CHAPTER 751: 626 BAI MEI MONK CRIED

Bai Mei Zen Master told Li Ning, "This Red Flower Princess is deeply mired in evil, almost beyond redemption, especially with this ’Blood God Scripture,’ which is of the utmost importance. Every person on the Demon Path throughout the world is eagerly hoping to obtain it. You need to make a grand vow to deliver her from evil with great compassion and wisdom.

"After I ask for leave to attain rebirth, you will need to take it to the mountains of the Southern Border, find a place to cultivate in secret, and refrain from using any spells or divine skills; any use will certainly be detected by others, resulting in your discovery. You must live like an ordinary monk, and regardless of any difficulties or hardships, you should accept your fate as it comes.

"Furthermore, you must sever all worldly ties, avoid contact with anyone, and wholeheartedly chant the Buddha’s name. Only in the future... entering the Dharma Decline Era, as the magic and divine power within the Demon Scripture and the witch gradually vanish, will they be receptive to your teachings and conversion to Buddhism. Only after you have sent her to be reincarnated, should you come to the West."

Li Ning could now only ascend to a lower rank of rebirth, but by accomplishing these tasks, he would be capable of ascending to a middle rank, flying to Nirvana. The merits and virtues of such a position are different; although he would be delayed in this world by sixty years, in Nirvana, he could avoid several major calamities and directly cultivate to the Bodhisattva Fruit Position.

Li Ning took the Shariputra with both hands: "Disciple will certainly follow the instructions, without any mistake."

Bai Mei Zen Master then took the second Shariputra, "This one is related to the Yin Yang Sect Leader, Situ Lei. For the next sixty years, you cannot meet anyone, but you are allowed to meet him, and him alone. If he comes to you to learn about Buddhism, you can accept him as a disciple, but you must refuse the first two times. Only on the third time, thirty years later, can you accept him and cultivate ascetically with him in the mountains. This Shariputra is his only hope of overcoming his last calamity."

Li Ning took the second Shariputra as well: "Where is that Yin Yang Elder now?"

Bai Mei Zen Master said, "Don’t worry about where he is. Even if he seeks you out, you cannot meet him for the first thirty years, otherwise, he will surely try to union with the Red Flower Witch. Then, unless the Buddha himself descends, no one on earth will be able to manage him! If... I mean, if you feel that you cannot suppress the witch, then find a way to contact your daughter, Ying Qiong, and have her find Master Yuan Yang. Give him these two Shariputras and say that they have no fate with Buddhism and must ask the Daoist to take them in for conversion."

Li Ning bowed again: "Disciple will certainly do as Master instructs, and complete the tasks perfectly."

Bai Mei Zen Master was still worried, but Li Ning was now the only one he could rely on.

Although Li Ning’s mana was inferior to Zhu Youmu’s, his character was much better. In the path of Buddhism, character is more important than divine skills.

If these two items were to fall into the hands of Zhu Youmu, that would indeed brew the seeds of an unprecedented calamity.

He said to Li Ning, "You must go now! Leave for the mountains immediately, and from this moment on, you must never be found by anyone again."

Li Ning found it hard to part: "Disciple requests to see Master off into rebirth before departing."

"Not possible! If you don’t leave now, I fear you won’t be able to leave at all! Go now! Quickly!"

Bai Mei Zen Master had already sensed Zhu Youmu’s dissatisfaction. If Li Ning were to wait until after his own passing to leave, Zhu Youmu was likely to forcefully take the two Shariputras.

With no choice left, Li Ning bowed several more times to Bai Mei Zen Master and, as he rose, tears welled up in his eyes.

"Foolish child! Foolish child!" Bai Mei Zen Master urged him to leave quickly. As he did, he chanted, "The Buddha said to Xu Puti, ’All the Bodhisattva Mahas should subdue their minds thus... In such a manner, to liberate immeasurable, countless, infinite beings, yet not a single being is actually liberated. Why is this so... If a Bodhisattva retains the notion of self, person, being, or lifespan, he is not a Bodhisattva...’"

He recited a passage from the Diamond Sutra to Li Ning for the last time, watching as he left.

