We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? Chapter 551: But, Miss, Men and Women Should Not Touch So Casually (2 in 1)

“When Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was practicing the profound perfection of wisdom, he illuminated the five aggregates and saw that they were all empty, thus crossing beyond all suffering and calamity.”

“Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness; emptiness is form. Sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness are also like this.”

“Shariputra, all dharmas bear the mark of emptiness. They neither arise nor perish, are neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease.”

“Therefore, within emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, formation, or consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sight, sound, scent, taste, touch, or dharma; no realm of the eye, up to and including no realm of mind-consciousness.”

“...”

The sky had just begun to brighten, and morning light was faint.

Inside Sikong Temple’s great hall, the monks sat upright, carrying out their daily morning lesson, which they never neglected, come rain or shine.

The sound of scripture recitation drifted out from the main hall, lingering like ethereal Buddhist chants. It spread throughout all of Mount Sikong, echoing between the morning wind and thin mist.

At the summit of Mount Sikong, dense Buddhist resonance coiled and gradually condensed into an illusory golden Buddha statue. It stood towering on high, overlooking all living beings with solemn dignity.

“There is no ignorance, and also no end to ignorance, up to and including no aging and death, and also no end to aging and death.”

“There is no suffering, accumulation, cessation, or path. There is no wisdom, and also no attainment. Because there is nothing to attain.”

“The bodhisattva, relying on the perfection of wisdom, has no obstruction in the heart. Because there is no obstruction, there is no fear, and one is far from inverted dreams and delusions, ultimately reaching nirvana.”

As the first ray of early-morning sunlight spilled into the great hall, its warm radiance fell gently upon every monk’s shoulders and face.

At the very front of the great hall, a man in monk’s robes had his eyes closed and his palms pressed together, his expression devout.

As he recited each word and phrase, golden Buddha light blessed his body like a golden robe flowing with brilliant light.

The abbot seated at the very front looked at this disciple of his, and a gratified smile could not help appearing at the corner of his mouth. He nodded in satisfaction.

When the scripture recitation slowly faded and the lingering echoes gradually fell silent, the man opened his eyes and saw his master gazing at him kindly.

“Master.” The man pressed his palms together and bowed respectfully.

“Mm.” The old abbot nodded lightly and asked, “Queyin, how old are you now?”

“Reporting to Master, this disciple has just turned eighteen this year,” the man whose Dharma name was Queyin answered truthfully, his voice clear and steady.

“Eighteen years...” A distant look of remembrance quietly flashed through the old abbot’s aged, cloudy eyes.

“Back then, I had just returned from the village below the mountain when I discovered you beside the temple’s side gate. At the time, you had only been born for perhaps one or two months, a tiny thing wrapped in swaddling clothes, your eyes hardly even open.”

The old abbot gently stroked his graying beard, his gaze kind as he looked at Queyin. A smile of emotion spread across his lips.

“Time flies like an arrow, and the years pass like a shuttle. In the blink of an eye, a full eighteen years have passed...”

“Queyin, your talent is extremely high, and you are also exceptionally diligent. You have no shallow understanding of many Buddhist scriptures. At only eighteen years old, you have already stepped into the Dragon Gate Realm. This is truly no simple thing, and exceedingly rare.”

“However, we Buddhist cultivators cannot remain only within books, no matter how many Buddhist scriptures we read or how deeply we cultivate meditative principles. The Confucians have a saying that is very good—‘What is learned from paper will always feel shallow; to truly understand this matter, one must practice it oneself.’ There is great truth hidden in those words.”

“For the past eighteen years, you have never gone down the mountain. Starting today, you should often go down and walk around. Help the common people in the nearby villages and towns more often, and do some solid, practical work. But remember this: unless you encounter demons or evil spirits, if you can avoid using spell arts, then do not use spell arts. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.” The young monk pressed his palms together and answered respectfully.

After morning lessons ended, the monks of Sikong Temple dispersed, each going about his own duties and cultivation.

Queyin also received a task: he was to go to Cloud Village at the foot of the mountain.

“Senior Brother Queyin.” Just as Queyin was about to walk out of the temple gates, a young novice monk who looked only eight or nine years old suddenly chased after him from behind, panting from the run.

“Xujing, what is it?” Queyin stopped, turned around, and looked at his little junior brother with a smile, his tone gentle and patient.

“It’s nothing important. I just saw Senior Brother heading outside...” The little novice monk lifted his face. His eyes were bright and full of curiosity. “Where is Senior Brother going? Are you going down the mountain?”

