Traversing Mountains Beneath the Bodhi Tree

The black carriage continued westward. Inside, Ning Que carefully straightened the black cloths, then looked at the chessboard and asked: "Why must we come here?"
Sang Sang said: "I want to confirm something."
The chessboard, made of an unknown material, looked like iron, exuding a cold, hard aura, yet when Ning Que tapped it with his finger, it made no sound.
A chessboard left by the Buddha for the human world was naturally extraordinary.
Ning Que looked at the chessboard, silent for a moment, then asked: "What is it? Is it related to the Buddha?"
Sang Sang said: "Yes, I want to know if he is truly dead or alive."
Ning Que was astonished beyond words. He had once thought Sang Sang wanted to use the Buddhist secret teachings at Xuankong Temple to find a way back to the Divine Kingdom, even guessing she might destroy Xuankong Temple, but he never expected that what she wanted to do was confirm the Buddha's life or death! Did this mean the Buddha might still be alive?
"I don't understand, didn't the Buddha enter Nirvana long ago?"
"At Lan Ke Temple back then, I told you, he is dead, but still alive."
Ning Que recalled that day on Wa Mountain, she looked at the Buddha statue that no longer existed in the spring rain, and suddenly had a feeling, saying that the Buddha was that cat named Xue.
At the time, he found it very confusing, so he didn't think deeply about it, but he never expected her to truly believe that the Buddha could still be alive, and for this reason, came to the Western Wilderness.
Ning Que was utterly bewildered. The Buddha had clearly entered Nirvana, how could he still be alive?
"What is Nirvana?" Sang Sang asked.
Ning Que was slightly stunned, saying: "Nirvana is the highest realm of Buddhism..."
Sang Sang said expressionlessly: "If Nirvana is death, why not just call it death?"
This question was very simple, even a bit illogical, but Ning Que had no way to answer, because he clearly understood that her question, in fact, highlighted the problem itself.
Sang Sang looked out the window, where snowflakes drifted across the desolate plain, and said: "Like your Master, the Buddha also once thought about how to defeat me. He wanted to understand me with wisdom, but failed. So he wanted to break karma, then jump out of karma, transcend time, and thus transcend me. However, who can truly jump out of karma, transcend time?"
Ning Que said: "So?"
Sang Sang said: "The Buddha hid himself, so I couldn't find him, and when the karmic opportunity arises, he will naturally awaken."
The so-called karmic opportunity was hard to define, either when she returned to the Divine Kingdom, or when she found it difficult to leave the human world, becoming increasingly weak. Mighty figures like the Buddha naturally had their own brilliant plans.
Ning Que understood a little, but many things became more confusing. Hao Tian was omnipotent and omniscient, how could she not know the Buddha's life or death? Even Master back then couldn't completely escape Hao Tian's gaze; it was just that he had integrated into the human world, and Hao Tian couldn't confirm his true form.
"I am indeed omniscient." Sang Sang said: "So I don't understand, so I want to come and see. If the Buddha is still alive, I will kill him, and then I will know his life or death."
Not knowing the Buddha's life or death, then find you. If you are dead, then so be it. If you are alive, then I will kill you, and thus your life or death can be determined. What an overbearing declaration this was.
Only she had the right to utter such words.
Ning Que suddenly felt that before such a wife, he could indeed only be a househusband, so he very consciously picked up the black cloths and began to mend the large black umbrella.
...
...
Just like that autumn long ago, Ning Que and Sang Sang once again traveled from Lan Ke Temple to the Western Wilderness. The only difference was that back then they came with the Buddha's chessboard, and now the Buddha's chessboard was in their hands.
On the desolate wilderness, stood a solitary tree.
Its trunk was gray-white, its leaves like meditation cushions, still verdant in the light snow—it was the Bodhi Tree.
Beneath the Bodhi Tree were a few small indentations, smooth and shiny like mirrors, extremely clean, without fallen leaves, without dust, and without accumulated snow; there was nothing inside.
The Buddha, lying on his side with eyes closed in Nirvana beneath the Bodhi Tree, these were the last traces he left in the human world.
The black carriage stopped before the Bodhi Tree, and Ning Que and Sang Sang stepped down.
Beneath the Bodhi Tree sat an old monk.
This old monk wore a bamboo hat, held a monk's staff, and his body seemed tightly bound to the endless desolate earth, heavy as a mountain, firm as the plains, unshakeable even by a whirlwind.
The old monk was not the Buddha, but the contemporary Buddha in the human world: the Scripture Lecturer Head Monk of Xuankong Temple.
It had been several fleeting autumns since their farewell in Chaoyang City. The Head Monk was one of the strongest experts Ning Que had ever seen in his life; below Master were the Temple Master and he. Seeing him sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree at this moment, it was hard to avoid feeling a little tense.
The Scripture Lecturer Head Monk did not look at Ning Que, but at Sang Sang beside him, his gaze incredibly complex, containing pity, compassion, sympathy, but most of all, steadfastness.
Sang Sang wanted to go beneath the Bodhi Tree to see the traces left by the Buddha's Nirvana.
The Head Monk sat beneath the Bodhi Tree; if he didn't yield, how could she see?
Even if Senior Disciple Brother and Second Senior Disciple Brother joined forces at their peak, they might not be a match for the Scripture Lecturer Head Monk. Ning Que didn't even consider relying on himself to overcome this mountain.
Indeed, the Scripture Lecturer Head Monk was an invisible yet immensely majestic mountain on the earth. His two feet seemed rooted in the wilderness, and the monk's staff in his hand was the ancient tree on the mountain.
