Zhou Hui lived in the temple on the glacier’s peak for a period of time.
He was perhaps the first hell demon since the beginning of time to be able to live openly in the forbidden land of the Heavenly Dao. It’s unknown whether the monks of the Heavenly Dao were unable to detect the situation in the temple, or if they knew but didn’t have the courage. In any case, no one came to disturb him, let alone drive him away. Everyone tacitly ignored the existence of that temple.
In the ancient, desolate ice and snow plains, it was indeed easy to lose track of the passage of time. Above was the vast, expansive sky, and below were the snow-capped peaks that coiled away like giant dragons. When the long night fell, auroras that spanned the heavens and the earth would appear in the distance, stretching out under the vast river of stars, emitting brilliant bands of light.
Zhou Hui sat in the empty main hall, watching the rows of silver-white floor tiles stretch into the distance. The moon crossed its zenith, and its light and shadow moved at the boundary of darkness, casting a lonely silhouette of him.
“Is this the place where you once lived?” Zhou Hui asked the egg in his arms.
“It really is lonely,” he murmured.
The handsome hell demon walked past the snow-white stone pillars one by one, caressing every inch of the cold walls. He felt the smooth stone cracks slide past his fingertips and imagined that tens of thousands of years ago, the phoenix had also walked the same path in countless long nights, touching the same wall tiles. In that instant, it was as if he had passed through the long river of time and was gazing at the young Phoenix Wisdom King from afar, their eyes filled with confusion.
Will you come back? Zhou Hui thought.
If time could be turned back, if one could go upstream and return to that moment when the phoenix asked him if he still wanted him, and he answered yes, would the current ending be different?
·
In the fifth month of his stay in the temple, Venerable Bhadra returned to Mount Sumeru.
Venerable Bhadra had forced his way into the Formless Heaven, taken away the true Buddha’s soul, exhausted all his magical power to close the entrance to the Formless Heaven, and sealed Sakyamuni inside for hundreds of years. After entrusting the true Buddha’s soul to the Phoenix Wisdom King, the Venerable’s divine consciousness could no longer hold on, so he passed away and went to the Guixu beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.
After the true Buddha returned to his position, using some unknown method, he retrieved Venerable Bhadra’s soul from the Guixu, remolded his golden body, and sent him back to Mount Sumeru.
All the vajras, bodhisattvas, and arhats considered it a grand event. They gathered outside the Buddhist hall to welcome him. For a time, the sky was filled with Buddha’s light, and celestial music lingered. However, the Venerable did not ascend back to his lotus seat amidst the crowd of believers. Instead, he avoided everyone, crossed the frozen Mirror Lake alone, and came before the glacier temple.
Zhou Hui stood on the nine-tiered steps, looking down at Venerable Bhadra from above, and asked, “Are you here to snatch the phoenix’s jade embryo?”
Venerable Bhadra put his palms together and said in a gentle voice, “No, Your Highness the Wisdom King is conscious and naturally wishes to stay by your side.”
“Then are you here to drive me away?”
“Also no. You can come as you please and leave as you please. Who can stop you?”
Zhou Hui’s expression softened slightly, but it was still very gloomy.
“Then what is the Venerable’s intention in coming? If there is a way to make the phoenix’s jade embryo hatch early, you can stay and talk. If it’s nothing important, then please leave.”
“The ancient divine bird is transcendent between heaven and earth and cannot be fathomed by the Buddhist laws of the Heavenly Dao. I also do not know how to make the jade embryo hatch early.” Venerable Bhadra recited a Buddhist chant and said apologetically, “However, if you are willing to leave the jade embryo in the hot springs of Mount Sumeru and use the geothermal heat to nourish it, perhaps… it could…”
Zhou Hui said coldly, “Forget it. We’ll be going back to hell’s Mount Buzhou in a while.”
He didn’t spare Venerable Bhadra another glance and turned to walk towards the depths of the temple. However, the Venerable suddenly called out to him from behind, “Wait, Benefactor Zhou—are you being so cold this time because you still resent me for entrusting the true Buddha to His Highness the Wisdom King, which led to all this?”
Zhou Hui’s footsteps paused. After a moment, he turned his head, his pupils filled with a terrifying scarlet color.
It must have been a very terrifying and absurd scene. A hell demon stood high above the most noble glacier temple of the Heavenly Dao, looking down at Venerable Bhadra, who was as old as the Buddha himself, his eyes filled with a condescending, undisguised murderous intent.
“I thought if you got a good deal, you should just keep quiet and not show off. Since you don’t understand this principle, it seems you want me to personally teach you.”
The wind blew over the steps. Venerable Bhadra looked up at Zhou Hui’s gloomy eyes. After a moment, a chill suddenly rose from the depths of his heart. “Benefactor Zhou has misunderstood. That is not what I meant.”
