"What a strange place?"
Qi Wugou's face was full of doubt.
He and the Water Moon monk had arrived in a barren stretch of land. This seemed to be a hidden realm within Purgatory Divine Mountain, in the spacetime of the Demon-Trapping Well.
This hidden realm was shrouded in an exceedingly faint Buddhist radiance. The light was nearly transparent, carrying the feeling of a lamp running dry, its oil exhausted.
Qi Wugou looked around and found the place utterly desolate. Strange withered trees stood one after another, twisted and contorted, vaguely resembling human figures. Their roots tangled and intertwined as they burrowed into the earth, while their branches clawed wildly at the air. At a glance, they looked exceedingly bizarre.
A closer look revealed that the wood was violet-black, somewhat like rosewood, yet not rosewood.
"These are ancient sal trees!"
The Water Moon monk recognized them at once. He knew these were ancient sal divine trees, and in this strange land stood a pair of twin sal trees.
One of the two sal divine trees was withered, while the other flourished, embodying the supreme Zen truth: "Birth and extinction never cease; nirvana is eternal bliss."
"The bells of Jetavana Vihara ring; all things in this world are impermanent. The flowers of the twin sal trees preach the Dharma—at the height of prosperity comes decline, the sorrow of ages..."
The Water Moon monk could not help reciting a line of poetry.
"Second Brother, what does that mean?"
Qi Wugou asked in puzzlement.
"Third Brother, do you know what place this is?"
The Water Moon monk answered with a question.
"Th-this, I do not know."
Qi Wugou did not understand his meaning, but he answered honestly nonetheless.
"This is the grove of twin sal trees in Kushinagara City. These are rare divine