Fuxi frowned. "Why call it that? It's a little hard to remember."
Jin Chanzi suddenly smiled. "Because in my next life, I will become the Sandalwood Merit Buddha."
This was a secret his master, Daochen, had told him.
Or rather, it was how his future would end.
But he did not want that ending.
He wanted a future of his own.
Fuxi was rather speechless. He had never believed in next lives. Take himself, for instance-how could the Fuxi of the past ever have imagined that he would become the Human Sovereign?
The future was not fixed. Every little change could alter it. Still, this was Jin Chanzi's wish, and he could not deny it. He nodded. "All right. Sandalwood Buddhism does sound rather good!"
"By the way, the Daughter Kingdom is just ahead. I heard it was under siege. What did you encounter along the way? Did you run into those devils?"
Jin Chanzi froze. He remained silent for a long time, until even the atmosphere grew oppressive.
"The Daughter Kingdom? That place is perfectly safe!"
Fuxi sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. Bai Ze whispered in his ear, "The holy monk has some ties to the Daughter Kingdom. I'll explain them to you in private."
Jin Chanzi waved a hand. "There's no need. I was born in the Daughter Kingdom, and today I've returned to it. Such is Heaven's design. Let's not speak of that. Are you planning to continue west? There aren't many devils left in that direction, and there's no need to visit Buddhism anymore. They've already decided to hold their ground. They won't send out troops."
His tone was rather sour. He, too, felt that Buddhism's conduct was deeply inappropriate, but what could he do about it?
He hardly counted for anything in