Tang Dynasty: Starting at Xuanwu Gate, this prince is better off not being one.

The sun made Daoyue's bald head shine brightly, which made it very difficult for Li Yu to suppress his laughter.

Daoyue was a famous monk in Chang'an. Although Li Yu was not very familiar with the records about him, he knew a lot about one of his disciples.

"Master, I heard you recently took on a new disciple, and he's quite handsome!"

"Amitabha."

As Dao Yue walked, he clasped his hands together and said, "Your Highness, please forgive this humble monk for speaking frankly, but young people should be wary of lust! Especially since you have a penchant for homosexuality and unrequited love, it is ultimately somewhat immoral and corrupting..."

"..."

"You bald...you old monk who can't utter a kind word! I merely wanted to inquire about your disciple named Bianji, how did you manage to make me sound so disgusting?"

Li Yu really wanted to put the monk in a sack and beat him up, but when he thought that the old monk was not only a learned monk, but also a martial monk, he had no choice but to give up.

Looking at Wenren An beside her, she realized that he had somehow managed to keep his distance from her.

"Don't listen to this old monk's nonsense. I have no homosexual tendencies. I just want to see how profound this handsome monk's Buddhist teachings are."

Upon hearing this, Master Daoyue asked with a surprised expression, "May I ask, Your Highness, what does this beautiful appearance have to do with profound Buddhist teachings?"

"It has nothing to do with us!"

Li Yu shook his head very honestly: "I just want to see what kind of person your talented and extraordinary little apprentice really is."

"I'm afraid Your Highness will have asked for nothing in vain." Master Daoyue smiled maliciously: "My disciple is only at the age of early childhood, so I'm afraid he can't be considered exceptionally gifted."

"Besides, he is currently studying Buddhist scriptures with the Venerable Xuanzang from Luoyang, and I haven't seen him for quite some time."

"..."

"Who are you talking about?"

"My disciple Bianji."

"I asked him who he studied Buddhist scriptures with?" Li Yu was so surprised that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Oh, you mean Xuanzang? He came from Luoyang to Chang'an to study Buddhism. Speaking of him, he was truly gifted; he grasped the essence of Buddhism very quickly. This old monk..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Seeing the endless chatter of Master Daoyue, Li Yu quickly interrupted, "I don't want to hear any of this. I just want to see this monk named Xuanzang."

"See Xuanzang?" Master Daoyue's eyes turned strange, simply because Xuanzang was also a handsome monk.

Ignoring Master Daoyue's filthy thoughts, Li Yu was incredibly excited.

Journey to the West! Tang Sanzang! I've heard the story for over twenty years, and now I finally have the chance to meet the real person.

So when Li Yu kept looking at a handsome monk in his early twenties, everyone was stunned.

"Amitabha, benefactor, why are you circling around this humble monk?" Xuanzang, dressed in a light brown linen robe, asked with his hands clasped together.

"It's nothing," Li Yu continued, scrutinizing him. "I just want to know if eating your flesh will grant me immortality..."

"You jest, benefactor. There is no such thing as immortality in this world. I believe it to be utter nonsense." Xuanzang smiled insincerely, but inwardly he was terrified.

Could it be that he encountered a cannibalistic psychopath today? And someone of high status at that?

He was able to think this way because he noticed that Master Daoyue was very careful in his speech when dealing with Li Yu, so he never acted impulsively.

But upon hearing that the other party was after his flesh, he instantly lost his composure. He had long heard that some nobles enjoyed cannibalism, but he never imagined it was true!

After looking Xuanzang up and down, noticing a flicker of panic in his eyes, Li Yu clicked his tongue twice and shook his head: "They say Buddhism teaches the practice of feeding eagles with one's own flesh, so why are you so terrified just because I was curious whether eating your flesh could grant immortality?"

"Excellent! Excellent! This humble monk can transform into Bodhi for the sake of Buddhism, and can also cut off his own flesh to feed eagles for the sake of all living beings, but for the sake of your momentary curiosity, please forgive this humble monk for not being able to satisfy you."

Xuanzang's gaze toward Li Yu gradually shifted from panic to a hint of disdain.

He had seen plenty of spoiled brats like this, harming others while praying to Buddha for peace of mind. He had originally thought that the noble scions brought by Master Daoyue would be different, but now he found that Li Yu was just like that, and he didn't even have the slightest respect when talking about Buddha.

"The body is a Bodhi tree, the mind a clear mirror. Constantly wipe it clean, lest it be covered with dust."

"Both I and the eagle are living beings, yet you cannot even treat us equally. How can you talk about cultivation if you can't even see each other clearly?"

Li Yu's sweet talk stunned Xuanzang, who finally spoke after a long pause: "Are you also a member of my Buddhist sect, benefactor?"

Li Yu shook his head: "I am the grandson of the current emperor, and my master is Sun Simiao of the Taoist sect. How could I possibly be a member of your Buddhist sect?"

"Why is the verse you recited so similar to my own path of practice? Does this mean you are also well-versed in Buddhism?"

Li Yu shook his head again, raised an eyebrow, and said, "All paths in the world lead to the same destination, so why does it only belong to your Buddhist sect?"

"Amitabha! What you say makes sense, benefactor; I have been too superficial!"

After saying this, Xuanzang put his hands together and began to chant Buddhist scriptures.

Li Yu was genuinely impressed by the monks' memories.

Despite having so many obscure characters, he could recite the Heart Sutra fluently after reading it a few times. Unlike him, who spent his days copying sutras in temples of later generations, barely managing to memorize this one after more than a year of copying.

"Master, why is your Heart Sutra slightly different from the one I remember?"

Li Yu rudely interrupted Xuanzang, who was reciting scriptures, his face full of confusion.

"The Heart Sutra?" Xuanzang, interrupted, showed no displeasure, but asked curiously, "This humble monk recites the Great Mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom of Kumarajiva. I have never heard of the Heart Sutra you speak of."

Huh? That's strange.

Does this mean that the Heart Sutra has not yet been created in this era?

Li Yu fell into deep thought, and after thinking for a long time, he remembered that the Heart Sutra seemed to have been translated by Xuanzang in history.

This is awkward...

Having accidentally plagiarized someone else's work right in front of the original author, Li Yu felt somewhat ashamed, no matter how shameless he was, so he had no choice but to help the monk out.

"Your recitation of 'Form and emptiness are without affliction' is too abstract. In my humble opinion, it would be better to change it to 'Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.' That would be more realistic."

Then, he chanted in a pretentious manner: "Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, sometimes sees that the five aggregates are empty, thus transcending all suffering and distress..."

The chanting continued until it ended with "Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha."

After reciting the poem, Li Yu looked at the two monks, Daoyue and Xuanzang, with a hint of pride, as if waiting for their evaluation.

"May I ask Your Highness, where did this sutra you are reciting come from, and from whose mouth did it come?" Master Daoyue asked excitedly, panting heavily, his bald head turning red.

"This sutra originates from a place called India..."

.........