Chapter 1 The Beginning

The young monk froze in place, unable to help but shout, "Master, there are no more inns ahead. We should go back."

The young monk spoke thus, not understanding Kong Hui's actions at all.

Lu Changsheng was also a little surprised.

He looked at Kong Hui and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Kong Hui, there are no inns ahead. If you insist on going, you will surely die."

Lu Changsheng was curious.

But Kong Hui nodded and said, "This humble monk understands."

"You understand, but you're still going? Don't you believe me?"

Lu Changsheng was even more curious.

However, Kong Hui shook his head and said,

"Benefactor misunderstands. This humble monk believes in benefactor."

This answer surprised Lu Changsheng even more.

"Since you believe, why are you still going?"

Kong Hui looked at Lu Changsheng. His old face looked very haggard, but his eyes were incomparably clear.

"Precisely because I believe, this humble monk understands. And precisely because I understand, this humble monk wants to walk it myself even more."

"This humble monk believes what benefactor says, but this humble monk has not seen it with his own eyes. The truth or falsehood of all things in the world cannot be heard clearly, nor can it be seen truly. Only when one personally experiences it can one understand."

Kong Hui answered in this way.

And Lu Changsheng was completely surprised.

He didn't expect that an ordinary monk would actually have such a state of mind.

"But the road ahead is extremely dangerous. Aren't you afraid of death?"

Lu Changsheng asked.

However, Kong Hui still shook his head and said, "Many things, if you don't see them with your own eyes, touch them with your own hands, and feel them with your own body, living is nothing more than a wasted trip. If you see them with your own eyes, touch them with your own hands, and feel them with your own body, it's worth dying."

"Everyone has persistence in their hearts, and everyone hopes to let go of their persistence. But it's easy to pick up, and extremely difficult to let go. This humble monk believes that the only way to let go of persistence is to be persistent to the end, regardless of success or failure, regardless of danger."

"If you don't try, how can you let go? It's nothing more than deceiving yourself."

Kong Hui said this.

Lu Changsheng nodded immediately.

Then he smiled slightly and looked at Kong Hui and asked,

"Kong Hui, what do you want to see by going forward?"

Lu Changsheng continued to ask.

And Kong Hui thought for a while, and then answered,

"To share the suffering for all living beings in the world, and also to see my Buddha."

Kong Hui answered in this way.

However, Lu Changsheng smiled.

"Kong Hui, you have already seen the Buddha."

He said this.

At this moment, Kong Hui was curious.

The young monk was also curious.

Not understanding the meaning of this sentence.

"Are you the Buddha?"

Kong Hui asked curiously.

"No!" Lu Changsheng shook his head, then looked at Kong Hui and said, "The Buddha is in front of you, but it's not me."

He said this.

"In front of me?"

Kong Hui looked at his disciple beside him and asked curiously, "Is benefactor saying that my disciple is the Buddha?"

"No!" Lu Changsheng shook his head.

"Is Heaven and Earth the Buddha?"

Kong Hui continued to ask.

"No!" Lu Changsheng still shook his head.

"Are all things the Buddha?"

Kong Hui asked again.

"No!" Lu Changsheng still shook his head.

"Am I the Buddha?"

Kong Hui asked in this way.

However, Lu Changsheng still shook his head.

"Then who is the Buddha?"

Kong Hui was even more curious.

However, Lu Changsheng pointed to the distance and said, "If you go forward fifteen hundred *li*, you will see the true Buddha."

He said this.

Kong Hui didn't understand, but he put his hands together and said, "Thank you, benefactor, for your guidance."

After saying this, Kong Hui still walked barefoot.

It was just that the young monk didn't move.

Kong Hui didn't call him, but went forward alone.

In the end, the young monk knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times to Kong Hui, then looked at the water bag and dry food on the ground, and then glanced at Lu Changsheng.

The latter nodded, indicating that he could take it.

Not caring.

"Thank you, benefactor."

The young monk took the water bag and dry food away and left in the opposite direction.

And so, time passed little by little.

The old monk walked in the desert.

He walked step by step.

The red earth was hot, and there were some sharp stones hidden in the sand and dust.

Even a pair of calloused feet would be cut when touching these stones.

Walking three hundred *li*.

Kong Hui was tottering, he didn't drink much water along the way, and had reached his driest point.

But his will made him continue to move forward.

The red earth was boundless, and there were snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the desert. Kong Hui was not afraid, he just kept moving forward.

Three days later.

Kong Hui fainted in the desert. If nothing unexpected happened, he would die here.

Lu Changsheng didn't go to rescue him, he was still sitting on the cliff, quietly watching all of this.

But soon, suddenly, the desert, which had been dry for who knows how many years, began to drizzle.

The raindrops fell, waking Kong Hui up.

He woke up.

But he was still very weak.

He used tree roots as food, although they were very bitter, he swallowed them.

On the ninth day, he set off again.

On the twentieth day, he encountered difficulties again. He was injured, his legs were covered in blood, and he was bitten by a lizard.

But Kong Hui still insisted on walking.

On the twenty-second day.

Finally.

He couldn't hold on any longer.

His legs were swollen and terrifying, flowing with pus and blood, looking horrible. He couldn't walk, he couldn't even crawl.

In the end, he sat on a cliff.

He was still about two or three hundred *li* away from one thousand *li*.

He couldn't walk over to witness it with his own eyes.

"Amitabha!"

Kong Hui put his hands together. He knew that his end was near and he was going to die here.

But he didn't have any regrets.

However, at the last moment.

A voice sounded.

"Do you know who the Buddha is?"

The voice sounded.

Kong Hui wasn't surprised at all.

Instead, he showed a smile and said,

"This humble monk knows."

Kong Hui smiled.

"Did you see it?"

The voice asked.

"I saw it."

Kong Hui said with a smile.

"Who is it?"

The voice asked again.

"It's me, two hundred *li* away."

Kong Hui answered with a smile, but didn't use 'this humble monk,' but used 'I.'

"Great wisdom."

At this moment, the voice carried a smile.

Then Lu Changsheng's figure appeared here.

"Kong Hui, today, in the name of a Buddha Master, I bestow upon you supreme Buddha-heart."

Lu Changsheng smiled. With a wave of his hand, Kong Hui's heart instantly turned into a Buddha-heart.

At this moment, the entire desert erupted with immeasurable Buddha-light.

Beams of golden Buddha-light covered the entire desert.

Sounds of Sanskrit rang out, resounding throughout Zhongzhou.

Western Desert.

Little Leiyin Temple.

The current abbot felt all of this in shock.

After a long while.

He put his hands together and said.

"Another divine monk has appeared in my Buddhist sect!"

"Amitabha, well done, well done."

The voice rang out, and beams of Buddha-light from the Western Desert poured into Zhongzhou and landed in the red earth.

In an instant, the desert turned into an oasis, and all kinds of plants were lush and vibrant, bursting with brilliant vitality.

And a young monk.

But standing under a city, his eyes filled with remorse.