From the God of Lies to the Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 229 The Wooden Fish of Calcutta

Kolkata, an affluent area, in an abandoned Buddhist temple.

(India has 0.7% Buddhists. Don't argue with me that Buddhism was wiped out. There are still more than ten million people in India, which is not a small force.)
Sitting upright on the lotus platform in the Buddhist hall, Wutian slowly opened his eyes. "I sensed the power of the Asuras, but I also sensed their depravity! This land is truly a place of extreme evil!"

The overwhelming karmic force made Wutian feel a sense of suffocation. No wonder the power of the Asuras was amplified here; this was the malevolent land of the Asuras!

"Thus have I heard! When Ananda and Kasyapa were recording these words, did they foresee that your ancestral home, the land of Shakyamuni, would become such a hell?"

"I really wanted you to come here and see the Buddha, Dipankara, Maitreya, Amitabha, Bhaisajyaguru..." Wutian said slowly. He was absorbing the meager Buddhist essence of the entire kingdom little by little, and he had gained some knowledge.

Even by Wutian's moral standards, there are very few people in this country who can meet his standards, not even the Buddhists!
Which Buddhist disciple starts by ranking people? Which Buddhist disciple starts by talking about first, second, and third classes?
The equality of all beings is a doctrine deeply engraved in Buddhism. Anyone who dares to oppose this equality is not worthy of being a believer!
The people here are not Buddhists at all, but cultists. Even in Wutian's eyes, they are definitely cultists!

Fortunately, Wutian is least afraid of cultists. Now that he has come to this world, he naturally wants to gain power, and the best way to gain power is naturally to spread his religion.

After absorbing incense offerings for several days and accumulating considerable incense power, Wutian was finally ready to make his move.

"World Honored One, today I will play the role of your messenger! Hahahahahaha!" Wutian laughed loudly, and with a turn of his body, he became a monk dressed in cloth robes, holding a staff, carrying a begging bowl, and carrying a cloth bag.

His body appeared in a flash on a deserted dirt road outside Calcutta.

"This humble monk comes from the East and is going to the Western Paradise to see the World-Honored One, to see Heaven and Earth, and to see the future!" He was quite principled in fabricating an identity and name for himself, "Then I shall call myself Zhenluo!"

(The origin of this name should be easy to guess, right?)

He transformed into a very handsome young monk with clean skin and a serene expression, and walked step by step along this road toward Calcutta.

He didn't have many ideas at first, but with Ashura's appearance, he did have a slight purpose.

"Perhaps it is difficult to save all sentient beings, but in this city, it should not be difficult to save an Asura!" Monk Zhenluo said with a smile.

"Don't block my way, you lowly commoner!" Amidst the shouts and curses from those behind him, he walked slowly and deliberately into the city.

Even in a city like Kolkata, with its diverse and complex population, his presence stood out from the crowd.

After all, in India, it's extremely rare to see someone so clean, walking barefoot on the road instead of sitting in a car!

It's impossible for someone of high caste to go barefoot, and it's impossible for someone of low caste to be so fair-skinned. People like him are probably special tourists, and in this land, tourists are not much different from "fat sheep"!

Before Zhenluo could even step forward, someone eagerly approached him, "Need a guide? Everyone else charges 4000 rupees, but I'll do it for only 2000!"

Jinro stared at him, and what he could clearly hear was someone shouting 500 rupees a moment away.

"Greetings, benefactor!" Zhenluo said softly, his hands clasped together. "I have been begging for alms all this way and have no money to hire a guide!"

"Tsk, a poor wretch? And a rare Buddhist at that?" The man looked Zhenluo up and down, then walked away with a very unlucky expression. "No money, yet dressed so smartly?"

Zhenluo walked forward calmly. He was a Bodhisattva in his previous life and had seen countless such things, so of course he didn't care.

It could even be said that he had met the ancestors of these people, the ancient Brahmins.

Moreover, he possesses a clear and enlightened mind, and his body is pure, allowing him to see the thoughts of others.

The man appeared to have left, but in reality, he changed direction and continued to stare at Shinra. However, the curiosity and inquiry in his eyes had long since been replaced by greed and malice!
The greed in his eyes seemed to burn everything in front of him.

"With such a heavy metal staff, even if it doesn't contain gold, the copper content would be enough! Enough for me to kill him and sell his body to the factory!"

