Chapter 79

The monks of Shaolin stood with faces ashen, as if a layer of dust could be scraped off them. Chen Ang’s words were heavy, implying that all the monks in the courtyard were ‘false compassion, true delusion,’ not one of them worthy of his regard.

But seeing Xuan Ci’s face turn pale, he could not utter a word in defense. Although Chen Ang did not name anyone, who in the courtyard was not a shrewd person? The entanglement between Xuan Ci and Ye Erniang had long been deduced to be mostly true, but out of respect for Shaolin, no one had spread the news.

The heroes in the courtyard stood in silence, their stance itself a statement. Otherwise, with Shaolin’s extensive good relations in the martial world, how could no one speak up at this moment? The lives of hundreds of innocent children, the grief of hundreds of ordinary families, who could bear such a sin?

Xuan Ci looked like a withered old man. He struggled to his feet, looked around at the heroes in the courtyard, and saw their looks of contempt, sighs, and anger. He sighed in despair, “Well done, well done! Since we have created karma, we must face its consequences. Erniang, you have suffered so much these years! Alas~” This long sigh contained boundless regret.

Xuan Ci turned to face Chen Ang and pleaded, “Even if my actions are too numerous to write down, my sins too great, all of this has nothing to do with the other Shaolin disciples. Shaolin’s ancient rules are strict, and the other monks and I have strictly adhered to them, diligently practicing Buddhism. Sir, you cannot generalize them all! My delusion has nothing to do with other Buddhist disciples!”

He knelt down heavily and pleaded, “Please allow me to receive two hundred strokes for breaking the precept of lust, and then I will go with you to the Six Ministries, to face the law!” He bit out the last four words, a tear already streaming down his wrinkled face, his white beard and eyebrows fluttering in the wind, desolate and lonely.

The heroes in the courtyard, seeing the abbot, who was usually full of spirit, now like an ordinary old man, could not help but feel a bit of pity. The Shaolin monks lowered their heads and recited Buddhist mantras.

“Xuan Ci, Xuan Ci, have you been fair to Shaolin, but not to others?” Chen Ang sighed. “Even at this point, what you cannot forget is Shaolin’s reputation? Your child is right here, and you do not ask a single question. You do not even care about Ye Erniang’s life and death. This is your family matter, and I should not meddle.”

“But at this moment, what you cannot let go of is still this Songshan Shaolin? Have you repented in the past twenty years? At this point, you still do not understand that I came here today not for Shaolin’s ridiculous precepts, but for the evil consequences that Ye Erniang has committed over the years, which you have turned a blind eye to!”

Chen Ang looked seriously at the mountain gate of Shaolin Temple, where the four large characters “Chan Zong Zu Ting” (Ancestral Hall of Chan Buddhism) shone in the sunlight. He sighed deeply, “Before you die, what you think about is still Shaolin’s precepts and rules. Dying under the rules seems to be a great honor to you. After reciting the Buddha’s name for so long, have you turned ‘compassion’ into ‘rules’?”

“I read the Buddhist scriptures and see the masses and compassion in the gaps between the pages. But in Shaolin’s scriptures, I see rules, and two bloody words—‘cannibalism.’ Xuan Ci, Xuan Ci, even today, you still place compassion behind the rules. This is Shaolin’s sin!”

Xuan Ci closed his eyes and said, “It was my breaking of the rules that led to this great mistake. Shaolin’s precepts guide people to goodness, which is a very good thing. Today, I will use my own body to add to the dignity of Shaolin’s precepts. I believe that in the future, the monks will be constantly vigilant and will not repeat my mistakes. This will not violate the original intention of compassion and precepts.”

“Unfortunately, unfortunately, your rules are cannibalistic rules, your precepts are murderous precepts. How many tenant farmers at the foot of Songshan have been harmed by these rules? At the feet of the Buddha, the lives of the poor are even harder than in other places. You wear the kasaya, gild the Buddha’s body, do not engage in production, do not work, and live by the rules, eating human flesh and blood. The gilding on the Buddha’s body is the sweat and blood of the peasants.”

“The compassion you recite, the Buddha you serve, how many people in the world suffer and are in pain every moment? Have you done anything for them on the mountain? Adding oil at midnight, burning incense day and night, gilding the Buddha’s body, indulging in luxury, but ignoring compassion. Shaolin’s rules should be changed to the rules of Baizhang.”

During the Tang Dynasty, the Chan patriarch Baizhang monk advocated self-sufficiency and self-reliance, serving the Buddha through manual labor. The Shaolin monks naturally understood this, and their faces turned solemn upon hearing it.

Xuan Ci took a deep breath, speechless. He looked at Ye Erniang, thinking of his child, and asked softly, “Erniang, where is our son? Can you tell me?”

Ye Erniang’s face lit up with genuine joy. She wanted to point out the child to Xuan Ci but dared not. She leaned close to Xuan Ci’s ear and whispered something. Xuan Ci looked in the direction of the Shaolin monks and suddenly smiled calmly, “I didn’t expect it! I didn’t expect it! Erniang, rest assured, he is a very good child.”

He turned to look at Chen Ang, opened his mouth to say something, but then changed his mind, just shaking his head. Ye Erniang pulled him and said with a smile, “You go first! I know he is good, so I am at ease.”

