Conferred Gods: Start with a Phoenix clone

Chapter 1706 Mulian Saves His Mother
King Pingdeng, having drunk too much, was eager to see the lotus heart, so he dispatched his ghost messengers to do so, ordering them to return quickly.

The ghost messenger dared not delay, and while Liu Qing was fast asleep, he took the lotus heart and hurriedly returned to the Yama King's Palace to show it to Yama.

King Pingdeng was very satisfied after reading it. The lotus heart was indeed extraordinary. After praising it, he ordered the ghost messenger to quickly send the heart back.

On the way back, the ghost messenger felt a little tired and fell asleep by the roadside without realizing it.

As a result, the lotus heart was eaten by a passing stray dog. With dawn approaching, the ghost messenger had no choice but to take out the dog's heart and, using his usual deceitful methods, put it into Liu Qingti's body.

According to the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, "The heart is the master of the five viscera and six bowels, and the abode of the spirit."

There are also stories in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio about dull scholars who, after having their hearts transplanted, write fluently and have an unforgettable memory.

When Liu Qing woke up, his personality had changed drastically because of the dog's heart.

He drank alcohol and ate meat, was stingy and greedy, often spoke ill of monks, and even forced them to eat dog meat buns. He did almost every bad thing he could think of.

Not long after, Liu Qingti's lifespan ended. When Yama, the King of Hell, saw that she had committed many evil deeds and was burdened with karma, and that she had offended the powerful Buddhist sect at this particular time, her crimes were extremely heinous. According to the regulations, he sentenced her to the realm of hungry ghosts.

If the eighteen levels of hell are like a fixed-term imprisonment, then the hell realm, hungry ghost realm, and animal realm in the six realms of reincarnation are like life imprisonment.

The living will be reborn repeatedly within their respective "paths," suffering endless torment before dying, and then being reborn here again.

The main feature is an infinite loop.

Mulian went out to travel, and when he returned, he learned that his mother had died.

He simply couldn't understand how his own mother, who was devoted to Buddhism and whose lifespan he had helped extend, could be plagued by afflictions, suffer a violent death, and be cast into the realm of hungry ghosts after death.

Using her divine eye, Maudgalyayana saw her mother being tortured in the realm of hungry ghosts. Overwhelmed by hunger, Liu Qingti went mad and snatched some food from a group of hungry ghosts. The price she paid was a beating. However, the food she ate was as if she hadn't eaten anything, and her hunger could not be satisfied at all. She could only snatch more food, while suffering more beatings.

If you're lucky, you might live another day; if you're unlucky, you'll be killed that very day.

Reincarnated, he continues to steal food.

Overwhelmed with grief, Mulian used his magical power to deliver food to his mother. However, his power was intercepted by the great power of the saints of the Six Paths of Reincarnation as soon as it entered the hungry ghost realm. By the time it reached Liu Qingti's mouth, it had already turned into burning coals.

Maudgalyayana then gathered many Buddhist disciples to chant sutras together, hoping that the power of the sutras would help his mother escape the realm of hungry ghosts.

The power of the scriptures was still blocked from the cycle of reincarnation. Mulian could no longer bear to see his mother suffering all the time. He was furious and went to confront Yama, the King of Hell.

There are ten Yama Kings. The one who wanted to see the lotus heart that day after drinking too much was King Pingdeng, but the one he sought out was King Qin Guang, who was in charge of the first court among the ten Yama Kings.

Without saying a word, Mulian demanded a retrial of the case, arguing that his own mother was of noble character and should never have fallen into the realm of hungry ghosts.

"To grant or not to grant!" Mulian roared, brandishing his nine-linked staff.

In a different setting, this image of someone carrying a weapon to "reason" would certainly be seen as provocative.

Fortunately, the King of Hell's palace was full of martial virtue, and King Qin Guang didn't really think there was anything wrong with it.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is now a quasi-saint who has severed one of his corpses. Even if Lady Pingxin is not afraid, Yama, the King of Hell, will still give him some face.

However, since you, Mulian, are only a disciple of Ksitigarbha, there is a layer between you, so there is much less to be wary of.

When the monkey wreaked havoc in the underworld, it was King Qin Guang who went to the Heavenly Court to report it. He was a representative of the Wu tribe in the underworld.

King Qin Guang was not particularly domineering in his daily life; relatively speaking, he was the most mild-mannered.

Mulian found him because he was relatively easy to communicate with.

King Qin Guang acted in an official capacity, took out the case file, and carefully reviewed it. He concluded that the judgment from the Underworld was correct and there was no need for a retrial.

The Buddhist sect has great influence, and it's a fact that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva dissected a corpse. But you Buddhist disciples can't just call white black, can you? Following the rules is the most basic principle. King Qin Guang was relatively tactful, but not to the point of flattery.

He stated unequivocally, "Liu Qingti's crimes are clear, and there is absolutely no question that he should be sentenced to the realm of hungry ghosts."

Mulian was unwilling to accept this result, so he went to the second hall to find King Chujiang.

King Chujiang was hot-tempered. When he heard that the previous case was to be retried, he was furious. He said, "You think you can just retry it like that? Who do you think you are?"
Even Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva wouldn't say such a thing, get out!

Mulian then went to the third hall to find Emperor Song, who had an even worse temper.

After being thwarted time and again, Maudgalyayana could no longer contain his anger. He used the authority granted to him by Ksitigarbha, wielding the Nine-Linked Staff, to charge into the cycle of reincarnation.

"Mother, I've come to save you!"

He found his mother in the realm of hungry ghosts.

An endless stream of hungry ghosts surrounded them.

Maudgalyayana showed no fear whatsoever. His staff shimmered with Buddhist light. He had already broken through the cycle of reincarnation, so killing a few hungry ghosts was nothing to him.

"Please, Master, save us from this sea of ​​suffering!"

"Master, have mercy! We simply cannot bear it any longer!"

"This disciple truly repents and begs the master to give this disciple a chance!"

Seeing that force wasn't working, the group of hungry ghosts tried a softer approach.

Mulian was indeed tempted. These days, he kept using his divine eye to observe the hungry ghost realm. He was still in a bad mood. Coupled with his mother's experience, he subconsciously believed that these hungry ghosts were wronged.

Releasing one is the same as releasing ten thousand.
He had already arranged everything, opening a portal from the realm of hungry ghosts to send his mother to be reborn in the human realm.

The other hungry ghosts also went to the human world, and he watched silently without stopping them.

Liu Qingti was rescued, along with eight million hungry ghosts.

After letting his mother go, Mulian did not run away; instead, he returned and turned himself in.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was both angry and furious.

What angered him was Mulian's reckless behavior, and what enraged him was that the things this guy had done were too great, so great that even he, a quasi-saint, could not withstand them.

The greatest requirement for his disciples is perseverance: once they set their sights on a goal, they should pursue it relentlessly, regardless of personal gain or loss.

Mulian's resilient character is undeniable, but he used it in the wrong direction.

Even knowing that he had very little room for maneuver, Ksitigarbha still solemnly visited Lady Pingxin.

What the two sides discussed remains unknown.

In any case, the underworld's judgment on Mulian was issued on the same day: immediate execution, but he was allowed to reincarnate. One of his important purposes in reincarnation was to bring back the eight million hungry ghosts who had already been reincarnated.

Everything was done swiftly and strictly; with a single stroke, Mulian was beheaded.

The underworld was in a hurry to send him to hunt down the hungry ghosts, so the reincarnation process was completed very quickly.

Not long after, a salt merchant surnamed Huang in Caozhou had a son, whom he named Huang Chao.

(End of this chapter)