Tales of Herding Gods - Chapter 252

Chapter 252: Monk Ming Xin

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

“Kill the Heavenly Devil Cult Master and take revenge for our senior brothers!”

Everyone’s emotions were stirred up at the same time, and they came swarming over at Qin Mu like bees. He frowned slightly, and his body trembled. Thousand Armed Buddha burst forth, and the buddha rays shone brilliantly with incomparably resounding buddha voice lingering around Heavenly Dragons Cloister.

Qin Mu was like an unmovable buddha withstanding attacks from all directions. With exploding bangs that rang out continuously, the monks flew off in all directions. They smashed into the dragon pillars, and some of them split into three-five pieces on the spot.

Qin Mu shook his body, and the thousand arms that were both in front and behind him vanished. The buddha rays also vanished.

He swept his gaze over the monks that were lying everywhere and brushed his sleeves. “This is the Thunderclap Eight Strikes of your Great Thunderclap Monastery, is this technique of the devil path too? Technique is only righteous when used righteously, when used for evil, even Thunderclap Eight Strikes or Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra will become of the devil!”

Old Ma coughed and looked towards the flabbergasted Old Monk Jing Ming beside him. “Senior brother, your Heavenly Dragon Cloister is getting a little messy. I think we should go take a stroll through Heart Meditation Cloister.”

Old Monk Jing Ming looked at Qin Mu resentfully. Most of the monks that Qin Mu had beaten and killed were his disciples. However, since Old Ma and Blind was beside him, he didn’t dare to make a move recklessly.

He was especially worried about the blind man beside him. Even though that man’s eye sockets were empty, he could feel a murderous intent that circled his throat whenever he wanted to make a move.

If he really dared to make a move, he was certain that the bamboo cane of this blind man would pierce his throat the next instant.

His Rulai’s Mahayana Sutra had a flaw which left a weak spot at his throat, and no matter how he changed it, it didn’t get fixed.

The other old monks of Heavenly Dragon Cloister also didn’t dare to make a move. While standing beside Old Ma and Blind, they felt like there were two Mount Merus pressing down on them. If they made a move, their bodies would be smashed into pieces!

Cold sweat broke out on Monk Jing Ming’s forehead, and he said, “Junior brother, your disciple killed my monks of Heavenly Dragon Cloister and even destroyed some Hundred Dragons Portraits…”

Old Ma remained silent.

Blind said calmly as he propped himself on his bamboo cane, “Senior Brother Jing Ming, Heavenly Dragon Cloister being destroyed is your own fault. If you didn’t point out that Mu’er was the devil cult master, this wouldn’t have happened. Don’t blow things up, once it happens, the mess won’t be so easy to clean up.”

A droplet of cold sweat rolled down Monk Jing Ming’s forehead as he coughed. His voice was like a loud bell when he said, “Cult Master Qin is a guest from afar, do not be impudent, fall back.”

Once he had said that, the monks over by the reliefs seemed relieved and immediately helped their companions that were laying on the ground.

Old Ma said, “Mu’er, come back.”

Blind beamed at the youth. “You fought, destroyed, and also lectured. We are guests, so it’s not good to be too impudent. Old Ma said we should take a stroll around Heart Meditation Cloister. Won’t you come along?”

Qin Mu acknowledged their words and bowed to Monk Ming Xin. “Little monk, if you can’t stay in Great Thunderclap Monastery any longer, come find me in Heavenly Saint Cult.”

Monk Ming Xin was bewildered. “How can I not stay here any longer? My master treats me very well, and these senior and junior brother take good care of me as well. I won’t turn bad. You too, don’t be the devil cult master anymore. Won’t it be better to abandon evil and turn good? Buddhism says that the sea of bitterness has no bounds, repent and the shore will be at hand…”

Qin Mu shook his head and said firmly, “You are a true monk. Sometimes, true monks are not tolerated in the monastery of fake monks. When the monastery can’t tolerate you anymore, you will have to go find your tathata, your perfect awakening.

“Read less buddhist scriptures, most of those that write them have never been Rulai, and if they can’t become buddha, how can they guide you down that path? Destroy the buddha and Great Thunderclap Monastery in your heart, and you will become your own buddha, the world will become your Great Thunderclap Monastery, and all living things will become your Dao friends, your senior brothers.” He stretched his finger out and touched Monk Ming Xin on his heart with a smile. “Here, lies a real buddha.”

