From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Chapter 1428 Observing the White Bones and Understanding the White Bone Contemplation

After hearing Jiang Liu's words, Kui Lang felt relieved. He called to the eight laborers, urged them to drive the camels, and quickened their pace, determined to leave White Tiger Ridge as soon as possible.

As they walked along, looking around, they saw shrubs growing on withered bones and human skin lying beneath withered leaves. Kui Lang, Bai Hua Ai, and the other ten felt increasingly disheartened.

How many people died in these mountains?

When the mind is troubled, all sorts of demons arise.

As Kui Lang muttered to himself, a beautiful young woman emerged from the forest. She had delicate features, bright eyes, red lips, and white teeth. She carried a blue clay pot in her left hand and a green porcelain bottle in her right, and walked towards them.

Hu Yuan asked in surprise, "How did a girl come out of this desolate wilderness?"

"I'll go ask."

Hu Jue stepped forward and looked her up and down. He saw that she was incredibly beautiful, as the poem says:

Her skin was as smooth as ice and her bones as delicate as jade, revealing her soft breasts; her eyebrows were like emeralds and silver stars.

Her moon-like face is naturally beautiful, and her body is as light as a swallow, surpassing even Chang'e.

Exactly—

The crabapple blossoms, half-open, are bathed in the morning sun; the peonies, just beginning to bloom, bask in the spring sunshine.

"stop!"

Although Hu Jue had a human body, he still preferred tigresses and showed no interest in human women. He demanded, "What kind of monster are you? How dare you pretend to be a human and cause trouble here?"

The woman was startled by Hu Jue's tiger-like face and cried out, "Help! There's a monster! There's a monster!"

She shouted for a long time—

Jiang Liu remained seated on his horse, without uttering a word.

Although Na Kuilang, Baihua Ai, and the others were surprised by the appearance of the woman dressed as a village girl, they thought that since the girl came from this deep mountain forest, even if they didn't believe she was a monster, they thought she was a bad person who deliberately lured travelers across the ridge.

After a while, the village girl seemed to have run out of energy. Her gaze passed over Hu Jue and landed on the composed Jiang Liu. She ran straight over and cried, "Elder, Elder, there's a monster! Help me!"

"You've mistaken me for someone else, Elder. I'm not a monk."

Jiang Liu flipped off his horse and saw Bajie loosen the reins, pick up his rake with both hands, and strike the village girl on the back.

Snapped!

The village girl had nine holes in her body, her eyes filled with disbelief, and then she collapsed to the ground.

"You're a ruthless pig!"

Hu Yuan sneered, "You killed her with a rake before even finding out the reason... Are you really the Cleansing Altar Messenger of Mount Ling?"

"Humph!"

Bajie picked up his rake and, seeing that Kuilang and Baihua were somewhat frightened, pointed to the village girl's corpse and said, "Look—"

The village girl's body shriveled up at a visible speed, turning into a pile of white bones, as white as jade.

"What's going on?"

Liang Luzhen doesn't understand.

"This is no ordinary village woman, but a skeleton spirit from this mountain range." Pigsy had traveled the Journey to the West before and had been tricked once, so he was experienced.

Furthermore.

The White Bone Demon had already been killed by his senior brother, leaving only a trace of her spirit to reincarnate. This White Bone Demon could not possibly be his senior brother's "lover".

But I still have to ask again: "Senior Brother, I killed this White Bone Demon, you won't blame me, will you?"

"???"

[You idiot! You have the potential to be a green tea bitch!]

Having severed all distracting thoughts from his mind to enter the cycle of reincarnation, Jiang Liu's expression remained unchanged. With his mind in meditation, he observed the white bones with his Dharma eye, and in a single thought, he attained enlightenment in the contemplation of the white bones, thus perfecting the Dharma form of heaven and earth.

In the past, Jiang Liu's Dharma form was based solely on the Tower of All Heavens. Although it was magnificent and vast, and even, by chance, he cultivated a twelve-zhang-tall majestic golden body, it was like a castle in the air.

now.

