The Great Buddha Reincarnated

"Coming for Cheng'er!" Zhou Wei and Luo Shui were greatly surprised.

Immediately, Zhou Wei asked nervously, "I wonder what business the Abbot has in coming for Cheng'er?"

Seeing Zhou Wei's nervous demeanor, Abbot Huineng smiled. "Lord Zhou, there is no need to be tense. It is a good thing."

A good thing!

Zhou Wei and Luo Shui could not help but speculate on what this "good thing" might be.

Abbot Huineng stroked his long, chest-length beard and said with a smile, "At noon today, I encountered the Second Young Master. He has an affinity with our Buddha, and I wish to take him as my personal disciple."

"Furthermore, I intend to pass my mantle down to the Second Young Master."

A personal disciple!

And he was going to pass his mantle to Zhou Cheng!

Abbot Huineng's words left Zhou Wei and Luo Shui stunned for a long while.

This sudden, heaven-sent joy felt unreal to the couple.

After all, both of them knew that Zhou Cheng's talent for martial arts was, frankly, mediocre.

"Abbot Huineng," Zhou Wei stammered after a long pause, "are you certain it was my son you met at noon? Cheng'er's talent for martial arts is not very good."

Abbot Huineng laughed. "I am absolutely certain that the person I saw at noon was your son, Zhou Cheng." He then added with a smile, "Sometimes, practicing Buddhism does not necessarily require high martial arts talent."

"This child, Zhou Cheng, possesses a Buddha-nature."

Zhou Wei and Luo Shui were taken aback.

Possesses a Buddha-nature?

Seeing their expressions, Abbot Huineng took off the prayer beads from around his neck and mused, "I will not hide it from you both: these prayer beads are a legacy of our Shaolin Temple, passed down for over a thousand years. They are extremely spiritual, yet no one has ever been able to trigger an anomaly in them. However, yesterday, when Young Master Zhou Cheng passed by, the beads manifested their spirit and bloomed with Buddha-light."

The prayer beads manifested their spirit and bloomed with Buddha-light!

Zhou Wei and Luo Shui were deeply shaken.

They had heard legends of certain individuals born as "Buddha-sons," possessing an innate Buddha-nature that could resonate with all Buddhas.

Yet, such people were extremely rare; it seemed they had only appeared a few times throughout history.

Abbot Huineng continued, "This child, Zhou Cheng, has an innate Buddha-nature and an affinity with our sect. If he were to practice Buddhism, it would be a blessing for the heavens!"

A blessing for the heavens!

Abbot Huineng pleaded, "Therefore, I implore you both to allow me to take Zhou Cheng as my personal disciple!" To show his sincerity, the Abbot even stood up and bowed his head to Zhou Wei and Luo Shui with palms pressed together.

Seeing this, Zhou Wei and Luo Shui hurriedly stood up.

"Abbot Huineng, you are too kind," Zhou Wei said quickly, his demeanor quite agitated. "If Cheng'er can become the Abbot's personal disciple, my wife and I would be overjoyed."

However, Abbot Huineng gave a bitter smile. "At noon today, I spoke to your son directly about taking him as my personal disciple, but he refused without a second thought."

Zhou Wei and Luo Shui were dumbfounded.

"He refused?!" Zhou Wei exclaimed.

Abbot Huineng nodded. "And I had already revealed my identity at the time, but your son said that the rules of our Shaolin Temple are too numerous and he would not be able to abide by them."

He refused just because of that?

Zhou Wei frowned and asked the steward nearby, "Where is the Second Young Master? Call him to the main hall."

The steward stammered, "The Second Young Master went out just now; he has been gone for half an hour."

Zhou Wei's face darkened. Was that brat out playing again?

Luo Shui said to the steward, "Send someone to find the Second Young Master."

The steward hurriedly agreed and dispatched the guards of the Grand General's Mansion to find Zhou Cheng.

Luo Shui thought of what Abbot Huineng had said about Zhou Cheng causing his prayer beads to bloom with Buddha-light, and suddenly recalled the incident yesterday morning at the Heavenly Dragon Temple, where the light of ten thousand Buddhas had soared into the sky and images of Buddhas had appeared. Her breathing grew rapid.

