Chapter 74: Holy Monk 40 (Friend of Women)

Holy Monk 40 (Friend of Women)

Now, Jiang Siyin still doesn't know that his father's reputation will rise further in the future, nor the credit for the runaway couple they sent away; he peeks toward the city lord's guards lying on the ground, eyes closed, screaming miserably.

The honest child asks curiously, "Dad, what did they dream about?"

Jiang He replies offhand, "Maybe they were giving birth."

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The child, who has never seen the world, looks horrified and stiffly asks the parrot, "R‑really? Can men also give birth?"

The parrot has a hard time explaining; it doesn't know what stimulus the dog host received, yet somehow caused a big one.

How tragic! Truly terrible! That leader already gave birth to three children, and yet is still forced to keep having more.

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In the leader's dream, a fierce‑looking man—presumably the leader's current husband—wields a whip, berating the leader who has turned into a woman, "You must bear a son; if you bear a daughter, I'll kill you!"

The leader screams miserably, "No! I don't want! I don't want to become a woman! I don't want to have more children! Help! Peacock King Bodhisattva, I beg you to show great compassion and save your devout followers…"

The parrot watches with relish, feeling no guilt at all; after all, it's not the Peacock King, so begging it is useless.

The marvel of this nightmare pill lies in that, even within the dream, it does not muddle their consciousness; they keenly know they are men, yet cannot comprehend becoming women, and must endure a woman's fate, such as giving birth and suffering domestic abuse.

Clearly, in reality this is taken for granted by them, but once it happens to them, they finally understand women's suffering.

At that moment, it glimpses the host touching its smooth chin, looking thoughtful.

The parrot shivers; the dog host seems to be scheming something, looking very sinister.

Jiang He pats the parrot's head, "Tong Tong, thanks to you, I've thought of a good plan."

Parrot: "What good plan?" My intuition says it's not a good thing.

The master bathed in holy light smiles without speaking, doesn't even glance at the guards on the ground trapped in nightmares; after they have given birth to ten, eight children, they will awaken.

Under the parrot's pressing, he says meaningfully, "You'll know soon enough."

"Xiao Yin, do you still want to go see this country?" Jiang He turns to his son, his face serious, "This country may be worse than you think; do you still want to see it?"

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He knows his father only wants him to see flowers and sunshine, not the other side of the world, but he wants to face it. He must grow up; no matter how cruel, he'd rather face reality!

Jiang He's makeup skills are extraordinary; Jiang Siyin and his father traveled throughout the entire nation.

Jiang Siyin's hair is long, black and shiny; locals have never seen such beautiful straight black hair, yet his father, from somewhere, obtained a monk's credential and shaved his head, making him pretend to be a monk.

Actually, he could skip pretending to be a monk; he could learn from the local minority, wrapping his head with long cloth.

Jiang Siyin wipes the sweat from his forehead and decides to keep the shaved head and be a monk.

That cloth is so long, wrapped around the head daily; with this hot weather, it traps a head of sweat, hair can't breathe, surely he'll go bald early!

After shaving his son's head, Jiang He repeatedly assures, "Don't worry, the hair‑growing medicine I concoct works great; I guarantee you'll grow a sleek black mane within six months."

Jiang Siyin touches his bald head; it's still quite fresh.

He once thought of inheriting his father's trade, now it's a good chance to test if he has the talent to be a monk.

Jiang Siyin happily goes to impersonate a young monk, the parrot standing on his shoulder, acting as his translator.

After walking around once, Jiang Siyin finds this country truly interesting.

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"Tong Tong, what exactly are you and my dad doing?" Ba Tu, carrying his father on his back, whispers to the parrot, "Why does my dad always go around the local ruler's house wherever we go?"

The parrot whispers, "Your dad is going to save the world."

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Jiang Siyin, bewildered yet fierce, looks at his father with admiration.

Indeed, his father never changes; wherever he goes, he brings blessings to the locals.

The parrot quickly covers its conscience, unwilling to shatter the child's illusion of his father.

One can't say that your dad goes to hypnotize people, giving suggestions, letting those men who don't regard women as humans experience the joy of childbearing in dreams, right?

Tsk tsk! After a while, probably the whole Peacock Kingdom will know that the high caste they worship and envy experiences in dreams turning into women, constantly bearing children, then suffering domestic abuse and being buried alive.

The dog host also hints that if they don't treat women better, they'll become women in the next life.

Oh dear, how did it end up with such a holy father host?!

Even so, the parrot is still rummaging through the system shop for herbs to make nightmare pills.

