Chapter 113: Human Hell, Death is also Liberation (Three Chapters Posted, Requesting Monthly Votes)

Sha Huofo had no need for this Sarira box at all and did not think it important; the box fell, and inside was a three-colored Sarira.

The Sarira emitted light, landed on the ground, was stepped on by her, and then shattered.

She walked up to Shilin Huzhu, and Shilin Huzhu flew out white bones to use as spears and flying swords.

But the Seven Treasures Cold Forest Kasaya 【says】, "Not falling into Hell, tigers and wolves do not eat, poisonous insects do not harm..."

She walked straight up to Shilin Huzhu and slapped him in the face with great anger; Shilin Huzhu's skull was even knocked off.

She then vented by crushing those bones, while Shilin Huzhu began to embrace her; amidst the swirling Buddha light, Shilin Huzhu was taken into the body of Sha Huofo.

The rib bone in Xu Jia's hand was still glowing and was about to be taken back as well, but how could Xu Jia be willing to return it? He was using it quite handily.

The hare-lipped nun Xiaoqin finally woke up; she had endured the harvesting by the Kalavinka, endured seeing her parents die before her eyes, and her heart had died. Now, in her eyes, her spirit was extinguished, and her "form, sound, smell, touch, sensation, perception, and consciousness" were all shut away.

Sha Huofo looked at this daughter, feeling unspeakable disappointment and sadness: "Xiaoqin, your father is gone, gone forever."

The hare-lipped nun moved her mouth slightly and finally said: "Benefactor, all living beings have birth, aging, sickness, and death. This poor nun has already left the secular world and is a person beyond the mundane; I take the Buddha as my father and the Buddha as my mother... Namo Amitabha, regarding matters of life and death, please restrain your grief and change with the circumstances."

Hearing her say this, Sha Huofo's face stiffened, then she sighed and nodded: "It is groundless; it is we who burdened you, such a pure person..."

Xu Jia could not bear to watch any longer: "You have evaded everything, let go of everything! Can you become a Buddha?"

The hare-lipped nun's expression was cold, ignoring Xu Jia's questioning.

Xu Jia stepped forward and knocked her unconscious, throwing her to Sha Huofo's side.

Sha Huofo's reason had returned, but she no longer had a smile; she untied the Kasaya from her body and draped it over the hare-lipped nun.

"Your father went ahead to pave the path through Hell for you, and I am going to accompany him. It is good that you do not miss me, and I will not miss you either; having no attachments is truly letting go!"

Xu Jia pulled off the Kasaya; he had snatched this treasure himself, so giving it to Sha Huofo was one thing—her living to preside over Dizang An was also an investment by Xu Jia—but why give it to this hare-lipped nun! Thin-hearted, thin-fated, thin-feeling, thin-favored.

Sha Huofo sighed: "Noble person, I know you do not want me to die, nor do you want my old companion to die. You feel it is not worth it for us to die for such a daughter, but whether it is worth it is for outsiders to see; we only look at whether it should be done. The old man said long ago he wanted to die early—early death means early reincarnation. In the first half of my life, I never enjoyed a bit of happiness; only by following him did I vaguely become a person, and only after having Xiaoqin did I become a mother. Now that my daughter does not recognize me and the old man who was good to me is also gone, what is the point of me staying here?"

"The greatest Merit in this world is forgiveness. I have truly let go, and I do not blame her."

"The old man is still waiting for me to go on the road together. It is truly good; he is no longer blind, and I am no longer foolish."

Sha Huofo closed her eyes and gradually stopped breathing.

The Shilin Huzhu within her body did not appear again either, and it entered Nirvana in silence along with her.

From the perspective of the Dharma Realm, Xu Jia saw that Xia Laohan had become much younger, holding a stringed instrument, playing and singing. Sha Huofo chased after him, holding a sugar flower in her hand, and the two walked away laughing all the way.

Xu Jia draped the Kasaya back over Sha Huofo; this treasure was not good for Xu Jia to hold, and he did not want to give it to the hare-lipped nun.

The unconscious hare-lipped nun woke up slowly and said: "If I do not enter Hell, who will? The human world is Hell; is death not a kind of liberation?"

She said it that way, but her voice trembled and was not calm.

