Dragon Canon

“Go back to the village first. Don’t wander off,” Wei Yuan instructed the girl.

“What about you?”

“I’m going up the mountain to take a look. I’ll be right back.”

The girl pouted. “You just think I’m a burden!”

Wei Yuan said nothing, effectively acknowledging her words. But the girl’s stubborn streak kicked in, and she refused to leave no matter what. Left with no choice, Wei Yuan untied the rope hanging from his waist and walked toward her.

“What are you doing?!” The girl cried out, then quickly covered her own mouth[1].

Without hesitation, Wei Yuan tied the rope tightly around her chest, securing the burden. “This should do it. Now come on, we need to hurry and make it back before breakfast.”

The two of them ran along the mountain path toward the back of the mountain. As expected, things went much more smoothly this time. They encountered quite a few traps set by various hunters along the way, but fortunately, they were all clearly marked. Thus, the two managed to avoid stepping on any of them.

“What are you going to the back of the mountain for?” the girl asked while gasping for breath.

“It’s higher up there. I want to check out the surrounding terrain.”

“Haven’t we seen it for over a decade? What’s there to see?”

Wei Yuan knew he had seen it for over a decade. He should be quite familiar with the terrain surrounding the village. But for some reason, he just couldn’t feel at ease and had to see it for himself. In the past, he had always personally surveyed the terrain before every major battle, so why should this be an exception?

Major battle? Wei Yuan felt that it was a part of him from birth, but there had never been a war in the village....

The girl struggled and protested a lot along the way, but Wei Yuan ignored her. She was the one who chose to come along, so it was only natural that she had to go all the way. The girl started to throw a tantrum and refused to walk, so Wei Yuan simply picked her up and carried her under his arm. However, he soon found the posture to be rather awkward, so he hoisted her onto his shoulder instead. Now he could finally run at full speed.

The girl was furious, and she twisted and struggled incessantly. Wei Yuan grew impatient and slapped her hard on the buttocks, which immediately silenced her.

Finally, there was no more distraction, and he could focus fully on his objective: surveying the terrain. He felt that his mind was strangely simple—like that of a naive farm boy, just as he had been before the age of three.

Without the girl holding him back, Wei Yuan was able to move much faster than before. He did not stop running until he reached the summit.

The summit of the mountain turned out to be a relatively flat expanse of rock. From here, he could see the peak on the other side; less than a few dozen zhang apart from each other, close enough that a single leap would be enough to cross the gap.

However, a sheer cliff loomed right before Wei Yuan’s feet. He peered over the edge. The abyss looked unending, and its bottom was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see what lay below.

The sun had risen fully into the sky. It was massive and dark red, casting a glow over the entire world that resembled the hues of a setting sun. The mountain peaks were all dyed in red, but the corners of the mountains where the sunlight did not reach remained pitch-black, obscuring whatever lay there.

From the mountaintop, the village was clearly visible. It was a small settlement built on a hillside, with a plain on the other side where some fields had been cultivated. Further away lay a forest, from which thick layers of mist rose and obscured the view beyond.

Wei Yuan estimated the distance. Even from this high vantage point and good weather, he could only see about a hundred li. Beyond that, a mist shrouded everything from view.

At that moment, wisps of smoke began to rise from the village.

“We should head back. We’ll get scolded if we miss breakfast,” the girl said.

“Alright.” Just as Wei Yuan was about to descend the mountain, he suddenly saw a massive gate appear in the sky above him!

The gate was entirely black and adorned with mysterious symbols at the top. It was so vast it seemed to connect heaven and earth. At that moment, the gate was tightly shut, making it impossible to see what lay behind its doors.

The girl looked in the direction he was pointing and said, “The monk once said it’s the gate leading to the Pure Land’s Spirit Mountain. Anyone who venerates the Buddha with a sincere heart can see it. Something’s weird though. Its color is different, and it’s closed.”

“What does it usually look like?” Wei Yuan asked.

The girl replied with a hint of puzzlement, “Couldn’t you see it before? No wonder the monk always said there are people in the village who aren’t devout enough and can’t hear the teachings of the Buddha—he was talking about you!”

