In the northern frontier, a monk sat inside a roadside tea stall along the official highway, sipping coarse tea and chewing on a flatbread while listening to the idle chatter of the people around him.
There were quite a few patrons under the awning, mostly members of a small merchant caravan. Some tables were already packed with seven or eight people, yet no one came over to sit with the monk.
A burly, bearded man in the caravan had been eyeing the monk with growing distaste. Finally unable to stomach the sight, he slammed his hand against the table and barked, "Hey, you thieving bald bastard! Finish eating and clear out! Western Jin has no welcome for you!"
Before his words had fully faded, an elder grabbed him, forcibly pressing him back into his seat before turning to the monk with an apologetic smile and offering a few placating words. The monk merely smiled and returned the courtesy. "This poor monk is Liaojin. I have only just arrived in Western Jin, so to meet with this is merely unwarranted misfortune; I do not fault this patron." With that, he resumed taking his time, washing down the hard flatbread he had brought with mouthfuls of coarse tea.
At the other table, the elder lowered his voice and scolded the burly man, "You brainless fool! Those monks have more tricks up their sleeves than you can count. They could ruin you and you wouldn't even know how you died! With the meager skill you have, don't go sticking your neck out!"
"But Prince Wei clearly issued an order..."
The elder glared at him. "Prince Wei clashing with the Pure Land is a fight among immortals—what does it have to do with you? What do you amount to, meddling where you don't belong?" Stifling his grievance, the burly man could only glumly drown his irritation in wine.
Just then, another figure appeared at the far end of the highway. The newcomer was dressed in coarse cloth, yet his head was shaven bald. Walking at an unhurried pace, he bridged the distance in just a few strides, stepping under the tea stall and taking a seat across from the monk.
Seeing this display of shrinking the earth to an inch, the burly man shrank his neck and fell completely silent.
The monk who had arrived first frowned. "Junior Brother Liaofan, how did you end up in such a sorry state? Where is your kasaya, your purple-golden alms bowl, and your Nine-Ring Demon-Subduing Staff?"
The shaven-headed man in coarse cloth gave a bitter smile. "Don't bring it up. I traveled to Qingming on official business, but when I tried to leave, I was stopped at a checkpoint and interrogated about everything I had done. A monastic does not speak falsehoods, so I answered truthfully. Who would have guessed those people would declare that, under their new rules, all of those activities were subject to taxation?
"Where would I get the money to pay? In the end, every scrap of supplies and magical treasure on me was seized to cover the tax—they even confiscated my spare monastic robes! Fortunately, they at least gave me this set of coarse clothes; otherwise, stripped bare, I would have had to creep through the wilderness on deserted trails."
The monk stared in disbelief. "Junior Brother, your dharma idol has reached perfection and you possess a golden body! It was just a single checkpoint—how did they dare do such a thing?"
Liaofan sighed. "Senior Brother Liaojin, that single checkpoint was garrisoned by fifty templates and two Golden Core cultivators. If I had chosen to use force, I could naturally have broken through, but you know Qingming's methods. Had I forced the gate and fled, every lay devotee I visited on this trip would have been implicated. Qingming possesses the Zhou Tian Celestial Stars Array to monitor heaven and earth; ferreting them out would have been trivial for them."
Fury flashed across Liaojin's face. "Stripping your clothes to humiliate you, not even leaving your inner monastic robes—this is pushing matters entirely too far!"
Liaofan sighed again. "It seems Qingming has no intention of de-escalating. There is no telling how many people this tribulation will sweep up."
Liaojin's brow furrowed in contemplation. "Buddhist treasures cannot be allowed to remain in outside hands! How about this: I will fight my way back with you, dismantle that checkpoint, and reclaim the treasures. We will simply do our best to refrain from killing."
Liaofan, garbed in coarse hemp, showed a peculiar look on his face. "My Chan mind is clear as a mirror, yet at that time, I sensed a gaze watching me from the unseen depths. I suspect Wei Yuan may well have already arrived, watching from the shadows."
Liaojin: "...Then never mind."
Every trace of anger vanished from Liaojin's face as if nothing had ever happened. He asked, "What of the vital task Master entrusted to you?"
"The moment those people heard it involved the affairs of our Pure Land, they made every excuse to back out, terrified of being linked to it in the slightest! If you had seen their faces, Senior Brother, you would likely have flown into a rage on the spot."
Liaojin frowned. "Without anyone to assist us, how are we to find the reincarnated form?"
The two monks looked at each other in silence, utterly at a loss.
***
In the Northern Four Commanderies, at the far end of the official highway, a donkey trotted forward. An old man sat atop its back while a youth led it by the reins. The two people and their beast looked no different from the ordinary mortals seen anywhere in the world, yet in the span of a month, they had traversed every corner of the Northern Four Commanderies, finally halting in a small village.
