Chapter 141: Aspiration to Become a Buddha
In the magnificent palace, one can occasionally see auspicious Buddhist animals such as lions, peacocks, white elephants, and peng birds.
Li Zhou waved a small red flag and shouted out the names of the small animals wherever he went, completely treating the Pure Land as a zoo.
However, in the eyes of Master Lechen and Yue Niang, these "little animals" were like divine beasts guarding this place. When they didn't see Li Zhou, every hair on their heads revealed hostility towards the invaders.
They let out low, gloomy growls from their throats, their claws and wings fluttered restlessly, and their eyes were fixed on people, as if they would pounce on them and tear them to pieces at any time.
Then, these divine beasts that were ready to go saw Li Zhou walking towards them with short legs.
Under the feet of this two-headed child's body, there lurked a large, shapeless shadow.
The shadow was not ferocious, but existed silently, occasionally touching the golden Buddha statue and taking a bite without making any sound.
The palace was gradually filled with such shadows, which were hazy and vague, as if separated by a layer of window paper, but could break through the paper at any time.
The golden statues of gods and Buddhas are as thin as paper, let alone these mythical beasts?
Surrounded by shadows, the beasts’ eyes that were filled with anger became clear, their blown-up fur became soft and docile, and the lion even opened its mouth and breathed out like a dog, becoming as docile as it could be.
Master Liaochen: “…”
Although she had already fallen out with the Pratyekabuddha, she still felt a little embarrassed when she saw this scene.
In addition to "small animals" in the "zoo", there are naturally "acrobatic performances".
When Li Zhou walked into the most magnificent and gorgeous palace, he could faintly hear the sound of soldiers fighting outside the palace, as if a large army had surrounded the place. The air was filled with a strong smell of rust. A group of monks and nuns cut off their ears, noses, and fingers in this murderous atmosphere.
They dripped their blood into the incense, and the thick and deep incense had a disturbing sweetness, but they seemed not to notice it, and said: "The destiny of heaven is about to end, and I will kill myself and die. Please ask the Buddha to stay in the world to save the world from war and eliminate future suffering."
Amid the low chanting, the facial features of the monks and nuns turned into bleeding black holes, and the murderous screams gradually subsided.
Yue Niang was slightly moved and looked at Master Chen: "This is..."
"After the fall of Daxia, the country was in turmoil and war was everywhere. The Pratyekabuddha could not bear the suffering of sentient beings, so he led his followers to destroy their bodies and ask the Buddha to appear in the world to end the war... However, until their blood was dried, the Buddha did not appear. The Pratyekabuddha realized the truth that there is no Buddha in the world, and he became a Buddha in an instant. The bandits who wanted to rob the temple were moved by this scene and finally retreated on their own."
Master Liaochen talked about the stories passed down from generation to generation in Yehe Temple, and her eyes wandered among the crowd, trying to find the Pratyekabuddha who was still in the world at that time.
However, she looked around several times but did not find a face that matched the portrait.
Li Zhou pointed at the floor between the monks and nuns and said doubtfully, "Isn't there going to be a big miracle? There's someone breathing down there."
Master Liaochen was stunned for a moment, then her heart sank, and she had a vague bad premonition. She didn't care that this was a Buddhist pure land, she quickly stepped forward, leaned over and punched him.
Although he had lost most of his magic power, his physical strength from years of martial arts training had not diminished at all.
With a bang, a big hole was created on the floor by her powerful punch, and the person in the hole was exposed in front of her.
She staggered back a few steps and was supported by Yue Niang who came over.
Li Zhou ran forward and looked at the panicked young monk in the cave. His ears, nose and fingers were intact.
Yue Niang said hesitantly: "He is..."
In a moment, Master Liaochen had calmed down and said calmly, "He looked like the Pratyekabuddha when he was still in the human world."
The story in the classics is false. The Buddha who has been worshipped in Yehe Temple for so many years is actually a person who lives a life of shame?
How can such a person become a Buddha?
The questions in her mind were soon answered.
After the young monk climbed out of the cave, he seemed not to have seen the three of them at all. He turned around and stretched out his hand into the cave.
A middle-aged man dressed in cloth, with an unprepossessing appearance, sunken cheeks, and eyes and brows that bore a three-point resemblance to the current emperor, grasped his wrist and emerged from deeper inside.
If this person's face looked older and rounder, it would be exactly the same as the widely circulated portrait of Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The two men stood in front of the bleeding monk and nun, their eyes flashing with obscure dark light. The middle-aged man took a deep breath of the bloody smell in the air, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was asking the young monk: "How many days have we not eaten?"
“Three days…” The young monk seemed to realize something and shuddered, “Great… Great King… They are all my fellow disciples and close relatives.”
