Legend of the Great Sage

louds had weighed down on the city, even swallowing the royal palace on the mountain, except not a single droplet of rain fell.
It was like it was building up for something.

A guard suddenly whispered, “I heard… the Green province produced a buddha nemesis, and she’s the princess of the Kingdom of Chu.
She came back from the dead somehow and even took down the capital of the Scarlet province, massacring everyone there.”

All of the guards shivered.
The dark clouds seemed to be hiding a monster that stared at them.
Since ancient times, the Lightning province had revered buddhism.
Basically everyone prayed and believed in the buddha.
Even this capital of Western Liang was founded by monks, so were they not the buddha nemesis’ greatest target?

Boom!

The clap of thunder made everyone leap in fright.
When they returned to their senses, they all scolded the guard.
Only when they changed the topic of conversation to women did the frightening atmosphere ease up.

“Hehe, when do you think the prince will embrace the beauty?”

“I think soon.
The prince has undergone seven reincarnations and faced the third heavenly tribulation, yet he’s infatuated with that sect master Qiu.
Even a rock would probably melt apart before him.”

High up in the mountain city, in an exquisite pavilion with a style different from the other buildings, a woman laid lazily behind veiled curtains.
Her heart throbbed for some reason, or perhaps when she heard that name again, the throbbing had never stopped.

“Do you still remember me? Perhaps you don’t! But that doesn’t matter.
All that matters is I remember you,” she murmured to herself.
Her red lips curled into a smile, charming like a flower.

A call interrupted her thoughts.
“Sect master, that prince Tsangyang has come again.
He must have written you another love poem.”

“Alright, I know.
Have him wait for a moment.”

A while later, the curtains rose.

The woman did not put on any makeup.
She casually draped on a set of long robes and made her way out of her room slowly, arriving downstairs.

Downstairs was filled with singing, dancing, and music, lingering on endlessly, but it only served as a backdrop to the laughter.
It was a noisy sight of secular activity.

With her appearance, the laughter suddenly fell silent.
Through the music, everyone’s gazes had been drawn towards her, whether they were men or women, old or young.
However, the brightest gaze came from a monk.

He was draped with great red monk robes.
His hair was very short and very clean and tidy, not shaven like the monks of the central plains.
It did not affect his delicate appearance at all, instead giving him a solemn and holy bearing.

The gazes of the women in the building towards him were extremely fervent, while the men showed great respect, bowing to him from afar.
However, he ignored all of it.
Only when the woman appeared did he go up to receive her immediately, bringing his palms together and bowing.

“Haitang, you’ve really become more and more beautiful.”

His gaze was filled with sincerity, without any desire.
He did not hide the admiration and appreciation in his heart at all, much less pay any attention to the gazes from others.

Qiu Haitang said, “I truly am not worthy of the prince’s praises.
May I ask why you’ve come here?”

“I’ve written another poem for you…”

Qiu Haitang interrupted him.
“Your highness, thank you for this, but you should know about my background, and you should also know who my man is.”

“I have obviously heard of Li Qingshan before, but how can that loveless person be worthy of being your man?”

The fuck is going on? Even a monk is trying to steal my woman.
He even behaves like he’s besotted, like there’s absolutely nothing wrong in front of all these people.
There’s actually quite a few monks here too.
Don’t tell me Myriad Buddha city is actually the home base of lecherous monks!? Li Qingshan commented inside.

Li Qingshan had locked onto Qiu Haitang’s aura as soon as he entered the city, so he happened to hear the exchange.

Little did he know that the buddhism in the Lightning province was a form of Vajrayāna or Tantric Buddhism.
Even monks were not forbidden from marriage, which was why they could found the Kingdom of Western Liang.
And compared to lands of wilderness like the Mist province and the Frost province, their social customs were extremely lax and progressive.
Not only was it not a bad thing to publicly propose love, but it was even a deed worthy of praise.