Chapter 625 — The Crown Prince of Moonlight
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
In the temple at Licheng, Ma Rulai and a host of eminent monks watched Shen Mu and the others being drawn up into the Buddha realm by Buddha-light. Their own cultivation was too great; to be drawn in was all but impossible for them. Only Shen Mu, Xuanliao the Demon Ape, and Chenghuai — three wielders of divine powers whose cultivation was neither high nor low — could enter the Buddha realm with ease. "Tathagata, there will be no peril in letting them go?
" asked Jingming, the white-browed monk.
"Peril there certainly is, but not much of it," said Ma Rulai. "The Heavenly Court must be watching the Buddha realm, seeking to grasp it in hand; our Datingming Temple disciples will surely be suppressed, and never allowed to return with the scriptures. That is why I sent Cult Master Shen along with them.
With Cult Master Shen there, the peril is not so great. " Jingming the white-browed monk pondered a while and could find no thread to the matter, sensing only the peril, and said, "I beg the Tathagata to speak plainly.
" Ma Rulai said, "The Buddha realm is still the Buddha realm. They go to fetch the scriptures.
Even if the Heavenly Court's people wish to strike at them, they will not bully the small with the great outright, or the Buddhas would bar the way. With the Buddhas of the Buddha realm present, some courtesy must still be observed. And if they do not bully the small with the great, Cult Master Shen can take whatever comes. As the boxing manuals say: land one fist and open the way, and a hundred fists need never come. Cult Master Shen is the one who lands that fist.
" Jingming the white-browed monk thought it over and smiled.
"Then Chenghuai is the one who smooths things over. " Ma Rulai nodded. "Cult Master Shen strikes, Chenghuai smooths; and if the other side means to argue reason and put them to a justified death, then it is Zhankong's turn.
In debate, Zhankong can leave them speechless.
" Jingming the white-browed monk was filled with admiration and bowed in reverence. "The Tathagata is indeed worthy of the name of Great Wisdom. " In the Buddha realm, on the holy mountain of Mituo Temple, that vast "sarira" came spinning all the way from the mountain gate to the summit. The young monk standing before the great hall of Mituo Temple at the peak was startled and furious; his hands flew, and he performed the art of the Three Grapples of Dragon, Elephant, and Tiger, and about his body appeared the divine forms of dragon, elephant, and tiger, fierce and overbearing.
A hiss — the light of the "sarira" swallowed him, and in an instant his clothes flew apart like butterflies and he stood stark naked, not a thread upon him, with only a pair of shoes left.
That young monk had been haughty, making Shen Mu and his two companions kneel their way up the mountain, striking them if they did not kneel; now his arrogance was gone utterly. Seeing how ill things stood, he made to bolt, when suddenly two rays flashed from the "sarira"; his knees gave way of themselves and he knelt on the ground, unable to move.
Ashamed, the young monk hurriedly lay flat upon the ground, not daring to let anyone see his face. On the golden summit the figures of great Buddhas appeared in the void, seated high and looking down, and every one of them frowned deeply. One Buddha flicked his finger, and the young monk at once felt his legs free again; hastily covering what was before and behind, he fled in a puff of smoke. Suddenly a Buddha-name sounded, and a great golden hand flew out from the main hall of Mituo Temple to meet Shen Mu's "sarira" — some manner of manifestation-type divine ability, by the look of it.
That golden hand of divine power collided with Shen Mu's "sarira" and rang out like bronze and iron, shaking the whole range of mountains.
Beneath one great Buddha sat a monk in white, an auspicious cloud seething above his head; it was from that cloud the great hand had flown to block Shen Mu's sword elixir. "What sarira?