91 Evil Bodhisattva

  The stubborn kind who doesn't see the coffin and shed tears is after all a minority. Facing the harsh reality of the collapse of the imperial mausoleum, even Qin Shi Huang, the 84th emperor who has always believed in the immortality of ghosts and gods, couldn't help but speculate. Isn't it that our ancestors are hinting to us that their spirits in heaven can no longer bless their descendants?

  When a layer of gloom that could not be shaken off shrouded his heart, the 84th Emperor of Qin no longer dared to insist on his hobby. He hastily packed up and set off back to Xianyang Palace. For this reason, the 84th Emperor of Qin even took the unprecedented step of ordering the eunuchs to take the lead, immediately striking the bells and drums in front of the imperial court, summoning the officials and ministers within Xianyang City to rush to the palace for an emergency meeting.

  About two incense sticks later, the officials who managed to participate in this temporary court meeting all stood on the imperial court. These people mostly learned about the shocking news of the emperor's collapse before the emperor, and after a period of buffering and digestion, the ministers did not lose their composure due to the sudden event.

  The officials can hold a negative attitude of being unrelated to the matter, but as the 84th emperor of Qin, no matter how incompetent he is, he cannot say that this matter has nothing to do with him.

  As soon as he ascended the throne, the frail and worn-out old emperor suddenly stamped his feet and pounded his chest, with a look of filial piety and tears streaming down his face. Qin eighty-fourth loudly blamed himself for being unfilial, causing the ancestral mausoleum to collapse due to years of neglect. Later, under the soothing words of the officials below the hall, the emperor, who seemed to be grief-stricken, finally managed to stop his wailing.

  Wiping away his tears, Qin eighty-fourth generation spoke up:

  "My dear sirs, I have just heard that the imperial mausoleum has collapsed and I am truly worried. Do you have any good ideas to help me share my concerns?"

  Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials in the court looked down at their toes, exchanging glances with each other in private, but no one dared to speak out in the hall.

  The 84th Emperor of Qin, who has been obsessed with alchemy and the art of immortality for a long time, rarely attends court sessions. The officials and ministers also do not have much loyalty to this dull and moody ruler. They only care about how to climb up the ranks and fill their own pockets, what does the collapse of the imperial mausoleum have to do with them?

  A befuddled king and his utterly disloyal ministers had been at a standoff for some time, until finally someone who couldn't take it anymore stepped forward and spoke up.

  "I memorialize to Your Majesty, the collapse of the mountain is an inauspicious omen. According to ritual, we should set up an altar to offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth as well as the gods of mountains, rivers, and roads, to dispel the disaster. Furthermore, may I ask if Your Majesty can issue a general amnesty to the whole nation, to show benevolence?"

  To be honest, this method can only be considered as a makeshift solution, but Qin eighty-fourth himself couldn't think of anything more ingenious. For the time being, he could only make do with it. After considering the feasibility of this suggestion, the emperor turned his head to the figure standing beside him and said:

  "What is the National Master doing? I have always known that your Dharma power is boundless and your Tao is profound. Why not take my place in presiding over the sacrificial rites and eliminating disasters?"

  At the sound, Guoshi Pudu Ci Hang, who had been standing silently beside him, joined his hands together and bowed his head, saying:

  "This humble monk has received an edict, and only wishes to request that Your Majesty permit this humble monk to adjust the allocation of funds and grain, in order to prepare for the necessary sacrifices."

  "Good, the national teacher can take my orders, all the money and grain needed for everything, are to be allocated by your family with my handwritten edict."

  The minister who had just spoken now spoke again, saying:

  "I humbly memorialize Your Majesty, daring to ask about the matter of a great amnesty?"

  Suddenly remembering that half of the suggestions had not been settled, Qin eighty-fourth, who had not attended court for a long time, was somewhat impatient at this moment. He waved his hand and said:

  "Oh, where are Ting Wei and Feng Chang? You two go down and draft a general amnesty. This matter will be handled by yourselves. Dismissed."

  Having said that, the emperor hastily got up and left like a fire burning his buttocks. The officials below the hall all chimed in unison:

  "We your subjects bid you farewell."

  Everyone in the world knows that the current 84th Emperor of the Great Qin Empire has been infatuated with the Taoist Buddhist way of immortality since childhood, especially fond of alchemy and elixir techniques. He once broke the record of not attending court for three consecutive years, a feat achieved by his ancestors. Moreover, the emperor trusted National Master Pudu Cihang to the point of listening to him without question.

  The emperor himself had an extreme admiration and fanatic attitude towards this Pu Du Ci Hang Master, to the point where even the three dukes and nine ministers of the imperial court, no matter who met this monk, would have to pay their respects with the etiquette due to a master.

  With such a premise, it is no wonder that the Pu Du Ci Hang Quan rights are biased towards the imperial court. If you ask who in the entire Qin Empire does not know this, I'm afraid only infants who still drink milk would be unaware of it.

  Hosting the worship of heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, which is related to the foundation of the monarch's divine right, should be done by the current emperor himself in order to conform to etiquette and regulations. Entrusting it to others is not reliable.

  Although everyone knows that this approach has problems, the emperor entrusted Guoshi Pudu Zhenhuan with full authority, and no one in the court was willing to take the risk of opposing it.

  How many of the officials are fools? Not a single one is true! Especially those who hold high positions, they are all masters who have emerged from numerous competitors under the open and secret attacks of their colleagues. I dare not say other skills, but in terms of the professional skill of changing direction with the wind, they are all masters who have practiced to the full level, simply a group of slippery eels. Everyone knows that the emperor trusts Pu Du Ci Hang, who would not be blind to come forward and ask the emperor to change his mind? What kind of opinion the national teacher is, I don't know, but it's likely that the emperor will inevitably get angry.

