Chapter 197 - 196: Ah Han
The next day, dawn had not yet broken.
The hourglass marking 3:00 AM had just passed its halfway point, triggering an intricate mechanism.
A small iron ball fell with a DING, its crisp chime startling Chen Shouheng awake.
Song Zilian was still sound asleep. Chen Shouheng rose quietly and hurried to the Bell Tower.
The sand in the hourglass for 3:00 AM had not yet run out.
Chen Shouheng first carefully calibrated the hourglasses that marked the other hours, then sat cross-legged to the side, concentrating and regulating his breath.
The sand ran out.
Chen Shouheng stood up, grasped the heavy iron bell striker with both hands, channeled his Inner Qi, and pushed forward.
DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG!
Four heavy, resonant tolls shattered the pre-dawn silence, echoing above the Martial Arts Academy and heralding the start of a new day.
The lingering echo of the bell still vibrated in the air.
A figure strolled leisurely out of the faint morning light.
He appeared to walk at a relaxed pace, neither fast nor slow, but in the blink of an eye, he had crossed several dozen yards and appeared silently beneath the Bell Tower.
It was none other than Duan Mengjing.
Chen Shouheng stepped forward, bowing in salute. "Master Duan."
Duan Mengjing waved his hand, signaling that he needn’t be so formal.
His gaze swept over the enormous bronze bell, his tone calm yet unquestionable. "Get inside."
Chen Shouheng started slightly, a look of confusion on his face. "Master Duan, what is this for...?"
Duan Mengjing didn’t answer directly, only saying calmly, "Sit under the bell. Withdraw your five senses and six perceptions. Focus your entire Heart Spirit on the Divine Sense above your Dantian. Circulate your Inner Qi and protect all the meridians in your body."
"As you command."
Chen Shouheng’s expression changed slightly; he had already guessed Duan Mengjing’s intentions.
He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately grit his teeth, bent down as instructed, and slipped under the massive bronze bell, settling into a cross-legged position.
Duan Mengjing stood silently outside the bell, mentally calculating the time.
5:15 AM.
He casually raised his hand, gripped the massive, horizontally suspended bell striker, and drew his arm back in a motion that seemed slow but was actually swift, before thrusting it forward violently.
DOOONG—!
A tremendous boom, far deeper, more violent, and soul-shattering than the usual tolling of the bell, suddenly erupted from within.
Sitting inside the bell, Chen Shouheng felt his entire world instantly consumed by the endless roar and vibration.
The Inner Qi throughout his body twisted violently, groaning as if under an unbearable load, on the verge of complete collapse.
His qi and blood surged wildly in reverse, and it felt as if his very organs were being displaced by this tyrannical, unrivaled force.
Even more terrifying, the illusory Divine Sense he had painstakingly condensed and seated above his Dantian couldn’t withstand the sonic impact for even a single instant.
Like a glazed Buddhist statue struck by an invisible sledgehammer, it shattered with a crisp BANG, cracking into countless pieces and dissolving into innumerable fine points of light, vanishing without a trace.
His Inner Qi instantly descended into boiling chaos, and the foundation of his Divine Sense crumbled into nothingness.
From this single strike, Chen Shouheng was grievously injured. His face was ashen, a sweet taste rose in his throat, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth as his body swayed, on the verge of collapse.
Duan Mengjing pulled him out from the giant bell and held a longan-sized Elixir Pill to his lips. It emanated a refreshing fragrance and a soft halo of light. "Take it."
Chen Shouheng fought back the excruciating pain that felt like his Divine Soul was splitting apart and the churning turmoil in his body. He swallowed the Elixir as told and managed to say, "Thank you... Master Duan."
The Elixir entered his stomach and immediately dissolved into a cool yet potent medicinal energy, swiftly calming his rampaging Inner Breath and stabilizing his nearly shattered meridians.
However, his shattered Divine Sense had vanished like smoke, and he could no longer sense the slightest trace of it.
