Yinshan Record

Chapter 190 The Three Paths of the Hungry Ghosts

silence.

The Vajra Yaksha remained silent.

He was genuinely frightened. He had thought that after escaping the Hungry Ghost Realm, he could do whatever he wanted, but he never expected to capsize in this small village.

Isn't it said that there are very few practitioners traveling in the Central Plains?

"Yes, Immortal."

Now only a head and a section of spine remained of the Vajra Yaksha, which answered respectfully.

"May I have your name."

"My name is Nadotan, and I am a general of the Vajrayana tribe."

A general? Su Che felt that if we only talk about combat strength, this Vajra Yaksha was probably at the level of a sixth or seventh rank.

If a cultivator lacks the means to kill and has no methods to target the soul, it is indeed not easy to defeat this Vajra Yaksha.

"How did you escape from the realm of hungry ghosts?"

“About several dozen days ago, the King of Wisdom sent out a message saying that there would soon be a major change in the realm of hungry ghosts, and that the three Buddhas might be absent. So Prince Siksananda told us to prepare in advance. Later, a gap indeed appeared in the realm of hungry ghosts, and we escaped with Prince Siksananda.”

"Does the concept of 'heaven' exist even within the realm of hungry ghosts, spanning several dozen days?"

"Reporting to the Immortal, although there are no sun, moon, or stars in the Hungry Ghost Realm, the three World Honored Ones emit Buddha light every twelve hours, so time can still be calculated."

Several dozen days ago, before the Black Mountain Monster made his move, the Buddhist sect had already received accurate information.

That means the Buddhist community may have been planning this for much longer.

It seems that the situation with the Liang Dynasty is far worse than I imagined.

"The Vidyaraja you speak of is Vajrayaksa Vidyaraja?"

The Buddhist sect has the Vidyaraja Dharma, which is a path of body refinement. When Su Che explored the great tomb in Xuan Mountain, there was a monk who practiced the Vidyaraja Dharma with him.

In Buddhism, the Vidyarajas (wisdom kings) are generally at the third rank of the Longevity True Person cultivation level, while those at the second rank are called Great Vidyarajas. As for attaining the first rank, one becomes a Buddha or patriarch. Su Che remembered reading in a book that a solemn and dignified Buddha in Buddhism attained the first rank through the Vidyaraja method.

"Yes, there are six Vidyarajas in the Yaksha clan of the Hungry Ghost Realm. Our Vajra Yaksha Vidyaraja is one of the two Dharma Protectors under the Buddha of Good Virtue, so we are more well-informed than the others."

"Is Siksananda your leader?"

“Indeed, Prince Śikṣānanda is the seventh son of Vajra Yakṣa, born with immeasurable magical power, and is also our leader.” The Vajra Yakṣa said cautiously, “My prince possesses profound magical power and enjoys making friends with heroes from all walks of life. Immortal, I have heard an old saying in the Central Plains: ‘An old enemy is not as good as a new friend.’ Immortal, you aspire to immortality, so we…”

"Was that brat who ran away just now also one of your kind?" Su Che looked at the Vajra Yaksha in front of him. "Does your tribe also have men and women, and distinguish between young and old?"

"Yes, we Vajra Yakshas are one of the seventy-nine types of Yakshas. We also have men and women, but the women are all ugly, while the men are extremely handsome..."

Su Che looked at the Vajra Yaksha in front of him. The male Yaksha's appearance could only be described as fierce and menacing. If he were very handsome, what would the female Yaksha look like?

"That must have been tough on you." Su Che looked at the Vajra Yaksha in front of him: "Why did you come out?"

"Ok?"

"Isn't your tribe's Vajra Yaksha King a wrathful deity under the Buddha of Good Virtue? With such a high-ranking person in charge, wouldn't your lives be very comfortable? Why bother coming out here?"

"Your Excellency is unaware of..."

