Nightfall

After the snow, the mountain was still the same mountain, which looked no different from any other mountain in the world. The exposed black cliff stones, which either looked rough or smooth, were also nothing special, revealing no gloss or breath of life. They were just silent cliff stones.

Standing before the mountain with Sangsang on his back, Ning Que looked at the mountain for a long time until the gold hanging over the ponds was blown into countless pieces by the night wind. The mountain was still just a normal mountain.

Did Buddha wake up? Is the Buddha alive or dead? Ning Que was nervous and frustrated waiting for the final answer.

“We’ve won?”

“No.”

“How come?”

Feeling disappointed and angry, Ning Que sat on the ground and kept kicking his legs like a child who felt wronged, making the accumulated snow in front of him fly around.

Sangsang answered calmly, “Because Buddha is Buddha, not a cat.”

Hearing this, Ning Que went silence for a long time. He understood that their conjectures were quite different from the truth from the very beginning.

The ideal experiment about the cat needed a box, a sophisticated poisoning device, but the Buddha had no reason to trap himself in such a situation. Then what was Nirvana?

Nirvana was still a superposition state of quantum, but it was only related to positions instead of life and death. When observed, it would suddenly appear here or there. Buddha didn’t design the device that might poison himself, but he could find another way to hide himself from Haotian.

“We still won,” said Ning Que, standing up and looking at the mountain peak in front of him. “See, the Buddha is here. the mountain is the Buddha. We can just destroy it.”

Sangsang said, “No. The Buddha is not among all living creatures.”

Ning knew what she meant. Observation equaled determination. The Buddha was not the quantum whose nature was determined by being observed, and he could be anywhere for he had self-consciousness.

It was a concrete manifestation that all living creatures in the world of the chessboard became Buddhas. Sangsang was right that the woman who owned the vegetable stall could be Buddha, the golden pond could be Buddha, the willows and lotus leaves could be Buddha, and even the frog that Ning Que kissed a few day ago could be Buddha too.

The snow mountain was also Buddha, and it should be the central coordinates of the chessboard world. Only in this way could the Buddha maintain his existence in the superimposed state.

But it was useless to destroy the snow mountain, because the Buddha could appear in countless positions, moving faster than light. No one could really find him, so naturally no one could kill him.

Ning Que said, “When we came to the far east, the world began to tremble and countless Buddhas became nervous and frightened, proving that the snow mountain is very important to Buddha.”

At this moment, there was a burst of vibrations coming outside of the golden ponds. Countless Buddhas moved quickly in the field, among which several Grand Bodhisattvas who were transformed while crossing the Styx River. They seemed to possess boundless Power of Buddha.

Sensing the changes in the snow mountain, the Buddha revealed his true form. Countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas sat on the ground with their legs crossed and kept chanting devoutly. The Light of Buddha illuminated the dark sky and the foot of the mountain.

The Light of Buddha was so bright that it broke through the dark sky, and a layer of gold light showered Ning Que and Sangsang and then broke into their bodies.

Summoned by the Buddha, countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas came to the east to suppress the evil spirits. A indigo lion which was as high as hundreds of zhang appeared in the field and shouted to the sky, making the Light of Buddha even brighter.

Ning Que turned paler due to the bright light and also the pain. More importantly, Sangsang who was hidden in his body suffered a lot due to the Light of Buddha.

He felt her weakness. The Bodhisattvas who rode the indigo lion and the white tiger were everywhere and were as powerful as Ksitigarbha. He knew that Sangsang couldn’t defeat them all.

“Tens of thousands of Buddhas going to meet their ancestor…” Looking at the countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field, Ning Que laughed and said, “If the snow mountain is not their ancestor, then why are they so anxious and frightened?”

At this point, a cloud of dust appeared in the field, and then a yellow dragon screamed down the snow mountain. At the forefront, the indigo lion ran wildly and stirred up a dust storm.

Looking at the indigo lion that seemed to be swallowing up the night sky, Ning Que thought of the powerful means that Ksitigarbha used in the Styx River. He was unsettled, for Sangsang was weaker and couldn’t fight against these Bodhisattvas.

To his surprise, the indigo lion suddenly stopped in front of the golden pond, and the beast fell and stirred up mud for it was too heavy and the stop was too abrupt.

The indigo lion seemed to be very scared of the water in the pond. The beast stretched out its forepaws and tried to step on the narrow dirt road between the ponds. However, its body was too big and its claw was as heavy as a mountain. The dirt road was crushed in an instant and the water in the pond wet its claw.

The indigo lion howled painfully and fearfully and the willows by the ponds bent down again. The indigo lion retreated in fear, and its claw kept shining the Light of Buddha, like it was burning.

