Chapter 127 I've decided that whatever I've decided on—the person I've decided on, the thing I've decided on…
"Perhaps you've just let one villain go, and he turns around and kills another. Whose fate should be blamed for that other person's death? If Zeng Guyi were smart enough, he would have realized that Zeng Shujin was not a good person. If he had cleaned up his own house earlier, so many misfortunes wouldn't have happened."
Li Chen remained silent for a moment, then said softly, "I didn't know the value of life before, but when I faced life and death, I realized how precious this life is."
"Whenever I see someone who wants to live, I think of the Wanshan Sect disciples who perished with Li Xianghuan. I hope they can live, so when I see other people who want to live, I also hope they can live."
“Ah Yuan, death isn't the end for a person. They still have their own families, parents, relatives, partners, and even friends. After Li Xianghuan died, it seems no one was sad for her, but others might not feel the same way, so…”
Before Li Chenjin could finish speaking, Shen Zhengyuan suddenly asked, "Do you remember that portrait seller you let go hundreds of years ago?"
"Hmm?" Li Chen frowned, thinking for a long time. "I seem to remember that person. I never really remember people I don't usually... Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Shen Zhengyuan smiled enigmatically and said, "I just wanted to tell you..."
"When you didn't know, I went back and killed him."
"Anyone who has harmed me, even if killing them would cost me my life, I would rather die with them than let them go."
Li Chenjin: "..."
Li Chenjin: "You were so badly injured back then, why didn't your injuries flare up after you killed someone?"
Shen Zhengyuan said, "After I killed that person, I took some spiritual herbs from his house."
Li Chenjin: "..."
"What about his child?" Li Chen asked.
Shen Zhengyuan said, "Kill them."
Li Chen was stunned for a moment, "Huh?"
Did Shen Zhengyuan learn to eliminate all threats so early on?
Shen Zhengyuan didn't look like that at all back then...
After a brief silence, Shen Zhengyuan spoke calmly: "He doesn't actually have any children. That was just a lie he made up to beg for mercy. Besides, even if he did have children, so what? Anyone who has harmed me, whether they have children or not, must die."
Hearing Shen Zhengyuan's words, Li Chenjin did not react at all, only giving a flat "oh".
Everyone has their own way of dealing with things, and they also have their own cause and effect. She cannot force others to do something or not to do something.
After all, if forcing someone to do good deeds for their entire life were enough, there wouldn't be so many sinners in hell.
Just as she was about to continue down the mountain, she turned her head and saw that on the mountain path, there was a monk dressed in monk's robes. Although he looked old, he did not walk with the unsteady gait of an old monk.
The old monk was none other than Zen Master Mingcun, whom Li Chen had been thinking about for a long time. At this moment, he was walking slowly toward her with Monk Dusheng.
Zen Master Mingcun had a peaceful face with a faint smile. Just one glance at him could make people feel calm and serene, so much so that she didn't even feel comfortable speaking up to question him.
Li Chen sighed, clasped his hands together in his direction, and then said jokingly, "Old monk, you've kept quite a few things from me. I used to call you 'Master' and 'Zen Master' so many times, but in the end, you conspired with Sect Leader Shen to scheme against me."
Zen Master Mingcun's gentle gaze fell upon her, and then he smiled slightly at her, "Sect Leader Li must have many questions, but it is not time to answer them yet."
Upon hearing Zen Master Mingcun's words, Li Chen asked in surprise, "Not yet? Then when will it be time? When more people die?"
"Old monk, you knew all along. You must have seen my master back then. I suppose you already knew who the demons in the Ten Thousand Goodnesses Sect were back then? Why didn't you save my master? And you didn't just find me by chance, did you? You must have known all along and were waiting for me on that road, weren't you?"
Zen Master Mingcun sighed softly, "If everything in the world could be changed, how could there be any regrets in life?"
"Sect Leader Li, it's not that I didn't want to save him, but that I couldn't. At least at that time, I couldn't save him, nor was it possible for me to save him."
"Why can't they be saved? Why can't they be saved?" Li Chen asked simply and directly.
Zen Master Mingcun shook his head, not answering her question, but instead said, "That precious sword that once accompanied Sect Leader Li in his battles was once shrouded in murderous aura and was not good for people. Now, after years of weathering, it has been cleansed of its bloodthirsty aura and is a precious sword that can slay demons and protect people and oneself."
"Sect Leader Li, such a precious sword should be returned to the world. Perhaps, when it returns to its former owner, many of your questions will be answered."
Li Chen stared at the person in front of him, not knowing whether the old monk was talking about swords or indirectly referring to her.
Before she could speak, Zen Master Mingcun's gaze fell on Shen Zhengyuan, and he sighed, "Sect Leader Shen, do not commit any evil, do not harm any living beings, do not have any opinions, and do not have any attachments (1). Too much attachment is not good for you."
Shen Zhengyuan's lips curled slightly. "Mingcun, you're advising me again not to be attached to anything. But if I didn't have that 'attachment,' I would already be a skeleton, and the cultivation world would have been wiped out long ago. Besides, everyone is attached to living. Look at the world, how many people dare to die easily? Since everyone has attachments, why can't I?"
