Chapter 256 — The Demonic Nature Is Hard to Purge
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"I am obliged to you, Buddha-son.
" Shen Mu gave his thanks. With Foxin the Buddha-son attending him, it was not fitting to simply ride the dragon-kirin, so he jumped down and went on foot; such was propriety.
"The sky outside has gone dark.
We ought to have kept the Hierarch overnight. " The two made their unhurried way down the mountain; though their steps were not swift, they still covered ground more than ten times faster than ordinary folk. Foxin said: "Hierarch Shen, short as your stay in our Great Thunderclap Temple was, you raised no small commotion. Several monks lost their lives; some went down the mountain and returned to lay life. And yet the Tathagata still let the Hierarch leave the mountain.
" Shen Mu laughed: "The Tathagata's heart is broad, and I admire him for it. He is worthy of being the foremost enlightened one of the Buddhist gate. The Tathagata cast aside the prejudices of sect and was willing to lend a hand to heal Grandmother Zhu; I am deeply grateful for that.
" Foxin laughed: "Hierarch, I should like to look once more at the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra, if I may?
" Shen Mu took out the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra and unrolled it; countless characters came forth. Foxin and the Buddha-son read as they walked, and Foxin shook his head: "Truly, truly a dharma-gate that does men harm. Every divine power, every art within it takes life, and the way of training it is monstrously wicked.
" Shen Mu was startled: "Why do you say so, Buddha-son?
" Foxin said: "Look at this Creation Heavenly Demon Art: flaying skin to make clothing, and sealing in the soul, the breath and the blood besides, before a garment of a thousand transformations can be made. Is this not a demonic art?
" Shen Mu laughed: "The Creation Heavenly Demon Art chiefly cultivates what lies within. It is used to seal one's own soul, breath and blood, so that no outer demon may invade; it is not flaying skin for cloth. As for transformations, the Creation Heavenly Spirit Art together with the Creation Spirit Art is enough for that.
" Foxin shook his head: "Hierarch, it is you who have understood it wrongly. The Heavenly Demon Art's ill repute is known to all; who has not heard of it? You are young. How many books have you read? A slight deviation in understanding is only natural. Now look at this Creation Innate Art.
Plainly it is a demonic art that can be mastered only by harvesting the innate breath of newborn infants! Master it, and one's face never ages; and for the sake of an ageless face, who knows how many newborn babes must be done to death! " Shen Mu was caught between laughter and tears, and corrected him: "The so-called innate does not refer to the infant, but to the infant's state. An infant that has just been born is innate: the first stirrings of yin and yang, embracing the Primal and guarding the One, the placenta joining it to the innate mother, needing no breath, its soul pure and without blemish. Buddha-son, you have it wrong.
To cultivate this art is not to eat the placenta or the infant, but to make of oneself an infant. " Foxin shook his head: "Hierarch, will you still not admit it? This Creation Earth Origin Art, is it not a demonic art that gathers the demon-fire of the sun and of the earth to burn all living things to death? The more people burned to death, the more wronged ghosts there are, and the greater the power; in the end the demon-fire turns into hell.
That is the Earth Origin!
" Shen Mu laughed: "This art still bears the word 'creation'.