Chapter 525: Arhat Subduing the Dragon, do not return to Lingshan!
In front of Sanle’s tomb.
Xuanzang's condition has improved a lot. He is no longer lifeless, but has a different temperament that is hard to describe.
The golden sunlight sprinkled on his white monk's robe, and the whole person seemed to be emitting a faint Buddhist light, indifferent and peaceful, with a distant Zen spirit.
Li Daoxuan's heart moved. The practice of Buddhism, especially the Zen sect, mainly emphasizes sudden enlightenment. After this training, Xuanzang's future achievements will surely be limitless.
"Xuanzang, Huichan wants to recommend you to be the next abbot of the White Horse Temple. What do you think?"
Li Daoxuan suddenly asked.
He did not want Xuanzang to travel west. This is a good story in history, but this is a different Tang Dynasty.
The journey to the west is long and full of monsters. If Xuanzang goes west, can he still meet the Monkey King under the Five Elements Mountain?
Without the protection of his disciples, even though he has reached the initial stage of Yin Shen cultivation, he is still in great danger.
Xuanzang did not answer immediately, but held the purple gold bowl and scooped into the river.
The little goldfish didn't move at all, swimming back and forth in the purple gold bowl, and didn't seem afraid at all.
"Xiaotang, is that you?"
Gurgle gurgle～
The goldfish kept blowing bubbles.
Xuanzang's eyes moved, and he continued to ask: "Do you think I should stay in the White Horse Temple, or... go west?"
Gurgle gurgle～
"I see. Would you like to come with me?"
Gurgle gurgle～
"good."
Xuanzang looked up at Li Daoxuan, with an indescribable firmness in his calm eyes.
"Brother, I want to go west."
Li Daoxuan: “…”
"Xuanzang, even if you really made it to Tianzhu alive, could you find the Lingshan Mountain today? Even if you did, would there still be the Buddha there?"
After the eternal night, the gods and Buddhas disappear. Is it really necessary to travel to the West?
Maybe in the end it will be nothing but a waste of effort.
Xuanzang said calmly, shaking his head, "Brother, I have seen Lingshan before."
Li Daoxuan was slightly stunned.
Xuanzang raised his right hand, looked at the dim word "Buddha" in the palm of his hand, and said: "When I recited the "Vajra Realm Mahavairocana Tathagata Heart Mantra", through this word "Buddha", I saw the present Lingshan Mountain."
"Just as Big Brother thought, there are no gods or Buddhas in Lingshan now. There is only the lotus platform and one hand of the Buddha. But I sense that the Sutra Library in Lingshan is still there, and the Mahayana Sutra may be inside!"
Li Daoxuan's eyes focused. Lingshan... has it become an empty city?
Even a powerful being like the Buddha disappeared, leaving only a lotus platform and a hand. Is the terrifying existence described by Mara really that powerful?
The Twelve-Rank Golden Lotus of Merit is the most precious treasure of Buddhism. The Buddha did not even take such a treasure away. It should not be because he encountered a battle, but rather it seems like an intentional arrangement.
"Brother, with the guidance of the word 'Buddha', I may be the only one who can find Lingshan."
"The master said that the Mahayana Sutra was a regret between him and Bodhidharma, and told me not to go west and live my own life. In fact, he was wrong."
Xuanzang said word by word: "That is also my regret."
Li Daoxuan stopped talking. He knew that Xuanzang was determined to travel west and he was unyielding. No matter how many mountains and rivers there were, nothing could stop him. As the eldest brother, all he could do was to support him.
"Okay, but you have to come back to Chang'an with me first. I will ask His Majesty to grant you a pass. Otherwise, you will have trouble passing through the Western Regions."
The historical Xuanzang was not the brother of the Tang Dynasty emperor with a noble status as in "Journey to the West". He actually sneaked across the border when he traveled west, and he escaped from the Tang Dynasty border by hiding in a group of refugees in Liangzhou.
Later, when he returned from his journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures and became famous throughout the world, he was received and appreciated by Li Shimin.
Xuanzang did not refuse and said, "Thank you, brother!"
Li Daoxuan nodded and was about to speak, but his eyes moved slightly and looked at the toad hiding in the mud next to him.
The old senior is here too.
…
The old beggar sat on the top of the mountain, overlooking the ant-like graves at the foot of the mountain. He drank wine and ate roast chicken, with oil dripping from the corners of his mouth.
"Sanle, Sanle, you were supposed to be a Buddha, but now you've become a dead ghost. I'm eating roast chicken, and you can only stare at me, hehe..."
He seemed to be sarcastic, but his expression was gloomy. Finally, he shook his head and spat out the chicken bone in his mouth.
"Forget it, it's boring to eat."
The old beggar was about to stand up, holding the meat thread between his teeth.
A hand pressed on his shoulder, as if it was a huge weight, and made him sit down again.
"Senior, who are you?"
Li Daoxuan sat beside him, his Taoist robe fluttering in the mountain breeze. He had a handsome appearance, like a graceful green lotus planted on a high mountain, forming a sharp contrast with the old beggar.