Buying pills directly from the system shop is too expensive; anyway the host can refine pills and medicines, so better save some points.

Jiang Siyin secretly eavesdrops on the households his father visited; unfortunately, being unfamiliar with the area and unable to speak the language, he learns nothing, only that those high‑ranking people have nightmares at night.

Because of the frequent nightmares, they demand gods to worship Buddha, hire monks to recite sutras at the door; he and his father were also invited.

Jiang Siyin learns for the first time that in this country monks can eat meat to the point of vomiting, live in extreme luxury, with golden threads embroidered on their robes, need not marry, and have holy maidens attending them each night, happier than deities…

Jiang Siyin touches the gold the nobles gave them, suddenly realizing that gold can't make him happy.

He says gloomily, "Dad, the nobles' food is so bad they'd rather discard it than give it to the starving poor; even though this land yields two or three harvests a year, people still starve."

Jiang He remains calm, "That's because the lower caste has no right to the high caste's food." He gently admonishes his child, "Xiao Yin, you must remember not to become such a person in the future."

Jiang Siyin feels insulted and shouts, "I certainly won't!"

He will never become that kind of person—such a hateful and terrifying person!

Jiang He pulls out the gold the nobles gave, "These gold pieces should buy plenty of medicine; just in time, I've run out of cash."

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His father buys herbal products; could they be the very things that give nobles nightmares? So where did he buy those medicines?

Later, Jiang Siyin finally learns that his father uses the earned gold for a full chain of buying, producing, and dosing medicines; when the money runs out, he again visits the nobles to recite sutras, and the gold returns to his hand.

He drugs people to have nightmares, then shows up to swindle them again; after a while, Jiang Siyin gets used to it, his skin thickens, and he feels no shame.

He heard that these people aren't good; his father making them have nightmares is a good thing, letting them do fewer dishonest acts, so they won't…

In the meantime, the father and son also ran into Ap, the fiancé spoken of by the city lord's daughter.

This man, already over sixty, unhealthily engaged in unspeakable acts with a group of girls who could become his great‑granddaughters.

The parrot immediately covered Jiang Siyin's eyes to avoid contaminating a minor.

Jiang He instantly became angry and decided to give him a double dose of medicine, fully treating his kidneys.

Recently many nobles have been having frequent nightmares; it is said this is because they committed evil deeds and were punished by heaven.

Ap originally dismissed it, but did not expect that one day he too would be punished by heaven.

Besides, like other nobles, he dreams of turning into a woman who continuously bears children; each time he picks up a whip to frolic with those girls, the pain the whip inflicts on a girl returns to him doubled, and when he whips a girl to death, he likewise feels the summons of death.

Having accumulated many sins, Ap had to change his ways.

Although to the world he is the incarnation of gods and Buddhas, in his heart he was half‑believing, and only now does he finally believe that heaven indeed has gods and Buddhas.

Ap no longer dares to casually kill people; after all, he fears that in his next life he might become a woman and have to endure all the sufferings women endure.

In this country, women's lives are like hell; from the day they are born, because of their gender they are dead at birth, and if they miraculously survive, they must work desperately to amass a dowry, and without a substantial dowry they cannot marry.

Yet after marriage, they merely jump from one fire pit into an even larger one.

Many women with insufficient dowries are brutally killed by their husbands, who act as their nominal deities; even if the dowry is ample, if they bear no son, they are still despised and even abused by their husbands.

If a husband unfortunately dies before you, your village will force you into a funeral sacrifice.

In their customs and culture, sins committed in a previous life cause one to be reborn as a woman in this life.

Ap and the other high‑ranking officials therefore cannot sleep at night.

They do not want to become women; if they must be reborn as women in the next life, they will first improve women's living conditions.

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Jiang Siyin does not understand why his father does not kill that man named Ap, who clearly has done so many terrible things.

"Xiao Yin, father is not the law; you cannot kill at will! Don't follow father!" Jiang He earnestly admonished his child, "Because we are merely travelers and cannot meddle in the local regime, father can only make them have nightmares to remind them to do good deeds; one must walk the radiant righteous path."

The parrot interjected, "Your father's method is a bit off‑track, but that's because he has the ability; his intention and goal are good. Your father and I both hope you take the sunny broad road, all paths lead to the same destination."

This is also a foreign land in ancient society, where rule by man outweighs rule of law, religion outweighs politics, there are countless corrupt officials, and policies that keep the masses ignorant are everywhere; that is why he and his host educate children this way.

In a society where politics is not clear and laws are lacking, teaching children that everyone is equal before the law is absurd—are they afraid the child won't die quickly enough?

