Walking in Buddha's Light

Tourists participating in the Ullambana Festival had followed the flower floats back to town. Only a few hawthorn candy stalls were still calling out their wares. Envoys and the maidens of Hong Xiu Zhao were led by monks up Tile Mountain to enjoy the scenery. The front temple had gradually returned to the tranquil appearance of a Buddhist sanctuary.

Ordinary cultivation sects were still awaiting news from the rear hall in the central halls, but they weren't particularly concerned. Naturally, they didn't truly sit still in the halls but moved about, entering any hall they saw, bowing to any Buddha they encountered.

Outside a somewhat secluded Buddha Hall, the Southern Jin Crown Prince struggled to crawl up from the ground, looking at the damaged hall door with extreme fear in his eyes. Even Xie Cheng Yun's support beside him was unconsciously avoided by the Crown Prince.

Xie Cheng Yun didn't know what had happened inside the hall. He again reached out to help the Crown Prince up, looking into the hall and angrily saying, "Your Highness, who dares to be so audacious? I shall send men to apprehend him and question him."

Southern Jin was a powerful nation in the world, and this Crown Prince was even more arrogant. On Tile Mountain, even when facing Ning Que—a disciple of the Academy—he refused to yield. Yet at this moment, hearing Xie Cheng Yun's words, his face instantly turned pale, and he repeatedly said, "No, no! Quickly, leave this hall!"

...

The light in the Buddha Halls was relatively dim, and this side hall was no exception. If not for the damaged hall door allowing in a little daylight, it would have been impossible to clearly see the movements inside.

In this hall, there were also two Stone Arhat statues. Two people were looking at these two statues. One wore coarse cloth robes, with a simple Daoist topknot, and carried a wooden sword on his back; he was Ye Su, the Daoist Walker. The other had a robust physique, wearing a set of animal skin clothes rarely seen in the Central Plains; he was Tang, the Demonic Sect Walker. Thinking back, the Southern Jin Crown Prince just now must have been thrown out of the Buddha Hall by one of these two. Facing two such powerful world walkers, no wonder that Crown Prince was so terrified.

Ye Su said, "You did not kill the Southern Jin Crown Prince, so today in the temple, I will not make a move against you."

Tang's voice was a little deep, resonating with a hum. "I have no interest in killing people, but aren't these Central Plains royals all dogs raised by the Xiling Divine Temple? Do you care about the life and death of a dog?"

Ye Su smiled and said, "The Daoist Gate and the secular world have a mutually beneficial and complementary relationship. You don't know that Zhishou Temple has to support many people, and those people are all very picky, so we really need these royals to help us earn money."

Tang looked at him and said, "To be able to admit the corruption of the Daoist Gate, you speak much more directly now, and you look much more pleasing to the eye. But when did the wooden sword on your back get a scabbard?"

Ye Su said, "When I was young, I always felt that the world was vast and there was nowhere I couldn't go, no one I couldn't defeat. I was extremely arrogant, how could I bear to bind my Daoist sword in a scabbard without unrestrained joy? Now that I am older, I understand more principles. A sword in its scabbard is still a sword; sheathing its sharpness does not necessarily mean losing its keenness."

Tang said, "It seems your trip to Chang'an truly yielded quite a harvest."

Ye Su said, "You should also go to Chang'an City and stay for a while."

Tang said, "I will go if I have the chance."

Ye Su turned to look at him and said, "If you don't even dare to go to Chang'an City, why do you dare to come to Lan Ke Temple?"

Tang said, "Before, when you met me, you wanted to kill me. Why don't you make a move today?"

Ye Su said, "Because after coming to Lan Ke Temple, I finally understood. Decades ago, after Divine Seat Lian Sheng massacred the ancient temple, the Demonic Sect was already annihilated. Even if you survived, it wouldn't change anything."

Tang said, "Do you think today will be like that day decades ago?"

Ye Su shook his head and said, "That year, Divine Seat Lian Sheng and Mr. Ke were unrivaled. Today, the two in this temple may have unlimited potential, especially one of them, but they are ultimately just nascent talents."

Tang said, "Are you really sure the Academy won't intervene?"

Ye Su said, "This is a Buddhist temple. The one who needs to worry about these things is the mute, not us."

Tang said, "So you're not going to the rear temple but staying here, staring blankly at the Arhat statues."

Ye Su said, "You're the same."

Tang said, "Because I respect the Academy, I don't want to get blood on my hands."

Ye Su was silent for a moment, then said, "I am because I still haven't seen through it."

Tang said, "Does the Daoist Gate also have things it cannot see through?"

Ye Su said, "That year, even the Divine Seat of Light made mistakes, let alone me."

Tang said, "I really want to know how far Ning Que will go."

Ye Su said, "He is an extremely pragmatic and selfish person. He won't have the courage to fight the entire world."

Tang shook his head and said, "You now seem to have gained a few more human qualities, but that's merely because you've been tempered by the smoke of common households in Chang'an City. In reality, after exploring death meditation, you fundamentally don't understand the thoughts of ordinary people."

