Receiving the Dharma

The packhorses went first, with the riders bringing up the rear. Even as Lu Feng entered the temple, he could still feel the gaze fixed on his back. That black goat refused to let him go, seemingly intent on pursuing him to the end.

The Sunrise Temple was small, with only two or three old monks inside. There was no way all the packhorses and servants could fit, so the attendant monks tethered the horses outside and began building fires to cook.

Hearing the noise, the old monks hurried out to investigate. At the sight of so many mules, horses, and monks outside, they knew an important person had arrived at their temple.

They immediately grew apprehensive.

Elder Mingli paid these monks no heed. He, Lu Feng, and the other protector Lamas, seven men in all, remained mounted.

Naturally, someone went to speak with the two or three old monks.

The old monks knelt at a distance and paid their respects with deep bows, then took their bedding to the villagers' homes, leaving the temple empty. Elder Mingli led Lu Feng inside.

Compared with the Endless White Pagoda Temple, this little temple called Sunrise was utterly unremarkable. The entire place consisted of a single main hall and two or three small rooms.

Moreover, a glance from afar told Lu Feng that these old monks had stooped backs and hands marked by manual labor. They were nothing like the monks of the Endless White Pagoda Temple, who lived on offerings.

These were truly monks of the lowest rung, who had never practiced mantras. They might have exchanged their lifetime savings for a few years presiding over this temple.

Once they were truly old and frail, unable to work, they probably would not come to a good end either.

And this little temple was called Sunrise not because its actual name was Sunrise Temple, but because it had no name. Sunrise was a general term for small temples, just as aranya was a general term for temples in the wilderness.

The entire temple was extremely cramped, with only one main hall. What it enshrined should have been a Dharma Protector, but this Dharma Protector was obscured by layer upon layer of deep-red scripture drapes. An eerie aura emanated from within, yet it could never penetrate those drapes covered in scriptures.

Whether there was even a Dharma Protector inside remained unknown.

Beneath the stone pillar at the entrance to the main hall lay some sheep bones.

The sheep bones were covered in mantras written in ink.

This was a method of the Witchcraft Religion: different bones were buried in the earth as offerings to male ghosts, female ghosts, the ghosts of infants who had died young, and so on.

But in the Secret Dharma Region.

Seeing such things in a Buddhist temple was normal enough. Lu Feng was not surprised. He jumped down from his horse and looked around.

Prayer flags stood outside this modest hall, and stone pillars flanked the entrance. The Six-Syllable Great Brightness Mantra was carved into the pillars. Lu Feng ran his hands over these scripture pillars and felt the faint Great Compassion Resonance contained within.

Lu Feng did not believe he could leave Great Compassion Resonance on a stone pillar in the form of mantras for so many years. This meant that whoever had erected these scripture pillars had at least been a great monk of the Sixth-Stage Order, or a great monk of the Fifth-Stage Order like Master Zhuogedunzhu.

Both the scripture pillars and the scripture drapes served to suppress the revival of the Dharma Protector within. As the Dharma Protector's Ghost Resonance continually seeped out of the hall, Lu Feng immediately understood the reason for this arrangement.

Ghost Resonance had become a weapon. This so-called "Dharma Protector" was confined within to drive away other ghosts, while the scripture drapes and stone pillars restrained the Malevolent Ghost, preventing him from emerging.

Elder Mingli sat where he was. Someone immediately brought out a copper brazier and burned charcoal, warming the place. By then, night had long since fallen. Despite the many Secret Mantras restraining him, the Malevolent Ghost still began to stir. An attendant monk started coughing, and amid that inexplicable coughing, another monk began to cough as well.

Pustules also began to grow on their bodies.

Elder Mingli motioned for a monk to make an offering of red nectar to the Malevolent Ghost. If the Malevolent Ghost remained dissatisfied, he was to make a mandala offering to him.

If he was still dissatisfied, they would wound him with the power of the supreme Vajra and make him understand that these monks would not bow before him as reverently as the old monks who made offerings to him did!

Lu Feng also sensed this Ghost Resonance, but it had no effect on him. The Great Compassion Resonance in his body had already dissolved it. He measured the area with his paces and soon discovered that the Ghost Resonance extended only around the main hall.

In other words, as long as those old monks stayed away from the hall at night, they would be fine.

Lu Feng also recited a mantra for the attendant monks who kept coughing, making them cough out the Ghost Resonance. It fell to the ground and turned into pitch-black blood clots.

The Great Compassion Resonance set these blood clots alight. Meanwhile, Elder Mingli watched the other attendant monks heat water. Once a large bucket of water had boiled, they split a tea brick with a knife, crushed it, and put it into the bucket of hot water.

"It's Dragon Sickness."

Seeing his disciple expel the Ghost Resonance from the attendant monks, Elder Mingli said, "This Sunrise Temple originally had no Dharma Protector. But a dozen or so years ago, a great monk who had committed an offense was banished here by his temple.

"There used to be a village here, but after a few years, only a handful of households remained."

Elder Mingli's words had neither head nor tail, but Lu Feng already understood the situation. He pressed his palms together and quietly recited the Six-Syllable Great Brightness Mantra once. Elder Mingli beckoned. "Come here and drink a cup of tea. The rest of you may leave.

"Bring those chests of things inside."

Elder Mingli called Lu Feng over while everyone else withdrew. Before they had all left, Elder Mingli rose, and Lu Feng sat cross-legged. Elder Mingli opened a wicker chest and took out a treasure vase. Murmuring a recitation, he walked in circles around Lu Feng. When he finished, he poured water steeped with safflower from the vase.

It symbolized washing away all obstacles and evil karma. Lu Feng sat upright on the ground, his mind utterly tranquil, like an expanse of milky white.

He did not even know where he was.

He had simply become a presence within that milky whiteness.

This was the first time Lu Feng had entered such a deep meditative state.

He was unaware even of the water falling onto his head.

Elder Mingli began chanting, but Lu Feng heard nothing. He simply sat within that milky-white light, as though he himself were his own Yidam.

After an unknown length of time, a faint voice finally reached him from beside him. It was Elder Mingli's voice, but it was entirely different from the scripture Elder Mingli was reciting. It was another supremely sublime mantra, and Lu Feng could not distinguish exactly what it was.

He simply made offerings to the Yidam.

Within that milky-white radiance, immeasurable light emerged from nothingness and coalesced into a Yidam master.

At the same time, winds from the Secret Treasury Region blew toward the little temple from every direction. They were so fierce that the packhorses outside neighed in fright, people's bowls were overturned, and the flames were pressed down until they nearly went out.

The attendant monks had to stand and seize the horses' reins, afraid the frightened animals might hurt someone.

And inside the temple.

Elder Mingli turned a deaf ear to it all. He had not even sensed any of it. A figure emerged from Lu Feng's shadow, slowly approached Elder Mingli's shadow, and finally merged with it as one!