Gao Bin shook his head, turning the white prayer beads made from Bodhi seeds in his hand.
"It cannot be spoken... It cannot be spoken."
Zhu Yuanzhang noticed that when Gao Bin answered his question, he deliberately closed his eyes and avoided looking at the clay statues of the Buddhas seated on the Lotus Platforms in the Imperial Awakening Temple, as if he were trying to avoid something.
"Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra was a personal gift from me, while the sixty-year fortune belonged to Yinglong Temple... Now we're even. Please hurry down the mountain, junior brother."
Watching Gao Bin shake his head like a rattle drum, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a flicker of doubt.
Had Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra really been a personal gift from Gao Bin?
If so, did Gao Bin himself actually have some connection to Minghe?
Zhu Yuanzhang wondered.
He didn't think he had that much charm, enough to make Gao Bin give him a divine technique when they had only met a handful of times.
Gao Bin must have known something.
But unfortunately, for one reason or another, he was unwilling to tell Zhu Yuanzhang the truth.
Zhu Yuanzhang could only keep his doubts to himself. He took the blank ordination certificate from his robes.
"After tomorrow, the Imperial Awakening Temple will disperse its monks."
Gao Bin returned the completed ordination certificate to Zhu Yuanzhang, then recited "Amitabha" and gave him a long, deep look.
"Four years from now, the Imperial Awakening Temple will open its gates again. If you have time then, junior brother, feel free to come back for a visit."
Another thing that sounded like a prophecy.
Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes.
In the history he knew, Zhu Yuanzhang had left the Imperial Awakening Temple to wander at the end of the fourth year of Zhizheng's reign (1344), then returned to Hao Prefecture at the end of the eighth year (1348).
The journey had lasted exactly four years.
Was it a coincidence... or...
"I will."
Zhu Yuanzhang answered calmly. After clasping his hands in thanks, he scavenged the valuables left behind by the Incense Army, pulled off his monk's robe and tied it into a simple bundle, then followed the mountain path down on his own, heading straight for Hao Prefecture City.
"According to the map, these are actually the White Lotus Sect's branch strongholds throughout Henan-Jiangbei Province."
Hao Prefecture City, on the third floor of Laifu Inn, in a guest room.
Zhu Yuanzhang closed the window, shutting out the escort guards' shouts as they prepared to set out.
He rolled up the human-skin map spread across his thighs and put it in his bundle. Then he sat cross-legged on the bed and began considering the situation.
Since coming down the mountain, Zhu Yuanzhang had used the silver he'd taken from the Incense Army corpses to rent a room. He'd then begun planning his route for traveling—or fleeing—based on the map he'd taken from Zhao Zhen.
He hadn't expected to uncover this secret.
After several days of watching, Zhu Yuanzhang was certain that the Hao Prefecture Escort Agency across from the inn was a branch stronghold of the White Lotus Sect.
The reason was, naturally, the Maitreya Descends Sutra.
Though Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't practiced it, he had at least memorized the Maitreya Descends Sutra by heart.
And with the help of the Great Wisdom Zen Technique, he could easily see through the illusion and discern the escort guards' true identities.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat still, gazed at the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Fire before his forehead, and took a deep breath.
Of the disciples who had entered the temple in the third year of Zhizheng, he was now the only one still alive.
That fact wouldn't stay secret for long. Soon, everyone who cared would learn what had happened at the Imperial Awakening Temple.
That meant that once the remnants of the Incense Army retreated east, he would soon be hunted by the man whom the Great Yuan court called the demon monk, Peng Yingyu, and his disciples.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know how strong Peng Yingyu was, he was clearly no match for Zhao Zhen or the White-Robed Monk.
Judging from the utmost humility in Zhao Zhen's tone when speaking to Peng Yingyu, it wasn't hard to conclude that Peng Yingyu was far stronger than Zhao Zhen.
"Actually, there's still one thing about the Imperial Awakening Temple uprising I haven't figured out... Who turned Monk Zhao into a Shadow Walker?"
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't believe the coincidence could be that great.
Gao Bin practiced Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra, and Monk Zhao, who had entered the temple in the third year of Zhizheng, just happened to be a genius at it, mastering the divine technique in a year.
