“Eh, this is Zen studies, right?” Does Teacher Zhang know?”
“Isn’t Zen studies also a form a literature? It’s not much different.”
Everyone started to shout, urging Zhang Ye to have a literary battle with the monk. Many of them were confident of Zhang Ye. Only a small number of them did not know Zhang Ye well, and were not as optimistic.
An old monk sneered, “To have an exchange in verses with the abbot?”
Another monk said, “If your senses are dirty, what verses are there to talk about?”
“A layman dares to have an exchange in verses with our abbot? He doesn’t know his strength.” A young monk scoffed. Yes, he said that although he was previously shocked by Zhang Ye’s verse.
This bunch of monks did not watch television, so they did not know anything about Zhang Ye.
It was obvious that neither side was willing to step down. They could not fight, nor could they afford to fight, but they had to decide who was better. They had to vent this anger!