Her face showed a calm expression, and both Xuan Ci and Chen Ang understood something. Ye Erniang took out a dagger from her bosom and said to Chen Ang, “Originally, if you lied to me, I would have used this dagger to end it. I knew what you wanted to do, thinking that if I died, you would have no evidence. But you didn’t lie to me?”

“How do you know I didn’t lie? Didn’t you want to verify it?” Chen Ang asked.

“I knew it when I saw him. The features are unmistakable! When I look at him, it’s like looking at a piece of my own flesh, so familiar.” Ye Erniang said frankly, “Would he be ashamed to have a mother like me?” She was fine until this point, but now she could not help but sob, her voice trembling.

“He is a kind person and would not feel ashamed. He would only be grateful to you, love you, and spend his life redeeming your sins!” Chen Ang said slowly.

“No, no, my sins are too deep, don’t let him help me repay them!” Ye Erniang sobbed, “He should live a clean and good life, unrelated to a woman like me! Don’t let him know, don’t let him know about me.” She said this, her heart aching.

“Do you know who took your child?” Chen Ang sighed.

“Please, please don’t disturb my child!” Ye Erniang said in pain, wanting to protect him but not daring to, only helplessly scratching the ground, leaving bloody marks.

“No one is without grievances, and all emotions are entangled. Xuan Ci, the blood debt outside Yanmen Pass will eventually be repaid. You destroyed his family, and he separated you from your child. The world is unpredictable!”

“When will the cycle of revenge end? Karma and its consequences are inevitable!” Xuan Ci sighed, “I wonder how many of the Jiao family, Ma Dachuan, and Xuan Ku were killed by that person?”

“Ma Dachuan was killed by his wife’s affair with Bai Shiming. The others were all killed by him!”

“Will he harm my child?” Ye Erniang looked at Chen Ang helplessly.

Chen Ang turned to look at Xiao Feng and said, “Xiao Daxia and he are quite similar, both good men. I don’t think he would bully an orphan.”

Ye Erniang smiled bitterly, “Good! Good! As long as he won’t!” She pulled out the dagger, looked at her reflection in its cold light, and sighed, “I so want to hear him call me ‘Mom.’” She suddenly stabbed her right arm.

“Erniang!” Xuan Ci tried to stop her in shock but was blocked by her flesh.

Ye Erniang cut a piece of bloody flesh from her body and said to the heroes in the courtyard, “In the past, I acted recklessly, committing many evils, separating my loved ones. Today, I, Ye Erniang, cut my flesh to repay this sin.”

Her voice was high and intense, shocking everyone present, even Chen Ang, who was surprised by her decisiveness. Ye Erniang cut off her little finger with a reverse stroke, and Xuan Ci rushed to her.

The old monk wept, “Erniang, all the sins are because of me. You cannot do this!”

“I know!” Ye Erniang smiled bitterly, “I am also a mother. How can I not know the pain of losing a child? What I experienced twenty years ago, others have experienced too. In the past, I wanted to eat their flesh and skin. Today, how many people have experienced such pain and hatred?”

She smiled, “I want my child to live a clean and good life. His mother should also be a clean and good person. I hope that my flesh and blood can repay a fraction of my sins, so that the Buddha will bless him, bless him to live happily and safely, and not bear my sins!”

Xuan Ci trembled, “Erniang, Erniang, there must be a reason, a reason.” He lifted her and stood up.

He trembled, placing Ye Erniang on the ground, afraid that his tears would fall on her wounds. “Are you afraid, right?” Chen Ang sighed.

“I am afraid, I am afraid!” Ye Erniang cried out, “Those children come to me every day. It’s fine if they come to me, but don’t bother my child. I have experienced that hatred and pain. I know they won’t let us go!”

She held Xuan Ci’s hand and said with difficulty, “We can’t live, but our child is still alive. He is so young and doesn’t know martial arts. What will happen if others find him? Now, as long as I die, the more tragic my death, the less their resentment, and the safer my child.”

“As long as he can live happily and safely, I have no more thoughts.”

Xuan Ci said in pain, “All of this is because of me, Erniang. Why must you suffer such pain?” He howled to the sky, his voice full of sorrow and helplessness.

“My pain is nothing compared to the parents who lost their children. I don’t even deserve a fraction of their pain. This is my due retribution! I was wrong, I was really wrong. Human hearts are made of flesh. I hope they will forgive me for my tragic death and let go of their hatred. This is my only wish.” Ye Erniang smiled.

Xuan Ci raised his right palm and struck his left hand with the full force of the Great Vajra Palm. Instantly, his bones shattered, and he laughed, “Erniang, I will be with you!”

“Sir Chen, can you recite the ‘Sutra of the Past Lives’ for those children?” Ye Erniang pleaded.

Chen Ang nodded silently, sat cross-legged, and the clear and resonant Buddhist chants echoed in the sky.

“Namo Amitabha

Dharmakara

Dharmadhatu

Amitayus...”

That night, the rain was bloody, and thunder rumbled. A young little monk looked curiously at the sky, not knowing that someone had redeemed a sin that could not be washed away for him.

The souls of two sinners would accompany each other, entangled on the Sanzu River, day and night, forever falling into Avici.

All emotions are entangled!

When Chen Ang left, Shaolin lost a scripture hall but gained an unnamed grave. An ugly little monk, entrusted by him, would often visit.

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