That piece of ruins.
Broken brackets and flying eaves, rotten bricks, tiles, beams and pillars, and shattered mountains and hills mixed into a turbid sea of ​​garbage, densely spread in the void, from left to right, from front to back, from top to bottom, layer upon layer, stretching for billions of miles.
Occasionally, one can see broken golden Buddha statues crookedly "immersed" in the garbage. They used to be smiling or kind, but they no longer have the compassion and power they once had, nor any spiritual light or spirituality. They just drift in the void, following the flow.
In this garbage area that has been designated as a restricted area by the Heaven Court and has even disappeared from the star map issued by the Heaven Court for countless years, some broken small land masses and some rotten small veins are struggling to survive. They barely maintain a little spiritual power to support some small tribes on the small land masses who pretend to be deaf and dumb, pretend to be confused, conceal their spiritual intelligence and wisdom, and disguise themselves as bloodthirsty beasts.
A few skinny but clean fured large white mice, with a hint of immortal aura in their every move, slowly ran through a pile of rocks.
They jumped freely over the floating ruins and passed through the narrow gaps.
Suddenly, a big white mouse squeaked with joy. It found a three-inch long golden candle with a faint sandalwood scent from under the altar of a palace that had collapsed for countless years.
Several large white mice came over happily, they gathered around the small candle, took a few deep breaths, and breathed in the rich sandalwood fragrance emitted by the precious candle. The shrunken bodies of these large white mice became slightly plumper, and their hair, which was originally clean and soft, but dry and dull like dead grass, also had a hint of oily luster.
They carried the precious candle, quickly passed through piles of garbage, passed through large floating ruins, and returned to their own nest at full speed.
Occasionally, thunder could be heard from the distant horizon. The Heavenly Guards, wearing golden armor and covered in lightning, held long spears and stood on a heavy chariot towed by four-winged Pegasus horses, like Thor patrolling the sky, slowly passing by. These big white rats quickly huddled in the ruins, their aura suddenly restrained, not a single bit leaking out, just like zombies that had lived for thousands of years without any aura dissipating.
The Heavenly Guards who were responsible for suppressing this endless ruins... For countless years, they had been ordered to guard here, working in three shifts every day, patrolling the four directions in an orderly manner. But for countless years, this place was as peaceful as a midnight cemetery in the secular world of the Dharma Ending Age, without even a ghost.
From top to bottom, no matter how brave and skilled in fighting these Heavenly Guards were, how strict and disciplined they were, too many years had passed... all their vigilance and sense of responsibility had long been worn away by the endless and boring years. They sat steadily on the chariots, but their spirits had long since flown away to who knows where, and who knows what they were thinking about.
They are too lazy and simply don't notice that these cultivation levels are roughly equivalent to opening up one or two acupoints. Because their physical qualifications are too weak, their combat power is not even as good as that of the weakest heavenly soldiers. They are just like big white rats.
There are countless small creatures like this in this sea of ​​garbage, and these big white rats are very good at concealing their breath and pretending to be dead. How could these high-ranking guards notice their existence?
A group of chariots flashed with lightning and quickly went away with a dull roar.
There were bowel sounds coming from the chariot, and a patrolling guard leader muttered in a low voice: "It's time to go to Wanhua Tower to drink... Let's drink more and take the opportunity to have a fight. Um, break the legs of the old procuress and the girls."
“Yes!”
A group of guards responded happily.
"It's not that I have any opinion on them, they really serve well... But, after so many years, I have seen the same old faces over and over again... They are even more familiar than my own old wives... I am too lazy to look at them anymore. It's not just me, the senior officials above me think so too."
"Break their legs, give them a sum of money from the emperor, and let them go home and become good women... Replace them with a new batch of girls." The head of the imperial guards sighed: "After so many years, they have been visiting brothels as if they were their own homes... This is too much, they are not good people anymore."
A group of guards smiled bitterly.
They were once the most powerful, elite, and loyal army in Heaven, and the army that Emperor Taichu trusted the most... Therefore, after Emperor Taichu established Heaven, he entrusted them with the important task of suppressing this "Demon Realm".
But after so many years... the iron-blooded and passionate people of the past have long been worn away. The hot and popular palaces, halls, mansions, and government offices in the heavens have long ignored this place... Everything here is dead, even the brothels, after so many years, have only the same old faces over and over again!
Well, let's get drunk and cause trouble, break the legs of the madam and a few girls, and force the shopkeeper behind them to replace them with new ones!
If it wasn't for the alcohol, our 'friendship' over the years would have almost turned into ' emotion ' and 'family affection'... Really, I'm too embarrassed to tear our faces apart!
