Chapter 363 Bodhi Understandings, Acheron and Naihe Bridge
Golden flames danced in the air. Soon, Yuecha’s figure slowly disappeared. Then, the golden flames died out. Nothing was left. It was as if nothing happened.
The scene was silent. A breeze blew by.
“Amitabha.”
Every monk did the Namaste gesture and silently chanted Buddhist scriptures. The death of Yuecha did enlighten the Buddhists.
“Sigh, lost a friend again.” Li Nianfan shook his head. He felt sentimental.
He experienced more things as he approached more cultivators. He learned various lessons in the Immortal Realm. He did hear about these things before but there was a difference when it was a personal experience.
Most of the time, other people had chosen their paths. Even capable friends could not help them out at all.
Cultivators were sometimes fickle. They did act like how Immortals should act.
That was the review of Li Nianfan. In other words, cultivators around him were friendly.
‘Yuecha’s death meant that she must be in the Underworld. I’ll visit when I’m free so I can ensure she’ll reincarnate nicely,’ thought Li Nianfan. He could only help her with that.
The Grand Ceremony of Buddhism ended nicely. It was not perfect but it was a nice ending
Yuecha was gone. The Buddha was gone. Buddhism was in a very awkward state. Lots of guests left. The incident would probably be the talk of the town for a long while.
Li Nianfan and the others did not leave.
Buddhism was unstable. So, he stayed to take care of things.
Thankfully, the monks were mentally stable. Nothing bad happened. However, it was dead quiet at the scene and everyone looked kind of lost.
Li Nianfan could not do anything about that. The Buddhists had to make it through that obstacle by themselves.
He stayed for three days before he was ready to leave.
Before he left, he went to the Buddhism backyard. He wanted to chat with Jiechi. The little monk was the only monk he was familiar with at that point.
A sky full of fallen leaves flew into the backyard. He saw a little figure holding a broom from afar. He was leaning on the broom, sleeping from exhaustion.
He was mumbling in his sleep. It was very funny and cute.
Li Nianfan walked closer and heard his mumbles.
“Master Yuecha, Senior Jiese, I don’t believe that you two are Demons. You two will come back, right?
“I’ll work hard to sweep the floor and clean up the leaves. Come back once I’m done cleaning, alright?
“I have new understandings in Buddhism, I don’t know who I can talk to about it.”
Li Nianfan smiled bitterly. He did not wake him up.
‘He suffered such pain at such a young age. How terrible.’
He shook his head and was ready to leave.
Suddenly, he saw a row of words in the corner of his eye. It was carved into the stone next to the Bodhi Tree.
“The body as a Bodhi Tree, the heart as a mirror stand. Frequently wipe it and clean it, don’t let it be dusty.”
Li Nianfan was amazed. He turned to look at the sleepy little monk in awe. “This is…his new understanding of Buddhism from sweeping the floor?
‘This is legit. It’s too bad he’s not a straight-A student.’
He looked around and picked up a branch. He smirked and wrote another poem next to that poem.
‘There’s no Bodhi Tree; nor a mirror stand. Since all is void, where can the dust alight?’
“Little monk, bye.”
Li Nianfan spoke softly and then slowly walked out from the backyard.
An hour later.
There was a ‘smack’ sound. The broom fell to the floor. The little monk also fell on his face with an ‘ouch’ sound.
“Bah!”
He spat out the leaves in his mouth and rubbed his bald head. He woke up.
“Yikes, how did I fall asleep? I have to quickly sweep the floor so that Master and Senior can come back sooner!”
He picked up the broom. Then, he was slightly surprised to see the new writings.
“Huh? Who wrote this?”
He bent down and read it slowly.
He was awestruck after reading it. His mouth hung open as his mind wandered.
“This… This… This wisdom…”
He gulped and sat crossed-legged underneath the Bodhi Tree. He kept looking back and forth at the two poems. “Wise. So much wiser than mine.”
The previous poem highlighted wiping away a stubborn mindset and reflecting internally to constantly be pure. Li Nianfan’s poem was much better. He expressed it clearly. There was no stubborn mindset to begin with so why the constant need to clean and wipe?
It was deep and direct.
“The leaves in the backyard are nothing but my stubborn task. I keep being stubborn, and the leaves keep falling. All I had to do was let go of my stubbornness and these leaves will naturally be gone.”
He looked enlightened. He did the Namaste gesture and shut his eyes. Buddhist light slowly formed around him as a halo also appeared behind him. His already-shiny-bald-head was shinier. He was in a state of transcendence.
