The abbot had only just climbed up when he glanced outside the temple, almost dropping back onto the ground. Amitābha, what’s going on today? There’s another one!
As it turned out, the monk outside who called himself Upraised Light seemed nothing special, but under the observations of the Heavenly Eye knowledge, he was clearly a divine monk who had attained the fruit of Sakridāgāmi, only a step away from the fruit of Arhat.
In terms of his status in buddhism, he stood even higher than sangharama guardians. Even within Sukhāvatī, they were extremely rare.
“General, you truly are like someone important, always forgetful! You’ve forgotten about me so quickly!”
The Upraised Light abbot raised his bamboo hat slightly, revealing a young, handsome face. Even if Li Qingshan’s memories were not sealed away, he probably would struggle to recognise him.
During the battle of Black Cloud city, he sacrificed himself and triggered the receiving light of the buddha. It heavily injured the Demon God’s embodiment, earning Li Qingshan the precious opportunity to catch his breath.
He was originally an eminent monk of the pure land school, so there was no better place of cultivation than Sukhāvatī. He successfully rebuilt his body, and his cultivation climbed higher, having undergone the sixth heavenly tribulation already.
“I’m not some general, nor do I know you!”
“Eggborn” planted his hands on his hips and held his chest high, coming off as rude. However, he felt frantic inside. The monk really did give off a sense of familiarity as if he had seen him in a certain nightmare before.
That was basically one of his worst dreams, fighting on the battlefield that trickled with blood. Countless people died tragic deaths while the enemy was despairingly powerful.
He originally thought that as long as he remained awake, he could stay far away from those nightmares.
“You don’t know me, but I know you.”
“Wretched monk! Damned bald ass! Go away, I don’t want to see you!”
“Eggborn” swung his hand furiously, and great trees erupted from the ground, blocking the Upraised Light abbot from entering.
Everyone was dumbstruck. This was Amitābha’s Sukhāvatī. T-t-this… was basically calling a monk a bald ass right in his face!
“You don’t want to see me, but I want to see you.”
The Upraised Light abbot did not have to use the Heavenly Eye knowledge to see a lofty, valiant sangharama god, which happened to look identical to Li Qingshan. He approached the temple, and the trees automatically parted to the two sides. Everyone stepped aside to form a path for him too.
He arrived before “Eggborn” step by step, observing his expression in the process too. He vaguely guessed that something had happened to his memories.
“Eggborn” gritted his teeth firmly like an infuriated cub, glaring at the Upraised Light abbot. Growing up to be this big, he had yet to encounter any powerful people apart from in his nightmares. It was basically a nightmare come true now.
But to everyone’s surprise, the Upraised Light abbot suddenly bowed deeply. “I have a request to make!”
There was probably only one person who could help him with this throughout all of Sukhāvatī .
It had to do with that White Bone Bodhisattva, as well as the path and future of the entire pure land school. He had constantly been worrying about this, such that not only did his cultivation halt, but it even gradually regressed.
Ever since he arrived in Sukhāvatī, he finally found some relief, attaining the fruit of Sakridāgāmi, but he immediately began to search for the answer to this again uncontrollably.
For what exact reason had she fallen to become the White Bone Bodhisattva?
“Eggborn” was surprised. This was different from the normal nightmares. “Get up! Are you really that certain I’m some general?”
The Upraised Light abbot raised his head. He looked over “Eggborn” and gazed into the glorious grand hall. Within the curling incense smoke, the golden buddha sat with its eyes half-closed and its lips slightly raised as if it was smiling.
Namo Amitābha, if what I seek for is a secret that should not be known, please let light descend upon me to stop me!
He held his breath as if he was waiting for judgement to arrive, but nothing happened in the end.
As a result, he said, “Come with me, and you’ll know.”
The scale of the temple was very large, possessing all the halls like the Heavenly King hall and the Arhat hall. They enshrined all kinds of gods and buddhas. The Sangharama God was a guardian god of temples, so there was obviously a Sangharama hall as well.
It was just a side hall, but it was a towering structure, solemn in bearing. It was spotless. Apart from the Sangharama God that sat in the very centre, there were two rows of several dozen sangharama guardians. Every single one of them was life-like and valiant in bearing.
There was a brand-new statue at the very end, with scarlet hair and scarlet eyes, holding his chest and head up high in high spirits. The nameplate right next to it was carved with two large words—Li Qingshan.
Now, throughout all of Sukhāvatī, all of the temples that enshrined the Sangharama God had a statue like that. That was why the Upraised Light abbot knew of his arrival and had specially come to find him.
“Li Qingshan, Li Qingshan…”
“Eggborn” stared at the statue blankly. The sealed crack rapidly expanded, and countless memories flashed by. Even if he refused to admit it, he could not deny that it was him!
He had seen that face many times before, in the nightmares, on the reflections of the blades and swords, in the killing-intent-ridden eyes of the enemy.
However, utterly different from him, the man did not seem to possess fear.
That was what he wanted to become!
“Eggborn” suddenly looked back. “If, I say if, I am Li Qingshan, what do you want me to do?”
“It’s not convenient to talk here in detail. I want you to come with me to a place. Once we get there, you’ll obviously know.”
“Eggborn” was basically about to agree without hesitation. He had a feeling that as long as he went with this monk, he could become “Li Qingshan” and completely free himself from these damned nightmares.
He was just about to speak up when he suddenly saw the old couple outside the Sangharama hall, staring straight at him, hesitating over whether they should enter or not.
As a result, he lowered his head and stopped looking at the statue. “I can’t go with you. I want to go home.”
He could clearly remember how they always accompanied him whenever he jerked awake from the nightmares, without a single exception.
The Upraised Light abbot was rather surprised. He sank into his thoughts.
The night deepened, and the moon hung high in the sky.
In the melon field, “Eggborn” sat on a watermelon the size of calf, gazing at the moon. He did not feel exhausted at all. He constantly reminisced about what had happened during the day, especially the statue called Li Qingshan.
Was that how I was originally?
At this moment, he heard a rustle. The old couple walked one behind the other, making their way on the path through the fields.
He waved his hand. “Grandpa, granny, I’m going to sleep here. You don’t have to urge me all the time!”
The old couple glanced at one another. “Kid, you should go!”
“Eggborn” was surprised. “To where?”
“To find the master. Sigh, look at how you have night terrors every single night. We don’t want to see you like this either!”
“We originally thought you were haunted by something, so we even prayed to the buddha to watch over you. We didn’t expect you to be a general under the buddha’s command. Probably the buddha isn’t happy with you slacking off here. Our prayers might have even harmed you instead.”
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“Sigh, the buddha has so many great generals, so why can’t he just let you of all people go?”
The old couple talked incessantly. “Eggborn” felt his chest heat up, pursing his lips, but he was unable to say a single thing. He leapt off the great watermelon and bowed deeply towards them before running off into the distance.
The moon was bright, so bright that it seemed like daytime, dragging out his shadow. The Upraised Light abbot waited alone in front of the temple. He was rather melancholic. Was this not the Sukhāvatī that he had always yearned for? What else was there for him to question?