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He knows his father also has no choice; if other means were available, his father's path would surely be even more righteous than he imagines.

For a moment, women's status does not rise dramatically, but it does improve considerably.

Jiang He settled this group of women in the forest, teaching them farming, hunting, and making traps.

The widow stood there and could not help but give a wry laugh.

"I understand the principle, so why is the best thing they learn poison?" Jiang Siyin and the parrot muttered. They don't learn to save lives but to kill; has this path gone astray?

Whether burned to death or devoured by a tiger, neither is a good way to die! Women's lives are that miserable.

The widow felt uneasy; she had heard of a saintess—could the master's goal be to build a saintess shrine in the forest? Still, if she can survive, becoming a saintess is fine.

Hmph, that's too idealistic. Do you or the master want it? The master is an ascetic monk who shuns women; don't repay kindness with hatred and ruin his cultivation.

She said, bringing the breakfast over.

Now she can go find the clever parrot to exchange for medicinal pills to eat!

She dares not tell those fellow sufferers, the master may be leaving.

Years later, the conflicts between high and low castes remain, but women's situation has improved greatly; even after marriage, the husband's family dares not beat them casually, fearing the women cannot endure suffering and will flee to forests guarded by beasts.

Soon, the widow's face turned somewhat red.

One person and a parrot were talking when a thirteen‑ or fourteen‑year‑old girl entered the forest.

Jiang He shook his head and sighed, "Even if we save them, they still cannot survive."

Jiang He is not befriending these beasts; his true purpose is exactly as Shana imagined—to beg the beasts to protect these pitiful women in the forest.

She brought two frightened women over and shouted, "Shana, I'm back! Look, today I rescued two more sisters; they were almost crushed to death."

After everything was arranged, Jiang He left the nation with his son, finally at ease.

On a live cremation pyre, a young widow whose husband died in an accident shortly after their marriage, with a blank expression, was carried by her husband's relatives onto the fire.

At that moment they all trembled in fear, while the master stroked the head of a python that could swallow a person whole, praising them as "good children."

Fortunately, in this country everyone is religious, and even strange and exotic animals are regarded as deities.

The widow is seen as an ill omen by the people of this country and is discriminated against everywhere.

Shana pointed toward the deep forest, "There, speaking with the herd of elephants."

She has also seen countless women abused by their husbands; they are even more docile than the Hu people and Central Plains women, daring not to resist at all, treating their husbands as deities and serving them tremblingly, only to receive harsher beatings and scoldings.

Even so, Jiang He stepped in to rescue them, and not just one.

The woman looked at Jiang Siyin with a face full of kindness, as if she were about his own child's age.

Just as he taught Sang Ya and others, he taught these unfortunate women to read the Great Celebration medical texts, identify the herbs listed, and to take pulses and prescribe formulas.

After finishing breakfast, Jiang Siyin wiped his mouth and said, "Alright, it's time for class."

At that moment, the widow heard many women who should have been sacrificed cheering, "The master has arrived!"

The widow, who thought she would die, lay on a tiger's back with a blank expression.

He took out the medical book and began his own little Confucian teacher's journey of educating people.

Hearing this, the girl's face was full of envy, "The master's relationship with those beasts is wonderful; just the other day I saw him talking to many pythons."

At that time, her child simply turned its head, indifferent, allowing her to be placed on the pyre and burned, while the little monk commanded the beasts to rescue her.

The parrot was equally speechless about the host's romantic luck; fortunately Jiang Siyin is still young and can't understand what these women are saying, otherwise he would certainly cause a scene!

"I am an elephant!"

Since reports spread that beasts rescue those women slated for sacrificial burial, the rulers simply changed the custom of women's sacrificial burial.

What can he do? He can only try to save their lives.

Jiang Siyin, with a headache expression, said, "Do I need to tell you? I don't even dare to teach them to identify poisonous plants." He spoke as if his teeth ached, "But they seem to have learned on their own, secretly catching mice and injecting poisonous plant juice into the mice's stomachs to test toxicity."

A thousand years later, this plane entered modern society; the country now runs several languages and scripts in parallel, including the script of an ancient Eastern kingdom.

In the days that followed, Jiang Siyin saw more of the country's dark side and finally understood his father's helpless actions.

He didn't know that his meddling in the Buddha Nation caused the high‑caste rulers to have nightmares, dreaming they turned into women and might be reborn as women, prompting them to change their ways.

