“Ah, Novice Zhu. A pious man would make a poor abbot in these troubled times of ours. Do you think Wuhuang Monastery has survived this long in the midst of Nanren rebellion and Mongol retaliation solely due to the smiling regard of Heaven? No, indeed! I see what needs to be done to keep us safe, and I do it regardless of what a monk should or shouldn’t do. Oh, I know I’ll suffer for it in my next lives. But when I ask myself if future pain is worth it for this life I have now, I always find that it is.”