The old beggar curled his lips and wanted to reach out to wipe the oil stains on his hands from Li Daoxuan, but was blocked by the green glow.
"What a Taoist robe. It must contain some natural treasures. Qingyi really cares about you and is very generous."
Li Daoxuan was slightly stunned. Shouldn't this Green Lotus Robe be sewn by his mother-in-law?
"Boy, I, the old beggar, have helped you after all, and I also suffered the backlash of leaking the secrets of heaven, which has caused my cultivation to drop significantly. It's not too much to ask you for something, right?"
Li Daoxuan looked at his lame leg and the more serious sores on his body. Some places even had goose egg-sized tumors growing on them. He looked very horrible.
If an evil ghost saw this, he would probably be ashamed.
"What?"
The old beggar looked at the little flower god hidden in his hair.
Li Daoxuan frowned.
"I don't want this little flower goddess, but the nectar she collected. It's not much, just a few dozen bowls will be fine."
Li Daoxuan shook his head and smiled, then handed him a small jade bottle.
"Senior, actually, when I saw you were seriously injured that day, I wanted to give you some nectar, but it was a pity that you passed away too fast."
"But there are not dozens of bowls. These are all I have."
The old beggar snatched it away and poured some into his mouth. Soon a light circulated on his body and he revealed an extremely comfortable expression. The sores on his face also seemed to have shrunk a little.
"Thank you."
"Senior, you have amazing magic skills and are very smart. I wonder if you are willing to serve the Tang Dynasty. If you agree, I can promise to give you a bottle of nectar every year."
Li Daoxuan wanted to recruit him.
The old beggar immediately waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your kindness. I am used to being casual and cannot stand being restrained. I would also like to remind you that there is nothing wrong with serving the country and the people, but the way of heaven is cruel and all living beings are like ants. Be careful that the consequences of your involvement are too heavy and you will not end up well in the end."
"What do you mean by this, Senior?"
The old beggar thought for a moment and said, "Forget it. Since you gave me the nectar, I will give you some more advice. Didn't you just ask me who I was?"
He used his magical powers, and all the dirt and stains on his body disappeared, and the rotten sores were gone without a trace. He was wearing a bright red cassock with gold thread, a gold seal on his forehead, red lips and white teeth, and his face was extremely handsome.
Li Daoxuan's eyes fixed, and he said, "Lubiansheng... you are indeed the tenth of the Eighteen Arhats of Buddhism - the Reaching Hand Arhat!"
After learning the name Lu Biansheng, Li Daoxuan decided to check it out. Later, he learned that the Arhat with Reaching Hands among the Eighteen Arhats was also called Lu Biansheng, so he became suspicious.
But the gods and Buddhas disappeared, so why did the Arhat remain in the world and become like this?
The old beggar sighed softly, put away his magic, and returned to his original appearance.
Now he is just a dirty and ugly old beggar, who has long fallen from the sky and is no longer the lofty Arhat.
"Do you know why I became what I am now?"
Li Daoxuan shook his head.
"I was born on the roadside in the Spring and Autumn Period. I wandered with my mother since I was young. I was used to seeing the conflicts among countries and the hardships of the people. Later, I knelt before the Buddha and converted. By chance, I became an Arhat who is good at predicting the secrets of the world."
"At that time, I was very similar to you. I was determined to free the people from suffering and bring peace to the world, but I was unable to do so until Ying Zheng destroyed the six kingdoms and unified the world."
The old beggar sighed, "Although many people died under the sword of Emperor Ying Zheng, it is undeniable that he did put an end to the disputes, unified the writing system and the wheel gauge, and had the aura of a well-governed world."
Li Daoxuan also sighed: "It's a pity that Qin died because of the tyranny of the second emperor."
"I thought the same thing as you did at the time. "
There was a hint of reminiscence in the old beggar's eyes.
"I calculated that the Qin Dynasty would end in the second generation. I knew it was fate, but I couldn't bear to see war start again, so I disguised myself as the Taoist priest Lu Sheng and approached Ying Zheng, intending to tamper with destiny."
"But who knew that Ying Zheng was obsessed with the pursuit of immortality at the time. In order to gain his respect, I told him that there was a fairy mountain on the sea called Penglai, where there was an elixir of immortality. As expected, Ying Zheng sent me out to sea to seek the elixir."
"When I came back, I told him that I didn't find the elixir, but I did find a book of immortality. On it was a prophecy: the one who will destroy Qin is Hu."
The one who destroyed Qin was Hu...
Li Daoxuan's heart was filled with ripples.
What Lu Biansheng said was actually recorded in Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian".
"Lu Sheng, a man from Yan, returned from a mission to the sea with a story about ghosts and gods, and reported it in a book, saying that 'the one who destroyed Qin was the Hu.' The First Emperor sent General Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to the north to attack the Hu and seize the land of Henan."
The old beggar smiled bitterly and said, "I took the risk and leaked the secret to Ying Zheng, but he misunderstood and thought that it was the Hu people who destroyed the Qin Dynasty. Not only did he let Meng Tian send troops to attack, but he also consumed a lot of manpower to build the Great Wall."