Jiang Liu observed the white bones and thus attained enlightenment in the White Bone Contemplation. Within the Dharma body, white bones and flesh were generated, further perfecting the Dharma body system.

It is:

The pagoda is the spine, the temple is the bone, breaking down the illusions of self and others.

When the white bones gleam with light, the three bodies, neither empty nor form, are revealed.

The White Bone Contemplation has four realms.

The contemplation of impurity involves visualizing nine impure aspects: decay, swelling, ulceration, pus discharge, being eaten by insects, being entangled by tendons, having bones scattered, being burned, and being dry bones, thus directly confronting the terror of life and death.

The White Bone Contemplation involves visualizing oneself, others, and all beings to break free from the notions of "self," "other," and "sentient beings," and to experience "no-self."

The process of "white bones regenerating flesh" means that after realizing the state of "no-self," one does not remain immersed in the realm of "no-self" but returns to reality, allowing the white bones to be reborn and evolve into flesh and the five internal organs.

The flowing light from the white bones signifies complete enlightenment; the light flows through the muscles and bones, illuminating not only the microcosm of the human body but also the macrocosm of heaven and earth.

Reaching this state does not make one an Amitabha, a Great Immortal, or a True Saint, but it grants one the supernatural powers of all three. With a mere thought, one's radiant light can illuminate all the heavens.

Fundamentally, it still follows the Zen principle of form and emptiness, that is, after realizing "emptiness," one should not become immersed in the state of "emptiness" and forget the principle of the unity of knowledge and action.

Jiang Liu has already cultivated the Dharma form and unified the three bodies of the manifest body, reward body, and Dharma body. He has long understood the Zen principles of form and emptiness, but he can only have similar supernatural powers when he borrows the power of the Taiyi of others, and cannot use them on his own. The root of this is the reason.

He only established the Dharmakaya system, but he was lacking in the aspect of "essence and function".

Now that he has attained the contemplation of the white bones, and because he has already cultivated the wisdom eye and refined the Dharma eye, he has realized the contemplation of the white bones in a single thought. The Dharma image then gives rise to white bones, instantly entering the impure, breaking the white bones, generating skin, and extending to internal organs.

However, since the six senses are not yet fully perfected, the process stops at the point of bone regeneration and muscle growth, but does not produce flowing light.

Even so, it still made him very happy.

The primordial Heavenly Dao has its flaws, and so does cultivation. The "Dao" that Hongjun and the Six Sages comprehended from the Heavenly Dao is essentially information from the multiverse.

This information is also incomplete.

But Jiang Liu is not a primordial being; he comes from the multiverse and understands the fundamental principles of the laws of heaven and earth, and the laws of the universe. It is because of the unique aura of White Tiger Ridge that he was able to observe the white bones and understand the White Bone Contemplation, thus completing the system of the laws of the universe.

This journey to the west was also a path for him to further improve his self-cultivation.

"Since you are a demon in disguise, how can I blame you?"

Jiang Liu straightened his mind, mounted his horse, but did not reveal the origin of the white bones. He instructed Bajie to lead the horse and continue onward.

Seeing that Jiang Liuzhen didn't care, Bajie laughed heartily and glanced smugly at Hu Yuan and Hu Jue. He felt that even though his senior brother hadn't fully recovered his memories, he was still on his side, not on these newly accepted "junior brothers".

Hu Yuan felt a tightness in his chest, but he couldn't spit it out, so he could only swallow it.

Seeing this, Pigsy became even more smug.

Before they had gone a mile, another old woman emerged from the woods. Her temples were as white as snow, and she walked slowly and hesitantly. She was frail and thin, her face as pale as withered vegetables, her cheekbones upturned, and her lips downturned. She was truly no longer the young woman she once was; her face was covered with wrinkles like lotus leaves.

"My daughter! My daughter, where are you?"

