The Word of Heaven

Chapter 322: End of Fate
Gu Zhuo was speechless, thinking to himself, of course you are not illiterate. If you were really illiterate, how could you have cultivated to this level?
The practice of spiritual cultivation has been passed down for thousands of years and is no longer as wild as it was in the ancient times. It has a neat inheritance system and methods of entering the Tao. This means that the first thing every practitioner has to do now is to learn to read.

The real purpose of the existence of schools such as Changzhou Academy is to enlighten children, to let them know about cultivation and to establish a correct concept of cultivation, so that the sect does not have to worry about it anymore.

Yu Sheng was born into an imperial family that has existed for thousands of years, and he should have received the best education.

Thinking of this, Gu Zhuo suddenly recalled a question and his expression changed slightly.

"Did you just remember?"

Yu Sheng said calmly, "It's true that I'm illiterate, but my cultivation journey started on Baidi Mountain. All my teachers are dead, and they are arrogant dead. How could they teach me these things?"

Gu Zhuo was speechless.

This reason is too powerful.

Yu Sheng casually picked up a newly compiled volume of the Taoist Canon and said calmly, "It's true that I can't understand it, but it's also true that I don't care. I have practiced based on intuition until now."

"Um……"

When Gu Zhuo was about to discuss with her, his eyes suddenly became curious.

Yu Sheng asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Zhuo subconsciously said: "Isn't this the reason why you haven't wanted to accept any disciples in the past hundred years?"

Yu Sheng put down the scriptures and said nothing.

Gu Zhuo understood.

He silently lowered his head, picked up the book that still had the warmth from his wife's hand, and began to pretend to be dead.

"Don't ask this kind of question next time, okay?"

Yu Sheng's voice was very light and indifferent: "Or maybe you just want to mock me with this."

Gu Zhuo apologized sincerely.

The sunlight shines through the thin curtains and falls on the ebony floor, emitting a warm and smokey scent.

The two sat opposite each other. Lin Qianshui picked up the iron kettle and walked under the eaves, picking the clean remaining snow using Taoist methods to make tea.

The snow melted into water, gurgling in the kettle, creating a hypnotic background sound.

Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng began to communicate with each other.

"The sixteenth volume of the Mountain and River Scroll records the incident of a red dragon running away from the water 4,600 years ago. Taoist nun Yun Miao compiled and annotated this incident, linking it to the sudden decline of the Wei Kingdom at that time. The general idea is that the heaven and earth have destiny, which is invisible but substantial and always exists without change."

"It's a coincidence that in the history of the old Shang Dynasty, there was a king who believed that the fate of the country was predetermined, specifically the number of practitioners who reached the state of enlightenment. For this reason, he spent ten years setting up a plan to murder the only person in the court who had reached the state of enlightenment, and finally his body entered the state of enlightenment. However, the country soon fell, and almost no one remembered this incident. However, Master Guangyuan deliberately brought it up and added a sentence at the end: If the country has a predetermined fate, what about heaven?"

"The fourth generation ancestor of Yishui is widely recognized as the one who has taken a step toward becoming an immortal. He is the closest person to transcendence. No less than seven of you have shown obvious curiosity about this and have searched for a lot of information, leaving behind messy traces of ink, but to no avail."

"There is something that happened very recently. Emperor Wu of Qi was famous for his studies and worship of Buddhism. You should remember that his final fate was that he was imprisoned to death in Tong Palace. Outside the door was a sea of ​​fire that could not be entered or retreated, and behind the door was a desperate situation where there was no water at all... The history of Qi clearly records that he died, but my ancestors thought that there was something strange about this matter. They believed that this was actually an attempt at Nirvana by Cihang Temple."

"Although Emperor Wu had a deep Buddhist nature and was praised for inheriting the wisdom of the Venerable, he never entered the realm of immortality until his death. The remains that have become the gate of Cihang Temple are undoubtedly equivalent to the realm of immortality."

"Due to the general trend of the world, Zen Buddhism had to acknowledge the realm division method set by Taoism. However, this is only an agreement on killing power. The paths of practice are indeed different in nature. Don't you know this?"

"I don't like monks, how do you know?"

"very nice."

"What's so good about it?"

"Whether in my previous life or this life, I have never liked monks, just like you."

"Oh, what about the Immaculate Monk? Aren't you and he on good terms?"

Two voices, neither anxious nor impatient, lingered in the library. Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng seemed to be chatting casually, but in fact, the hidden thoughts contained in these casual words had been dismembered and disassembled.

A hundred years ago, after suffering an unexpected setback in the Battle of Xuandu, the ancestors of the Tiandao Sect obviously had some doubts about themselves. After a long period of self-examination, they once again concluded that the problem was not with themselves, so they turned their attention to the sudden changes recorded in the Taoist Canon, hoping to find certain patterns from them.

