Nightfall

The woman said nothing and just looked at him with a smile. She held a Chinese yam in her left hand and a celery in her right hand. The yam and celery were considered to be vegetables and also traditional Chinese medicine.

Ning Que suddenly laughed and asked, “Are you the legendary Medicine Buddha?”

The woman answered with a smile, “Yes.”

Ning Que thought for a while and said, “The Medicine Buddha can cure diseases. My wife is seriously ill and she may be poisoned, would you take a look at her and write us a prescription?”

The woman looked at Sangsang and replied with grief, “The poison is incurable. And it would be better for you to leave.”

Ning Que pointed to the sky and asked, “What if we can’t leave?”

The woman answered, “Death is a solution.”

“You do have a point,” Ning said with a smile. Then he took out his iron cutlass and swung it at the woman standing behind the vegetable stall.

The vegetable stall was full of green vegetables with dews on the leaves, which looked very fresh.

Ning Que’s iron cutlass was supposed to cut the vegetable stall into two halves easily and cut the vegetable leaves into pieces and cut the dews into moist sprays.

But it didn’t.

The vegetable stall turned into a field, the green vegetables on the stall turned into lush plants, the Chinese yam in the woman’s left hand became a branch of a fruit tree and the celery in her right hand became an alms bowl.

The woman became the real Medicine Buddha. Her hair was thick and black and her ears fell to her shoulders. She looked solemn. And there were countless aureoles and lucky clouds surrounding her.

Thousands of colorful prayer flags floated in front of her and blocked Ning Que’s cutlass.

Looking at Medicine Buddha who seemed to be right in front of his eyes and also to be far away, Ning Que was shocked and said, “She is the real Medicine Buddha!”

The Medicine Buddha smiled slightly, and the red mole between her eyebrows released a bright light, illuminating the field. The colorful prayer flags floated fiercely and the plants in the field grew faster and higher.

Ning Que and Sangsang stood in the field and their legs were instantly entangled by the vines, and they could no longer move.

While announcing her name, the Medicine Buddha slowly tilted the alms bowl in her hand, and the black liquid with the medicinal scent in the bowl flowed to the ground, turned into a river and rushed toward Ning Que and Sangsang.

Medicine was used to treat people, but they also could kill people. Sometimes, good medicines could become the most powerful poison. Inhaling the strange smell coming from the medicine river, Ning Que felt suffocated and then felt an extreme pain coming from his chest. He covered his chest with his hand and coughed severely, as if he would cough up his internal organs.

Sangsang stood beside him. She looked at the Medicine Buddha in the distance and said with a frown, “It’s ridiculous.” After saying this, she blinked. Then the field was smashed, the lush plants turned into pieces and the medicine river with the strange smell began to spread around.

The vegetable stall was still the vegetable stall.

Ning Que swung his iron cutlass. With a shrill sound, the blade crossed over the woman’s body and cut her open, revealing a golden light.

The woman looked at them and smiled.

Suddenly her body was divided into halves and fell to the ground. There were golden lights enshrouding the smooth incision, as if melting gold was overflowing.

The gold melted into the wind, became golden mist, and gradually drifted around the market. Some of the golden mist floated in front of Sangsang. She frowned and turned paler, as if she was in a bit of pain.

…

…

They came back to the small courtyard empty-handed since they killed the woman who owned the vegetable stall. Ning Que’s mind was weighed down with anxiety, and he became even more unsettled while thinking about what happened before.

No matter whether the woman was the real Medicine Buddha or just a fake, she couldn’t defend herself in front of Ning Que and Sangsang, just like how Monk Qingban who turned into Phra Pidta.

But the Breath of Buddha that they shed after their death seemed to be harmful to Sangsang. What if they meet more of these Buddhas in the future? They must leave the world as soon as possible.

“I have to find a way to cure you,” said Ning Que, looking at Sangsang.

Sangsang was a little pale and asked, “What if you can’t find a way?”

Ning Que didn’t want to disturb her, so he just laughed and answered, “Even if I can’t cure you, you won’t die. We still have to carry on living.”

Sangsang stared at his eyes and said, “I am poisoned by our lives.”

Ning Que understood what she meant, but didn’t know how to reply. He went silent for a while and said, “Let’s go.”

This time he did not ask for her opinion, for he didn’t mean to leave the chessboard world, but to leave the small courtyard and Chaoyang City. He was going to find a way to cure Sangsang.

Just like many years ago.

After living in the small courtyard for many years, they left a lot of memories and also had many essential items for daily life. But Ning Que only sorted out some weapons and a jar of pickled vegetables to carry away with them.

Sangsang asked, “Where should we go?”

Ning Que subconsciously looked at the distant east again and felt afraid. So he answered, “South.”

All of a sudden, an unhealthy blush appeared on Sangsang’s pale cheeks. She asked, “Are you going to see her?”

Ning Que was stunned for a while and then understood what she was talking. He laughed and answered, “There is no Great River Kingdom in the south of this world.”

Sangsang said, “But you just habitually want to go to the south.”

Ning Que was puzzled and asked, “So?”

Sangsang said, “You are thinking about going to see her.”

Ning Que was a little angry and replied, “Is it a good time to argue about things like this?”

