Chapter 177 — The Sea of Suffering Is Hard to Cross
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 5
He pressed his palms together and bowed once to Pu Zhao's remains, then walked straight out. At the very threshold he said mildly: "Young benefactor, I think you wish to be alone with my junior brother Pu Zhao for a while. I will be in the meditation hall ahead; if you have need of me, come find me there."
Ming Li did not answer, as though he had not heard. At this moment his eyes held only the monk Pu Zhao in the faint light.
Master Pu Cheng sighed, opened the door, lifted the curtain, and went out. The room was utterly still.
Slowly, slowly, Ming Li moved his feet, drawing step by step toward Pu Zhao. He seemed afraid of something, at a loss; he who had once hated so bitterly—why was it that now boundless sorrow welled up in his heart?
The man sat there quietly, without a spark of life, and yet as though he had been waiting all along for something; on his pain-shadowed face there seemed even a kind of yearning and expectation.
Ming Li came slowly to stand before him, staring at Pu Zhao, his hands slowly clenching until his nails dug deep into his flesh—but in the end he let them fall open. As though he had lost all support, strength draining from him, he sank silently to the ground and sat before Pu Zhao, not saying a word.
The faint light flickered, shining on Pu Zhao and on him—the shadows of two men.
Time halted in that room, now flowing backward, now leaping ahead, but what never changed was this: what kind of hearts were these two?
Though one still beat, and one was already still.
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"Dong... dong... dong... dong..."
The morning bell rang out once more, echoing into every corner of Mount Sumeru, slow and far-reaching, waking men from dreams, and yet with something in it that could carry a man away from the dusty world altogether.
At the summit of Mount Sumeru, at Little Sanskrit Sound Temple, outside the silent meditation hall, came a knock at the door.
Master Pu Cheng raised his brows, then shook his head slightly and sighed. "Is that Fa Cheng? Come in."
Fa Cheng entered at the word, came forward, and bowed to Master Pu Cheng. On his face there seemed a trace of worry. "Master, a full day and night have passed, and Benefactor Zhang still has not come out."
Master Pu Cheng shook his head. "A karmic bond from former lives, a lifetime's love and hate—how could such things be so easily seen through and set down?"
Fa Cheng pressed his palms together and said in a low voice, then frowned and said to Master Pu Cheng: "Master, my worry is that the 'Jade Ice Plate' in that little room, though it preserves the dharma body of Uncle Pu Zhao from decay, gives off a cold beyond cold that is greatly harmful to ordinary men. And Benefactor Zhang has barely recovered from grave injury, his mind in turmoil and pain—if he should be left with some... lingering illness, how could we answer to Uncle Pu Zhao's dying charge?"
Master Pu Cheng said mildly: "No matter. Yesterday I used the Great Brahma Prajna to shield his heart meridian, and with his own cultivation besides, the cold, poisonous though it is, should no longer do him harm."
Hearing this, Fa Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and pressed his palms together. "So that is how it is. This disciple is reassured."
Master Pu Cheng nodded, and glanced at Fa Cheng. "I see you are most solicitous for this Benefactor Zhang. There was your Uncle Pu Zhao's dying charge, to be sure—but for yourself as well, it seems you regard him with particular favor."