Thinking back to how everyone had knelt in prostration while only her son, Zhou Cheng, had stood there blankly, Luo Shui's expression became increasingly agitated.

Could it be?

"My lady, what is the matter?" Seeing Luo Shui's sudden agitation, Zhou Wei could not help but ask.

Luo Shui looked at Zhou Wei. "Brother Wei, I just thought of the light of the Buddhas that bloomed at the Heavenly Dragon Temple yesterday morning, and the images of Buddhas that filled the sky."

Zhou Wei was puzzled. The entire capital had seen the light and the images at the Heavenly Dragon Temple yesterday, but surely that was no reason to be so agitated?

Abbot Huineng, the head of the Martial Monk Hall, and the others were also confused by Luo Shui's reaction. They had heard of the anomaly, but why would the wife of the Grand General be so stirred by it?

Seeing the confusion on the faces of Zhou Wei, Huineng, and the others, Luo Shui suppressed her excitement and said, "Yesterday morning, Cheng'er and I also went to the Heavenly Dragon Temple."

"At that time, Cheng'er and I were right there at the Heavenly Dragon Temple!"

Boom!

Zhou Wei, Huineng, the head of the Martial Monk Hall, and the others were profoundly shocked.

They all understood exactly what Luo Shui meant.

"Madam, are you saying that the strange phenomenon yesterday morning at Heavenly Dragon Temple, where the Buddha's light shone brilliantly and shadows of Buddhas filled the sky, might have been caused by Cheng'er?" Zhou Wei could not believe it.

Luo Shui said, "Yesterday morning, when the Buddha's light shone at Heavenly Dragon Temple and the sky was filled with Buddha shadows, everyone at the temple knelt down in excitement. However, Cheng'er was strange; he stood there, motionless, as if he had entered some kind of state."

"I didn't think much of it at the time, but since Abbot Huineng just said that Cheng'er could trigger the anomaly in his prayer beads, I guessed that the phenomenon at Heavenly Dragon Temple yesterday might also have been caused by Cheng'er!"

Abbot Huineng said excitedly, "Hearing you say this, Madam, it must be Young Master Zhou Cheng. Young Master Zhou Cheng possesses a Buddha nature; only a Buddha-son like him could have caused the Buddha's light to shine so brilliantly and fill the sky with Buddha shadows at Heavenly Dragon Temple."

"However, for Young Master Zhou Cheng to be able to trigger such a display, his Buddha nature must be far deeper than I had imagined."

"Young Master Zhou Cheng must be the reincarnation of a Great Buddha!"

"It is truly the fortune of our Buddhist sect!"

"And the fortune of all living beings under heaven!"

Abbot Huineng was overcome with excitement.

The head of the Martial Monk Hall and the others all pressed their palms together and exclaimed, "Amitabha."

At this moment, Zhou Cheng was on his way back to the Grand General's Mansion with Qin Meng and the others when he encountered the guards who had been sent out to find him.

"Abbot Huineng?" Upon hearing from the guards that Abbot Huineng and over a dozen members of the Martial Monk Hall were currently guests at the Grand General's Mansion and that his father, Zhou Wei, wanted him to return, Zhou Cheng guessed what was going on.

He just hadn't expected that even after he had refused them, they still hadn't given up and had instead tracked him down to the Grand General's Mansion.

Zhou Cheng followed the guards back to the Grand General's Mansion.

Upon returning to the mansion, Zhou Cheng heard some of the maids, servants, and guards in the corners whispering.

"Abbot Huineng says our Second Young Master is the reincarnation of a Great Buddha with astonishing Buddha nature!"

Reincarnation of a Great Buddha?

Astonishing Buddha nature?

Zhou Cheng was speechless. Since when did he become the reincarnation of a Great Buddha?

However, hearing the maids and guards talk about his astonishing Buddha nature, Zhou Cheng thought of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique. Could it be that his Buddha nature became so profound after he cultivated the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique?

When Zhou Cheng arrived at the main hall, Zhou Wei, Luo Shui, Abbot Huineng, and the dozen or so members of the Martial Monk Hall all turned their eyes toward him in unison.

He had originally wanted to let Zhou Cheng keep a low profile, but on second thought, letting him show a bit of his edge might not be a bad thing.