Then, as if by some incredible coincidence, he died during the Imperial Awakening Temple uprising and became a Shadow Walker immune to Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't seen any preparations by the monks of Yinglong Temple during the upheaval.
Considering that Minghui, Mingguang, and Mingshan had each mastered a true technique, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that even after slaughtering the Incense Army at the Imperial Awakening Temple, he'd be no more than a man they could kick to death.
A chill ran down Zhu Yuanzhang's back.
Even he, if he used the Great Wisdom Zen Technique to counteract the side effects of the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique as much as possible and let the Mountain-Shrinking Fist reshape his body, felt he could find a deep pool in some remote mountain forest, soak himself in it, and lie low for two sixty-year cycles without much trouble.
And the monks of Yinglong Temple were even more formidable.
"Forget it. I can't make sense of it... I might as well take a look at the Bodhi Fruits Gao Bin gave me."
Zhu Yuanzhang took out the two Bodhi Fruits Gao Bin had given him at the Imperial Awakening Temple and placed them in a wooden basin filled with clear water.
He got off the bed, lit a candle, and began circling the basin again and again.
As the light refracted across the water from different angles, layer after layer of writing appeared on its surface.
The words that came into view were from Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra.
"As I heard it, once the Buddha was staying on Mount Rajagriha Gridhrakuta with a great assembly of monks..."
"At that time, there was a king of a difficult country named Boliuli. He sent an envoy to the Buddha, who prostrated himself at the Buddha's feet..."
"...My country is small and lies on the frontier. Bandits have invaded year after year, the five grains have grown scarce and expensive, and disease is spreading. The people are suffering."
"I can never rest in peace. The Tathagata's treasury of Dharma is vast and profound, and I have many worries. I cannot practice."
"I beg the World-Honored One to show me compassion and grant me a vital teaching, so I can easily practice day and night and, in a future life, be free of all suffering."
Without a doubt, it was another introduction with nothing to do with the specific steps for cultivation.
Zhu Yuanzhang roughly translated the meaning of the scripture before him.
Some king in India was basically asking the Buddha, "Is there a path to Buddhahood that isn't hard, doesn't take time or money, and lets me keep practicing all the way?"
If Zhu Yuanzhang had been in the Buddha's place, he probably would've been unable to resist kicking that shameless King Boliuli to death.
But the Buddha compassionately replied, "There is, my friend. There is."
"The Buddha told the king: 'If you wish to eliminate the hindrances of affliction and retribution, you should string together one hundred and eight soapberry seeds.'"
"'Always keep them with you. Whether walking, sitting, or lying down, focus your mind without distraction and recite the names of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. After each recitation, pass one soapberry seed through your fingers. Proceed in this way, moving each seed in turn...'"
"'...If you can do this one million times, you will sever the bonds of karma one hundred and eightfold, turn your back on the stream of birth and death, advance toward Nirvana, forever end the roots of affliction, and attain the supreme fruit.'"
In other words—
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the two Bodhi Fruits in the basin.
The Bodhi Fruits weren't just vessels for the scripture; they were also an essential part of the cultivation process.
The "soapberry seed" in the scripture was another name for the Bodhi Tree.
"Plant the Bodhi Tree, reap Buddhahood..."
After committing the contents of Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra to memory, Zhu Yuanzhang fished the Bodhi seeds out of the water.
"Compared to the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique, which consumes your lifespan, and the Mountain-Shrinking Fist, which transforms you into some kind of sea creature, this is a fairly safe technique."
"Unfortunately, cultivation takes too long, and once you plant a Bodhi Tree, you can't stray too far from it."
"Otherwise, you risk falling into emptiness."
After seeing the price he would have to pay to cultivate this technique, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.
He abandoned the idea of studying Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra further.
Then he turned his attention back to the water.
As the candlelight shifted and Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra disappeared, a map suddenly appeared on the curtain of water above the Bodhi Fruit Minghe had left behind.
"This is... Tibet?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's pupils contracted when he saw the map.
Minghe had actually transferred Yinglong Temple's sixty-year fortune to Tibet!
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