Scrutiny

Throughout the past two years of Xia Ji’s stay, the once crammed archive chamber was a derelict place.

Not even a single skill book remained. Still, he had gone ahead and read almost all the sutras left on the shelves.

Buddha said,

“There is no self in all dharma.

That which lives suffers;

where does suffering come from?

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Only through persistence,

can attachments be broken;

then you will find your true self,

and attain nirvana.”

However, he did not listen to a word of it.

He had pored over the Heart Sutra, reciting it for nine days and nine nights, gaining the “Aryaacalanatha Form (ninth level)” skill bead. This skill bead was stored in the temple of his head. From there, he could simply retrieve it whenever he wished and store it again when he did not need to use it.

He had also flipped through the Diamond Sutra. The Diamond Sutra stated, “All things are like a dream—a phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning—that is how they should be observed.” He paid no attention to the contents but went ahead to recite it for nine days and nine nights, acquiring the “Nine Suns of the Heart Sutra (ninth level)” skill bead.

Following this, he had read the Buried Sutra for nine days and nine nights, obtaining the “Eighteen Levels of Hell Suppression Energy (ninth level)” skill bead.

The Buried Buddha had a great aspiration: that he would not become a Buddha before hell was made empty. He did not harbor such a grand ambition, and even if he did, this particular one was not for him.

That was because he was not Buddha.

He was just an imperial prince imprisoned in the depths of the palace who had lost his mother and whom no one cared for.

Even so, what he lacked in ambition he made up for in obsession.

“The body is a bodhi tree, and the heart a mirror? Always wipe it diligently, lest dust falls upon it?”

Sitting in front of the window, Xia Ji laughed as he shook his head.

The long winter and vast sky of the northern Imperial Capital were like the scene from a great battle; the many swan feathers dotting the landscape like the stumps of broken limbs, with a blood-soaked scenery replaced by rivers of slush.

He had already browsed all the sutras in the archive chamber.

Those three sutras were the only ones from which he could extract divine skills. Most of the other books yielded martial arts such as “Small Arhat Fist”, “Taming Tiger Vigor”, “Iron Cloth”, “Golden Bell Cover”, “Mantis Claw”, “Tyrant’s Finger” and “Strength of the Iron Bull”. He had ignored these skill beads, instead absorbing them directly into his primal spirit.

He stored them temporarily should the need ever arrive for them.

He had read a few martial arts novels before traversing into this world, like the

Murong Family of Gusu

, whose characters were familiar with all forms of martial arts. Murong Fu could use different techniques and even change tacks between blows. But what of it?

After all, these skill beads did not disappear but were merely stored in his primal spirit. From there, they could be used at any time upon recital, and their effects manifested immediately.

Thus, the three divine skills he had retrieved were the Aryaacalanatha Form, Nine Suns of the Heart Sutra, and Eighteen Levels of Hell Suppression Energy.

Presently, he was waiting for the Present Shakyamuni Sutra, as Leiyin Temple was the main temple located near the Dashang Dynasty’s Imperial Capital. In the past two years, he had realized that ancient books of supreme philosophy were more likely to grant divine skills.

Leiyin Temple was already present at the advent of the Dashang Dynasty.

Moreover, the Present Shakyamuni Sutra was Leiyin Temple’s Mahayana Sutra.

He needed that sutra.

Yet, could Xia Xiaosu procure it for him?

He did not know.

But he was already out of choices.

He only had one younger sister.

This was the only person he was close to.

Although the palace thronged and the Second, Fourth, and Eighth Imperial Princesses that he had mentioned earlier were excellent individuals, they could not compare to a single strand of Xia Xiaosu’s hair, even if their merits were combined.

It snowed the entire night.

The next morning, the blizzard stopped. The palace maid sent him plain white porridge and some small appetizers.

Xia Ji thanked her warmly. After finishing his meal, he moved to place the empty bowl back into the lunchbox, but the maid urgently seized it. Although the Imperial Prince was disheartened by this, he was not someone she could risk offending.