The tiger didn't understand what the woman was nagging about; it bit through the rope binding her, tossed her onto its back with a tiger's roar, and sprinted into the forest.

In fact, the reason was mostly the actions of the Buddha Nation's monks, which soured his feelings.

Before the fire was lit, the widow heard someone scream, "Tiger! Tiger!"

Jiang Siyin at the time tugged at his father's monk robe, trying to get him to rescue the people.

Lions, peacocks and white elephants—animal feed in the market is cheap and tasty; this world has a trace of spiritual energy, and animals that eat the spirit‑awakening animal feed are willing to protect these pitiful women.

This master is perhaps too handsome, more beautiful than any of these women; if they were to become his saintesses, wouldn't the master be the one at a loss?

"I—I'm a tiger!" the widow answered foolishly, suddenly feeling real—she no longer had to die?

Jiang Siyin couldn't help rubbing the stubble on his head and said helplessly, "I've decided not to be a monk anymore; don't call me Little Buddha."

The woman smiled and said, "You are the Buddha of Salvation's son, so naturally you are a Little Buddha."

"Also the day before yesterday, the master went to speak with a pride of lions," Shana's voice was a bit low; she was the most educated and smartest among these women, and she could guess that the master was thinking about their future.

She resignedly said to the tiger, "If you eat me, the Buddha gains merit by serving the hawk with his body; if you eat me and spare others, does that also count as merit? Then can I avoid being reborn as a woman in my next life?"

Friends of women!

Clearly, before they were rescued these women were frail, helpless little bunnies; how did they all become poisonous widows now?

However, most of the women have already given up.

Why does every woman just rescued want to become the master's saintess?

"I'm a python!"

He has seen the scene where those women marry bananas; it is said that here women must first marry a tree before they can marry a man.

It is said this commemorates an enlightened high monk who rescued many pitiful women; that monk played a huge role in the women's liberation movement.

In later ages, countless women, freed from oppression by the liberation movement, affectionately referred to the great contributor of a thousand years ago, Master Xuan Ji, as:

The onlookers scattered in a clamor.

The girl asked again, "Where is the Buddha of Salvation, sir?"

Indeed, being a monk wasn't his ideal future career; the days of going with his father to noble houses to chant sutras and swindle food and drink were fun, but his tongue would knot when chanting for others, so he should change professions.

The country's medical books are all written in the script of the ancient Eastern kingdom.

That makes it easy; whenever needed, he can find a bunch.

He had the parrot bribe the forest's beasts, causing them to rush out and rescue people.

He called the woman named Shana to step out and size up the two women.

He also saw a widow whose husband had died, now being placed on firewood to be burned alive.

"It was the lion that saved me!"

Reading and literacy are truly hard; only a few clever and determined women persisted.

The parrot, looking helpless, said, "All you can do is have your father brainwash them… oh, chant sutras, let them see more of life's positive side; this world is still sunny."

"You call me Little Buddha, but I won't go easy; studying is hard work," Jiang Siyin said, slurring as he ate the breakfast the women had prepared.

The group of women oppressed to the point of being unable to live knelt, weeping with gratitude, and called him the Buddha of Salvation.

The women were initially uneasy, but soon let their guard down.

When she was set down by the tiger, the widow's blank expression was quickly replaced by shock: there were so many women in the forest? Could they all have been rescued by the forest beasts?

"Little Buddha, you're awake."

Master?

He had once known that monks in Great Celebration could only eat vegetarian, and still thought about becoming a monk. Yet in the Buddha Nation, monks ate meat daily and chased women; the days were as carefree as they wanted, with no restraint, and he lost interest in monkhood.

Maybe because these women worshiped and revered him like a deity, and treated his words as divine; after being brainwashed excessively, each one transformed from a submissive little bunny into a fighter resisting unjust fate.

The first woman to arrive was calm and rational; she kept a cold expression, sternly lecturing the newcomers, warning them not to go astray.

"They're only scared and want to control their own fate," the parrot said with some reluctance, but still warned him, "Don't teach them throat‑cutting techniques or those poisons that kill upon a single bite."

In the morning, when Jiang Siyin woke, a dark‑skinned woman with sharp features bowed to him.

Among them was the young widow, whose attention finally shifted completely away from the master; the master could not guarantee her future survival, but knowledge certainly could.

They had stayed here for over half a year, originally intending to travel to the birthplace of gods and Buddhas to exchange Buddhist teachings, but the teachings never exchanged; instead they rescued a group of pitiful women.

In their hearts, if there were any gods or Buddhas in this world, they must look like this, possessing such compassion that they would even save people as lowly as them.

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