Black Myth: Tang Dynasty

In front of Sanle's grave.

Xuanzang's state has improved a lot, his whole person is no longer lifeless, but has a different temperament, which is unclear.

The golden sunlight shone on his white monk robe, and his whole body seemed to exude a faint light of Buddha, indifferent and peaceful, with a profound sense of Zen.

Li Daoxuan's heart moved. The practice of Buddhism, especially the line of Zen, mainly focuses on sudden enlightenment. Xuanzang's future achievements must be limitless after this training.

"Xuanzang, Huichan intends to recommend you to be the next abbot of the White Horse Temple, what do you think?"

Li Daoxuan asked suddenly.

He didn't want Xuanzang to go west. This is a good story in history, but here is a different Tang Dynasty.

The road to the west is far away, and there are many monsters. If Xuanzang goes west, will he still meet Sun Dasheng at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain?

Without the protection of his disciples, even if he has the cultivation base of Yinshen's early stage, he is still very dangerous.

Xuanzang didn't answer immediately, but took the purple gold bowl and scooped it into the river.

The little goldfish didn't move at all, swimming back and forth in the purple gold bowl, it didn't look scared at all.

"Xiaotang, is that you?"

Goooooooo~
The goldfish kept spitting bubbles.

Xuanzang's eyes flickered, and he continued to ask: "Do you think I should stay at the White Horse Temple, or...go west?"

Goooooooo~
"I see. Would you like to go with me?"

Goooooooo~
"it is good."

Xuanzang looked up at Li Daoxuan, with an indescribable firmness in his calm eyes.

"Brother, I want to go west."

Li Daoxuan: "..."

"Xuanzang, even if you made it to Tianzhu alive, can you find the current Lingshan Mountain? Even if you do, is there still a Buddha there?"

After the eternal night, gods and Buddhas disappeared, is it really necessary to go west?
Perhaps in the end it was nothing more than fetching water from a bamboo basket.

Xuanzang shook his head in a calm voice, "Brother, I have seen Lingshan before."

Li Daoxuan was slightly taken aback.

Xuanzang raised his right hand, looked at the dim word 'Buddha' on the palm, and said: "Just when I recited the "Diamond World Great Sun Tathagata Heart Mantra", through this word Buddha, I saw the current Lingshan Mountain. .”

"Just as my elder brother thought, there are no gods and Buddhas in Lingshan now, only the lotus platform and a hand of the Buddha, but I feel that the Sutra Pavilion in Lingshan is still there, and the Mahayana scriptures may be inside!"

Li Daoxuan focused his eyes, Lingshan...has it turned into an empty city?
Even the great power of the Buddha disappeared, leaving only the lotus stand and one hand. Is the terrifying existence Mo Luo said really so powerful?
The twelfth-grade merit golden lotus is the most precious treasure of Buddhism. The Buddha didn't even take such a treasure away. It shouldn't be because of a battle, but it seems to be a deliberate arrangement.

"Brother, with the guidance of the word 'Buddha', maybe I am the only one who can find Lingshan."

"Master said that the Mahayana scriptures are his and Bodhidharma's regret, and told me not to go west and live my own life. In fact, he was wrong."

Xuanzang said word by word, "That's my regret too."

Li Daoxuan didn't speak anymore, he knew that Xuanzang's determination to travel to the west was determined, and he was persevering. Although there were thousands of mountains and rivers, he was unstoppable. As the eldest brother, all he could do was support.

"Okay, but you have to go back to Chang'an with me first, and I will go and ask Your Majesty to give you a customs clearance certificate, otherwise the countries in the Western Regions will be sad to pass the customs."

Xuanzang in history is not the younger brother of the Tang Dynasty with a noble status like in "Journey to the West".

Later, when he came back from learning scriptures, he became famous all over the world, and was received and appreciated by Li Shimin.

Xuanzang did not refuse, and said, "Thank you, brother!"

Li Daoxuan nodded, and was about to speak, but his eyes moved slightly, looking at the toad hiding in the mud next to him.

The old man came too.

……

The old beggar sat on the top of the mountain, overlooking the ant-like tomb at the foot of the mountain, drinking wine and gnawing on the roast chicken, the corners of his mouth dripping with oil.

"San Le, San Le, the person who could have become a Buddha, but now he has become a dead ghost. If I eat roast chicken, you can only stare blankly, hehe..."

He seemed to be sarcastic, but his expression was gloomy. He finally shook his head and spat out the chicken bone in his mouth.

"Forget it, it's boring to eat."

Gripping the shreds of meat between his teeth, the old beggar was about to get up.

A hand pressed on his shoulder like a thousand weights, making him sit down again.

"Senior, who are you?"

Li Daoxuan sat beside him, his Taoist robe fluttering in the mountain wind, his appearance was so handsome, like a chic and elegant green lotus planted on a high mountain, in stark contrast to the old beggar.

The old beggar pouted, and wanted to reach out to wipe off the oil stains on Li Daoxuan's body, but was blocked by streaks of blue light.

