Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Book 6: Chapter 044: Jiang Gautama

A large, dark palace hall in the depths of the first layer of hell:

Two ghosts hurried over.

“Bodhisattva Di Ting, save us! Save us!” the two ghosts cried out in horror.

“Halt!” The guards at the gate stopped the ghosts seeking help.

“Hurry! Hurry! Report to Bodhisattva Di Ting. Someone is causing trouble in hell. They even injured Bodhisattva Jie Dong and burned many ghost soldiers. Bodhisattva Di Ting, please get justice for us!” the two ghosts entreated.

“What?” The expressions of the ghost guards at the gate changed.

“Quickly inform the bodhisattva!” a guard said anxiously.

“No. The bodhisattva is interrogating that heretic and is not to be interrupted!”

“Look at the situation. Hurry! Can you take responsibility if something happens to Bodhisattva Jie Dong? Bodhisattva Jie Dong is the Lord Buddha’s personal disciple!”

The ghost soldiers and guards argued for a while. In the end, the ghost soldiers barged into the palace hall recklessly.

——

Inside the palace hall:

A large beast paced around a monk wearing a kāṣāya.

Blood covered that monk. Bones pierced him, pinning him in place in the palace hall. His eyes were sunken in, leaking thick pus. In his current state, he appeared neither human nor ghost, in an extremely sorry state.

The beast was Di Ting.

“Roar!” Di Ting’s voice echoed throughout the palace hall, sounding extremely frightening.

“Old fool, speak, and you will be spared this fleshly torture. What is the point of persisting? You have already been locked up for three months. That means you have been in the first layer of hell for ninety thousand years already. How long are you going to resist?” Di Ting asked with a ferocious expression.

“Amitābha! Hahahaha! Di Ting, a feral beast like you managed to find me. However, you can only find me? Interrogate me? Hell? It is not like I have never been here before. That brute, the Future Buddha, failed to interrogate me, yet you think you can? You think you can? Hahahahahaha!” the monk sneered bleakly.

“Bodhisattva Lian Sheng. Humph! The Lord Buddha took pity on you. That’s why he did not kill you. Yet, you want to destroy the buddhas? Humph! The Future Buddha has left instructions. If you don’t speak, you will be sent to the next layer like Kong Xuan,” Di Ting said coldly.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng? If Gu Hai were here, Gu Hai would immediately recognize him. He was the monk Gu Hai met in the Innate Puzzle World, the one who explained the three spiritual souls to Gu Hai. After that, he took in Gu Hai’s second adopted son, Gu Han, as his disciple on Nine-Five Island and brought Gu Han to the west.

“Sent to the next layer of hell? Hah! Hahaha! The Future Buddha? Had it not been for my recommendation, would he have become the Future Buddha? They obtained what they wanted, then cast me out? Humph! Humph! Humph! In their dreams. Just wait! Just wait! I will definitely regain what I lost. I have a disciple! He will take revenge for me soon! Hahahahahaha!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng guffawed in sorrow and rage.

“Humph! Truly a stubborn mule! Do you really think that we do not dare kill you?” Di Ting asked coldly.

“Go ahead and kill me. That would be even better. Hahaha! After you kill me, you will never know the location of my disciple. The Three Lives Buddhas? Hahaha! The Three Lives Buddhas will live in fear forever!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng retorted with a ferocious expression.

“You… Roar!”

Di Ting roared in a rage.

As Di Ting roared, the doors opened.

“Bodhisattva—Ah!”

The soul bodies of the ghost soldiers who had just entered shattered from the roar.

Whoosh! Di Ting turned its head towards the doors.

“Who let you in without my permission?” Di Ting demanded coldly.

The ghost guards outside shivered.

“Bodhisattva, some evil people arrived at the Yama Palace and severely injured Bodhisattva Jie Dong. They even killed many ghost soldiers!” a ghost reported in fear.

“Oh?” Di Ting’s face sank.

Then, it turned its head to look at the miserable Bodhisattva Lian Sheng.

“Humph! Think it over again. I will be back soon!” Bodhisattva Di Ting said coldly.

Boom!

The doors closed after Di Ting left, leaving Bodhisattva Lian Sheng alone in the palace hall.

“Hah! Force me to speak? Hahahahaha! If I speak, how will I vent the hatred in my heart? You will be fearful and afraid only if I keep it hidden. Hahahahahaha! Present Buddha, just you wait. One day, someone will take away everything you have! Everything!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng snarled ferociously in hatred.

After venting, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng suddenly slumped, feeling somewhat weary and bitter. Some liquid came out of his sunken eyes, which might have been pus or tears.

The palace hall fell silent along with Bodhisattva Lian Sheng.

Creak!

After some time, the doors opened.

“Again? Hah! Di Ting? Or is it the Future Buddha? Just kill me. Everything will be over after I die. Dying would be better than living like this!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said hatefully.

Suddenly, a voice that did not belong to Di Ting or the Future Buddha rang out. “Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, why are you here?”

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng felt slightly startled, unable to determine who had spoken.

“Humph! After blinding me, you pretend to be someone else to trick me? Forget about it. I will never divulge my disciple’s location. Search on your own. Go search! Hahahahaha!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng refused to believe anyone.

It was Gu Hai who had opened the doors.

Di Ting was in the Middle Heavenly Palace’s third layer. Although his cultivation was higher than Gu Hai’s, Gu Hai’s foundation was terrifyingly firm. Gu Hai could already kill Middle Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators as a Lower Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator. What more now?

Gu Hai had subdued Di Ting in short order. After interrogating Di Ting and learning of the heretic Buddhist, he found the heretic familiar. He had heard Bodhisattva Lian Sheng mention that three monks had gone to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s Hall of Great Strength one thousand two hundred years ago to question the Lord Buddha, which had caused an uproar. Those three monks were heretic Buddhists.

