Chapter 706
This Moment
"Not-empty-attain-Buddha!!!"
A furious roar erupted from Amitabha Buddha's mouth once more. He turned around abruptly, formed a hand seal, and unleashed a profound Buddhist light containing the aura of a saint and supreme rage towards a certain spot at the bottom of the empty pool!
The Buddha's light penetrated the bottom of the pool, stirring up ripples in the space. A moment later, accompanied by a muffled "boom," a crack appeared in the ground at the bottom of the pool, and a huge head covered with dark golden scales, along with half a fish's body, slowly emerged from the ground. It was the Golden-Bearded Turtle, the guardian of this place, whose Buddha name is Amoghasiddhi Buddha!
Amoghasiddhi Buddha seemed to have just been forcibly awakened from some kind of slumber or meditation, his huge dragon eyes still carrying a trace of bewilderment and weariness.
It shook its head and looked outside. When it saw Amitabha Buddha and the three thousand Buddhas behind him, all with faces full of despair and grief, it was stunned for a moment. Then, a look of relief and joy appeared on the dragon's face.
Its deep voice rang out, carrying a hint of relief at surviving a disaster.
"Amitabha! Buddha! You have finally returned! Outside...has the war outside ended? The Dragon Clan has retreated? That's wonderful! Our Western Paradise truly possesses boundless Buddhist power; we will surely overcome this calamity! Congratulations, Buddha! Congratulations! You have protected the foundation of Mount Sumeru!"
Its words were spoken with such sincerity that it seemed genuinely happy for the "victory" in the Western Paradise.
Three thousand Buddhas.
"..."
Looking at Amoghasiddhi Buddha's "sincere" congratulatory expression, and then at the empty ruins of the Merit Pool before them, which looked as if it had been gnawed by a prehistoric beast, their expressions were incredibly complex, a mixture of absurdity, indignation, and a complicated feeling of wanting to cry but being unable to.
Amitabha Buddha was so enraged by these words that his vision blurred, and he almost spat out a mouthful of "Buddha's blood"! In a flash, he appeared directly in front of the huge dragon head of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, reached out and grabbed Amoghasiddhi Buddha's two flowing golden dragon whiskers, his eyes bloodshot, and let out a hysterical roar at it.
"Guard your head my ass!!! Wuyunxian! Look! Look behind you!! Where's the Merit Pool?! Where's the pool water?! Where's the Spirit Source Agate?! Where have you been guarding all this time?! Huh?!"
In his desperation, he even called out the Buddha Amoghavajra's original name when he was in the Jie Sect—Wuyun Xian! This was the head of the seven immortals who served under Tongtian Jiaozhu of the Jie Sect during the Investiture of the Gods! In the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, Wuyun Xian relied on his profound cultivation to defeat several Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, displaying his fierce power.
Finally, he was subdued by the Sage Zhunti, but he refused to surrender to the Western Sect even at the cost of his life. Jieyin cherished his talent, and because his true form, the Golden-Bearded Turtle, naturally preferred to live in waters of merit and purity, he locked him in the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, nominally bestowing upon him the title of "Amoghasiddhi Buddha," but in reality, he imprisoned him with the pool water and chains, forcing him to guard the pool for eternity and never leave, in exchange for his life.
This matter was a secret of the Western Paradise, and now Amitabha Buddha, in his extreme anger, has revealed it, which shows his resentment and loss of control!
Amoghasiddhi Buddha was being grabbed by the dragon's whiskers by Amitabha Buddha, and when he heard him roar out his own name, a look of astonishment flashed in the huge dragon's eyes, followed by a deeper confusion.
Following the direction Amitabha Buddha pointed, it turned its head and looked at the empty space behind it... Hmm? Wait, where's the pool?
Its enormous dragon eyes blinked, seemingly not quite reacting yet. It stood there stunned for several breaths before suddenly turning its head to look at the furious Amitabha Buddha. Its face showed an expression of even greater shock and confusion than Amitabha Buddha's, and it spoke in a muffled voice.
"Pond water? Spiritual agate? Buddha...you...didn't you send people to move it away a long time ago?"
"What?!!"
Amitabha Buddha and all the Buddhas who heard these words were instantly petrified, as if struck by lightning.
Seeing the astonished expressions on everyone's faces, Amoghasiddhi Buddha became even more puzzled, but still honestly explained.
"Just before, when the great battle was raging outside, a young cultivator in white robes came with your token, claiming that he was acting on your secret orders to transfer the holy water and spiritual agate from the Merit Pool. He said it was to preserve the fire of the Western Heaven before the Dragon Clan broke through Mount Ling and to prevent the resources from falling into enemy hands."
He even made a vow to Heaven to prove that what he said was true. This humble monk... Seeing that his words were sincere, the tokens were reliable, and there was Heaven as proof, this humble monk believed him.
