500 We Had Seen the Darkness at the End of the Road II (2/2)

Ning Que didn't know what to say. He thought that maybe only people like Headmaster and his Youngest Uncle were qualified to talk about such an extraordinary person in that way.

Headmaster asked, ”What was his comment regarding the Buddhism Sect?”

Ning Que said, ”He said that the Buddhism Sect could only do some tricks and they were no different to those fake fortune tellers. And he hated the penance of the Buddhism Sect, thinking that whenever fate changed, they would always be waiting, and could never reach it. By fate changing, did he actually mean the Underworld Invasion?”

”Yes. I think he is more than just a little wise, he is indeed very wise. But still, different sects have different principles. It was not right to comment other sects like that.”

Headmaster said, ”According to the Buddhist classics, once upon a time, when the Yuelun Kingdom was not yet called by that name, the first Buddha found out the principles of life and death. And he could also foresee the oncoming Underworld Invasion. It made him sad and confused, but he didn't know how to find a way out. So he traveled around the world and penanced. He sat under a tree and thought for a hundred days before he found the solution.”

Ning Que asked rather curiously, ”What is the solution?”

Headmaster looked at him and smiled, ”The solution is to close your mouth.”

Ning Que couldn't believe what he had heard, he repeated the answer subconsciously, ”Close my mouth?”

Headmaster said, ”Yes. The solution of Buddhism is to teach the masses to endure – to think of everything as fake, to not care about wealth, familiarity, pain or sorrow. If they could do that, they would not think that life is happy, and then death would not be painful, and they would not consider light to be good, and then darkness would not be dreadful. That is why I call it 'close one's mouth'.”

Ning Que asked confusedly, ”But what is the connection between the name and their solution?”

Headmaster said, ”How can one resist shouting out when he gets beaten up and suffers from great pain? The only way is to close his mouth.”

Ning Que laughed and said, ”Master, you are really good at summarizing.”

Suddenly he remembered the Daoshi Monk whom he killed and Qi Nian who came to Chang'an City on that snowy night. He frowned and asked, ”But if the Buddhism Sect really focuses on endurance, why are the monks in the Yuelun Kingdom so evil? And why do people from Xuankong Temple enter the land of the earth?”

”That is the adverse result of the Buddhism Sect. When that original Buddha thought up of such a way, he passed it down, and all of his students believed him. And the result was that the more devout they were, the more determined they became. Who cares if the Underworld Invasion happens? Who cares if the long nights come? They don't even fear death, let alone darkness. And vice versa, they are not even scared of darkness, let alone death.”

Headmaster smiled, ”Although the Buddhism Sect focuses on living a sequestered life, it doesn't mean that they cannot enter the human realm, and once they do, they could become even bigger trouble than the fanatics of West-Hill Divine Hall.”

Ning Que remembered what Headmaster had said before and he asked curiously, ”If the first Buddha did predict the coming of Underworld Invasion, why he didn't predict the end of the war?”

Headmaster said, ”If his prediction is useful, why are we still alive?”

His words contained profound meaning, but Ning Que was thinking of the big secrets about the Underworld Invasion and he was not going to stop at such an answer. He continued asking, ”Master, this is not the right attitude when you are telling someone a story.”

Headmaster retorted, ”If you think I am not a good storyteller, I will learn from the Buddhism Sect.”

Ning Que asked puzzledly, ”What does that mean?”

Headmaster said, ”Close my mouth.”

Ning Que said, ”No...”

Headmaster said, ”Then beg me.”

Ning Que said without any hesitation, ”Master, I beg you to tell me. I really want to know what his prediction was.”

Headmaster felt both very helpless and happy that he finally got a student who was almost as shameless as himself. He stroked his long beard and said slowly.

”While the Buddha was traveling around the world, he once went to Zhishou Abbey. He read the Seven Tomes of Arcane under the invitation of the abbey dean, and he felt a message from Haotian and wrote it down on the 'Ming' Handscroll. Later, the Great Divine Priest of Light took the 'Ming' Handscroll to the Wilderness and founded the Devil's Doctrine and the Yuelun Kingdom became the name of the country. All this was related to the prediction on the 'Ming' Handscroll.”

Ning Que asked surprisedly, ”There is a message left by the Buddha on the 'Ming' Handscroll!?”

Headmaster said, ”Of all the seven Tomes of the Arcane, the most important one is the 'Tian' Handscroll, but the most interesting one is the 'Ming' Handscroll. The others are not even worth reading.”

Ning Que suddenly realized something important, he asked, ”Have you... read the seven Tomes of the Arcane?”

Headmaster answered with certainty, ”Of course.”