Xuanzang walked up to Red Boy and his mother.
Red Boy stiffened all over and instinctively shrank deeper into Princess Iron Fan's arms.
Xuanzang looked at him, his gaze fathomless, and asked:
"Young Benefactor, do you know who first begged Buddha to subdue Hariti?"
Red Boy froze, then lifted his head and stared blankly at Xuanzang.
Xuanzang nodded slightly. "The one who begged Buddha was the beloved child Hariti cherished most, Pingala."
With his eyes lowered, Xuanzang looked at Red Boy as though he were looking at Pingala.
"Though Pingala was born a Rakshasa Demon, he was utterly unlike his cruel-natured elder brothers."
"He was clever and tenderhearted by nature, with no taste for slaughter or bloody flesh."
"Though his brothers treated him well, they loved slaughter above all and fed on humans. Powerless to stop them, he hid in the deepest part of their cave and covered his ears with both hands."
"He watched his mother descend the mountain and turn those infants into bloody morsels for her mouth. He saw the anguish on her face after she had eaten."
"Great fear and heartache arose within him."
"That fear was not merely horror at the slaughter, but grief that his mother was mired in karmic afflictions, with no day of release in sight."
"And his heart ached because he saw the pain and torment his mother endured after every meal."
"He heard that there was an enlightened one in the world called Buddha. Buddha possessed vast divine powers and could relieve all suffering and deliver countless living beings."
Xuanzang raised his eyes toward Hariti Heaven beside him. She was crying.
"So, while his mother was away, he set out alone, crossing mountains and ridges to reach the Vihara."
"But he had not expected the Bhikkhus outside the Vihara to