quickly. The previous scripture hadn't been fully understood before he started talking about the next one. At first, Mo asked could still remember and think quickly, but later on, his reaction slowed down, and he lost track of the scriptures. The scriptures were interconnected, and once lost, it was impossible to find the thread again.

  Mo asked quietly, raised his head and found that Xuan Yangzi was lecturing with his eyes closed. After discovering this, he turned his head left and right, and found that the crowd was following him in the same action, including Ah Jiu and Qian Sui on the west side, who were also full of sorrow, it's clear they all became blind listeners to thunder.

  Even so, everyone can only sit and listen, no one dares to interrupt, because interrupting someone's lecture is extremely impolite.

  If everyone could understand the scriptures of Xuanyangzi, then this would be a learning process. However, people's understanding is scattered and they are confused, so what is called "listening to the scriptures" becomes a thorough torment.

  Don't ask, I didn't give up easily, forcing myself to start listening seriously from the middle, but after a few sentences, I couldn't keep up again. Since it was from the middle, I couldn't connect the front and back, my brain was full of disconnected words and phrases, so I had no choice but to give up.

  After a while, Mo asked himself if he couldn't slack off like this again, and forced himself to listen once more. However, after listening for a few sentences, he lost track again. Looking around, he found that everyone else had already given up, all with worried and unhappy faces. Meanwhile, the Master on stage hadn't noticed this at all, and continued to slowly recite scriptures - though it wasn't quite right to call it "reciting scriptures", since he didn't provide any explanations, just recited from memory, without caring whether anyone understood or not.

  This is the first lesson for beginners, even if you don't understand, others won't dare to make a move, not understanding is not wrong, but being unable to sit still is unacceptable.

  It wasn't until an hour later that Xuan Yangzi finished lecturing on the Supreme Clarity Scripture, and just as everyone thought they were finally free to go, a single sentence from Xuan Yangzi made them frown in dismay. What he said was: "Let's start all over again."

  It's always good to start from the beginning, at least you can understand a few more sentences. Don't ask, just be patient and listen carefully, but before long, I lost track again.

  After the second pass, it was already noon, and Xuan Yangzi opened his eyes to look around at everyone, "Have you all understood?"

  Everyone heard this and lowered their heads, Xuan Yangzi slowly stood up and walked out of the hall, "We'll talk again later."

  Everyone stood up and bowed their heads, watching as Xuan Yangzi departed.

  "Don't ask, did you understand?" Baili Kuangfeng pounded his numb legs and asked Mo Wu.

  "But just ten sentences." Mo Wen smiled wryly and shook his head.

  "I'm not as good as you, I understood seven sentences." Ye Xiao Yao sighed.

  "I only remembered five sentences and still don't understand what they mean." Liu Shaokui chimed in.

  "You and I are equally matched." Liu Song patted Liu Shaoqian's shoulder.

  "It seems that I'm the worst, I only know that the first three sentences are saying that the Tao is nothing and cannot be speculated." Baili Xiao Feng shook his head.

  After Bai Li Kuang Feng finished speaking, everyone's gaze turned to the calm and peaceful Qian Sui. As someone of the same kind as Xuan Yang Zi, he could naturally understand more.

  A thousand years later, seeing many people looking at him, he hastily waved his hand and shook his head, "Don't look at me."

  "How many sentences did you understand?" asked Baili Kui Feng.

  "The Way of the Husband is born from nothing..." Qian Sui slowly opened his mouth.

  Everyone was shocked upon hearing this, thinking that it could recite scriptures. However, after Qian Shou finished speaking, there was no continuation, and it turned out that it had only memorized half a sentence.

  Ah Jiu was a woman and not familiar with the crowd, so no one asked her anything. Later, everyone left the East Hall to go to the dining hall. This time, it was Old Five and that little Taoist boy who came to deliver food. The meal wasn't bad, but thinking about having to listen to the scriptures in the afternoon made her lose her appetite. She turned around and walked away.

  "Old master, that black-faced one still doesn't let you eat?" Lao Wu, who was serving food to everyone, followed up with a ladle in hand.

  "It's hard to put into words." Mo asked, shaking his head and waving his hand, then turned around and left the cafeteria.

  "Mo Gongzi, are you also annoyed by what you heard?" Ah Jiu carried a bowl of rice and followed out from the dining hall.

  Mo Wen nodded silently, and Ah Jiu responded with a single word, indicating that listening to her was also an unpleasant task.

  "Can we ask Master Xuanyangzi to speak a bit faster, with a slight pause after each sentence?" Ah Jiu said.

  "Our six masters who taught us were appointed by the ancestors, and Master Xuan Yang was ordered to teach us the scriptures. There must be a reason for this, so let's not ask too many questions." Mo asked, shaking his head.

  Ajiu nodded slightly upon hearing this, and didn't ask about her emotions. Feeling annoyed and unwilling to speak, she raised her hand in farewell to Ajiu and turned to head towards her own room.

  In the afternoon, when Mo Xun went to listen to the scriptures again, he secretly handed back the handkerchief with dates that Ah Jiu had previously wrapped to her. Ye Xiao Yao turned around and discovered their actions in the night, but he didn't speak out of turn. Instead, when Mo Xun caught up with them, he winked at him with a sly smile. Mo Xun was so embarrassed that he couldn't help but laugh. Everyone already thought that he and Ah Jiu were extremely close, and this incident made it even harder to explain.

  Everyone entered the hall and sat down, after half a stick of incense, Master Xuanyang arrived on time and took his seat to lecture on the scriptures.

