Chapter 17: Subduing the Black Bear Demon!

"Do you worship the Buddha? Or do you worship your own desires?"

As the words fell, the great hall suddenly plunged into an eerie silence.

The black bear's expression seemed frozen; it stood there blankly.

For the first time, confusion appeared in its clear eyes.

"Is your faith merely a bargaining chip in a transaction with the Buddha?"

"Is your piety merely a product of the desires in your heart?"

"If, in your eyes, the Buddha's wisdom can be traded, obtained through offerings and the casting of golden statues,"

"Then is your so-called piety truly praising the Buddha, or is it blaspheming Him?"

Li Xiang's voice was not loud, yet it struck like a thunderclap.

It was deafening within the Black Bear Demon's mind!

Before the Buddha.

The swirling incense smoke suddenly dissipated.

A trace of panic surfaced in the Black Bear Demon's eyes.

"No! No! That's not it!!"

"I!!"

"How could I possibly blaspheme the Buddha? How could I..."

He struggled desperately to find a defense.

He looked up, and the Buddha image remained compassionate.

But the black bear's eyes began to grow uneasy.

Gradually, he became terrified.

When the faith of a fanatic collapses,

that kind of obsession and prejudice is, in itself, a disaster.

"No! No! That's not it!"

"I did not blaspheme the Buddha! I did not!"

"You fellow, stop spouting nonsense here!"

"You! Shut up!"

"You're just a brat, what do you know of Buddhist Dharma! What do you know of Buddhist principles!"

The black bear's body trembled incessantly.

His expression turned ferocious as he glared at Li Xiang, his demonic wind surging, enough to strike fear into anyone.

The black bear began to grow increasingly agitated.

The originally peaceful aura now carried a hint of demonic arrogance.

Yet Li Xiang continued to look at the black bear with indifference.

If he were truly unshaken, why the need for such rage?

"Buddhist Dharma?"

"Heh! I don't understand Buddhist Dharma, but do you?"

"Sit down!"

Just as the black bear was about to go berserk, Haoran Qi suddenly condensed in Li Xiang's hand.

A pale golden character for "Suppress" emerged from his palm and descended upon the black bear.

As the character fell, it was like a sharp reprimand!

The black bear, on the verge of a rampage, suddenly calmed down, its crimson eyes returning to clarity.

Looking up, it cast a wary glance at Li Xiang.

Before the Buddha.

One man and one bear sat facing each other.

"You have an affinity with me; today, I have come to deliver you."

"I have three questions, all concerning Buddhist principles. If you can answer them, I shall turn and leave."

"If you cannot answer, you shall take me as your master and relearn the Buddhist Dharma."

Looking at the black bear's state, Li Xiang asked with a smile.

At this moment, he sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, looking calmly at the Black Bear Demon, his eyes just like those of the Buddha statue.

Both were filled with compassion.

"Arrogant!"

"You brat, what do you know of Buddhist principles? Ask away."

"If I cannot answer, what of it if I take you as my master!"

The black bear glared at Li Xiang in anger.

"But, if I can answer, you have caused a disturbance before the Buddha and must be punished!"

"I must... I must give you a beating!"

Hearing what the black bear said, Li Xiang's expression turned quite strange.

Punishment?

It wasn't to eat him.

This blind bear was actually an interesting monster.

Li Xiang spoke, raising a finger to point at the Buddha statue.

"I shall ask you."

"The Buddha practices compassion, yet you descend the mountain to plunder and bring disaster to the region. Where is your compassion?"

"The Buddha nature seeks emptiness, yet you are filled with greed and your six senses are impure. Where is your emptiness?"

"Buddhist principles seek wisdom, yet you do not understand the five aggregates, casting golden statues for the Buddha, falling into external paths, and praying for the Buddha's pity through such acts. Where is your wisdom?"

"Buddhist practice is absent, Buddha nature is unclear, and Buddhist principles lack wisdom. I ask you one thing."

"In your long cultivation, are you cultivating the Buddha, or are you cultivating a demon?"

Li Xiang sat on the prayer mat, smiling as he watched the black bear.

Buddhist practice, Buddha nature, Buddhist principles.

The three questions fell, reflecting his cultivation.

These three questions were a trap Li Xiang had prepared for the black bear before entering the door.

Each corresponded to the mistakes the black bear had made during his cultivation.

The first question asked about the compassionate heart of Buddhism; the Buddha is compassionate and seeks to save the world. Although the black bear did not commit murder, he left countless people destitute and penniless. In these chaotic times, how could they survive without wealth?

