Chapter 140 — Washing the Pots and Cauldrons
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" Snow Fox struggled to pour tea for them, but she was small, not even as tall as the tea table. Elder Dianxing hastily took the teapot, set it on the table, picked up the little fox, and placed her in a rattan chair nearby. He smiled. "Let me do it.
" The young Patriarch still stared at him. "They're blockading the gate of our Imperial Academy. " Shen Mu said, "They've been at it half the day.
I ran over to watch the commotion. This Buddha Son is truly formidable: the Thunderclap Mahayana Sutra, the Dharma of Victorious Battle, the indestructible Vajra body, the Tathagata Relic Pagoda, the Mahayana Nirvana Seal, the Eighteen Arhats Seal. Patriarch, do I perhaps have some misunderstanding about our Imperial Academy? " The young Patriarch was puzzled.
"What misunderstanding? " "Are we very weak?
" Shen Mu said, bewildered, "Why are we beaten at our own gate every day? I've only just enrolled, and already twice someone has smashed up our place. Back in the Desolate Ruins, we'd have grabbed our weapons and taken them down long ago. " The young Patriarch said angrily, "That's not what I meant. I meant the Buddha Heart Buddha Son has arrived—why didn't you go, and instead went to the back mountain?
" Shen Mu smiled.
"How didn't I go?
I went, then came back from the gate, and only then went to the back mountain. The gate was in quite an uproar. " The young Patriarch grew angry.
Elder Dianxing hastily offered tea; the Patriarch drained the cup in one gulp, set it down, and was about to erupt, when Elder Dianxing hastily poured another. The young Patriarch suppressed his anger. "All the other scholars of the Imperial Academy went up to fight the Buddha Son.
Why didn't you? " "Patriarch, I already fought the Daoist Son, not long ago, and I was wounded. " Shen Mu protested, "My hand was even pierced through—look.
. . hey, where's the scar?
Anyway, I was wounded, a very serious internal injury. I've fought one bout.
Whoever wants to fight the Buddha Son can go fight him; I need to heal. Look, my face is still swollen.
Your Young Cult Leader was beaten by an ox, and you won't stand up for me—why should I stand up for the Imperial Academy? " Elder Dianxing coughed, and reminded him, "Patriarch, the tea is getting cold. " "It won't get cold that fast! " The young Patriarch slapped the table and sneered. "What do you want? For me to invite Imperial Preceptor Jingping again to expound the scriptures and teach the Dao?
I've already invited him once; if I go again, where will I put my old face?
Who else would you have me invite?
The emperor? " Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he probed, "Could the emperor come lecture at our Imperial Academy? " The young Patriarch tipped his head back and drank his tea, swallowing even the leaves to quell his anger, and sneered, "Give up that hope. The emperor will never come lecture at the Imperial Academy!
Clutching at Buddha's feet at the last moment once is bad enough—how can you want to do it twice? I don't have that much face!
" Shen Mu said sullenly, "Patriarch, I was thinking—two of the three great schools have already arrived, the Daoist sect's Daoist Son and the Great Thunderclap Temple's Buddha Son. They've both come to blockade the gate. Shouldn't our Heavenly Sacred Cult also show its face and blockade the Imperial Academy's gate? As Young Cult Leader, I ought to go blockade the Academy's gate and bolster our cult's prestige. .
. " The young Patriarch slapped the table and sprang to his feet; the tea table wobbled. Elder Dianxing hastily blocked him, crying, "Patriarch, calm yourself, calm yourself! The Young Cult Leader is still a child—there's no need to quarrel with him! Calm yourself! " The young Patriarch laughed in his fury.