90,000 Years of Longevity

Soaring Cloud Temple, in the courtyard.

When Master Yi Deng finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the temple.

Those monks finally reacted. Suddenly, there was a wailing sound throughout the temple.

"Master Abbot, I grew up in Soaring Cloud Temple and never went down the mountain... If I go down the mountain, I don't know what to do. Please, don't close the temple!" A young monk put his hands together and said in grief. At the same time, his eyes were slightly red.

Although he asked Yi Deng like this... he knew it very well in his heart that monks didn't lie.

Since Yi Deng was so blunt just now, he was afraid there was no possibility of reversing this matter.

"Master Abbot, we will not leave. Soaring Cloud Temple is our home and our roots. If we go out now, I am afraid that there will be no place to accommodate us!" An elderly monk looked at the back of Yi Deng and said hoarsely.

"Master Abbot, please withdraw the decision."

"Master Abbot, please consider carefully..."

"Dependent origination and demise, everything in the world has a cause and effect. I am afraid that today's matter is doomed. But, Master Abbot... as long as we don't leave, this place won't collapse."

In the monastery, various voices sounded out one after another.

Yi DEng could hear those sounds clearly.

"Ugh!" However, after listening, there was only Yi Deng sigh in his mouth.

"Soaring Cloud Temple has existed for thousands of years. It has changed generations of Abbots. Since the construction of the temple, it has been guarding the wooden box containing the relic. Today, it has finally fulfilled the wishes of our ancestors. After we met that Ancestor, everything can be considered to be finished."

Yi Deng murmured.

When his voice fell, a faint smile gradually appeared on his face.

Although he was sighing slightly... that was a sigh of relief.

It was as if there was a pressure deep in his heart that was completely released.

At this moment, his state of mind had been sublimated as never before, and he was getting closer and closer to the Buddha.

"Master Abbot!"

"Abbot..."

For a long time, the voices of the monks behind him were still there, but they became farther away.

Creak!

When Yi Deng walked into his room and closed the door again, all the sounds disappeared, replaced by tranquility and serenity as if completely isolated from the whole world.

In the middle of the room, there was bedding made of straw.

In front of the bedding, there was a metal book that was turned yellow, and a wooden fish that had been beaten by Yi Deng thousands of times when chanting Buddhist scriptures, and even cracks could be seen on it.

Yi Deng glanced briefly, and then immediately looked away.

He walked slowly towards the bedding.

He flicked the robes...

If it was usual, he would sit upright.

But now it was different. He just sat down casually, without any posture of being a Buddha.

"No sorrow, no joy, no worries, is the true Buddha!"

It took a long time for Yi Deng to open his mouth and mutter again.

When the sound fell...

His body and appearance were rapidly aging at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Three seconds later.

Yi Deng was still sitting casually, but his vitality quickly disappeared...

Afterward, his entire body was undergoing strange changes.

Pieces of white light spilled from his body out of thin air. 

Instantly, the whole room was filled with grains of silver-white light.

Creak!

The door of the room was pushed open again. This time it was the monks who followed from the courtyard.

"Master Abbot..."

The one who came first was an older monk who shouted hoarsely when he pushed the door.

However, before he could say the next words, his body was stiff.

"Master Abbot!"

"Please change your mind..."

The monk who followed behind also continued to speak.

However, after seeing the situation in the room, everyone was silent for an instant.

There was no sound.

This process lasted for nearly half a minute.

When all the light particles in the room penetrated the wall and disappeared completely... these monks gradually reacted.

"Master Abbot... passed away?"

Among them, a monk spoke in a daze.

When these words fell, it immediately caused a chain reaction. The whole temple became a sensation again at this moment.

...

Soaring Cloud Temple, because of the passing away of Master Yi Deng, various major events continued.

Leshan!

At the foot of the mountain.

A young man in a white robe walked leisurely.

He put his hands behind his back.

His eyes were looking straight ahead. But he was neither looking at the scenery nor the road...

He seemed to be just going forward.

By the side of the road, tourists, pilgrims, and believers still kept going... But at this moment, when Ye Bei was walking, those people seemed to be unable to see him at all, and they didn't even look at him.

The passage of time was always silent and unconscious.

After half an hour, Ye Bei stood on a small stone road, and then slowly stopped.

This stone path was newly built.

There was a lot of gravel. 

And where Ye Bei stopped, there was a small tea stall.

The stall owner was an old man.

He was about ninety years old...

He had gray hair and one of his eyes was blinded.

Some teeth in his mouth were also missing.

The tea stall also looked very simple. 

A decaying wooden table with four large porcelain bowls placed on it.

Next to the table, there was a wooden barrel.

The tea in the barrel was dark brown...

There was no tea fragrance but there was a faint feeling of coldness.

There was no charge for this tea stall. Anyone could sit down and have a sip as long as they wanted.

When Ye Bei stood here, he found that very few pedestrians had also halted here... even many people showed disgust when they saw the tea stall.

Some people, as if smelling something stinky, pretending to pinch their noses.

Occasionally, there were only a few tired and sweaty people who hurried past, used the porcelain bowl, scooped up a bowl of tea, poured it down, wiped the sweat on the head, and did not say thank you to the old man, turned and left. 

Of course, there were also some people who were not picky but most of them were manual workers.

With a heavy object on their shoulders, when passing by, they took a sip of tea, smiled at the old man, and then left.

Ye Bei stood by the tea stall and looked at the pedestrians for a while, then looked to the right again.

From this position, he could just see the entire shape of the Leshan Giant Buddha.

But…

Just when Ye Bei just talked about focusing on the Big Buddha, the old man at the tea stall looked at Ye Bei and said softly, "This Young Sir, you have been here for a long time, is Sir thirsty? There is free tea here... if Sir is thirsty, just drink a bowl." 

His sound was very soft.

When Ye Bei heard it, he moved slightly.

Because... this old man used the honorific "Sir" when calling Ye Bei.