Mutated Tao - Chapter 43

“He has become a Buddha.”

Upon hearing the abbot’s plain words, Li Huowang suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He looked up at the five massive golden Buddhas around him, they had just been dignified and solemn but now seemed to have a strange feeling in an instant.

Li Huowang was about to stand up,but he glanced at the sunny sun outside the door and then back at the abbot in front of him.

The old abbot sat still in the same calm manner as before, as though the last sentence did not come from him.

“Wait, I shouldn’t scare myself. Maybe it’s not what I think it is.”

After careful consideration, Li Huowang spoke up again and asked, “Abbot, there must be some conflict between Zhengde Temple and Dan Yang Tzu, right?”

“Yes, he used to go around kidnapping and killing people, causing chaos everywhere. I sent my temple’s martial monks to capture him, but he managed to escape every time. It was a meritorious deed that you can find a way to kill this man.”

“Then may I ask, Abbot, how could such a wicked person become a Buddha?”

“Amitabha, what he is now does not depend on who he was before. In my heart, there are Buddhas. So in my heart, he is a Buddha.”

Hearing what Xin Hui said, Li Huowang felt agitated.

“Alms Giver, Dan Yang Tzu is no longer a mortal now. What he is doesn’t matter, what matters is what you think he is. If you think he is something, then he is something. After all, his karma is now on you, not me.”

Xin Hui’s voice was still calm, but this time Li Huowang understood what he meant.

“Are you saying that Dan Yang Tzu has become something shapeless that can change with people’s thoughts, like Master Wander?”

“Yes.”

“But why? The methods he used to become immortal were all made up by me. All those highly toxic things he ate should have killed him instantly!” Li Huowang was puzzled and couldn’t figure out the answer.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know??”

“I am not the future Buddha. I am not omniscient. As a monk, I do not speak falsely. I don’t know just I don’t know,” Xin Hui replied.

After thinking for a while, Li Huowang asked another crucial question. “Abbot, do you have any way to completely solve Dan Yang Tzu? Since he is our common enemy, we cannot ignore this matter forever.”

This time, Xin Hui didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pondered for a while and raised his right hand to Li Huowang. “Come here, I need to take another look.”

Looking at the wrinkled white hand, Li Huowang hesitated a bit.

“Alms Giver Xuan Yang, if you suspect that I want to harm you, then you shouldn’t have come in just now,” Xin Hui said.

After thinking for a moment, Li Huowang pressed his forehead against Xin Hui’s palm.

“Om!”

Li Huowang suddenly felt that all the colors around him had become several times more vivid, and he felt a light and floating sensation all over his body.

This strange feeling came and went quickly. When everything returned to normal, Li Huowang wasn’t sure what had happened, but he felt a bit empty inside.

He understood that the old abbot must have some special Buddhist theurgies.

“Well…this matter is of great importance. I need to discuss countermeasures with other elders. Please stay here for the time being, and I will give you an answer tomorrow,” Xin Hui said calmly.

“I have friends waiting outside the temple, and they will not feel at ease if I don’t go back,” Li Huowang refused.

“It’s up to you. Zhengde Temple will open its doors tomorrow at the hour of the Dragon. Alms Giver Xuan Yang, please keep your promise. As you know, if this trouble is not resolved, it will be a great hidden danger for both you and the world.”

As Li Huowang walked out of the hall and stood in the sunlight, he looked back and find Xin Hui had turned around and started reciting sutras to the golden Buddhas.

Li Huowang looked up at the noon sun above his head and then around at the serene Buddhist temple. There didn’t seem to be any signs of anything bad happening here.

Just as Li Huowang turned around and took a few steps, the bald back side of head of the abbot who was reciting sutras began to wriggle.

After a while, a crack slowly appeared on the smooth back side of head under his hat, and a fist-sized giant vertical eye popped out, staring at Li Huowang intently.

At this moment, the chanting voice from the old abbot’s mouth suddenly increased by a magnitude, “Form is not me…If it were me, form would not suffer from illness or be subjected to suffering. I desire to have such form…I do not desire to have such form…Following the desires of the heart. Therefore, one should know…”

（From Saṁyukta Āgama）

As Li Huowang walked back to the bustling main entrance along the path of the temple, he felt like he had returned to the world again.

Standing in the crowd, he looked towards the alley where he had just walked out of and hesitated, “Should I believe Xin Hui?”

“Hey! Taoist! I’m here!” Hearing someone call him, Li Huowang turned his head and saw the old beggar who came with them waving at him excitedly not far away.

“You came to Zhengde Temple? Did they agree to take you in?”

The old beggar nodded excitedly, “Yes, a monk just said that he felt sorry for me and allowed me to stay in the temple and work.”

“Well, that’s good. You can work here and at least have better food than eating wild vegetables and dead people’s offerings outside. I have something to do and have to go now. Oh, by the way, I haven’t asked your name yet,” Li Huowang said.

“Just call me Monk. I like being called that. Come visit me here when you have time.”

“Heh, then let’s just follow your Buddhist saying and meet again as fate allows.”

After saying goodbye to Monk, Li Huowang left Zhengde Temple.

When he arrived at the inn where he had previously agreed to meet his companions, they immediately swarmed around him.

Li Huowang raised his hand to stop them from asking questions and said, “I have a task for you all. I need each of you to ask the locals about Zhengde Temple.”

Although he felt that the monks he encountered today were very normal, he still wanted to hear what the locals thought about Zhengde Temple before making any decisions.

The others didn’t ask any questions and nodded, then turning to leave the inn.

As time passed, after the sun had set, the seven people who went out gradually returned and began to report their findings to Li Huowang.

“I heard from the locals that Zhengde Temple is the largest temple in Xijing City and very popular.”

“I also heard that the monks there are very devout and strictly abide by the rules. Last time, a monk was kicked out of the temple for stealing meat.”

“I heard that even the emperor in the palace goes to the temple to worship. If you’re lucky and get a good spot, you might even see the emperor!”

“What I found is similar to what they said, Senior Brother Li. Why did you ask us to inquire about Zhengde Temple?”

Li Huowang didn’t answer. He didn’t want to tell them about the terrifying possibility of Dan Yang Tzu still being alive, so as not to frighten them unnecessarily.

After careful consideration for a long time, Li Huowang made a decision that he would return to Zhengde Temple tomorrow.

（https://v.douyin.com/Uq252RC

Lv Family Troupe，

→→→

Lv Zhuangyuan，Lv Xiucai，Lv Juren，Luo Juanhua）