"Heart!" Today, Cimei was unlike before. He did not rebuke Jingcheng much, nor did he make him comprehend it on his own. Instead, he laid it bare in a single sentence. "Without a Buddha Heart, even in the Pure Land World... one would find it difficult to attain fruition."
"This... this disciple naturally knows!" Bitterness filled Jingcheng's mouth as he said softly, "This disciple came to Cangxian Continent and became the abbot of Yunlin Temple precisely to spread the Buddhist teachings far and wide. Was it not because I possessed a Heart of Seeking Buddha?"
"Your Heart of Seeking Buddha is merely a Heart of Seeking Buddha. It is only a heart turned toward the Buddha, not the Buddha's own heart!" Cimei struck straight to the point. "Not only you—even I have long since lost this Buddha Heart!"
"Hiss..." Jingcheng was startled inwardly and hurriedly asked, "Th-then why is that? What exactly is the Buddha Heart?"
"If I knew what the Buddha Heart was, I would be like Senior Brother Cihang, and like Manjushri Bodhisattva!" Cimei answered. Then he turned back to look at the coffin beneath the golden body and continued, "In truth, when I sent Shan to Jiangchao Temple, the Buddha Heart I might once have possessed... had already vanished."
"Ah? Master Ancestor..." Jingcheng's body trembled, and his voice quavered. "Could it be that Master Ancestor already knew this day would come?"
"No! I did not know!!" Cimei shook his head. "Or rather, I had always buried my head beneath my monk's robe... unwilling to know! Yet when I heard that Shan had been killed, I knew that Liaoshan was the first, but... he would absolutely not be the last! No one knew who the last would be! No one knew when there would be a last!"
"This...