This Vajra Yaksha clearly knew what his primary priority was to survive, and he spilled the beans about life in the hungry ghost realm. The Vajra Yaksha, and indeed all the Yakshas, ​​though hailed as guardian deities of the hungry ghost realm, were in reality nothing more than high-ranking jailers.

No, more accurately, he was a model prisoner.

In Buddhism, the hungry ghost realm, along with the animal realm and the hell realm, is classified as one of the three evil realms and is known as the "three evil paths".

The animal realm is the path of blood, the hell realm is the path of fire, and the hungry ghost realm is the path of knives. Together, these three are known as the Three Paths.

Because the animal realm is constantly killing each other, either killing other creatures or being killed by other creatures, without end, it is called the "blood path" by Buddhism.

The hell realm is permeated by karmic fire, whether it is the red lotus karmic fire or the fire of ignorance, both of which burn ceaselessly day and night, so this fiery path truly deserves its name.

The Hungry Ghost Realm is also known as the Path of the Knife, because for the beings in the Hungry Ghost Realm, it is the ultimate torment.

The first torment is that the desires of beings in this realm are extremely strong under the influence of Buddhist power. Whether it is the desire for food or lust, they are much more intense and vicious than those of normal beings.

Desires run so deep, yet resources are incredibly scarce.

The scarcity in the hungry ghost realm is all-encompassing. It's not just a lack of food, but also a severe shortage of spiritual energy and rare natural resources that can be used for cultivation.

They were so hungry they wanted to devour a small mountain, but all the entire tribe had left was a piece of rotten meat. Their blood boiled so much their hair stood on end, but when they turned around, all they saw was a hideous shrew.

This kind of life not only brings endless torment to living beings, but also makes them fight every day.

The Asura realm, one of the three higher realms, also frequently wages war, but their targets are the Deva realm, which also belongs to the three higher realms, and they remain harmonious internally. However, the wars of the Hungry Ghost realm are directed against their own kind.

There is no day when the hungry ghosts are at war. Not only do different kinds of hungry ghosts fight each other, but tribes of the same kind and different individuals within the same tribe also fight each other endlessly.

Therefore, it is called the Path of the Knife.

If that were all there was to it, the Vajrayaksa tribe, with Vajrayaksa King in charge, wouldn't be doing too badly, even if they weren't doing exceptionally well.

There is another fundamental reason why they want to escape the realm of hungry ghosts.

There is no way to advance one's career.

For beings in the six realms of reincarnation to make progress, their natural talents and efforts alone are not enough. At certain crucial junctures, they must gain the recognition of the Buddhist system.

One method is to attain enlightenment through self-realization, progressing step by step according to Buddhist practices. Another method is the so-called "consecration by touching the head," which means receiving recognition from a higher-ranking Buddhist authority.

In the realm of hungry ghosts, anyone who wants to attain enlightenment and immortality must either diligently cultivate Buddhist magic or be blessed by three ancient Buddhas residing in this realm.

The Vajra Yaksha King of that time was granted immortality only after being blessed by the Tathagata of Good Virtue.

In other words, under the cycle of reincarnation, no one can truly escape its constraints; they either actively convert or passively kneel down.

Therefore, Vajra Yaksha King, for the sake of the continuation of his tribe and the future of his descendants, found this opportunity to release these tribesmen.

“Immortal, I am of pure and kind nature. It is those bald monks who are too ruthless and have driven me to this state. I am willing to do good from now on. I still have the strength to build bridges and roads, and I will do any kind of hard work for others. I only ask that you show mercy to me.”

"No matter what the fault is, it's all this hungry ghost realm that has forced us into this situation..."

The Vajra Yaksha spoke to the man who had just finished dressing and was listening quietly beside him.

"Forgive me, I was truly wrong, I sincerely repent. Killing me, would it bring your mother and wife back to life? No, I'm willing to spend the rest of my life atoning for my sins. I'm very strong, I can do many things, I can even slay demons and monsters..."

Sorry everyone, it was so great to win the championship with Guodian, I'll catch up on the updates I missed these past two days right away.

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(End of this chapter)