Inside the village, many people sat on the bare ground, listening to masters expounding the scriptures. In this modest hamlet, four masters were preaching simultaneously. It was late spring turning to early summer, the northern region's most crucial farming season of the year, yet scarcely a soul could be seen toiling in the fields outside; the vast majority were gathered within the village to hear the sermons. Beside the ritual ground, several large cauldrons had been set up, simmering with full pots of porridge. Once the sermon ended, the devotees would share the food. As soon as the elder and the youth entered the village, someone warmly approached to greet them, inviting them to join the congregation and share the porridge once the preaching concluded.
Naturally sharp and observant, the youth first ran over to peer into the cauldrons before returning to sit beside the elder and listen to the master's discourse. Yet in a realm undetectable to mortal perception, two strands of divine sense were quietly conversing.
"The porridge is thin and watery, and they only receive two meals on preaching days; on ordinary days, they have only one. The people of this village live on three meals every two days. Meanwhile, the local county yamen, the garrison troops, and every clerk and official under Qingming's administration basically eat meat with every meal and have all the grain they could want. The rations for one of them alone could sustain seven or eight villagers here."
"Truly abominable! Officials indulge in meat and wine at every meal, while the common folk cannot even get enough porridge! A world like this is dark to the absolute extreme!"
"However, Master, if matters stand this way, our attempt to exhaust Qingming's provisions using these mortals will likely fail. That Wei Yuan is cold and venomous, indifferent to the lives of the populace. He issues only this meager trickle of grain, just enough to keep them from starving. To Qingming, this can hardly be called a burden."
"...If that is so, then disregard the earlier scheme. Simply take some fated devotees from this place and use them as the foundation to forge your Pure Land Buddhist realm. The Buddha delivers those with affinity, yet the Buddha comes first. Only when there is a Buddha can there be those with affinity. Thus, establishing this Pure Land and attaining a new karmic attainment is far more important than anything else. Before this journey, I consulted the other Bodhisattvas; most agreed, with only Kongque Duoluo objecting. However, his words carry no weight."
"Thank you, Master!"
"Proceed with the rites. I shall sever the karmic links so that what transpires here remains unknown to the world."
A moment later, an invisible curtain slowly rose, cutting off the Northern Four Commanderies from heaven and earth. In worldly eyes, the region appeared no different than usual. If there was any change at all, it was that a light shone in everyone's eyes; they embraced austere poverty with ease, some resting beneath pine trees, some wandering the mountains, others exclaiming in joyful praise, all having found profound liberation amid the sea of suffering.
In the sky above, two colossal golden bodies manifested. One carried an ancient aura, while the other was somewhat hazy and indistinct, clearly not yet fully formed. Beneath the two golden bodies, countless souls floated in dense multitudes. From time to time, shafts of golden light descended from above to usher away certain souls. Seeing this, the remaining souls rejoiced and praised, filled with delight that those beside them had achieved the true fruit.
Golden light rose and fell in turn, yet those guided away were only a small fraction; the overwhelming majority remained drifting where they were.
As the number of guided souls mounted, the newly formed golden body grew increasingly faint. "Master, your disciple fears he has reached his limit."
"Return to the Pure Land first. I will tidy up here to ensure no one notices within seven days. Then I will set another trap in motion to utterly ruin Wei Yuan's name."
***
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
A small caravan traveling from east to west arrived at a small town, intending to rest there. Yet the entire town was dead silent, devoid of any human voice. The lead caravan hand headed toward the inn where they usually lodged and called out several times, but received no reply. He pushed open the door and stepped inside—and an instant later, a piercing scream rang out!
Inside the inn sat dozens of people. Every single face wore a peaceful smile, yet not a single breath remained among them.
At the same time, an urgent memorial sped across ten thousand li, carried by relays of dharma idol cultivators straight to Tangdu. By the time it was placed before Emperor Zhao, a mere three days had elapsed since it was written. The memorial had been submitted by the King of Qi of Northern Qi, and it contained only a single charge: Wei Yuan, Military Commissioner of Qingyang, had acted perversely against the natural order, sitting idly by in the face of natural disaster in the northern frontier and refusing to render aid, thereby causing tens of millions in the Northern Four Commanderies to freeze and starve to death; his crimes were monstrous, and the imperial court was petitioned to strip him of his titles and issue an imperial edict to launch a punitive campaign against him!
Upon hearing this, the young Emperor Zhaoning let out a soft gasp, his small face etched with worry and bewilderment. "How could so many people starve to death? If there really was nothing to eat, wouldn't drinking meat broth do?"
Chapter 1250