Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 248: Returning to the Normal Life

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

“If one cultivates all twenty realms, they will become rulai?”

Qin Mu’s eyes lit up. Great Thunderclap Monastery was no doubt the greatest sacred grounds of Buddhism. Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra also deserved to be a sect’s legacy ultimate art which was on par with Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword.

The three biggest sacred grounds were indeed not for show.

Now that Eternal Peace Empire was having a snow disaster, the four seasons here were like summer. Many immigrants from Eternal Peace Empire had escaped to this place and stayed in the monasteries, many of them converting to Buddhism.

Qin Mu looked at the monasteries on the mountain peaks and said softly, “What Great Thunderclap Monastery is doing seems to be taking advantage of people when they’re down.”

Blind shook his head. “Mu’er, no matter what their intentions are, you have to look at what they are doing. Great Thunderclap Monastery has saved the lives of these people and that is a good deed. No matter if they are using this act to promote the teachings of Buddhism, what they are doing is good. If you only magnify Great Thunderclap Monastery’s intentions and don’t look at what else is being achieved, you won’t be any different from Cult Master Li.”

Qin Mu was astonished and nodded in acknowledgment.

One’s life was nothing more than a cultivation path, and it was easy to be led astray by an extreme way of thinking. Anyone who didn’t have a mature reflection and unmovable thoughts would easily be led astray by their own heart.

Being with Cult Master Li these few days, Qin Mu had been influenced by him without even noticing it.

The previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult had a devil nature and his mentality was of the extreme kind. However, he was a grandmaster and his words were very logical, so any incautiousness would end up with a person subconsciously absorbing his philosophy and way of thinking.

The dragon qilin came to the golden peak, and the fire clouds under his feet grew smaller as he descended onto the ground. The golden peak stemmed out from the clouds which were the same color as the white jade laid down on the ground.

This place was like a paradise.

Qin Mu looked around and exclaimed in admiration. Rolan’s Golden Palace was luxurious and had the feeling of a nouveau riche. Great Thunderclap Monastery was also luxurious, but they were much more solemn and everywhere was the dignity and culture of Buddhism.

On the golden peak, pagodas stood in numbers, and one of them was especially grand. Monks with long eyebrows sat there as well as on the eaves of the pagoda, reciting scriptures continuously with their reverberating buddha voice.

‘Could this be the Thousand Buddhas Pagoda?’ Qin Mu thought to himself.

A female bodhisattva in white who was carrying a white vase came forward and bowed. “Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Ma Wangshen, Madam Si, and this old Dao friend, Rulai is already waiting for you, please follow me.”

Qin Mu said, “Thanks for the trouble, big sister.”

“Big sister?” The female bodhisattva laughed. “Cult Master Qin is joking. Please.”

Qin Mu and the rest followed after her. On the golden peak, the buddha rays around the eminent monks shone brilliantly as they sat on the clouds. The golden rays behind them formed circular shapes that were very dazzling.

Old Rulai as the leader of all the monks sat on the highest point. His corporeal body was vast and beside him were left and right venerables. Sitting below were various bodhisattva, arhats, vajras, guardians, and some of Old Rulai’s disciples who had extremely strong cultivations. There were even some monks with attainments in Dao that seemed to belong to a different race; they didn’t look human.

Qin Mu and the rest came closer, and Qin Mu greeted, “Senior brother.”

Old Rulai hurriedly got up and returned his greeting. “Senior brother.”

The moment he got up, the other guardians, venerables, bodhisattvas, arhats and vajras all got up and said in unison, “Senior brother!”

After everyone was done with their greetings, Old Rulai raised his hand to invite Qin Mu to sit beside him. The seat was a praying mat and if he sat down there, he would be much lower than all the monks that were floating in the sky.

“Mu’er, just sit,” Old Ma said.

When Qin Mu sat down, he felt a gentle force coming over which lifted him and the praying mat onto the back of the dragon qilin, which was quite impressive.

Old Rulai looked at Old Ma and smiled. “Disciple, are you finally willing to let go of the mortal world and return to the mountain?”

“Return to the mountain? There’s a Mount Meru in my heart, but there’s no Buddha there anymore.”