  When the Son of Heaven is angry, people's heads fall to the ground. With this in mind, those garrulous petitioners, their necks on which they eat are not very reliable either, so all the ministers adopted the spirit of "one thing less is better than one thing more, and no things at all is best" and watched with open eyes as the Emperor appointed Pu Du Ci Hang to be in charge of the sacrificial ceremony.

  A few days later, a notice was posted on each city gate of Xianyang. Passersby who couldn't read didn't have to worry, as the armed soldiers holding knives and guns would explain the content of the notice for them. To put it simply, two words could summarize it: Collecting money!

  "My goodness! I knew that entering the city would require paying a city gate tax, but when did they start collecting incense money again? I'm not even going to the temple to burn incense."

  A peddler selling sundries from a pushcart was stopped by soldiers demanding money, at which point he said to the soldier guarding the gate, who in turn loudly and impatiently scolded him:

  "Stop stalling, if you have money then hand it over quickly, if you don't have money then get lost and stop wasting my time."

  The personal experience of this small vendor is just the tip of the iceberg. In a short while, just because they couldn't afford to pay the newly added incense money or were unwilling to pay this unjust fee, a large crowd of pedestrians had already gathered outside the city gate of Xianyang.

  These people with similar experiences and circumstances, when talking to each other, naturally couldn't get away from the current damn taxes. All I heard was one person cursing indignantly:

  "What a sin! Have you all heard? This money was ordered to be collected by the national teacher, saying it's for worshiping gods and goddesses. I spit on that! The common people are struggling to survive, and they're still playing these tricks. Why doesn't a thunderbolt strike them dead? Heaven, aren't you watching?"

  Just as people were indignant about the empire's brutal extortion, a loud and clear shout came from the city gate in the distance.

  "When the Imperial Tutor goes out, bystanders scatter!"

  In an instant, all the complaints disappeared, not because people's grievances in their hearts disappeared, but because they deeply feared the mysterious and terrifying Guoshi Pudu Cihang.

  Many locals living in Xianyang believe a widely spread rumor that at midnight, people often see the carriage of Guoshi appearing silently and stealthily on the streets of Xianyang. Anyone who is hit by the carriage will mysteriously disappear, never to be seen alive or dead again.

  At this time, a stout figure with a professional smile on his face, who was mixed in the crowd, gazed at Guoshi's carriage. After a long while, his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, saying:

  "Ah, evil Bodhisattva!"

  Bodhisattva is an enlightened being who has made four great vows in Buddhism, ranking second in the Buddhist hierarchy.

  If a Buddhist disciple makes a great vow, it is to vow to deliver all sentient beings without boundaries, to cut off endless afflictions, to learn infinite Dharma doors, and to attain the supreme Buddha Way. The intention is to universally deliver all sentient beings. This is the cultivation method of the Bodhisattva Path, which is also the correct result next only to that of a Buddha.

  The heretical Bodhisattva's theory of practice is the exact opposite. This school of thought believes that the mundane world is an endless sea of suffering, and the six paths of sentient beings are eternal prisoners trapped in this sea of suffering. To save the countless sentient beings trapped in this sea of suffering for eternity, the only viable method is to annihilate all sentient beings. Since there would be no more sentient beings in the world, there would also be no more suffering, thereby fulfilling the grand vow of eliminating the afflictions of the sea of suffering. Therefore, the heretical Bodhisattva's theory of practice proclaims that annihilating all sentient beings is the manifestation of true wisdom, and killing sentient beings to return them to oneself is a sweet delight, a pleasure beyond compare.

  It goes without saying that such an unorthodox and extreme cultivation method is truly one-of-a-kind, worthy of being called the perfect faith for a ruthless and merciless demon king.

  Regardless of the size of the Buddhist schools and sects, including the White Lotus Sect, which is recognized as a heretical cult, no one recognizes the Xie Pu Sa Dao as an orthodox Buddhist school, but instead directly denounces it as a demonic cult. However, the cultivation methods of this lineage have been secretly transmitted under the guise of Buddhist Dharma.

  He accidentally discovered a small secret of Guoshi Pudu Cihang, and Lin Xu's incarnation immediately fell far behind the car driven by Pudu Cihang and his party. He wanted to know more about how capable this big BOSS in the movie was.

  In the procession, the ornate palanquin suddenly lifted its curtains and a pale, slender hand emerged. The entire procession came to a halt immediately after. Following closely behind, an eerie chanting voice rose up:

  "Amitabha Buddha put down his butcher's knife and became a Buddha on the spot..."

  Although the distance between them was far, the chanting voice kept pouring into Lin Xu's ears, and he couldn't even block it. But in that case, how could Lin Xu not know that his actions had already been exposed? He furrowed his brow and laughed loudly:

  "Life-threatening Sanskrit? A small trick, you didn't take me for a pushover! Watch out!"

  As he spoke, Lin Xu took out several golden beads the size of glass balls from his sleeve. The material of these beads was neither gold nor jade, and upon closer inspection, a faint, hazy glow seemed to emanate from within them, making them look quite lovely.

  Aiming at Gu Shi Pu Du Ci Hang's car driving direction, Lin Xu shook his hand, and these beads flew rapidly towards that side.

  As soon as the beads were out of hand, their luster began to flash violently as the distance opened up. The short sparks that burst forth from inside and out seemed like a burning fuse, making people feel an ominous premonition.

  The sedan chair curtains of Guoshi Pudu Ci Hang were lifted high, and the thin face that showed a few old and cunning looks, the bright eyes showed some panic. Wearing a yellow monk's robe, Pudu Ci Hang stared at the flying beads, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

  "What kind of person is Wén Tǔ Shén Léi?"