More importantly, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng was one of the heretics. He had even said that Gu Hai’s second son, Gu Han, was the reincarnation of one of the heretics.

Over a thousand years ago, the Yuan Imperial Dynasty officials had also headed west. At that time, Qin Zibai’s father, Qin Yun, obtained the World Cleansing Shut Eyes Meditation during that commotion. Qin Yun also received a green bamboo cane.

Indeed, after interrogating Di Ting, Gu Hai found out that Bodhisattva Lian Sheng was here and immediately rushed over.

“Your Reverence, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng has been blinded. He must have suffered from cruel torture,” Shangguan Hen said with a frown.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Gu Hai swung the Life Executioner Saber and shattered the chains binding Bodhisattva Lian Sheng.

Plop!

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng fell to the ground.

However, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng did not feel grateful. After suffering prolonged torture, he no longer trusted anyone.

“Humph!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng snorted coldly.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s cultivation was sealed, so he could not resist. He felt the person across him place hands on his eyes.

“My eyes are already blind, and you want to do more?” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said in a rage.

However, warm energy entered Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s eyes the next moment. His eyes itched, and a soothing feeling rushed towards his dantian.

“How…” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng felt slightly startled. He guessed something but could not believe it.

After a while, that person removed his hands from Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s eyes. At this moment, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s eyes were itchy but pain-free.

“Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, give it a try. Open your eyes,” Gu Hai said softly.

Eyes? Weren’t my eyes dug out?

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng felt utterly bewildered, but he tried raising his eyelids.

Buzz!

Piercing light immediately entered his eyes.

“Huh? My…my…my eyes?” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng stammered, finding this incredible.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng adjusted slowly to the light until he could see again.

“Hahaha! To think that I can see again?” Some tears leaked out of Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s eyes.

“Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, let me take a look at your seal.” Gu Hai extended his hand, grabbed Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s wrist, and sent in some energy.

“Gu-Gu Hai? It’s you?” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said incredulously.

When Bodhisattva Lian Sheng last saw Gu Hai, they were on Nine-Five Island. At that time, Gu Hai was only in the Innate Realm. Only ten-odd years had passed since then. Why is Gu Hai here?

In disbelief, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng confirmed it once more. Is this really Gu Hai?

Gu Hai checked Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s seal.

“It’s useless. This is the Future Buddha’s special sealing method. No one can undo it aside from him,” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said bitterly.

“The Maitreya Sincerity Seal?” Gu Hai was slightly startled.

[TL Note: In Buddhism, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who is prophesied to appear on Earth and succeed the Gautama Buddha. As this is a prophesied being who has yet to appear, it is fitting that he is associated with the Future Buddha. Here is the Wikipedia entry on Maitreya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitreya.]

Back on Earth, the Maitreya Buddha had also passed on some of his signature sealing techniques. This was one of them.

“Bodhisattva Lian Sheng, do endure this for a while. It will be somewhat painful,” Gu Hai said.

Buzz!

A strange energy poured into Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s body.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said with a bitter smile, “I’m not afraid of pain. However, it is really useless. Even the current Present Buddha cannot undo—”

Boom!

A loud sound, like chains breaking, came from Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s body.

The surging energy in his deity palaces and heavenly palaces felt like wild stallions running riot as it poured out and immediately saturated his entire body.

“Ah? It came undone?” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng gazed at Gu Hai incredulously.

“It is undone!” Gu Hai smiled faintly.

Boom!

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng struggled for a while before some broken chains shot out from his body and blasted holes in the palace hall.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng stood up, his tattered kāṣāya fluttering without any wind.

“Hahaha! It really came undone? Mister Gu, many thanks!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng suddenly bowed to Gu Hai in excitement.

“Bodhisattva Lian Sheng is too polite. You are my son’s master, so you are not an outsider. How is my son, Gu Han, doing now?” Gu Hai asked worriedly.

Gu Han’s father?

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng immediately reacted. Then, he smiled. “Mister Gu, don’t worry. He is currently in a safe place. I was captured and interrogated for so long so that they could find his location. It is not convenient to speak here; the walls might have ears. Right now, the Spirit Mountain Holy Land is doing all it can to capture him, so I will not divulge his location. Sorry! Sorry!”

“Oh? He is safe? That is good.” Gu Hai nodded.

After that, Gu Hai frowned again. “The Spirit Mountain Holy Land is doing all it can to capture Gu Han? Why?”

“Because the Present Buddha is worried that Gu Han will snatch his position one day,” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng sneered.

“What do you mean? Gu Han will snatch the Present Buddha’s position?” Gu Hai asked, feeling confused.

After taking a deep breath, Bodhisattva Lian Sheng replied, “That’s right. His position belongs to Gu Han in the first place. Gu Han will reclaim it eventually. Gu Han is the true incarnation of the Present Buddha.”

“I don’t understand. Didn’t you say that Gu Han was one of the heretic Buddhists?” Gu Hai said.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng looked at Gu Hai in silence for a while. “Sorry. I could not tell you the truth back then. Actually, the current Present Buddha was the heretic Buddhist one thousand two hundred years ago. He succeeded in challenging the Present Buddha of that time. The true Present Buddha fell and reincarnated into Gu Han.”

Shangguan Hen’s expression changed. “What? The current Present Buddha is a fake? Who is he? How could he replace the real one?”

“Because of Jiang Lianshan’s help!” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said.

“Jiang Lianshan, the Yan Heavenly Emperor? What do you mean? How is this matter connected to the Yan Heavenly Dynasty?” Gu Hai asked in bewilderment.

“The current Present Buddha’s family name is Jiang. He is Jiang Lianshan’s son, Jiang Gautama,” Bodhisattva Lian Sheng said regretfully.