Book 14: Chapter 121

Marked White Wall Behind Cold Mountain

The ominous atmosphere during the confrontation had vanished. The scene of Venerable Monk Jiyi bathing in the moonlight conveyed serenity. The monk paused his recital, gently grabbed the leaf that settled on his shoulder and set it on the ground. The leaf converted into dirt, fused with the dirt and grew again as a lotus. Subsequently, he shut his eyes and resumed his recital. The new lotus reverted to its seed form under the influence of the recital, except there was a man who could shake up the entire world bound within it this time.

Venerable Monk Jiyi didn’t use a sutra but a legitimate martial arts discipline; however, no eminent monk from any generation of Cold Mountain Temple would’ve recognised the discipline or which sect it originated from.

Aside from his reputation as an abbot, his deep knowledge on Buddhism and benevolence, Venerable Monk Jiyi was also renowned for his formidable martial prowess. One would’ve assumed they would’ve gleaned the tip of his skills from his four senior disciples active in the pugilistic world, but very few people could actually claim they had seen him fight, not to mention the sparse number of rumours going around about him. That should’ve made it clear that it wasn’t much easier to assassinate him compared to assassinating His Majesty owing to the number of guards he had at his disposal. There was no reason for him to show his mettle when others could do so on his behalf. Truthfully, though, not even those immediately around him knew much about what he was capable of.

Not even members of Cold Mountain Temple knew of the existence of an inscription on the white wall in the backyard of Cold Mountain. Judging from the font and fragmented characters, it should’ve been carved on too long ago for people in the current era to comprehend. For that reason, members were only prohibited from interrupting anyone practicing there instead of being prohibited from being in the area whatsoever.

The inscription had existed before Cold Mountain Temple was even established. The monks of Cold Mountain Temple never thought much of it since it had been there for ages, so it ended up being another rock covered in moss.

When a monk from the Western Regions once visited Cold Mountain Temple before it was Cold Mountain Temple, he saw an unkempt monk sleeping under the rock. It left a deep impression on him because who’d sleep between a waterfall and mountain stream? Unfortunately, he had to move along as he had urgent business to attend to. The monk from the Western Regions, who was considered the best combatant among Buddhism followers, visited the Central Plain to spread awareness of Buddhism. Years after his journey to the south and north to pass on Buddhism, he returned to Cold Mountain Temple. There, he saw the same monk sleeping in the same spot and the same spot. Howbeit, all the stalls and people had left the area. The only thing that hadn’t changed in the area was the monk’s position.

The two rocks on either side of the monk, however, now had a line of text each. Combined, they read, “You can move the sky and earth. I shall sit right between the rocks.” The most amazing part was that the writer carved on using his bare fingers. As a symbol of admiration, the monk stood beside the dirty monk and recited sutras for seven days straight, never stopping for water or food. The dirty monk finally woke up when he was convinced the other monk was sincere. The two of them learnt new things from each other during their conversation. They carved their thoughts on the white wall, and the spot would become their meeting spot, which eventually became Cold Mountain Temple.

While Cold Mountain Temple never ceased to pass down their martial arts knowledge, not every generation concentrated on martial arts. Their first generation emphasised academics over martial arts. For that reason, they only gleaned Buddhism teachings from the carving instead of tying it to martial arts. There were monks who focused on martial arts who read the text, but they never deduced the secret hidden within. Nobody would’ve imagined a samanera nobody remembered would decipher the secret.

The samanera was thirteen when he was sweeping the backyard whilst reading the inscription. He had a gut feeling that there was more to it than just Buddhism knowledge, but he was unaware of the true qi surging up inside him. He thought he was supposed to feel that way when practicing internal disciplines. From then on, combined with assiduous practice, he progressed rapidly. Only when he effortlessly sent his shifu reeling one day did he realise how wrong he was.

What the samanera learnt was Buddhism’s supreme mental cultivation discipline. The two monks in the past did discuss Buddhism wisdom, but they were also exemplary martial artists of their era, so they wrote down the essence of Buddhism’s martial arts. Their intention was never to teach but to pass down a formidable set of skills for one who fate paired it up with. As such, the samanera didn’t learn it because he was a prodigy but purely because fate chose to link him up with it. Due to it being predicated on sheer happenstance, there was only one person who ever had the fortune of learning it.

Thanks to the discipline and his own efforts, the samanera surpassed everyone at the temple by an enormous margin, became the youngest abbot in history and the only monk among Buddhism who could stand side by side with Shaolin’s Abbott Kongxu in terms of hierarchy. It was popularly assumed that the samanera was born a genius and invented it, never realising they gave him more credit for intellect than his progress deserved.

Tianhu was supposed to eventually lose all ability to resist just as what happened to Shang Bieshi all those years ago.

Shang Bieshi was the most intriguing man Venerable Monk Jiyi ever met. He had his own unique view of the world and was too optimistic to fold to hopelessness. Despite his injuries and being cornered, Shang Bieshi never submitted to the lotus. Had Shang Bieshi not split some of his strength of to save his disciple, Shitou, Venerable Monk Jiyi wouldn’t have subdued him so easily.

Venerable Monk Jiyi had continued to improve over the last two decades, yet…

“This is your ability.” There wasn’t a trace of hatred or anger in Tianhu’s voice. It was pure intrigue and a smidge of boredom.

The lotus abruptly snowballed into a bigger and bigger seed, growing from a table to a building-sized lotus and yet still not stopping. The lotus also lost its shape, turning into some sort of twisted black form. Eventually, Tianhu’s black energy tore open the lotus. The black lotus in the space between them created a stark contrast to the air that Venerable Monk Jiyi gave off.

“Was that Buddhism’s newest sleep aid?” When Tianhu yawned, trails of tears rolled down his face. “It’s pretty effective. I almost fell asleep, after all.”

Venerable Monk Jiyi didn’t respond to the provocation.

Tianhu donned his black energy again, but his opponent wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. There wasn’t a hint of emotion in Venerable Monk Jiyi’s eyes. Had it not been for their location and timing, Tianhu might’ve thought he met Buddha. Venerable Monk Jiyi no longer viewed himself as a human being.

“You seem to think you’re really smart. I have it, too.”

Though Venerable Monk Jiyi might not have understood what Tianhu was implying, he didn’t interrupt.

“It’s just Karma Path.”

Venerable Monk Jiyi realised Tianhu had the same quality as him when he saw the translucence in Tianhu’s eyes.

“That’s what it’s called in Buddhism, right? People in the Central Plain call it ‘Wisdom Unlock’. I call it ‘Three Realms Six Paths Philosophy’. Same thing, different name, so who cares. From what I know, nuns and monks can see their own past and future once they grasp it. Do you see more of the past or the future?” Tianhu waved his hand, seemingly uninterested in the answer. “A pointless question. You called me your doom, so you peeked into the future, right? What a boring way to use it. What fun is there in life if you know everything ahead of time. I’m curious, though: didn’t you see me killing you?”