Chapter 138 - 135: Joyful Buddhist Dharma

Chapter 138: Chapter 135: Joyful Buddhist Dharma

The Killing Pocket Watch once again erupted with its bizarre power, enveloping Zhang Haoceng and the Evil Qilin.

Zhang Haoceng’s consciousness entered the Evil Qilin’s inner world.

This was the ultimate power of the Killing Pocket Watch.

To enter the ’victim’s’ mind and kill their perception!

If a mother deeply loved her child, the user of the Killing Pocket Watch could enter her inner world and kill that child.

Once the child in her inner world was killed, the mother would completely forget her own child.

The user could also reshape the child, causing all of the mother’s love to be transferred to someone else.

Even if that ’someone else’ was a decrepit old man, the mother would bestow all her maternal love upon that ’old man’.

In the victim’s inner world, the user of the Killing Pocket Watch was practically one of the Deities.

.....

Zhang Haoceng saw the Evil Qilin’s inner world.

His pupils contracted violently!

Recently, in order to study the power of the Killing Pocket Watch, he had entered the inner worlds of several patients and nurses.

The inner world of a patient with severe depression was a dreary, rainy day, or a pitch-black void.

For a patient with severe PTSD from a car accident, his inner world was the day of the crash.

The inner world of a young nurse who had just fallen in love was pink, where the streetlights glowed in the shape of hearts.

The inner world of an ordinary person was calm, just like the normal, real world.

But the Evil Qilin’s inner world was completely different from any he had ever seen.

Zhang Haoceng found himself under a glittering golden sky.

Above and before him were auspicious clouds of gold.

Beneath his feet, a dense layer of golden clouds stretched out as far as the eye could see.

Zhang Haoceng had never seen such a fantastical inner world.

He took a step forward.

The golden clouds beneath his feet parted slightly from his step.

He sensed something, and looking down, his eyes flew wide open!

The very foundation of this world was a colossal, reclining, Golden Buddha!

Zhang Haoceng suddenly noticed something and looked around.

As the golden clouds drifted past, he could faintly make out gilded Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats.

Zhang Haoceng murmured:

’I can’t believe it. For someone so young, the Evil Qilin is a lay Buddhist with profound knowledge of the Buddhist Dharma!’

’Inner worlds don’t lie.’

With a single thought, Zhang Haoceng teleported to the edge of this world.

At the edge was a tall, black mountain.

This black mountain was pressing down on the Buddha’s head, appearing quite out of place in this world.

Zhang Haoceng paid the black mountain no mind, instead focusing his gaze on a stone floating halfway up its side.

In an inner world, the user of the Killing Pocket Watch is a god.

So, Zhang Haoceng floated up effortlessly to the mountainside to get a clearer look at the stone.

On the stone was a carving of a naked man and woman embracing.

At the bottom of the stone, the two words ’Joyful Buddha’ were written in a flamboyant, calligraphic script.

’So this must be the Evil Qilin’s ’stone friend’?’

Zhang Haoceng reached out toward the stone.

’As long as I erase this stone, the Evil Qilin’s ’stone friend’ will disappear.’

’And if I reshape this stone into myself, I’ll become the Evil Qilin’s best friend.’

Zhang Haoceng couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement.

The expensive Tang suit, the profound Buddhist Dharma, the otherworldly air—everything pointed to the Evil Qilin being a Crown Prince with an unimaginably powerful background.

’Soon, this Crown Prince will be completely under my thumb.’

The moment Zhang Haoceng touched the stone, a strange phenomenon occurred!

The black mountain began to tremble violently, and fragments of rock tumbled down.

The instant the fragments broke off the mountain, images and words began to appear on them.

The image was of a naked man and woman embracing, and the words were ’Joyful Buddha’.

As for the black mountain...

It had transformed into a giant Black Buddha, sitting cross-legged atop the Golden Buddha’s head with its palms pressed together!

Zhang Haoceng looked up in astonishment.

The giant Black Buddha was faceless.

Gradually, facial features began to form, coalescing into the likeness of the Evil Qilin!

Two voices echoed through this world.

An old voice:

"Qilin, what do you think a Buddha is?"

A childish voice:

"Master, a Buddha is an Immortal!"

The old voice:

"Where would an Immortal come from in this world? A Buddha is originally formless; it is the world that gives the Buddha the appearance of an Immortal."

The childish voice:

"Then what is a Buddha?"

The old voice:

"The Buddha is in your heart. You must see it for yourself."

The childish voice:

"I understand, Master. I will nurture a large stone in my heart.