"What a Taoist fairy robe, some kind of natural treasures should be integrated into it. Tsing Yi really loves you, and he has a lot of money."

Li Daoxuan was slightly taken aback, shouldn't the Qinglian treasure clothes be sewn by her mother-in-law?

"Boy, the old beggar has helped you anyway, and suffered the backlash of leaking the secret, which has caused the current cultivation level to drop. It is not too much to ask you for something."

Li Daoxuan looked at his lame leg, and the more serious rotten sores on his body. In some places, there were even sarcoma the size of a goose egg. His appearance was terrifying.

Seeing the evil ghost, I am afraid that I will be ashamed.

"what?"

The old beggar looked at the little flower god hidden in his hair.

Li Daoxuan frowned.

"It's not for this little flower god, but for the nectar she picked. It's not much, just a few dozen big bowls."

Li Daoxuan shook his head and smiled, reaching out and handing him a small jade bottle.

"Senior, in fact, I saw you were seriously injured that day, so I wanted to give you some nectar, but it's a pity that you walked too fast."

"But there are not dozens of bowls, that's all."

The old beggar snatched it up and poured some in his mouth. Light quickly flowed from his body, showing a very comfortable expression, and the sores on his face seemed to be smaller.

"Thanks."

"Senior's spells are astonishing, and his calculations are ingenious. I don't know if he is willing to work for Datang. If you agree, Pindao can promise to give you a bottle of nectar every year."

Li Daoxuan started to recruit.

The old beggar immediately waved his hand and said: "Thank you for your kindness. The old beggar is used to being casual and can't be restrained. Let me also remind you that there is nothing wrong with serving the country and the people, but the way of heaven is not benevolent, and all living beings are like ants. , and ultimately come to a bad end.”

"What do you mean by this senior?"

The old beggar thought for a while and said: "Forget it, for the sake of giving me nectar, the old beggar will call you more. Didn't you just ask who I am?"

When he used his magic power, all the dirt and stains on his body disappeared, and the sores disappeared without a trace. He was wearing a red cassock with gold threads, a gold seal on the center of his eyebrows, red lips and white teeth, and an extremely handsome face.

Li Daoxuan focused his eyes, and said: "Roadside student... you are indeed the tenth out of the eighteen arhats of the Buddhist sect—the hand-exploring arhat!"

After learning the name Lu Biansheng, Li Daoxuan had the heart to check it out. Later, he learned that the detective Arhat among the Eighteen Arhats was also called Lu Biansheng, so he became suspicious.

It's just that the gods and Buddhas disappeared, why did the probing Arhat still stay in the world, and why did he become like this?

The old beggar sighed softly, put away his illusion, and returned to his original appearance.

Now he is just a dirty and ugly old beggar, who has already fallen into the sky, and is no longer a high-ranking detective Arhat.

"Do you know why I became what I am now?"

Li Daoxuan shook his head.

"I am a person of Spring and Autumn, born on the side of the road. I have been displaced with my mother since I was a child. I am used to seeing the disputes of various countries and the hardships of the people. Later, I knelt in front of the Buddha and converted. By chance, I became an arhat. , Good at divination."

"At that time, I was very similar to you. I was determined to free the common people from the sea of ​​suffering and make the world peaceful, but I couldn't do it until Ying Zheng wiped out the six kingdoms and unified the world."

The old beggar sighed: "Although Yingzheng's son of heaven has suffered a lot of bones from his sword, it is undeniable that he has indeed ended the dispute. The books are the same, the cars are on the same track, and he has the atmosphere of governing the world."

Li Daoxuan also said with emotion: "It's a pity that Qin died because of the tyranny of the second generation."

"I thought the same as you at the time."

The old beggar's eyes revealed memories.

"I calculated the death of the second general of the Qin Dynasty. I knew it was my fate, but I couldn't bear to see another war, so I turned into an alchemist Lu Sheng and approached Yingzheng, trying to tamper with the destiny."

"But who knew that Yingzheng was obsessed with pursuing immortality at that time. In order to be valued by him, I told him that there was a fairy mountain on the sea called Penglai, and there was a medicine of immortality on it. Yingzheng sent me to the sea to seek the medicine."

"After I came back, I told him that I didn't find the elixir, but I found a celestial book with a prophecy on it—Hu Ye, the one who died in Qin Dynasty."

Hu who died in Qin Dynasty...

There were waves in Li Daoxuan's heart.

What Lu Biansheng said was actually recorded in Sima Qian's "Historical Records".

"The envoy of Lu Sheng, a man of Yan, went to the sea and returned. He used ghosts and gods to record books, saying, "Hu Ye, the one who died in Qin Dynasty." The first emperor sent General Meng Tian to send 30 troops to attack Hu in the north, and slightly took the land of Henan."

The old beggar smiled wryly and said, "I was willing to take the risk and leaked the secret to Yingzheng, but he would be mistaken and think that it was the barbarians who destroyed the Qin Dynasty. Not only did Meng Tian send troops to attack, but also spent a lot of manpower to build the Great Wall."

Hu's Hu, who died in the Qin Dynasty, was not a Hu, but his son Hu Hai.

