Longevity - Chapter 50

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 50: The Buddha Bone Relic
The moment Neng Jingnan finished speaking, the Coachman cracked the whip.
The carriage lurched westward. The thunder of hooves and wheels tangled together, and those following close behind accelerated in unison.
Jangseong watched the sun tilting beyond the torn roof. The tension had not departed. Yet worry alone would not make the Verification disappear.
Yuzhou
(渝州)
—they would scout the situation upon arrival, and slip away if an opening presented itself.
He held fast to the floor of the swaying carriage, his mind fixed on this alone.
The party reached Yuzhou
(渝州)
just as the gate was closing. Only half of the enormous doors had shut, and the moment the carriage entered the city, soldiers who had been waiting shouldered the remaining gate closed.
When Jangseong glanced back, Neng Jingnan spoke.

“The Prefect of Yuzhou
(渝州)
, Liu Youcheng
(劉有成)
, is a devoted Buddhist lay practitioner. Word has been sent ahead.”

If the man holding the gate was the Prefect, then tonight’s escape would hinge on the gate as well. Jangseong turned to face the closing doors, committing them to memory.
Even after entering the city, the carriage rattled onward for some time. Jangseong tried to memorize the intersections and the angles of the city walls, but the unfamiliar streets and gathering darkness soon scrambled the map in his mind. To escape alone, he could not simply reclaim his bundle. He needed to learn when the gate would open and which route led beyond it.
Before the Prefect’s Residence, the plaza was crammed with carts and palanquins. Between coolies hauling boxes, figures in silk robes craned their necks toward the Dharma Hall.
Yeofung, who had arrived earlier, hurried over the moment he spotted Neng Jingnan.

“Liu has spread word of the matter. The devoted worshippers are pouring in with their offerings.”

Neng Jingnan’s face hardened.

“Does he mean to turn the Verification into a spectacle?”

A Young Monk nearby brought his palms together in haste.

“The believers and lay practitioners wait only in the Front Courtyard. We shall not allow a single soul into the Central Courtyard.”
“And yet the Dharma King must enter through the side gate?”

As Neng Jingnan expressed his displeasure, the monk bowed still lower.
Yeofung also turned to regard the Front Courtyard, and clicked his tongue.

“To gather so many before the true incarnation is even confirmed—if it is judged false, I wonder whose reputation will bear the cost of managing such a disaster.”
“I shall convey your words to Liu.”

As the monk’s reply grew more cautious, Neng Jingnan pressed no further. For Jangseong, which entrance hardly mattered. In truth, the side gate might prove easier to slip away through later than the main gate where crowds clustered.
The monks waiting inside the side gate were not like those he had seen in Zhongtu. Their cassocks differed in cut, and they had not shaved their heads entirely—short hair remained upon their scalps. As Jangseong studied their crowns, one monk brought his palms together toward the two candidates.

“Namo Amitabha Buddha.”

The Chubby Child hid behind Yeofung. When Jangseong returned the respectful gesture, the boy watched the others cautiously and lifted his hands uncertainly.
The leading monk quickened his pace.

“Your Dharma Protector has already arrived. The other two candidates are also here, though they have not yet met with the elders.”
“Then what do we wait for now?”

As Yeofung asked, the sound of unfamiliar sutra chanting drifted from the Southeast Courtyard.

“Once the elders have finished their prayers, the Verification will begin.”
* * *
Jangseong and the Chubby Child were led to separate rooms for bathing and changing clothes. Before long after the doors closed, weeping erupted from the adjacent room.

“No! I’m not having my head shaved!”
“Just bear it a moment. It will be over soon.”

Outside the window, Yeofung protested, but the child’s wails only grew louder.

“If you don’t shave my head, send me home!”

When Yeofung offered no reply, only the soft, soothing murmurs of the monks drifted through the sobs. Since they’d said one could achieve Spiritual Reincarnation even without being a Dharma King, there was no escaping head shaving now that the child had been brought this far.
Jangseong’s hair had been mostly burned away already, so he stepped straight into the water. As the weasel oil he’d smeared on his body for days washed away, the stench gradually began to fade.
A monk set down a gray-white hemp robe, undergarments, and a monk’s hat, then gathered up the old clothes.

“I’ll take care of those myself.”