“I respect you a little, not because I believe in your Buddha, but simply because I don’t want her to be homeless. Your Buddha says ‘Do no evil,’ but people often kill each other, and evil people often live more comfortably than good people. I used to believe in your Buddha, but I have never seen your Buddha’s saying ‘Good deeds bring good rewards, and evil deeds bring evil consequences.’”
"Am I the one who is unkind, or my family? Or are my fellow disciples who sacrificed themselves for the common people unkind? Why have I never seen them receive good fortune? What does 'retribution is not that it will not come, but that the time has not yet arrived' mean? So many years have passed, hasn't the time come yet?"
“Sect Leader Shen, I know you have had many hardships in the past, but the entanglements of cause and effect in this world cannot be easily controlled by Buddhism.” Zen Master Mingcun sighed. “If I were to say that soon, Sect Leader Shen’s relatives and fellow disciples will have the opportunity to ascend to the Immortal Realm, would Sect Leader Shen be willing to believe it?”
Shen Zhengyuan gave a cold laugh, "If the price of ascending to the Immortal Realm is to endure hundreds of years of suffering, then what is the point of becoming an immortal or a Buddha?"
Zen Master Mingcun sighed again, but ultimately said nothing more.
He remained silent, but Shen Zhengyuan had not yet finished speaking. He continued, "Mingcun, you don't need to worry about me all the time, whether I will drag the whole world down with me in order to seek revenge. I have no such thoughts now, and I don't think I will in the future."
"Right now, all I want to do is protect those I should protect and guard the places I should guard. As long as you in the meditation community behave yourselves and don't block my way, I naturally won't do anything to you. As for the obsession you mentioned, I really can't let it go, and it's impossible for me to let it go."
"In my life, Shen Zhengyuan, I've had very little to hold onto. Heaven has already taken so much from me, why must I also give up my last remaining obsession?"
Zen Master Mingcun shook his head repeatedly, "Sect Leader Shen, it's not like that..."
Shen Zhengyuan interrupted him, "I don't care what you mean, I'm just telling you, I can't let go, and I can't let go. Even if I persist to the end and what awaits me is a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, or an abyss, I will never let go."
"As long as it's someone I've chosen, or something I've decided on, I will stick to it no matter what, until death do us part."
………………
The reason Shen Zhengyuan and Li Chenjin left in such a hurry was probably because Shen Zhengyuan didn't want Li Chenjin to talk too much with Zen Master Mingcun, fearing that he would "lead Li Chenjin astray." Therefore, after finishing his sentence, he immediately set up a teleportation array and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After they left, only Zen Master Mingcun and Monk Dusheng remained on the mountain path.
The monk Dusheng gazed in the direction they had disappeared, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Master, there is something I don't understand. You said that you wanted to change Master Shen's attachment, and that if Master Shen had no attachment, he would find it difficult to be reborn. Why are you now advising him to let go?"
Zen Master Mingcun smiled slightly and slowly said, "Sect Leader Shen's obsession was too heavy and too deep in the past. If it is not intervened or guided, it will not only backfire on him, but also cause great suffering to living beings. However, that obsession cannot be eliminated, otherwise the lineage of the Dharma cultivation world will be difficult to continue. Therefore, I used a convenient method to transfer some of Sect Leader Shen's obsession."
"However, obsession will eventually dissipate, whether forced or voluntary, it cannot last forever. Just as in this world, love is temporary, separation is long, and things cannot be together forever (2). Therefore, being too attached is to sow the seeds of suffering, and one day it will hurt both oneself and others. Moreover..."
Zen Master Mingcun stopped halfway through his sentence, looked up at the stars above, and for some reason, fell silent.
Following his gaze, the monk looked up for a moment, but couldn't discern anything amiss in the sky. He could only ask, "Master, what are you looking at? And why did you suddenly fall silent just now?"
Zen Master Mingcun withdrew his gaze and smiled, saying, "I merely looked at what the world speaks of regarding the future. Dusheng, what do you think of Headmaster Li's character?"
The monk Dusheng pondered for a moment, “Sect Leader Li is an excellent person, but he didn’t understand good and evil in the past, and he didn’t believe in cause and effect. Now… although he deeply believes in cause and effect, he still doesn’t understand good and evil. Li was ruthless in the past, but now he is sometimes too soft-hearted. He is not at ease.”
Master Mingcun nodded and continued, “But even so, Headmaster Li has a very deep affinity with Buddhism. However, ‘Those who pursue the Way are like one person fighting against ten thousand. When they put on their armor and go out, they may be timid, retreat halfway, die in battle, or return victorious. When monks study the Way, they should persevere in their hearts, be diligent and courageous, not be afraid of what lies ahead, destroy all demons, and attain the fruit of the Way (3)’.
"Although Master Li has the opportunity, when and how that opportunity will ripen is beyond human control. If Master Li can truly attain liberation in the end, then Buddhism will have one more protector."
Upon hearing this, the monk Dusheng felt a chill run down his spine.
He remained silent for a while before speaking again, asking in a deep voice, "Master, if I also wish to attain liberation, what should I do?"
Zen Master Mingcun turned around and looked at Monk Dusheng. He stared at him for a long time before smiling and saying, "Even if there were an iron wheel spinning on your head, you would not lose your Bodhi mind because of this suffering (4)."
The author's note: (1) From the Avatamsaka Sutra
(2) From the Buddha's Discourse on the Bodhisattva Shanzi
(3) From the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra
(4) From the Avatamsaka Sutra
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