Legend of the Great Sage

why he could swim back ashore.
With another leap, his eyes turned deep-blue, and he stood firmly on the surface of the water.
He laughed.
“What’s so difficult about this?” He raced off on the surface of the water.

The Upraised Light abbot gazed at his figure.
“If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have looked for this turtle shell.
Just getting the kid to carry me on his back would have been enough.
Yeah, perhaps he was destined for this.”

Crossing the four hundred kilometres of flowing sand and fifteen hundred kilometres of weakwater, they made it to the other side.
Gazing out, mist permeated the horizon as a continuous chain.
A series of snow mountains sat on the mist, and the tallest one was shaped like a lotus.

Under the glow of the setting sun, a red sun hovered on top of the “lotus”, dyeing the mist and snow mountains a golden-red, which refracted into a myriad of colours, a dazzling phenomenon of nature.

The “lotus” became even more gorgeous as a result.
As the light shifted, it seemed to be constantly blooming.

“Eggborn” could not help but stop as well.
“So this is…”

“The spiritual mountain!”

The Upraised Light abbot was solemn.
He took off his kasaya and monk robes, lowering himself onto the ground and prostrating towards the spiritual mountain.

“Stop posing around! Get going!”

However, the Upraised Light abbot stood up, took one step, two step, three steps, and prostrated again.

“You…” He suddenly understood.
The Upraised Light abbot wanted to prostrate with every three steps until he reached the mountain.
“Hey, this isn’t necessary, right? If you do this, when are we going to get there?”

However, the Upraised Light abbot said nothing more, bowing repeatedly and constantly advancing.
He ignored everything in the surroundings, such that his eyes were only fixed on the blooming lotus, the glorious snow mountain.

“Eggborn” grimaced and shook his head.
“You’re absolutely mad!”

They immediately slowed down as a result.
They could only approach the spiritual mountain step by step now.

In the beginning, he had nothing better to do, so he mocked the Upraised Light abbot a little.
He received no reply at all, so he simply stopped.
Fortunately, the surroundings were filled with strange and exotic flowers and plants.
The scenery was wonderful, so he did not find it boring.

Gradually, it instead led to a strange sensation of respect.
This kind of perseverance was still extraordinary after all.
And, it was actually immune to his great mocking technique, so it really was something else!

The Upraised Light abbot did not seem like some stubborn, blind zealot.
The buddha who was worthy of his worship like this probably really did possess great might and great benevolence!

However, he would never bow, not just because he refused to lower his head.
To him, if the buddha’s powers really did possess endless might, then he would not have the great benevolence to bring salvation to all.
If he really did possess the great benevolence to bring salvation to all, then his powers would not possess endless might.

Otherwise, this world would have turned into a paradise a long time ago.
A deranged woman like Qian Rongzhi would have never been born either.

Perhaps someone like him would not exist either.

However, they still moved at a speed faster than his expectations.
As they got closer and closer to the spiritual mountain, the Upraised Light abbot became more and more hurried, more and more anxious.

Appearances arose from the heart.
His young, handsome appearance also became stubbly and weathered.
His expression also became lost and uneasy as if he was repenting for his sins, yet it was also like he was struggling arduously.

Sometimes, “Eggborn” had a feeling that the monk would tell him in the next moment, “Let’s go back!”

However, he did not end up saying it.
He just continued to walk, continued to bow.

Finally, they arrived at the spiritual mountain.

The magnificent halls and towers, the blooming lotuses, were right before their eyes.
At the end of the steps was a pair of majestic doors, yet they were firmly shut.

The Upraised Light abbot finally stood up, climbing up the stairs.

“Eggborn” did not dare to fall behind, following along closely.
He also felt like respecting the holy land.
However, the surroundings were silent.There were no bells and drums, nor any chanting.
There was no one to be seen.
Upon further thought, regular monks probably did not come here, and the bodhisattvas and arhats probably had no need to spend all day chanting either.

They arrived before the doors, yet they showed no signs of entering.
“Eggborn” went up and knocked it for a good while.
“Open up! Open up! Where has the entrance guard gone?”

“You don’t need to knock anymore! Look up!”

The Upraised Light abbot finally spoke.
After steeling himself, his gaze became even firmer.

“Eggborn” followed the door crack and looked up.
All he saw was a notice stuck in the centre of the doors with six glistening sanskrit words on there.

“Eggborn” clapped his hands together and shrugged.
“It’s over.
It’s all your fault for walking too slowly.
The buddha is out for business.”

The Upraised Light abbot had no idea how to respond.
“Do you recognise those words?”

“Of course.” He spread his fingers and began counting.
“I- have- business- I’m- not- home.
Look, six words!”

The Upraised Light abbot just smiled.
“I didn’t expect you to be so good at maths, but who leaves a notice on the door crack?” However, much of his solemn and grim mood had been diluted by his jokes.

“Eggborn” was unhappy.
“What do you think it says then?”

“It’s obviously a seal, with the six syllables of the mantra ‘Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ’.”

“What a joke.
Who has the courage to seal up the door to the buddha’s home? Hold on, don’t tell me…”

“That’s right.
That’s personally written by the buddha.
Alright, you go and rip that notice off!”