Every day, I will carve it. Every day, I will clear the dust from it. I will also recite scriptures to it every day and teach it the greatest Buddhist Dharma."

The old voice faded away.

The childish voice gradually matured into that of a young man, ringing throughout this world.

"I am selfless, I am formless, I am without desire.

Nurturing the stone gives me form; clearing the dust reveals a pure image.

If I am selfless, who is it that rejoices?

If I am formless, what is the shape of joy?

I see now. The Black Stone has become a Buddha, and I, too, am a Joyful Buddha."

The Evil Buddha held a stone carved with the two words "Joyful Buddha" in its palm and looked down condescendingly at Zhang Haoceng:

"Benefactor, you are too attached to form."

Zhang Haoceng stared at the Evil Qilin in horror.

’What in the world is going on with this person’s inner world?!’

’He actually nurtured a Buddha in his own mind!’

’And the Evil Qilin... he actually calls this Black Buddha a stone?!’

Alarm bells went off in Zhang Haoceng’s head.

A sense of crisis washed over him from all directions, like countless small, cold hands crawling over his body.

But then Zhang Haoceng had another thought.

’In an inner world, I am a god! I’m invincible!’

’Why should I be afraid of a construct in an inner world?!’

’With the Killing Pocket Watch, I can deliver a crushing blow from a higher dimension!’

Zhang Haoceng hurriedly tried to destroy the Black Buddha.

However, his punch met only empty air, as if he had struck nothing at all.

The Black Buddha did not open its mouth, but the Evil Qilin’s voice thundered between heaven and earth:

"I am selfless, I am formless. Benefactor, you are attached to form yet again."

Zhang Haoceng was afraid.

He had to escape.

The Evil Qilin’s voice rang out once more:

"I delight most in ’joy.’ I wish to give joy to all living beings, helping them reach the paradise of the Human World sooner.

Benefactor, I will gift you a Joyful Buddha."

The Joyful Buddha stone in the Black Buddha’s hand flew into Zhang Haoceng’s grasp.

The next second, the world transformed.

The foundation of this world—that reclining Golden Buddha—began to turn over.

The golden clouds vanished, the Black Buddha vanished, and Zhang Haoceng was transported from the golden world to the world beneath the Golden Buddha.

A dilapidated hall, dust-covered gold, silver, and jewels, and countless scattered skeletons.

The fear in Zhang Haoceng’s eyes threatened to spill out.

"What kind of terrifying patient is this?!"

Just as he was about to use the Killing Pocket Watch to escape, this world began to change.

Broken stones and splintered wood floated up, restoring the hall to its former opulent glory.

The dust on the gold, silver, and jewels vanished, making them glitter brilliantly once more.

The dry bones assembled into scantily clad beauties who writhed their bodies in seductive dances, surrounding Zhang Haoceng with flirtatious laughter.

Zhang Haoceng sank into a world of debauchery.

He couldn’t bear to leave this world.

Gradually, he began to laugh foolishly as he embraced one of the beauties.

He looked exactly like the image on the Joyful Buddha stone.

...

「In the psychologist’s office.」

The Evil Qilin’s eyes snapped open. He was gasping for air, cold sweat pouring down his face.

Red smoke billowed from the Oil Paper Umbrella, coalescing into the Eight-foot Bride. She looked worriedly at the Evil Qilin:

"My lord, are you all right?"

The Evil Qilin wiped away his sweat.

"I’m fine."

He looked at the unmoving Zhang Haoceng before him.

"He’s still a long way off from competing with my willpower."

The Eight-foot Bride glared at Zhang Haoceng, her face contorting as she raised her ghostly claws:

"He harmed my lord. He deserves to die!"

The Evil Qilin cried out:

"Stop!"

The Eight-foot Bride looked at the Evil Qilin with suspicion.

The Evil Qilin explained:

"The moment he dies, ’that person’ will be able to sense it.

We’re no match for him."

The Evil Qilin paused, then said with a sigh of resignation:

"Besides, I don’t want to make an enemy of him.

Haven’t you noticed?

The way he trades Taboo Items with buyers is very similar to the Joyful Buddhist Dharma."

The Eight-foot Bride said:

"Then my lord shouldn’t cooperate with the Taiping Dao.

The Taiping Dao and ’that person’ are surely mortal enemies."

The Evil Qilin pressed his lips together, not responding to the Eight-foot Bride directly.

He walked forward and took the Killing Pocket Watch from Zhang Haoceng’s hand.

"Didn’t that old monk say I would bring harm to the world?

I’ll show him how I can bring salvation to all living beings! How I can bring joy to the Human World!"