Wet viviparity

Chapter 209: Fate, Laughing Forest
"I'm here to find the Ghost King!"

"There are at least eight hundred ghost kings in the cemetery, if not a thousand. You broke into this mandala just for this."

“What is a mandala?”

"In Buddhist mantras, the altar is called 'mandala'. In Chinese, it is called altar city. It refers to the gathering place of all saints and virtues. In Taoism, it is the three-day dojo."

The woman sat cross-legged in front of him, and Ji Ming noticed that she said "our Middle-earth", which indicated that this woman was not completely inhuman.

"I'm looking for the Burnt-Faced Ghost King." Ji Ming said.

"You..." The woman was a little surprised. Her limbs turned into flesh whiskers again. She pulled Ji Ming's soul in front of her and looked him up and down. "That ghost king has an extraordinary status and special achievements. He is an unparalleled and extraordinary person. Could it be that you regard him as your fundamental form?"

Ji Ming wanted to disguise himself as a Buddhist monk so as to gain more trust from the woman, but he knew that the only thing in the world that was difficult to fake was spiritual practice.

He had only heard that Buddhism emphasized "cultivating the three secrets of body, speech, and hearing," which means speaking like the Buddha, doing like the Buddha, and listening to the Dharma like the Buddha, then you can become that Buddha.

This sounds a lot like the Ship of Theseus.

The Ship of Theseus is about the problem of if the wood on a ship is gradually replaced until all the wood is no longer the original wood, then the ship is still the same ship.

The Three Mysteries are to replace everything of the Buddha with mortals. At this time, are you you? Or is it the Buddha?

Of course, this is just Ji Ming’s own thinking. The practice of the Three Mysteries is definitely not a simple replacement.

Ji Ming knew nothing except the Three Secrets, which was also related to the Buddhist belief in secret cultivation. He could not rely on this little knowledge to guide more information from the goddess.

“No, I am not a Buddhist.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the four thick fleshy whiskers opened their mouths wide, revealed fangs, and bit the soul hard, as if they wanted to eat him.

Ji Ming showed the relic and shouted, "I am not an enemy of Buddha."

The woman ignored him until Ji Ming recited the mantra.

"The mantra for practicing the fundamental form of the ghost king."

The goddess suddenly opened her mouth, looked at Ji Ming's soul again and again, and finally had to let go, and said in surprise: "I can't tell what kind of karma you have."

After saying that, he thought for a while and said, "I can take you to the Northeastern Laughing Forest. The Burnt-faced Ghost King is at the outermost edge of the forest, preaching to the goddesses, hungry ghosts, and so on."

"Do you have conditions?"

"Of course, we just met by chance. If I hadn't seen that you have many ear holes on your soul, which complements my "Brahma Sound Chapter", I would not have come down to protect you."

Ji Ming could already feel many tongues licking the spiral ears of his soul, exhaling warm air gently, so he asked, "What are the conditions?"

"Hear me sing!"

The goddess said, "My wonderful Dharma comes from the oral secret of the three secrets of body, speech and hearing. It is the wonderful sound of the joy of the forest master here. I sing it loudly from time to time and feel that I have reached the state where my sound is like His sound.

But I need someone to listen to prove that this sound has been heard.

I can see that the nine pairs of ear holes on your soul are very special and can hear unusual things. The two of us are a perfect match. Perhaps I can be your mentor in Buddhism."

"tutor?"

Ji Ming asked doubtfully.

The celestial maiden's hands and feet wrapped around Ji Ming, hugged him to her chest, and said, "Just as you said, we celestial maidens were sent by the Buddha to pass on wisdom to mortals, and each celestial maiden can choose a specific mortal to practice together, become each other's "cauldron", and participate in the supreme truth together."

"What if I say no?"

Ji Ming did not want to listen to the "Brahma Sound Wonderful Chapter". It would not be good for him to rashly touch something too profound. He was only at the third level of foundation building, while the level of this goddess was at least the fourth level of golden elixir. Their achievements in the Tao were not at the same level.

Before the goddess got angry, Ji Ming told her his concerns honestly.

To be honest, he was not afraid of losing everything, but he was afraid of falling into an unknown trap. Some traps would even involve souls, especially in this underworld where souls dominated.

"You and I are destined to be together. There is really no need to worry about this."

Above the treetops, the goddess held Ji Ming in her arms and flew over this gray land. She seemed to be born to live in the air, flying steadily and quickly.

"What is fate?"

Jiming asked.

“Karma is the condition that brings about a certain result.

For example, among all living beings, if the two of us want to study the truth together, we need to meet each other, and I have the sound and you have the ears, so we can complement each other, and this is a strong affinity that can be foreseen. "

Ji Ming believed this for the time being. He asked like a seeker, "What is the cause and condition you just mentioned?"

"Cause and condition need to be explained separately, with cause being relative to effect.

If the result you need is Buddhahood, then the cause is the seeker of Dharma, the Buddhist disciple, etc., and the condition is all the conditions for becoming a Buddha.

If a person does not have clear causes and conditions, even if he practices the Three Mysteries, often recites Buddhist scriptures, and diligently makes offerings, he will not be able to obtain the true Dharma. "

Ji Ming knew that although Taoism was the only dominant school of thought in the world, it could not stop the brilliance of other schools of thought.

He had already known about the strangeness of the "Chengpan Yuhua Sutra" before, and now just by hearing the word "cause and effect", he had already glimpsed a magnificent corner of the practice of this heterodox Buddhist sect.

He looked around and saw that although it was a cemetery, there were few trees. If there were any trees, the only ones that could be considered trees were those towering spines.

These spines stood up, about three or four meters high, with their ribs stretched out and scattered corpses and rotten tendons inserted in them, just like branches and leaves.

Under the spine tree, on the slope of the scalp, there was a monk sitting alone.

"Is that a person?"

"They are people, they are monks who have left the world. They are on the verge of death, in the bardo state between life and death. Therefore, they can have the most direct contact with death and impermanence here, hoping to gain enlightenment.

In a sense, they are alive and dead.”

Ji Ming looked into the distance and saw a striking tall tower standing there, which became a bright spot against the background of the gray and foggy sky.

"That is the Kongwudongzhen Pagoda. The Buddha 'Longjia Shangzun' once practiced in this pagoda and met a person with great supernatural powers who taught him the scriptures. Later, this pagoda flew to the cemetery and was also called the 'Flying Pagoda'.

All the monks, Yakshas, ​​Rakshasas, ghosts, and our goddesses who practice here dream of entering this pagoda. "

Ji Ming felt that the goddess was like a tour guide, actively explaining everything in the cemetery. Although she acted well, Ji Ming always remained vigilant.

"We are almost at the Laughing Forest. This is my favorite place to come."

While passing through the heavy mist, the angel began to sing softly, as if she was humming subconsciously when she was in a good mood, which made Ji Ming reluctant to disturb her.

He tried not to listen to the song, but the ears of his soul couldn't help but listen.

At this time, a hoarse and unpleasant sound was heard, and it was getting closer and closer to them in the mist, and even the goddess became nervous.

(End of this chapter)