Killing Monks

"I don't know. My Uncle Nengzhi told me to send him down the mountain. He's probably... still down there." Guangfa's tone was uncertain.

Guangyuan suddenly stood up, turned around and left.

"Guangyuan! Where are you going?" Guangfa called out urgently from behind.

Guangyuan ignored them and rushed out of the temple gate amidst the astonished gazes of his fellow disciples, running wildly down the mountain path.

He was going to find Li Kai to save the child.

Even if there's only a sliver of hope, we should give it a try!

Sending people down the mountain like that, what kind of nonsense is this!

Anxious and worried, he hurried along the dark mountain path. When he reached the town at the foot of the mountain, he went to look for inns one by one.

They asked everywhere, but no one had ever seen Li Kai.

Just when Guangyuan was almost in despair, he caught a glimpse of a person holding a child, sitting alone in the shadows by the roadside at the edge of the town.

The figure vaguely resembled Li Kai.

Guangyuan quickly stepped forward and saw that he was dressed simply and was holding the child in his arms with a blank expression.

Hearing the noise, Li Kai looked up and saw Guang Yuan. He managed a weak smile on his sorrowful face.

"Young monk, we... meet again."

The last time they met was several years ago, when Guangyuan was still a child.

But he still recognized Guangyuan, who had grown up.

Seeing his attire, Guangyuan wondered why the temple had sent him away.

He was wrongly attacked by his Uncle Nengzhi!

"Let me see him..." Guangyuan pointed to the child in his arms, but his words stopped abruptly.

Having entered the realm of Arhatship, his five senses were far more acute than before. At this moment, he could no longer sense the slightest heartbeat or breath from the child.

"Little monk," Li Kai looked down at the child in his arms, his voice as soft as a sigh, "why not... recite a passage of scripture for Wen'er?"

"Namo Amitabha Night..."

Guangyuan instinctively wanted to recite the Rebirth Mantra, but he only recited one line before falling silent.

"When did this happen?" he asked in a low voice.

"This afternoon...right here." Li Kai's voice was wooden. "I've chanted Buddha's name countless times, but it hasn't..."

He sat there like that, holding his son, watching him breathe his last, having sat there since daytime.

Until nightfall.

"I'm late." Guangyuan clasped his hands together, his knuckles turning slightly white.

"I came to find you, but the people at the temple were being vague," Li Kai said, looking at him. "But I know you must have run into trouble."

"Nothing's wrong," Guangyuan shook his head.

Li Kai stared at the cold child in his arms: "Little monk, don't lie to me. I've had bad luck these past few years, and I know best what it means to be cold and indifferent to human relationships."

Guangyuan simply said, "Layman Li...please take good care of yourself."

"I won't die." Li Kai smirked. "I can still hold on."

"..."

There was silence for a moment.

Guangyuan didn't know what else to say, and Li Kai was also immersed in grief.

After a moment, Guangyuan turned around and said, "Take care."

"Little monk," Li Kai said from behind him, "you haven't finished reciting the Rebirth Mantra yet."

The full name of the Rebirth Mantra is the Dharani for Eradicating All Karmic Obstacles and Attaining Rebirth in the Pure Land. Reciting it can eradicate the sins committed in this life and lead to rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

He hoped that his son would go to the Western Pure Land and no longer suffer.

"No need. I understand now." Guangyuan didn't turn around. "Chanting scriptures... is useless."

"What's useful?" Li Kai wanted to ask, but didn't speak. He just watched Guangyuan walk up the mountain.

Guangyuan walked up the mountain step by step.

At first, the internal energy surged like boiling water, which was the violent residue of the "Karmic Obstacle Subduing Demon Skill".

Countless chaotic thoughts roared in my heart and shrieked in my ears:

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"It's all their fault! Kill them!"

"What utter nonsense about Buddhism! They just stood by and watched someone die!"

"We are right..."