The guards walked away.
The big white rats shook off their hair, carefully jumped out of the garbage dump, carrying a small candle, and shuttled back and forth among the piles of garbage. After spending several days, they finally returned to a tiny land mass that was less than 30 miles long and wide.
This tiny landmass was surrounded by mountains of varying sizes that had been beaten to pieces, forming a natural barrier. The guards, who were becoming increasingly careless, did not discover this tiny landmass that contained a tiny secret.
On this land mass, the white rats formed a small, though poor, but vibrant community.
They collected countless useful scraps from garbage dumps in all directions. The entire small landmass was paved neatly with carved white jade tiles, and beams made of gold and silver supported several small, decent palaces.
In those halls, several largely intact Buddha statues sit steadily on the altars.
On the altar were treasures such as giant clams, pearls, diamonds, etc. that the big white rats had dug out from the ruins... There were also some juicy fresh fruits as offerings, and even a few flowers that were rare in this sea of ​​garbage, neatly arranged.
In front of every Buddha statue, there were even incense sticks rising and crude candle flames flickering.
These incense sticks and candles are all crude works made by the big white rats.
Although the materials are not very good and the workmanship is very rough, for a group of weak mice with few resources, this gesture is extremely grand and priceless.
When the rats returned, they saw hundreds of small-bodied, tender-looking rats surrounding a lotus pond about a mile long and wide in the squares in front of the temples. They were led by several elders with scars all over their bodies, reciting Buddhist scriptures with their heads shaking, and worshipping the Buddha statues in the temples, doing their daily homework.
The three-inch long precious candle was brought to the elders by several big white mice.
Several elders jumped around the precious candle happily for a while, then they carried it solemnly, staggered to the largest hall in the middle, and placed the candle on the altar.
An old rat man with a white beard that looked like a goatee and was almost as long as his body stood up, staring blankly at the precious candle. His thin old face seemed to show both sadness and joy, and soon his eyes were filled with tears.
"Many years, many years."
"When I was a little mouse, my great grandfather had so many of these precious candles of merit that they were so numerous that they could not be described... They were burning all over the mountains and valleys!"
"Oh, at that time, in the holy land of Nalanda, there were 48,000 shrines on a mountain. In each shrine, there were at least three or five statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Arhat, and Heavenly King, and at most thousands of statues... In front of each Buddha statue, Bodhisattva statue, Arhat statue, and Heavenly King statue, there was a precious candle that never went out all year round!"
"There are more than a million Buddha statues like this in the entire holy land of Nalanda. Tens of millions?"
“Tsk tsk, using the power of the entire heaven and earth to worship a holy place… The entire Maitreya Heaven, the people as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, are all believers of my Buddha…” The old rat wiped his eyes and murmured in a low voice: “Tsk tsk, even I, the ancestor, at that time, when I had no cultivation at all, could see the power of faith in the sky like a tsunami, swarming in.”
"At that time, a Buddha said that a certain disciple was worthy of being used, and after receiving initiation and power transfer... a mortal with no cultivation at all, or a mountain beast that had just awakened its spiritual wisdom, would ascend to the level of a heavenly king, arhat, bodhisattva, or even a Buddha."
"Oh my." The old mouse sighed in a low voice, "In our clan of Flower-picking Rat, there are three ancestors who have been favored by the Buddha. At the great... Dharma Assembly, in front of countless Buddhist disciples and believers, the Buddha pointed his hand, and those three ancestors became Buddhas directly."
"Maitreya Heaven, the Holy Land of Nalanda!" The old rat shook his head and grunted with gnashing teeth, "Those traitors, those wicked bastards... They colluded with the devil, subverted the Holy Land, and slaughtered so many of our people, so many Buddhist disciples, and so many devout believers..."
The old mouse finally couldn't control his emotions anymore, and a few turbid tears fell to the ground. The tears exploded, but there was a strange Taoist charm spreading in the tears. The water vapor transformed from the tears slowly bloomed, like a ceiling, condensed into green bean-sized flowers, gracefully floating on the white jade ground.
The 'Flower-Picking Rat' clan, this is the origin of their clan name.
They used to be the Buddhist monks in the holy land of Nalanda, and each of them had a nest of pets. On weekdays, they burned incense, offered candles, cleaned the halls and pavilions, and guarded the secret places. These were all the internal affairs of the flower rat clan. In fact, their tears naturally had the strange phenomenon of "falling to the ground and blooming flowers", which was really pleasing, especially to the Buddhist monks!
