At this moment, all the Upraised Light abbot saw was a tiny figure, who ran over on the lush plains dyed silver by the moonlight.
He murmured, “And what are you questioning?”
“Eggborn” stopped at the entrance of the temple, leaning against his knees as he sucked in a deep breath. He said with determination, “Let’s go!”
If his life was destined to be nightmares after nightmares, then he would fight on like Li Qingshan instead of hiding away, afraid to fall asleep like a coward.
“Hold on!”
“Eggborn” then rushed into the temple. He caused a ruckus, alarming all of the monks, before walking out again while dusting off his hands in satisfaction.
In the Sangaharama hall, the sangharama guardian located at the very end called Li Qingshan was smashed to pieces. It no longer possessed any of its former valiance.
“Why?” The Upraised Light abbot was very surprised as well. Getting worshipped as a god was probably something all cultivators yearned for. Did he have a problem with the fact that he was ranked at the very end?
“I don’t want people to worship me!”
“Amitābha, only so everyone and everything can be equal? I am ashamed of my inferiority to you.” The Upraised Light abbot brought his palms together and sighed with a smile. “But sure enough, only you are capable of this.”
“What is it exactly?”
“There’s no hurry. We can talk while we walk.”
As a result, they approached the silvery-blue night, vanishing into the vast plains.
In the messy Sangharama hall, all of the monks became limp. In Sukhāvatī, let alone statues of gods enshrined in temples, even just a piece of paper that depicted a god was something that no one possessed the courage to destroy.
They had basically never heard of such a shocking and blasphemous act before. They had no idea what to do.
In the tall, deep hall, the Sangharama God and the guardians seemed to be staring at them. The monks all knelt down on the ground, throwing their heads against the ground constantly like they were trying to pound rice, apologising again and again.
The abbot of the temple was still the calmest. He ordered, “Clean this place up immediately and then tell master Zhu’s carpenters to make another copy identical to the original. Do not divulge this to anyone.”
He arrived in the corner and lifted up the remaining chunk of “Sangharama Guardian Li Qingshan’s” head. He bowed deeply. “I’ve failed to protect it, so please forgive me for this, sir. I will definitely have another image of you created as soon as possible.”
The next morning, the Sangharama hall was spotless once more, and a statue that was even newer stood high on the altar. The charming sunlight fell on his body, making him even more high-spirited.
The monks would come over from time to time to take a look and bow, confirming the statue’s existence.
The event last night really did seem like a nightmare!
At the same time, “Eggborn” felt like the Upraised Light abbot did not have any malice at all, so he told him about his circumstances.
“Sure enough, you’ve lost your memories.”
“Did I hit my head?” “Eggborn” felt around his head with both his hands, but he did not find any lumps.
“Haha, of course not.”
The Upraised Light abbot had vaguely guessed that Li Qingshan had intentionally sealed up his memories to resist the influence of Sukhāvatī. With his understanding of that kid, he was definitely capable of something like that.
“Then how do I recover my memories?”
“About that. That’s easy.” The Upraised Light abbot smiled. His young, handsome face seemed like he was hiding ulterior motives. He even patted him on the shoulder. “You don’t have to thank me. I have a request that I’m asking you, so you should be paid back for your efforts.”
As a result, he changed their direction slightly. They passed through a lush forest, but there was not a single wild beast in the forest. They crossed a large river, but there were no fish. They traversed a mountain, but only the cries of birds rose and fell without ever coming to an end, possessing a wondrous rhythm, like it was singing praises about this wonderful world.
Birds flocked together and separated from time to time. The sound of their wingbeats filled the air. It was basically like a paradise for avians. They also could not help but stop and admire them.
Arriving at the top of the mountain, overlooking the entire plain, “Eggborn” widened his eyes. All he saw were countless structures forming rows upon rows at the foot of the mountain—abodes, towers, canals, halls, springs, temples, squares—extending into the horizon for who knew how many hundred kilometres.
Even in his past life, he had never seen such a large city. The clear streams and rivers that flowed down from the mountains passed through the entire city, reaching every corner via the canals.
They followed the river down. The city was filled with the fragrance of flowers and birds sang here as well. There were people everywhere, but they did not idle around. There were still pedlars who called out to the streets and working artisans. However, their faces were all free from hardship and worry.
The peddlers were not worried about their goods not selling or not selling at the price that they wanted. They did not have any ulterior motives either, sharing them with passersby enthusiastically. Their hawking was more like birds competing at singing, forming quite a sight on the street.
The artisans completely focused on their crafts, but they did not rely on it to make a living. Instead, they all possessed a zeal from the bottom of their hearts. In any secular world, they would all be legendary masters. The crafts they created were all absolutely exquisite as well, priceless in any regular world, yet now, they were just placed on the side of the road for people to freely choose between them.
The currency they used was not any precious metals, or metal at all, but bodhi seeds.
In this world, bodhi trees were everywhere, so bodhi seeds never possessed any value. However, everyone was devoid of greed and wicked thoughts. The bodhi seeds only served as a token. Everyone did their best and took what they needed. If they were told to do nothing, they would instead find it boring.
Along the way, “Eggborn’s” mouth did not idle around. He carried a great deal of food and drinks in his arms. He did not possess even half a bodhi seed, but he had the Upraised Light abbot beside him, so everyone else all thought he was a little acolyte wandering around with his master. They all shoved things into his arms.
“This… really is…” He gulped, swallowing the things in his mouth, “… a fine place!”
The ability of the chefs was simply brilliant. There was basically an endless amount of food, from the glistening sweet potato, glutinous rice and black sesame cakes and the dark-yellow thin tofu skins to the sweet and fragrant corn soup. Even until now, he had yet to come across something the same. He basically dined to his heart’s content.
“Benevolent be the buddha. All the living beings live in suffering. If only the trichiliocosm could be like this!” The Upraised Light abbot sighed sincerely with great yearning.
“Heh, if that actually happens, you won’t have any purpose anymore. The monks can all renounce asceticism and return to the secular world.”
The Upraised Light abbot said, “We won’t need monks anymore by then. Perhaps we won’t even need the buddha anymore.”
“Eggborn” blanked out. Right when he was distracted, an old granny walked straight over with her head held high, failing to notice him and running straight into him.
He was small but very strong. It did not even budge him, but the granny fell heavily to the ground with an ouch.
He helped up the granny in a hurry. The granny suddenly grabbed his wrist, which made him panic inside. He did not even know why he panicked. He just felt like something terrifying was about to happen.
The granny said, “Child, are you fine?” She felt him up to check on him. “I haven’t hurt you, have I?”
“N- no!”
“Amitābha. The buddha is watching over us. As long as you’re fine, as long as you’re fine!” The granny climbed up to her feet with a twist and shoved a handful of bodhi seeds into his hand. “Go buy some candies with this!” Then she paced off again.
“Eggborn” stared at the bodhi seeds in his hand. “Erm… I’ve scammed someone!?”
TL: The joke here is that in China, there are many scams where a person or an old granny lays down by a car (that is not moving) and claims that they were hit or knocked over. If you go up and help them, they basically refuse to get up unless they get paid for their “injuries”. In this case, the entire situation has been reversed.