He then touched Monk Ming Xin at the heart of his brows. “Here lies a fake buddha. Don’t let your belief become your devil, your restraints, and the obstruction to your perception. What you should do is lift your head to face the world and have a clear conscience.

“Place a scale in your heart and let it become your principle when weighing good and bad, right and wrong, righteous and evil, buddha and devil. Walk outside more to see what people do and not what the buddhist scriptures say. It’s impossible to become buddha by only staying in the monastery and thinking about good and evil.”

Monk Ming Xin’s mind was blown, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

Qin Mu turned around to walk to Old Ma. On his way, he greeted Monk Jing Ming. “Sorry great masters for disturbing your peace.”

Monk Jing Ming returned his greeting and said, “Devil cult master is courteous. Their cultivations aren’t there, and cult master’s devil nature is too great. You’re good at bewitching people’s hearts and ruthless in your attacks, a natural old devil.”

Qin Mu shook his head. “The cultivation of my mind is still shallow. If people want to kill me, I can only retaliate. The state of mind of you great masters is profound. If people wanted to kill you, would you retaliate?” When he finished saying this, his gaze turned unfriendly and Junior Protector Sword came whooshing out of its sheath.

The gaze of Old Monk Jing Ming and the rest landed on the shining sword blade, and they shook their heads slowly.

Qin Mu returned the treasured sword back into its sheath and let out a pent up breath before smiling. “I thought that you eminent monks that have achieved Dao had achieved the state of not being afraid of life and death, not afraid of honor and disgrace. But you are still the same as me, an ordinary human that has a devil nature. Farewell. Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Blind, what kind of place is Heart Meditation Cloister?”

Old Ma brought them away while saying, “Heart Meditation Cloister is where Great Thunderclap Monastery’s monks cultivate their hearts. The cultivation in that place is different from here. For cultivation, monks will first cultivate their hearts. There are many monks there who cultivate unspoken meditation.”

Blind let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “It’s good that they don’t cultivate speaking, this saves the effort of talking about the acts of monks in reality while they talk about buddhist teachings. After all, when you want to talk to them about tidying up their sect, they will talk to you about buddhist teachings. If you talk to them about logic, they will talk to you about buddhist teachings. But if you talk to them about buddhist teachings, they will come over to beat you. These buddhist believers can’t even do what they preach.”

Old Ma hesitated and stopped. “In that case, let’s not go to Heart Mediation Cloister.”

Qin Mu was bewildered and cried out, “Are the monks in Heart Meditation Cloister like this as well?”

Old Ma shook his head. “There still some who don’t cultivate unspoken meditation in Heart Meditation Cloister. It’s good that you tagged along since if I was the only one here, they would definitely come to nag at me. But you are the devil cult master, so they will want to nag at you more, and if they can’t convince you, what happened in Heavenly Dragon Cloister will be re-enacted.”

Blind shook his head, “In that case, let’s not go. Great Thunderclap Monastery is full of fake monks, with few that can do what they preach. As long as you say that they do something wrong, they will quarrel with you. The hardest thing to do is to convince a person. They can’t break the obstruction in their awareness and always like to complicate the simplest logic, leaving you befuddled. If you followed their topic, you would have certainly lost.”

Old Ma said, “The best logic is still in truth, in the end, it comes down to what is done. In this world, there truly are not many real monks. Most of them are fake, those that open their mouths and quote classics like spewing out a deluge of heavenly flowers; they only know how to speak and not do. It’s already fortunate if there is one true monk among a hundred. Rulai is old and has neglected the teachings. Lately, he seems to be lacking the strength even if he has the mind to do it.”

Old Ma originally didn’t like to talk much, but since he was revisiting his old haunts, his words subconsciously grew in number.

Monk Jing Ming looked at them walking farther away, then glanced at his own companions in dismay.

“Evil nature, this Heavenly Devil Cult Master truly has an evil nature.”

An old monk sighed. “Rulai wants him to stay in the monastery, but I’m afraid this isn’t the luck of our Great Thunderclap Monastery.”

