Chapter 257 — Borrowing a Sword to Slay the True Dragon
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
Crown Prince Jingping said: "I waited here for you precisely to remind you to plan for the long term. The one you mean to kill is no ordinary man, but the Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult, the foremost holy ground of the demon path. Better that you come back to the capital with me and we plot it slowly."
Su Long-Brow nodded: "Your Highness, the Buddha-Child's death cannot go unavenged."
Crown Prince Jingping laughed: "What I want is not merely the head of a Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult, but to tear the whole Dark Demon Cult up by the roots and wipe out this demon-path sect entirely; in this we and Great Thunderclap Temple are of one mind. Rest assured: though you are no longer an Arhat of Great Thunderclap Temple, once I ascend the throne I shall permit you to found your own sect, be your own abbot, become a Buddha and a patriarch!"
Mount Yuxu in Kunlun. The Daoist Sect.
A Daoist novice came running up in a fluster: "Sect Master, the Tathagata is here to visit!"
The old Sect Master said in haste: "How many people?" "One." The old Sect Master breathed a sigh of relief: "Then he has not come to fight. Invite him in quickly... no, never mind, I shall go to meet him myself!"
A while later, Old Tathagata and the old Sect Master were seated, their attendants dismissed. Old Tathagata wasted no words on pleasantries and said straight out: "I have met with Crown Prince Jingping."
The old Sect Master was slightly shaken, and said with deep meaning: "The Crown Prince is far inferior to His Majesty; he is no wise sovereign to govern a realm."
Old Tathagata said: "It is because His Majesty governs too well that this natural calamity has come instead. Brother of the Dao, you see how this snow disaster leaves the people with no means to live; would you have an even greater calamity descend? The Daoist Sect should have records of the Sorrow Emperor's Void Era, should it not?"
The old Sect Master pondered, then said: "You of the Buddhist gate call it the Sorrow Emperor, the Void Era, the Void Kalpa; we of the Daoist gate call it the Opening Emperor, the Opening Era, the Opening Kalpa. I have read the records of the Opening Kalpa. In those years the Divine Kingdom, at the height of its glory, was overthrown, and countless living beings perished, scattered to ash and smoke. I too have been anxious over this matter."
He said slowly: "A small state with few people; renounce the sage, discard wisdom. This is the lesson our Daoist gate drew from that Opening Kalpa. Let the state be small and the people few; put no trust in experience, wit, or sages, and thus one may live well, and everyone may live happily, free of care. Is that not splendid? It was good in the old days: small states, few people, all obeying the orders of the sects."
Old Tathagata said: "The emperor must be replaced. Better that one emperor die than that the myriad living beings die."
The Sect Master shot him a glance: "What benefit has the Crown Prince promised you?"
Old Tathagata shook his head: "I asked him for no benefit at all."
The Sect Master laughed: "I believe you." Then he rose and said: "That Dao sword of mine has not been used for a very long time. I wonder whether it has grown dull, whether it can still cut down a True Dragon, a Son of Heaven?"
Old Tathagata rose and saluted: "Thank you, brother of the Dao, for your aid!"