His Dantian felt utterly empty. The foundation he had built by cultivating the Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing felt as if it had been ripped out by the roots.
Only after he had regulated his breathing for a while and his aura had stabilized did Duan Mengjing slowly begin to explain.
"If my senses are not mistaken, the Divine Sense Secret Technique you cultivate originates from the Prajna Heart Sutra of the Mahayana school of the Buddhist Sect. While this sutra is indeed profound and extraordinary, it is ultimately not your path. Shattering your Divine Sense today is not a misfortune for you, but the beginning of a rebirth."
He paused, then continued, "Furthermore, if I am not mistaken, the Inner Qi Heart Method you practice is one with the intent of Suppressing Dragon and Tiger Subduing.
"In the secret traditions of Mahayana, the paths of Dragon Suppressing and Tiger Subduing have long been claimed by enlightened ones. For you... this road leads to a dead end, a sheer cliff. It has long since been cut off.
"If you blindly continue to force your Cultivation down this path, you might be fine within the Spirit Realm. However, if you wish to break through the barrier of the Spirit Realm and ascend to a higher Realm, the greater your Cultivation becomes, the greater the danger. You must not attempt it again."
Hearing this, Chen Shouheng was shaken to his core, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
He had never imagined that his Cultivation Technique was entangled in such profound karmic consequences and taboos.
Duan Mengjing added, "If you truly hope to achieve something on the Martial Dao, you must have a clear path forward. The road of Mahayana is closed to you. Only through Theravada can you find a way to survive. Within Theravada, there are no exalted positions for Dragon Suppressing or Tiger Subduing. That path is not broken, and there is a sliver of hope to attain true fruition."
After speaking, Duan Mengjing recited a mantra of several thousand characters for him to memorize.
Chen Shouheng committed it to memory diligently. Only after he could recite it without error did Duan Mengjing say, "This is the Ahan Shouyi Heart Sutra, a Theravada method for cultivating Divine Sense. Study it well and use it to reforge the foundation of your Divine Sense. In your future Cultivation, you must follow this path and look to no other."
"This student will heed your teachings! Thank you, Master Duan, for the grace of passing on this technique and giving me a new start!"
Chen Shouheng bowed deeply in gratitude. When he looked up again, Duan Mengjing had already vanished.
Beneath the Bell Tower, he was left alone.
Chen Shouheng immediately sat down cross-legged, cast aside all distracting thoughts, and following the Ahan Shouyi Heart Sutra Technique he had just memorized, began to try and sense and condense the Power of Divine Sense that had scattered throughout his body.
...
「Jiangkou County.」
This place was a vital hub on the north-south waterways, a gathering point for merchants, with boats and oars moving back and forth like shuttles on a loom.
On the wide river surface, all manner of cargo ships, passenger boats, and Official Ships traveled to and fro without end.
The riverside market streets were lined with a dense array of shops, and the flow of people was like a weaving tapestry.
Compared to places like Mirror Mountain and Lishui, which had been ravaged by rebellion and where the people’s livelihoods had withered, this was a picture of prosperity.
On a rather quiet street corner in the western part of the city.
A few months ago, a small new tea house had opened here.
The sign, with gold characters on a black background, displayed the three words "Oolong Tea House" in large script.
Because it was new, it didn’t have many customers.
It was nearly noon, but the tea house was rather deserted. Only two or three customers were scattered in the corners, slowly sipping their tea.
Behind the counter, the owner, Bai San, was slumped listlessly in a large Grandmaster’s Chair.
He was idly tossing a delicately embroidered sachet up and down, his gaze distant, his mind clearly a million miles away.
’That new girl on Liu Street, Xiaotao Hong... Tsk tsk, that figure, that look in her eyes... so damn seductive...’
Bai San clicked his tongue, his heart itching as if a cat were scratching it. ’Tonight, I’m definitely going to go have some fun!’
Five months ago, Chen Li had given him five thousand taels of silver and told him to come to Jiangkou County and open a shop.