"Please, Senior, make way." Ning Que said.
The Head Monk looked at him silently and said: "Why should I make way?"
Ning Que said: "We wish to look at the Bodhi Tree."
The Head Monk sighed softly, saying: "Bodhi was originally not a tree."
Ning Que said: "We are not monastics, we do not engage in wordplay."
The Head Monk said: "Even if Bodhi is a tree, it is a tree of my Xuankong Temple."
Sang Sang suddenly said: "Is Xuankong Temple's name carved on this tree?"
This statement was truly illogical, like the words of a mischievous child snatching a toy. How could the Scripture Lecturer Head Monk have expected Hao Tian to utter such words? He couldn't help but be stunned.
The Scripture Lecturer Head Monk of Xuankong Temple was the highest peak in the cultivation world, but in Sang Sang's eyes, he was merely a mortal. Even if he merged with the wilderness, he was just a slightly heavy rock.
Sang Sang stepped towards the Bodhi Tree.
Ning Que's expression became tense.
After Liu Bai unleashed his sword on Tao Mountain, this was the dialogue between Hao Tian and humanity's strongest expert.
The Head Monk slowly closed his eyes, not looking at her as she approached the tree.
He sat beneath the tree, becoming a mountain, its roots deeply embedded in the earth's crust, its peak soaring into the clouds, already touching the Azure Sky. Even if Hao Tian descended to the human world, how could she surpass it?
Sang Sang walked to the Bodhi Tree, stepping towards the Head Monk's body.
Her foot landed on the Head Monk's knee.
The Head Monk's body was not tall, even a bit thin.
She was so tall, so full-figured.
She stepped onto the Head Monk's body, like a white elephant wanting to climb a delicate rockery in a garden.
This scene looked a bit strange, a bit perplexing.
Her foot landed on the Head Monk's body, and the rockery transformed into a true mountain.
This mountain was incredibly majestic.
She didn't care at all, continuing to ascend, her left foot landing on the Head Monk's shoulder.
No matter how high the mountain, she only needed three steps to reach its summit.
Her green embroidered shoes touched his bamboo hat, and the earth trembled restlessly, clouds swirling chaotically.
She stood on the Head Monk's head, hands clasped, silently gazing at the Bodhi Tree before her, looking at Xuankong Temple in the distance.
As if standing on a mountaintop admiring the scenery.
This was truly a wondrous sight.
For Sang Sang, there was no mountain in the human world she could not cross.
Even if this mountain was so majestic, its peak nearly touching the sky, there was still a distance between it and the sky.
Even if this mountain connected to the wilderness, with endless thick earth beneath, she could still suppress it.
She used the power of the sky to suppress the earth.
The trembling of the earth continued, and moreover, grew increasingly violent.
The verdant Bodhi Tree did not fall, but its leaves, like meditation cushions, scattered all over the ground.
The Head Monk's body also began to tremble violently, the kasaya on his body shattering into countless butterflies, fluttering everywhere, his pale body emitting a faint white light, like a statue.
Ning Que looked at the scene beneath the tree, astonished beyond words, recalling that year in Chaoyang City, neither Yuan Shi San Jian nor Tie Dao could leave a single mark on the Head Monk's body.
The Head Monk had cultivated to the realm of physical body becoming Buddha, both body and mind indestructible like diamond. Now it seemed, even with the sky pressing down, he could still continue to resist!
Sang Sang stood on the Head Monk's head with clasped hands, her expression indifferent and unmoving.
She didn't care how long the old monk she was trampling could endure; she only wanted to look at that tree.
The earth continued to tremble violently. On the desolate wilderness, countless bottomless black cracks appeared, and in the distance, even crimson lava erupted!
Sang Sang's green floral skirt fluttered gently in the wind. In the light, thin snow, she slowly descended.
The Scripture Lecturer Head Monk, trampled beneath her feet, slowly sank deep into the earth, squeezing out countless black mud, emitting a grating sound and the crunch of breaking rocks that made one's skin crawl!
Not long after, the Scripture Lecturer Head Monk was completely submerged in the earth, only his head remaining exposed on the ground, his two white eyebrows fluttering in the dust, looking utterly miserable.
Not leaving the earth, then diamond-like indestructible. This was the supreme Buddhist Dharma cultivated by the Scripture Lecturer Head Monk. Even the Temple Master, having recovered his realm, might not be able to deal with him.
Sang Sang's method was very simple; she directly made him truly merge with the earth.
The Head Monk's head lay on the ground, his eyes closed.
Sang Sang stepped down from his head; it was just a very low step.
She did not turn to look at this supreme expert of Buddhism, but walked with clasped hands to the Bodhi Tree.
She had told the Head Monk earlier that Xuankong Temple's name was not carved on the Bodhi Tree, so this tree did not belong to Xuankong Temple. In reality, her name was carved on this Bodhi Tree, so it belonged to her.
That autumn, she and Ning Que fled from Lan Ke Temple to here. At that time, they were hunted by this world, feeling sad and distressed. Ning Que took her to see the Buddha's relics, then carved a line of text under the Bodhi Tree.
"In the autumn of the sixteenth year of Tianqi, Ning Que of the Academy and his wife Sang Sang, daughter of the Underworld King, visited here."
After seeing the traces left by the Buddha's Nirvana under the Bodhi Tree, she clasped her hands, left the Bodhi Tree, and walked towards the mountain in the distance that was level with the ground. Amidst the mountains was Xuankong Temple.
Ning Que smiled at the inscription on the Bodhi Tree, sighed at the Head Monk's head on the ground, and drove the carriage to follow her tall figure across the wilderness.