The Marquis of Xiang gazed at the statue, seemingly lost in other thoughts, and said, "This drop of true blood does indeed come from an Arhat, but the karmic attainment he realized is not among those recognized in Buddhism. That is all I can tell you."
Only after a long moment did the Marquis seem to return to himself. Smiling faintly, he said, "Were I to offer you a drop of true blood from a Buddhist Arhat, you would likely become an Arhat yourself a few centuries from now. When that time came, wouldn't the Immortal Monarchs of your Palace of Grand Beginning annihilate me?"
"Is this drop of true blood not an Arhat's as well? Could it really be any different?" Wei Yuan asked.
The Marquis said with profound meaning, "Outside orthodox lineage, barred from samsara."
Wei Yuan immediately lost all desire to hear further. When it came to the matters of Buddhism, the less one knew, the better; that was common sense. Merely knowing was enough to become entangled in karma, and those great monks were utterly unreasonable.
The Marquis said, "Let us prepare to begin. The Arhat true blood is here, yet not in this realm. Endowed with its own karmic attainment, the true blood has formed a world of its own. This place is merely the entrance.
"Many years ago, a young man came here, accepted the inheritance, and took on the karma. This temple was built by him. Yet though he spent his entire life striving to dissolve that karma, he died young. What he could not finish repaying fell to his descendants, generation after generation, down to this day. Ru'er, come over!"
The maid stepped into the small temple and took her place beside the Marquis.
The Marquis said, "She is a descendant of that young man, and will enter the secret realm with you this time. Most of the karma will be borne by her, while you will contract only a sliver. With your strength, you should not be affected. As for how much benefit you can glean from the true blood, that will depend on your own fortune."
The maid stepped before the Buddha statue and meticulously wiped away every trace of dust. The Marquis then produced a white jade lotus basin and placed it on the altar table before the Buddha.
Clear water rippled within the basin of its own accord, neither spilling nor drying up. Lotus petals drifted across the water; it was actually a miniature lotus pond in full detail, each lotus flower no larger than a grain of rice.
"This is the White Jade Merit Lotus Pool, modeled after the Pure Land Merit Pool. Even possessing merely one ten-thousandth of the original's efficacy, it is a rare treasure. That grain of blood ink I gave you last time—did you bring it?"
Wei Yuan retrieved the blood ink and handed it over, and the Marquis tossed the grain into the lotus pool. The clear water instantly transformed into thick blood, dark to the point of blackness!
The maid drew a short blade and made a slash across her wrist, letting a stream of fresh blood pour into the pool. She then wiped her wrist with a casual swipe, and the cut vanished into thin air.
The Marquis handed a short blade to Wei Yuan and said, "Use this blade to cut your wrist, drain a cup's worth of fresh blood, and then I will send you two inside."
This method of entering a secret realm looked bizarre no matter how one viewed it, completely at odds with Buddhist style. Wei Yuan said, "Wait a moment. I must make a few preparations first."
Wei Yuan proceeded to sketch a simple formation on the temple floor, found a withered branch to stand upright at its center, and then flicked several drops of platinum-gold water onto the formation's various nodes.
Watching the formation, the Marquis felt it resembled a feng shui formation, yet also looked like a spirit-restraining formation. He was not well versed in formations and could not quite discern what Wei Yuan had laid down. Although the formation itself was crude, the spiritual materials Wei Yuan used to cast it were extraordinary, bearing a trace of celestial spiritual aura that commanded the Marquis's utmost respect.
A gust of wind arose within the formation. The branch wobbled, but refused to fall.
Wei Yuan suddenly remembered something, walked out of the small temple, placed his new firearm into Eldest Senior Sister's hands, and then returned inside. This time, the branch toppled over.
Wei Yuan looked quite pleased. Taking the short blade, he said, "We can begin."
Curious, the Marquis asked, "May this Marquis ask what that formation was for?"
"It was a divination formation inquiring into the likely outcome of a certain matter. Oh, I was divining whether two of my sect elders could kill you, My Lord. Getting an affirmative result puts my mind at ease. If there is nothing else, I will head in first."
The Marquis looked wooden-faced as he activated the Merit Blood Pool. A shroud of bloody light expanded, enveloping Wei Yuan and the maid. A moment later, the blood light dispersed, and both Wei Yuan and the maid had vanished without a trace.
Only then did the Marquis look down at the formation on the ground, where a faint residue of celestial spiritual aura could still be felt. His lips twitched, and he cursed inwardly: *He really spared no expense!*
With celestial spiritual qi employed and all relevant parties present, the outcome of that divination had to be remarkably accurate.
Yet the more the Marquis thought about it, the more unsettling it became. What was this? Could those two juniors truly kill him? Judging by Wei Yuan's reaction, they had been unable to at first; but after he handed a firearm to his elders, they suddenly could.
Was that gun so miraculous, or was it simply the straw that broke the camel's back? Neither answer pleased the Marquis, and most important of all—could they truly kill him?
***
As the blood light filled his vision, Wei Yuan lost consciousness. Afterward, he felt as though he were floating, vaguely hearing someone call his name.
The calling grew clearer and clearer until Wei Yuan finally made it out: "Little Stone, wake up quick! It's time to pay respects to the Buddha!"
Wei Yuan sat up groggily, seemingly driven by the instincts of this body. Rubbing his eyes hard, he realized he was in a crude earthen hut. The sky outside the window was still pitch-black, and a ragged middle-aged man holding a dim candle was calling to him.
