At Last, Peace (End)

Southern Jambudvipa, Baiyun County.

A spacious residence stood in the eastern part of the city.

Word had it that war had broken out again recently, though it had yet to spread to this tranquil county town.

Early in the morning, beneath the great pagoda tree outside the residence, a teacher led a group of children in their morning reading. To shake these little monkeys out of their drowsiness,

the old teacher drew a leisurely book from his sleeve.

He selected the passage he had not finished the day before and recited with a swaying head, "Thus he cultivated for three thousand two hundred kalpas before attaining Golden Immortalhood, and was named Tathagata, the King of Natural Enlightenment of Pure Clarity. He instructed the bodhisattvas, granting them sudden insight into the true lineage of the Greater Vehicle and guiding them gradually into the wondrous path of emptiness. Thus he cultivated for another hundred million kalpas before attaining the Jade Emperor."

"Teacher, how long is one kalpa?"

The children immediately grew interested and crowded around in a dark little swarm.

"One kalpa is one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years." The old teacher closed his eyes, putting on an air of profound mystery.

"One hundred and twenty-nine thousand—one hundred million kalpas—"

The little monkeys counted on their fingers. Their clear eyes gradually turned muddled as they muttered, "Teacher, how many years would that be?!"

"Well, this, this..." The old teacher paused, looking troubled. There was no abacus beside him—how was he supposed to calculate it?

"Just twenty-odd years."

At that moment, a rugged young man in disheveled clothes strode out from the courtyard, yawning as he rubbed his eyes. "What utter nonsense!"

The old teacher turned back, beard bristling and eyes glaring. When he saw who it was, his expression shifted