Li Ning stepped into the void and flew down the cliff. From a distance, he turned back and repeatedly bowed to his gracious teacher, then tearfully departed, becoming invisible in an instant.

Zhu Youmu indeed harbored resentment. Bai Mei Zen Master did something next that intensified Zhu’s dissatisfaction.

The Big Monk gestured for Shi Sheng to come.

"Me?" Shi Sheng was startled for a moment but flew over too.

Bai Mei Zen Master took out his Purple Gold Bowl, a large one, and said to Shi Sheng, "This contains part of the Sky Lusting Sect Leader Xin Shuangchen’s incarnation. I cannot destroy nor convert him. You must deliver him to your esteemed teacher, Master Yuan Yang, for his disposal. Thus, we weave a thread of karma between our two paths."

The Red Flower Princess and the Evil Book of the ’Blood God Scripture’ had transferred from Shi Feiyang’s hands to Buddhism, and now that they were out of their reach, the responsibility for the Sky Lusting Sect Leader was passed back to Shi Feiyang’s hands.

This was tantamount to cooperation between Buddhism and Daoism to eliminate future calamities.

Shi Sheng took the giant bowl into his embrace and peered inside, only to see a mass of Yin cloud at the bottom of the bowl, slowly surging; he could not discern the specifics.

Bai Mei Zen Master then spoke to Chen Yan, "I have put you through inconvenience this time, my little friend. I also had a friendship with your lofty master, the Jile Perfected. Alas, your memories from the previous life have been restored by unworthy disciples, and this life is in vain. You must reincarnate again, and there’s no time left, you are inevitably facing a calamity, from which you may never recover. Yet, if you accompany Shi Sheng and seek Master Yuan Yang’s shelter, you will be safe. This bowl comes from the Western Realm and is quite a formidable treasure, so I bestow it upon you as some compensation. You two must go now, promptly seek Master Yuan Yang, and ignore anyone you meet along the way until you find him."

Then Bai Mei Zen Master urged them to leave quickly, making their way to the South Sea to find Shi Feiyang, not allowing any delays on their journey.

Regardless of everything, Chen Yan still held respect for the Big Monk, so he agreed to the instructions. Shi Sheng had come to rescue him in the first place, and now that he was safe, they both took the bowl and departed together.

Once they had also left, Bai Mei Zen Master turned to Zhu Youmu, whose feelings of discontent grew even more intense!

Heirloom of the robe and the bowl, heirloom of the robe and the bowl!

This saying originally came from Buddhism. In ancient times, the Fifth Patriarch Hongren recognized the Sixth Patriarch Huineng as his disciple because of the verse "Bodhi originally has no tree, the mirror also isn’t a stand." He called him over in the middle of the night, transmitted the Buddhist Law to him, and finally told him to take the robe and bowl and leave overnight, heading south to avoid being captured by the followers of Shenxiu...

Whether he actually took the robe and bowl with him is another matter, but these items represent the transmission of the Daoist lineage.

After the Bai Mei Zen Master passed away to Nirvana, his robe and bowl should naturally have been inherited by his eldest disciple, Zhu Youmu.

But he gave the bowl directly to an outsider. If it involved the Sky Lusting Sect Leader, Bai Mei Zen Master should have left it to himself to deal with. Even his junior brother Li Ning had important responsibilities; couldn’t he share a part of it?

Even if he needed to send the Sky Lusting Sect Leader to the South Sea, he still needed to retrieve the bowl in the future. But now it was designated to Chen Yan!

At this moment, Zhu Youmu felt an impulse to chase after Chen Yan and snatch back the bowl!

All his thoughts were clearly seen by the Bai Mei Zen Master.

Suddenly, the Bai Mei Zen Master started to cry... tears flowed directly from his eyes.

This scared Atong out of his wits and also frightened Zhu Youmu.

They had cultivated for several lifetimes, with memories spanning a thousand years, yet they had never seen their master cry.