"It can only be said that manpower is exhausted, and it is difficult to conquer the sky. I leaked such a major secret, and I suffered extremely severe backlash. Not only did I fall from the position of Arhat, but I also contracted a serious disease, becoming completely unrecognizable, and hated by ghosts and gods!"

"In the end, it was nothing but a bamboo basket to fetch water."

After listening to the old beggar's words, Li Daoxuan finally understood.

No wonder the old beggar knows the God of Flowers, and with the cultivation of the God of Yang, he can predict a chance of survival. It turns out that he was once a Buddhist Arhat, and he was one of the famous Eighteen Arhats, equivalent to a Taoist celestial being.

"Boy, you are dedicated to the Tang Dynasty and want to create a peaceful and prosperous world, but you must also know that the rise and fall of a dynasty is fate, whether it is a fairy or a Buddha, even if the magic power is boundless, how can it be fate?"

Li Daoxuan nodded and said: "The junior has been taught."

After a pause, he couldn't help but asked again: "Senior, according to what you said, you should have experienced Jinshi Yongye, so you know why the gods and Buddhas disappeared, and what happened?"

Lu Biansheng has lived from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, and he is still an arhat in the past. He should know the cause and effect.

For the first time, Li Daoxuan felt that he was so close to the truth.

But the old beggar shook his head.

"It's embarrassing to say that the old beggar was able to survive because he leaked the secret back then and fell into the realm of Arhat. After that, his cultivation continued to decline. By the time of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was not even as good as a human immortal, and fell to the position of a sun god."

"That eternal night..."

The old beggar looked solemn, as if recalling a very terrible scene.

"The old beggar only remembers that in those few days, the five elements were reversed, the heavens were chaotic, there was a bloody wind in the sky and the earth, and ghosts and gods were wailing in my ears. I tried to contact my old friends in Lingshan to find out what happened."

"but……"

The old beggar's eyes dimmed, and he subconsciously clenched the flagon in his hand.

"None of them responded?"

"No, most of them didn't respond. Only Kassapa sent me four words."

Li Daoxuan's spirit lifted, Venerable Kasyapa is the Dragon Subduing Arhat, whose supernatural powers and mana can be called the head of all Arhats, and he has a great reputation among the people.

Jigong, who is famous in later generations, is the reincarnation of Jianglong Arhat.

"Which four characters are passed down from the Dragon Arhat?"

The old beggar stared at the sky which became darker as the sun set, and said word by word: "Don't go back to Lingshan."

Don't go back to Lingshan...

These four words make people can't help giving birth to infinite reverie.

All the arhats disappeared without a trace, and the Luohan who descended the dragon with the strongest supernatural power left only four words, telling his old friend to run away quickly and never return to Lingshan.

Reconnecting with the golden lotus and severed hand that Xuanzang saw, Li Daoxuan couldn't help feeling a chill behind him.

"This may be the last sentence Kassapa left in the world. From then on, even if I tried my best, there was no sound from Lingshan."

"Old friends from the past are gone."

There was a wry smile on the corner of his mouth. The reason why he survived was because of these old friends.

They gave up their face to borrow the Queen Mother's Pantao, the Laojun's golden elixir, and begged the Buddha to give him lotus seeds, so that he, a useless man, survived and enjoyed a long life.

It's ugly, but it's better to die than to live.

"A misfortune is a blessing, a blessing is a misfortune. The old beggar suffered from the backlash of heaven, and his face was completely changed, but he survived because of it. Perhaps, this is God's will in the dark."

The old beggar is best at divination, but the more he studies this way, the more he feels awed by the unpredictability of the secrets, and often panics at his own insignificance.

The way of heaven is like a monster, all living beings are like ants, and gods and Buddhas are pawns.

"Boy, the old beggar has taken it easy. If he can live a day is a day, so drink the wine, eat the chicken, and sleep. These are the three joys of life."

He stood up and stretched comfortably, no longer looking at the night sky, but overlooking the mountain.

"San Le died. I helped him choose the name back then. Alas, the old beggar lost another friend."

He glanced back at Li Daoxuan.

"Before I knew it, I told you so much, boy, I wish you success, fulfill the old beggar's long-cherished wish, let the common people live and work in peace, and the world is peaceful."

Li Daoxuan said with a smile: "Okay, after the poor Taoist has completed his career and retired, he will bring a pot of good wine and talk to the seniors."

The old beggar laughed loudly and said, "One pot is not enough, at least ten pots!"

After all, he turned into a rainbow light and escaped into the sea of ​​clouds and starry sky without a trace.

An exhortation echoed in the air.

"Boy, the reason why Mo Luo survived is because he was sealed in Avi Hell by the Buddha back then. Be careful of those gods and demons who were sealed before. Perhaps not only Mo Luo can survive..."

The stars twinkle and the night is lonely.

Li Daoxuan stood on the top of the mountain, letting the long wind blow the Taoist robe, overlooking the flowing water below the mountain, and the village people did not leave for a long time.

... (end of this chapter)