Chapter 346: One Finger Monastery’s Bottleneck
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
“You were long informed that doing good alone is only a minor show of good. Getting people to do good is a major show of good. Still, the reward this time is really not bad.”
Fangzheng’s heart stirred when he heard that. He rushed to the temple hall to take a look. He felt that the Bodhisattva this time might be somewhat different!
Upon entering the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall, he looked up and indeed saw another Bodhisattva on the Ten Thousand Buddha plaque! The Bodhisattva wore a Pilu Crown and a Kasaya. There was a monk staff in one hand and a lotus flower in the other. The Bodhisattva sat on the back of a strange monster. It had a tiger’s head, a single horn, the ears of a hound, a dragon’s body, a lion’s tail, and Qilin feet.
Upon seeing this, Fangzheng knew who it was.
Fangzheng pressed his palms together and bowed. “Greetings, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva!
The one that had arrived was none other than Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. The beast the Bodhisattva sat on was none other than his mount, Di Ting.
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva held down Six Ways with his six avatars. He had proclaimed his grand wish, “Before h.e.l.l is empty, I will not become Buddha. Only after all sentient beings are saved, will I attain Buddhahood.” He was a Bodhisattva with infinite merit and one of great benevolence. He was also a Bodhisattva that Fangzheng respected deeply.
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s mount, Di Ting, was also an extraordinary beast. One of the symbolizations of its single horn was that it could receive information across the universe like an ‘antenna.’ It could also be used to attack and defend. Its hound ears were like a radio of the universe, transmitting the ability to distinguish good from bad to all believers. Its dragon body represented good luck. Its tiger head represented wisdom and bravery. It would charge ahead despite the difficulties and never shrink back. Its lion’s tear represented patience and ambition. It was bent on winning in whatever it did. Its Qilin feet represented stability, having good intention towards others, coexisting peacefully with people and treating good as treasure.
It could be said that Di Ting combined the bodies of countless lucky beasts, making it a lucky beast itself! It was extraordinary.
“Who knows if This Penniless Monk can use the powers of Di Ting.” Upon having this thought appear, Fangzheng immediately tried to conjure an ability with his mind. And amazingly, he discovered in surprise that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva could really augment him with a unique ability. The Door to h.e.l.l! But there were no other abilities. Fangzheng similarly could not use Di Ting’s abilities.
“Don’t be greedy. If you want to borrow even more divine forces, cultivate more. Once your merit reaches the required amount, you will naturally receive the augmentation of more divine forces.”
Fangzheng shook his head helplessly. He really coveted Di Ting’s various divine powers. He was also interested in Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Forces of the Six Ways. Most importantly, he wished to know if there was really such a thing as samsara in the world, or if there were really ghosts.
Unfortunately he was not capable enough and could only give up the thought. He quickly checked the abilities of the Door to h.e.l.l.
The Door to h.e.l.l could drag evil people to the gates of h.e.l.l. It connected to the eighteen levels of h.e.l.l, and could be considered an extremely terrifying means of punishment. Any one could be thrown in. The Door to h.e.l.l would then make judgment based on their sins, negative karma, and merit before meting out punishment. The eighteen levels of h.e.l.l could give a person the complete and most perfect punishment combo meal. They would be washed clean of their sins before they would be thrown out. Furthermore, the memory would be embedded deep in their souls, warning them not to do evil again. Simultaneously, they would not be able to mention anything about the experience.
However, the Door to h.e.l.l would not kill anyone. It was a place to wash the sins of people. From there, it was equivalent to gaining new life. All the sins and negative karma would be washed clean. But if they were to commit wrongdoings again and be unrepentant, their negative karma would only be increased severalfold! If they entered the Door to h.e.l.l again, the pain they would suffer would be increased severalfold as well. Of course, since time immemorial, no one had had the courage to enter h.e.l.l a second time.
After Fangzheng saw the abilities the Door to h.e.l.l would give him, he grinned. This was quite powerful! This was not the hallucinative experience of A Golden Millet Dream, but an actual experience! Fangzheng believed that whoever got dragged in would definitely have the time of their life.
“Nice, whoever dares offend This Penniless Monk in the future will be thrown in to enjoy a combo meal!” Fangzheng chuckled as he murmured to himself.
Days pa.s.sed one after another. Although One Finger Monastery was growing in fame, the number of visitors that came did not increase very substantially. Fangzheng had no solution to this. One Finger Monastery was just too remote. Behind it was an uninhabited mountain, and beyond the mountain was another country. People from that country would not run over to pray to Buddha. And on the other side, there were all sorts of farms and villagers. The nearest county city was Songwu County, before Black Mountain City. Ignoring Songwu County, even Black Mountain City did not have a modern high-speed train network. They only had slow trains that allowed for some commuting.
Black Mountain City was in a corner of the country, and it did not have any special scenic regions or any resources that could be of influence. Therefore, the country did not plan on building a high-speed rail towards it. At least, there was no hope for that presently.
Years ago, the country permitted the lumbering of trees. Back then Black Mountain City became a popular destination. Many lumbering bosses made a killing as a result. But lumbering was banned in recent years. The wood industry, with their factories and various related industries, vanished nearly overnight.
The city gained a train station as a result of the wood industry, but now, there was none of such help any further.
Therefore, Black Mountain City was not a very accessible area. It made it difficult for people to flow in. In addition, Black Mountain City did not have anything attractive to bring outsiders in. Therefore, the population was basically a fixed number. Black Mountain City’s mayor would be thanking the heavens if the population did not decrease every year.
A fixed population, poor accessibility, and flat lands until the distant Mt. One Finger were factors that basically made the situation a rare one. This also resulted in there being no sudden surge in visitors despite Mt. One Finger becoming famous.
Of course, most importantly, One Finger Monastery was still not as famous as the other older monasteries.
Fangzheng naturally knew all these reasons. Thankfully, he was in no hurry. He believed that as long as he developed well, acc.u.mulating merit by taking things one step at a time, he would eventually have everything.
That day, Fangzheng was hiding from the sun in the bamboo forest in the back when he suddenly saw Squirrel run over, shouting, “Master, Master! There’s a problem. Quick, go take a look!”
Fangzheng looked at Squirrel, feeling a little speechless. Why was the little guy always exclaiming that there was a problem? Was he cursing him to have problems?
“Jingkuan, don’t be in a rush every time. Speak, what happened?” Fangzheng stood up as he asked.
“Just now, I went to Mt. Tongtian to play and saw people. They were holding very long objects. They let out a very loud noise and a boar’s hide ruptured open, making it bleed profusely. Those people even brought huge dogs to chase the boar. That boar was quite pitiful,” said Squirrel with teary eyes.
Fangzheng’s brows knitted immediately when he heard that. If one had to point out something a poor and rural village like One Finger Village had that could attract outsiders, it would be the Changbai mountain range behind the Mt. Tongtian mountain range! The mountains had all kinds of deer and groups of boars. There were many resources in there. This attracted many poachers.
To be precise, they were not professional poachers. Instead, they used special methods to obtain air guns or composite bows. They were r.e.t.a.r.ded b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that ran into the forests to enjoy the thrill of the hunt!