Chapter 707
Sincerity
More importantly, he was handsome and refined, with an extraordinary air, clear and resolute eyes, devoid of any trace of wickedness or greed. His words and actions were all sincere, for the sake of the Western Paradise and all living beings! Faced with such a celestial lord who embodied righteousness, trustworthiness, vows, good looks, and sincerity, how could this humble monk… how could this humble monk doubt him? How dare he doubt him?!
It paused, then its voice became even more "powerful" and even carried a hint of self-indulgent "sacredness".
"Not only did I not doubt it, but I also felt a great responsibility and had to do my best to help him complete this great feat of 'preserving the flame'! To this end, I did not hesitate to personally dig out the spiritual agate at the bottom of the pool and sever the foundation of the merit pool, so as not to let even a single resource fall into the hands of the enemy!"
Furthermore, seeing that he shoulders such a heavy responsibility and his future is uncertain, I have entrusted him with the 'Thunderbolt Pestle' that has accompanied me for countless years, hoping that he can make good use of this treasure or return it to a reliable person in the Western Paradise in the future, so that this precious pearl will not be tarnished!
This humble monk firmly believes that, given that celestial lord's character, sense of responsibility, and profound affection for the Western Paradise, he will not fail this trust! One day, he will return in glory, carrying these treasures he has temporarily entrusted to him!
After Amoghasiddhi Buddha finished speaking, a faint, tear-like ripple of Buddha light appeared in his enormous dragon eyes. He raised his head slightly, as if gazing into the distance, his eyes filled with boundless trust and expectation for "that immortal lord," just as he had shown "unwavering determination" when Lin Zhu had tricked him.
After hearing this "genuine expression" of emotion, the expressions on the faces of the three thousand Buddhas gradually became more complex, changing from initial anger and absurdity.
Many Buddhas, surprisingly, subconsciously avoided Amoghasiddhi Buddha's "sincere" gaze and lowered their heads slightly.
They put themselves in the other person's shoes—if they had been guarding the Merit Pool at that time, in that extremely tense, information-isolated, surrounded by powerful enemies, and with their "superiors" in charge...
While they were engaged in a fierce battle outside and had no time to spare, suddenly this "special envoy" who had gathered all the "credible elements" appeared... They... they seem to... really have a hard time maintaining 100% clarity and skepticism! Especially the "oath of heaven" and the "saint's token," which are simply two insurmountable psychological defenses!
After a brief, awkward silence, low whispers began to rise from the Buddha group, carrying a sense of self-persuasion and "making amends."
"Ahem... Thinking about it carefully, the choice that Fellow Daoist Amoghavajra made back then... although the result was tragic, his original intention was indeed for the greater good of the Western Paradise!"
"Yes, in such a critical moment, to be able to make the decisive decision of 'cutting off one's own arm' and 'transferring assets,' even at the cost of destroying one's own foundation to prevent aiding the enemy, such decisiveness and spirit of sacrifice... are admirable!"
"What's even more remarkable is that Fellow Daoist Bukong entrusted his own precious treasure to you. What trust and selflessness this shows! You are truly selfless and have boundless love!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Fellow Daoist Bukong's loyalty to the Western Paradise is as clear as the sun and moon! It cannot be bound by mere chains, but stems from the deepest love and protection for the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in his heart!"
"Amitabha! Fellow Daoist Amoghavajra is truly a model for our Western Paradise! We should recite his merits!"
It is unclear who started it, but a strange trend of trying to extract "positive energy" and "lofty meaning" from this absurd tragedy quickly spread among the three thousand Buddhas.
They seemed to have collectively found an outlet to vent their frustrations while maintaining the last shred of Buddhist dignity—praising Amoghasiddhi Buddha's "loyalty" and "selflessness"!
Thus, above the empty ruins of the Merit Pool, the Buddha's light gradually brightened again, though it was far less pure and vast than before, it carried an almost tragic "self-indulgent" quality.
Three thousand Buddhas chanted the Buddha's name in unison, their voices solemn and dignified, casting beams of light, imbued with praise, recognition, and comfort, upon Amoghasiddhi Buddha, who still stood tall and proud, his face bearing the expression of "I did the right thing."
Amoghasiddhi Buddha seemed to sense this "belated understanding" and "collective affirmation." His enormous body trembled slightly, and his Buddha-light shone brightly, reflecting the light of all the Buddhas and together performing an absurd drama about "provable loyalty" and "selflessness."
It even responded softly to the Buddhist chants, its eyes becoming even more "firm" and "sacred," as if to say...
See? My choice was right! The Western Paradise will understand me! The Sage will solve the salary problem!
"Enough!!!"
A roar, brimming with boundless rage, frustration, and a hint of collapse, shattered the suddenly "harmonious" atmosphere of Buddhist light like a thunderclap!
Amitabha Buddha trembled all over, his golden body's light flickering violently like a candle flame in a storm. He pointed at the three thousand Buddhas who were still "self-indulgent" and talking about "righteousness and loyalty," his fingers trembling so much they almost cramped, his voice becoming sharp and distorted with extreme anger.
"Foolish! Stupid! You...you are all utterly foolish!!"
He felt his reason being completely crushed by the absurd scene before him.
"Five million merits of divine water! Spiritual source agate! And countless treasures! That was the accumulation of the Western Paradise over countless years! It was the resources for your cultivation! It was your salary! Now it has all been cheated, stolen and robbed by a swindler and a robber using the most shameless means!"
"You...you're not thinking about how to recover the losses and punish the culprit, but instead you're here singing praises to a fool who was sold out and still helps the seller count the money, even destroying his own foundation?! What about selflessness? Boundless love?! Have your brains been tainted by dragon breath?! Or have you been bewitched by Lin Zhu?!"
He grew angrier as he spoke, feeling waves of dizziness before his eyes and a ringing in his ears as if countless flies were buzzing around him. "The year-end bonus... no, it's years of accumulated savings, all stolen!"
You've turned this blatant, despicable financial fraud into a noble, moving test of loyalty and a transfer of assets?! Absurd! Utterly absurd! It's the most bizarre and twisted plot in the entire universe!!
Amitabha Buddha felt that his saintly state of mind was undergoing an unprecedented shock. That feeling was even more frustrating and powerless than when he faced the Zhuxian Sword Formation of the Tongtian Sect Master!
Amoghasiddhi Buddha, having been scolded by Amitabha Buddha, appeared somewhat aggrieved and innocent. He blinked his enormous dragon eyes and asked cautiously.
"Buddha, please calm your anger... This humble monk... This humble monk was only acting according to 'instructions'. Besides, you said that person was a swindler and a robber... But isn't he one of my people from the Western Paradise? Could it be... Could it be a traitor?"
"traitor?!"
Upon hearing this word, Amitabha Buddha jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He pointed at Amoghasiddhi Buddha, his voice trembling uncontrollably from extreme excitement and frustration.
"He...he's not from my Western Paradise at all! He's...he's..."
Amitabha Buddha roared in his heart at that identity.
"He is the greatest anomaly in the Three Realms! He is the damned law enforcement god of the Nine-Layered Heavenly Prison in the Heavenly Court! He is a plague god who is deliberately making trouble for my Western Paradise! A jinx!! Lin Zhu!!!" However, before he could utter this roar through gritted teeth, Amoghasiddhi Buddha seemed to "suddenly realize" something, and suddenly slapped his huge front paw, making a loud "smack". His dragon face actually showed an expression of "surprise" and "relief".
"Oh—!! So he wasn't a traitor after all! That's good, that's good!"
Amoghasiddhi Buddha seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly.
"I knew it! How could someone so upright and devoted to the Western Paradise be a traitor? It turns out he's a celestial official from Heaven! Or a law enforcement deity? Doesn't that make him a pillar of the righteous path, upholding the laws of the Three Realms?"
Then he certainly wouldn't covet my treasures from the Western Paradise! He's just temporarily 'holding' them for him, and he'll definitely return them later! Buddha, you see, hasn't this misunderstanding been cleared up?"
Amoghasiddhi Buddha's interpretation, which was both "divine logic" and "optimistic" to the extreme, was like an invisible hammer blow that slammed into Amitabha Buddha's already fragile nerves!
"puff--!!!"
Amitabha Buddha could no longer hold back. Although there was no blood left to spit out, the Buddha's light around him suddenly dimmed, as if he had been severely injured, and he even staggered.
He clutched his chest, feeling a surge of energy rushing to the top of his head, seeing stars, and hearing a ringing in his ears. He had never been so frantic in his life!
He felt as if he wasn't speaking to a Buddha, but rather to a stubborn rock filled with Lin Zhu's "bewitching rust"! This Lin Zhu... shameless enough, but how could his swindling and deception be so masterful, even managing to fool his victims into such a state?!
Add to that Amoghasiddhi Buddha's outrageously dull-witted yet self-satisfied demeanor... and five million merits simply evaporated! The spiritual agate is gone too! How can he explain this to his original deity?! How can he maintain the operation of the Western Paradise?!
He was gasping for breath, almost suffocating.