The Venerable bowed slightly and said, “I just wanted to tell you that no matter what reason His Highness the Phoenix Wisdom King did all this for, killing the fake Buddha, returning the true Buddha to his position, and not hesitating to undergo nirvana for it… even if the root of it all was just for your survival, he is still a very remarkable person who has changed the great karma of this world and saved countless future beings from suffering.”
“When I was in the Formless Heaven, the Buddha mentioned you. He was very grateful and…”
“No need,” Zhou Hui interrupted him. “I didn’t do these things for him. Who is the Buddha? I don’t know him. I only have an acquaintance named Zhang Shun.”
Zhou Hui turned and walked into the temple.
Behind him, at the foot of the steps, Venerable Bhadra was stunned, standing there for a long time, his expression filled with complexity and confusion.
·
Not long after this conversation, one evening, Zhou Hui walked through the snowy plains, which were painted a vast expanse of gold by the setting sun. With the phoenix egg in his pocket, he left Mount Sumeru alone.
Just as when he had arrived, he was very quiet when he left. It seemed that no one knew and no one noticed. The footprints in the wind and snow were quickly covered, disappearing into the vast world.
Many people in the Heavenly Dao thought it was Venerable Bhadra’s private visit to the glacier temple that day, a few words of which had repelled the arrogant hell demon, causing him to leave the sacred Thirty-Three Heavens. The monks were relieved because of this and knelt in the endless temples that followed the mountain’s terrain, their eyes conveying their faith and reverence for the Venerable.
But no one knew that when Venerable Bhadra learned of Zhou Hui’s departure, he had chased out of the Buddhist hall and stood on the cliff of the glacier, but it was already too late.
The whole world was a vast expanse of white. The frozen river that crossed the snowy plains reflected a large patch of bright light. Looking out, far in the distance, there was a small gray dot, step by step, heading towards the even more distant horizon.
That was the direction of hell.
·
Zhou Hui returned to the Four Evil Paths, passed through the ten-thousand-li Iron Wheel Mountains that separated the human world from hell, crossed the turbulent sea of blood, and finally returned to Mount Buzhou.
Thousands of years had greatly changed the landscape of Mount Buzhou. The sea of fire during the phoenix’s nirvana had almost burned the primeval forest at the top of the mountain to the ground. Zhou Hui climbed to the summit, stood on the cliff and looked down at the demon’s eye. When he looked back, he saw the mountain road winding upwards in the distance. High up, there was a huge rock jutting out, like a natural platform spanning the deep chasm.
On that platform was a charred ruin, completely collapsed, but one could still faintly make out the shape of what was once a house.
Zhou Hui’s gaze was hazy, with a trace of nostalgia and regret that even he himself had not noticed.
—That was the place where he and the phoenix had once lived on Mount Buzhou.
Zhou Hui spent a week cleaning up the scorched earth, cutting down towering trees for logs, and rebuilding a small hut on the ruins.
He sowed Asura flower seeds around it and carefully repaired the courtyard walls and fences. He paved a small path with bluestone. Outside the door was a vast cliff, and farther away, the ginkgo forest of the demon world was lush on the hillside, stretching as far as the eye could see.
“This is our home,” he said to the phoenix.
“Welcome home.”
The egg lay in his warm hand, quietly, as if in a sweet slumber.
Zhou Hui carefully decorated his and the phoenix’s small hut, making tables, chairs, and beds from fine logs, and using soft rabbit fur for the mattress. The Asura flowers he had planted soon bloomed. Looking out from the window of the small hut every day, there was a splash of bright red, swaying in the wind, as if in a lively gathering at all times.
Zhou Hui liked the scenery very much. He often took the phoenix egg to water the plants in the yard, and sometimes he would go out, through the miasma-filled mountain paths, to walk around the demon’s eye in the deep chasm.
Jia Louluo came once. It was one day when Zhou Hui was returning home after a walk. He saw his second son standing in front of the courtyard gate, looking up at the small hut inside with a look of surprise on his face. When he saw him, he called out, “Father, this… did you build this yourself?”
Zhou Hui asked, “How did you find this place?”
“Maha is in the sea of blood. He saw you in the vicinity of the demon’s eye the other day and told me.”
“Why didn’t he pounce on me and make a scene?” Zhou Hui asked.
“…He thought Mother might be in your pocket, so he didn’t act rashly.”
Jia Louluo said, constantly sizing up this slightly crude yet peaceful and serene small hut. He was probably very surprised that his father, who in his perception drove luxury cars, lived in villas, and threw money at people, could actually build such a courtyard with his own hands.
“How is Mother?”
Zhou Hui was silent for a moment, shook his head, and said nothing.
Jia Louluo knew in his heart that this was the result and sighed softly.
