Wu Gou blinked, a look of complete bewilderment on his face. "What are you talking about, Big Brother? I'm only four years old this year. I don't understand."
Chen Zhou didn't waste any more words. With a flash of light in his hand, an unopened jar of spirit wine appeared.
He gently slapped away the mud seal, and a rich, mellow aroma of wine instantly filled the air.
"I originally wanted to find an old friend to reminisce and have a couple of drinks with," Chen Zhou sighed intentionally.
"Since you don't know me, forget it. This jar of Forget-Worry I brought back from the Heavenly Sword Sect... I'll just drink it myself."
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing their saliva rang out clearly.
Wu Gou's eyes were fixed on the wine jar in Chen Zhou's hand, looking as if they were about to fall right into it.
The innocent little face he had been trying to maintain instantly crumbled, replaced by an expression of extreme conflict and agony.
Chen Zhou made a move to put the jar away.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't! Don't!"
Wu Gou finally couldn't keep up the act anymore. With a 'wah,' he sat down on the ground, crossed his legs, and pressed his palms together.
"Ah, this poor monk suddenly remembered!"
Wu Gou pointed at Chen Zhou. "You're the great demon king! What a coincidence! To think we'd meet again after parting in the Northern Region."
"Namo Amitābha, I truly share a fated bond with you, Benefactor."
Seeing Wu Gou’s look of realization mixed with feigned calm, Chen Zhou let out a smirk. He walked into the Gathering Fortune Pavilion, tossing a single sentence behind him.
"A fated bond indeed. Come in."
Inside the Gathering Fortune Pavilion, light gauze danced in the air, and the scent of sandalwood wafted about.
Compared to the mortal hustle and bustle outside, it was as quiet as a hidden paradise.
Chen Zhou closed the door behind him and, without even looking, threw the Snow Lotus Wine directly at Wu Gou.
"Catch."
Though Wu Gou looked to be only four or five, his physical reactions were startlingly fast.
With a sweep of his wide sleeve, he caught the wine jar as steadily as a magician. Then, cradling the jar, he tilted his head back and began to guzzle it down greedily.
"Glug, glug, glug, glug—"
"Hic—!"
Only after half the jar was gone did he slam it down onto the table with a heavy thud and let out a loud burp.
"Refreshing!"
Wu Gou wiped his mouth and said with a grin, "This tastes way better than the cooking wine I swiped from the kitchen yesterday."
"That stuff was salty as hell. This Forget-Worry is what I'm talking about—strong, flavorful, and clear."
Chen Zhou pulled up a chair and sat down, looking at Wu Gou with interest. "You still have your memories?"
"Some, but not many."
Wu Gou shook his head, his eyes appearing a bit dazed.
He looked around at the exquisite carved window frames and the bustling street scene visible in the distance.
"This is your territory, isn't it? It's truly... a peaceful era."
"Even the air is sweet. It's nice."
He lamented, his tone carrying both envy and a sense of relief.
"Aren't you curious?" Chen Zhou said, looking at the weathered expression that didn't match the child's face. "For instance, how were you fished out of a certain-death situation and ended up in my territory?"
Wu Gou hugged the wine jar and gave a cheeky laugh. "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
"Go on."
"The truth is, this poor monk is curious to death. But as for the lie..."
Wu Gou pointed at Chen Zhou, then at the sky. "Everyone has their own secrets."
"You can do things I couldn't. That's your skill. If I were to ask until the end, wouldn't that make me look very lose face?"
"So, if it's not clear, then let it be. Ignorance is bliss, after all."
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow and asked back, "Truly unclear, or faking it?"
Hearing this, Wu Gou's playful expression retracted slightly.
He let out a sigh, tilted his head back for another gulp of wine, and smiled bitterly. "I really can't hide anything from you. It's precisely because I'm clear on it that I find it unbelievable."
"Is it reincarnation?"
After swallowing the wine, Wu Gou set the jar down, his gaze becoming profound.
