The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 75 What a huge Buddha statue!
As he spoke, still harboring a sliver of hope, he said to Du Yuan again:

"Please, could you please place that seal on the table?"

Du Yuan did as instructed, and then the elegantly dressed young man first picked up his wine cup, then put it down again.

He felt that he couldn't do this himself.

He then turned to Du Yuan and said:
"Please, please pour a cup of tea over that seal. Don't pour it directly onto it, yes, a little further away! So that the water can flow over it!"

Although I thought it was unbelievable, I felt that someone was taking advantage of the heavenly authority to suppress the world, deliberately overstepping their bounds, and using the power of a fox to bully the tiger!
But his tone already showed that he had believed it all along.

They're just making their last desperate struggle.

After all, if it were true, it would far exceed his expectations for this trip.

Du Yuan continued to do as instructed.

The tea was poured out and slowly served.

After rubbing his eyes repeatedly, the elegantly dressed young man placed his hands on the table and stared intently at the slowly flowing tea.

At this moment, in his eyes, it was no longer a cup of tea, but a mighty river leading to the heavens.

It was pressing down on the small seal with an unstoppable force.

It's getting closer, closer still. I'm probably overthinking it!

This is because some truly foolish and audacious individuals have overstepped their bounds! It's not that I stumbled upon a major karmic consequence I shouldn't have gotten involved in!
The smile that had just appeared on the face of the elegantly dressed young man turned up instantly turned into an icy abyss.

Because he was shocked to see that just as the mighty river was about to engulf everything, it suddenly stopped.

Then they changed course and went their separate ways to the east and west.

Only after perfectly bypassing the small seal standing between heaven and earth, did it converge and flow again behind the seal in the form of a perfect circle.

'It's actually true!!!'

At this moment, the elegantly dressed young man trembled violently and gasped sharply!
He almost fainted on the spot.

But before he could actually pull it out, he was startled and looked at Du Yuan again.

Wait, what if he has this?

Doesn't that mean that the first person to successfully cross the river, surpassing all the great beings, was...
With his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets, the richly dressed young man's mouth also opened so wide it looked like he could fit an apple in it as he stared at the top of Du Yuan's head.

The previously unseen wonders were now visible in the dim light, allowing him to glimpse the Western Paradise and the ancient Thunder Sound.

He rubbed his eyes vigorously until they were bloodshot, and then he vaguely saw a truly towering, majestic mountain!
So it was this person who forcibly built the road to heaven, helping that person to cross it ahead of schedule?!
Oh no, oh no!

My ancestral hall is going to be gone! I'm in big trouble!

Du Yuan had no idea what turbulent thoughts were swirling in the mind of this elegantly dressed young man.

He only knew that this person seemed to have really figured out the origin of the small seal.

After hesitating for a moment, Du Yuan was about to ask the other party for details when...

But as soon as he raised his hand, the other party was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly.

He quickly and hastily tidied his clothes, looking almost disheveled.

After realizing he had done nothing wrong, he bowed deeply to Du Yuan, his posture extremely respectful.

That wasn't all. He immediately strode to the door, bowed again to Du Yuan inside, and then gave her a deep bow once more.

After finishing all that, he dragged his stiff body and hurriedly walked down the stairs and across the restaurant lobby.

Oblivious to the various surprised and curious voices and greetings around him, he quickly walked out of the restaurant.

Only then did he feel slightly relieved, but he didn't dare to delay any longer and hurriedly turned around to bow again towards the restaurant. Having done all this, the richly dressed young man didn't hesitate at all, and immediately rolled up his trousers and ran wildly out of Qingzhou City.

Du Yuan was left alone in the private room of the restaurant, looking at Xiao Yin, who was still standing in the center of the circle, preventing the water from getting any closer, and felt a sense of bewilderment.

"What? What's this?"

At this moment, Du Yuan even felt as if she had returned to the night she first met Hong Shitou and the others.

He was just as bewildered at the time.

How did I suddenly become a living Buddha who can subdue demons and monsters? How did you suddenly run away like you'd seen a ghost?
But it was me then, and this time...
As Du Yuan pondered, she picked up the small seal, and the water rings surrounding it dissipated and ceased to form at that moment.
-
On the other side, the elegantly dressed young man, who was running frantically, was already panting heavily and his face was pale, but he still didn't dare to stop for the first time.

He ran until he was almost dead, and then he ran out of Qingzhou through the east gate.

He then leaned against a willow tree by the roadside and collapsed to the ground.

Looking up at the sky, he smiled bitterly and said the same thing as Du Yuan:
"What?! What is this?!"

One was simply puzzled, while the other was self-deprecating and sarcastic.

It's one thing to ignore the Buddha statue right in front of you, after all, the difference in spiritual level is too great.

The problem is, despite the other party's repeated reminders, he remained oblivious, lost in his self-proclaimed superiority and condescending view of human stupidity.

I don't understand what you're saying.

"You must have misunderstood something. I am indeed alone, well, maybe with one other decent friend."

These words were practically stated outright!

He's still saying that people don't understand the hidden meaning in his words!
Ah, I didn't just make a fool of myself today, I practically exposed my whole butt!

How can I possibly have the face to return to the Ancestral Hall to worship the sages of the past?
Thinking of this, the elegantly dressed young man couldn't help but feel indignant:

'You're such a high-ranking figure, how dare you bother with us little cats and dogs!'

But then he thought, he couldn't really blame the Buddha for being so compassionate and willing to live in the mundane world.

Even Buddha almost confronted him directly in the end!
Thinking of this, the elegantly dressed young man was puzzled once again.

If he truly is a great Buddha walking among men, why did he give that old bald monk such a reply?
Could it be that the Buddha felt that the bald monk had gone astray and was beyond redemption, and therefore did not answer?
But something's not right. This Buddhist monk doesn't seem to belong to the Theravada school.

The elegantly dressed young man suddenly had a flash of inspiration:

Ah, ah, I understand!

The Buddha's "answer without answering" to the old bald monk is precisely "using impermanent actions to reveal impermanent principles." Only by relinquishing the attachment to the teachings of others through the contemplation of "the impermanence of all things" can one perceive the true meaning of "the mind is inherently empty, yet from emptiness arises all phenomena" within the ever-changing flow of all things.

—This is not because he has gone astray and is beyond redemption, but rather because the impermanence of life is used to force that old bald monk to sever his external ties and directly explore the source of his mind, so that he can be enlightened and save himself!
Otherwise, it would only save one future demon!
The Buddha even subtly pointed out through the prayer beads that only by sincerely taking refuge in Buddhism, letting go of attachments, and standing in the "place of other-oriented light" can one receive warmth in the world. Otherwise, clinging to delusion is tantamount to courting death and embarking on the path to the underworld!
After all, the Buddha made it clear that the prayer beads were warm in his hands, but cold in the old bald monk's!
'This Buddhist teaching is too profound.'

After a moment of reflection, the elegantly dressed young man suddenly froze.

Because he thought—how could such a huge Buddha statue not know that I had been watching it for a long time?

So was that sentence really only said to that old bald monk?

Was the Buddha trying to save me? Or was he advising me? Or was he simply giving me pointers?

Oops!

"Buddha, oh Buddha, I have only read a few Buddhist scriptures; how could I possibly understand the profound Zen wisdom that speaks volumes without words!"

The elegantly dressed young man sighed repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)