Old Rulai smiled. “When Mount Meru in your heart no more, you’ll become rulai. Excellent, take out the wife and children from your heart and I’ll pass away in a few days time. This Great Thunderclap Monastery will be yours to lead.”

Old Ma shook his head. “If I was to lead this place, I’d kill all the damned baldies on the mountain.”

The expressions of all the guardians and arhats changed drastically, and they became instantly furious.

Old Rulai said, “You still obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way. I came back slightly faster last time you were back on the mountain, but I was still a step late. You should know that the two of us still have the relationship of master and disciple. You had cut off your arm and sent it over, but I believed that you would let go of the affairs of the mortal world and return to Great Thunderclap Monastery, so I had ordered the monks to place your arm in Thousand Buddhas Pagoda. That was because I wished for you to find your way back one day. You should understand my intentions.”

Old Ma said solemnly, “I know. But my wife and children died at the hands of Great Thunderclap Monastery, and this blood feud will have to be paid in blood.”

“Foolish disciple!” Old Rulai shouted out in his face. “Wife and children are just an illusion, just mortal flesh! If you have Buddha nature, you should know that the evil fruits of marriage all come to nothing.”

Furious, Old Ma shouted back, “Nothing my ass! I had already chopped off my arm, what are you still dissatisfied about? Why did you have to kill my wife and children? What about my wife and children being pink skeletons, demons that restraint me, so what if I like pink skeletons? Calling you master was giving you face because we need your help. Talk some more and I’ll overthrow you, bathe this golden peak in blood, and massacre all the bald donkeys on your mountain!”

The faces of all the monks on the mountain changed and none of them could sit still anymore.

Qin Mu had totally not expected for Old Ma to suddenly blow up like that. Old Ma was usually the calm and dependable one in the village, the person that Cripple respected the most. Because of this, Qin Mu had never expected that when Old Ma blew up, no one would be able to stop him.

On the golden peak, dark clouds gathered. It was breezy earlier with magical clouds and golden lights which were very auspicious; however, murderous intent now filled the air.

Qin Mu coughed loudly, then laughed. “Minor details obscure the main point, it’s just minor details. Senior Brother Rulai, I have yet to introduce you to everyone: this is my Grandpa Ma, who people usually call Old Ma, and his seniority is twice higher than mine; this is Granny Si whose seniority is twice higher than mine as well; and the same goes for Grandpa Blind. Fellow Dao brothers, there’s no need for formalities.”

Old Rulai chuckled and the dark clouds in the sky disappeared. “Cult Master Qin, there’s destiny between us. You received the khakkhara staff which was the staff that had accompanied me through the martial world. Since it landed in your hands, you and I had the destiny of becoming master and disciple. Old monk had decided to head to Great Ruins for a fated meeting with the old Dao friends of Disabled Elderly Village to take you under our Great Thunderclap Monastery, so I didn’t expect for our destiny to be broken just like that. When we met again, you had already become the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult. It just wasn’t the time and destiny; fate makes fools out of all of us.”

Qin Mu smiled slightly and said, “Rulai is joking. Little brother has come forth this time to request Rulai to subdue a devil. In Granny Si’s body is a great expert which is the previous cult master of my sacred cult, Li Tianxing. He has transformed into a devil seedling and planted himself in Granny Si’s Dao heart, thus little brother is here to request Rulai to subdue this devil, ridding the world of a public hazard.”

A venerable said softly, “Revered One of the World, this Granny Si is the previous saintess of Heavenly Devil Cult, Si Youyou. On the night she married Li Tianxing, she murdered him; she’s not a good person as well. She’s a devil among the devils.”

All of the guardians and arhats said, “These are the family matters of the devil cult, how could we interfere?”

Old Rulai raised his hand and smiled. “All living things are equal: buddhas are part of all living things, and devils are also part of all living things. Since Cult Master Qin has a request, old monk naturally should help.”

The gaze of the other venerable flickered as he said in a soft voice, “When we give scriptures to people, we would accept some monetary offering. To help subdue the devil this time, could we…”

Old Rulai waved his hand to shut him up. “Cult mistress, can we see your true appearance?”

