Chapter Forty-Four: The Stone of Merit

The stone house resembled a folk earth temple, only half a person’s height. Numerous red cloth strips were tied to the stones and the surrounding branches. In front of the house, a stone altar was built and filled with soil, holding many incense sticks burned down to their bases.

Judging from the remaining incense, the small temple’s offerings were still quite active.

Pan Yun stared blankly, uncertain, and asked, “Is this… our master?”

“That’s right,” Wang Feiyin said softly. “Master Pan is the mountain god of Sanqing Mountain. This entire territory is under his jurisdiction and protection. Within fifty miles of Sanqing Mountain, there are three such mountain god temples. This one is the oldest and largest.”

“That’s still considered large?”

Pan Yun asked, “Hasn’t senior brother ever thought about building a bigger temple for master?”

“It was planned,” Wang Feiyin replied, “but whenever I prayed to master, he always refused.”

Pan Yun was puzzled. “Why?”

“Perhaps the person offering the prayers wasn’t right,” Wang Feiyin said.

“Ah?” Pan Yun’s heart stirred, her finger pointing at herself. “Could it be that you want me to do it?”

Wang Feiyin handed her the incense he had brought. “Light the incense for master first.”

Pan Yun set the cat aside and knelt down to light the incense.

The incense needed to be rubbed at the tip before lighting, but it was tricky. Pan Yun usually took a long time to light incense sticks. Yet this time, the moment she opened the fire striker, the incense lit instantly, so fast it made her momentarily dazed.

Pan Yun paused briefly to twist the fire striker closed. The incense was inserted and began burning smoothly.

The incense burned quickly and steadily this time.

Pan Yun split half the incense for Wang Feiyin, then held the rest, standing before the temple and gazing ahead. After a moment, she lowered her eyelids and sincerely recited in her heart: “Master, today the incense burns so smoothly, it shows you truly care for your little disciple, right? Rest assured, I will come often to burn incense for you and spread the fame of the mountain god of Sanqing Mountain far and wide.”

She bowed and placed the incense.

Seeing the curling smoke rise, Pan Yun smiled and relaxed. She turned expectantly to Wang Feiyin, with the word “gift” written on her left eye and “meeting gift” on her right.

Wang Feiyin then lifted her up and swiftly leapt, stepping on five or six trees as they flew toward the giant rock behind the mountain god temple.

The mountain slope rose gradually, and the trees thinned until only a massive rock wall, like a heavenly screen, blocked their path.

Yet Wang Feiyin moved like a wisp of smoke, drifting upward with the breeze, still holding a shouting “Cat, cat, cat” Pan Yun in his hand.

He stepped onto the giant rock and leapt upward, landing between the crevices of the rocks. He placed Pan Yun aside, clapped his large hand on the rock, causing it to crack. Beside him, the fractured stones tumbled down the cliff.

Pan Yun turned to look and saw a fist-sized golden-white stone embedded in the cracked rock. It seemed to twitch faintly. She blinked, “Is this alive?”

But upon closer focus, it remained still.

It was embedded as one with the rock but somehow also separate.

“That can’t be jade, right? Isn’t this granite?” Pan Yun looked at senior brother’s hand, amazed he could break granite with his bare hands.

Wang Feiyin carried the stone behind his back and explained, “This is a Fire Offering Stone, also called a Merit Stone. Over a hundred years ago, if someone wanted to pray to the mountain god, they had to climb up here to burn incense.”

Pan Yun glanced downward and felt dizzy. She immediately looked away and fixed her gaze firmly on the strange stone, pressing her hand against the innermost rock. “It’s so high up. How do ordinary people get up here?”

Wang Feiyin said, “Those with sincere wishes will find a way to climb. For thousands of years, the local villagers have prayed this way, and so have traveling Taoist priests and believers. They all come here to pray. After the Great Ming Dynasty was established, the mountain god temple at the foot of the mountain was built, and people switched to burning incense down below.

“But no matter where incense is burned, the smoke will eventually drift toward this Merit Stone.”

Wang Feiyin reached out, grasped the stone, channeled his energy into his palm, and with a strong twist, removed the stone intact. He handed it to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun took it; it was icy at first but soon warmed in her hands.

She felt close to the stone and held it affectionately in her palm. Eyes sparkling, she said to Wang Feiyin, “Senior brother, I feel like I’m familiar with this Merit Stone, very close to it.”