The "Hu" in "Hu" who destroyed Qin did not refer to the Hu people, but to Prince Hu Hai.
"It can only be said that human power is limited and it is difficult to overcome heaven. I leaked such an important secret and suffered extremely serious backlash. Not only did I fall from the position of Arhat, I also contracted a serious disease and became unrecognizable. Ghosts and gods all hate me!"
"In the end, it's all in vain."
After listening to the old beggar's words, Li Daoxuan finally understood.
No wonder the old beggar knew the flower god and could use his cultivation of the yang god to predict a glimmer of hope. It turned out that he was once a Buddhist arhat, and one of the famous Eighteen Arhats, equivalent to a Taoist celestial being.
"Boy, you are devoted to the Tang Dynasty and want to create a peaceful and prosperous era, but you should also know that the rise and fall of dynasties are all determined by fate. Whether you are an immortal or a Buddha, even if you have boundless magical powers, how can you overcome fate?"
Li Daoxuan nodded and said, "I am grateful for your advice, young man."
After a pause, he could not help but ask, "Senior, according to what you said, you should have experienced the Eternal Night of the Jin Dynasty. Do you know why the gods and Buddhas disappeared? What exactly happened?"
Lu Biansheng has lived from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, and he was once the Arhat of the Ten Hands. He should know the whole story.
For the first time, Li Daoxuan felt that he was so close to the truth.
However, the old beggar shook his head.
"It's sad to say that the old beggar was able to survive because he leaked the secrets of heaven and fell from the realm of Arhat. After that, his cultivation continued to decline. By the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was not even as good as a human immortal and fell to the level of a Yang God."
"That eternal night..."
The old beggar's eyes were solemn, as if he recalled a very scary scene.
"I just remember that during those few days, the five elements went against each other, the destiny was in chaos, there was blood and rain between heaven and earth, and the wailing of ghosts and gods filled my ears. I tried to contact my old friends in Lingshan to find out what happened."
"but……"
The old beggar's eyes dimmed and he subconsciously tightened the wine jug in his hand.
"They didn't respond?"
"No, most of them didn't respond. Only Kasyapa sent me four words."
Li Daoxuan was cheered up. Venerable Kashyapa was the Arhat who subdued the Dragon. His magical powers were so high that he could be called the best among all the Arhats and he enjoyed great reputation among the people.
The Jigong who became famous in later generations was the reincarnation of the Arhat who subdued the dragon.
"What four words did the Arhat Subduing the Dragon pass on?"
The old beggar stared at the sky, which was getting darker as the sun set, and said word by word: "Don't go back to Lingshan."
Don’t go back to Lingshan…
These four words make people can't help but give rise to endless reverie.
All the Arhats disappeared without a trace. The most powerful Arhat, Subduing the Dragon, only left four words, telling his old friend to escape quickly and never return to Lingshan.
Thinking of the golden lotus and the severed hand that Xuanzang had seen, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
"This may be the last words that Kasyapa left in the world. From now on, even if I try my best, no sound will be heard from Lingshan."
"My old friends are no longer a trace."
A bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. The reason why he was still alive when he suffered the backlash of heaven was because of this group of old friends.
They sacrificed their dignity to borrow the peaches from the Queen Mother of the West and the elixir from Laojun, and asked the Buddha to give them lotus seeds. Only then did they allow this disabled man to survive and enjoy eternal life.
It's a bit ugly, but it's better to live a miserable life than to die.
"Misfortunes often come with blessings, and blessings often come with misfortunes. The old beggar was attacked by the heavens and was completely disfigured, but he survived. Perhaps this is the will of heaven."
The old beggar was best at divination, but the more he studied it, the more he felt in awe of the unpredictable nature of the universe, and he often panicked at his own insignificance.
The way of heaven is like a monster, all living beings are like ants, and gods and Buddhas are all chess pieces.
"My boy, I have finally come to terms with it. I live one day at a time, so I will continue to drink, eat and sleep. These are the three joys of life."
He stood up, stretched comfortably, and no longer looked at the night sky, but looked down at the mountain.
"Sanle is dead. I was the one who gave him this name. Alas, the old beggar has lost another friend."
He turned around and glanced at Li Daoxuan.
"I have said so much to you without realizing it, kid. I wish you success and fulfill the old beggar's unfulfilled wish. Let the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the world be at peace."
Li Daoxuan smiled and said, "Okay, when I have accomplished my mission and retired, I will bring a pot of good wine and go talk to you, Senior."
The old beggar laughed and said, "One pot is not enough, at least ten pots!"
After saying this, his body turned into a rainbow of light and disappeared into the sea of clouds and starry sky, disappearing without a trace.
A warning echoed in the air.
"Boy, the reason why Moruo was able to survive is because he was sealed in the Avici Hell by the Buddha. Be careful of the gods and demons that were once sealed. Maybe Moruo is not the only one who can survive."
The stars are twinkling and the night is lonely.
Li Daoxuan stood on the top of the mountain, letting the wind blow his Taoist robe, overlooking the flowing water and the villagers below the mountain, and did not leave for a long time.