“Mm.” Queyin nodded. “Master said I should often go down the mountain for tempering. Today, a young couple in Cloud Village happens to be getting married, so I am going down the mountain to preside over their wedding.”

“I see...” Xujing lifted his face and asked quietly, “Then... can I go with Senior Brother?”

“You...” Queyin smiled and rubbed Little Junior Brother Xujing’s bald head, his tone carrying a touch of indulgence and helplessness. “You should finish your lessons properly first. Otherwise, Master will punish you again.”

After saying this, Queyin turned around and headed down the mountain.

“Then Senior Brother, when you go down the mountain, remember to pack some vegetarian dishes from the banquet and bring them back!” Xujing stood behind him and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Queyin did not turn back. He merely raised a hand and waved, indicating that he understood.

On the small path down the mountain, sunlight filtered through the mottled shadows of the trees and scattered over the ground like broken gold.

A squirrel crouched on a branch, happily gnawing on a fruit while curiously watching this human descending the mountain.

Before long, it began hopping and chasing playfully among the treetops again.

Several rabbits hid deep in the grass and quietly poked out their heads, watching vigilantly for a while. Only after this person had gone far away did they dare to emerge. Cicada cries echoed through the woods one after another, making the place seem rather lively and full of vitality.

“Eighteen years...” Looking at the familiar scenery before him, Xiao Mo could not help feeling somewhat emotional. “These eighteen years really have been a little too quiet.”

Thinking back to eighteen years ago, when Xiao Mo had just regained consciousness, he had discovered that he had actually become a crying infant.

He had immediately understood—this was his second life.

Only, Xiao Mo had not expected the beginning of this life to be so difficult. He had actually been abandoned by his biological parents outside a temple gate.

Fortunately, the old monk had carried him into the temple.

From then on, Xiao Mo had grown up in the temple. Since childhood, he had entered monastic life and become a monk, reciting scriptures by day and meditating by night. In the blink of an eye, eighteen years had passed.

And relying on his exceptional talent and so-called “early wisdom,” Xiao Mo learned Buddhist classics extremely quickly, and his realm advanced at no slow pace either.

In fact, because Xiao Mo had been born with a fine appearance and often interpreted fortune lots for people at the temple with rather accurate results, he had gained a bit of fame throughout the nearby villages and towns.

“What exactly has the state of the world become now?” Xiao Mo quietly pondered in his heart.

After all these years, who knew what the demon-race world had become? And even less did he know how Jingci was... doing now.

In this second life, the Book of a Hundred Lives had also imposed certain restrictions. He could not take the initiative to reveal his identity to Jingci.

Of course, in this life, Xiao Mo had no intention of telling Jingci about his reincarnation either.

Although the Book of a Hundred Lives had given him three lifetimes of opportunity, allowing him to help Jingci ascend to the Ascension Realm,

Xiao Mo faintly felt that perhaps... this life would already be enough.

Before he knew it, Xiao Mo had arrived at the courtyard where the couple in Cloud Village lived.

The Zhu family was extremely happy at the arrival of a monk from Sikong Temple and received him with warmth and thorough hospitality.

And what Xiao Mo had to do was actually quite simple—accompany the bridegroom to fetch the bride, then when the newlyweds bowed to heaven and earth and completed the marriage rites, he would stand to the side and recite scriptures, praying for blessings for the couple.

Only, because Xiao Mo’s appearance was truly outstanding, after the bridesmaids saw him, they could not move their eyes away for a while.

They stared dazedly at that refined and handsome face, each of them privately lamenting in her heart: how could such a good-looking man have just happened to become a monk?

Toward these gazes, Xiao Mo merely smiled faintly and paid them no mind.

He ate some vegetarian dishes at the banquet and specially packed a portion for Xujing.

“Thank you for your trouble today, Master. This is a small token of our appreciation. Please do not disdain it.” The host handed a piece of red cloth to Xiao Mo. Wrapped inside the red cloth was the payment for Xiao Mo’s effort in coming here to help.

Xiao Mo opened the red cloth and looked. He took out roughly twenty percent of the copper coins from inside and returned the rest to the host, his tone gentle but firm. “Benefactor, this offering is too much. According to our temple’s rules, I can only accept this much.”

“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine!” The honest-looking uncle smiled and waved his hand, his face full of sincerity. “Consider the extra money incense offerings donated to your honored temple. Master, there is no need to refuse.”

