To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 619: Chapter 286: Request to Join the Buddha Land

Just after the New Year festivities, the gently drizzling winter rain pushed the coldness of the season to another climax.

A troop slowly moved along the newly repaved broad official road.

Hui An lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside, his expression serene but tinged with worry.

As far as his gaze could reach, recently harvested farmland was beaten by a thin layer of frost, leaving behind withered rice stubs reminiscent of the lifeless winter chill.

However, Hui An saw things differently.

“Although Qianzhong County is newly pacified, we have seen order returning to the various prefectures and counties along the way. People are farming methodically, merchants and travelers are trading, and there is hardly any trace of war.”

Feeling the peaceful atmosphere outside, Hui An showed a faint smile and could not help but sigh.

However, as thoughts of something crossed his mind, the smile quickly faded, replaced by a touch of complexity.

“Senior Brother, doesn’t this prove that our decision to come is the wise choice?”

Next to Hui An, someone else was sitting in the carriage. Shaven-headed and dressed in a yellow monk’s robe, they too wore a kasaya and exuded an aura of dignity.

The golden sunlight illuminated the white heads from outside, creating a somewhat divine feeling at this moment.

Despite their divine appearance, neither had much joy in their hearts. Instead, they were filled with uncertainty and distress about their future.

“Wise choice…”

Chewing on these words, Hui An’s expression changed continuously as various emotions surged. Finally, with a resigned and bitter smile, he said, “Yes, Hui Ming, you are right, it is a wise choice. Perhaps everything that happened in the past was just a big dream.

We outsiders meddled in worldly affairs and got involved in the struggles of the dynasties; foolishly attempting to establish a sacred Buddhist land, only to end up with today’s fate.

Not only has our sect scattered, but our fellow disciples have suffered deaths and injuries.

Moreover, we have implicated hundreds of thousands of people in Xichuan County, who suffered the devastating consequences of war along with us.

All this karmic retribution stems from our White Phoenix Temple.

Perhaps from the very beginning when we supported the Sage King’s relocation from Linhai County to establish a kingdom in the Western Region, our current predicament was already sealed.

From that moment onward, the cause was sown, and today’s consequences have come to fruition.”

As he spoke, Hui An reminisced about the past peaceful days in the White Phoenix Temple of Linhai County, where they lived together in the temple.

Back then, the White Phoenix Temple was just a mountain temple with only a few thousand fellow disciples.

Nevertheless, they each relied on their efforts, cultivating ten thousand acres of fertile land on the mountain slopes and at the foot, growing various fruits and vegetables, and leading a leisurely life.

Although they were subject to some suspicion from the Yue State Court, devout followers from various prefectures and counties still worshipped in the temple. The incense of Buddhism continued to thrive, never facing the threat of extinction.

But it was this seemingly peaceful life that gave rise to worldly desires among the temple’s inhabitants who, unwilling to suffer from political constraints and desiring to further promote Buddhism, ultimately decided to migrate to the Western Region.

After arriving in Xichuan County, although the people were plagued by war and destitution, the White Phoenix Temple’s disciples were undeterred, full of confidence as they sought to create an ideal Buddhist sanctuary.

Initially, things went well. After several years, Xichuan saw a restoration from the scars of war, and the local people embraced Buddhism out of gratitude.

Gradually, Xichuan earned the title of Buddha Country, and Jihui, their leader, was revered as the Sage King, just like a secular lord.

But it seemed like a turning point in their fate.

As if to punish their worldly desires for power, the moment the title of Sage King emerged, the roar of weapons descended upon their Buddha Country.

The Sage King accepted an invitation from Chu State to begin a campaign in the southwest and establish Buddhism, converting the warlike and bloodthirsty Yi people to their faith.

In the beginning, the Sage King’s actions were successful, swiftly subjugating a small Yi country.

As for the monks of their temple, they followed suit, setting up new temples and positions on the conquered land, intending to establish the same Buddhist order as in Xichuan.

It seemed to move toward their ideal world.

But ultimately, a thousand-mile surprise attack from Nanzhao shattered the dreams of the White Phoenix Temple’s monks.

The Buddhist capital was breached, and thousands of monks who had stayed behind inside the city were defeated, despite their determined resistance, by the Yi people’s grandmaster. They were massacred by the foreign army.

In the end, only a few hundred quick-witted disciples managed to escape the city and survive the catastrophe.

Blood, fire, wailing, death, anger, fear…

As Hui An recalled the scene of his escape from Jinguan City, his body trembled involuntarily. His decades of cultivating his composure had vanished on the day of despair.

After that day, it was not the end.

For those vicious and powerful enemies of Buddhism continued their rampage after breaching the Buddhist capital, slaughtering and enslaving everyone in their path.

Monks were killed, temples burned, devout followers enslaved, and the heart and soul of the White Phoenix Temple’s thousand-year legacy were destroyed in the catastrophe.

Now, only a few hundred of the once thriving and uncountable sect members remain. The once expansive kingdom of Buddhism has shrunk to a few counties in Nanchong Prefecture, barely surviving with the help of Hanzhong’s support.