Later... later he said that rather than leaving it for the enemy, we should take it all away, leaving nothing behind, and implement some kind of 'scorched earth strategy'... This humble monk thought it made sense, so... so I helped him dig out all the spiritual agate from the bottom of the pool and handed it over to him.
The pool water…because the spiritual agate was mined, the formation became unbalanced, and most of it…evaporated on its own, returning to the power of heaven and earth…This humble monk believes that this was all done in accordance with Your Majesty's will!”
Its words were spoken with such an air of "naturalness" that they even carried a hint of "having successfully completed the arduous task assigned by its superiors and seeking praise."
Upon hearing this, Amitabha Buddha felt a buzzing in his head, saw stars before his eyes, and almost fainted! The three thousand Buddhas behind him were even more enraged, their Buddha lights flashing wildly, almost exploding on the spot in their anger!
"Bullshit! Utter nonsense!! When did I ever issue such an order?! That's a thief! That damned bandit Lin Zhu! He's lying to you! He's using you!! You...you idiot! You actually believed him?! You even helped him steal your own man?! You...you..."
Amitabha Buddha pointed at Amoghasiddhi Buddha, his finger trembling like a leaf in the wind, so angry that he was incoherent, feeling his reason crumbling inch by inch.
Amoghasiddhi Buddha felt somewhat aggrieved by the scolding, so he lowered his huge dragon head and defended himself in a low voice.
"But... he really looks so real... and at first he was just secretly taking water. It was only after I discovered him and questioned him that he revealed he was acting on the Buddha's secret orders..."
"Yes! You noticed! You became alert! And then?!"
Amitabha Buddha, as if grasping at a straw, pressed on urgently, still clinging to a sliver of hope that Amoghasiddhi Buddha had eventually seen through Lin Zhu's scheme and at least preserved some of the pond water or agate.
Amoghasiddhi Buddha recalled for a moment and then said.
"Then... this humble monk became suspicious, feeling that his identity was somewhat strange and his aura was not pure... so I questioned him about his credentials and why the Buddha would send someone who was not a direct descendant of the Buddhist sect to carry out such an important mission..."
"Yes! Good question! And then?! Did he give himself away?!"
Amitabha Buddha's eyes lit up, and he urged.
"Then……"
Amoghasiddhi Buddha paused, his face showing a mixture of emotion and "as expected."
"He then showed me the illusory images of the Thirteen-Petaled Golden Lotus of Merit and the Pagoda of Many Treasures, and made a heavenly oath to prove that Bodhi Patriarch and Amitabha Buddha had personally invited him, and that Tathagata Buddha had also given him a supreme treasure for protection... The heavenly oath was established, and there was no backlash."
This humble monk then...dispelled his doubts and believed that he was indeed a deeply hidden secret trump card arranged by You, Buddha, bearing the heavy responsibility of preserving the vitality of the Western Paradise. Amitabha.
"..."
Three thousand Buddhas.
"..."
The entire room fell silent.
Everyone who looked at Amoghasiddhi's earnest expression—"I also carefully considered and verified it before believing it"—felt a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads, and then...strangely, for some inexplicable reason, they felt a tiny bit...that what he said made perfect sense!
The oath to Heaven has been fulfilled! There are also "facts" of an invitation from a sage and a gift from Buddha!
If it were them, in that tense and urgent situation, with the battle raging outside and their lives hanging in the balance, and suddenly someone appeared with such "conclusive" evidence, saying they were to carry out a top-secret mission to "preserve the flame"... how could they not believe it? How could they dare not believe it?
At this moment, even Amitabha Buddha, who was furious to the extreme, was momentarily speechless and bewildered.
Can he blame Amoghavajra for being stupid? It seems... he can't entirely blame him? Lin Zhu's "evidence" and "rhetoric" were practically a tailor-made killer for this kind of "loyal but uninformed and duty-bound" guard!
"You...you really believed him so easily?!"
Amitabha Buddha was still unwilling to give up, and squeezed out these words through gritted teeth.
Amoghasiddhi Buddha seemed even more aggrieved. He raised his head and looked at Amitabha Buddha with his huge, now particularly "innocent" dragon eyes, and added in a deep, earnest voice.
“Buddha…this humble monk…after careful consideration, this humble monk felt that the benefactor…besides the conclusive evidence and the established oath, he…he looked quite…quite upright and sincere, not like a bad person. Moreover, his words were earnest, with a tragic appearance of enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens, willing to be misunderstood for the great cause of the Western Paradise…this humble monk…this humble monk really…could not doubt him.”
Does he look quite upright? Quite sincere? Doesn't seem like a bad person? A tragic appearance?!
"puff--!!!"
