Chapter 37

The one kneeling on the ground at the gate was precisely the scholar who fought us that day in the alley, Shen Yuan Ning. Moreover, what makes one break out in a sweat is that he is actually carrying… a bundle of firewood on his back.

As soon as he saw me and Pangzi, he hurriedly struggled to his feet and cupped his fists toward us: 'Brother Chen, Brother Wang, this humble one pays his respects.'

Me: '…' Pangzi: '…' Is it necessary to greet in such a wooden way?

Pangzi walked straight up to him and slapped his shoulder: 'I say, brother, my family doesn't need firewood; what's the meaning of bringing a bundle of timber as a gift? If you're giving a gift, you should give something like shark's fin or bird's nest.'

After Pangzi's slap, Shen Yuan Ning froze for a moment, then cupped his fists and shook his head: 'Brother Wang, your words are mistaken; I am following the ancient virtuous custom, coming to ask the two Daoist brothers to accept my punishment with firewood.' Having said that, he took a stick from the firewood on his back and handed it to Pangzi: 'This humble body of mine; I hope Brother Wang will punish me.'

I looked at this bespectacled scholar, laughing and crying at once; after a moment I realized he was imitating Lian Po's carrying of thorns to apologize. This scholar must have read too much and become addle‑brained—even his way of apologizing is so… antiquated.

Pangzi took the stick from Shen Yuan Ning's hand, turned his head and asked me: 'Is he letting me beat him?'

I nodded; theoretically, yes.

Then, while I was still dazed, Pangzi grabbed the stick, went up to Shen Yuan Ning and gave him a fierce beating; after Pangzi finished, I remained standing there, dumbstruck.

After Pangzi finished beating him, panting, he said to me: 'Hai Sheng, look, you always used to say I'm low‑class. I said long ago there are plenty of people lower than me—and look, someone even came to our door begging for a beating. I've lived this long and still never met anyone who actually enjoys being beaten.'

A crow flew over my head, black lines streaking across my skull.

'Pangzi, he's carrying firewood to ask for your forgiveness—how can you have no magnanimity at all?'

Pangzi exclaimed in surprise: 'What, what apology? He's just itching for a beating, isn't he?'

Me: '…' I'm speechless at this clown—could it be that all the books he's read these years have gone into girls?

'Pangzi, go home and review the article "Alliance of Ministers"—it's elementary‑school material, yet you tell me you don't know it.' I glared at him, then hurried over to help Shen Yuan Ning up and apologized.

'Sorry, Pangzi doesn't understand things; he's made you feel wronged.'

Shen Yuan Ning wiped the blood from his nose, waved his hand at me and said: 'Not so, not so; how can you, not being me, know my happiness?'

Me: '…' To be honest, I've never seen anyone get beaten and be so happy, even claiming to be content—truly an eye‑opener.

I helped Shen Yuan Ning into the Chan Yi Hall, while Pangzi outside held the stick and muttered to himself: 'Strange—could beating someone with firewood feel good?' As he spoke, he lifted the firewood in his hand and slammed it hard onto his own forehead.

The result… was naturally a wailing cry for father and mother.

As soon as Shen Yuan Ning sat down, he cupped his fists toward us both and said: 'This humble one has come…'

'Speak plainly.'

'Last time I was wrong; this time I've come to apologize to you.' Shen Yuan Ning gave a shy smile and said apologetically.

Before I could wave him off, Pangzi went up and gave Shen Yuan Ning a bear hug.

'It's fine, it's fine—knowing your mistake and correcting it makes you a good kid; the masses will give you a chance, and I, Strong Brother, will give you this chance too.' There was a feeling of 'no fight, no acquaintance', of mutual respect.

But… it seems that in the previous incident, the person who suffered the most was actually me. Damn it, Pangzi, you unreliable piece of junk, why are you being polite to me when I haven't even spoken?

In my contemptuous gaze, Pangzi gave a shy smile: 'Um, you speak, I'll stay quiet.'

I coughed, turned to Shen Yuan Ning and said: 'Forget it, last time's incident isn't your fault, after all you knew nothing. But I'm curious—why do you have Confucian righteous qi and also Daoist Sect's magical power?'

Shen Yuan Ning pondered for a moment: 'This matter…'

'Speak plainly'—this time it was Pangzi shouting; he also couldn't stand Shen Yuan Ning's pedantic, sour air.

'Cough cough, to explain would be terribly long; right now Yuan Ning doesn't know where to start.' Shen Yuan Ning cupped his fists and explained.

I asked him again which Daoist sect he belonged to. After a moment's thought, he told me: 'Under Patriarch Xu, a 27th‑generation disciple of the Pure Bright Dao, with the generation characters Shang Fa and Xia Guang, personal name Yuan Ning.'

'Oh,' I exclaimed when Shen Yuan Ning stated his lineage—he actually came from the Pure Bright Dao.

The Pure Bright Dao is also called the Pure Bright Loyalty and Filiality Dao; it was founded by the Eastern Han cultivator Xu Zhenren. Its doctrine blends Confucian teachings, differing from other Daoist schools in that upon entering the Way one seeks to rid oneself of the seven emotions and six desires. The Pure Bright Dao is entered from the secular world, and its esteemed doctrine is the two characters loyalty and filiality. It holds that those who are disloyal to the country or unfilial to their parents, who abandon their six relatives to retreat into emptiness, are disloyal and unjust, and such people are utterly unqualified to cultivate the Dao.