The event of the red dragon turning into a dragon while walking on the water involves the destiny of the State of Wei, the evaluation on the ridiculous king in the old Shang book, and even the speculation that the fourth generation ancestor of Yishui and Emperor Wu were imprisoned in Tong Palace...it can be summed up in two words.

"Definite number."

Gu Zhuo paused and continued, "Everything in this world is limited and unique. When you have something, you also lose something. Everything is in balance."

Yu Sheng said calmly: "The reason why Emperor Wu was imprisoned and died in Tong Palace and failed to enter the state of Nirvana is because the remains in Cihang Temple have not yet been reduced to ashes."

"Taking this as a conclusion, the extended meaning is that there is only one person in the world who can ascend to heaven."

At this point, she frowned slightly and said, "But the purpose of ascending to heaven is to transcend. Transcendence means leaving and no longer staying in the human world, so this position can be vacated."

Gu Zhuo didn't say anything.

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and said, "From this perspective, your ancestors have a reason to negotiate with you, because there are immortals who want to stay in the world and don't want to leave. They need you to fight against the word destiny."

Gu Zhuo finally spoke.

"There's something I can't figure out."

He said, "Assuming that the facts are as you said, my ancestors had many reasons to believe in the existence of ancestors. When they talked to me, they should not have shown such surprise and shock, as if the sky had fallen."

On the night of betrayal and destruction of ancestors, all the predecessors of Tiandao Sect, led by Master Guangyuan and Taoist Nun Yunmiao, clearly believed that their founder had transcended.

These once great and remarkable figures, although their spirits have become extremely weak over the long years, they are still truly sober and not ignorant or crazy, so it is impossible for them to make such a serious misjudgment.

"There's only one explanation."

There was something complicated in Gu Zhuo's voice.

Yu Sheng said: "Your ancestors have seen that unique existence, whether they saw it from afar or spoke to it in person, in short, they are sure that it is not their ancestors."

Gu Zhuo was silent for a moment and said, "I trust my intuition more."

Yu Sheng casually picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and said, "When you take that step, or meet it, the truth will naturally become clear."

Gu Zhuo said: "Just like you took me to the top of Tianqiong Peak?"

"Or else?"

Yu Sheng looked at him and added, "Besides, I don't think the truth is important."

Since it has been determined that the founder of the Tiandao Sect is still alive, and is truly alive in some way, there is no need to worry about the mental journey of those predecessors.

It is extremely foolish to doubt yourself because of the firm belief of others.

Gu Zhuo understood the meaning of the words. After a moment of silence, he said, "I don't understand. The purpose of becoming an immortal is to transcend. Why do you want to stay in the human world forever?"

Yu Sheng said: "What you can't understand is that becoming an immortal is obviously harmless, so why do you have to stay here?"

Gu Zhuo remained silent.

This was the sentence he did not say.

"The ancestor should be in an extremely subtle state now."

Gu Zhuo stated the final conclusion.

Yu Sheng nodded gently and said calmly: "This is the only reasonable explanation at the moment."

"There are still many things worth pondering. For example, if the founder of the Tiandao Sect took action a hundred years ago, why did he only knock you down to dust instead of killing you completely?"

Then she said nonchalantly, "It shouldn't be impossible, right?"

…………

Lin Qianshui is a smart person, so she naturally wouldn't listen to the conversation in the library.

After completing the simple service, she walked outside the hall alone and sat quietly, thinking about things that had become distant.

But no matter how far she thought, what finally caught her eyes was still the corpse in the ancestral hall - she actually had a good impression of the young Taoist priest, and she thought that Chu Jun would be extremely surprised when he returned.

After thinking about it again and again, she quietly developed a strange idea that she needed to go into the ancient Taoist temple and let her benefactor rest in peace.

This idea is like the rain in late spring, elusive and sometimes absent, and you can only truly realize it when your clothes are slightly wet.

What Lin Qianshui didn't know was that whenever she fell into such thoughts, Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng's gazes would often drift behind her and watch her quietly.

……

……

Winter is getting deeper, but the cold is still not as severe as before.

Without the white snow to decorate the Cihang Temple, it is naturally less charming than in previous years. Even the sunlight cannot melt the sadness between the monks’ brows.

Deep inside the Vinaya Hall, several important monks were holding a small meeting, and what they were talking about was naturally the matter of Yuanmiejing.

"This is really too much!"

The head of the Discipline Hall shouted angrily, "Does Pei Jinge really think that we can't detect the little tricks of the Patrol Department?"

