Ill fate is continuously surging towards Simon, as if a layer of grey mist is about to envelop the mountains. He refuses no one, in other words, he is actively embracing evil.
Even for him, this process is risky, but he yearns for a true confrontation. He wants to go head-to-head with Xiangxu.
Simon greatly values the honor of combat. He dislikes manipulating an opponent's mind or tormenting an enemy's will; he only likes simple, direct destruction of their existence.
His favorite article is Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'.
The human body has limits, but the spirit does not.
Simon has never feared battle, not before, and not in the future.
Sun Lichai asked him, 'Lu Yuan, what are you thinking about?'
As she spoke, Simon could see her lips parting and closing, and inside her mouth, tiny insect legs twitched, their exoskeletons rubbing with a hissing sound.
'Thinking about some very ordinary things.'
'But you've been a bit distracted lately. Are you having intrusive thoughts?'
Those bound by a Zhengyuan Knot share a mental connection. Although Simon is independent, the others can generally understand his state.
Of course, Simon wouldn't have any intrusive thoughts; it was just that Sun Lichai vaguely sensed the ill fate.
Sun Lichai's figure became increasingly ethereal. Her voice came from all directions, silently. Countless Sun Lichais appeared around him. Simon could see a button on her lapel. It wasn't a button, but an Eight Failures cricket. Light flickered in its compound eyes, like a snake skin reflecting moonlight. As her collar swayed, these eyes also blinked, leaving mottled traces in the air.
Countless Sun Lichais, countless Eight Failures, countless flashes, like a swarm of fireflies by a summer lotus pond.
'Not intrusive thoughts, just some other miscellaneous matters.'
'How can I help?'
'Not yet.'
Simon looked up, the mortal wind stirring his robes.
Now, only one thing remains, a lingering concern.
…
Li Dingyin ran into the room, his face flushed with joy, 'That's it! That's it! This time the news is accurate!'
Liang Rulian put down her embroidery, dusted her cloth skirt, and stood up, a customary polite smile on her gentle face. But such a smile was truly sorrowful; the layer of dim, melancholic air on her face could not be dispelled by this simple smile.
'Why are you so flustered? Come, sit down and rest.'
Li Dingyin did not listen, only pacing back and forth, his expression constantly changing. A thin layer of sweat seeped from his greasy cheeks, flowing down his nasolabial folds to his jaw, like a frog dripping water on a hanger. He looked somewhat overly excited and bizarre.
'Dingyin, what's wrong?'
'Ru'er, do you still remember that we left Dezhang at Shaolin, right?'
'Of course, how could I forget?' Liang Rulian flinched at the name, the melancholy between her brows deepening.
'The whole world knows that a Buddhist Son has emerged from Shaolin. I've calculated the dates; the earliest this rumor appeared was four years ago, and we left Dezhang at Shaolin about five years ago.'
'You mean Dezhang is that Buddhist Son? Dingyin, don't think about such things. I only hope the child can practice well with the masters and live peacefully…'
'Ru'er!' Li Dingyin pursed his lips. He suddenly turned and stared at his wife, a flame burning in his eyes, swirling with hatred and pain. 'Dezhang is the Buddhist Son! He is the foremost Buddhist Son in the world! He is a Bodhisattva!'
Liang Rulian shook her head and smiled wearily and gently, just as she had reacted countless times after seeing such an expression on her husband's face. 'Dingyin, you still can't let go.'
'How can I let go? My Li family's great empire was just handed over to these commoners!'
'Prosperity and wealth are but for one lifetime. A hundred years from now, who isn't a handful of yellow earth? Dingyin, for us to even enter the Pure Land is already a blessing from a past life.'
'Ru'er, you're so pure now! Have you fallen for the evil magic of those Bald Donkeys? What Pure Land are you talking about? It's all fake!'
Only then did Liang Rulian realize that her husband was no longer simply obsessed with the past; he had utterly descended into madness.
'The Pure Land is real, you've been there too…'
'That was a dream! Fake!'
…
'No one would refuse the status of a prince! This so-called Buddhist Son certainly wouldn't. If he's not sensible, those Bald Donkeys will tell him what to do…'
Liang Rulian shook her head and sighed. She suddenly felt a profound sense of weariness. Her husband, the former crown prince, had now lost even the most basic political acumen and would become a complete lunatic in the future.
Sometimes, life's blows are so great that they make one ignore the pressure.
Liang Rulian felt she had nothing left to worry about.
How she would live in the future, as she herself said, a handful of yellow earth a hundred years from now.
Simon stood outside the house, leaning against the wall, listening to his birth parents' conversation.
The hallucinations grew heavier.
A black sun radiated bone-chilling cold light, murky colored oil flowed from the cracks in the flagstones on the street outside the door, and clusters of skulls hung from the branches of the camphor tree in a corner of the courtyard, swaying and emitting dull thudding sounds…
As he saw these grotesque sights, his mood, on the contrary, became unusually calm.
…'What title will they give this Buddhist Son then? Buddhist Crown Prince? Buddhist Emperor? Ru'er, you wouldn't believe how ugly these people can be for power…'
Simon pushed open the door and, with a distant gesture, knocked Li Dingyin unconscious. His avatar was handsome and imposing, tall as a mountain. Liang Rulian was momentarily stunned and quickly moved to kneel and kowtow.
Simon supported her, smiling slightly at her, 'My Mother, after many years of separation, your son misses you greatly.'
His eyes reflected a river of stars. Liang Rulian could not see her own reflection in those eyes; she only felt as if she was in a misty bank by a ethereal river. The schools of silver fish beneath the water continuously leaped out, transforming into a bright, flowing ribbon spanning the years, and she stood on one end, a child on the other.
'It's Dezhang…'
'The kindness of my compassionate mother's birth and nurturing, the love of breastfeeding, I dare not forget. Today, I bring my kind mother peaceful family happiness, only hoping that mother will agree to spend this last period of time with your son.'
'My son, what do you mean by that?' Liang Rulian raised her hand to caress Simon's face. Her palm was slender but rough. Simon felt it like a thin, tough piece of papyrus scraping his cheek.
'Forgive your unfilial son, but I cannot spend this entire life with my compassionate mother.'
'My son, you are the Buddhist Son.' Liang Rulian was still dazed, even somewhat delirious, probably not even clear about what she was saying.
This warm moment was enough for Simon to savor for a long time. He explained his thoughts one by one, and the melancholy on his birth mother's face gradually dissipated.
Simon held his mother's hand, crossed a thousand li in one step, and arrived at a residence in Shaolin Village. He helped her to sit on the edge of the bed, then pulled up a small stool and sat down, smiling as he listened to the woman chatter.
'My son, you are very good, better than I ever imagined. You are going to reincarnate once for the common people of the world. Mother deeply approves, but you haven't lived well yet, you haven't married and had children…'
It's always like this.
The Buddhist Son looked nostalgically at the moving lips and cheeks, like butterflies fluttering among flowers and leaves.
Always, in the gaps of idle chatter, there is a low, poetic flow of years that stirs the glow of memories…
As for Li Dingyin? This man would have a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream of imperial dominion.
It's just unknown how he would view this ordinary world after waking up.
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