936 Enchanted Morning Bell and Return of Light of Buddha (1/2)

Ning Que asked, ”What if you can't kill Buddha?”

Jun Mo answered, ”Then I will die.”

He talked about death casually, but Ning Que was astonished to hear him say so. After a long silence, Ning Que asked again, ”Second Brother, Buddha may still be alive.”

Jun Mo didn't believe it at all and responded, ”Nonsense. Buddha has already reached Nirvana. If he was still in the human world, how could the Headmaster not know? How could Haotian not know?”

Ning Que signed and said, ”She really doesn't know whether Buddha is alive or dead. Why else would she come to Xuankong Temple?”

Jun Mo went silent for a moment and said, ”Then we have to figure it out.”

The two returned to the small tent on the lakeside and found that Sangsang was sleeping.

It turned out that Haotian could get sleepy. Hearing the footsteps, she opened her eyes and looked at Ning Que. ”I spared his life for the sake of the old days to cut off my ties with him.”

Jun Mo said, ”I already said that I would never ask for Heaven's forgiveness before the Battle of Verdant Canyon.”

Ning Que tried to persuade her, ”The whole cutting-off your-ties-with-the-human-world thing doesn't work this way. Can you be reasonable?”

Sitting up, Sangsang looked at Jun Mo and said, ”Speaking of being reasonable, you puzzled me. If it was a trap set by Buddha to kill me, then why are you standing by my side? I thought that the Academy would love to see my death.”

As Haotian, she knew Jun Mo's standpoint from his expression. The reason why she didn't ask Ning Que was that she had already accustomed to Ning Que's full support.

Jun Mo answered calmly, ”I am ashamed.”

He meant that he would be ashamed to stand by the Buddhism's side.

Ning Que answered in a more direct way, ”The Academy would never do such a disgraceful thing.”

…

…

Leaving the lake and meadow in front of the cliff, Ning Que and Sangsang wandered around the field underground and tried to find signs that revealed whether Buddha was alive or dead.

Sometimes while grilling fish by the lake, he would wonder what his Second Brother was doing. Was he waving his iron sword and killing the nobles and soldier monks? Or was he trying to talk some sense to the Living Buddhas?

Jun Mo may have to keep waving his iron sword in this miserable world for the next decades. The Buddha land which had enjoyed tranquility for many years must be full of tempestuous storms. The Xuankong Temple who enslaved millions of serfs will probably begin to tremble due to fear.

Thinking about this, Ning Que felt passionate even though he was a cold blooded man. He was anxious to fight alongside Second Brother, but he had more important things to do. Even though he had finished his business with Buddha and Haotian, he still had to return to Chang'an and finish his business with the human world.

Their journey of searching for Buddha continued. Ning Que and Sangsang traveled through the vast field in the giant sinkhole, but gained nothing. They became more and more silent.

The unknown was disturbing, especially for those who were omniscient.

Walking through the field and then climbing the mountain peaks again, Sangsang wandered around countless temples between the cliffs, meditated in front of solemn Buddha statues and silently stared at the sky standing on the edge of the cliff.

In the Commandment Hall of the West Peak, they stood among the old trees and listened to the sound of the cane falling on the monks. In the East Peak, they stood in the shadow of the cliff stone and watched the soldier monks stomping on the ground.

They saw Qi Nian in meditation in the Grand Hall on the peak and saw a willowy old monk who was making porridge and an ancient clock in a thatched cottage behind the hall.

Xuankong Temple seemed so solemn and peaceful, which was completely different from the world under the peak. Looking at these, Ning Que was puzzled. Buddhism talks about compassion all the time. The monks meditate on the mountain peaks, but the people suffered greatly under the peaks. How could they keep meditating in peace?

In the yellow temple on the cliff yard below the peak, Ning Que saw an acquaintance, Master Huang Yang, who left Chang'an and came to Xuankong Temple inquiring about Buddha. At this point, Sangsang was wondering elsewhere, so Huang Yang only saw Ning Que.