The master’s realm had long surpassed the worldly state of "not delighting in possessions, not grieving for oneself" and "unmoved by honor or disgrace." He had already realized No-Life Dharma Tolerance and broken through bodily views, self-views... penetrated life and death, severed reincarnation. What in this world could possibly make him cry?

"Master..." Atong knelt before his master’s knees and, seeing his master cry, also wanted to cry.

Bai Mei Zen Master gently comforted Atong by patting his head, and said to Zhu Youmu, "If you know why I cry, there may still be hope for you, but if you don’t, then there truly is no cure..."

His eldest disciple, Zhu Youmu, was killed and tormented to death by evil demons and demon humans in a past life. After his reincarnation, he harbored immense hatred, flaunting his spells, and specifically joined forces with people outside the Dao to kill, sharing a similar temperament with Jiang Xuejun. In hundreds of years, the two of them killed many heretics...

The more people he killed, not only did it not vent the grievances accumulated from the past, but his killing intent grew even stronger.

This is the past cause and present effect, the present effect and future cause; cause and effect are not separate, cycling endlessly, with no prospect for liberation...

Bai Mei Zen Master had tried many methods, patiently teaching over more than a thousand years. Zhu Youmu had reincarnated many times, and each time at the end of his life, he would suddenly become enlightened, confess his sins to his master, resolve deeply, and swear never to commit them again. But after he returned from reincarnation, he would still kill wantonly.

The heavier the karmic killing, the stronger the karmic forces became, forcefully driving and influencing him. Now that it had accumulated to a certain level, he was utterly unable to reverse it.

If not for various changes, Bai Mei Zen Master should have been able to reach Perfection and ascend decades earlier, and by that time Zhu Youmu could almost have used Buddhism to dissolve his killing intent...

However, everything changed because of the variable that was Shi Feiyang, who was not ordinary; he was naturally within Zhu Youmu’s hunting range. Shi Feiyang wanted to gain various treasures, practiced the Demon Path Great Technique, and also made enemies with Buddhism, Emei, and others... With all these reasons combined, Zhu Youmu took the initiative to provoke Shi Feiyang, resulting in an even greater accumulation of karmic killing and hatred, ultimately becoming uncontrollable!

Bai Mei Zen Master had no choice; it wasn’t that he didn’t care about Zhu Youmu, as he had been doing so for over a millennium.

Cultivation, after all, is one’s own affair, and even the most powerful master is simply external influence.

Even if Shakyamuni Buddha came, he could only tell Zhu Youmu what was right and what was wrong, which path led to the Western Nirvana, and which led to the Fire House of the Six Paths.

The specific choice of which path to take and how to walk it still came down to oneself. Even with the ability of the Buddha, one could not forcefully pull another person along!

Bai Mei Zen Master saw the dissatisfaction in Zhu Youmu’s heart and finally made a last effort: "You think I gave those two Shariputras to your junior brother instead of you because I look down on you? The karmic consequences tied to that witch are extremely heavy! If you were to receive them... Never mind, it’s better left unsaid."

Some things couldn’t be said too plainly. If he told Zhu Youmu, "If I put the Shariputras in your hands, in the end, you will inevitably be seduced by the witch, unite with her, and completely sink."

If Zhu Youmu heard this, it would most certainly provoke more anger in his heart, and he would scour mountains and seas to snatch the Shariputras, putting them in his own hands to prove to his master that he could indeed convert the witch!

He forbade Li Ning from meeting with anyone, mainly to guard against Zhu Youmu.

The Sky Lusting Sect Leader was also dangerous, posing no lesser threat than the Red Flower Witch.

In the end, with a heavy heart, Bai Mei Zen Master said to Zhu Youmu, "Robe and bowl, robe and bowl, my robe and bowl were originally supposed to be passed on to you. But since you caused Chen Yan a lifetime of bitter cultivation, giving him the bowl was compensation on your behalf, to settle this karmic debt. Giving him the bowl is of no great value, but I will give you my last vestment robe!"

He took out the Brocade Kasaya he wore during his days of Dao cultivation and handed it to Zhu Youmu.

Zhu Youmu knelt down to receive it and suddenly remembered that his master, who did not value material possessions, also had a few treasures that he carried with him.