Wang Feiyin said, “This is a Merit Stone, a gift and recognition from the Heavenly Dao. Not just you, even animals like pigs, cows, dogs, and sheep would feel close to it.”

Pan Yun asked, “I thought it was the people’s collective faith or energy. So it’s really a gift and recognition from the Heavenly Dao?”

“Of course, it includes the faith of the people. It’s complicated, and I can’t explain it clearly.”

Pan Yun rubbed the stone, murmuring, “Why can’t you explain it clearly?”

Wang Feiyin said, “If I could explain it, it would mean I’ve figured out how the Merit Stone was made and how the Heavenly Dao thinks. If I thought like the Heavenly Dao, I wouldn’t be human now, but the Dao itself.

“We cultivators spend our whole lives pondering what the Dao truly is.”

Pan Yun pondered deeply. She realized she had never truly considered this question. She had only superficially sought to cultivate, to become stronger and stronger.

In both her past and present lives, she had never delved into the nature of the Dao.

Lowering her head to look at the Merit Stone in her hands, she asked, “Does master want to give me this Merit Stone?”

Wang Feiyin nodded.

“Why?”

Wang Feiyin said, “He will tell you tonight.”

In other words, master would come to her in a dream that night.

Pan Yun clenched the Merit Stone nervously.

Seeing this, Wang Feiyin patted her head. “Little junior sister, remember, even if it’s a divine gift, there’s always a price. You must see if you can afford the cost. If you don’t want to comply, the gods can’t force you.”

He said meaningfully, “Whether gods, ghosts, or demons seem stronger than humans, everything in the world is beneath the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao allows people the right to refuse.”

So she could reject the mountain god.

Pan Yun hugged the Merit Stone tightly and nodded to Wang Feiyin. “I understand, senior brother. Do you know what this Merit Stone can do?”

Wang Feiyin replied, “It has many benefits: focusing the mind, nurturing the spirit, and carrying it makes people and things more favorable toward you. It’s like how you can’t bear to let go of it now—others will find you endearing too.”

So it gave her a charm that made her beloved by many?

Pan Yun asked, “Is that all?”

“Isn’t that enough? It measures the merit of its bearer. The more recognized by the Heavenly Dao, the more golden it becomes,” Wang Feiyin said. “In the end, it just makes you more approachable.”

Pan Yun’s eyes widened. She gripped the Merit Stone tightly. She now understood its purpose!

She looked down at the stone in her arms stiffly. So, the mountain god knew everything.

Of course, the Sanqing Temple was on Sanqing Mountain, essentially living on Master Pan’s body, so her and Pan Xiaohei’s every move couldn’t be hidden.

She just didn’t know exactly how much he knew.

Feeling completely exposed and seen through made Pan Yun uneasy.

Before she could think further, Wang Feiyin lifted her up and flew out again, this time heading straight toward the cliff below.

Looking down, Pan Yun’s legs went weak and her whole body trembled uncontrollably. “Ahhh—” she screamed, the wind rushing into her mouth relentlessly.

Wang Feiyin descended swiftly and as soon as they landed, he placed her down on the grassy ground. Her legs were too weak to support her, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Wang Feiyin now confirmed, “Are you afraid of heights?”

Wind rushed into her stomach, and Pan Yun hiccupped, eyes red at the corners, denying vehemently, “No, I’m not! It’s just that you startled me. If you’re going to fly down, why didn’t you warn me?”

Wang Feiyin stared at her for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll tell you next time. Come on, let’s go up the mountain.”

Pan Yun, one hand clutching the Merit Stone, the other supporting herself, struggled to stand and stumbled after Wang Feiyin.

Pan Xiaohei, seeing herself abandoned, could only meow loudly and follow noisily.

Pan Yun warned, “If you keep making noise, do you think I’ll let you into the house?”

Pan Xiaohei immediately quieted down.

Wang Feiyin smiled gently. “Little junior sister, your cat is very perceptive. Have you raised it since you were young?”

Pan Yun nodded. “Yes, it’s been with me since I was born.”

Wang Feiyin examined the black cat and frowned, “This cat is eight years old?”

“It’s a spiritual cat, grows slowly, and lives a long time,” Pan Yun changed the subject. “Senior brother, can this Merit Stone be used as a formation stone or something similar?”