However, with the destruction of the Nalanda Holy Land and the disappearance of pure Buddhist practice, the once-powerful flower-picking rat tribe gradually declined. Now, in the garbage sea that was once the Nalanda Holy Land, there is only a nest of more than a thousand big white rats, which is considered the largest "tribe".
Silently.
Monk Sanzang appeared behind these big white mice that were "reminiscing about the past and sighing about the present".
He quietly looked at these chipmunks from head to tail. They were less than a foot long, skinny, but with a graceful Taoist spirit, clean and flowing fur, and lively eyes. He nodded gently.
"You are able to remember your former master and continue to worship the Buddha. You have merit and should be rewarded!" Monk Sanzang emitted infinite Buddha light from his body, illuminating this small piece of land.
A group of flower-picking rats looked back in horror. They stared in amazement at Monk Sanzang, whose whole body was radiating Buddha's light and had a strong and long-lasting Buddhist rhyme. They trembled all over and could not recover for a long time.
Loyalty to Buddhism and closeness to the great Buddhist powers have been imprinted in their blood and bones for countless years, forming an instinctive imprint in their souls that cannot be erased from generation to generation.
Seeing Monk Sanzang at this moment and feeling the powerful Buddhist aura from him, these flower-picking mice trembled and subconsciously followed the etiquette of worshiping, offering and respecting Buddha inherited from generation to generation in their blood, and paid homage to Monk Sanzang.
The oldest one, the 'Grandfather' who had witnessed the battle that destroyed the Holy Land of Nalanda, trembled as he presented the three-inch precious candle to Monk Sanzang.
Compared with the heyday of the Holy Land of Nalanda, this three-inch precious candle is so insignificant.
But this is the best offering that this nest of chipmunks can offer.
Monk Sanzang grinned, smiled, and nodded slowly: "You are all good children... That's great... Bai Nu, it's time to do something."
Formed by countless strange evil spirits, she stood quietly behind Monk Sanzang, as silent as a ghost, without even leaking out her breath. She was clearly standing in front of a nest of chipmunk, but none of the chipmunk could 'see' or 'feel' her. The white girl nodded slowly.
The colorful colors around her changed. She clearly had only one body, but under her feet, seven colorful and graceful shadows appeared.
Waves of strange power turned into invisible ripples, sweeping around, and in an instant swept across the ruins that stretched for billions of miles. Countless creatures of all sizes who survived here, with a subtle aftertaste of Buddhism in their bodies, looked up in horror, with a few tiny . They trembled all over, just like a nest of chipmunks, and bowed in the direction of the monk Sanzang.
In the huge ruins.
Countless strange beings were awakened.
Not the physical body.
Not the soul.
Not a ghost.
It is a 'concept', a 'weirdness', a 'trace'...
For example, the tears shed by a Buddha in the past.
For example, the saliva that once dripped from a novice monk.
For example, there was once the sound of a Bodhisattva chanting scriptures.
For example, the roar of a certain heavenly king who died in battle.
For example, the Buddha statues destroyed by the army of heaven, the wooden fish that were smashed to pieces, the Buddhist bells that were melted into pieces, the Sutra Library and Sutra Building that were burned to ashes, and the traces of incense, candles and fireworks that were washed away by the torrent of Buddhist music stirred by heaven were once left in this void...
Even the concept of the Holy Land of Nalanda has left all kinds of marks and ripples in this space and time in the past, present, and future...
As a result, the name of "Maitreya Heaven" that only remains in the hearts of a very few people, such as the "ancestor" of this nest of chipmunks... and the traces left by this name in the past, present, and future, the echoes it has stirred, and all the chain reactions that may be triggered in the future... all possibilities, all causes and effects, all projections, etc....
Such beautiful, strange, weird, and terrifying concepts, both tangible and intangible.
All these objects "woken up" in the strange breath emitted by the white woman... They woke up, they stretched their bodies, they breathed in all the elements they needed in the void... and then, they began to personify.
Strange shadows emerged from the ruins, large and small, that stretched for billions of miles.
A little bit of strange incense lit up in the void.
Countless lights, seemingly real and unreal, slowly rise up in the boundless ruins.
In the air, the scent of incense and candles, like the fragrance of blood and flesh, gradually spread.
In the shadow of the ruins, a dark Buddha figure was beating a wooden fish and chanting sutras…Behind the Buddha figure chanting sutras, a novice monk with three heads and six arms, eight feet tall, grabbed pieces of dark flesh and swallowed them…There was also a weasel dressed as a monk, carrying a small shrine, flying lightly over the piles of ruins…
A team of Heavenly Guards patrolling in the void were discussing in low voices where to eat, what to eat, how to eat, who to serve them, and other issues after their shift today... The things they were discussing were extremely tedious, including details such as whether a bowl of braised pork should be made with front or back claw meat, and whether to throw a few python poached eggs in it...
