Retracting her outstretched arm, Phoenix swung her wide sleeves and soon the broken scythe appeared in her palm in one piece. It then transformed into prayer beads and circled around her wrist.
Seeing that she no longer had the intention to continue the fight, Little Monk heaved a sigh of relief.
It was then he heard her speaking as she smiled with a slight twitch in her eyes, âI didnât expect people from Tian Dao to bring along demons when attending the Buddhism feast. Why, is Tian Dao short of money recently?â
Upon hearing Phoenixâs words, the man lifted his apathetic eyes to meet hers.
This was nothing but a typical eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.
All the Gods and Buddhas felt like they could hear the crackling sound of flickering flames.
Honored Sir coughed lightly.
Little Monk quickly stepped forward and tugged at the corner of Phoenixâs robe, âMy lord, you will be grounded. You donât want it to happen again, right?â
Phoenix glanced down at the little one and touched his head with a smile, âWhereâs my food?â
âItâs ready.â Little Monk lowered his voice, âThe table with the most food is yours.â
As if he feared that the Emperor might hear it, he spoke with all his strength on his fingertips.
Phoenix raised her eyebrows, âAlright, got it. Eat more and fight less, right? Just take me there now.â
Honored Sir in his cassock explained on behalf of Phoenix as he watched her walking to her seat, âPhoenix always behaves like this whenever she sees monsters. Sorry to have startled you, Emperorâ
The man curled his thin lips into a smile, â What a beautiful blade! Too bad itâs in Buddhism.â
âAmitabha, are you talking about that scythe, Your Highness?â Honored Sir laughed, âEmperor, if you like it you can take some prayer beads back and refine them for a hundred days to get the blade.â
The man withdrew his gaze and his smile was getting gentler. His eyes seemed to reflect the silhouettes of those demons behind him, âYouâre welcome, Honored Sir. Itâs not the blade that Iâm talking about actually.â
Not the blade? Whatâs it then? Slightly knitted his eyebrows, Honored Sir did not continue on this topic and spoke to the crowd, âThe clearance of the Sea of Blood this time is not just a blessing for Buddhism, but also for the Six Dao. Thanks to the Emperor, a miracle happened. Golden Lotus had gained her human form yesterday. Thus in order to express her gratitude, she will be reciting the buddhist scriptures for a hundred days and spread the blessings to the world!â
The lady who was now a Buddha walked out amidst the billowing clouds as Honored Sir spoke. An aura of elegance radiated as she was in her flowing white cassock, like a blooming lotus with subtle fragrance in the air.
The lady smiled with a tinge of shyness on her face and sanskrits echoed, âEmperor.â
âSo this is Golden Lotus. Being raised up before the Buddha really makes her extraordinary. â
âBut her attainment is still too low, so as her ranking of Buddhism.â
âYou shouldnât be making comparisons like this. Golden Lotus was born in Buddhism and gained her human form after being enlightened by the sanskrits. She is considered purer than other Buddhas who had gone through all the sufferings in the world. It is a well known fact that the Emperor has a particular fondness for those who are pure.â
âIf thatâs the case, Phoenix was raised up in Buddhism as well. There were 33 strikes of Light of Buddha shone upon hell when she was born. It was the True Buddha who brought her into Buddhism. Though she didnât become a Buddha right away, she is purer than any of us.â
âI know she is pure, but weâre talking about the number one in Buddhism. Honored Sir wanted to pacify Tian Dao and thatâs why Golden Lotus is here right now. You canât expect Phoenix to do this, am I not right?â
âTrue indeed! After all, thereâs no one else with a higher ranking in Buddhism than Phoenix within the Buddhaâs gate.â
Even though she got the ranking in Buddhism through countless demon slaughterings, still nobody could surpass her.
Phoenix tended to be quiet when she had something to eat. Matchmaking was never her cup of tea. It was just that Little Monk beside her kept on winking at her, which was obviously asking her to not fight with the Emperor.
To be honest, Phoenix felt like she had not had any major conflicts with the Emperor before.
Although he disliked her, so did she.
Nevertheless, did they ever look like they were not getting along well?
Phoenix tried to recall the time when she first met this man.
There was quite a distance between them and with his inbred elegance, she thought they had always greeted each other with nods.
Why must she be the one to start the fight in other peopleâs eyes?
Little Monk heard her doubts and laughed, âMy lord, stop being such a hypocrite. You almost stabbed the Emperor a few moments ago. As for the greeting, itâs basically an aloof and slight nod from afar. You call that a greeting, huh?â
âIâm just following what heâs doing.â Phoenix tossed a piece of chestnut cake into her mouth and chewed on it. She kept on smiling in a careless manner, âI greeted him the same way he greeted me.â
Little Monk glanced at her from left to right, âYeah, I know it. The Emperor will nod to anyone he meets. But the Emperor does it in a pleasant manner. The way you do it, is sort of provoking. Itâs all depends on the temperament. You got it?â
âI think my temperament is quite good. Canât you see that many from Tian Dao came and proposed to me?â Phoenix put her wooden chopsticks down. She felt the urge to fight for her looks.
Little Monk chuckled, âThatâs because Tian Dao needs you to fight for them.â
âOkay, I understand now.â Phoenix smiled in a rather malevolent manner, âItâs the same concept like how Buddhism is trying to rope the Emperor in.â
Little Monk acknowledged her words in a mumble and held the wooden fish in his hands, âAnyhow, you have to behave yourself today, my lord. And those proposals from Tian Dao are useless. Your love is meant for the alleviation of the worldâs suffering, my lord.â
âBuddhism wants me to alleviate the worldâs suffering.â Repeating this sentence, Phoenix snorted as her eyes turned cold, âWhat a good choice.â
Little Monk had no idea why did Phoenix raise to her feet all of a sudden, âMy lord, my lord, where are you going?â
âMission completed. Iâm going to go water the Bodhi tree and recite my sutras.â Phoenix moved her hand and the scythe appeared in her palm again.
Nobody would or dared to stop her. To those Buddhas, killing was never a good thing after all.
Despite the vast mountains and lakes, there was always a silhouette from Buddhism, standing ramrod straight and lonely at the same time...
Speaking of reciting sutras, Phoenix would really do it by sitting under the Bodhi tree in her usual languid posture. She would speak to the Bodhi tree every time she flipped a page.
âYou are the only one who is always by my side.â
âMy trip to the magical realm this time had left me wounded, but it was an interesting place. I even saw some mermaids there.â
âBut I canât stay there for too long, or else I will be grounded.â
âI felt like my hands are locked up. It feels bad, but itâll be worth it if youâre able to transform into a human...â
Phoenix fell asleep as she spoke. Her raven black hair along with the white robe were more than enough to outline a spectacular view.
The Bodhi tree that had been motionless for million of years gave out a pleasant sound as if it was swaying in the breeze.
That year, the Bodhi treeâs response turned out to be a gesture of comfort.
To comfort the lonely you in the entire universe...