Jangseong reached out his hand, and the monk hesitated before setting the clothes down and leaving.
Once the door closed, Jangseong pressed the left sleeve at once. The letter remained dry. He wrapped the money pouch and the Paulownia branch in the old clothes and threw them out the rear window into the flowering shrubs.
The leaves rustled once, then fell still.
If they stayed one night at the Prefect’s Residence after the Verification Ceremony ended, he could retrieve everything. All he needed for the escape remained intact.
When Jangseong emerged from washing, Neng Jingnan’s face brightened.

“Indeed, the robes suit the Dharma King well.”
“Robes don’t make a man into a Dharma King, though, do they?”

At Jangseong’s reply, Neng Jingnan couldn’t muster a smile—at that very moment, another shriek echoed from the adjacent room.
* * *
Jangseong and Neng Jingnan went to the reception chamber first. At four small tables, two tables were already occupied by other candidates and their escorts.

“You’re late in arriving, Neng.”
“We joined up with another candidate on the way.”

Neng Jingnan answered briefly, and the eyes of the two escorts flicked toward the door. They all knew who had brought which candidate, yet no one dared claim their own child first.
Jangseong picked up a pastry and studied the children across from him. Both had square faces and large eyes. They sat with straight backs, hands folded on their laps, and their lips moved in time with the sutras that could be heard from far off.
Neng Jingnan’s gaze shifted between the two children and Jangseong.
Jangseong spoke.

“Are those children reciting sutras?”
“It appears so.”
“I can’t make out a single word of it.”

Neng Jingnan didn’t answer immediately. He compared the two neatly seated candidates with Jangseong eating pastries and watching them, then simply raised his teacup.
Jangseong set down the pastry.

“Do those children look more like a Dharma King than I do?”

The teacup froze before Neng Jingnan’s lips.

“A Buddhist identity isn’t judged by a single face.”
“Yet you’ve been doing exactly that since we arrived.”

Neng Jingnan couldn’t deny it and drank his tea instead. In that moment, Jangseong understood—he wasn’t the only one who was anxious.
Shortly after, Yeofung entered with the Chubby Child. The freshly shaved head bore several red marks where the razor had nicked it during the child’s movements, and the boy clung to Yeofung’s robe with swollen eyes.
Seeing the two candidates who had arrived earlier, Yeofung slowed his pace. He looked down at his own candidate, then turned toward Neng Jingnan.

“The child moved a little during the head shaving, so there are a few small cuts.”

No one answered his defensive remark.
Neng Jingnan happened to be watching him too.

“Hmm.”

Without anyone yielding first, the two men averted their eyes.
The sutra chanting resumed each time a passage ended. The two earlier candidates continued to move their lips, while Jangseong grew increasingly drowsy from the incomprehensible sounds. The Chubby Child whimpered for a while, then laid his head on the table and fell asleep.
* * *
Only after a long while did the sutra chanting cease.
Monks came to fetch the four candidates. The escorts could not follow beyond the Central Courtyard. Yeofung nudged the Chubby Child awake and pushed him toward Jangseong.

“Dharma King, I ask you to look after this child for a moment.”

The Chubby Child stumbled forward and grasped Jangseong’s arm.

“Why are you leaving him with me?”
“Because he listens to you better than to me.”

Jangseong could not deny it and took the child’s hand.
The Great Hall held only a yellow altar cloth and two large wooden boxes. Lamps and candles at all four corners illuminated the space as brightly as noon. Beyond the southern gate came the low murmur of the crowd gathered in the Front Courtyard, but the door was firmly shut. Those outside could see only shadows cast against the paper screens and hear the muffled voices.
Before the western wall sat four elder monks in red cassocks, arranged in a row. The northernmost had snow-white eyebrows and beard; below him sat the stern-faced Large-Nosed Elder Monk, the small-framed elder with a gentle smile, and a relatively younger monk with dark skin.
The four Dharma Protectors offered the Buddhist Salutation without rising from their seats.

“Namo Amitabha Buddha.”

The first two candidates immediately joined their palms together. Jangseong replied with the Respectful Hands Gesture, and the Chubby Child, watching his hands, clumsily mimicked the gesture. The Small Elder Monk’s gaze lingered briefly on the child’s wet eyes and Jangseong’s hands, but he said nothing.
The northernmost elder monk observed them for a moment, then spoke.

“Begin.”

