Nightfall

The mountain stood between the heaven and earth, and the peak was very close to the sky. Ning Que sat on the top of the statue of Buddha with his eyes closed and his legs crossed. It seemed that he could pierce the black sky if he were to reach out.

A bright spot appeared in the dark sky above him. It was very bleak at first, suddenly became extremely bright, and then turned into thousands of streams of light, scattering all over the field along the radian of the sky.

Many pictures were flashing in the lights, such devout followers kowtowing, charming and elegant ladies from Heaven and rare golden flowers and jade trees, which all belonged to the Buddha Land.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field looked up to the sky, and faint breaths came out from their bodies and then melted into the light. The breaths, which were their consciousnesses, went to the sky with the light, sprinkled on the peak and then entered Ning Que’s body.

The Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas were shocked that Ning Que could take their consciousnesses away, which meant that he could receive the faith of the world and was about to become the Buddha.

In their view, Ning Que of course was a fake Buddha and what he did was a profanity.

Extreme anger broke out in the field, and the Buddhas began to revolt. Some of them cut their own faces with golden knifes and some teared their ears off. Blood was everywhere, and the Light of Buddha and the Power of Buddha flourished.

The indigo lion, who had already entered into the depths of the golden pond, made a low roar and took a step forward with the Power of Buddha. Then, a deep crack instantly appeared on the earth.

With the crack as the boundary, the left part of the field slowly rose up, then slid to the east and covered the ground of the east part inch by inch, looking like a big ship rushing out of the dark bottom of the sea!

The big ship had no stern and its back was directly connected to the ground. Thus, the west of the field was the body of the ship and moved forward with the bow of the ship. And the field and the people standing on the field were all brought onto the ship.

Over the last decades, countless people who had reached Nirvana had come here from all directions, and the number of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field was so high that one couldn’t even count them. There must have been millions of people on the field at this point.

Millions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were all on the big ship! The sounds of chanting were everywhere, and the broken ritual implements became the purest Breath of Buddha, giving off endless Light of Buddha. It was Earth’s Ship!

How amazing it was!

The ship slowly rose and emerged from the surface of the sea in the dark field, slowly but inexorably moving toward the Mountain of Buddha. The ban set by Buddha among the golden ponds had already weakened, and at this moment it was quickly disappearing like ice and snow under the hot sun after the ship ran over the ponds. Countless green lotuses and willows were crushed and turned into broken woods mixed with mud and then covered by the shadow of the giant ship. The sounds of frogs and cicadas had already disappeared.

The big ship slowly moved forward and came to the big river at the foot of the mountain. The river bank already collapsed and the waves surged into the sky. Half of the water came from the Styx River and contained countless rancorous souls and skulls which were voluntarily purified into breaths while encountering the Light of Buddha emitted by the ship.

The innumerable pure breath transformed by the rancorous souls and skulls was attached to the body of the ship again, making the Light of Buddha coming from the big ship more prosperous. The ship kept moving forward and was about to run into the cliff!

Standing on the board the ship, numerous Buddhas and Bodhisattvas put their hands together and solemnly looked at Ning Que who was on the summit. The indigo lion stood on the bow of the ship and looked at the cliff, looking very anxious to jump over.

It still remained a mystery whether or not the ship would destroy the mountain, the statue of Buddha, or even kill Ning Que when it collided with the mountain. But the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the indigo lion would never allow him to become the Buddha if they could climb to the top of the mountain.

Ning Que sat on the top of the Buddha with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and sensed everything he understood, reaching a crucial moment of becoming the Buddha. He didn’t even know what had happened outside and probably couldn’t pay attention to those things even if he knew, for he couldn’t afford to have any distractions.

He knew that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the field would not just let him become the Buddha and take away all living creatures’ worshipping of the Buddha. He didn’t make any plans in advance because he knew that that he was fighting alone.

Sangsang was put aside and covered by the big black umbrella. All of a sudden, Sangsang opened her eyes!

The pair of slender willow-shaped eyes were bright.

She had woken up several times during the past decades, but she had never opened her eyes, for she had always been in Ning Que’s heart, never returning to her own body.

As Ning Que was about to become the Buddha and the poisons inside her were going to disappear, she could finally return to her own body and see the world through her own eyes! Holding the big black umbrella, Sangsang stood up and looked at the big ship under the mountain with her eyes squinted.

“Is this the merciful ferry that will take all of the miserable people to the world of bliss?” She waved her sleeves, and the flowers on her cyan dress blossomed again. A horrible hurricane rushed from the summit to the foot of the mountain, and then roared away toward the giant ship on the river.

The indigo lion roared at the bow of the boat, but the roaring sound was sent back to its mouth by the hurricane before it could be heard. The beast closed its eyes in a panic, and the fur on its mane kept flying backwards in the fierce wind.

There were no sails on the big ship, but the kasayas that were worn by the numerous Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who were standing on the board ballooned out in the hurricane, acting like sails.

The big ship suddenly slowed down.

As the Earth’s Ship, it was born of the great Earth and contained unlimited weight. Sangsang waved her sleeves to summon the wind which made the ship slow down, indicating that she had regained her infinite power.

However, she still couldn’t completely stop the big ship. The ship did slow down, but it kept moving toward the cliff.