Another abbot said, “I can’t understand why Rulai wants him to stay. He’s the devil cult master, which devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult is easily swayed?”

Old Monk Jing Ming said, “You guys don’t have to guess blindly. Rulai’s intention is to use buddhist teachings to influence him, to let him know the vastness of buddhism, abandoning evil to become good, converting him to buddhism. Rulai had thought to take him as a disciple yet Heavenly Devil Cult’s Patriarch reached out first and snatched him away.”

The old monks were all bewildered. They knew that he and Old Rulai had a deep master and disciple bond, so many things were not hidden from him. Because of this, they trusted his words and asked, “There was such an incident?”

“That khakkhara staff is a keepsake, yet he gave it away to a monkey. Rulai felt that the destiny was broken, so he didn’t go find him. But actually, there’s a second reason as to why Rulai made him stay. Heavenly Devil Cult is starting to prosper because they have this Cult Master Qin. He also has a close relationship with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. As to the snow disaster, Heavenly Devil Cult Master was farsighted and ordered the entire devil cult to support the emperor in sending disaster relief. Now, with the emperor and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor as the arms of Heavenly Devil Cult, it will definitely prosper.”

The old monks’ expressions changed, and they stamped their feet. “What must we do?”

Old Monk Jing Ming said, “If this Cult Master Qin got trapped in Great Thunderclap Monastery, the momentum of Heavenly Devil Cult will be broken. With the devil weakened and buddha rising, our Great Thunderclap Monastery will be fortuitous. Even if Heavenly Devil Cult will try to find another devil cult master, they probably won’t find another one as outstanding as him. As for the third intention…”

There seemed to be buddha rays flickering on and off in his eyes as he said faintly, “Is because of the next rulai. Old Rulai didn’t have the boldness of Heavenly Devil Cult Patriarch to choose a little brat as the cult master, but he still admires Ma Wangshen and feels that he’s the most suitable to inherit his cassock and alms bowl. What a pity…”

The other old monks looked at one another and said in unison, “What a pity.”

Little Monk Ming Xin came walking over muddle-headed and said to Old Monk Jing Ming, “Master, I…”

Old Monk Jing Ming saw that he was in a daze and straightened him out. “Good child, you have been bewitched by the words of Heavenly Devil Cult Master. A devil is best at bewitching the hearts of people, and it’s even worse if he’s the Heavenly Devil Cult Master.”

“But I feel that what he said made sense…”

Old Monk Jing Ming laughed loudly. “Good child, there are many buddhist scriptures in our monastery that judge devils, go and see what your seniors say. You will then straighten out your thinking without me to needing to enlighten you.”

Monk Ming Xin was still ill at ease.

Old Monk Jing Ming frowned. He could see that the impact Qin Mu’s words had brought to this little monk was too strong, so it was best to give him tasks that didn’t require much thinking. “Go and help your senior brothers up, then lift the dragon pillars up. Even though they are broken, they can still be fixed.”

Monk Ming Xin acknowledged his words and went to help his senior brothers of Heavenly Dragon Cloister and treat the injured. However, those monks didn’t give him a pleasant look and drove him away by brushing their sleeves.

Monk Ming Xin was stunned. He went to lift up the collapsed dragon pillar, but a couple monks walked over and pushed him to the side.

When he squeezed forward again, he was pushed down to the ground. He looked at everyone in a daze before getting up quietly to go to the Depository of Buddhist Texts to read buddhist scriptures; however, he couldn’t absorb any logic that he read.

Old Monk Jing Ming was tidying up Heavenly Dragon Cloister when he suddenly saw Monk Ming Xin carrying a little bundle down the mountain. His heart moved slightly, and he called out “Ming Xin, have you brought your buddhist scriptures?”

Monk Ming Xin stopped and said, “Master, I brought a Heart Sutra.”

Monk Jing Ming nodded. “Go down the mountain and return back soon. The sea of bitterness has no bounds, repent and Mount Meru will be at hand, where Great Thunderclap Monastery is.”

Monk Ming Xin knelt down and gave two kowtows to him before turning to leave.

Behind him, the bell of Great Thunderclap Monastery rang as the sun was high up in the middle of the sky. Its light cast a long shadow of the little monk down the mountain.