  In the afternoon, he still lectured on the Shangqing Scripture, at the same pace as before. The crowd still couldn't understand it, and not understanding made them feel depressed. As the old saying goes, "When people encounter happy events, their spirits are refreshed." But when they're bored, they get sleepy. Since everyone had eaten a full lunch earlier, and the temple was warm in the afternoon, combined with Xuan Yangzi's steady and unhurried tone of lecturing on the scripture, it wasn't long before the crowd started to feel drowsy. Ye Xiao Yao was the first to nod off, which suited his name, as he was usually spirited at night, often having lights on in his room until the third watch. However, during the day, he was listless. Soon after, Bai Li Kuang Feng also joined the ranks of those nodding off. In less than an hour, including Mo Wen, all five people were stuck in a cycle of dozing off, waking up with a start, and then falling asleep again.

  Although everyone was drowsy, they didn't dare to fall asleep. This was a very serious Buddhist sermon, and if you couldn't understand it, that's okay, but if you fell asleep, you would definitely be punished.

  Mo didn't ask how many degrees he nodded, and suddenly thought of a way to relieve boredom. He silently counted the number of words in the Qing Jing scripture to stimulate himself, but this method was not effective. Two, three, five, two, three, six, two, three, seven... The more he counted, the sleepier he became. Later, Mo didn't ask and an extremely strange idea emerged in his mind: if Xuan Yangzi weren't a Taoist priest, he could completely practice medicine. Any family with someone who couldn't sleep at night or a crying child could invite him to recite scriptures, and it would definitely have an amazing effect.

  Just as Mo Xun was lost in thought, Liu Song poked him from the left. Mo Xun turned his head and found Liu Song pointing at Qian Sui who was sitting on the west side with a mischievous grin.

  Don't ask if there's anything wrong with Qian Shuai, and then look at Liu Song. Liu Song silently says two words with her mouth shape, "Sleep."

  Don't ask, but Senketsu was sitting upright with his eyes wide open, holding the yin and yang symbols in his hands, listening to the sutra with a serious expression, not showing any signs of drowsiness. However, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that something was off - Senketsu hadn't blinked once, there was drool hanging from the corner of his mouth, and he was slowly snoring, although the sound was very soft and synchronized with Genyō's speaking pace, making it difficult to notice.

  The thousand-year-old turtle's big eyes and silly expression made everyone laugh, its slow breathing sound and chanting voice were extremely harmonious, this was undoubtedly the rhythm of the turtle's breath, Xuan Yangzi's lecture on scriptures could actually put his own kind to sleep, such an achievement can be said to be shocking and astonishing.

  Don't ask, it's interesting. He suppressed his smile and reached out to poke the Night Wanderer on the right side. The Night Wanderer was nodding off at this time, but when he saw Qian Sui, he suddenly woke up with a silly expression. Laughing, he went to poke Bai Li Kuang Feng. In the end, all five of them couldn't help but secretly laugh, and under their laughter, they couldn't help but make a laughing sound. Xuan Yang Zi on stage pretended not to hear, still closing his eyes to lecture, without scolding or reprimanding.

  Ajiu sat at the westernmost side, seeing everyone laughing at Qiansui, and thought of stretching out her hand to wake him up. Liu Shaoying and Liu Song saw this and hastily waved their hands, signaling Ajiu not to make any sudden movements.

  In the afternoon, they chanted the Scripture of Clarity and Purity again. The crowd listened drowsily, as if in a dream. As night fell, the darkness deepened. Xuan Yang Zi left with one sentence: "To be continued tomorrow." He stood up and left his seat. The crowd rose to bid him farewell. Qian Sui remained seated, unmoving. Everyone had thought that Xuan Yang Zi would surely wake Qian Sui and scold him, but instead he walked out of the hall slowly, ignoring him completely.

  After Xuan Yangzi left, the crowd discussed and shouted together to scare Qian Sui. Ah Jiu couldn't bear it and pushed him awake. After waking up, Qian Sui first took a long breath of coarse air, then inhaled a cool breath, "Why is the sky so dark?"

  Everyone burst into laughter and gathered around him to tease him, after a round of laughter and noise, the crowd finally left the main hall and headed to the dining hall.

  At night, the person who sent the rice was not Old Five. Mo asked Dao Tong, and Dao Tong replied that Old Five had gone out to buy grain with the master of the rice hall.

  A night without words, the next morning was listening to scriptures again, still the Supreme Clarity Scripture, still so slow. Don't ask if I listened attentively, unfortunately, after a dozen or so sentences, I couldn't keep up again. Once unable to comprehend in time, the rest of the time could only be spent sitting blankly on the meditation cushion, listening to the sound of thunder.

  At noon, Lao Wu arrived and bought a large number of biscuits and pastries for Mo Xiang.

  "What did you buy all this stuff for?" Mo Wen looked at the food in the package.

  "Hei Lian won't let you eat anything, we'll eat our own, he can't control us." Lao Wu handed over the pastry to Mo Wen.

  "He just said it casually and didn't actually stop me from eating." Mo Wen said.

  "Really?" Old Five stared in confirmation.

  "Really." Mo Wen's expression turned serious as he nodded.

  Lao Wu heard this and put down his chopsticks, got up and ran out. Mo Wen saw the situation and hurriedly followed him out, "Where are you going?"

  "I thought he was bullying you, so I added something to his porridge at noon today..."

  The server room lost power today. The network was down for a whole day, and I had to trek through the snow to a friend's house to send this. If the power comes back on before 12 o'clock, I'll be able to post an update.