The middle-aged man sighed: "If I starve to death here, what's the point of talking about clearing the world and supporting the country?"
"But... they damaged their bodies to protect you and me. Please withdraw the troops." The young monk stammered, glanced at the middle-aged man quickly, and lowered his head again. "They are willing to do this because they heard about your aspirations."
The middle-aged man could no longer bear it and walked up to a monk, looking at him like a piece of prime meat: "Then I can't die." He muttered, "I'm so hungry... so hungry that I want... want..."
The young monk was still hesitating, and the monk opposite the middle-aged man, with blood all over his face, took the initiative to use his last two fingers to pass the dagger to him.
The monks and nuns' voices rang out again, echoing in the empty hall:
"The destiny of heaven is about to end, and the body will be destroyed. Please ask the Buddha to stay in the world to save the present war and eliminate future suffering."
This means I am willing to feed you with my own body.
The middle-aged man took a deep breath, clasped his fists and said, "When I conquer the Central Plains, I will make your temple the state religion."
He held the dagger and was about to strike, but the young monk seemed to have thought of something, walked over quickly, put his hands together and said, "Your Majesty, this matter that is against the harmony of heaven should be left to me."
At this moment, unlike his previous hesitation, fear and uneasiness, his expression was stern, as if he was no different from his fellow disciple and close relative who had sacrificed his life to save the world.
The middle-aged man looked at him deeply and handed over the dagger. He took it and stabbed his fellow disciple in the heart.
The sound of falling to the ground, the sound of cloth tearing, the sound of knives cutting flesh, the sound of bones rubbing, the sound of flames crackling, the sound of meat roasting, the sound of swallowing...
Yue Niang finally couldn't hold it in any longer and turned around to vomit. Master Liaochen stared at the young monk intently, as if she wanted to remember everything he had done deeply in her mind.
After it was over, the young monk said, "Your Majesty, the dead must make way for the living."
The middle-aged man said, "What have you thought of?"
"Today, everyone is killing themselves to pray to the Buddha, and it may not be that the real Buddha has come to the world. If even the Buddha comes to help you, doesn't it prove that the destiny is with you?"
"If that's the case, then where is this true Buddha?"
"It's all thanks to the king's golden words."
After a brief silence, the middle-aged man looked at the young monk.
A smile full of Buddha nature appeared on the monk's face.
The deal is done.
The monks and nuns who fed the emperor with their own bodies did not leave their names.
With the support of the emperor, the young monk became the Buddha of one of the five major orthodox religions of the Great Friday.
Master Liaochen suddenly realized.
The "zheng" in "zhengjiao" apparently refers to whether one has a certificate of ordination, but in fact it refers to whether one supports the rule of the Great Zhou.
Although she didn't know the origins of the other four orthodox religions, Master Liaochen had already become suspicious. Perhaps, they were able to become one of the five major religions because they made great contributions and sacrifices when the Great Zhou was founded.
Although this sacrifice is not necessarily a sacrifice of themselves.
She should be angry, Master Liaochen thought. There are people in the world who are so shameless, and she is one of them.
It is precisely because of the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty that she can have the life and status she has today. Otherwise, she would have become a dog of troubled times and would have died in some disaster.
But she only felt a sense of enlightenment in her heart: it turns out that there is really no Buddha in this world.
At present, it is still a world without Buddha.
Just as the past of the Pratyekabuddha was completely revealed, the young monk who seemed to be blind to the outsider turned around and said, "Liaochen, have you cleared the confusion in your heart?"
Master Liaochen was stunned. She had just achieved enlightenment, but now she felt a little confused again.
It turns out that the Pratyekabuddha knew that they were watching, so why did he still show this past?
The young monk said, "It is easy to sacrifice one's life, but difficult to save others. If you cannot end the troubled times, how can you save all living beings? If you don't have the determination to do whatever it takes, how can you end the troubled times?" Those who accomplish great things do not care about trivial matters. Doesn't the current peaceful and prosperous times prove that the choices made by Taizu and Pratyekabuddha were correct?
Master Liaochen was shocked when she heard the young monk continue, "Your disciple is a natural-born demon from outside the realm. Who can guarantee that she will never lose control? Can you bear the consequences of losing control? If troubles break out again because of her, will you regret your choice today?"
As he asked these questions, the figure of the young monk became more and more illusory. When the word "regret" came out, the monk's figure suddenly disappeared, and huge Buddhas in gorgeous clothes appeared in the air.
The Buddha statue surrounded the three people, and with a low roaring voice and lowered eyes, he said indifferently: "Liaochen, it's time to make a decision!"
In Ciyu Temple, Tan Yin helped the half-demon Li Zhou wipe the oily cheek, and similar words echoed in his mind.
