I bow respectfully to my Master: It has been over a month since I left the mountain to travel and study. My se…
I bow respectfully to my Master:
It has been over a month since I left the mountain to travel and study. My senior brothers and I journeyed through Xingzhou and Quyang, where we witnessed the local mastery of stone carving and white porcelain. The techniques were wonderfully novel, vastly different from those within our mountain. Later, we passed through Gaoyi, Julu, and Quzhou; the terrain was rugged and desolate, and the growing heat made our travel difficult. Furthermore, witnessing a severe drought in the region, we constructed waterwheels, linked mills, and other agricultural tools to help ease the people's plight. We then heard of an ingeniously designed wooden watergate to the south and intended to visit it.
Halfway along our journey, we suddenly received word of the fires of war in Hengzhou, where rebel soldiers are running rampant. Exposed bones litter the wilderness, piled as high as hills. Elder Crane and our fellow disciples from Dragonbend Academy have already thrown themselves entirely into the war effort. The situation there is like a critically ill man sweating profusely; life and death are decided in an instant, yet the healer called for has not arrived. The chaos and despair can only be imagined.
After much deliberation with my senior brothers Jin Zheng, Lai Yuan, Fu Youzhi, and Zhang Yao, we have resolved to head north to offer our aid. Though we lack the courage to don armor and wield halberds, we carry the knowledge of mechanisms. We wish to use these skills to protect the land, comfort the people, promote the good, and eliminate the harmful.
Winter is approaching. I send this letter across a great distance to reach you, my Master, hoping you will take good care of yourself and shed no worry for me.