"What? You want me to study? And Buddhist scriptures too?"
Chai Asi looked ready to cry. "Exalted One, I make my living on the streets. And now I have to study? If word gets out, the other demons will laugh themselves to death. Do I have any face left?"
"If I slap that big mouth of yours, would you have face then?"
Chai Asi burst into tears on the spot. "Exalted One! I'm steeped in the five poisons and guilty of every evil! I still want to marry a wife—the Chai family hasn't left behind an heir yet. I don't want to become a monk!"
"Having you read Buddhist scriptures does not mean making you a monk." The great voice in the mirror spoke with the frustration of iron that would not become steel. "Among those who reach the absolute summit, which one has not mastered all teachings and comprehended the true principles of the world? Back then, I too never let a book leave my hand, keen and eager to learn; only then did I achieve what I later did. You ignorant little demon—how dare you grow slack already?"
After being reprimanded, Chai Asi still wore a bitter expression. "Exalted One, it isn't that this little demon doesn't want to learn. I've just heard that Buddhism is all about sudden enlightenment. With my aptitude, what if I suddenly see that the four elements are empty and become a Buddha on the spot? What would Yuan Xiaoqing do? What would Zhu Lanruo do?"
The great Ancient God was nearly angered into laughter. "Rest assured. My Buddha does not ferry fools across."
If becoming a Buddha on the spot were that easy, even your Exalted One would want it! Rules and precepts, who cared about those? Quickly gaining power and returning