Leaves danced around Jiechi along with the wind. Then, it slowly vanished in the air.
The dead leaves on the floor started to sway before slowly, they vanished…
Meanwhile, Li Nianfan and the others left the Spiritual Mountain. They rode on clouds to a large city.
The city had a City God Temple.
A lot of people worshipped the statues inside the City God Temple.
The statue in the middle was an elder with a goatee and a round hat. He looked friendly.
Immortals would notice that as people lit the incense sticks, the smoke would fly to the sky. Then, a mysterious force would enter the statue.
That was the power of incense wishes. Once incense wishes were accumulated to a certain point, it would be considered as Deluxe Merit for faith. This was why the souls of the City God Temple could exist in the Immortal Realm for a long while.
Li Nianfan headed in. The soul in the statue came out from its vessel to salute Li Nianfan. Then, he gesturally hinted and floated to the back.
Li Nianfan and the others followed. They went to a side room in the backyard.
The elder greeted Li Nianfan, “Greetings to Mr. Li. I’m Zhu Chengming of the Fallen Flower City God Temple. Greetings to everyone.”
“Greetings to City God Zhu,” saluted Li Nianfan. Then, he said, “I’m here to disturb you again, City God Zhu. So sorry about that.” Previously, he requested City God Zhu to pass the message about Yun Yiyi and Jiese to the Underworld.
“You’re too courteous, Mr. Li. I’m able to become a City God all because of you.”
City God Zhu sounded sincere. He was able to become a City God so his manners were naturally on point. He continued, “Mr. Li, Black and White Impermanence Sires sent me a message. They said they found a monk and a lady in red. They’re in the Underworld right now. However, they aren’t sure if they’re who you’re looking for.” Li Nianfan was stunned. It was unacceptable. He asked in shock, “At the Underworld? They’re dead?”
City God Zhu nodded, “It appears so.”
Sigh…
Li Nianfan sighed and frowned. He then said, “Can I trouble you to inform the Impermanence Sires, City God Zhu? I…want to go to the Underworld.”
His Deluxe Merit Flesh allowed him to soar through the skies and go beneath the land. He would like to check out the legendary Underworld. More importantly, he wanted to see if he could help Jiese, Yun Yiyi, and Yuecha.
“Please, wait just a minute, Mr. Li. I’ll contact the Black and White Impermanence Sires now,” replied City God Zhu. Then, he left. He was back after fifteen minutes. A black figure and a white figure followed him.
Black and White Impermanence were both expressionless. They saw Li Nianfan and smiled. They said in a friendly tone, “Mr. Li.”
Li Nianfan also smiled and said, “Greetings to the Black and White Impermanence Sires.”
“Zhu already told us everything. Mr. Li, you’re more than welcome to visit our Underworld.” White Impermanence paused. Then, he said, “But I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for a lot of people to enter since the Underworld’s an important land and it’s not stable yet.”
He looked at the bunch behind Li Nianfan.
‘This insult… Hm, kind of obvious.’
Ziye suddenly spoke up, “Sires, long time no see.” “You’re…” Black and White Impermanence looked at Ziye and suddenly jolted. They were shocked and pleasantly surprised. They said, “Goddess Ziye? You… You…”
Ziye smiled and nodded, “It’s me.”
“If it’s the Seventh Princess, the Underworld naturally welcomes you,” White Impermanence smiled and nodded. Then, he once again looked at everyone else.
Immortal Linzhu shook her head, “I won’t be going. There’s no delicious food in the Underworld anyway.”
Pei An and the others were very friendly. They smiled and saluted the Black and White Impermanence. “We won’t be intruding.”
Those two were the Death Gods. The cultivators would die eventually so they had to give in. Black and White Impermanence looked at Xiao Chengfeng Xiao Chengfeng raised his eyebrow. He was instantly unhappy. “What’s the meaning of this? I’m not worthy enough to enter the Underworld, too?”
Pei An and Gu Yuan knew he was about to talk nonsense again. They hurriedly dragged him away.
“Do you know who I am? I’m that sword cultivator who’s well-respected by three million sword cultivators in the Above Immortal Realm! The Underworld will have to respect me!” Xiao Chengfeng struggled. “Let go of me!”
“Sorry, there’s no sword cultivator in our Underworld,” Black Impermanence smirked coldly. Then, he very naturally changed his facial expression when he was talking to Li Nianfan. He said in a friendly manner, “Mr. Li, shall we depart now?”