Yes, the little fox seems to be helping people now, but she is essentially an alien. Who can guarantee that she can always stand on the side of all living beings?
While thinking, the idle half-demon Li Zhou suddenly stretched out her hand, and an ant on the table crawled along her fingertips to the palm of her hand, picking up the rice grains remaining in her palm.
One ant was unable to move the items, so it quickly crawled back to the ground to call its friends. Soon, a line of ants followed the table legs, climbed onto the table top, and started moving the items together.
Tan Yin looked at the little fox hesitantly. She leaned over the table, tilted her head, and observed the ant in her palm attentively. She seemed full of curiosity, but also seemed careless and just glanced at it casually.
Somehow, when seeing such a little fox, Tan Yin felt as if a huge stone was pressing on his heart, heavy.
The ants took the rice grains from the palm of the half-demon Li Zhou. Li Zhou followed the direction they left and found an ant hole hidden in the corner of the wall. He looked around and his eyes fell on the teapot with half of the tea left.
Tan Yin held his breath, somewhat afraid to see what would happen next.
However, she still tried to keep her eyes open, looking at Li Zhou, looking at her choice.
Li Zhou picked up the teapot and took a step when an earwig flew in from somewhere and flew towards the ants, with its front legs extended and its jaws open, making an obvious hunting posture.
Li Zhou paused and shifted her attention from the ant to the earwig. She stretched out her hand and easily pinched the earwig, which seemed ferocious and domineering in front of the ant, and played with it with great interest for a long time.
Tan Yin stared at Li Zhou in a daze, then looked at the ant, let out a breath of depression, and finally felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.
The little fox might get out of control in the future and create a catastrophe in this world, but those gods who are eager to see the world in chaos have become the real natural enemies of this world.
How could the ants ignore the threat from earwigs and go after humans first?
In the Pratyekabuddha Pure Land, surrounded by a huge golden Buddha, Master Liaochen looked directly into the Buddha's eyes. Her gorgeous robes turned into smoke, and she was left with only a coarse monk's robe.
"Since Buddha is a fake Buddha," she looked up at the tall and majestic Pratyekabuddha, who exuded a majestic aura that was very close to that of the Buddha, "Why not let me become this Buddha?"
"Buddha" said that Zhu'er might lose control in the future, so she made a great vow to be responsible for this "possibility".
From today on, all the karma of Li Zhou will be borne solely by her, Lechen.
The price of this great ambition actually made Lechen qualified to become a Buddha in an instant.
“Crack.”
In front of Tanyin, the Buddha statue with gorgeous clothes, sitting in half-lotus position, and a footprint erected behind it, had a crack.
A trace of astonishment appeared on the solemn face of the Buddha statue.
In the ears of Tan Yin, those in Yehe Temple, and many of his fellow disciples who were traveling around the world, the Buddha's sad lament could be heard: "Unrepentant...seeking one's own death..." But there was a hint of self-mockery in his voice, as if these words were not directed at someone else, but at himself.
Cannibalism, stealing the sacrifices and contributions of fellow disciples, and even cooperating with the natural enemies of this world... compared to Master Liaochen's determination to save all living beings by any means necessary, how does it compare to her taking all the sins of the world upon herself?
A golden footprint emitting boundless magical power fell from the sky and landed on Master Chen's head regardless of everything. It only stalemated with the power of ambition around her for a moment before it dissipated with a bang.
In the afterglow of his magical powers, Pratyekabuddha left his last words: "May you... not regret..."
The Pratyekabuddha statues scattered all over the country shattered as the footprint dissipated. Among the debris fell out a new Buddha, with a baby on his back, a slightly hunched back, wearing coarse clothes, and smiling with his eyes downcast.
Baby Li Zhou looked at Master Liaochen who was walking towards the depths of the palace and called out "Teacher" several times, but she never looked back once.
Li Zhou showed a puzzled look, Yue Niang touched her head and explained: "The nun will not go back with us."
"Why? Is this her home?"
"You could say that."
"I understand, she wants to stay and inherit the family business!"
“…”
"Then if you want to come and play next time, can you get a free ticket?"
"Do you still want to come, Zhuer?"
"Yeah." Li Zhou said, "There are small animals, acrobatic performances, and drama performances here. It's really fun."
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Yue Niang guiltily. She didn't tell her mother that when she passed by the Lion, Peacock, White Elephant, and Dapeng Pavilions, she secretly nibbled a few bites of the fruits in the pavilions, but the fruits were dry and had little moisture, so she didn't eat much.
Fortune teller Li Zhou looked at the sizzling seafood on the iron plate with satisfaction, smelled the fragrant aroma, sprinkled some cumin, and sighed in his heart that seafood was still delicious.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