Sangsang was silent and found that she did have problem.

The problem was not that her attitude towards him was inappropriate. Since she was Haotian and he was a mortal, she could treat him the way she wanted even though they were husband and wife.

The problem was that her mood was somewhat unstable.

This was aversion mixed with attachment and obsession. She was infected by the poisons much more deeply.

Ning Que suddenly understood and held her into his arms, saying, “I will cure you.”

…

…

Tying the heavy luggage behind his back, Ning Que opened the big black umbrella and walked towards the gate of the city. Sangsang held his hands and looked a little weak.

If they wanted to leave Buddha’s chessboard, then Sangsang had to restore her strength, which required the poisons inside her to be gone. They must go and find a way to cure her.

Monk Qingban didn’t want them to go. The Medicine Buddha didn’t want them to go. Chaoyang City didn’t want them to go. The world didn’t want them to go. So it wouldn’t be easy for them to leave.

There was a shop at the corner of New Street which specialized in selling lamp oil, lamps, and candles. Ning Que was familiar with the owner since he bought a lot of lamp oil here in the past. But his expression changed slightly after seeing the owner today.

The owner was not in the store, but on the street. And he blocked their way.

Ning Que took out his iron cutlass and asked, “What kind of Buddha are you?”

The owner was wearing a hat and looked amiable. He smiled and said, “Care to guess?”

Looking at the oil lamps in the shop, Ning Que asked tentatively, “Dipankara Buddha?”

He was indeed Dipankara Buddha. There was no owner of the oil lamp shop on the street, only an ancient Buddha. Everything was covered by a bright light except for the Dipankara Buddha himself. Lights were scattered, illuminating even the ant hole in the corner of the wall and the dark sky.

The lights began to burn, and the temperature on the street began to rise. A drop of sweat appeared on the tip of Sangsang’s nose.

When Sangsang was still an ordinary person, she rarely sweated for she suffered from congenital defects and her body was always cold. After becoming Haotian, she never sweated since the body of a god was as cold as jade.

But she just sweated in front of the Dipankara Buddha.

Ning Que felt that his heart had become very hot, as if it had been placed with an oil lamp.

Summoning Haoran Qi, he arrived in front of the Dipankara Buddha in an instant and swung his iron cutlass.

The Dipankara Buddha dropped his lamp, which looked like an ordinary brass oil lamp but seemed to be as heavy as the whole world. And the lamp blocked Ning Que’s iron cutlass easily.

The ancient Buddha began to light tens of thousands of lamps, and the whole world shined brightly. Instantly, there were more than tens of thousands of lights ignited. Ning Que was stunned and didn’t respond immediately. When the 16,000th lamp was ignited, Sangsang finally fought back. She extended her right index finger and gently pressed against the bottom of the brass oil lamp.

The expression on the face of Dipankara Buddha slightly changed.

Even though he was an ancient Buddha, he couldn’t compete with Haotian.

The brass oil lamp in Dipankara Buddha’s hand could no longer fall down.

Ning Que flicked his wrist, crossing the iron cutlass in front of his arm and sliding it over the neck of Dipankara Buddha.

The head of Dipankara Buddha didn’t fall down, but a clear incision appeared on his neck.

There was still no blood in this incision, only the golden light and the flowing gold which slowly oozed out along the edge of the incision, wetted the Ancient Buddha’s Kasaya and fell to the ground.

The golden liquid was the Breath of Buddha and contained the Power of Buddha and the Will of Buddha. The lights reflected by the golden mist were the Lights of Buddha.

Ning Que’s face darkened and ran towards the other end of the street while holding Sangsang’s hand.

His speed was so fast that there was no time for him to turn back and see whether Dipankara Buddha was dead or alive. He just ran desperately and didn’t stop until they reached the end of the long street.

Sangsang turned very pale and frowned tightly. It looked like she was in severe pain.

Seeing the gold liquid on her flowering green dress, Ning Que knew that they didn’t completely avoid the golden mist.

Pulling Sangsang in front of him, he looked at her eyes and said seriously, “Stand behind me next time. Then, the Light of Buddha won’t fall on you.”

Sangsang looked at the tips of her shoes, she whispered, “I am afraid that I might get lost.”

After a few moments of silence, Ning Que took off the heavy baggage and took out the arrow casket and the silk bag containing the Fu papers. Then he threw everything else away, including the pickle jar.

He carried her on his back and tied them together with a rope. Handing her the big black umbrella, he held the arrow casket in one hand and the iron cutlass in another hand and walked toward the city gate.

On the street behind them, the pickle jar was broken, diffusing the smell that only an old pickle jar could have.

…

…

Ning Que held Sangsang on his back and walked outside Chaoyang City. They encountered many Buddhas along the way.

An official in the Musical Academy held the tuning device and turned into the Musical Buddha. A book-telling artist in the theater turned into the Rational Buddha. A mendicant Buddhist monk in one unknown temple turned into the Dharma Buddha. Many people turned into Buddhas and then were killed by Ning Que.

Ning Que didn’t understand why these people could turn into Buddhas. Why were there so many Buddhas and where were the Buddhas coming from?

“Everybody can become a Buddha.” Sangsang leaned on his shoulder and said weakly, “This is the living creatures’ will.”