Spray burst outward, then fell back, and all was still.
Red Boy stared at Xuanzang.
Hariti Heaven stood where she was, trembling as she looked at Xuanzang.
"So?"
She asked in a trembling voice:
"What about Sudhana?"
"He attained cultivation, he gained realization-where is he?"
"I have existed in this world for so many years. Why have I never seen him?"
Xuanzang shook his head. "This humble monk has told all he can."
He stepped back half a pace and pressed his palms together. His gaze passed over Hariti Heaven to Guanyin Bodhisattva, who had long remained silent, and he bowed to her with joined palms.
"Bodhisattva, please explain what followed."
Guanyin Bodhisattva opened her eyes, nodded gently, and returned his bow. "Then let this humble monk tell it."
"Sudhana visited all the Fifty-Three Good Friends, attained the samadhi of Buddha-recollection, and realized prajna wisdom. His attainment should have been complete."
Guanyin Bodhisattva spoke, her voice like the tolling of a distant bell, settling without a sound.
"Yet he vaguely felt that something in his heart remained amiss."
"It was that innate sense of indebtedness, clinging like an abscess rooted in the bone, impossible to shake off."
"He pondered it again and again without understanding. Tormented by it, he went to ask Venerable Samantabhadra."
"Venerable Samantabhadra saw the tangled karma within, but did not dare reach a rash conclusion, so he sought out Venerable Manjushri to contemplate it together."
"With his great wisdom, Venerable Manjushri traced Sudhana's previous incarnation, and also uncovered a karmic connection between him and this humble monk."
"And so the two of them brought Sudhana to find me."
The Bodhisattva paused, looking with compassion at Hariti and Princess Iron Fan on the ground:
"After tracing the matter myself, I learned of Sudhana's previous incarnation."
"I told