The Tomb of Sanzang

Dust billowed everywhere. Only Su Lin, clad in the Brocade Kasaya, drifted through it, his eyes shining with the white-gold light of Buddha-nature. The shattered Golden Lotus beneath his feet scattered across the Golden Luan Hall, leaving the civil and military officials who had been about to kowtow to the Bodhisattvas stunned witless.

He seized a head in each hand and lifted the two Bodhisattva monks a foot off the ground. Both had split scalps and blood-covered heads, and neither could use Dharma Power.

"Go. You two, and that little blond over there—put my scriptures in order."

"But we were sent by the Buddha—"

Compared with the handsome monk who had passed out, this coldly beautiful, otherworldly Bodhisattva was considerably stronger. She stared hard at Su Lin. There was shock and disbelief in her eyes, but more than anything, confusion.

"Tathagata?" Su Lin asked.

"So you do know. Have you gone mad?" Her voice carried a warning. "Don't forget what your mission is!"

A golden-bearded monk emerged holding a relic and said gravely, "Xuanzang, you should know who you are—and what you should and shouldn't do!"

Who I am? My mission? What are you riddling fools talking about?

Ethereal Buddhist chants rose in overlapping waves. The golden glazed tiles covering the roof blurred and faded, replaced by a star-strewn night sky and a towering Buddha who looked down upon all things.

His jade countenance was fierce, his golden form resplendent. Boundless Buddha-light pierced the clouds and clear heavens, bathing all of brightly lit Chang'an City in pale gold. It was as though the city had become a Buddhist kingdom on earth, where all beings lived in peace and prosperity beneath the Buddha.

Su Lin threw the man and woman he suspected were Reincarnators to the floor, then looked toward the