Hearing the old woman's words, Kui Lang was terrified and said to Jiang Liu, "Did Elder Bajie hit the wrong person last time? Otherwise, why would an old woman suddenly appear?"

Hu Yuan chimed in, "He must have hit the wrong person!"

Hu Jue also added insult to injury: "That woman turned into bones. Who knows what kind of illusion this pig-headed man used to deceive us?"

"Are you two looking for a beating?"

Pigsy was indignant. Seeing that the old woman from five hundred years ago had reappeared, he was furious. Without saying a word, he simply brandished his rake and chiseled nine holes in the old woman's front.

thump!

The old woman, her nine orifices shattered, fell straight to the ground, just like the young girl from before, once again turning into a pile of white bones…

Chapter 1429 The Three Corpse Demons of White Tiger Ridge

"They've turned into bones again!"

Kui Lang was shocked and couldn't tell whether the Clean Altar Messenger had lost his temper and used magic to cover up the murder, or whether the old woman was a skeleton spirit like the village girl from before.

After passing through Huangfeng Ridge and learning about the past of the Kingdom of Sihali, he lost trust in people like Buddha and began to doubt Pigsy.

Ignoring the fear of the mortals, Pigsy said to Jiang Liu, "Eldest brother, this is still a White Bone Demon, but whether it's the same one as before, I don't have the Fiery Eyes of Truth, so I can't really distinguish between good and evil. But it can transform into a human form and call itself a daughter, so it's definitely trying to deceive us. It would be best to kill it with a rake."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Liu stared at the skeleton for a while, sighed, and said to Bajie, "Next time you encounter it, don't attack again."

"Don't worry! Don't worry!"

Bajie assumed that Jiang Liu valued the two brothers, Hu Yuan and Hu Jue, more, and as the eldest brother, he couldn't show favoritism, so he patted his chest and loudly guaranteed it.

This aroused jealousy in Hu Yuanxin and resentment in Hu Jue.

Liang Luzhen rolled her eyes, remaining "unbiased" and not taking sides, but secretly chuckled to herself as she watched the spectacle.

[Tsk, Pigsy and Hu Yuan and Hu Jue already have a grudge, so it's not so easy to combine their metal and wood personalities in reality.]

Although that was what he thought, Jiang Liu also had a plan.

As they continued westward, they heard a hoarse voice coming from the woods: "Wife! Daughter! Where are you? Why haven't you come back for so long?"

"Oh no! The village girl's father and the old woman's husband have come looking for us. What should we do?" Kui Lang was certain that Bajie had gone mad, but he dared not say anything against him, fearing that the pig demon might kill them as well. He could only ask Jiang Liu, the pillar of support.

"Don't panic, I'm here."

Jiang Liu's words reassured Kui Lang, but then he saw Bajie darting into the forest. He scolded, "Bajie, don't make a move yet, let me ask first."

However, Bajie relied on the fact that Jiang Liu would not be too harsh on him afterward, and his goal was actually different from Jiang Liu's. It was not to go west, but to find his original nature so that the Great Sage could return completely.

Even though he obtained the River Flow Wood Mother and understood the Great Dao, he still did not give up his obsession. He rarely felt at ease, and although he could lead the horse, he was still eager for quick success and instant benefits.

Therefore, even upon hearing Jiang Liu's voice, the rake in his hand still struck the old man's head, shattering his skull and slamming him to the ground, turning him into a snow-white skeleton.

"Oops, Old Pig's hand slipped."

Bajie turned his head, pretending not to hear Jiang Liu's voice, and asked in a serious tone, "Eldest Brother, what did you just say?"

"Oh, Pigsy, you've really messed things up, putting us all in a predicament. Getting out will be difficult, and even I might not be able to keep everyone safe."

Jiang Liu feigned a sigh.

"Big Brother, why are you just like Master? I clearly killed a monster!" Pigsy grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Is it too hasty to assume they are also the White Bone Demon simply because they look the same as the White Bone Demon from five hundred years ago?" Jiang Liu questioned.