The infants grew up strong, always close to Simon, nurtured by a light and ethereal aura, so they were free from illness and had sharp senses.
The Bald Monks watched these children, rubbing their hands in excitement. They were all young attendants of the Bodhisattva, naturally destined for Buddhism!
Out of a certain mindset, the monks squeezed out a sum of money to expand the manor, so they could raise more abandoned babies, or allow patrons to foster their children… though nominally it was an offering to the Buddha's children.
The expansion of the manor was in full swing. Many wealthy merchants heard that Shaolin Temple had a young Bodhisattva, so they generously donated. Of course, their children would inevitably stay at the manor for a short period in the future.
Simon was aware of these matters, and Shaolin also knew that Simon could understand this. But both parties had an unspoken understanding, one could even say Simon had actively expressed this wish.
During this time, a group of nuns arrived. They were bhiksunis from Yigu Nunnery. The manor where Simon resided was called Yi Gu Manor, and the female infants adopted by Shaolin would eventually be sent to Yigu Nunnery, showing that there was indeed a deep connection between the two parties.
The bhiksunis paid their respects to Simon, very reverently, and presented seven treasures: a golden Buddha statue, a silver alms bowl, a lapis lazuli rosary, an agate bracelet, a tridacna ornament, a coral 擺件, and finally, a pair of long deer antlers.
Simon accepted the antlers and pushed the rest back.
The nuns handed the items to the monks, then bowed to Simon and left.
Life passed peacefully from then on.
During the day, Simon placed the antlers before him, constantly admiring them. At night, he stood them on the window lattice, their shadow cast by the moonlight resembling a withered tree.
In his eyes, this was not an inanimate object, but a living stag.
It roamed the dense, foggy forest, its hoofbeats fading into the distance, its undulating back like mountains…
Simon greatly enjoyed this process of communicating with nature. Currently, he could only resonate with things of such short years, not yet able to empathize with heaven and earth. Perhaps when he reached that stage, he could truly be called a living Bodhisattva.
The monks invited Mr. Xu Ranxue, a scholar from Jianchuan Town, to enlighten the children, though it was mainly for Simon's enlightenment.
Mr. Xu Ranxue arrived at noon every day, swaying his head as he recited a volume of 'Chuxueji' in the wing-room, his voice rising and falling. The infants' babbling was also very lively and adorable.
After reading, Xu Ranxue went to the dining hall for his meal, and upon returning, he continued to recite a few passages from 'Huangtingjing', then gracefully departed.
This life was peaceful and serene, seemingly able to continue forever.
Mr. Xu did not always read these two books; sometimes he would tell some history.
Then Simon learned that ten years ago, an evil demon named Xiangxu had consecutively killed over thirty emperors and thousands of officials. Since then, no one dared to claim the throne, the imperial court and government collapsed, and the common people were left ungoverned.
The current world saw the original towns and villages independent, without mutual restraint.
It was then that Simon realized he had arrived in the world of the scroll of taiwu.
He felt neither joy nor sorrow about it.
When Xu Ranxue left each time, the sun was still high, so a monk would come to preach sutras.
From the 'Heart Sutra' and the diamond sutra to the 'Avatamsaka Sutra' and the 'Surangama Sutra', and even the 'Brahma Net Sutra' and the 'Three Pure Land Sutras', these sutra masters often only dared to read the original text, not daring to offer commentaries.
They feared subjective bias would influence Simon's judgment.
From these texts, Simon read not only the religious worldview, values, and morality, but he also glimpsed the deeper philosophical theories behind them.
He was noncommittal about overly mysterious and wondrous descriptions, and he did not favor areas that conflicted with the scientific theories he had previously accepted.
Among these scriptures, the diamond sutra was undoubtedly his favorite. The complete 'is named - is not' dialectical system contained within it amazed him.
Buddhism was full of various contradictions, which, in Simon's view, was due to an overly rigid system where the words of predecessors were revered as truth, and no one dared to criticize them even slightly.
If Simon were to speak, he would say that in the future, when he founded his own school, burning all those unsubstantiated scriptures to ashes would be truly satisfying and a true protection of the Buddha.
On the fourteenth of May, that night, Simon opened his eyes.
An old nanny secretly came to his bedside. Seeing him looking at her, her face showed both shame and sadness.
This was Sun Wangshi. Tonight, she and another nanny were on duty. She bowed to Simon, then leaned close to him and softly whispered her plea into his ear.
It turned out her young daughter was naturally frail and sickly, suffering from a cold, and moreover, showed signs of an early demise. This situation was beyond medical help; the monks shook their heads in silence upon seeing her. Even if there were some immortal elixir, it would not be accessible to poor families. So, after learning that Simon was extraordinary, Sun Wangshi kept it in mind and secretly collected Simon's "return dragon soup." She went back and boiled eggs for her child to eat, and indeed, her condition slightly improved. Now, she just wanted to beg for a few drops of Simon's fingertip blood to feed to her child.
After listening, Simon pondered for a moment, looking at Sun Wangshi's eager and longing expression. Her weathered, rough face suggested years of sun and rain, seemingly connected to the earth and soil in some way.
He got distracted.
Human actions and the state of existence are by no means separate or independent, but rather interconnected.
In the 'Avatamsaka Sutra', there is an 'Indra's Net Jewel', which states that on the jeweled net adorning the palace of the celestial god Indra, countless precious jewels are strung together. Each jewel reflects the images of all other jewels. Jewel contains jewel, image captures image, overlapping endlessly, reflecting an infinite dharma realm, presenting a harmonious and brilliant spectacle.
This constantly moving and changing Indra's Net Jewel is actually all universes, living beings, and non-living beings; together they form a vast net. Each Indra's Net Jewel does not appear in isolation; every change it undergoes is pulled by underlying threads, and these threads are connected to other Indra's Net Jewels.
Simon suddenly enlightened. Looking at Sun Wangshi before him again, he could vaguely see her toiling in the fields, diligently weaving at home, making fires and cooking, taking care of children. Further back, her youth, her childhood, the child she once was had become like this, and in the future, she would be nothing but a handful of yellow earth.
Each person is a river, and when they meet at different sections, they converge into the sea of the mortal world.
Simon chuckled, letting out soft 'hehehe' sounds.
Sun Wangshi gazed blankly at Simon's smiling face, and in an instant, she felt the same empathy.
Simon opened his mouth to her and said, "Go bring her here."
Then he turned his head and said to outside the window, "You may go. All is well."
It turned out that the martial monk guarding him had appeared outside the window at some point, ready to stop Sun Wangshi.
Tears streamed down Sun Wangshi's face. She felt immense sorrow and bitterness. These hardships had not brought her sadness before, but only when she encountered such warm and gentle sunlight did she realize that the ice and snow around her had almost overwhelmed her feigned strong heart.
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