These were all distracting thoughts that arose in his mind from practicing the "Karma Subduing Demon Skill" in reverse.

Guangyuan remained expressionless and said, "You are wrong too."

On the dark mountain path, he seemed to be talking to himself:

"The path of Buddhism is different from mine. It's not that I'm wrong, it's that Buddhism is wrong."

"Your paths are different from mine. It's not that I'm wrong, it's that you're wrong."

"I am ultimately not on their side. It's not that I'm wrong, it's that they're wrong."

After hearing "It's not that I was wrong" three times, the auditory hallucinations in my ears suddenly subsided by more than half.

"Of course, I can be wrong too."

"My biggest mistake was that I, a modern person, became a Buddhist."

"That's insane!"

"Are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas born with a special destiny?"

After he finished talking to himself, his aura gradually calmed down.

Upon returning to the temple gate, Guangfa was anxiously waiting there. Seeing him, he said, "Guangyuan! How dare you leave the temple without permission after the meal?"

Guangyuan clasped his hands in a respectful greeting and said gently, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I was just about to go to Uncle Nengzhi's place."

"Master Nengzhi doesn't care about the precepts! The precepts are under the jurisdiction of Grandmaster Huiming!" Guangfa said urgently.

Huiming was the head monk of the temple, in charge of preaching the Dharma and enforcing the rules of conduct.

"Then I'll go to Uncle Nengzhi first to resolve my doubts, and then go to Grandmaster Huiming to receive my punishment." Guangyuan smiled slightly.

For some reason, Guangfa felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at his gentle smile.

He then remembered that Guangyuan used to love to laugh.

But since he was "demoted" these days, he has never been seen smiling again.

"You...don't be impulsive!" Guangfa lowered his voice, "Master is gone, you have to endure it!"

"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I understand." Guangyuan said, and then walked towards Nengzhi's room.

Guangfa stood there stunned for a moment, then stamped his foot and turned to discuss the matter with his fellow disciples.

Guangyuan quickly arrived outside Nengzhi's room and said, "Uncle Nengzhi, I have a question. I hope you can enlighten me."

"It's getting late, let's talk about it tomorrow!" came Neng Zhi's displeased voice from inside the room, where he was meditating.

"But I insist on getting to the bottom of this tonight," Guangyuan said calmly.

"How dare you! Who do you think you are?" Nengzhi rebuked.

"I just want to know, why did four strings of cash become nineteen strings and three hundred and ten coins after more than a year?" Guangyuan continued to ask.

"We'll discuss this again tomorrow! Stop making trouble here!" Neng Zhi said, his voice tinged with anger.

How could this guy be so tactless?

Could it be that he was unhappy after being "demoted" and came over to act crazy late at night?

Guangyuan said, as if talking to himself, "Because this is calculated based on the 'nine out, thirteen back' rule, with compound interest."

"Li Daniu borrowed four strings of cash, but only received three strings and six hundred cash. One-tenth of that was already withheld by the temple."

"This is a cut-off fee!"

At this point, Guangyuan couldn't help but laugh.

Li Daniu borrowed four strings of cash, but only received three strings and six hundred coins. This is the origin of the saying "Nine times he went out and thirteen times he returned".

You get nine out of ten strings of cash, and you have to pay back thirteen strings three months later!

He continued, "After three months, he should repay five strings of cash and two hundred coins."

"Six months later, the five strings and two hundred cash were used as principal again, and the 'nine out and thirteen back' method was applied to generate six strings and seven hundred and sixty cash."

"Thus, nine months later it will be eight strings of cash and seven hundred and eighty-eight coins."

"One year later, it will be eleven strings of cash and four hundred and twenty-four coins."

"Fifteen months later, it will be fourteen strings of cash and eight hundred and fifty-one coins."

"By the eighteenth month, it had exactly nineteen strings and three hundred and ten coins."

"Uncle-Master, was my calculation correct?"