Xu Jia could not judge her; after all, even Sha Huofo had chosen to forgive her.

Although Xia Laohan carried hatred and resentment before he died, the moment he dug out his eyes, he saw the light and gained liberation from the shackles of this lifetime.

"Are you Miaoren, or are you little Xiaoqin?"

"The Buddha has no fixed form."

Her eyelashes trembled slightly. Xu Jia nodded.

Hu Jinhua and Huang Pipo had gathered over: "Master Xu, we had originally started the fire, but for some reason just now, these fires went out again. Inside the temple, it was one moment filled with evil energy, and the next moment filled with Buddha light."

Xu Jia said: "It is fine, this matter has already passed, and the hidden dangers of Dizang An have been completely removed."

After the deaths of the blind fortune-teller and Sha Huofo, Xu Jia also had an increase in wisdom, and a great deal of it; these insights converged, making Xu Jia understand many things.

Both Sha Huofo and the blind fortune-teller could be considered teachers who helped Xu Jia "attain enlightenment."

Xu Jia ignored the hare-lipped nun and walked out of the Dizang An temple.

Because of the fire and the dispersal of the commoners, apart from those who were frightened, not a single person was harmed by evil spirits; this could be considered Xu Jia's Merit.

It was only a pity for those women and nuns in the Underground Palace who were tortured to death.

Their souls were absorbed by Shilin Huzhu, and Shilin Huzhu entered Sha Huofo's body; since Sha Huofo is headed to Xifang Jile, one would think they also attained great liberation together.

There was one extra rib bone of Shilin Huzhu.

That three-colored Sarira was crushed by Sha Huofo; he did not know why it was so fragile.

He felt it was a loss.

Just as he was feeling depressed, Hu Jinhua whispered: "Master Xu, I found the place where the money is kept. Although you told us not to steal, I still wanted to tell you!"

"What stealing! This is my appearance fee!" Xu Jia said unceremoniously: "Take advantage of the fact that no one has come in yet, and take me there quickly!"

The Buddhist temple had a great deal of farmland, but Xu Jia could not take that away; however, the Incense Fire money could be taken—in any case, the Buddha never said it could not be taken.

Xu Jia locked the Merit Boxes one by one, packing up all the copper coins and broken silver, and then went to the abbot's quarters, where he found a secret room for storing money, which contained land deeds and loan documents.

Xu Jia burned the documents, hid the land deeds, and did not intend to leave them behind; there were also two boxes of gold bars, eight boxes of silver ingots, and thirty boxes of copper coins.

The boxes of gold bars were small boxes the size of a human head, the silver boxes were the size of small storage chests, and the copper coin boxes were large camphor wood chests.

Xu Jia was troubled: "This cannot be carried away on one's back!"

Hu Jinhua said: "Let us carry the gold away first, and use an Illusion Technique here to hide it so others cannot find it. We will wait until night, and our group of weasels and foxes will sneak it away!"

Xu Jia sighed: "If it comes to carrying things, who can compare to a rat? If I had a Gray Immortal under my command, I would certainly be able to cultivate the Wushu Yunca technique and refine a money bag that could hold any amount of wealth and jewelry, though that thing can only hold gold, silver, copper coins, and all kinds of jewelry."

"A rat demon—don't we have one in Qingtian Xiang?" Huang Pipo said: "Our clan specializes in dealing with it!"

Xu Jia also knew Huang Pipo could deal with it, but there was no legitimate reason; he could not just say he was going to attack them just to make it carry money.

Thus, Xu Jia carried the gold, and told Huang Pipo and Hu Jinhua to try their best to carry some silver, before leaving Dizang An.

The City God's Military Officials were still in formation, and when the Yeyou saw that the matter had been resolved, he praised Xu Jia: "True Immortal Xu is truly amazing; those two fierce ghosts were resolved so easily!"

Xu Jia shook his head: "It was not resolved by me; it is just that the person involved is nameless, and if I said it out loud, people would not believe it."

He added: "The matter of the Yushan Mountain God has not been resolved yet!"

The Yeyou said: "Do not worry, the Daoist of Shanju Guan can still hold steady; they are better off than Dizang An, as only one lecturing Daoist was sacrificed due to the evil path matter."

(End of chapter)