“I just came to… tell you that there’s nothing major in the human world, and everyone is fine. If you’re in the mood, you can come to the human world for a walk. Everyone misses you very much. The lifespan of mortals is not very long…”
Jia Louluo briefly talked about some things in the human world, which were indeed very plain. It seemed that with the death of the fake Buddha Sakyamuni, the entire six paths had calmed down, and every day was spent in peace.
Zhou Hui listened noncommittally, not saying whether he would go or not, nor did he take the initiative to ask about the current situation of his companions in the human world. Jia Louluo soon ran out of things to say and didn’t stay too long. He left some daily necessities and plant seeds he had brought from the human world and took his leave.
“Can I come to see you occasionally?” Jia Louluo asked before leaving. “You can also tell me if you need anything. After seeing you, I can go to the sea of blood to visit Maha on the way. Maybe a few times a year, it won’t be too frequent…”
Zhou Hui stood inside the courtyard gate, and Jia Louluo stood outside. The young man was increasingly taking on the silhouette of an adult. From Zhou Hui’s angle, he could even find shadows of himself in some of his expressions.
But his eyes were very calm, as if there was a layer of invisible, indifferent barrier, and also as if he was constantly seeing through everything in this world, clear, indifferent, and bottomless.
Those were the phoenix’s eyes.
“…Whatever you want,” Zhou Hui finally said after a long silence. “Just don’t come too often.”
Jia Louluo let out a sigh of relief and said, “I won’t.”
·
Jia Louluo really didn’t come too often. He didn’t show up in the second month, and in the third month, he only left some daily necessities and plant seeds at the door, without showing his face.
After receiving those seeds, Zhou Hui planted them, absentmindedly hoping they would bloom in hell the following year. Then he continued to take the phoenix with him, walking in the valley every day after lunch and only returning in the evening.
This had almost become his fixed schedule. Time was unknown in the mountains, and sometimes he would even have the thought that if his whole life were like this, it would seem pretty good.
However, what Zhou Hui hadn’t expected was that in the few days when the second batch of seeds he had planted was about to sprout, he discovered the re-established divine realm passage near the demon’s eye.
The discovery was very accidental. At first, it was just the flow of air pressure and wind speed that made him feel something was wrong. Zhou Hui thought it was his imagination. Later, one day he found the vicinity of the demon’s eye glowing late at night. When he went to check during the day, he found that the passage had already formed. Just like when it had opened naturally, it was a transparent cavity in the void that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, and inside, it led to another dimension of the divine realm.
Could this be part of the reconstruction of the Formless Heaven?
Zhou Hui stood at the entrance of the passage, a long-lost interest arising in him. After a moment of hesitation, he finally took a few steps in.
The next second, the dimension suddenly rolled over, and the space formed countless intricate angles. Before Zhou Hui could stand firm, he was thrown into the vast void!
“Hey!”
Splash!
Zhou Hui was like someone swept up by the tide and washed ashore. He fell heavily to the ground, and it took a long while for him to stand up, feeling dizzy.
The world before him was also very familiar, a vast expanse of gold and white. The road under his feet extended to a towering building not far away, with golden jade walls and carved beams and painted rafters. It was, shockingly, the huge Buddhist hall that had been bombed to dust in the decisive battle.
…The Formless Heaven?
I got up here so easily?!
Zhou Hui’s mouth twitched slightly. He checked that the phoenix egg in his pocket was still there, then settled his mind and walked towards the Buddhist hall. After a while, he heard the faint sound of music coming from ahead. He thought he had misheard, but after a few quick steps, he found that it was the increasingly clear ending theme song of a famous popular TV series from the human world—so popular that it was once played in every street and alley, and even the phoenix could hum a couple of lines.
Zhou Hui: “…”
Zhou Hui walked to the front of the Buddhist hall and looked in from behind the high threshold.
A familiar figure, wearing a sailor shirt and beach shorts, with several strings of Buddhist beads around his neck, was leaning against a lotus seat, resting his head on his hand, and concentrating on the TV screen connected to a DVD player not far away. Two wires trailed from the back of the TV to a small generator in the corner of the Buddhist hall, which was buzzing as it worked.
“…” The expression on Zhou Hui’s face was indescribable:
“Zhang Shun…?!”
Second Young Master Zhang turned his head and said in astonishment, “Zhou Sha… Zhou Hui?”
Inside and outside the threshold, the two looked at each other, the atmosphere incomparably strange.
Five seconds later, Zhou Hui suddenly strode in, rushed aggressively to Zhang Shun, and kicked the unprepared true Buddha off the lotus seat. “I worked so hard to finish your job, waiting down below, dead or alive, for the phoenix to hatch. What the hell are you doing here, staying at home watching DVDs?!”
The true Buddha scrambled to get up, but was knocked down by a punch to the head from Zhou Hui. Then he looked back at the TV and became even angrier. “Zhang Shun! You’re a monk, for crying out loud. What the hell are you doing watching Empresses in the Palace?!”