The girl had no intentions of exposing Wei Yuan, though. She said, “The gate used to be golden and always open, with a seven-colored lapis lazuli light shining through. Remember this! Don’t let it slip when the monk asks you about it.”

“The Dharma master is most benevolent. He won’t punish me,” Wei Yuan said, not knowing why those words had slipped out.

“But the village chief will, and his beatings really hurt.”

The two made their way down the mountain back to the village and went their separate ways home. By the time Wei Yuan entered his house, his adoptive father had already finished eating and had set aside breakfast for him on the table. Breakfast consisted of thin porridge, half a steamed bun, and a piece of pickled vegetables. This was considered a lavish meal; his adopted father had likely only had a bowl of thin porridge.

His adopted father said, “Eat up quickly. We’re gonna have to work in the fields once you’re done.”

Wei Yuan polished off the food in no time, but to be honest, he felt he hadn’t even filled ten percent of his stomach. A rare pang of hunger filled his body, causing him to instinctively glance at a strip of cured meat hanging from the kitchen beam.

His adopted father gave him a sharp tap on the head and chided him, “What are you thinking? That meat is meant to be offered to the Buddha—how dare you even think of it?”

It was only then Wei Yuan remembered that in the past, most of the village’s delicacies such as eggs, cured meat and more were offered at the temple. It was to exchange for the Buddha’s blessings. The more one offered, the more devout one was considered. All the offerings went in but never came out, as though the Buddha had truly eaten them.

It wasn’t until he grew up that the girl whispered to him saying that she had seen the monk eating the offerings.

But there was no proof of this, and the monk had always been kind to everyone. So Wei Yuan, who was still rather childish at the time, quickly forgot about it.

Just as they finished breakfast, a commotion suddenly erupted outside. An older woman cried out in a voice choked with tears, “Why is the gate to the Pure Land closed? Who on earth has committed a sin?!”

Hearing this, his adopted father ran to the window and immediately turned pale.

More and more villagers gathered, all gazing upward. The gate and the streak of lapis lazuli light were the driving force behind everyone’s devotion to the Buddha, as well as their hope. The blessing of the afterlife had been right before their eyes, but now, the gate was shut.

“Let’s go to the temple and ask the monk,” someone suggested, and many agreed. The entire village soon gathered outside the small temple.

The young monk stepped out of the temple and looked at the crowd. For some reason, Wei Yuan saw a strange compassion on his face, as well as a kind of fatalistic resolve. At the moment, the monk was emanating a faint glow like a high monk who had attained Buddhahood.

Just then, the light inside the temple grew somewhat blinding. Wei Yuan looked up and saw the golden light in the sky were rapidly approaching. A vague sense of unease settled in his heart.

The monk sighed and said, “There is clearly enough to satisfy your hunger. Why stir up greed and break the precept against killing?”

Wei Yuan followed the monk’s gaze and saw the hunter. The man was still carrying his hunting fork, with the white wolf still impaled on it and blood still dripping from its body.

Wei Yuan wasn’t surprised. In the past, whenever Uncle San Kui had bagged a rare catch, he would often lose his way, wandering back and forth through the village until noon before he could find his way home.

San Kui did not bat an eye even though the monk’s gaze was resting on him. He tossed the white wolf onto the open ground in front of the temple and declared with righteous indignation, “This beast has injured several villagers and killed many livestock. Am I supposed to let it keep wreaking havoc on the village?”

Thud! Thud! He then dossed down a badger and a plump rabbit before adding, “These two are the ones I hunted for meat. If you think I’m in the wrong, then I can offer it up as well. But just so you know, Dharma Master, I’m not in the wrong!”

San Kui delivered his last five words with unwavering conviction.

The monk voiced a Buddhist chant before sighing, “You are not in the wrong, nor am I. None of us are....”

The monk’s words were suddenly cut short by a clap of thunder. A deafening roar echoed from the clouds, “Who killed our Great King’s only son?”

In the blood-red sunlight, the three corpses lying on the temple grounds suddenly transformed into humans.

1. My, girls in this world are so much more open than they are today. ☜