The Diamond Sutra Chapter 44

  I had given up the will to live, and my wife's enchanting face appeared in my mind. Suddenly this force stopped, a large amount of air drilled into my mouth, and there was oxygen in my brain, and my nerves also began to move.

  The friend who was riding on me suddenly became soft and fell to one side, I pushed him away, ran to the door and took big breaths, probably because my lungs had been without air for a long time, I kept coughing, not caring if the water below was clean or not, I dove in headfirst and drank a few mouthfuls of water before my breathing became somewhat even.

  I thought of Pengpeng again, and immediately turned around and ran back. I picked up the flashlight that was still on the ground, but couldn't see Pengpeng's figure anywhere. I didn't remember wrong, he was clearly lying here just now, and when I went out to catch my breath, he disappeared. If he woke up, he should have seen me outside the door, shouldn't he? It's impossible for him to disappear so silently!

  I then thought of finding the thing I took out to hit the ghost earlier. The thing was very light and square in shape, so it should be easy to identify. Sure enough, I found it on the ground and picked it up. To my surprise, it was the "Diamond Sutra" that I had casually put in my bag while hiding in the scripture pavilion. When I jumped over the suspended cave, I was afraid of dropping it out, so I took out this book and held it close to me. Afterward, because of the coffin, I forgot about its existence. After being soaked in water for such a long time, this Buddhist scripture didn't have any signs of dampness. I hadn't taken any waterproof measures for it at all, but now holding it in my hand still felt crispy, as if it would shatter with just a little force.

  I opened this book and it was full of Sanskrit characters that I couldn't understand at all, but I could recite the Buddhist scriptures fluently.

  I'd like to start from my childhood, because I was born with a Yin destiny, and since I was young, I've been weak and sickly, catching colds two or three times every month. Later, my mother had someone take a look at me, saying that I easily attract unclean things, so it's best if I wear some protective amulets like jade Buddhas. The next best thing is to recite the Diamond Sutra. It's said that if one can sincerely recite it ten million times, they'll be able to avoid disasters and turn bad luck into good fortune. However, this is impossible, because even if you spend your entire life reciting it, you still won't be able to reach ten million times, and even if you do, you can't guarantee that each time will be with a sincere heart - having any impure thoughts would render the recitation ineffective. So, this is an impossible task.

  My mother made me recite the Diamond Sutra every day after that. At first, it was a translated version; she would read one sentence and I would repeat it. As a child, I learned quickly and thought this was fun, so I followed along. It took me a month to memorize it, but afterwards, it became torture. I started reciting the Sanskrit version, which I didn't understand at all. Luckily, my brain was still sharp from childhood, so I managed to memorize it through sheer force of will. In the following days, my mother would listen to me recite the Diamond Sutra every night before bed. Even after I went off to university and lived in a dormitory, she would often call me on the phone to remind me to keep practicing.

  To be honest, from then on I no longer had a fear of darkness. Every time I felt scared in my heart, I would recite it, and as I recited it, a warm current would surge up to my head, making my whole body feel hot and extremely comfortable.

  I remember that every time I walked back from evening self-study, I had to pass by a mortuary. Whenever there was a dead body inside, I could feel the eerie wind as soon as I approached the place. My classmates would chat and laugh as if nothing was wrong, but with each step I took, it felt like someone was grabbing my feet. It seemed like they had forgotten that I existed, and they continued walking forward. I glanced at the small door of the mortuary, which looked like a black vortex sucking me in. However, as soon as I silently recited the Diamond Sutra in my heart, this feeling instantly disappeared. When I came to my senses, my body was already standing in front of the mortuary door, with one hand reaching out to open it. I quickly ran away, still loudly chanting the sutra. The vendors on the street looked at me as if I were a madman. So every time I passed by this place, I would start reciting the sutra ahead of time and continue until I reached my own front door.

  Wasn't it just now that I got through the crisis with its help? After graduation, I didn't recite every day. When I had time, I would only take it out and read it once, because it was the foundation laid down since childhood, and every time I looked at it, it would naturally be absorbed into my brain.

  I flipped through this tattered scripture, still carefully searching for the disappeared PongPong. Why do people these days love to play hide and seek? The coffin was missing from the start, and now PongPong has begun too. In the end, is it going to be my turn? Unable to find PongPong, I had no choice but to continue on my way. But there's one thing that I couldn't figure out: this scripture was already safely tucked away by me, so why did it appear in PongPong's bag just now? Was I knocked unconscious and took it out subconsciously, or was everything earlier just an illusion?

  I remembered that I still had a short knife tied to my waist, and I quickly pulled it out. The scabbard was long gone, and the blade had been soaked in water, so I figured it wouldn't be long before it became useless. What good steel could you expect from a ten-yuan knife? I leaned against the wall and slowly made my way inside. Judging by the layout of the upper floors, this tower wasn't very big, and I should be able to find the coffin soon on this floor.