Chapter 181 — The Wordless Jade Wall

Ming Li was silent. After a long while he let out a slow breath, said not a word, walked onto the platform, and sat cross-legged. He did not look at the others around him again, only drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sat there without moving.

Master Pu Cheng studied Ming Li for a long time, then turned and glanced at the monks behind him, and nodded.

Several dozen monks of Brahma Voice Temple—Master Pu Cheng among them, the divine monk Pu Fang, the mysterious old monk at Master Pu Cheng's side, and Fa Cheng, Fa Jing, and the rest—joined their palms and chanted the Buddha's name.

Several dozen threads of pale golden light slowly welled up, and faintly the sound of Sanskrit chanting seemed to come drifting from the edge of heaven.

Suddenly the golden light blazed forth. Within the strange formation where the monks sat, golden radiance coursed and the air was solemn with Buddha-power; the golden light streaming from the monks grew ever fiercer and more dazzling. After a moment came a deafening roar, and a great golden character—Buddha—appeared above the formation in all its glorious brilliance, rising slowly.

The chanting grew louder and louder, and all between heaven and earth was hushed and reverent. The golden Buddha character climbed higher and higher, slowly reaching midair, where it stood upright. Under the sunlight of the sky's edge it grew ever more impossible to look upon.

As though roused by the Buddha's true word, upon that sheer cliff the once-smooth jade wall slowly revealed a reflection of the Buddha character—yet not as an ordinary mirror would show it. From a tiny point it slowly grew larger, little by little giving off golden light, little by little taking on the shape of the character. And as the image upon the Wordless Jade Wall grew, the Buddha's true word in midair seemed to dim somewhat.

Quickly the Buddha character within the Wordless Jade Wall grew until it had well-nigh surpassed the true Buddha character in midair. Now the whole Wordless Jade Wall shone with golden brilliance, radiant and glowing, accompanied by ceaseless Sanskrit chanting. Suddenly a thread of pale golden Buddha-light shone out from the jade wall, slowly streaming forth to envelop Ming Li where he sat in peace.

Ming Li's body stirred; a trace of pain showed dimly on his face, but he did not open his eyes—he endured it. Soon the pain faded from his face, and he sat still and motionless.

The Buddha-light cast from the Wordless Jade Wall was pale and unchanging; the golden glow flickered slowly with an inexpressible solemnity. The monks of Brahma Voice Temple about him likewise showed no change of countenance, softly chanting the Buddha's name; the radiance above their formation turned in its slow course, sustaining that Buddha's true word in the sky.

Time flowed on, and so passed quietly away...

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Three days later, the Buddha character upon the Wordless Jade Wall showed not the slightest sign of weakening, and the pale Buddha-light it cast still enveloped Ming Li. His face was calm, as though these three days had wrought no change in him at all, as though he were still as he had been when he first arrived. But around him, from Master Pu Cheng down, though the formation the monks of Brahma Voice Temple upheld was unchanged, signs of weariness had begun to show on every face.

Master Pu Cheng slowly opened his eyes from his meditative trance and looked toward Ming Li, still sitting calm and peaceful. After a long pause he sighed low: "Foolish child, foolish child—in the end you still cannot let it go?"

With that he shook his head gently, sighing without cease.

The divine monk Pu Fang, seated below him on the left, said mildly, "We have labored so, setting up the Buddha sect's Great Subduing-Demons Formation—first, to purge the malevolence of the Blood-devouring Bead from him, and more importantly, to dissolve the demon in his heart. But his heart is barred fast, and the demon is hard to banish. Even if the malevolence of the Blood-devouring Bead were purged, how do we know he will not turn demon nonetheless one day? What we do today may only be aiding the tyrant in his cruelty!"

Master Pu Cheng frowned, his face darkening. "Junior brother, this young man has the deepest of ties with our Brahma Voice Temple. By no means may we speak lightly of giving him up. Why do you say such a thing?"

Pu Fang's expression shifted. He joined his palms and said, "Your reproof is just, senior brother. It is not that I bear this young man any prejudice; truly, it is that I thought of those years ago... of how we brothers were parted in life and death, and my heart grieved, and I wished never to see him take the crooked path again. I spoke out of turn; I ask your punishment, senior brother."

Master Pu Cheng's face softened. "Do I not share your mind? Else I would not have set this Subduing-Demons Formation, meaning to use the great power of the Buddha's true dharma to bring him across. But here beneath the Wordless Jade Wall, it seems he too..."

He had spoken but half his words when suddenly, in the valley that had been so still and solemn, a great crash rang out from empty air; the whole Wordless Jade Wall trembled faintly, and at once the Buddha character in midair and the one within the jade wall alike tottered as if about to fall.

Master Pu Cheng and the monks of Brahma Voice Temple turned pale with fright, stunned for a moment. They hastened to urge on the true dharma, but then saw a look of pain suddenly rise on Ming Li's face—the Soul-devouring Bead, held down by Buddha-dharma these three days, flared fiercely to life, and a black aura in an instant covered his face.

Master Pu Cheng had never supposed the demon-power of the Blood-devouring Bead so tenacious, that after three days and nights of suppression it should still have strength to resist. He was about to call on the others once more to sustain the formation, but Ming Li could endure no longer; he gave a long cry and rose into the air.

The Buddha's true word in midair burst asunder with a crash. Ming Li, aloft in that shattered word, howled long at the sky like a madman, and at the same time turned to look toward the Wordless Jade Wall—and saw within it lines of dark red uncanny light, gold and crimson struggling without end.

Just as the light flashed wild and strange visions multiplied, a sudden clap of thunder pealed from the sky's edge, and all beneath heaven dimmed.

Winds and clouds came rolling from the four quarters. Upon the smooth jade face of the Wordless Jade Wall, from top to bottom, a row of great characters appeared, bit by bit, as though deeply engraved—and besides these, countless golden characters, archaic and hard to fathom, leapt and flickered like boiling water amid the gold and crimson light, dazzling the eye. And that single row of characters stood out clear and distinct, and read:

Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs!

...

Preview of the next volume:

Upon the Wordless Jade Wall the characters of the Heavenly Book stand revealed—can it be that the holy ground of Brahma Voice Temple has some uncanny tie to this classic of the demon cult? Ming Li's heart-demon cannot be banished, and in the end he breaks through the wall and departs.

The Ming King Sect secretly revives, and the mysterious "Four Spirits Blood Formation" grows ever more complete. A secret order from the Ming King bids Master Gui inform Ming Li: hunt the Beast Sovereign in the southern borderlands, and seize the strange beast Taotie that attends him.

The winds of the southern border shift once more; mysterious figures, half-seen and half-hidden, seem about to take the stage again!...