Ye Su thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Just then, the bells of Lan Ke Temple rang out, reverberating endlessly, spreading everywhere. Ye Su slowly closed his eyes, searching for the spiritual bell sound within. "It has begun." He stepped out of the side hall and walked towards the rear temple. Tang looked at the Stone Arhat statue in front of him, remained silent for a moment, then also left the hall. The cultivators in the central halls were startled by the bells and stepped out one after another, leaning on the railings and looking towards the mountains and forests. Ye Su and Tang walked through the crowd. No cultivators paid attention to them. Even fewer expected that these two were the legendary world walkers.

All along the way, the bells rang incessantly. The Buddha's Light in Lan Ke Temple grew stronger and stronger. Countless Heaven and Earth auras converged, forming an invisible barrier in the sky above the monastery that could only be felt, not seen, containing supreme Dharma might. The wooden sword on Ye Su's back seemed to sense something, emitting a faint hum. Tang's right foot crushed a bluestone brick.

Ye Su looked up at the sky, his brows slightly furrowed. He said, "The Buddhist Sect has been silent for ten thousand years. I didn't expect it to hide such powerful methods. My sword can pass through, but I cannot."

Tang looked down at the broken brick beneath his feet, his voice sinking as he said, "I can try to pass through underground."

The two arrived before the rear temple of Lan Ke Temple. Looking at the tightly closed black temple gate in front of them, and sensing the changes within that Buddha Hall, Ye Su's expression suddenly became extremely shocked, and he said with complex emotions, "My Master in the Southern Sea had a premonition, so he told me to return from the north to investigate, but I'm afraid even he didn't expect that this was the true nature of the problem."

...

Rear Hall of Lan Ke Temple.

When the bells rang, Ning Que's fingers had not yet finished drawing the complete outline in the air, so he stopped and guarded his Sea of Consciousness, preparing to forcefully resist the lingering might of the Buddha. The Ullambana Pure Spirit was indeed worthy of being the Buddha's personal magical treasure. Accompanied by its pure sound, a majestic compassionate Buddha-nature entered his ears, silently penetrating his Sea of Consciousness.

In an instant, countless illusions appeared in Ning Que's mind: indescribably hideous and impure demonic forms, indescribably alluring celestial maidens, continuously moving back and forth, sometimes close, sometimes far, emitting all kinds of temptations and fears, leading him towards the Pure Land or the Underworld. Ning Que's Sea of Consciousness was violently torn, in immense pain, but within his Sea of Consciousness, there was still a fragment of Divine Seat Lian Sheng's consciousness. In an extremely short time, he awoke from the illusion.

Confirming that the Buddha's Ullambana Pure Spirit was not as powerful as he imagined, and that he could even withstand it before entering the Knowing Destiny Realm, he decided to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. The Ullambana Pure Spirit did not affect him. He looked at Master Bao Shu in front of him, preparing for a bloody battle. However, Master Bao Shu's eyes were very strange. Bao Shu stared blankly at him, showing a hint of fear, but more so, bewilderment. The eyes of everyone else in the hall were also very strange. They looked at him as if they had seen a ghost, shocked and terrified, and also very bewildered.

Ning Que looked down at his body, finding that nothing strange had grown, nor did he suddenly have a blood hole in his chest like Long Qing, so he also felt strange. He looked up again at Bao Shu and everyone in the hall. Suddenly, he felt extremely flustered. Because this time, he finally saw clearly that everyone was not looking at him, but behind him.

Ning Que turned around.

...

Sang Sang sat on the meditation cushion. Her small face was very pale. The ground in front of her was stained with blood, not from coughing up blood but from vomiting blood. The bells continued to reverberate in Lan Ke Temple. "Pfft," a sound. Another mouthful of fresh blood spurted from her lips, soaking her black cotton robe and the bluestone floor. A ray of Buddha's Light, at some unknown point, had pierced through the hall and fallen upon her. That ray of Buddha's Light was so compassionate, yet also so cold. In the Buddha's Light, Sang Sang's face became even paler, her slender figure even smaller. She looked at Ning Que outside the Buddha's Light, silently shedding tears.

...

Master Bao Shu looked at Sang Sang in shock. Qu Ni Ma Di looked at Sang Sang in shock. Cheng Zi Qing looked at Sang Sang in shock. Cheng Li Xue looked at Sang Sang in shock. Everyone in the Buddha Hall looked at Sang Sang, their expressions extremely shocked. As if they had seen a ghost. Master Qi Shan let out a painful sigh. Master Bao Shu muttered with a complex expression, "The Buddha's compassion, so that's how it is."

Master Qi Shan looked at Ning Que and said painfully, "The truth of the matter is exactly as you see. You are not the son of the King of Hell. That little girl is the daughter of the King of Hell."

...

Looking at Sang Sang in extreme pain within the Buddha's Light, Ning Que felt abandoned by the entire world, just like the feeling in the woodshed many years ago. If he chose what he wanted to choose, then he would inevitably be abandoned by the entire world. And the reason he felt abandoned by the entire world was precisely because he knew he would choose what he wanted to choose, just like many years ago, he ultimately picked up that firewood knife. In fact, since it was his own choice, it wasn't the whole world abandoning him. Rather, he had abandoned the whole world.

He stepped into the Buddha's Light, unfurled his large black umbrella, and held it over Sang Sang's head.