Suddenly, a golden-painted Buddha head with half of its face chopped off, leaving only the lower half of its cheek, flew up silently from a pile of rubbish and stood upright in front of their chariot.
These guards, who were once the most elite, best fighters, bravest and most loyal in heaven, did not notice anything at all.
They grumbled to themselves and let the chariot move forward.
It was the Pegasus pulling the carriage that noticed something was wrong and suddenly flapped its huge wings to stop the car. The Pegasus neighed, startling the guards, who then suddenly raised their heads and looked forward.
It was not big, only about ten feet high, with half of the Buddha's head. The gold paint on the surface had peeled off, and the years of wind and rain had left the Buddha's head covered with green marks. This "small" Buddha was lifeless, and the whole body was filled with the smell of decay brought by the years. However, on the surface of the Buddha, there were countless human-shaped black shadows that were a hundred times smaller than sesame seeds, busy and nervous.
It was as if a contractor was shouting slogans loudly, with countless black shadows, using this half of the Buddha as a mountain, carving niches and statues on the mountain. Countless small black shadows were busy, and above their heads, wisps of pure and profound faith and power emerged out of thin air, constantly stirring up dazzling sparks in the void!
This world has been controlled by the heavenly rules and regulations jointly formulated by the Heavenly Court, Taimi Heaven, and Taiyi Heaven.
The power of Buddhist faith is no longer tolerated by the rules and regulations of this world. Heaven and earth will not allow the birth of pure Buddhist monks, the emergence of orthodox Buddhist techniques, or the growth of pure Buddhist faith and power!
These strange black shadows are not living beings, and they don’t even have flesh and blood. They are just some illusions projected in this space and time, at this moment, in this instant of space and time.
However, this illusion actually condensed an extremely powerful force of faith, allowing this force of faith to be born from nothingness, ripple out from the long river of time, and directly appear here, today, at this time, and here.
The heaven and earth were enraged, and the heavenly rules and regulations were activated. Invisible forces that were almost like divine punishment surged over, trying to suppress these powers of faith, crush them into pieces, and blast them into ashes!
The guards felt the might of the heaven and earth surging around them, and were about to say something with a smile, when the void shook slightly. From the void, from the avenue of heaven and earth, from the depths of the law, from the shackles of heaven and earth set up by the heavens, a faint but real Buddhist rhythm rippled out.
Under the interference of these Buddhist rhymes, the heavenly rules and regulations set by the Heavenly Court were offset.
These beliefs and thoughts that emerged out of nowhere turned into colorful Buddha light and rose up, slowly sinking into the ten-foot-tall half of the Buddha's head.
The mottled marks on the Buddha's surface gradually faded, and the bronze stains disappeared without a trace. The former gold paint gradually recovered, and even the other half of the Buddha's head, which had been chopped off and disappeared for who knows how many years, was growing back quickly.
These once elite guards of heaven were all staring in amazement at the changes in the Buddha's head.
They watched with their own eyes as the Buddha's head was rapidly restored under the power of faith provided by those strange black shadows, and it turned from a half Buddha's head into a complete, golden Buddha's head.
Then, the Buddha's eyes opened, and two lines of blood and tears slowly flowed down.
The blood and tears dripped into the ruins below, and then quickly spread to the surroundings, turning into an endless sea of ​​blood. In the sea of ​​blood, countless hideous faces of Buddhist practitioners and Buddhists who had died tragically at the hands of these guards were struggling and squirming frantically, like evil spirits from hell, trying to break through the barrier between hell and the human world and force their way back into this world.
“My Buddha… Maitreya!” The Buddha head with tears and blood smiled. As tears and blood continued to flow, he laughed loudly: “My Buddha… Maitreya… Chant the name of my Buddha and you will be liberated!”
"You who don't bow to the Buddha... must be evil demons!" The Buddha head suddenly roared: "Damn it! Damn it!! Damn it!!!"
Three consecutive roars.
With every roar, the energy, blood and spirit of these guards were suddenly cut off by a large part... After three roars, their cultivation, physical strength, blood, energy and spirit were instantly suppressed to the point of near collapse.
A team of elite heavenly guards died here silently.
Their bodies rapidly weathered and disintegrated… Then, from where their bodies disappeared, dark, two-dimensional shadows of novice monks slowly stood up with subtle and joyful laughter.