The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The palace was overgrown with grass and weeds and the door and windows were all broken. The Buddharupa did not have any glow at all. It seemed that it had been pushed by someone and was broken up into pieces. Its head rolled to the corner of the room and “looked” at Meng Qi with a benevolent smile.

It gave Meng Qi a chill. “The Great Sage, Murky, and grandma were all demons but they were completely different. Is it similarly teriffying like grandma?”

Jiang Zhiwei looked around but nothing was abnormal. Nor did they find any enemies there.

With a solemn expression, Ge Huai’en took several deep breaths, closed his eyes, and harmonized Qi-circulation for a while. Then, he threw out several copper coins.

They knew that he was divining so they did not bother him. But they were all wary of everything in the meditation room.

“Ping—!” The sound of copper coins tumbling to the ground slowly faded away. Ge Huai’en concentrated his eyes and observed them. His expression suddenly changed. “This place is extremely ominous!”

“Which place is auspicious?” Meng Qi asked. Neither did they know their position, nor did they know where the danger came from. Thus, the solution that the divination offered was their last choice.

Ge Huai’en picked up the copper coins and flipped them several times. He became more serious than before. He was usually so calm, but now he seemed gloomy and worried. “There are extremely ominous things in each direction in this room. We are in a completely dangerous situation.”

They all exhaled but they were not too disappointed. If it was not dangerous here, then the Death Task would not deserve its name.

“So, we’d better stay here since it is getting dark,” Luo Shengyi confidently said, trying to get the consent of the others.

The sun was sinking down in the west and the clouds at sunset dyed the sky red. It already appeared to be getting darker.

Meng Qi nodded. “That makes sense.”

Since he had seen the Journey to the West and with the description of “demons destroying the human world” by Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms, he imagined the image that the mountain was inhabited by one group of demons. And many demons were good at hiding their tracks and often hunted at night. Thus, if they continued on their way at night, it would be very dangerous because they might be trapped and caught to be steamed or fried as the demons’ food. Therefore, it was better to stay here and wait until the dawn arrived.

“Good.” Jiang Zhiwei agreed.

Zhang Yuanshan was calm and discreet. He immediately said, “We should patrol the temple to eliminate any possible risks.”

In this special situation, they should act as one. None of them should act alone or fall behind the team. Otherwise, when they met again, they might be dead.

Everyone agreed. Meng Qi first acted and the others did their duties as well. When he had just opened the door of the room, “Caw, Caw!” The crows cried when flying from different roofs. It looked like a surge of black clouds. The shabby temple, with the dusk as its background, looked more bleak and horrific.

Meng Qi saw that the square outside the meditation room was also overgrown with grass and weeds, and the dung of birds and animals, broken walls, and tiles were everywhere. It seemed that this place had been neglected by people for many years.

“We should finish our inspection before nightfall.” Luo Shengyi was still used to giving orders. But compared with how he was before, he had more respect for the opinions of Meng Qi and the others.

Meng Qi nodded. With a blade in his right hand and a sword in his left, he led them to inspect the meditation rooms and the courtyard one at a time. But no people were found there. Some wooden tables could not withstand even a touch. Occasionally, they would see a skinny mouse swaggering around.

After about an hour, it had gotten much darker as night arrived. Jiang Zhiwei and Fu Zhenzhen lit a match to illuminate the room.

They did a rough inspection of the main part of the temple and did not find any strange or valuable objects. Some rotten bodies of beasts were lying there, having been gnawed at and scattered about. It was obvious that wild dogs had come here before.

“It seems that these demons are not able to expel ghosts.” Zhang Yuanshan guessed.

There was a time when all kinds of monsters destroyed the world in the main world. They were repressed by Human Sovereign and they hid themselves in the Heavenly Sea Source and other secret places. But they continued to disturb the world from time to time. Thus, every sect and school has detailed records of monsters. As an heir of Zhenwu, Zhang Yuanshan surely had all kinds of Dharma Access and knacks to use for inspecting.

Meng Qi turned around and looked at the door. The darkness seemed to contain countless dangers. “Then we should keep an eye out for monsters outside.”

The horizontal board on the door had disappeared, so they did not know the name of the temple.

“We should go back to the original meditation room. Its location is the most appropriate.” After judging the conditions and the distance from the front door, Jiang Zhiwei made that suggestion.

Meng Qi surely agreed and he again led them. Obviously, the meditation room was the main hall of this temple.

When they were about to arrive at the meditation room, below the firelight, he suddenly saw a flash of golden light.

“The golden lacquer of the Buddharupa has already fallen apart. So where is the golden light comingfrom?” Meng Qi slightly scowled. He went toward it and found that it was a horizontal board covered with moss and grass. The golden light came from one of the words written on it.

“A horizontal board?” Jiang Zhiwei asked sharply. “We can see what the name of this temple is.”

Although they were all in the strange World of Samsara and it was useless to know its name, it was a temple after all. It would be the same with Buddhism in the main world. Thus, like the Shaolin Temple in the world of Duo Ercha, which had the same setups and worshiped Buddha just like the Shaolin Temple in the main world, they might get some information from it.

Meng Qi knew some temples of the world where the Journey to the West took place. For instance, he knew the Gold Mountain Temple. Maybe he could get some information about their position, so he cleaned up the moss and grass that was on it by using the “Whisper Sword”.

Thanks to his quick movements, the last word was revealed for them to see. It said “temple” in Sanskrit. If Meng Qi had not learned Sanskrit in the Shaolin Temple, none of them would have known that.