She did not know why, but the other imperial princes had exceedingly grand auras; simply approaching them was enough to make her feel stifled.

Only the Seventh Imperial Prince alone was approachable. Despite feeling this way, the palace maid dared not make conversation, lest she offended him. There were many rules in the palace, and nobody forgot them. Everyone knew their place because those who had failed to do so had already lost their heads.

The palace maid had only walked a few steps when the Seventh Imperial Prince’s tranquil chanting drifted from within the archive chamber.

“Subhuti! Those who have developed the anuttara-samyak-sambodhi should thus know, view, believe and comprehend all dharmas, and not produce marks of dharmas. Subhuti! The marks of dharmas are spoken of by the Tathagata as no marks of dharmas, therefore they are called the marks of dharmas.”

His voice was peaceful and neutral—like that of an elder monk who would sit in front of an ancient Buddha by candlelight—which greatly soothed the palace maid’s state of mind.

It also made a eunuch at a gazebo three hundred meters away nod his head inconspicuously.

Xia Ji had been reading sutras for two years.

This particular eunuch had also been secretly keeping watch over him for the past two years.

The eunuch was a master. Those in the palace called him Eunuch Mei, and he was the Imperial Emperor’s steward.

By evening, Xia Xiaosu rushed to the archive chamber, bearing a cloth bag that contained the sutra. Before she could approach the chamber, a smiling rotund eunuch called out to her.

The moment Xia Xiaosu recognized the person as Eunuch Mei, she bowed her head even lower, turning sideways to allow him passage. Although she was an imperial princess, she could not afford to slight this popular eunuch. Now that she had stumbled upon him unexpectedly, she considered greeting him before quickly moving on.

However, it became evident that Eunuch Mei had no plans to let her pass. Blocking the way ahead with his fly-whisk, he squawked, “His Highness had the Seventh Imperial Prince chant sutras as a form of reflection. I ask that the Ninth Imperial Princess not bring unnecessary books to disrupt his purification. If His Highness hears of this, he would be greatly incensed.”

Xia Xiaosu was so frightened she nearly began to tear up, hastily stammering, “Eunuch Mei, this is just the Present Shakyamuni Sutra of Leiyin Temple. Brother had requested that I borrow it for his perusal.”

Eunuch Mei’s eyes narrowed. “This is eye-opening to me. Does the Seventh Imperial Prince truly seek the Buddha?”

Xia Xiaosu nodded her head vigorously. “My brother is kind and his heart compassionate. He’s been chanting sutras for these past two years…”

“Then let me see it.”

Helplessly, Xia Xiaosu handed the cloth bag over to him.

Eunuch Mei untied the cloth bag, revealing what was indeed an old sutra.

“Please be careful with it. It was not easy asking the Leiyin Temple’s abbot for it and I have to return it in three days.”

“I know, no need for the imperial princess to tell me.”

Eunuch Mei replied as he rapidly sifted through the text. Buddhism had a strong presence in the Dashang Dynasty, and Leiyin Temple was near the Imperial Capital. The eunuch was not unskilled and was naturally able to determine whether it was a skill book.

He scanned it from front to back, doubling back a few times. In a joss stick’s lifespan, he concluded that nothing was out of the ordinary and returned the sutra along with the cloth bag to Xia Xiaosu. His round face beamed brightly, “Go on now. A day the both of you get to meet is a day worth cherishing.”

Xia Xiaosu did not know what this eunuch meant and did not think to ask. Feeling a wave of relief, she bundled the sutra, walked through the cloister, and knocked on the door to the chamber.

“Brother, it’s me.”

“Come on in.”

Xia Ji put down the Diamond Sutra he had been reciting.

“This is the Present Shakyamuni Sutra that you wanted. The abbot of Leiyin Temple agreed to lend it to me for three days, so you must return it to me by then.

Xia Ji nodded. He did not ask how Xia Xiaosu had acquired it, though he suspected it must not have been an easy process. He ruffled her soft hair and gently said, “Three days is enough.”

1. a family from the book “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils”