I am an immortal in heaven and earth

Chapter 394: The Birth Story of the Golden Light Bodhisattva

Fire Monk entered the real golden Buddhist kingdom, but what he saw was no real golden ground. Instead, there was desolate yellow sand, broken walls made of loess, weathered Buddha statues, faceless Bodhisattvas, armless Arhats, and stone scriptures with unclear handwriting.

He didn't understand Buddhism, nor was he interested in doing any archaeological research. He took a quick look and felt that there was nothing good here, so he continued walking inside.

Not long after Huogong Toudao left, Taoist Huanglian arrived. He was brainwashed by Xu Jia and realized the cause and effect. He was the reincarnation of the third prince of the Golden Kingdom. He left the country because he hated Buddhism. Now he was coming back to find the real reason for the demise of the ancient Golden Kingdom.

He first went to the outskirts and saw the mummies. He felt sad: "These are all our people. They were deceived by the bald donkey and now they have fallen into such a fate. They can't even rest in peace after death and are still believing in Buddhism."

Then, he took out a handful of poisonous yellow sand and dissolved the flesh and bones of those bandits who had killed the mummies and dug out the "relics". The Buddha's essence refined the yellow sand with the relics that had not been digested yet, making it emit a faint golden glow, like golden sand. On each sand, there were faintly carved Buddhas and Arhats. Looking closely at these Buddhas and Arhats, their faces were distorted. They were actually the souls of those who were killed. They were infected by the Buddha's essence and could not be freed, and became "Buddha slaves", just like the people of the Golden Kingdom.

After killing these people, Taoist Huang Lian entered the second level. He saw the same broken Buddha statues and sneered, "How can you be immortal? You will eventually turn into a handful of dirt."

Just as he was about to go in, he suddenly felt something. He walked to the wall of a Thousand Buddha Cave and touched a Buddha statue. He twisted it and suddenly a crack appeared in the cave, just enough for a person to move sideways.

Taoist Huanglian passed through the gap and saw that it was a secret room. He went down from the secret room and saw mummies everywhere, with skulls arranged like a Jingguan. He became angrier and angrier as he walked. When he reached the innermost part, he saw a row of stone lotus platforms.

There is a sharp stick in the center of the lotus pedestal, and on several lotus pedestals there are mummies sitting on the sharp sticks with peaceful expressions.

On several other lotus pedestals, there are "golden bodies" covered with fine gold powder and paint. The one in the front, in addition to the gold paint, is actually the entire body of a Bodhisattva encased in a clay sculpture, with only the ribs vaguely visible.

This is the "Buddha in the flesh".

When Xu Jia saw these things through Taoist Huanglian, he felt inexplicably familiar. After all, he also became a golden body after he passed away, but he did not sit on this kind of secret lotus platform.

It is obviously very cruel here, and the process starts with living people.

Xu Jia was also clear about the specific process. First, he would eat the food without salt, so that his limbs would become weak and his whole body would become white and plump, and he could be moved around at will. Then he would fast and only use a funnel to fill it with clear oil.

After there was no more dirt in his stomach, he started to eat only some preservative pills every day. These pills made him feel full but had no nutritional value. Eventually, they slowly consumed the fat around his body and he became like a mummy.

When the body is about to die, it is posed in a nice shape, seated on a lotus platform, and placed in a ventilated and dry place to dry for several days. In addition, an "incense array" is placed around it to keep the body in a state of smoke and fire, causing "strange phenomena to occur in the flesh", which is also one of the achievements.

In addition, there are also a large number of man-made relics, such as "relics".

This is the result of Buddhism being domesticated by the local people. Before it was completely domesticated, there was still the method of "burning the body to turn into rainbow", a form of suicide and self-mutilation, to express the boundless power of Buddhism.

Some sects even admonish their followers to "endure hardships to become Buddhas", encouraging them to mutilate themselves, starve, freeze, or wear thick clothes on hot days and whip themselves with thorns...

But this does not actually bring one closer to the Buddha. It can only bring about a "near-death hallucination" or even some pleasure, making believers think that they have really seen the Buddha and the Bodhisattva and are being led into the Pure Land.

Many people were deceived and killed in this way, and foolish people continued to do so. The land and wealth of these dead people became the property of the monks in the temples.

Judging from this secret room, the golden kingdom was probably destroyed by the "universal belief in Buddhism".

Taoist Huanglian had already been immersed in the situation by this time, and was filled with resentment.

But when he walked to the innermost part, he saw a tall man with a mustache, wearing a bodhisattva crown, and a necklace and jewels, sitting cross-legged on a lotus platform, looking straight ahead.

This person was none other than the eldest prince of the Golden Kingdom.

Under the command of Xu Jia, Taoist Huang Lian looked at the "Jin Guang Bodhisattva's Birth Story Sutra" engraved on the stone platform in front of the Bodhisattva.

It says that Golden Light Bodhisattva was originally an arhat who listened to Maitreya's teachings in Tushita Heaven. He was born in the family of a small king and was the eldest prince who inherited the throne. He had been determined to offer sacrifices to the Buddha and learn Buddhism since he was a child, waiting for the day of succession. He was unwilling to succeed to the throne and wanted to become a monk. Later, he was persuaded to attend court during the day and go to the temple to practice Buddhism after court. He did this for twenty years. His merits and deeds were complete, and he was awarded the honorable title of "Golden Light Bodhisattva". He led the Golden Kingdom to ascend to the Buddhist realm and establish a Buddhist country.

