An Unexpected Troublemaker Appears-Go, Fa Hai!

A gentle breeze swept across Spirit Mountain, warm against the face. Sunlight shone everywhere, mild and pleasant. Guanyin's heart stirred, then stilled; calmed, then grew troubled. His expression kept changing, and no one knew what he was thinking.

As soon as Tathagata's voice fell silent, the entire assembly went quiet. The four Bodhisattvas lowered their eyes and pondered in silence. The Arhats' eyes flickered as they committed every word he had said to memory.

How many of them understood was anyone's guess. Qin Fen certainly didn't.

The moment he typed his message, someone at the quiet assembly jolted. Fa Hai instinctively turned to look around. Senior!

He had only half understood the sermon to begin with. Now that Qin Fen had spoken, his head hurt. He had no idea what to do. Unfortunately, Fa Hai had always been stubborn to a fault. Otherwise, he would never have pursued Bai Suzhen for hundreds of years.

Hearing both Tathagata and Qin Fen only left him more conflicted. Tathagata was the Buddha; there was no question that his words carried wisdom. But Chef Qin was a Buddha too, the legendary Ultimate One, a mighty figure of the Buddhist School who could not be dismissed.

The Daoist School's mythology was vast and tangled, but was the Buddhist School's any simpler? It had three great lineages of Buddhas—past, present, and future. Tathagata was not its sole supreme figure. Medicine Master Buddha, for one, was no less eminent, and the number of Bodhisattvas under him was astonishing.

Qin Fen's words had left Fa Hai utterly bewildered. Yet the more he thought about them, the more sense Big Chef seemed to make. A question now circled in his mind, and he could not hold it in.

Trembling, Fa Hai spoke. "Buddha, I have a question!"

Fa Hai's