Master Huang Yang was a little surprised. Ning Que shared his experience of these days briefly. Realizing that there have been so many things that had happened in the world, the master asked, ”You should leave soon.”

Ning Que frowned slightly and asked, ”What happened in Xuankong Temple?”

Master Huang Yang shook his head and answered, ”I don't know what is it, but there must be something going on.”

Being a younger brother of the Tang emperor, Master Huang Yang enjoyed a extremely honorable position in the human world, which was the reason for the courteous reception he received from Xuankong Temple. However, the temple treated him well until recently. The monks stopped visiting him, which alerted him, for he felt that the temple deliberately isolated him.

The master knew exactly what was going on the moment he saw Ning Que.

Sangsang stepped on the Chief Monk of Scripture into the solid ground in the field, but the Chief Monk didn't die. The Hanging Temple was not surprised to learn that Sangsang and Ning Que had arrived here.

Ning Que wasn't worried at all, for Haotian was right beside him.

Master Huang Yang knew what he was thinking, but he had some different views. He removed the prayer beads from his wrist and handed them to Ning Que. He solemnly said, ”Buddha is compassionate, but he can get angry sometimes.”

Hearing the word ”compassionate” in Xuankong Temple, Ning Que felt uncomfortable subconsciously. Walking to the stone steps in front of the temple, he pointed to the world covered by the clouds under the peak and asked, ”Can you see any compassion there?”

Master Huang Yang knew that Ning Que had been wondering around the underground world for quite a while and said, ”Many years ago, Buddha built the Buddha land with great will. He constructed countless yellow temples among the peaks, and migrated innumerable sinful people here to support the monks. He hoped that these sinful people could be civilized by Buddha Dharma, thus washing off their sins.”

Ning Que answered, ”Bullshit. I am not sure whether the mortals who were brought here by Buddha were really sinful. Even if they were, there were laws to punish them. Buddha is just a cultivator. Who gave him the right to declare their sentences? Even if those people were really sinful, how could their offsprings suffer for their sins? Why should they live in such an injustice place?”

Master Huang Yang admired Buddha, so he couldn't echo Ning Que's accusation or make excuses for Buddha. After a long silence, the master said, ”The bitterness in this life may lead to a blessed afterlife.”

Turning around on the stone step, Ning Que looked at looked at the Buddha statue in the temple and said, ”An illusory afterlife can never counterbalance the sufferings one had endured in this life no matter how joyful this afterlife is. The Buddha you worship is indeed disgusting.”

Master Huang Yang replied, ”Maybe the Xuankong Temple was a mistake. But who dares to disobey the rules set by Buddha?”

Ning Que said, ”Meditation is the right way to cultivate Buddha Dharma. How could these monks be so absorbed in meditating while the people here suffer greatly?”

Master Huang Yang answered, ”Most of the monks here have never stepped off the mountain peaks.”

Ning Que said, ”But they are not fools. They know clearly what the world under the peak is like, and the Xuankong Temple is also engaged deeply with the human world. Those soldier monks who are assigned to the human world and strong ones like you and Qi Nian will inevitably pass through the field while leaving the giant sinkhole. How could you never care for these poor people?”

Master Huang Yang said, ”You do have a point. The Xuankong Temple has been passed down for countless years, and there indeed were some monks with high moral integrity who tried to make a difference even though they had to disobey Buddha. Unfortunately, they all failed. And what puzzled these monks the most was that when they tried to improve the living situation of the people under the mountain peaks, the latter would get disoriented as if the bitterness has become the core of their life.”

Ning Que said, ”Faith is addictive. One must bite the bullet to get rid of it, and the beginning is always the hardest. How could you give up because of temporary pain?”

Master Huang Yang asked, ”But what if the Buddha land begins to fall?”

Ning Que said, ”Why should you care for this damn place falling?”

Huang Yang master shook his head helplessly. You are not one of us. Of course it's easy for you to say so. But as disciples of Buddha, how could the monks in Xuankong Temple just let the Buddha land fall?

Ning Que continued to say, ”How could these monks put up with the way the Xuankong Temple operates if they were truly merciful?”