At this moment, Amoghasiddhi Buddha seemed to belatedly realize, from Amitabha Buddha's near-collapse reaction and the tearless expressions of the three thousand Buddhas, that the "seriousness" of the matter and... some terrible truth?
For the first time, a clear look of confusion, bewilderment, and a hint of... disbelief appeared in its enormous dragon eyes. It hesitated, slowly lowered its head, and its voice was no longer "righteous and assertive," but rather carried a hint of uncertainty and caution.
"Buddha... fellow Daoists... could it be... could it be that this humble monk has really... really been deceived? That Lin... Lin the Prison God, he really... wasn't acting on orders? Those merit waters and spiritual agates... he... he doesn't intend to return them?"
Looking at its foolish appearance, as if it had finally "gotten the hang of it for a fraction of a second," Amitabha Buddha was so angry that he didn't even have the strength to curse anymore. All that was left was a bleak, extremely cold laugh, a mixture of endless frustration and absurdity.
"Hehe...hehehe...what do you think? Wu Yunxian, are you only just realizing it now?!"
Amoghasiddhi Buddha's enormous body trembled violently, its dragon eyes widening as if it had suffered a tremendous blow. But then, as if unwilling to accept, or unable to accept the fact that it had been so thoroughly deceived, it urgently retorted.
"But...but he has the Buddha's Golden Lotus of Merit and the Pagoda of Many Treasures! And the Heavenly Oath! How...how could this be fake?"
The Buddha, who had been silent and with a livid face, finally couldn't help but let out a bitter and self-mocking snort, and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"The Golden Lotus of Merit? The Pagoda of Many Treasures? Hmph... those things in that wretched creature's hands weren't 'tricked' away..."
He paused, his tone becoming even more sorrowful.
“It was ‘stolen’. As for his accomplices… even Bodhi Patriarch probably ‘helped’ him.”
This statement is tantamount to admitting that even a saint had suffered a loss at the hands of Lin Zhu!
Upon hearing this, Amoghasiddhi Buddha's shock in his dragon eyes intensified, but strangely, the "sky has fallen" expression on his face only lasted for a moment, and then... it slowly relaxed, and even a very subtle smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, as if he had "found his kind"... a smile of relief?
It murmured softly.
"So...so it wasn't just this humble monk...even Buddha, and the saints...were also...caught in the trap? Then...then this humble monk doesn't seem so shameful after all? After all, that Lin Yushen...is indeed...well, very deceptive in appearance..."
It's still agonizing over Lin Zhu's looks and its deceptive nature!
"You...you can still laugh?! You still feel gratified?!"
When Amitabha Buddha saw the eerie smile on Amoghasiddhi Buddha's lips, he felt a surge of evil fire rush to the top of his head, causing his Buddha light to rage once again.
"Five million merits! Thirty-six thousand catties of spiritual agate! And the Mani Light-Stabilizing Pearl! The Thunderstrike Pestle! All gone! He took it all! You...you idiot, didn't you conspire with him all along?! Tell me! Did you know he was a fraud all along, deliberately let him get away with it, or even helped him steal it?!"
In his fury, Amitabha Buddha even began to suspect that Amoghasiddhi Buddha was putting on an act, or that he was secretly colluding with Lin Zhu. After all, everything seemed too "smooth" and "coincidental"!
"Buddha, you are wise and discerning! This humble monk has absolutely no such knowledge!"
Upon hearing this, Amoghasiddhi Buddha immediately raised his head, his face radiating "openness" and "righteousness," and his voice booming.
"My heart for the Western Paradise is as clear as day! Absolutely without the slightest falsehood! I would never collude with outsiders to harm the interests of the Western Paradise! If Buddha does not believe me, then please examine my soul and memories! Or, with your supreme merit, trace back time and see what happened back then! My conscience is clear!"
It spoke with unwavering conviction and without fear, even taking a step forward, its massive dragon head approaching Amitabha Buddha, as if to say, "Go ahead and investigate."
Amitabha stared intently into Amoghasiddhi Buddha's "clear, innocent" yet "righteous" dragon eyes, his heart filled with a mixture of doubt and rage.
Without further hesitation, he abruptly raised his hand, and in his palm, a dense, almost tangible golden light of merit began to gather and flow! He was going to use the methods of a saint, using a massive amount of merit as a guide, to forcibly trace back and reconstruct the true scene that had occurred here!
Just like when Laozi traced the theft of the Eight Trigrams Furnace! He wanted to see if this Amoghasiddhi Buddha was truly stupid to the core, or if he harbored ulterior motives! He also wanted to see just how unbelievable Lin Zhu's swindling and deception skills had reached! (End of Chapter)