"The Buddhist Sect has always preached compassion, claiming to save the suffering, purify the world, and deliver all beings..." Gu Qingfeng stood beneath the tree, guarding Jun Xuanji, his gaze fixed on the ancient Buddha statue standing in the void that seemed not to belong to this place. He said in a low voice, "Since when did they start engaging in kidnapping like this!"
When he arrived in this mysterious Buddhist realm and saw that ancient Buddha statue, Gu Qingfeng had already determined that this so-called trap was not set by Jun Xuanji.
Because he had seen this Buddha statue before. He knew this thing represented the Heart Buddha.
The so-called Heart Buddha is invisible and intangible, not within the Great Dao, nor between heaven and earth. Since ancient times, it has been the only one.
And this 'only one' belongs to every person, and also belongs to the True Buddha.
Between heaven and earth, aside from the Buddhist Sect, no one could create a world of the Heart Buddha. Jun Xuanji couldn't do it. Even the masters of the Great Dao, up to the Old Heaven himself, lacked this ability.
In the void, Buddha Light still flickered, and the chanting of sutras never ceased.
At some unknown time, a person appeared on the palm of the ancient Buddha statue. A slovenly, unkempt old man. A mad monk wearing tattered clothes, a broken hat, and worn-out shoes, holding a tattered fan in his hand. He lay reclining on the Buddha's palm, one leg crossed over the other, shaking his tattered fan while sipping from a small jug of wine.
"Kid, long time no see." The slovenly mad monk stood up, jumped down from the Buddha statue, and looked at Gu Qingfeng with a smile. "Hope you've been well. Did you miss me?"
"It's you!"
Seeing this slovenly mad monk, Gu Qingfeng was quite surprised. In his lifetime, he had met many people from the Buddhist Sect, including those great monks who delivered all beings with boundless Buddhist Dharma. He had also seen monks who drank wine and ate meat. But if one were to ask for the monk who least resembled a monk, it would undoubtedly be the man before him.
This was a great monk, named Da Xing.
He wandered the Three Thousand Great Worlds year-round, saving people and aiding the world, spreading boundless great love and Buddhist Dharma, delivering all beings. People called him the Living Buddha. Because he was mad and fond of wine and meat, he was also called Da Xing the Mad Monk. Whether in the Three Thousand Great Worlds or between heaven and earth, he possessed an extremely high reputation.
Gu Qingfeng had met this Da Xing the Mad Monk before, and not just once. He well knew that this mad monk was not only eccentric in character but also possessed boundless Dharma power. He had personally witnessed this fellow lightly wave that tattered fan in his hand, causing a peerless old demon who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years to vanish into thin ash.
Towards Buddha, Gu Qingfeng had always kept a respectful distance.
A figure like Da Xing the Mad Monk before him, who didn't seem like a Buddha, was, to Gu Qingfeng, a friend who wasn't quite a friend, and a benefactor who wasn't quite a benefactor.
Calling him a friend was because both shared a common hobby: wine. They had also become acquainted because of wine.
Saying he wasn't a friend was because Gu Qingfeng had a grudge with the Buddhist Sect. At that time, this Da Xing the Mad Monk had stepped forward to persuade him, and in the end, the two had come to blows.
As for being a benefactor...
Back in the day, Gu Qingfeng had offended a Great Buddha. Not only was he besieged by three Great Sages, but he also faced Buddhist Source Deliverance. In the end, it was this Da Xing the Mad Monk who stepped forward to help resolve the situation.
Saying he wasn't a benefactor was because even if Da Xing the Mad Monk hadn't intervened, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't have feared the deliverance.
Of course, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't deny this favor.
But that was all.
Towards people of the Buddhist Sect, Gu Qingfeng had never held much goodwill, and that included the old monk residing within the Bone Jade of Annihilation.
"What's the matter, kid?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk sat down on the ground, casually tossing the wine gourd in his hand over. "Don't tell me you've forgotten me so quickly?"
Gu Qingfeng caught the wine gourd and immediately tossed it back. "Why are you here?"
"What's the hurry? Let's chat while we drink."
Da Xing the Mad Monk tossed the wine gourd over again.
Gu Qingfeng still didn't catch it. "If you have something to say, say it. If you have gas to pass, pass it. I don't have time to waste with your nonsense!"
"I say, after so long apart, you're still the same old temperament. At the very least, we're friends, aren't we? Even if we're just drinking buddies, that's still friends, right? Since we're friends and haven't seen each other for so long, can't we have a proper chat?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk sat cross-legged, took the wine gourd, tilted his head back for a swig, let out a satisfied "ah," and wore an expression of pure enjoyment. "I know you, kid, love good wine, so I specially got a jar of 'Nine Lives Nine Deaths.' Back in the day, you and that Old Daoist went back and forth for years over this jar of Nine Lives Nine Deaths, didn't you?
You were willing to trade a Nine Nethers heavy treasure for it, but in the end, the Old Daoist still refused. And then you, in a fit of rage, actually snatched a jar right from that Old Daoist! Made that old fellow chase after you everywhere!
When he couldn't find you, that Old Daoist cursed you for a good hundred years. Even now, mentioning this matter makes him tremble with anger."
"That Old Daoist is notoriously difficult to deal with in the Heavenly Realm. Once you provoke him, it's almost endless. When I heard about this back then, I couldn't understand it at all. For a jar of lousy wine, you actually went and robbed the Old Daoist. It wasn't until I personally tasted a sip of Nine Lives Nine Deaths that I understood why you resorted to robbery!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk took another sip, his whole body trembling. He drew a deep breath. "This Nine Lives Nine Deaths is truly the pinnacle among wines, the sovereign of wines!
One sip down the throat, it invades the soul, as if experiencing life and death. It's really...
Amazing!"
Opening his eyes, Da Xing the Mad Monk tossed the wine gourd over again with a smile. "Come on, I know you, kid, have long been unable to resist the craving."
This time, Gu Qingfeng caught it but didn't toss it back. Instead, he directly poured out the wine from the gourd. Seeing this, Da Xing the Mad Monk scrambled to his feet, snatched the wine gourd back from Gu Qingfeng's hand, and glared with wide eyes, shouting, "Even if you won't drink it, you can't waste it! This is Nine Lives Nine Deaths!
Do you know how hard it was for me to get this jar of wine for you?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk glared, shouting, "Don't you know how stingy that bastard Old Daoist is? He treats this broken stuff as more important than his own life. To get this thing for you, I begged everyone I could, even knelt down to that bastard Old Daoist, and he still wouldn't give it! In the end, that bastard made me do one thing for him before he gave me this single jar. Do you know what he made me do?
You don't!
You, kid, can't even imagine. It was simply...
Simply not something a human should do!
To get you this jar of Nine Lives Nine Deaths, I not only lost my own face, I even disgraced the faces of my ancestors for eighteen generations..." Da Xing the Mad Monk cursed loudly, his face red and neck thick with anger, muttering profanities. "It's fine if you, kid, don't appreciate the favor, but you even pour out my wine! This stuff was bought with my dignity! Pouring out my wine is like stepping on my face, trampling on my dignity!"
Gu Qingfeng said with an expressionless face, "Da Xing, I'll say it one more time. I don't have time to waste with your nonsense!"