You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

"Thank you for your kind words!" Zen Kong clasped his hands together, smiled and gave a slight bow, showing no sign of discomfort.

He no longer cared about things like shame or face.

If you've been practicing for so many years and still can't see through or let go of these "appearances," then you might as well go home, marry a few wives, raise a bunch of kids, and live a lively life. What's the point of practicing then?

Seeing his unyielding attitude, Qi Fei straightened his clothes, put on a polite expression, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture:

"I am Fu Ye, a loyalist of the Himalayas."

He made up a name on the spot; after all, when you're traveling, you give yourself your own identity.

"I wonder which sacred mountain your temple is located on, and what kind of Zen practice you follow?" he asked.

Zen Master Kong said in a calm and serene tone, "Our Zen Heart Temple is both far away and right before our eyes. It is not in a sacred mountain, but in our hearts."

"All phenomena arise from the mind; all is emptiness. As long as there is Zen in your heart, everywhere is a Zen temple."

"If there is no Zen in your heart, even if you are in a temple, you will just be sitting there in vain."

After listening, Qi Fei pondered for a moment and said, "Originally there was nothing, so where can dust settle?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the monk Chankong's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands sharply, saying:

"Wonderful! You truly have a special connection with our Chanxin Temple!"

Before Qi Fei could say anything, Chan Kong had already launched into a long, unstoppable tirade.

"All beings are equal and can attain Buddhahood. All beings inherently possess Buddha-nature and are no different from Buddhas. It is just that their true nature is obscured by illusory appearances and their eyes are blinded by the dust of the world."

"The motto of our Chanxin Temple is: I am Buddha, my mind is the Dharma."

"All phenomena are empty! Good and evil are empty, cause and effect are empty, precepts are empty, even birth and death are empty!"

"All are illusory illusions, all are fleeting clouds obscuring the eyes! Killing, stealing, adultery, and lying do not hinder enlightenment; wine, lust, wealth, and anger are all places of practice!"

His voice echoed through the woods, as if this were not a desolate forest, but a meditation room.

Qi Fei listened quietly, mentally going over Chan Kong's words, filtering out the exaggerated rhetoric and unrestrained manner, keeping only the core meaning, and then after a moment's thought, he spoke.

"Everything in the world is hypocritical."

Zen Kong nodded: "Not bad."

"The Dharma is only in one's own heart, and the Buddha is only in oneself."

Zen Kong nodded again: "Not bad."

"Morals, rules, good and evil—none of these can bind one. Only by breaking free from these bonds can one see oneself and become an Arhat?"

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!" Zen Kong said "wonderful" three times in a row, which showed that Qi Fei's words had touched his heart.

Qi Fei looked at his excited appearance and bowed with a blank expression.

Goodbye.

After saying that, he turned around, lifted his foot, and left, decisively and without any hesitation.

"Hey, hey, hey! Benefactor!" came a hurried shout from behind.

A pale golden lotus bloomed beneath Zen Kong's feet, vanishing in a flash, while his figure disappeared from the spot.

The next moment, the tree branch above Qi Fei's head swayed.

A bald head hung upside down from the tree trunk directly in front of Qi Fei, no more than two feet from the tip of his nose.

It was exactly the same as when the two of them first met.

"Sword" couldn't help but think to Qi Fei, "This bald man is so strange, can I cut him down?"

Qi Fei ignored it, only taking a small step back to create some distance, and looked up at Chan Kong hanging upside down in the tree.

"Benefactor, you have a connection with our Chanxin Temple, why are you leaving?" Chan Kong said, tilting his head back.

Qi Fei shook his head: "We simply have different paths."

He looked at Chan Kong's upside-down posture and asked, "Is there a problem with your technique that you're standing upside down on the tree like this?"

"No." Zenkong shook his head, like a bat hanging upside down observing the world. "I just like to see the world upside down."

"At that time, the world became different in my eyes. The sky became the earth, the earth became the sky, the left became the right, and the front became the back."

"Look at things from a different perspective, and many things become different."

He blinked, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Qi Fei twice, and suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" with a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"Benefactor, I see that you are clear-headed and pure, indicating that your spiritual cultivation has reached its peak. However, your cultivation level... does not quite match your spiritual nature."

He flipped down from the tree, landed steadily on the ground, dusted off his monk's robe, and looked at Qi Fei with less of his playful smile and more seriousness in his eyes.

"Is the benefactor lacking a method for attaining enlightenment? Am I correct?"

Qi Fei did not deny it, nodded, and asked, "Does your Chanxin Temple have a method for attaining enlightenment?"

Zen Master Kong clasped his hands together, a hint of pride on his face: "Although our Zen Heart Temple has never produced a Buddha, or what you call an immortal, we are still a lineage left by the true Buddha."

"Transmission is from heart to heart, not from words. The Dharma resides in the heart, not on paper."

"But..." Qi Fei said, "Your method of enlightenment is different from mine; it is not the method I sought."

Zen Master Kong countered, "What path do you take, benefactor?"

Qi Fei didn't answer, but subtly changed the subject: "I met a monk before named Zen Madman, was he also from your Zen Heart Temple?"

Upon hearing the name "Zen Madman," Zen Heart's expression changed, and he asked, "Where did you first see him, benefactor?"

"Several days ago, in the southern mountains to the north," Qi Fei said.

Upon hearing that Zen Kuang was a thousand miles to the north, Zen Kong's expression softened, and he said, "Benefactor, it's best to stay away from him."

His tone was serious, completely different from his previous joking tone.

Qi Fei raised an eyebrow: "Something's not right with him?"

"Yes! He is an anomaly in our Chanxin Temple," Chan Kong said solemnly.

When he said the word "outcast," his tone was very heavy, so heavy that it sounded like he was saying "scourge" or "disaster."

His eyes held no affection for fellow disciples, no hostility towards enemies, only a deep sense of dread.

"How are you an anomaly?" Qi Fei pressed.

Zen Kong didn't want to talk about him, he just shook his head: "The safest thing is to stay away from him."

Seeing his reluctance to speak, Qi Fei cupped his hands in farewell and said, "Then... farewell!"

Zen Kong wanted to continue talking to Qi Fei about Zen Heart Temple, but he lost interest when the name "Zen Madman" was mentioned.

He remained silent for a moment, then a pale golden lotus bloomed beneath his feet. The lotus vanished in a flash, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

Zen Kong settled down in front of a small temple in the mountains.

Although it's called a temple, it's really just a small courtyard with blue bricks and gray tiles, and low walls.

This is Chanxin Temple.

But it's not Zenxin Temple either.