The indigo lion was in fear so it retreated. The field was restored with silence for a while. Countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas did not dare to walk into the golden pond and only kept chanting while sitting on the ground with their legs crossed.

Ning Que was puzzled. Although the Light of Buddha also made him and Sangsang uncomfortable, they were not as in pain and frightened as the indigo lion.

Why are these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas afraid of walking into the golden ponds around the snow mountains? If it is the ban set by the Buddha, then how can it be specifically targeted at the followers and descendants?

Sangsang said, “The Academy is right about one thing. Buddhism is indeed disgusting.”

After Buddha reached Nirvana, he entered the superposition state of the quantum, and he was too weak to protect himself. Thus, the disciples of Buddhism were forbidden to go near the snow mountain.

Thousands of golden ponds around the snow mountains were part of the ban set by the Buddha.

So vigilant to his most devout followers and descendants… Ning Que sighed. What’s the meaning of living in such a way even though you can’t really hide from Haotian and exist forever?

With his great eyesight, Ning Que could see that the monk on the back of the indigo lion was pretty handsome. He wondered if the Buddha could be transformed to this monk if he was really among all living creatures?

“If Buddha is in the field at this moment, is it possible for him to lift the ban?”

“No, because the Buddha who set the ban back then is not the current Buddha.”

“What is the benefit of setting such a problem for himself?”

“He never has to worry about being woken up in the state of Nirvana.”

“We are here. We have already woken him up.”

“It never occurred to Buddha that we could come here, and he thought we won’t affect his status even if we did come, for we are neither Bodhisattvas nor Buddhas and cannot compete with Buddhism.”

Ning Que looked at the young monk on the back of the indigo lion and suddenly came up with an idea.

Sangsang directly denied his idea and said, “In his uncertain status, the Buddha of course can’t possess the real Power of Buddhism. But you still not powerful enough to kill him even though he has turned into a Bodhisattva.”

Ning Que replied, “I feel good. These Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot enter here anyway.”

Sangsang said, “But I am gradually growing weaker. I will eventually die if the stalemate remains.”

“I have said it many times, I will not let you die.” Ning Que looked at the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field and said with a smile, “The arrival of these people and what you just said all prove that my guess is right.”

“Even if the snow mountain is the Buddhahood noumenon of Buddha, like how you’ve guessed, you still can’t change the current situation. You have no way to change the current situation, since you have no chance of killing Buddha.”

“Why must we kill Buddha?” Walking to the nearest pond, Ning Que took out the iron cutlass and cut off a few branches of a willow by the pond, and then he put down the cutlass, sat under the willow tree and began to weave something awkwardly.

Sangsang asked, “What are you weaving?”

Ning Que answered, “A knife.”

Sangsang thought for a while and requested, “Let me try.”

Ning Que laughed and handed over the control of his body.

Back in their house by Yanming Lake, one of Sangsang’s favorite things to do was to make small objects with willow branches by the lake. So she made a cute willow knife pretty soon.

Sangsang gave back the control of Ning Que’s body and asked, “What are you trying to do?”

Ning Que only smiled but did not reply, and then he cut off a lotus.

He put some pond water in the lotus, tilted the lotus slightly, and poured the water within to the iron cutlass. Suddenly the iron cutlass became sharp and was full of the Will of Buddha.

After doing these strange things, he carried Sangsang on his back and walked toward the snow mountain with the big black umbrella in one hand and the iron cutlass in the other hand.

Sangsang said, “What are you going to do? I will kill you if you still ignore me this time.”

Ning Que answered, “I am going to see Buddha.”

Sangsang was puzzled, “Why? Besides, you have already seen him.”

Ning Que said, “I have said to you that seeing Buddha is to cultivate Buddhism. How can we remove the poisons in your body and tear the black sky apart if we don’t cultivate Buddhism?”

Sangsang asked, “Are you really going to cultivate Buddhism?”

Ning Que said, “I can’t kill the real Buddha, but I can cultivate Buddhism. I will take away his Buddha nature and turn myself into Buddha. And I will be worshipped by the followers in the human world. What can Buddha do about this?”

Sangsang was puzzled and asked, “But how do you plan to turn yourself into Buddha?”

“I have thought about this for a while, even before we crossed the river.” Approaching a cliff yard, Ning Que put Sangsang down, lifted the dark and heavy iron cutlass and slashed the ground, “I am going to repair Buddha.”

“You call this cultivating Buddhism?”

“Isn’t cultivating Buddhism the same thing as repairing Buddha?”

“The Academy always solves problems in such strange ways.”

“My Second Brother did the same thing. His cultivation was to fight, but mine is to repair.”

After slashing the cliff yard wildly, Ning Que turned to cut the rocks protruding from the cliff edge and said proudly, “The toes of Buddha are too wide. I have to make them more delicate.”

…