978 Cultivating Buddhism Part Iii (1/2)

”Are you not curious to why I can repair the statue of the Buddha so fast?”

”You said that practice makes perfect.”

”Can't you tell that I am just being modest?”

”I have not heard you talk much for many years.”

Ning Que went silent for a while and said, ”I have not heard you talk for many years either.”

Sangsang also went silent for a while and asked, ”Then why?”

”Because I am right. You were getting better and the poisons inside you were gradually fading away while I was repairing the statue of the Buddha in the past sixteen years. Although you didn't wake up, I became more and more powerful, thus I did the carving work faster and faster.” Ning Que said happily, ”Of course, the most important reason is that my current carving technique are really good. I can carve something nice on a piece of rotten wood and you can sell it for at least a few hundred liang of silver in the market of the human world. I am not only a Grand Master of Fu Tao now, but also a Grand Master of Sculpture.”

Sangsang snorted and looked calm.

Ning Que a little surprised and said, ”I'm talking about a lot of money. why are you so calm?”

Sangsang snorted again and said after a while, ”I am a little tired and want to sleep again.”

Every time she woke up, she would fall asleep again after she said a few words to him. Ning Que was no longer as lost as before. Although the poisons inside her are gradually falling away, she is still weak and needs more rest.

Sleep was the best way to restore the spirit. Sangsang had been sleeping for sixteen years, but he had not slept at all for the whole time, so he was unbelievably exhausted.

He took out the dried frog meat, teared off some and stuffed it into his mouth.

The frog meat was tender, so it would taste good if being cooked properly, such as being cooked with spice, stewed with green peppers or grilled. But one would get sick of eating the same food year after year even though it was very delicious. And even the most gluttonous man would feel sick after eating frogs for sixteen years.

Ning Que didn't feel sick, and he didn't even reveal any expression on his face. He just kept chewing automatically and then swallowed it, looking very numb.

His miserable childhood made him aware that the most formidable enemy for human beings was definitely not disgusting food, but no food at all, for hunger was more terrible than death.

He had rarely put much thought on food ever since the end of the last decade. The time was too long, and he was too lonely. Thus, he spent all his time and energy on repairing the statue of Buddha, wis.h.i.+ng to leave this place early. He caught many frogs in the golden ponds and air-dried them into frog jerky which later became his main source of food. He would eat some when he felt hungry.

The dried frog meat was tasteless and hard to swallow. He sat by the cliff and looked at the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field, using their pain as spice.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field became angrier and angrier, and their outrage rose to the maximum level as he changed the statue and carved a handmaiden costume for the Buddha. The chanting sound echoing across the field became more and more majestic and the Light of the Buddha falling on him also became more and more horrible.

But the most horrible thing was the indigo lion, which was hundreds of zhang tall.

Its front hooves were full of blood and mud. The beast lowered its head and slowly licked its wounds. It was no longer howling like before, but the silence implied extreme danger.

The indigo lion finally stepped into the golden pond several days ago. Although it was unable to rush to the foot of the mountain and only tramped down several ponds due to the ban set by Buddha, it was indeed a step forward for the beast.

The indigo lion did not become stronger, but the ban set by Buddha was not as strict as before since the statue of the Buddha gradually changed under Ning Que's iron cutla.s.s and the power left by Buddha became weaker every day.

The indigo lion stopped licking its wounds and looked up. Its head broke through the clouds, which was shocking. Looking at Ning Que on the statue of Buddha, the beast looked solemn and determined.

Ning Que was very tired and and sleepy. He felt sad that Sangsang fell asleep again and the frog meat tasted really bad, which put him in a bad mood.

He wanted to take a break and turned to something else to enliven his lonely life of repairing the statue of Buddha. At this moment, he instantly got angry while seeing the indigo lion acted provocatively in the field.

He untied his iron bow, pulled the bowstring hardly, and then released his fingers abruptly. A circular turbulence appeared around the string, and the dark iron arrow disappeared.

Within the next moment, a blood flower appeared on the chest of the handsome monk sitting on the back of the indigo lion with his legs crossed. He fell to the ground with a heavy noise.

The handsome monk died, but the Buddha did not. During the previous sixteen years, the handsome monk was the Buddha. But he was no longer Buddha when the iron arrow approached him.

He and Sangsang were right. The position of the Buddha kept changing in the human world. Even the light couldn't catch him, let alone the Thirteen Primordial Arrows.

The handsome monk just died. The indigo lion was very shocked and then became extremely angry, roaring at Ning Que who was on the cliff. The cloud layers in front of his head were instantly shattered into countless tiny clouds, and numerous golden lotuses in the golden ponds all astonis.h.i.+ngly dropped down.

Ning Que shouted back at the indigo lion. The roaring sound spread over the field, like a thunder, which revealed a very overbearing and wild atmosphere.

Since Ning Que had repaired the statue for so long and the ban set by Buddha had been weakened, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field could break through the golden ponds at any time, and the indigo lion was confident and cold at this point.

But meanwhile, the three poisons inside Sangsang was gradually disappearing, and Haotian slowly gained her power back during sleep. Thus Ning Que became more powerful too.

Everything must be traced back to time or cause and effect. Cause and effect was the order of things, so was time, which could determine the shape of the universe and also the outcome of the war.