Chapter 79

"Great Sun Tathagata!"

Director Takahashi stared fixedly at his phone, wishing his eyes could merge with the screen to see every detail.

The next moment.

Every hair on his body stood on end, his scalp tingling numbly.

He hadn't misseen it! Not an illusion! The old monk had chanted the Buddha's name, and the boundless Buddha light that eradicated the six-eyed demon remained undiminished, surging outward toward the village of Teyabara behind the demon.

The Buddha light was too brilliant.

Radiance stretched ten thousand miles, dazzling yet not blinding, illuminating heaven and earth with glorious luminescence; faintly, one could hear the ethereal chant of Buddha's voice, drifting as if from the horizon, crossing the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms, echoing from the Western Pure Land of Amitabha.

Outside the cordon, Director Takahashi and the others simultaneously tore their eyes from their phone screens, lifting their heads to gaze toward Teyabara.

They froze instantly.

Far away in the sky above Teyabara, the dark clouds had long since dispersed; the heavens had regained their vast, majestic blue, white clouds piled high—but these were not what drew their gaze. What truly seized them were the two suns in the azure sky.

One hung in the east—the ordinary sun, rising daily in the east and setting in the west, bringing endless light and warmth to the world, the supreme fire seed of heaven and earth.

There should be only one sun—but now another had appeared.

The other was a Great Sun, radiating boundless light capable of dispelling all evil in the world and purifying every shadow in the hearts of mortals, surrounded by ceaseless chanting of Buddha's sutras.

Great Sun Tathagata!

If one had to compare this Great Sun to something, everyone instantly thought of the Great Sun behind the Great Sun Tathagata—the Buddha light, the Buddha halo, the Tathagata Great Sun—many names, but the meaning remained unchanged: it symbolized the Tathagata, the supreme in the Buddha's Pure Land.

At this moment.

Everyone stared, spellbound, yearning to kneel, their hearts filled with reverence.

Director Takahashi and the others knew clearly: that Great Sun radiating divine Buddha light like the Great Sun Tathagata was not a Great Sun, nor was it the sun—it was light condensed from the old monk's single Buddha chant.

Buddha light became a Great Sun.

It rose into the sky, surging toward the distance, as if aiming to pierce the Nine Heavens, penetrate the cosmos—but upon closer observation, the Buddha-light Great Sun was not flying into the heavens; it moved toward one direction, one place.

"That's… Teyabara Mountain," Morita Takeshi's face darkened instantly; he exchanged glances with Director Takahashi and shuddered violently.

They remembered—the caller had said the six-eyed demon had emerged from Teyabara Mountain; now, the Buddha-light Great Sun was hurtling straight toward Teyabara Mountain.

"Amitabha."

The old monk clasped his hands together, his countenance solemn and majestic, his voice ancient and hollow, ethereal and quiet, neither real nor illusory—yet clearly spoken.

As if he were not speaking to this world.

But to another world—to carry his words across the endless Nine Nether Realms, down the path of the Yellow Springs and the Wheel of Rebirth.

"The Buddha says: all things in the world bear cause and effect; all sins arise from conditions and vanish with them—there is a natural law. The transgressions you have committed must also have cause and consequence."

As soon as he spoke, everyone's scalp prickled, their souls trembling.

The old monk's words clearly targeted the six-eyed demon—but the six-eyed demon was already dead. Was he, standing in the mortal realm, speaking to the six-eyed demon in the netherworld…?

Thinking this, countless people were horrified, dared not think further, afraid of touching what they could not comprehend, afraid that thinking more would drive them mad.

Could it be… that reincarnation exists?! Does the Underworld truly exist?!

They dared not think further, pretending the old monk was merely muttering to himself, speaking to the dead six-eyed demon—but could this truly convince them? The old monk's voice was ethereal and distant, nothing like self-talk. Perhaps only time could slowly erase this memory.

At this moment, they suppressed their chilling thoughts, focusing entirely on the Buddha-light Great Sun.

From the old monk's words, they faintly understood: perhaps the six-eyed demon's death was not an end; perhaps for the six-eyed demon, its death was merely the first of its karmic punishments.

Not long after.

The Buddha-light Great Sun arrived at Teyabara Mountain.

Boundless Buddha radiance erupted, blazing fiercely; heaven and earth were illuminated, bright as noon, filled with sacredness, radiating boundless purity, so dazzling that sky and ground blurred together—as if even the horizon had been lit, as if heaven and earth had merged into one. Simultaneously, infinite Buddha chants roared, thunderous and terrifying, echoing throughout.

The light was too intense; even though it was gentle, it forced eyes shut—even with hands shielding them, vision remained blurred.

"That's…"

Through blurred vision, endless Buddha light illuminated all—Director Takahashi and the others each saw dimly: the Great Sun resembled a gateway to the Pure Land, its doors wide open, revealing countless Buddhas seated within, chanting a single truth of Dharma.

"Not through action, nor through inaction."

Rolling truths of Dharma surged into a torrent, rippling across the Pure Land, flowing gently out through the gateway, echoing throughout Teyabara Mountain.

The vast Teyabara Mountain trembled violently; trees, grass, and foliage swayed as if performing the Buddha's clasped-hands salute.

And the entire mountain shook, as if trembling in fear—like a man begging for forgiveness, pleading with the Buddha in the Pure Land to pardon him for failing to protect this land, allowing demons to emerge and bring calamity to mortals.

At this moment.

Director Takahashi and the others saw: within the Great Sun's gateway, the countless Buddhas clasping their hands and chanting the Dharma truth all extended one palm—Buddha palms extended, passing through the Pure Land, imprinting upon Teyabara Mountain.

At that same instant, the old monk's body erupted in boundless radiance, dazzling beyond measure.

Many stared, dumbfounded.

At this moment, the old monk's form towered infinitely, his entire body glowing, his countenance like the Tathagata; behind him, the Buddha halo exploded with ten-directional boundless sacred light—as if he were now the countless Buddhas, surrounded and honored by them, seated upon a golden lotus throne, the Buddha Tathagata himself!

The Buddha-light Great Sun over Teyabara Mountain shone to the heavens; the old monk's sacred radiance pierced the sky; the two glowed in mutual resonance, as if cause and effect were born together—where there is cause, there must be result.

Then, within the Buddha-light Great Sun, the countless Buddhas' palms converged into a single Buddha palm, and the entire Buddha-light Great Sun flowed into that palm.

The Buddha palm—neither tall nor large, merely the size of a human hand—exploded with the radiance of a divine sun, imprinting upon Teyabara Mountain.

Crack!

Amid countless horrified gazes, the Buddha palm plunged into the depths of Teyabara Mountain, into a floating mud vortex.

The next moment.

The mud vortex shattered like a mirror, splitting into ten thousand fragments, raining down—then the falling shards dissolved into radiant light.

But the shattering did not stop; the cracks in the mud vortex spread like lightning, jagged and grotesque, extending outward from the vortex, cracking across the mountain and earth, splitting toward the sky.

At this moment.

Centered on the mud vortex, the entire sky and earth of Teyabara Mountain resembled a colossal, shattered mirror.

"Ahh!!"

The Japanese Prime Minister screamed in terror, toppled from his chair, his face pale and streaked with fear.

"Space—space is shattering!!"

……