“The wills of all living creatures are indeed interesting.” Her cyan dress flapped slightly, and then her figure disappeared from the summit.

The next moment, she came to the big ship. The indigo lion roared and its mane which looked like swords. It was trying to bite her. Sangsang glanced at it. The indigo lion suddenly showed fear and turned its head tremblingly.

Sangsang walked among the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. She looked at the faces of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

They did not dare to stare her in the eyes and turned aside. She was looking for the Buddha among all living creatures.

All of the living creatures did not dare to look at her, and the Buddha was hiding from her.

The big ship was the Earth, carrying countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. But as Haotian, she might just find Buddha if she had enough time.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas finally responded. They lowered their head, put their palms together and walked to the bow of the ship. They all huddled together, as if they were trying to squeeze Sangsang out of the crowded ship.

Sangsang frowned slightly and then reached out to put her finger on the middle spot between the Buddha’s eyebrows. The Buddha became brighter and brighter and then turned into white light. He died!

Every time the crowded board had a spot open, another Buddha would immediately step forward to fill the vacancy. There would always be a successor no matter how many Buddhas were to die.

Then those Buddhas began to commit suicide.

The Buddha who had cut his face with a knife cut off his own head. A pure golden Light of Buddha rose towards the sky and then scattered on the board.

The Buddha who had stabbed his abdomen with a knife moved the blade upwards and stabbed it into his heart. A pure golden Light of Buddha poured out and then splashed all over the place.

Numerous Buddhas died, and the Lights of Buddha on the big ship flourished unimaginably. Sangsang frowned and turned paler and paler, feeling a little uncomfortable.

A part of the three poisons still lingered in her system and finally broke out while she was encountering the martyrdoms of the Buddhas. The last part of the poisons was attachment.

She looked back at the summit. Ning Que sat there with his legs crossed and meditated with his eyes closed, knowing nothing had happened on the ship.

Just by looking back, Sangsang came to the summit and came to him.

“Actually, the attachment would be gone if I were to kill you.”

She went silent for a long time, and then reached out to put her finger between Ning Que’s eyebrows.

Suddenly, the spot that Sangsang touched became extremely bright, as if it was transparent.

Through the transparent spot, a green seed could be seen. It was the seed of the Bodhi tree.

Ning Que had repaired the statue of Buddha on the mountain throughout the decades, but in actuality he had cultivated Buddhism prior to the modification of the statue.

Before entering the chessboard, or thousands of years ago, Ning Que had faced the wall for a whole day in the cliff yard of the Xuankong Temple and only woke up after pear blossom fell on his shoulders.

That experience meant that he started his journey of cultivating Buddhism. It was also through facing the wall back then that he understood the life experience of Master Lian Sheng and a seed of Bodhi Tree was planted in his heart.

After entering the chessboard, he listened to the morning bells and evening drums of the White Tower Temple and cultivated Buddhism for countless years. He repaired the statue for decades and deepened his understanding of the Buddha Dharma.

The seed of the Bodhi tree was no longer in his heart, but moved to the midpoint between his eyebrows.

Sangsang touched the spot and exerted Devine Psyche, awakening the seed.

The midpoint between Ning Que’s eyebrows had a small cut through which a very fine green stem broke and was tossing in the wind. In the Lights of Buddha came the big ship and the green stem grew at a speed visible to naked eyes.

The seed of the Bodhi tree sprouted, broke through the soil, and then went into green leaves which hung over the summit, covered the dark sky and even covered all the Lights of Buddha in Nirvana.

The Bodhi tree grew extremely fast and gave an impression that it was arrogant. And one would feel weird seeing the tree since it grew between Ning Que’s eyebrows.

Under the Bodhi tree, Ning Que closed his eyes and smiled, as if he was having a good dream.

Sangsang walked beside him and sat in the shade of the Bodhi tree. The Lights of Buddha could not shine on her again. With her pale face gradually returning to normal again, she closed her eyes and fell asleep again. For her, falling asleep meant entering into Ning Que’s body. Ning Que woke up.

Looking at the giant ship that was getting closer and closer and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on the ship, he said, “My body is a Bodhi tree, my heart is as clean as a dressing table.”

He wanted to preach to all living creatures, but they were not willing to listen.

All of the living creatures tried to debate against him and expose him as a fake Buddha. Thus, loud chanting hung over the sky, the earth, and the big ship. “The Bodhi is not a tree, the dressing table is not clean…”

“I am not try to reason with you. I am unlike my Eldest Brother. Everything would be just fine if you are willing to listen to me. If not, them Buddhism will know how to deal with you. My sermon is simple: all of you must listen to me, or you will be punished.” Ning Que looked at all the Buddhas and said, “I am the only true Buddha, you must worship me.”

All of the Buddhas became extremely angry.

Ning Que said calmly, “You must accept it. If not, then all of you have to die.”

Before the sound of his voice died, one Buddha turned into ash.

The next moment, the Buddha who had just died came to the summit and sat on one leaf with his legs crossed, like he was sitting on a futon.

The green leaf was the leaf of the Bodhi tree. The Bodhi tree grew between his eyebrows. That Buddha put his palms together and bowed to Ning Que devoutly.