As he continued, the “yin” appeared in Sanskrit. Meng Qi was a little afraid and his breath seemed to stop. “This should not be the ‘Small Leiyin Temple’! Aside from Yellow-browed Ancestor, who had been trapped, anyone from Small Leiyin Temple could easily kill and swallow me and my companions.” Meng Qi thought.

“Is something wrong?” Ruan Yushu seemed to notice that Meng Qi was nervous. They all adjusted their breathing.

Meng Qi shook his head and continued to clean away the moss and grass. Because 800 years had passed, the monsters here had probably left seeing that Yellow-browed Ancestor was subdued by Maitreya.

The golden Sanskrit continued to be revealed little by little. Meng Qi’s heart suddenly throbbed. It really was the word “lei”!

Small Leiyin Temple… Are we in Aparagodaniya, where large and small monsters are everywhere?

Feeling that he knew the results, Meng Qi became relaxed. Shabby as it was, this temple might not contain any powerful monsters.

He casually cleared away the rest of the grass, planning to reveal the “small”. Suddenly, he laughed in his heart. Meng Qi thought ,” It is not ‘small’ but ‘big’. That’s much better as long as it isn’t the Small Leiyin Temple…”

Thinking this over, his pupils constricted suddenly and his facial expression froze. He was terrified.

Not “small” but “big”. So, is it the”Big Leiyin Temple”? The” Big Leiyin Temple” where the Buddha lived in the story of the Journey to the West?

The Buddhist melody told of the laws in a shocking voice. It sounded like thunders!

“It’s impossible…” Meng Qi was completely at a loss. “How can it be the “Big Leiyin Temple?” Did something disastrous happen? It was a greeting shock!”

“Don’t be worried. Maybe it was named by a Wild Fox Dhyana…” The changes in Meng Qi’s facial expression made Jiang Zhiwei and the others more wary, but no one dared to ask him.

Meng Qi carefully looked at this horizontal board. It should contain some evidence of life in it. The four characters in Sanskrit seemed normal, but a more careful look would make the readers peaceful. The Zen was plain but genuine. It quietly lay on it, which seemed to speak of the changes of the years. Although it could not move, it was so realistic.

“Could it really be the ‘Big Leiyin Temple’…” Meng Qi subconsciously withdrew his “Meridian” and picked up the horizontal board. When he turned back to the meditation room, he felt something strange. “If this is the ‘Big Leiyin Temple’, aside from the horizontal board, the rest of the setting should be nurtured by the breath of Gautama Buddha. Even the passage of time could not do any harm to it. Everything should be uncommon, just like the horizontal board. How could it all be rotten and easily broken?”

Maybe this isn’t the “Big Leiyin Temple” but the horizontal board is real?

But that theory was unacceptable as well! Who brought the horizontal board of the “Big Leiyin Temple” from the Holy Mountain or the pure land and threw it here?

When he regained his calm, he realized that his strange response was worrying all of his companions. The situation was so unbelievable that Meng Qi could not deal with it calmly based on his current cultivation.

“Is something wrong with the ‘Big Leiyin Temple’?” Jiang Zhiwei was confused. “The little monk came from Buddhism. Maybe he knows something?”

According to some records in the Sutras of the main world, Siddhartha Gautama lived in “Nālandā Temple” of Pasa Pure Land. It had nothing to do with the “Big Leiyin Temple”, so they were not surprised.

After thinking, Meng Qi said, “I have read several Sutras whose authors remain unknown. In their description, Gautama Buddha also has a Holy Mountain and a pure land. In the middle of the pure land lies the ‘Big Leiyin Temple’.”

The facial expressions of Zhang Yuanshan, Luo Shengyi, and the others slightly changed. As a disciple of Buddhism before, it was normal that Meng Qi had read some unknown Sutras. “Maybe the monsters destroyed the human world and ruined the pure land of PSiddhartha Gautama and the Big Leiyin Temple?”

That’s impossible!

How could demons have this ability? Even Devil Lord, who created a new world, cannot do that!

Even if the Monster Saint comes back to life, his strength could, at most, equal the Devil Lord.

Maybe the Buddha here is not the same Buddha from the main world?

Numerous doubts swept through his mind. Everyone remained silent, waitingfor Meng Qi to continue his words.

Meng Qi told them his theory that this was not the Big Leiyin Temple, but the horizontal board was real. They all supported his opinion. Even it was not the real Siddhartha Gautama, the places where Buddha lived were also the birthplaces of many holy objects. It was much more powerful than the Buddha’s relics from the world of Duo Ercha. How could they be so fragile that could not even withstand a touch?

“Maybe it’s not the real horizontal board. Maybe it’s written by a master.” Meng Qi himself did not believe his own explanation. “If the Holy Mountain and the Big Leiyin Temple were ordinary, how could a master name his temple the Big Leiyin Temple?”

Thinking about the words: “800 years after the Journey to the West, monsters trampled the world”, Meng Qi felt that something terrible had happened.

After a silence, he said, “The story that those Sutras tell is a kind that is similar to the story happening in this world. Monsters are rampant here. There are many big powers at the Monster Saint level among them. We should not be off our guard.”

“If we meet with big powers at the Monster Saint level, we still can’t defeat them, even if we are wary. Don’t be too worried.” Jiang Zhiwei smiled without fear.

Just after he finished his words, everyone was shocked. A violent Demon Odor surged into the sky!

Countless small demon gases gathered together like a black cloud. With the roaring of winds, they rushed toward this meditation room.

“Flying by Wind?” Zhang Yuanshan was serious. This monster was at least at the level of the Half-step Exterior Scenery!

Because monsters were born with the ability of Heavenly Knowing, they could reach the level of Flying by Wind earlier than the experts of the Exterior of the Human tribe.