Just as a gentleman does not enter the kitchen, can this karmic sin really be unrelated to you? You did not kill, but people died because of you. How can you see the True Dharma?

The second question asked about the nature of emptiness in Buddhism. The Buddha is the one who has attained supreme enlightenment and crossed to the other shore. You worship the Buddha not out of reverence, and you cultivate not out of enlightenment. With desires entangling you and your six senses impure, how can you see the True Dharma?

The third question asked about the wisdom root of the Buddhist heart. The world is murky, and the Great Dao is hard to find. In this Age of Dharma Decline, disciples of the Demon King Mojiao Polun have infiltrated the monastic order, wearing the kashaya and corrupting the Dharma. By treating the golden statue as the path, you have fallen into external ways—how are you any different from those disciples of Polun?

The Diamond Sutra says: "If one seeks me through form or sound, that person walks the evil path and cannot see the Tathagata!"

Although this black bear was intelligent and had an affinity with Buddhism, he had no one to guide him on his cultivation path and had ended up on the wrong road all by himself.

These three questions were all hidden within the Buddhist scriptures. The black bear read the scriptures diligently every day, but only knew the words and not their meaning.

Now that Li Xiang had pointed out the Buddhist principles, under this sharp reprimand, the past naturally surfaced in his mind. Comparing the two, it was not impossible for him to turn back from his misguided path!

Hearing Li Xiang's three questions, the black bear's expression suddenly became pained, and a trace of sorrow appeared on his dark face.

"You..."

In a trance, in the black bear's eyes, Li Xiang's small figure suddenly became incomparably vast.

It was like a Buddha looking down kindly from the firmament.

"I..."

"I, I don't know..."

He could not find the answer!

Following his own heart, it seemed that every point and every sentence Li Xiang said was correct.

His path was wrong!

With a sudden realization, the black bear began to cry, wailing loudly before the compassionate Buddha statue.

It was hard to imagine a black bear as sturdy as a small mountain kneeling before a Buddha statue, weeping bitterly.

The more obsessed he had been before, the more painful he was now.

Li Xiang watched quietly, watching the black bear vent his pain in the great hall.

After a long time, the black bear turned around and knelt heavily before him.

"Master, please accept me as your disciple!"

"I beg the teacher to teach me!"

"Where can the True Dharma be found! Where can Spirit Mountain be found!"

At this moment, the hostility on his body completely dissipated.

Kneeling before Li Xiang was no longer that demon, but merely a confused novice thirsting for answers.

Li Xiang stood up and laughed, looking at the Black Bear Demon before him, shaking his head lightly.

"Foolish child, all phenomena are non-self, all conditioned things are impermanent. You do not yet know the vastness of heaven and earth, nor do you understand the truth of the five aggregates; how can you speak of the True Dharma?"

"Disciple, disciple is dull and does not understand the teacher's meaning. I ask the teacher to instruct me!"

"Stupid!"

"The Buddha seeks transcendence, tranquility, and an understanding of the world after enlightenment; it is the clarity of one's own destiny and the restraint of one's own character after understanding. What could you possibly cultivate in this mountain ditch?"

"Leave the mountain! Understand the five aggregates, know the heavens and earth, seek great freedom, explore your original heart, control your original heart, seek that Nirvana-tranquility, and only then think of Buddhist principles and Spirit Mountain."

"If you are not enlightened, Spirit Mountain will not see you. If you are enlightened, where is not Spirit Mountain?"

"Great freedom? Teacher, why does what you say sound so much like the Demon Sect?"

"..."

"Are you going to learn or not?"

The Black Bear Demon looked up at Li Xiang, his eyes still full of confusion.

He turned to look at the compassionate Buddha statue, then turned to look at the equally compassionate Li Xiang.

"I will learn!"

【Ding! You have successfully subdued the Eighth-Rank Demon - Black Bear Demon, Demon Domain Chiyang County mission completion increased by 33%!】

【Ding! You have successfully subdued a special demon, gaining extra Luck +20!】

【Ding! You have successfully subdued a special demon, which may affect your subsequent encounters!】

Although it feels full of loopholes, this is the author's limit.

I originally just intended to write a fast-paced novel; I didn't expect to spend two days reading Buddhist scriptures...

I feel that what I wrote is still a bit unsatisfactory. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment. If it's appropriate, I'll rewrite it.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====