Chapter 330 — A Vast Sea of Blood
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Great Thunderpeal Temple.
The bell tolled long and loud, clanging on and on without cease — the bell of welcome.
Shen Mu climbed the mountain with the village head on his back, and saw a great Tathagata Buddha of solemn and gracious aspect leading the company of monks out to meet them. In that moment the youth felt a pang of melancholy: the Horse King God, cold of face and warm of heart, had in the end become the Tathagata of the Great Thunderpeal Temple, had become a Buddha. He could not let go of the place where he had grown up.
True, the monks of the Great Thunderpeal Temple had killed his wife and child, but that had not been the doing of the old Tathagata; it was the doing of the monks beneath him. He was a disciple of the old Tathagata; the old Tathagata knew him deeply, and he knew the old Tathagata just as deeply.
The old Tathagata had grown old and could no longer keep the monks beneath him in hand. The arhats of the Arhat Hall and the monks of the other halls had gone down the mountain, and for that his wife and child had lost their lives. The old Tathagata had cut off his own arm and given it back to him.
It had not dissolved the hatred in his heart, yet he too must inherit his master's mantle, and could not let the Great Thunderpeal Temple vanish in smoke and ashes. And when he returned to his old home and took his seat upon the Tathagata's throne, wind rolled the gray clouds past him; amid that scattering of mist and smoke he was suddenly granted the Suchness, broke through the final realm of the Thunderpeal Mahayana Sutra, and cultivated the Great Brahma Heaven. From the Sakra Heaven to the Great Brahma Heaven was a sudden awakening, a perfect enlightenment.
On the golden summit of the Great Thunderpeal Temple, Shen Mu looked at Old Master Huo, who had raised him and taught him to manhood, and a hundred flavors rose in his heart; in the end he addressed him as senior brother. This Tathagata of the Great Thunderpeal Temple had cultivated the supreme realm, the Great Brahma Heaven, his flesh, his spirit-sense and his Suchness all perfected; behind him the twenty-fold heavens of the realm unfolded, the Great Brahma King seated cross-legged, gods and buddhas great and small encircling him, light in eternal day, holy and compassionate. "Senior Brother," Old Master Huo returned his salute.
Shen Mu's heart darkened.
Once Old Master Huo sat in that seat, he was no longer the old Huo of former days, but the Tathagata. He must set down his worldly affairs, the four great elements all void.
The Lame Elder was there as well; in name he had come to witness the ceremony, but in truth he feared for Master Huo's safety, lest the monks of the Great Thunderpeal Temple do him harm. But Master Huo had now reached the highest realm of the Thunderpeal Mahayana Sutra and had no need of his protection, and so the Lame Elder could no longer sit still. The Great Thunderpeal Temple was treasures on every side; the Buddhist temple was strewn with rare wonders and precious things, and the old thief grew so restless he could not keep his seat.
He wanted to steal them, yet his conscience pricked him; and when he saw Shen Mu and the village head arrive, he could not help but suggest they leave as soon as might be.
Shen Mu would gladly have stayed a few more days, but when night came he saw the north ablaze with lights — that was Qingmen Pass. Such a blaze of light meant that the fighting at Qingmen Pass was fierce.
Beside Qingmen Pass lay the Nether Valley, where the two white bats made their home, not so very far from the Great Thunderpeal Temple. Early the next morning Shen Mu rose and took his leave, departing with the village head, Xiong Xiyu, the Lame Elder and the rest.