Wei Yuan remembered: he was an orphan in the village, and the man before him had taken him in as an infant—his foster father. This village had always maintained a tradition of worshipping the Buddha. Every day before dawn, the entire village had to go to the temple for morning lessons. By the time the two-hour service ended, the sky would just be brightening, and only then would the day truly begin.
Wei Yuan rose, threw on his clothes, stepped out of the room, and followed his foster father toward the edge of the village. People emerged from every household, gathering together at the small temple at the village entrance.
Woven straw mats had long been laid out in the temple courtyard; the village chief's seat was distinguished only by an extra wooden plank beneath it. Wei Yuan still remembered his place, so he walked over and sat down on a straw mat in the corner.
Just then, a familiar figure appeared beside him. Wei Yuan turned his head to see a familiar young girl, around sixteen or seventeen years old, her body already well developed and filling out her clothes snugly.
Catching Wei Yuan's eye, she stuck out her tongue and hurriedly sat down properly.
She was the daughter of the neighboring family, someone Wei Yuan had grown up playing with since childhood, though over the past year or two, the dynamic between them had begun to shift. Wei Yuan had mocked her figure for turning bulky, swollen, and unsightly, which had angered her so much that she had refused to speak to him for days.
*She looks much prettier now than before...* The thought suddenly crossed Wei Yuan's mind.
How long ago was before? It felt as if it had been just a moment ago.
At that moment, a monk emerged from the temple and struck a wooden fish, interrupting Wei Yuan's thoughts. Then, a cadenced, rhythmic chanting rose into the air, and the morning lesson began.
The monk chanted in another tongue. Wei Yuan could not understand the scripture at all, yet an inherent power within the words guided him to chant along.
The scripture was not long and was soon finished. Having recited it once, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a bit clearer inside, as if some foul and filthy matter had vanished from his body. Yet a large, opaque mass seemed to remain within him—something Wei Yuan had never known existed until now.
The monk began a second recitation. After chanting along once more, Wei Yuan felt himself grow clearer still, and a crack appeared on that large mass within him. Though the crack was minuscule, the Master had seemed to say that this marked the beginning of eliminating karmic hindrances, an auspicious sign. As long as one persevered, all karmic hindrances would dissolve, and ultimately everyone would open the Wisdom of the Dharma Eye, achieve the Arhat attainment, and transform the mortal world into a Pure Land.
The entire morning lesson consisted of nine recitations. By the time it concluded, Wei Yuan felt much clearer, his body feeling light and buoyant. He found himself in an inexplicably wonderful mood, feeling as though he were one step closer to attaining the true fruit.
Leaving the courtyard followed a strict order: the village chief and elders departed first, followed by the heads of each household, then the older folk, and finally the younger generation like Wei Yuan and the neighbor girl.
As they reached the courtyard gate, Wei Yuan and the neighbor girl inadvertently bumped into each other. Wei Yuan had already thought her figure was cumbersome, and being jammed at the door together only confirmed his opinion. Still, because they were at the temple gates, Wei Yuan let her pass first; there was no room for both of them to walk side by side, not even if she turned sideways.
Before stepping out, Wei Yuan glanced back and saw the monk carrying the ritual instruments back into the main hall one by one. The monk looked exceptionally clean, his face resembling carved jade.
*To think the Master is so young...* Wei Yuan thought. Then, his hand was suddenly grabbed by someone. Turning his head, he saw the young girl.
"Brother Stone, didn't you remember? We're supposed to sneak off to watch Uncle Sankui hunt today to learn archery!"
Only then did Wei Yuan remember there had been such a plan. He followed the girl as they ran along the mountain path into the hills. Before they had gone very far, however, the girl had to stop, panting heavily for breath.
Wei Yuan complained inwardly: with a body built like that, it would be a miracle if she could run fast. Still, out of childhood loyalty, he had no intention of abandoning her to sneak off and learn archery alone.
With great effort, the girl finally caught her breath. Just as she managed to say, "Let's keep going," a burly hunter emerged from the other end of the mountain path, his leather clothing barely able to contain his ropy muscles.
The girl gasped in surprise, "Uncle Sankui!"
The hunter laughed heartily. "If you want to steal a look at my skills, you need to be quicker on your feet. Moving as slow as you two, the prey would have run off long ago!"
The hunter strode past Wei Yuan and the girl, several game animals tied to the hunting fork resting on his shoulder. Among them, a white wolf was particularly striking.
The girl gasped again. "A white wolf! You caught it!"
"The beast was eating a lamb a day and mauled several people! If I hadn't caught it, the village wouldn't have any sheep left! Go tell your father to send me a jar of his prized wine, and I'll give this wolf pelt to you two as a wedding gift!"
The girl flushed crimson and stomped her feet, her body jiggling so violently in the process that Wei Yuan genuinely worried she might fall over.
Just then, the sun finally rose. Wei Yuan looked up to see a massive red sun leap from among the mountains, spilling dense red light across the world and coating everything in a dull crimson, like blood that could never be wiped away.
For a moment, Wei Yuan could hardly tell whether it was morning or dusk. Amid the dark red sunlight ran a thread of gold, seemingly drawing closer and closer.
It was supposed to be the height of summer, yet as the sunlight fell upon him, it felt colder instead. Wei Yuan shivered instinctively. He found it odd that he would ever fear the cold.
Beneath the sunlight, the hunter's receding back was dyed blood-red, and even the hanging white wolf turned crimson.
For an instant, Wei Yuan suddenly realized that hanging from the hunting fork was not a wolf at all, but a blood-drenched human being!
He gave a start of shock. Yet when he looked closely again, hanging from the hunting fork was once more a white wolf.
Chapter 261