“That will not do, Benefactor Zhu. A temple has its temple rules.” Xiao Mo pushed the money back again. After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said, “How about this? Keep this money for now. When your family gains a grandson in the future, I will come again to pray for blessings for your household, and I can accept it all together then.”

“This... all right...” Seeing Xiao Mo insist so firmly, the uncle could not continue forcing it and could only let the matter rest. “Then take care, Master. In a few days, our whole family will go up the mountain to worship at the temple.”

“Very well. Benefactor Zhu, there is no need to see me off.” Xiao Mo pressed his palms together, bowed, then took his leave.

Walking through the countryside, Xiao Mo looked at the villagers coming and going, the children laughing and chasing each other through the fields, the women washing clothes by the stream, and the men sweating as they labored in the fields. His own state of mind also quieted along with it.

Xiao Mo also knew very well that the world was actually quite turbulent now.

Most of the demon-race world was still filled with the flames of war, unsettled and chaotic.

To find such a peaceful and tranquil pure land in such a chaotic age was truly rather rare.

And as he walked, Xiao Mo also heard from the idle chatter of quite a few villagers that a very beautiful woman had recently come to Cloud Village.

When they mentioned this woman, let alone the young men, even the aunties and older women in the village had their eyes light up. Each of them spoke with animated faces and great excitement.

However, Xiao Mo did not pay much attention to this idle gossip and merely treated it as an ordinary bit of village talk.

...

“Help...”

“Is anyone there...”

“Help...”

After Xiao Mo left the village, he followed the mountain road upward. Just as he reached the mountainside, he suddenly heard faint cries for help drifting over.

And judging from the voice, it seemed to be a young woman.

Xiao Mo did not think too much and hurried in the direction from which the voice had come.

Very soon, Xiao Mo arrived at a slope.

Standing at the top of the slope and looking down, he saw a woman in ordinary farmer’s hemp clothing kneeling on the ground.

A bamboo basket was strapped to her back. One small hand was tightly covering her ankle, and her expression looked extremely pained.

Although the woman was dressed in coarse hemp clothes, her figure was excellent. Even the simple clothing and trousers could not fully conceal that grace and charm.

“Miss, do you need this humble monk’s help with anything?”

Xiao Mo stood on the slope and called loudly to the woman.

Hearing that someone had come, the woman happily turned around.

And the instant she turned, Xiao Mo could not help pausing slightly.

This woman was exceedingly beautiful. Her features were exquisite, as if she were a fairy from a painting. A pair of seductive foxlike eyes stirred the heart and soul. Beneath her tall, delicate nose were soft, pink, full lips.

If anyone else saw her, it would be difficult to imagine that someone in this world could be born so beautiful.

She was simply flawless, without the slightest imperfection.

And the woman’s snow-white, delicate skin did not look at all like that of an ordinary farm girl.

Even the dirt smeared on her fair, tender cheeks did not make her look dirty. Instead, it seemed like a perfectly placed embellishment, adding a touch of pitiful charm.

“Eh? Monk... Master!”

The woman lifted her face and called softly toward Xiao Mo, her voice delicate and weak like willow catkins in the wind.

“I came up the mountain to gather herbs, but I accidentally fell and injured myself... Master, can you help me? My foot hurts so much...”

That fragile, powerless expression—if any man saw it, he would likely wish he could offer his very life to her.

“May I ask which household you belong to, Miss? I will go call your family over right away,” Xiao Mo said, his tone concerned, yet still maintaining a certain distance.

“No, you monk...” When the woman heard this, she immediately grew anxious. Her beautiful eyes looked at Xiao Mo with resentment. “If you leave, what if I run into some villain? Or what if a tiger carries me off? What then?”

She lowered her head and gently rubbed her ankle, her voice carrying a trace of grievance. “I really can’t walk... Master, the sky is almost dark. Can’t you carry me down the mountain?”

Xiao Mo shook his head, his tone calm. “But, Miss, men and women should not touch so casually. Besides, I am a monk.”

“So what if you’re a monk?” The woman pouted, unconvinced as she retorted, “Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. You would be saving me. I don’t even care about these small proprieties, so what are you, a monk, still caring about?”

For a moment, Xiao Mo was rendered speechless and had no reply.

Seeing Xiao Mo standing there hesitating, troubled and unable to decide, a faint mist immediately rose in the woman’s eyes. Her eye rims reddened, as if tears would fall in the very next moment.

“Master, could you really stand by and refuse to save me over such a tiny detail?”