Chapter 624 — First Show of Might

Xuanliao the Demon Ape was flung into the air, his face blank with bewilderment and helplessness.

Seeing it, Shen Mu could not help but wonder: "By the look of it, the big fellow still has not come to his senses. He does not know he has won, nor why he has won."

He turned to look at Grandpa Huo and thought: "Grandpa Huo is the honest man the village is known for. To choose the big fellow for this fight, and knock the Buddha-sons of the Twenty Heavens' Buddhas out of the saddle — that idea was truly brilliant beyond compare. Did Grandpa Huo mean it, or is the big fellow's grasp of the Dharma really so unfathomable? Why does it feel to me more like someone in the village put Grandpa Huo up to a shabby trick?"

Grandpa Huo had said that the monks' chanting of the Buddha's name so disturbed the Buddhas of the Twenty Heavens that they could find no peace; that idea came from the Silent Craftsman — only the Silent Craftsman would be so mean.

And sending Xuanliao the Demon Ape into the fight — that style, which can kill a man with sheer exasperation, looked far more like the work of the mischievous Blind Sage.

The Blind Sage's Sacred Heart-Pupil was skilled at finding the crack and slipping in. His spearplay had few variations — you could even say it had no technique at all — yet he always struck his opponent's weak point, because he could see through the substance and emptiness of every move.

To set Xuanliao the Demon Ape in the fight — Xuanliao himself spoke little, always dropping words out one at a time, and he had deeply grasped the essence of not-debating as debating.

If it truly came to a debate on doctrine, the monks of Datingming Temple would surely not out-argue the Buddha-sons of the Twenty Heavens; and so not-debating became the key to victory.

And Xuanliao the Demon Ape was exactly such a man.

"Still, the big fellow truly has roots of wisdom deep-planted; his attainments in the Buddha's Dharma are frightening."

Shen Mu looked at Xuanliao the Demon Ape, admiration rising in his heart. He thought: "He does not know he has won, and does not know why he has won. Though he fought, his heart was one clear void, knowing neither victory nor defeat — this is the Buddha-son Zhankong. No wonder the Buddhas of the Twenty Heavens have changed what they call him, naming him their young junior brother. Come to think of it, Blind Grandpa and Grandpa Silent Craftsman both laid moves for Grandpa Huo — where have they gone now?"

Granny Zhu and the Black Tiger God had returned from Luofu Heaven, and they too were nowhere to be seen, which left him deeply uneasy.

"Eat! Be strong!"

Shen Mu stayed for a vegetarian meal. Xuanliao the Demon Ape kept urging him to eat more, from time to time clenching his fist and flexing his thick arm to show Shen Mu how much he ate and how mighty his body was.

The vegetarian fare at Datingming Temple was mostly greens, bean curd, and steamed buns. Before Xuanliao the Demon Ape sat an enormous iron bowl, four or five times the size of an ordinary cauldron, filled with pine needles and pine cones, the food he loved best.

Shen Mu ate some vegetables and buns, just enough to fill himself.

Grandpa Huo put the kasaya back on, returned to the identity of Ma Rulai, and said to the monks: "The Buddhas have granted us three places, to go to the Buddha realm and study. Of those three places, Zhankong takes one, Chenghuai takes one, and as for the other, I hesitate."

Monk Jingming smiled: "What does the Tathagata hesitate over?"

Ma Rulai said: "Senior brother, Zhankong has roots of wisdom, and Chenghuai is the more seasoned. Both would be excellent at studying the Dharma. But studying the Dharma tests not roots of wisdom but insight — one must turn what one comprehends into divine powers, into battle-strength, so that in days to come one may subdue demons and monsters and meet the calamities to come. To have Buddha-nature is not necessarily to have surpassing battle-strength; that is my worry. Both Zhankong and Chenghuai have Buddha-nature, but both fall somewhat short in insight."

An old monk said: "If that is so, why does the Tathagata not go himself?"

Ma Rulai shook his head: "I am already a Buddha. I cannot pass the barrier of this world, cannot reach the Buddha realm directly; so I must find one among the younger generation whose gifts and insight are extraordinary, to go in my place, comprehend the supreme wondrous Dharma, and pass the Buddha's Dharma down. This one — he troubles me."

The monks of Datingming Temple frowned one and all. Ma Rulai said that Xuanliao the Demon Ape and the young monk Chenghuai lacked insight, but in truth his standard was simply too high: their gifts and insight already made them the very finest of Datingming Temple's younger generation.

To select from Datingming Temple a young monk surpassing them was simply impossible!

Ma Rulai looked at Shen Mu, who was eating his meal. Xuanliao the Demon Ape pinched up a handful of pine needles and held them out to Shen Mu, inviting him to eat.

The other old monks looked too. They saw Shen Mu take the pine needles, knead them into a cake, eat it down in two or three bites, then take a few more mouthfuls of steamed bun.

"How is it?" Ma Rulai asked the monks.

The monks said in unison: "A good man. The Tathagata's Dharma Eye is peerless!"

"You want me to go to the Buddha realm?"

Having eaten his fill, Shen Mu was summoned by Ma Rulai, and hearing his words could not help but stare wide-eyed, blurting out: "I am the leader of the Dark Demon Cult, and I once had a feud with Datingming Temple. Send me to the Buddha realm to study the Dharma — will the Buddhas not beat me to death?"

Ma Rulai laughed: "The Buddhas of the Buddha realm have no feud with you, nor any feud with the Heavenly Saint Cult. The Buddhas attained Buddhahood before the Kaihuang Era was destroyed, and founded the Buddha realm. The feud between Datingming Temple and the Heavenly Saint Cult came after the Kaihuang Era was destroyed. The Buddhas understand reason; they will not make things hard for you."

Shen Mu still hesitated: "This chance was won for you by the monks of Datingming Temple. If an outsider like me goes to seek the Dharma and study, will I not cut off the monks' hopes?"

Ma Rulai shook his head: "Only if you go is there hope. This journey to the Buddha realm is to study Datingming Temple's supreme Dharma, the Buddha-art that reaches straight to the Emperor's Throne. I fear Zhankong and Chenghuai cannot comprehend its essence, so it is more fitting that you go with them."

Shen Mu no longer declined. "What should I be mindful of on this journey to the Buddha realm?"

"Local customs and manners — when you enter a village, follow its ways. You know all this well enough; I need not say more."

Ma Rulai said with meaning: "The Buddha realm does not aid Datingming Temple of the lower world — not because it is unwilling, but because it cannot. So you must beware of spears in the open and arrows from the dark."

Shen Mu felt a chill, and at once understood the point hidden in his words!

The reason the Buddha realm was so cautious — apart from its fear of the power called the Heavenly Court — was surely that the Heavenly Court had already planted untold eyes and factions within the Buddha realm!

On this journey to the Buddha realm, the Heavenly Court's eyes and forces would certainly strike at them, the monks come up from the lower world!

The blood and storm of it could well be imagined.

And this was likely why Ma Rulai insisted that he go!

Xuanliao the Demon Ape, Zhankong, had roots of wisdom deep-planted, but roots of wisdom in excess and experience too little. The young monk Chenghuai's experience was sufficient — yet in the past, when he entered the red dust to temper himself, he had only joined the army, and his tempering in the army left him far behind Shen Mu in stratagems and in meeting danger with presence of mind.