The monks opened the first box and withdrew Prayer Beads, a Ceremonial Razor, a Staff, an Inkstone, a brush, a Buddhist Sutra, a Purification Pouch, a Willow Branch, and an Alms Bowl. There were five of each kind.
The Chubby Child tugged at Jangseong’s sleeve.

“Brother Limping, I need to use the privy.”
“Hold it.”
“I really need to go.”

Jangseong disliked being called by that name, but the child was too busy crossing his legs to notice his expression.
A monk explained to the candidates.

“Choose one item of each kind—whichever calls to your heart most. Once chosen, your selection cannot be changed.”

This must be a test to identify the genuine articles used by the Dharma King in life. The two earlier candidates went forward one after the other and began examining the objects. Each hesitated for a long time before making a choice, and the monks recorded every selection without fail.
While waiting, Jangseong scanned the altar cloth. None of the items looked familiar to him. There was nothing he felt drawn to touch.
The tension that had gripped his shoulders drained away.

“Brother, I really can’t hold it.”

The Chubby Child spoke in a voice close to tears.

“I’ll choose quickly. Once you’re done, you should leave right away too.”

When Jangseong’s turn came, he chose whatever caught his eye first. The Chubby Child was faster still.

“This one, and this, and that one… this too.”

Before the monks could even take hold of the last object he pointed at, the child bolted for the door.
Once all four candidates had finished, the Northern Elder Monk raised his hand. Nine genuine articles from the altar cloth rose into the air one by one and were arranged before him.
The monks compared their records against the genuine articles.
None of the candidates had selected more than three correct items.
The shoulders of the two earlier children noticeably sagged. Jangseong exhaled silently to himself. At least from this first test, he would not become the Dharma King.
Yet the four elder monks merely exchanged a single glance and showed no sign of disturbance whatsoever.

They spoke: “Bring forth the Buddha Bone Relic

of the Dharma King.”

The second wooden box was opened. From it emerged an Iron Box, a Bronze Box, a Silver Box, a Gold Box, and a Jade Box in sequence. As each box grew smaller, the breathing of those watching grew more shallow and measured.
The Chubby Child waddled back, legs splayed wide, moving awkwardly.
Jangseong glanced down at the boy’s wet trousers.

“Back so soon?”
“Couldn’t undo the belt.”

The voice was small, but in the quiet of the Great Hall, everyone heard it. Several monks frowned at the child, who slipped behind Jangseong’s back and hid.
As the final Jade Box opened, beneath the Crystal Cover lay a handful of white relics, each no larger than a bean.

“Extinguish the flames.”

The lamps and candles went out in succession. As darkness settled, only the Buddha Bone Relic emitted a faint glow.
Four Dharma Protectors released their Spiritual Qi simultaneously. Four relics rose into the air and halted before the candidates.
The Northern Elder Monk’s voice echoed through the darkness.

“The Dharma King’s relic responds to Spiritual Acuity and harmony. Whosoever touches it with the left index finger and summons the Five-Colored Buddha Light is the True Dharma King Reincarnation.”

No one moved forward at once.
The first candidate who had arrived bit his lip and touched the relic.
Nothing changed.
As he lowered his head, the second candidate extended his hand. The faint glow remained unchanged.
Jangseong’s heart quickened again.
If not them, only he and the Chubby Child remained. If not even the child, his chance to escape vanished.
Jangseong turned to his side.

“You go first.”

The Chubby Child shook his head, clutching his wet trousers.

“I’m scared.”
“I’m frightened too.”

The child looked up at him.
Jangseong extended his left hand.

“So let’s do it together.”

The Chubby Child confirmed Jangseong’s hand in the relic’s faint light, then carefully stretched out his index finger.
Both fingers touched the relic almost simultaneously.
Before the Chubby Child, the Five-Colored Buddha Light exploded.
The Great Hall, plunged in darkness, was instantly flooded with brilliant radiance. The four elder monks and all the monks stiffened at once.
Jangseong released the breath that had been constricting his chest.
The Chubby Child was the True Dharma King Reincarnation.
At that very moment, the Buddha Bone Relic touching Jangseong’s fingertip trembled.
Seven-Colored Flowing Light surged forth.
Thousands of streams of Downward Light pierced through the Five-Colored Buddha Light, filling the entire Great Hall.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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