Chapter 24: All Those Seeking Refuge Are Fellow Strangers in Adversity

The Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng was an ancient temple in the Central Plains and once the largest landowner there. Although it lost much of its land after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it never lacked devout believers. Lady Gu of the Zhang family was a firm Buddhist believer, especially in the monks of Daxiangguo Temple. Over the decades, she had donated countless sums of money to the temple and even kept a perpetual lamp burning before the Buddha, making her undoubtedly the greatest benefactor of the temple.

Upon hearing that this top benefactor had come to Daxiangguo Temple to seek refuge, Abbot Juehai felt immense shame. His junior brother loved to beg from wealthy families and often spoke rashly. This time, he had boasted everywhere that the Buddha had told him in a dream that the Yellow River would not flood that year. Yet now, the river had defied expectations, ruining the temple’s reputation! Thinking that Lady Gu might develop a prejudice against Daxiangguo Temple, he hardly dared to go and meet the guests.

When he put on his robes to go meet them, he was surprised to find that it wasn’t Lady Gu as he had expected—instead, it was a ten-year-old boy claiming to be the third son of the Zhang family, accompanied by several women. He instinctively let out a long sigh.

After asking what had happened, he learned that the Zhang family had become separated while seeking refuge, and only three members of the third generation were there. He couldn’t help but admire Zhang Yue.

“During times of disaster, villains always cause trouble. It takes great wisdom and courage for the third son to protect his sisters and bring them safely to Daxiangguo Temple with just such a small group.”

Zhang Yue had now put on dry, fluffy monk’s robes. Inside the temple, shielded from the wind and rain outside, he was finally free from the tension of the flood. Hearing the abbot praise him, he promptly downplayed his own abilities and exaggerated Peng Shisan’s bravery and Du Zhen’s insight. He also apologized for disturbing the temple’s tranquility, refusing to mention the monk who had earlier guaranteed safety.

He even cursed that monk, saying it would be better not to engage in such despicable behavior when seeking refuge on someone else’s land.

Although Peng Shisan had fought alongside Duke Zhang Funan and seen countless important figures, he was astonished to see Zhang Yue first praising him and Du Zhen highly, then acting like a mature adult to negotiate with the abbot, raising a multitude of questions and demands. Finally, he suddenly elbowed Du Zhen beside him.

“Mr. Du, has the third young master always been so mature for his age? I feel he’s at least twenty or thirty years old.”
Though his clothes were drenched, Du Zhen refused to change into monk’s robes. The rainwater from his clothes dripped onto the ground, forming a distinct puddle around him.
He quietly pushed Peng Shisan’s elbow away, his eyes fixed on Zhang Yue as he thoughtfully tugged at the few strands of beard on his chin. After a long while, he retorted, “Being mature early on isn’t good—does that mean one should be reckless as a youth?”
Peng Shisan rolled his eyes and said nothing more, though he thought these words seemed to imply something—after all, their Duke of Britain had also been mature and accomplished in his youth, while his two younger brothers had been true examples of youthful arrogance!
Zhang Yue and Jue Hai finalized all the arrangements, finally breathing a sigh of relief, though still feeling somewhat fearful.
In fact, even if a flood occurred, given the sturdiness of the Zhang family’s houses, they would at most get flooded—staying inside wouldn’t necessarily be dangerous. But due to his fear of floods from his past life, he had rushed out recklessly. If he hadn’t respected his teacher enough to bring Du Zhen along, even if he hadn’t been intercepted by those thugs on the road, he would likely have been wandering around Kaifeng City!
Out of respect for the Zhang family, Abbot Jue Hai generously allocated a meditation room for the Gu family of three who arrived later. Later, several other devout pilgrims came to Daxiangguo Temple for shelter, and he took care of them all, accepting substantial offerings in return. The temple still had enough food reserves; even with dozens more people, it would suffice for a month or so.
By evening, though the rain outside had eased, more and more people with their families came to seek shelter on higher ground. Although Daxiangguo Temple wasn’t the highest, many still flocked there, filling the spacious shelter built in front of the mountain gate—over two hundred people in total. Even so, people complained bitterly about the tightly closed mountain gate.
Although Zhang Yue had a warm meditation room to stay in and delicious meals to eat, he grew worried upon learning that more people were arriving. No one else noticed this concern, but Zhang Qing saw it all.
After dinner, she took Zhang Yue aside and whispered, “Third brother, are you upset seeing those refugees? I know you have a kind heart, but right now we’re just staying at Daxiangguo Temple and can’t do much to help them…”

Seeing Zhang Qing’s face darken as she spoke, Zhang Yue inwardly sighed. He wasn’t a saint—he knew his own limitations and certainly didn’t have an abundance of compassion. But the problem was, as more people gathered, they would surely cause trouble if there was no food. How could the nearby Daxiangguo Temple remain unaffected? Daxiangguo Temple wasn’t Shaolin Temple; it had no martial monks to guard it. Even if Peng Shisan were strong enough to protect him, what about the others?
“Sis, don’t worry about these things. I have to see the abbot. You and younger sister should go to bed early.”
Zhang Yue gently patted Zhang Qing’s shoulder, then instructed Qiuhen and Hupo to stay in the room, before leaving the meditation hall. Since no secular clothes could be found in the temple, his clothes had just been washed by Qiuhen and wouldn’t dry anytime soon, so he still wore his monk’s robes, looking like a minor monk. After wandering for a long time and getting lost, he approached a middle-aged monk to ask where the abbot was, only to be stared at as if he were an idiot.
Fortunately, despite the twists and turns, he eventually found Juehai’s meditation hall. To his surprise, he wasn’t the only guest that night—there was already someone in that clean and tidy room, and it was Du Zhen.
“Sir?”
“Do you have something to ask the abbot?”
Seeing that Du Zhen refused to mention his purpose and instead questioned him, Zhang Yue felt extremely frustrated. However, since he was just a child with no say at the moment, he hoped Du Zhen would intercede later, so he simply told him his reason straight away.
“I heard that there are already hundreds of refugees outside the mountain gates. They left in a hurry and surely didn’t bring any food. If they run out of food, trouble will arise. Instead of waiting for that, Daxiangguo Temple should provide some relief. These are all fellow sufferers. As monks, we should be compassionate—we can’t just watch them starve to death.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that both Du Zhen and Juehai, one a Confucian and the other a Buddhist, stared at him with almost identical strange looks.
“The master begets the disciple—Third Young Master and Mr. Du really think alike.”
“Indeed, indeed. Truly my disciple—your thinking is quite far-sighted!”

Only then did Zhang Yue realize that Du Zhen had come to Abbot Juehai for the same reason, and he immediately felt he had overstepped his bounds. As he awkwardly prepared to leave, Du Zhen suddenly stood up, patted him on the shoulder twice, and left without looking back, leaving behind one last sentence: “Since you have this intention, it’s up to you and the Abbot to decide how to proceed!” Faced with such an irresponsible teacher who just walked away, Zhang Yue was extremely frustrated once he caught up with his thoughts. He was just a ten-year-old “child” — wasn’t it too much to ask of him?