On the surface, he was to run a small business. Secretly, his main responsibility was to help procure medicinal ingredients from the Black Market.
Bai San had agreed in a heartbeat without a second thought.
Getting away from Chen Li—that deep-scheming, increasingly terrifying old fox—and no longer having to live on edge under his watchful eye every day, while also getting to be his own Shopkeeper and live freely? It was the cushiest job in the world.
Of course, the most crucial part was...
Now that he was in this bustling county seat with spare cash in hand, he could finally live without restraint, carousing every night and properly comforting his ’brother’ who had been repressed for so many years.
He had been holding it in for far too long back in a rural place like Lingxi.
It wasn’t that he, Master Bai San, was particularly picky. It was just that...
Sigh. Country women who were even halfway decent-looking were rare to begin with, and he could just about tolerate their rough skin.
But what he couldn’t stand was the air of uncouth, wooden dullness about them. They had absolutely no charm to speak of.
They spoke in loud, rough voices, and even when they tried to act coy, it reeked of the backwoods. They didn’t have a single ounce of the coquettish allure a woman should have.
’What’s the difference between that and hugging a coarse old man?’
He often grumbled to himself.
Bai San held country women in utter disdain.
He much preferred the seasoned veterans of the pleasure quarters—the ones who knew what a man wanted, whose every glance was a hook.
’Now *that’s* what you call feminine charm!’
The only one who had ever caught his eye was Linglong.
But setting aside her ambiguous relationship with Chen Li, and the fact he didn’t know what Master Chen planned to do with her...
Her Spirit Realm Cultivation alone was enough. Even if you gave Bai San eight times the guts, he wouldn’t dare have a single crooked thought about her.
He could only endure it. Being able to look but not touch made his heart itch unbearably. The torment was indescribable.
Having come to Jiangkou with plenty of money, he, Bai San, could finally live the life he had always dreamed of.
When it came to actually opening a shop, however, Bai San was at a complete loss.
After spending half his life picking locks and climbing walls, suddenly being asked to run a legitimate business was a bit much for him.
After mulling it over for a few days, he finally slapped his thigh. ’Right, a tea house it is!’
He’d been a Tea Master at the Drunken Creek Pavilion for two years. He hadn’t learned any other skills, but his ability to pour tea and read people’s expressions had been honed to perfection.
Teaching a few quick-handed waiters to barely keep a tea house afloat and get by shouldn’t be too hard.
Besides, the tea house was just a front. Whether it made a profit didn’t matter, since the Chen Family would reimburse all expenses in the end.
Of course, if it could earn some silver coins, that would be even better.
Then he could justifiably pocket a little spending money for himself.
He figured that master of his wouldn’t care about such a paltry sum.
The tea house was new and in a remote location, so business was naturally slow.
Bai San looked at the few customers scattered about and couldn’t help but think to himself.
’If only I could get that dame Linglong over here... With her looks and figure, if she just stood behind this counter as a living signboard, business would definitely boom!’
But that was just a thought; he knew it was impossible.
As his mind wandered, the light at the tea house entrance dimmed as several figures blocked the doorway. A voice suddenly boomed, "Where the hell is the Shopkeeper? Is everyone in here dead? Can’t you see we’ve arrived? Get your ass over here and serve some tea! Keep dawdling and see if I don’t tear this dump down!"
Bai San’s eyebrows shot up, and anger flared in his chest.
’Oh? Which blind fool dares to cause trouble in my shop?’
He lazily rose from his Grandmaster’s Chair and craned his neck to look outside, only to see several people standing at the entrance.
The person in the lead was looking at him with a half-smile. It was none other than Zhao Deming.
"Old Zhao?"
Bai San was startled, his angry expression instantly shifting to surprise. "Why are you back again so soon?"
His gaze swept past Zhao Deming to a middle-aged man in his forties standing beside him. The man had an honest face and was dressed in a long robe of fine cloth.
Bai San recognized him. He was Chen Li’s brother-in-law, also surnamed Bai, making him a kinsman. His name was Bai Shixuan.