He muttered to himself, showing no fear or remorse whatsoever of killing.

The conversation just now was actually a test of identity. If Zhenluo was angry or dissatisfied, the man would naturally leave, because they don't do business with troublesome outsiders.

People who get angry are usually troublesome, or powerful and wealthy. Offending these people will get them into trouble.

But if someone like Shinra is swallowing his anger and not saying a word, it means that he might be an honest person or a poor person, but he is definitely not a rich person. So he can be bullied, humiliated, and exploited to the fullest extent, and every drop of blood can be squeezed out of him!

"The people here are so sinful, their sins are like the oil of the deepest hell, every drop of which is stained with endless sinful blood!"

Zhenlu sighed inwardly, but he also solidified some of his thoughts. He continued walking forward, passing through the densely populated streets, heading towards the wealthy areas.

Since the story goes that they are begging for alms to survive, they must go all out. They certainly won't be able to get food in the slums, because the poor people there are always hungry.

Only in wealthy areas could he truly beg for food, allowing him to continue his journey.

Unfortunately, his path forward was cut off by two strong security guards.

The two men blocked the middle of the road, their eyes fierce and their movements violent, clearly telling him that someone like him couldn't go there!
"Amitabha!" Zhenluo chanted the Buddha's name and turned to leave.

Even on the main streets, there are distinctions based on caste. Lower castes are not allowed to enter the streets designated for higher castes; this is the rule.

He witnessed a low-caste man being brutally beaten simply for brushing against the edge of the road while trying to avoid a vehicle.

The man didn't dare to resist at all, just lowered his head and took the beating until the fists were gone, then he limped away from another block.

The people around him were expressionless, their numbness a sign of their familiarity, which prompted Zhenluo to chant the Buddhist mantra again.

He is a compassionate monk; that is his persona, and there is no problem with that.

The iron plate on the monk's staff made a crisp sound, and pedestrians on the road turned around at the sound, only to see the bald head's blurry shadow shimmering in the sunlight.

Some were surprised, some were amazed, and some had ulterior motives, but no matter what, everyone could see that a monk had entered the city.

"The monks of Xuanzang Temple?" someone asked.

"No, the monks there aren't that clean!"

Behind this clean-looking monk followed a large group of unclean people, and in front of him followed another group of not-so-clean people, whose eyes were so sharp they seemed to pierce his skin.

As soon as he entered the city, Zhenluo sensed the presence of these people, and his movements gradually became more pronounced.

He had been planning to cause trouble all along, and now that things had actually come his way, he stopped pursuing the matter and instead found a quiet place to sit down peacefully.

A monk sat upright, his robes spread out on the ground, with his alms bowl and staff beside him. He even took out a wooden fish from his bag and quietly struck it in this secluded spot.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The crisp sound of the wooden fish echoed through the alley, making the hearts of the group who were following them, who were scratching their heads, skip a beat!
In the noisy city, the gentle and peaceful sound of the wooden fish made the listener tremble. The people who were originally confident were actually somewhat apprehensive.

They stared at the man who had just spoken. "Gor, are you sure he's a monk without any connections?"

“If he had connections, why would he walk barefoot into Calcutta?” Gore said, forcing a smile. “He was even chased away by security guards in the wealthy neighborhood!”

"I think he's most likely a monk from one of those two small northern countries, just here to beg!"

The small countries to the north, such as Bhutan and Nepal, basically depend on India for survival. To them, India is like a celestial empire, and the people there belong to the "high caste"!
These words gave everyone more confidence, and they continued walking forward. Soon they came to the alley and saw the fair-skinned, serene monk.

The moment they saw each other, some were already tempted!

After all, people who are so fair-skinned might face unimaginable punishment in this country if they even look up at someone, let alone have any contact with them.

And now, this incredibly fair-skinned monk sat right in front of them, striking a wooden fish, seemingly giving them whatever they wanted.

But as they approached, a Buddhist chant slowly began to play:

"Now there are beings in hell, hungry ghosts, animals, slaves, of all kinds—rich and poor, noble and lowly. We beseech the World-Honored One to expound the Dharma in detail. If any sentient being hears the Buddha's teachings, it will be like a child finding a mother, a sick person finding a doctor, a weak person finding food, or a lamp appearing in the darkness..."

(End of this chapter)