Chapter 201
Chapter 201
After giving Ghost Buddha his final instructions, Master Fajie bowed deeply to everyone in the courtyard.
“Namo Amitabha Buddha. I entrust my junior brother to all of you benefactors from this day forward.”
Everyone rose and returned his bow.
“There is no need for such courtesy, Great Monk.”
Under their watchful gazes, the great monk Fajie dissolved into motes of golden light and flew westward.
Ghost Buddha Faceless continued kowtowing.
“Namo Amitabha Buddha. Your junior brother respectfully sees you off to glorious rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss!”
A gust of wind swept through. The bones covering the ground faded into the breeze.
Ghost Buddha flickered repeatedly in the wind until he became a delicate-featured young monk of five or six, his eyes tightly closed.
Wuxin.
He no longer possessed the majestic solemnity of a great monk. Instead, he resembled a child from the house next door, nervous and rather shy.
Wuxin climbed to his feet. As though he had forgotten everything from before, he clutched the hem of Hua Jiunan’s robe and refused to let go.
This transformation immediately aroused Chen Daji’s irrepressible curiosity.
He crept up to the young monk.
“E-Excuse me… are you Bald Brother?”
Young Monk Wuxin ignored him. Instead, he instinctively moved away and pressed closer to Hua Jiunan.
Chen Daji scratched his head and asked Deaf Granny, “Granny, Bald Brother turned young again…”
Deaf Granny had not expected this change either. She beckoned kindly to Wuxin.
“Come here, little one. Let this old woman have a look at you.”
Wuxin hesitated. Though his eyes remained tightly shut, he tilted his face up toward Hua Jiunan as if looking at him.
Hua Jiunan had already guessed most of what had happened.
“Granny is calling you. Go on.”
Only then did Wuxin walk softly to Deaf Granny. He pressed his small, pink hands together.
“Namo Amitabha Buddha. This humble monk Wuxin pays his respects to Granny.”
The older people became, the less they could resist such sweet, well-behaved children.
Deaf Granny swept Wuxin into her arms and doted on him as though he were the most precious thing in her heart. Then she took out all kinds of treats Chen Fu usually brought her and stuffed them into Wuxin’s arms.
“Good child, eat. From now on, you can have all the tasty things.”
Wuxin “looked” toward Hua Jiunan again. Only after Hua Jiunan nodded did he carefully open a packet of vegetarian food and begin eating it in tiny bites.
His rosy little face shone with happiness.
Hemp-clad Grandmother also found him adorable and walked over with a smile.
After looking him up and down, she cried out in surprise.
“He! He! He! The child really swallowed it! A Ghost Immortal?!”
Only after Hemp-clad Grandmother pointed it out did everyone in the courtyard notice something strange.
Young Monk Wuxin was not merely inhaling the aroma as a ghost would when enjoying an offering. He was eating the food just like an ordinary person.
Under everyone’s stare, Wuxin seemed frightened. He gently set down his food, his rosy face utterly at a loss.
The sight made Deaf Granny’s heart ache. She hurriedly lifted him onto her lap and comforted him softly.
“There, there, good child. Eat. No one is scolding you.”
Chen Daji stole curious glances at Wuxin as he quietly asked Hua Jiunan, “Big Brother, what’s a Ghost Immortal?”
Hua Jiunan considered for a moment before answering.
“The *Anthology of Zhong and Lü’s Transmission of the Dao* says: ‘The Ghost Immortal is the lowest of the Five Immortals. Freed within yin, its spiritual form remains obscure; its name is absent from the Ghost Pass and unknown upon the Three Mountains.
“‘Though it does not enter reincarnation, it cannot return to Penglai or Yingzhou. With nowhere to belong, it can only seek a womb and be born anew.
“‘A cultivator who fails to comprehend the Great Dao yet desires swift attainment lets the body become like withered wood and the heart like cold ashes. The spirit-consciousness is held within, its single intent never dispersing.
“‘From meditation emerges a yin deity-a pure and numinous ghost, not an immortal of pure yang. Because its focused yin spirit does not disperse, it is called a Ghost Immortal.'”
“Iron Crutch Li is the best-known example.”
Chen Daji looked even more confused after listening.
“Big Brother, can you say it in a way I can understand?”
Hua Jiunan chuckled and stopped teasing him.
“A Ghost Immortal is also called a spirit ghost. Daoism recognizes five kinds of immortals: Ghost Immortals, Human Immortals, Earth Immortals, Spirit Immortals, and Celestial Immortals.
“And Daoism is not alone. Buddhism uses the same classification. You’ve seen *Journey to the West*, haven’t you?”
Chen Daji nodded repeatedly.
“Yeah, yeah! I saw the TV show. I love it! That monkey is incredible. He carries around a huge iron staff and wallops whoever he wants!”
Amused, Hua Jiunan continued his explanation.
“Chapter Fifty-Eight of *Journey to the West*, ‘Two Minds Disturb the Great Cosmos; One Body Cannot Cultivate True Nirvana,’ records…”
Afraid Chen Daji would not understand, Hua Jiunan changed his phrasing.
“I mean the episode with the real and false Monkey Kings.
“In it, Tathagata Buddha tells Guanyin: ‘Within the universe are Five Immortals-of Heaven, Earth, spirits, humans, and ghosts. There are also Five Kinds of Creatures-the naked, scaled, furred, winged, and crawling… And there are Four Primates of Chaos, which belong to none of those ten kinds…'”
The mention of Tathagata Buddha gave Chen Daji another question.
“Big Brother, did Tathagata Buddha really come from a giant rat?”
Hua Jiunan frowned.
“Where did you hear anything so absurd?”
Chen Daji scratched his head.
“I read it in a novel. Daoist Duobao’s true form was a Treasure-Seeking Rat, and then Laozi ‘transformed the barbarians into Buddhists’…”
Before Chen Daji could finish, Hua Jiunan hurriedly interrupted.
“Can you stop believing the garbage written by those novelists? That is not what ‘transforming the barbarians into Buddhists’ means…”
Before Hua Jiunan could finish, a yin wind suddenly swept through the courtyard and the temperature plummeted.
Zhao Fei, who possessed almost no cultivation, instantly had frost on his eyebrows.
Young Monk Wuxin, who had been innocent and adorable a moment earlier, began to flicker rapidly between his Wuxin and Ghost Buddha forms.
He seemed to be exerting all his strength to endure. He spoke to Chen Daji one word at a time.
“Benefactor! You must not insult my Buddha!”
Seeing this, Hua Jiunan hurried forward and touched a finger to the space between Wuxin’s brows, invoking the Six Jia Secret Invocation from the *Baopuzi Inner Chapters*.
“May all warriors who confront battle array themselves and advance!
“Wuxin, awaken at once! Do you wish to return to that boundless sea of suffering?!”
Chen Daji hastily backed down as well.
“Don’t be angry, Bald Brother! I was wrong. I admit it! I’ll never believe the nonsense written by those rotten novelists again!”