When Abbess Miaoyin found Saintess Xuan and the others, they had already joined the Red Mountain Hall of the Northern Alliance Province. The plague was raging at the time, and dead bodies littered the roadsides. Ghosts and demonic evils dragged the corpses away, hiding in the mountain forests to gorge themselves.
Saintess Xuan and the others used their medical skills to heal the sick and save the people, used Buddhist dharma to refine away evil and foul auras, and struck down the demons and ghosts spreading the plague.
Wherever they went, the people welcomed them carrying food and drinks in containers, and when they left, the people saw them off with reluctance.
Seeing this, Abbess Miaoyin hesitated somewhat. She went to look for the Dog Man, Chen Shi, but could not find him. Hearing that Chen Shi had gone elsewhere, she said to the Dog Woman, "Xuan'er, finish up your work here before returning to the mountain."
Saintess Xuan smiled and said, "Does Master mean that as long as hell is not empty, I vow not to become a buddha?"
Hearing this, Abbess Miaoyin felt a shock through her body and mind, gazing at those ragged people with sallow complexions. These people were terrified, uneasy, and had no hope for the future. Their living environment was extremely harsh—was this not precisely hell?
Finishing up this work before returning to the mountain truly answered that great vow of "vow not to become a buddha until hell is empty."
"But how could this hell possibly become empty?" Abbess Miaoyin muttered softly.
Saintess Xuan had not returned to the Bodhi Dojo for a very long time.
Abbess Miaoyin did not go looking for her again either.
Since the human world had not gotten any better, Saintess Xuan probably would not be returning.
Abbess