This time, not only the Buddhas who were already mentally and physically injured, but even several Bodhisattvas with profound cultivation could not help but feel their blood rushing back and almost spit out a mouthful of blood!
The look in their eyes as they gazed at Amoghasiddhi was no longer one of anger, but rather one filled with an indescribable... pity? and a sense of despair that "this fool is beyond saving."
Amitabha Buddha was so choked by these words that he almost fainted. He pointed at Amoghasiddhi Buddha, his finger trembling for a long time before finally turning into a roar that was filled with endless frustration, anger, and a sense of absurdity.
"You...you fool who judges by appearances!! That Lin Zhu is clearly a silver-tongued, thick-skinned, ruthless, and exploitative bandit! A devil! You...you actually believed him just because he looks 'upright'?! You...you..."
He was so angry that his whole body was bursting with Buddhist light, and he no longer knew what words to use to curse this turtle that had been locked up for too long and whose brain seemed to be not very sharp.
When Amoghasiddhi Buddha saw Amitabha Buddha's fury, he seemed to realize that he might have really been deceived. But he still tried hard to recall and try to restore the whole process more clearly so as to "atone for his sins".
It lowered its head and, in a more detailed and "objective" tone, recounted the entire process of that "fraud" that it would never forget, including how Lin Zhu was discovered stealing water first, how it righteously and sternly rebuked it for neglecting its duties, and how it presented "evidence" and made a vow.
He recounted in great detail how he "heroically" persuaded it to adopt a "scorched earth" strategy, how he "righteously" dug up the Lingyuan Agate and the Muni Dingguang Pearl, and how he "sincerely" accepted the Thunderclap Pestle entrusted to him.
As it narrates, the image of the "culprit" who stole from the Great Thunder Temple and emptied its long corridors, as well as Lin Zhu's extremely skillful, intricately linked, and manipulative "rhetoric" and "acting skills," are presented with unparalleled clarity to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
When Amoghasiddhi Buddha said that Lin Zhu "left hastily with boundless longing for the future of the Western Paradise and a sense of mission to shoulder heavy responsibilities," only a deathly silence remained over the entire site of the Merit Pool.
Even the wind seemed to have stopped moving.
All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, including the enraged Amitabha Buddha, stood still as if they were clay or wooden sculptures, their faces showing only extreme numbness, and a kind of... bewilderment and blankness as if their worldview had been completely refreshed, crushed, and reassembled.
They suddenly realized that what Amoghasiddhi Buddha said... seemed to be... entirely true.
Moreover, the logic... is actually quite self-consistent?
It even... makes one feel a little sorry for this turtle that was tricked and crippled?
At this moment, their hatred for Lin Zhu reached an unprecedented peak, but at the same time, it was mixed with a trace of fear and admiration for his "professional ability" that they themselves were unwilling to admit.
To be able to commit theft, extortion, and poaching so "justifiably," "compassionately," and "flawlessly," even evoking a sense of gratitude and regret from the victims when they recount the events, a sense of being "trusted" and "entrusted"...
This bamboo forest...
Damn, he's a real "talent"!
Amoghasiddhi Buddha's deep and earnest voice, like the finest carving knife, meticulously and thoroughly etched the details of the "fraud" that occurred there into the very soul of every Buddha and Bodhisattva present.
It describes the perilous battle outside Mount Ling, with dragon roars shaking the heavens and Buddha light swaying; it describes how the white-robed immortal appeared "at just the right time," his face bearing a solemn expression of "deep worry" and "heavy responsibility"; it describes how the other party "helplessly" revealed the phantom of the Thirteen-Petaled Golden Lotus of Merit and the Pagoda of Many Treasures, and how he made a vow in a "tragic" yet "firm" tone that even the Heavenly Dao could not refute.
It describes how the other party "heartbrokenly" accused it of neglecting its duties, how "wisely" proposed the "scorched earth strategy," and how "righteously" persuaded it to jointly "protect" the Western Paradise's property and prevent it from falling into the hands of the "ferocious dragon clan."
Finally, it also describes the other party's "clear and open eyes, devoid of greed," "as if containing endless loyalty to the Western Paradise and infinite hope for the future," and his "number one in the Three Realms" handsome face and sincere temperament, which "is enough to make any doubter waver and trust him."
"...Fellow Daoists, please consider this."
Amoghasiddhi Buddha's enormous dragon eyes swept over the three thousand silent Buddhas, his tone filled with empathetic understanding and a desire for recognition.
"In that desperate situation, with Mount Ling on the verge of collapse, the Dragon Clan rampaging, and beset by internal and external troubles, suddenly such a figure appeared—he held the highest symbol of Buddhism, claimed to be acting on the decree of the Sage, shouldered the top-secret mission of preserving the last spark of the Western Paradise, and swore a solemn oath to Heaven to prove his innocence! (End of this chapter)"