Chapter 625 — The Crown Prince of Moonlight

Chenghuai said hastily, "Brother Shen has offended the venerable Buddhas; this disciple begs pardon! " Dharma King Molun frowned slightly and was about to speak, when Chenghuai hurriedly bowed low to one of the great Buddhas and cried, astonished and delighted, "This disciple pays his respects to King Yama!

" That great Buddha smiled.

"You know me?

" "The Tingming Mahayana Sutra contains the dharma-image of King Yama, and so this disciple knows you!

" said Chenghuai. "This disciple bows to the Dragon King Sagara! " Another great Buddha smiled faintly and nodded.

Chenghuai bowed again to Dharma King Molun. "This disciple bows to Dharma King Molun, Deva of the Moon Palace!

" Dharma King Molun smiled.

"You have already bowed to me just now. We should come to the matter at hand—" "This disciple bows to the Deva of the Sun Palace!

" "This disciple bows to the Deva King Marici!

" "This disciple bows to Queen Hariti!

" ".

.

.

" The monk Chenghuai bowed his way down the row, until he came to the Deva King Indra; he looked up, but the Deva King Mahabrahma was nowhere to be seen, so he gave it up, thinking, "I can stall no longer.

" Dharma King Molun said with patience, "Little monk, you came to study and to seek the Buddha-dharma, not to bow to Buddhas.

Your brother here struck my disciple the moment he arrived, and spoke words of demons and outside ways; if I do not set ears and eyes right, will this mountain of mine not turn foul with smoke? How then shall the Buddha-dharma be spread?

" The monk Chenghuai, all reverence and honesty, said, "Buddha-Lord, this disciple is slow of tongue and poor at words. Better to let Brother Zhankong speak to the reasoning here. Brother Zhankong, come and debate with the Buddha-Lord. " Zhankong, the demon ape Xuanliao, stepped forward, planted the Brahma-Quiet Twelve-Ring Zen Staff at his side, raised a great hand before his breast in salute — and said nothing.

Dharma King Molun frowned deeply, glanced at the heavens and Buddhas about him, then suddenly laughed aloud. "Little Brother Zhankong, you need not open your honored mouth — I understand it all already. " Shen Mu and the monk Chenghuai exchanged a look, and each let out a breath.

Dharma King Molun also let out a breath, thinking, "By imperial decree I hold office in the Buddha realm, a Buddha-official; in ordinary days I read little of the Buddha-dharma and have pondered it but scantily, and I am no equal to the Buddhas of this realm. This black monk Zhankong has an unimpeded tongue — he has debated his way from King Yama's heaven all the way to Mahabrahma's, and none could stand against him.

Even the Buddhas call him Brother; to debate the Dharma with him would surely shame me! " Dharma King Molun smiled.

"In this matter the layman Shen is indeed not to blame; you have come to seek the Dharma and to study, and truly you should not have been barred.

Yet debate of the Dharma in the Buddhist gate is but a quarrel of tongues; one must also look to each one's cultivation and insight. Black— Brother Zhankong's attainment in the Buddha-dharma is matchless, and his divine powers must be fearsome indeed. Many Buddha-sons of the Buddha realm have tasted Brother Zhankong's eloquence; now they would taste his divine powers as well. " The monk Chenghuai was about to speak, but Dharma King Molun went on of himself: "This is Prince Moonlight. Prince Moonlight is of my line.

I was the Deva of the Moon Palace, emperor of the Moonlight Kingdom, and when I awakened to the Buddha-dharma, one awakening brought a hundred, and I became a Buddha upon the instant! After I became a Buddha I left the Moonlight Kingdom behind, and the Moonlight Buddha Kingdom is the Moon Palace Deva Heaven among the Twenty Heavens. Prince Moonlight is my disciple, deep in the Buddha-dharma. " Shen Mu, Chenghuai, and the demon ape Xuanliao looked at Prince Moonlight: he cultivated with his hair unshorn, his robes whiter than snow, his hair bound in a topknot, a precious sword at his waist, and behind his head a round bright moon that swayed slightly and sent its clear moonlight shining forward, a whole expanse of brightness. The monk Chenghuai said to Shen Mu, "This Prince Moonlight once debated the Dharma with Brother Zhankong.

He recited a great heap of sutras; Brother Zhankong spoke a single word, and he thought for a long while, then conceded. But Prince Moonlight's powers are fearsome indeed: the Tathagata says he has refined his sword into light and turned it into the round bright moon behind his head — it is called the Bright Moon Sword Radiance. " Shen Mu was grateful at heart, knowing that the monk Chenghuai was tipping him off, telling him Prince Moonlight's powers so that he might be on his guard. Thump. The monk dropped to his knees again, knocked his head on the ground before Dharma King Molun, and said, "You are the Deva of the Moon Palace, Dharma King, and no doubt magnanimous.

My Brother Zhankong has debated the Dharma through the Twenty Heavens and is already weary. This disciple begs that the layman Shen stand in for him. I thank you for your forbearance, Dharma King! " Dharma King Molun frowned and looked at Shen Mu.

The Deva King Indra laughed. "Dharma King, since it is so, let the layman Shen of the lower realm stand in for him. Prince Moonlight's powers inherit your peerless learning in the Heavenly Court; among his fellows he has scarce an equal. Let him try a round with this layman Shen, that we may see how far the divine powers and dharma arts of the lower realm have come.

" Dharma King Molun could only nod. "Moonlight, do not injure our honored guest from the lower realm.

" Prince Moonlight bowed slightly.

"This disciple obeys. " Then he walked toward Shen Mu and said calmly, "In the Moon Palace Deva Heaven, among those of my generation, I had no match in the world, and I felt the loneliness and austerity of it deeply; so I entered the Heavenly Court to study, and studied the sword in the Sword Heaven Palace for three years. " That said, he fell silent.

Shen Mu was filled with solemn respect.

"I learned the sword in Yincan Village, and the one who taught me swordplay was a worthless old man with no limbs. I once. . .

I never went to any Sword Heaven Palace or the like to learn the sword; I only groped after it on my own.

Please! " Prince Moonlight stood unmoving. "After all, the lower realm seldom sees great sights. I will grant you one move.

" Shen Mu held the yang seal with one hand before him and the yin seal with the other behind, bowed low — and unleashed the layered hand of the Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand. Prince Moonlight thought he meant to bow to him and received the courtesy in calm, when suddenly there came a tremendous boom: Prince Moonlight was blasted dozens of li away and smashed into a great mountain, punching out a deep, deep hole. Shen Mu's yin hand flipped to yang, his yang hand flipped to yin; in an instant he flipped a dozen times and more, and twenty or thirty strokes of the Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand burst forth one after another — and a whole cliff of sheer rock was hammered out of that great mountain by main force!

Shen Mu drew back his hand, waited a while, and said helplessly, "Dharma King, have you any other crown princes?

"