Qin Mu hesitated, then shook his head. “Rulai, I don’t think it’s necessary, right?”

Blind knocked his bamboo cane against the ground and said, “Old Rulai, there’s no need to see granny’s true appearance. It won’t be good if the cultivation of your monks got spoiled.”

“Disputes regarding affections are ephemeral, and incomparably beautiful women are merely pink skeletons. Dao friend, you underestimate the cultivation of the monks of my Great Thunderclap Monastery.”

Old Rulai smiled. “It would be hard to lend a hand and enlighten Cult Master Li without seeing the true appearance of the cult mistress. For Cult Master Li, love stemmed from beauty, giving birth to the demon of temptation. Old Monk merely wants to take a look at this object of his love.”

Granny Si giggled. “Blind, Old Ma, why don’t you undo my seal? Cult Master Qin, take off this ugly skin off my body, I want to see these hypocritical monks, take a look at their determination!”

Blind frowned slightly and said in a low voice, “Old Ma, what’s your opinion?”

Old Ma hesitated for a moment, then looked at the monks that filled the mountain. “Old Rulai’s buddhism far surpasses mine and should have this ability. Mu’er, what do you think?”

Qin Mu pondered and said, “We’ll just have to try even though it might not work. Grandpas, be on alert, we can’t let Cult Master Li run away.”

Granny Si chuckled. “I’ve fought with this old bald donkey for countless years so why would I run when there’s such an interesting show here? I wouldn’t run even if you chased me away!”

Old Ma sighed and took back the spirit buddha’s primordial spirit from the heart of granny’s brows as he nodded to Blind.

Blind stretched out his hand, and a silver-colored vital qi that was like a dragon flew out from Granny Si’s body, returning to Blind.

Qin Mu went forward and gave a gentle cut. Granny Si’s skin split open and a remarkably beautiful woman took a step out. Her hair was like a waterfall as she slowly raised her head up. Looking around with her bright eyes, she swept her gaze past the face of each and every monk.

The golden peak fell completely silent.

Even the buddha voice that was chanting the buddhist scriptures paused at that instant. All the eminent monks that had achieved Dao felt their throats go parched and their hearts throbbed violently while the prayer beads revolved quickly in their hands.

Suddenly, the buddha rays behind the head of one bodhisattva dispersed, and he dropped from the sky and fell into the valley below the clouds.

After some time, the loud thump of a heavy object landing on the ground could be heard.

Thump, thump.

More heavy objects hit the ground, which was some of the arhats and vajras.

The expression of Old Rulai changed slightly, and he looked around in a hurry. All the monks had their eyes fixed on the body of that remarkably beautiful woman as the prayer beads in their hands revolved faster and faster.

“Tut!”

Old Rulai was about to shout out when he heard another voice. An arhat shouted out angrily and rushed towards Granny Si. “This is a demoness that can bewitch all living things, a heavenly devil. From the first look at her, a devil spawned in my heart so I definitely have to kill her!”

“I shall kill this devil for the world!” Another vajra swung his devil subduing pestle, showing his three heads and six arms as he rushed towards Granny Si.

Suddenly, an old monk pushed his way to the front to block the arhat and vajra. He tore his buddhist robe off and pulled apart his prayer beads. He then laughed in a crazy manner. “I’m used to arson and murder, never having cultivated the righteous fruit. I feel I’ve wasted the first half of my life eating vegetarian and reciting scriptures! After seeing such a beautiful woman, I’m certain I’ve wasted the first half of my life! But now, I’ll be returning to the normal life!”

A few more arhats rushed forward, and chaos broke out on the golden peak.

The yellow robe of Old Rulai trembled, and the buddha voice of Thousand Buddhas Pagoda suddenly resonated, reciting thousands of buddha scriptures at the same time to pull the monks fighting on the golden peak back to their senses. Everyone then sat down, deeply ashamed of themselves.

“Having to eat vegetarian and recite scriptures? What’s the use of cultivating the righteous fruit? Isn’t it better to enjoy without delay? I’m returning back to the normal life!” Suddenly, an old monk leaped off the golden peak and disappeared into the distance.

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