It said that Nanshan Monk's master had led the Outer Buddhist Sect into an enemy encirclement. Escape was no longer possible. Sending out this letter was meant to tell the Inner Buddhist Sect not to come to their rescue.
Because if the Inner Buddhist Sect came to save them, they too would perish here. It also told the Inner Buddhist Sect that if any members of the Outer Buddhist Sect survived, they must not contact them. They had to make it appear that the Outer and Inner Buddhist Sects had severed all ties and were bitter enemies.
The purpose was to deceive the enemy—to make them think there was internal strife within the Buddhist Sect, that they were not united, so the enemy would lower their guard and stop focusing their attention on Buddhism.
Nanshan Monk quietly read the letter, his emotions complicated. He had never expected this to be his master's intention.
"Back then, the Buddhist Sect's power was still weak, and the strongest among us was your Outer Buddhist Sect. But your Outer Buddhist Sect had already been greatly decimated by the enemy. It became even harder for our Buddhist Sect to survive, so we could only do this. We could only pretend to be enemies," Tathagata continued.
"For all these years, I have wanted to meet with your Outer Buddhist Sect, but I could not do so. Otherwise, it would have drawn attention and brought disaster upon our Buddhist Sect."
Nanshan Monk said nothing. He quietly stared at the letter. By now, he believed what Tathagata had said.
"Before my master passed away, he told me to carry forward the Outer Buddhist Sect and to have as little contact as possible with your Inner Buddhist Sect. Was that the reason?" Nanshan Monk looked at Tathagata.
Tathagata nodded.