Monk Kuzhou did not die in the Weiyang Palace Incident, he just lost his legs.

He was sitting in a wheelchair covered with cotton cloth, his face was quite dark, like wood that had been burnt by fire.

"So what if I'm bullying you too much?" He lowered his head and said expressionlessly, "Master Daoxiu is dead, so what's the difference between you and me and the fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered in the pigsty?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the place suddenly fell silent.

The faces of the other monks became as ugly as that of the monk Kuzhou.

"There's only one way to solve this."

The bitter boat monk raised his head, looked at the people in the field, and said indifferently: "Give up the fragments of the Fate Extinguishing Mirror and send them all away."

Without waiting for others to object by saying that it would be a loss of power and humiliation to the sect, he continued, "Divide it into three parts. Send the most but unimportant pieces to the Divine Capital. I will deal with the next most important pieces. Finally, leave the piece at the center of the mirror... for Yuan Gou Temple."

Hearing these words, the faces of the monks changed again and their brows furrowed.

"Yuan Gou Temple?"

"good."

"You want to send the Mirror of Destiny Extinction to the Immortal Monk?"

"This was the decision made by Patriarch Daoxiu before his death."

……

……

That night.

Chu Jun and Xie Yinglian were like idle people strolling at night, and they walked almost openly into the depths of Cihang Temple, where the forest of pagodas was located.

The Zen room located not far from the pagoda forest is extremely pleasing to the eye with its vegetation in spring. It was once the place where Master Daoxiu practiced meditation, but now it is covered in dust.

With the tacit cooperation of all parties, the two girls did not encounter any obstacles and easily came to the Zen room, ready to push the door and enter.

At this moment, the door of the Zen room opened.

The moonlight penetrated the room.

The shadow of the bitter boat monk was stretched very long, and his expressionless facial features were still dark, enough to make people's heart frightened.

Under the gazes of Chu Jun and Xie Yinglian, he slowly held the Dharma seal and chanted the mantra, invoking the restrictions left by Daoxiu before his death.

"Although my Buddha is compassionate, he also has the appearance of thunder and anger. You two have too many reasons to die."

Chu Jun looked at Xie Yinglian.

Not long ago, the latter swore on the road that there would be no accidents tonight.

Now, the unexpected happens.

"If you want to do it, you won't say such things." Chu Jun's voice was very calm: "Stop talking nonsense and make an offer."

The bitter boat monk smiled, a smile that revealed a hint of amusement, and said, "You can take the fragments of the Fate-Mie Mirror with you."

After hearing this, Xie Yinglian and Chu Jun looked at each other and had a premonition in their hearts.

As expected, the bitter boat monk said: "But it is not for the White Emperor, but for the Taoist master."

"If you want to start a war, this method is too crude."

Xie Yinglian said directly: "Besides, now is a time of war."

Monk Kuzhou kept smiling and said to himself, "Master Daoxiu is even more amazing than you think."

Chu Jun understood, his eyes changed slightly, and he said, "Is this its will?"

"You can understand that."

Monk Kuzhou said slowly, "Master Daoxiu actually had a good impression of the Taoist master, although due to their positions, this could only be a little bit of personal friendship, which was meaningless during his lifetime, but could only be revealed after his death."

Xie Yinglian said sarcastically: "This sentence sounds too gay."

Upon hearing this, Monk Kuzhou ignored it and took out the fragments of the Yuanmie Mirror from his arms.

Chu Jun asked: "Is there no suicide note?"

“The meaning of faith is believing.”

The monk Kuzhou chanted a Buddhist name and said with a smile: "What's more, the Taoist master is such a person. Even though we are separated by life and death now, as long as he holds this fragment of the Fate-Extinguishing Mirror in his hands, he will naturally understand the intention of the Taoist master Daoxiu."

Chu Jun was silent for a long time, took the palm-sized fragment wrapped in thick cloth, and said, "Okay."

The bitter boat monk took out another fragment and said, "This is an explanation to Pei Jinge."

Xie Yinglian said with emotion: "This is really generous."

……

……

In late winter, the Qin envoys, who had been staying at Cihang Temple for a long time, finally returned to the capital.

The monks of Cihang Temple gave a farewell in the most grand way, but the scene was actually cold because no one was happy.

This was an incomplete ending that all three parties were dissatisfied with but could accept.

Pei Jinge did not travel with the delegation because the eunuch leader came in person to bring her news from afar.

——The formation has been completed. His Majesty the Emperor will choose a day to leave the Divine Capital and personally visit the Tianqiong Peak on the Baidi Mountain. Therefore, the Sky Patrol must first clear up things around to ensure that the spring sacrifice will not be interfered with by any person or force.

(End of this chapter)