A proverb circulating in Daoism says: 'The earliest to open the teaching were Dragon and Tiger; those who can govern the world are from the Pure Bright.' This saying not only fixes the status of the Pure Bright Dao within Daoism, but also shows that its doctrine stands alone, unmatched.

However, although the Pure Bright Dao incorporates Confucianism, I have seen many of its disciples before, yet none of them, like Shen Yuan Ning, have carried righteous qi in their very writing.

'May I ask, could you tell me your teacher's name?' As soon as I finished speaking, Pangzi jabbed me with his elbow.

'You're silly—have you forgotten the Daoist Sect's three taboos?'

I then realized I had overstepped, as if I'd asked something I shouldn't. In the past, the Daoist Sect transmitted some unwritten rules. For example, upon first meeting one would ask the taboo of the Three Pure Ones to determine whether the person was Daoist or Buddhist. Then one would ask: 'Which of the three mountains does your fellow Daoist's blood drip from? Where is your lineage? What are the upper and lower characters?' At that point the other would tell you the poems 'Clear Mountain, Clear Water, Clear Rain' that conceal the allusions to the Three Pure Ones; where the blood drips indicates which sect recorded you, and the upper and lower characters ask which generation you belong to in the sect. Take Shen Yuan Ning: the upper character is Fa, the lower Guang, the middle is the Yuan generation; according to the Pure Bright Dao's generational ranking, he is a twenty‑seventh‑generation disciple.

Second, there is another unwritten rule: the three taboos mentioned by Pangzi.

One does not ask about the teacher, does not ask about lifespan, does not ask about worldly affairs. Here 'not asking about the teacher' does not mean not asking which Daoist school the priest comes from; rather, one must not casually inquire into the teacher's elders' situation, nor may one casually probe the sect's secret classics. If even asking about the sect were forbidden, then the first rule—asking which of the three mountains the blood drips from—would not hold.

Although with the passage of time few people observe these rules anymore, given Shen Yuan Ning's stubborn personality he probably still cares about these formalities, so Pangzi jabbed me with his elbow to remind me not to keep asking.

Shen Yuan Ning shook his head, cupped his fists apologetically and said: 'It's not that I'm unwilling to speak; my master once warned me that while refining the mind in the mortal world I must not reveal his name to outsiders. So I ask Brother Chen and Brother Wang for your indulgence. When fate arrives, I believe you two will come to know it.'

'All right, all right, I'm not interested in who your master is, but stop calling me Brother Chen and you Brother Wang. It sounds weird—clearly we two don't have chests, yet you keep saying "chest" "chest"—annoying, isn't it?' Pangzi flicked his ears, impatiently.

'Then how should I address you…?'

Pangzi pointed at me and then at himself, saying: 'Call him Hai Sheng, call me Wei Qiang; if you like, you can also call me Pangzi.'

Shen Yuan Ning cupped his fists and said: 'If that's the case…'

'Speak plainly…' I and Pangzi shouted in unison, cutting him off.

Shen Yuan Ning shrugged his shoulders and said: 'Since the misunderstanding has been cleared, Hai Sheng, you and Strong Brother have forgiven me, so my heart is at peace.'

'Mm, and then?' Pangzi asked.

'Then, nothing else.'

Pangzi pressed: 'Really nothing?'

Shen Yuan Ning blinked, shook his head: 'Nothing, I guess?'

Pangzi grinned: 'You're really not enough of a buddy—no matter what, you ought to take us to a restaurant for a meal. This apology, can you really be this insincere?'

Pangzi is thick‑skinned; he seizes the moment.

I quickly went over and covered Pangzi's mouth, then gave Shen Yuan Ning a rueful smile and said: 'Sorry, Pangzi's mouth is just that nasty—don't take it to heart.'

Shen Yuan Ning shook his head: 'I didn't bring money. Next time, okay?'

Me: '…' He actually took it seriously.

Not long after, Shen Yuan Ning prepared to take his leave.

Before leaving, he turned back and said to me: 'Hai Sheng, there's something I don't know whether I should say.'

I said: "If you have something to say, just say it outright, stop hemming and hawing."

Shen Yuan Ning then nodded, solemnly warning me: "In a few days the exam will be held; when you return to school, be careful."

I asked him, bewildered: "Why is that?"

"The matter between you and Yao Yirong has spread around the school; many of Yao Yirong's followers have formed an Anti-Life Alliance, determined to drive you, this filthy lecher, away from Yao Yirong and never let you defile their pure goddess in their hearts." After saying that, Shen Yuan Ning turned and prepared to leave.

Suddenly he turned again, his demeanor like a bleak wind over the Yi River, the desolate air of a warrior who departs never to return.

"In short, on the day of the exam, take care."

I: "……" Filthy lecher, is it necessary to call me that so harshly? Moreover, Yao Yirong this lass... when did she ever become pure?

Pangzi hid to the side, gloating with schadenfreude, laughing loudly: "You're done for; I'll see what you do on exam day."

I rolled my eyes; what can I do? At worst I'll just skip this lousy exam.

Although I said that, I really wouldn't dare do that. Although I don't have to return to school often, the exam must be taken; otherwise the university won't let me graduate, and then my tuition for these past years would have been wasted, fed to the dogs.

But…… I never imagined the seriousness of the matter, exceeding my expectations, and I also underestimated the charm of that feisty lass Yao Yirong.

On the day of the exam, as I and Pangzi strode calmly into school, things immediately went wrong, we ran into big trouble..