Chapter 1458 - 790: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Two-in-One)

The carriage no longer entered the mountain; instead, at the foot of the mountain, they found a suitable inn to leave their luggage. The three of them traveled light, following the winding mountain path, ascending slowly.

Ancient trees lined the path, towering and blocking out the sun, mostly camphor and paulownia trees. In between, one could see ginkgo trees hundreds of years old, though not yet the golden hue of autumn, their young leaves had just begun to sprout, a refreshing emerald shade, full of life.

As Chen Yi walked along the path, he thought of Mount Emei, recalling stories of the Emei Sect and Master Extinction. He remembered telling Zhou Yitang these stories years ago, saying "Zhou Zhiruo is also surnamed Zhou," to which she responded with a light comment, "I'm not as sinister as that."

His thoughts were drifting when Yin Weiyin next to him started recounting stories of Mount Emei, mentioning that this was the domain of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

Legend has it that during the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was an old man named Lord Pu who was collecting herbs at Cloud Ridge. Suddenly, he heard music in the sky and saw a group of people on horseback riding on a five-colored auspicious cloud, heading straight for the Golden Summit. Curious, Lord Pu followed them to the Golden Summit. He saw clouds billowing beneath Sacrifice Cliff, rainbows everywhere, and amidst the multicolored halo stood a figure crowned with treasures, riding a six-tusked elephant with a white jade Lotus Platform at his feet, it was Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

After recounting these tales, Yin Weiyin sighed, noting that Mount Emei was once known as a famous Taoist mountain, renowned in the world of Taoism. Near the Chunyang Hall on Mount Emei is the Thousand People Cave, rumored to be where Lu Dongbin honed his Taoist skills to become immortal. Mount Emei was even considered the seventh heaven on earth, and during Tang Kaiyuan, Xuanzong invited Immortal Minister Wang from Mount Emei to Chang'an seeking the Tao.

Yet nowadays Mount Emei lacks a single Taoist Temple, all converted into Buddhist Temples.

Chen Yi was not particularly interested in the Tao-Buddhist disputes, so he listened casually.

Before long, they saw an ancient mountain gate with the inscription "World Famous Mountain" on it, the calligraphy vigorous. Not far past the gate was Bao Guo Temple. The temple buildings were solemn, incense smoke lingered, and faintly audible were the sounds of morning bells and evening drums.

They did not enter the temple but merely gazed at the lingering incense smoke and devoted incense customers from afar, then continued their ascent.

Donggong Ruoshu had excellent stamina, walking at the front, occasionally shouting and pointing at uniquely shaped stones. Yin Weiyin walked with composed steps, not a speck of dust upon him.

Chen Yi lagged behind, his eyes occasionally sweeping over ancient cliff carvings on the rock walls, those blurred inscriptions expressing ancient people's insights or praises for the Buddhist Law.

In the forest, rustling sounds occasionally emanated, sometimes bright-colored squirrels darted swiftly past the treetops, clutching pine cones, some even boldly perched by the roadside, their shiny eyes curiously inspecting the travelers.

"Look! Monkeys!" Donggong Ruoshu suddenly whispered, pointed excitedly towards a dense forest on the left.

Several monkeys with brown-grey fur and bright red faces jumped agilely among the trees, these were the famous "spirit monkeys" of Mount Emei. They seemed unafraid of people, with one or two perched on high branches, scratching and watching the paths below.

Yin Weiyin gently cautioned, "Avoid direct gaze, do not tease, nor expose food. The monkey groups here are quite intelligent and can understand human intent, yet their wild nature remains untamed; they can be troublesome when in large groups."

Indeed, after walking a bit further, they came across a more open platform where a dozen monkeys gathered, some sunning on the rock face, grooming each other's fur. Others boldly perched on the roadside railings, eyes darting around, observing the passing travelers. A porter, seeing them from afar, laid his load down, from his pocket produced some corn kernels and scattered them on the empty ground, upon which the monkey group dashed forward, scrambling for them as the porter quickly passed by.

Donggong Ruoshu watched happily, saying, "I want to play too."

Chen Yi helplessly retrieved a package from Square Land, inside were flatbreads, handing them to her.

Miss Donggong crushed the flatbread and scattered it, she threw it far, instantly flying over the cliff edge, prompting the monkeys below to instinctively turn and leap down one by one.

After a while, Donggong Ruoshu asked, "Why aren't they coming up?"

Chen Yi was momentarily speechless.

Continuing their ascent, the mountain path grew increasingly steep and winding. Around noon, they encountered another temple at the end of the mountain path, Immortal Peak Temple.

Seeing the name, Chen Yi remembered something and was about to speak, but a figure in white robes passed by as Yin Weiyin headed towards Immortal Peak Temple.

In front of the temple, the Bodhi Tree was hung with red strips and paper notes, toward which she walked.

This kind of wish tree is common in Buddhist Temples and Taoist Temples, the incense customers writing their wishes on paper notes and hanging them up, wrapping a red cloth around them in hope they come true. The Bodhi Tree was covered in long and short, new and old, layers upon layers of notes fluttering in the wind.

Throughout the route, Yin Weiyin showed little interest in the various Buddhist Temples, yet paused before this Bodhi Tree.

When Chen Yi approached, she had already left the Bodhi Tree and entered the Great Hall, prompting the three to visit Immortal Peak Temple.

There wasn't much to say about the temple; the Great Hall, Relic Hall – along the way they encountered monks and Taoists nodding to each other, a Buddhist Sect's pure land, with no contention between the two.

They casually toured around as a break, and when Yin Weiyin left, she paused again by the Bodhi Tree.

Chen Yi suddenly had an epiphany, drew near, picked up a paper note nearby, and asked:

"Why don't we write one to hang up too?"

Yin Weiyin turned her head, glanced at him, and smiled:

"You finally understand, I thought it would take a third round."

Chen Yi was momentarily speechless, then said:

"Why didn't you say so directly?"

"Master Puti never summons in the middle of the night directly for purpose?"