……

Taoist Huang Lian sneered: "Brother, brother, you have been deceived by those thief monks. You can't even rest in peace after death. You have been turned into something like this."

He looked around but could not find his second brother, the second prince of the Kingdom of Gold, or even the old king.

Just as he was about to destroy this place, he heard a voice saying "Namo Golden Light Bodhisattva." A phantom appeared, it was the former Golden Light Bodhisattva. He said: "At the beginning, I made a big mistake due to a single thought, and let that evil creature succeed. Everything will wait for the day when I will be born again, and the person with a predestined relationship..."

As he was thinking about this, he seemed to recognize Taoist Huang Lian: "So it's you, no wonder, no wonder, fate comes and goes, there's a glimmer of hope, fate and cause and effect, supernatural powers are invincible."

He pointed at Taoist Huanglian, and a key fell into his hand. The key was golden and inlaid with corals and pearls. The desert has always valued treasures from the ocean.

"This is the key to open the treasure house. That evil creature coveted the Buddha treasure, but I sealed him in here. However, he also has magical powers. When he is born again, it must be the day when he is about to escape. If we kill him, we can use the Buddha treasure to restore the vitality of the oasis and reproduce the grandeur of the golden Buddha kingdom in the past."

With that, the phantom dissipated.

Xu Jia thought to himself, "It seems like an NPC who is performing for himself. But at that moment, I actually felt like I was being watched. Could it be that the Golden Light Bodhisattva of the Golden Country has really become a Bodhisattva? No, if he really is a Bodhisattva, why would he use this method of making a flesh-and-blood Bodhisattva to make himself a Bodhisattva? To do something like this, he is being manipulated."

Xu Jia had already become suspicious, and he immediately counted with his fingers, but he was ignorant of the secrets. After all, he was not from this world, and he had not done the "smuggling ceremony" well, so he was always targeted maliciously. Now that his consciousness had been separated and he had come to this statue and made this oasis land, he was even more of an "evil god from outside the domain."

Taoist Huang Lian followed Xu Jia's suggestion and made a choice at this time. He took a few steps back and no longer thought about destroying the situation here. He just checked around.

Finally, a golden box was found on the back of the Golden Light Bodhisattva. When it was opened, there was nothing else inside but a golden seal with the words "Order of the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, Seal of the King of Golden Light" written on it.

Xu Jia had not yet understood the history of this world, but when he saw this seal, he thought to himself, "I think it's from Xuanzang's Records of the Western Regions, a Buddhist country that was not recorded on the way, or maybe a parallel time and space."

A small underworld governs five hundred such small worlds. The time and space history are different at a certain point, and thus they develop in different directions.

Xu Jia was not surprised at this, and said, "This seal is probably the orthodox place of this golden country, but I don't know why it was placed here. Could it be that the Buddhist sect had already figured it out?"

Taoist Huanglian put away the golden seal. This seal could be refined into a magical weapon that could suppress luck. Although it was not as powerful as the flying sword in fighting, it was still a rare treasure. It carried the luck of a country. He was the reincarnation of the third prince, so it was natural for him to inherit it.

After coming out of the secret room, Taoist Huanglian happened to meet the young monk Shifang. The young monk Shifang was very surprised to see Taoist Huanglian: "Why are you here too, senior?"

Taoist Huanglian didn't recognize Shifang at all. After all, it was Xu Jia who "possessed" him at that time. However, he instinctively hated monks. Without saying much, he entered the next level of the ancient country.

The young monk Shifang thought about it and also entered the gap in the shrine, but he was shocked beyond words.

It turned out that the monks from the "Ten Thousand Buddha Caves" in the desert were the survivors of the ancient Golden Kingdom. The young monk Shifang was still a kind-hearted man. He had never seen such a scene of creating a flesh-and-blood Buddha, and he immediately began to doubt Buddhism.

At this time, the golden Bodhisattva appeared again, performed on his own, and then disappeared.

I don’t know how much the young monk Shifang believed it.

When they reach the third level, Huogong Toudao and Huanglian Taoist meet. This level is also where most of the second-rate masters, and even some of the first-rate masters, stop.

However, one must decipher the Buddhist verses and comprehend something before one can enter through a door. There are only eight doors in total, corresponding to the "Eight Dragons" in Buddhism.

Even Mr. Heyu and Gongye and his daughter were here.

In addition, there are all kinds of unorthodox methods that have become famous in the desert, such as the Three Demons of the Desert, the Sand Demon, the Wind Demon, and the Flame Demon. They are all here. They call themselves the Three Immortals of the Desert. They practice unorthodox methods. One is good at using sand, one is good at using wind, and one is good at making fire. Because of their eccentric temperaments, they are often rumored to rob people and kill people, so they are called the Three Demons of the Desert. For example, the Scorpion Cult Master of the Five Poison Sect in Southern Xinjiang is a Gu refiner and also has a poison sword...

Only Zen Master Baiyun was not there. It seemed that he had already comprehended the Buddhist verses and entered through one of the eight doors.

When Huogong Tou Tuo saw Taoist Huanglian, he was delighted and asked, "Why are you here, sir?"

But when he saw Taoist Huang Lian's alert face, he knew: "That master is possessing me. I don't know if he is pretending not to know me or if he is letting this little beast in this flesh body take control."

He immediately stepped back, his expression normal.

Gongye Xingyun noticed the difference in temperament before and after: "This person is definitely not the one I saw before. Although his magic power is the same, his face and expression are much more wretched. When he saw me, he was afraid. Is he really the old thing who took over my body?"

(End of this chapter)