"In his previous life, Ksitigarbha of Great Vows could be considered to have delved deep into this path."
"Back then, the Northern Region had turned into a land of death. All beings were suffering. He wanted to find a place of return for them, a way to live."
"He scoured the Buddhist sutras, comprehended countless methods, and even tried to personally manifest the six paths."
As Wu Gou spoke, a flash of loneliness crossed his eyes.
"But he never found the right method. The Dao of Reincarnation is too defiant of the heavens, beyond the reach of human effort."
"To aid his comprehension back then, Ksitigarbha of Great Vows even created a little toy."
"He wanted to help sentient beings reincarnate and cultivate again, only to find that if death qi was used as the foundation, even if they were reborn, they would ultimately be enslaved by that death qi."
Chen Zhou interjected at the right time: "You mean White Jade?"
"You know it too?"
Wu Gou was surprised and then somewhat sentimental. "Yes. That was Ksitigarbha of Great Vows'—which is to say, my former self's—most daring attempt."
"But even if it was cultivated again, it wasn't a new life. It was just another form of a curse."
"Becoming neither human nor ghost, forever trapped in the gap between life and death."
Wu Gou shook his head. "So I abandoned that path. It was a failure."
"Mhm, it was indeed a failure," Chen Zhou said indifferently. "So I crushed it to death."
"Crushed it?" Wu Gou froze for a second, then burst into loud laughter, doubling over as if it were the funniest thing he’d heard, without a hint of anger.
"Good riddance! Good riddance!"
"It was a mistake to begin with. The karmic sins committed by Ksitigarbha of Great Vows have nothing to do with me, Wu Gou."
"It's cleaner now that it's crushed."
Chen Zhou looked at his heartless manner and thought to himself that this was indeed a true Buddha.
To be able to pick it up and put it down so easily was true freedom.
"Actually..." Wu Gou’s laughter subsided. He looked out the window and said softly.
"The sentient beings of the Northern Region were also failures of reincarnation."
"I couldn't truly save them. I could only use my immature methods to turn them into living dead, neither alive nor truly dead."
"At least... they could temporarily escape true death and retain a sliver of consciousness."
"That was a move of desperation," Chen Zhou said. "You wanted to save the world, but human effort has its limits. One cannot fight against the grand trend of heaven and earth."
"That you could go that far—vowing not to become a Buddha until Hell is empty—is enough."
Wu Gou waved a hand, mocking himself. "What 'vowing not to become a Buddha'... that's just something said for outsiders to hear."
"After the old bald ass died, how is the Northern Region?"
"It's fine," Chen Zhou made up a lie. Actually, it wasn't entirely a lie, since the Northern Region was now under his control.
"Everyone has food to eat and land to farm. It's not cold and the ground isn't frozen. It's much better than before."
"What, do you not plan to manage it anymore?" Chen Zhou asked.
"I'm not doing it, I'm not doing it." Wu Gou waved his hands repeatedly, a look of disdain on his face.
"You are their new vow. That mess belongs to you now. I'm not getting involved."
"I'm just a wine-and-meat monk looking for a free meal now."
As he spoke, he shook the wine jar in his hand. He tilted it, but only a few drops of leftover wine dripped out.
"Tsk, it's already gone. Is there more?"
"This isn't enough to drink. It only just moistened my throat." Wu Gou looked at Chen Zhou with expectation.
Chen Zhou rolled his eyes speechlessly. With a wave of his hand, another jar of Snow Lotus Wine appeared on the table.
"I've never seen a monk like you—ignoring all taboos, letting wine and meat pass through your gut."
Wu Gou slapped open the mud seal, took a deep breath of the aroma, and laughed heartily.
"In the past, I was powerless. I drank to live in a dream, so I wouldn't have to see the miserable state of this hellish mortal world. But now..."
He raised the wine jar. "Having been born again, I don't want to be bound by any rules or precepts. It's too exhausting."
"It's enough to follow one's heart. If the heart is pure, even wine and meat are Bodhi."
Rate on N.U.
