Serena Nie stumbled over her words, unsure of how to explain her feelings.
Even she herself didn't know if she had developed feelings for Ethan Shu.
"It's impossible. He's a human, and a monk at that. I'm a female demon. Humans and ghosts are on different paths. I can't possibly like him," she shook her head, whispering to herself, her eyes flickering, her heart in a tangled mess.
Clara Ning tugged at Serena's sleeve, saying, "You're right. He's a human, and we're ghosts. There can't be any outcome."
"But this little monk is indeed good-looking and endearing. If only we could sip a bit of his yang energy ( yang energy is the Qi of growth. This energy is invigorating. )…"
"Sister!" Serena pulled Clara's sleeve.
"Alright, alright, I know," Clara replied. "You silly girl, you say you're not taking his side."
Serena turned to Ethan Shu and said, "Little monk, there are good ghosts too. I hope when you go back, you won't come down the mountain casually or bother us again."
"You should leave now. If that Blood Ghost Corpse Demon and the Five Immortals return, you might not be able to escape."
Ethan Shu pressed his palms together, bowed to Serena and Clara, and turned to leave.
After Ethan left, Serena smiled and said, "Sister, you didn't even try to stop the little monk from leaving for his sake."
"Trouble him?" Clara shook her head. "It's good enough that he didn't trouble us."
Serena asked in confusion, "Why? Isn't it us who defeated him?"
Clara tapped Serena's forehead with her slender finger and laughed, "Silly girl, didn't you see the golden dragon behind that little monk?"
Serena pondered for a moment and realized that there seemed to be a golden dragon tattoo on Ethan's back.
Previously, Ethan's monk robes obscured it, but after emerging from the wooden tub and the robes getting wet, the tattoo of the Great Dragon Vast Bodhisattva on his back became faintly visible.
Clara said, "That golden dragon has a divine and magnificent aura. It's obviously not easy to deal with."
"Although the little monk is good-looking, we shouldn't provoke him."
Serena sighed softly, "We met by chance, just a fleeting encounter, and it's a pity I don't even know his name…"
...
After leaving the cottage of Serena and Clara, Ethan lifted his body and stepped on the branches, swiftly returning to the foot of the Ancient Temple Mountain.
The wooden bucket for fetching water was still there. Ethan picked it up and swiftly made his way back to the dilapidated temple atop the mountain.
The old monk was in the courtyard, burning fallen leaves to make a fire and roasting three sweet potatoes.
Seeing Ethan return, he asked, "Pupil, you took quite a long time to fetch water."
Ethan walked swiftly, poured the water from the bucket into the water jar in the side hall, and returned to the courtyard, saying, "Master, I encountered ghosts."
"Master didn't lie to me. There are indeed beautiful female demons in the mountains!"
The old monk patted the stone bench beside him, gesturing for Ethan to sit.
Then he handed a roasted sweet potato to Ethan.
"Of course, female demons are beautiful. If they weren't, how could they enchant the living, absorb yang energy, and even harm people's lives?"
"But you must know that they are already dead. What's shown before you is just an illusion. The truth is a skeleton covered in pink dust!"
Ethan sat on the stone bench, took the sweet potato, and broke it into two with his hands.
"Master, can monks not drink alcohol, eat meat, marry, and have children?"
The old monk had just bitten into his sweet potato and sprayed it out.
"Cough cough cough, you rascal, what do you think?"
Ethan looked up at the sky with a profound gaze and said, "In my opinion, alcohol and meat abstinence is by no means a critical rule so much so that Buddha centers in one's heart. If I want to be a monk, I will also eat alcohol and meat."
" Acohol and meat pass through the intestines, while Buddha resides in the heart?"
The old monk had never heard such words before, and his mind was greatly shaken.
If Ethan could see the old monk's Mirror Realm, he would discover that the usually calm Mirror Realm was now rippling with layers of waves.
Huiming, the old monk, hailed from one of the Buddhist monasteries, the Great Hanging Temple.
In the Great Hanging Temple, there were numerous eminent monks and saints, but the old monk had never heard any of them say such words.
Ethan continued, "If monks who hide in temples, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures amidst demons and devils are considered Buddhas, then aren't monks who marry and have children but subdue demons and evil spirits in the material world also Buddhas?"
"Reciting and studying Buddhist scriptures will never make one a Buddha."
The old monk's mind was shaken again.
Ethan's words had a tremendous and unimaginable impact on him.
From the scene, it seemed like just a little monk and an old monk, sitting around a fire of fallen leaves in the courtyard of a dilapidated temple, roasting and eating sweet potatoes.
The scene was ordinary and warm, like an everyday occurrence.
But the little monk's seemingly innocent words were astonishing.
If the eminent monks and saints in the temple heard them, it would probably cause a great shock.
The old monk looked deeply at the little monk and said earnestly, "Hsuan Kong, your master cannot provide a standard answer to your question."
"Because the Buddhist scriptures I have studied have not provided a standard answer either."
"But!"
The old monk's tone changed, and he said kindly, "The Great Hanging Temple does not advocate it, but it also does not explicitly prohibit it."
"Furthermore, monasteries like the Great Hanging Temple, the Great Causality Temple, Zen Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism all have Mahayana ( Mahayanais a term for a brgroup ofBuddhisttraditions,texts,philosophies, and practices developed inancient India), but they are not the same."
"This shows that there are countless Buddhist dharmas in the world, and Buddhist dharmas are not singular. Precepts are only for strict self-discipline, to eliminate one's own negative desires."
The old monk added, "Everyone is a Buddha, and Buddha is all sentient beings."
"Buddhist scriptures are only for those with low comprehension who need guidance. Precepts are only for those with poor self-control who need restraint."
"Hsuan Kong…"
The old monk looked deeply at Ethan.
"Having no wisdom potential is the true 'purification of the six senses.' Your comprehension is superb, surpassing even the Buddha's heir in the Great Hanging Temple."
"It is a great fortune for Buddhism to have you, but also an unfortunate thing!"
Ethan asked curiously, "Master, what do you mean?"
The old monk lowered his eyebrows and chanted a Buddhist mantra, "Amitabha, the Buddha says it cannot be spoken, it cannot be spoken."
"In the future, you will surely understand the meaning of my words."
"However, that sentence is not important. The important thing is to be yourself and steadfastly follow your own path!"
Ethan nodded vigorously, his gaze firm and unwavering, saying, "Master, I will be steadfast on my path. I… am Buddha!"
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