“Yeah, apologies for the trouble, Sires.”
“Not at all. Not a problem at all.” Black and White Impermanence waved it off. Then, they raised their arms at the same time and cast a spell. Ripples formed in the air. Soon, a jet-black door appeared in front of everyone.
“Mr. Li, please.”
Black and White Impermanence led the way. They stepped into the door. It was creepily cold the minute they stepped into the door. It felt like being out on a summer day and suddenly walking into a cold room with an air-conditioner. His eyes were slightly unfocused. He looked again and saw a huge river in front of him. The river was flowing strongly and was muddy yellow. Everyone stood on the side. They could feel water vapor in their face and could hear the loud waves.
The river was wide and gushing!
Li Nianfan did not expect that the process to enter the Underworld was nothing but a door. He truly felt like he just entered a room from another room.
He was instantly awestruck by the river in front of him.
The Underworld was dim like a constant sunset. The sky was red. It was kind of overwhelming and depressing. Li Nianfan licked his lip. He exclaimed, “Is this…the Acheron?”
“It’s the Acheron,” White Impermanence nodded and introduced. “This is where the souls belong after death. Usually, the souls in the Acheron are lost ghosts. Only the souls who manage to find the Naihe Bridge and successfully reincarnate can get rid of their ghost identities.”
“I see.” Li Nianfan looked over. He saw fiery red patches on the other side of the Acheron. Those were Higan Flowers, and they were swaying as if they were giving direction.
Li Nianfan suddenly arched his eyebrow. He realized something. “Why aren’t there any other ghosts here?”
Black Impermanence replied, “Mr. Li, this is a path for Onis only. The ordinary ghosts are elsewhere.”
‘So, this is an express lane.’
Li Nianfan nodded. He learned something new.
To be honest, the path of the Acheron was very boring. It was a dim realm, only the gushing river and the beautiful red Higan Flowers were entertaining.
Thankfully, the express lane was fast. Soon, they saw a bridge at the front. A long row of human figures was moving on the bridge. As they got closer, they could see that it was a bunch of ghosts lining up on the bridge. They looked exhausted and depressed. They stood in line with uneasiness.
Apart from humans, there were a lot of souls from various animals. The number of souls was huge.
Onis with uniforms handled them. They were managing the order by surrounding them.
There was a huge stone near the bridge. ‘Naihe Bridge’ was carved into the stone in blood red.
“It’s indeed Naihe Bridge.” Li Nianfan was emotional because that was the famous Naihe Bridge. He did not expect that he would be able to stand at the bridge as a living human, as a mere visitor.
‘Too bad I can’t flex this to anybody.
‘Sigh, it’s so lonely to be in a different realm.’
He looked over and saw an old granny with a face full of wrinkles. The granny was slightly hunched over. She smiled and scooped soup for the souls to drink.
She saw Li Nianfan and instantly smiled in a friendly manner. She nodded as a friendly way to say hi.
Li Nianfan smiled awkwardly in response. He looked at the soup and felt a shiver in his heart. He quickly looked away.
‘That soup…isn’t good. Must not drink it.’
“No, I don’t want it!” Suddenly, they heard a desperate voice.
The voice was from a middle-aged man. He looked fully terrified. He finally snapped when Meng Po gave him the soup. He was shaking all over and was ready to run.
However, he was stopped by Onis before he could make a run for it. He was held down in place.
“Fella, are you trying to cause a scene here?” an Oni smirked coldly. He threatened, “Drink up. Otherwise, we’ll punish you on your way to reincarnation!”
“No, please, I want to cooperate, too. But the soup’s too terrible, the taste…blergh!”
The middle-aged man almost cried. “Blergh! I can’t stand it. This is considered my last meal, can it be something not awful tasting?”
“Drink this soup, I guarantee you that you’ll forget what tastes awful.” The two Onis smiled. They were used to a situation like that. They easily forced the middle-aged man to drink every drop of the soup.
The middle-aged man struggled and trembled like crazy. His face was twisted as if he was in agony.
However, he soon stopped struggling.
The middle-aged man was numb in his expression. He lifelessly looked at the front with dead eyes. He forgot about everything as he quietly floated over the Naihe Bridge.
Yikes
Li Nianfan gasped. His skin was crawling. He was frightened by what happened.
‘Scary, too scary!
“Thankfully, I’m not in line. Thank God!’