Volume One, Chapter Forty: The Theory of Shadow Grass

Chapter Forty: The Hidden Machinations

Mara nodded and said, "There are only so many possibilities. Go on!"

Tu Zhe pondered as he spoke, "The first possibility, as I see it, is this: that Brahma Egg is not just some candy, right? You can’t just pick one off the ground. Even if someone found one, why would they give it to me? Do I know them? Do we have any friendship between us? If he gave me a Brahma Egg just because he liked me, surely I wouldn’t be the only one across three thousand great worlds whom he takes a liking to. How many Brahma Eggs does he even have to hand out? Even if he had many, would he really be willing to give one away? Take you, Master, for example. If you had such a Brahma Egg, would you give it to a stranger?”

Mara replied, "Not just to a stranger—even my own son, I wouldn’t want to give it away, haha..."

Tu Zhe clapped his hands. “So, someone picks up a Brahma Egg, doesn’t use it for themselves, but gives it to me. Master, you see, it’s an impossible thing that actually happened. The question is—why?”

Mu Xiuloutuo furrowed his brow. "When something unusual happens, there must be a reason. We can’t take this lightly."

The little dog waved its paw. "There must be hidden plots—definitely hidden plots!"

Mara nodded gravely. "Go on!"

Having worked through some of the puzzles, Tu Zhe’s tone became more relaxed and irreverent. "Suppose the Brahma Egg was found by a thief—his reasons for giving it to me are harder to guess. But the chances of him wanting to harm me aren’t high, since it’s his own possession. He can give it to whomever he wants—what can anyone else do? Now, the second and third possibilities—he stole it, was discovered, and the person he stole from pursued him so relentlessly that he couldn’t take it anymore, so he gave it to me to divert disaster elsewhere. Master, do you think that’s likely?"

"But if he gives it to me, can I even keep it? If I can’t, and in a moment of carelessness reveal the true owner, his efforts are wasted, aren’t they? At most, he’s just dragging an innocent victim down with him. But is there any point to that?"

Mara and Mu Xiuloutuo had no answers.

Tu Zhe raised his sword-like eyebrows, stood up, and struck a pose, looking both handsome and clever. "There’s one more possibility. If I were the thief, with pursuers hot on my heels, I’d hide the item with some unknown little ghost. Who would suspect? When the heat dies down and the pursuers give up, I could take it back from the little ghost, find a safe place, refine the egg, and then, across the three thousand great worlds—who could do anything to me?"

Mara slapped his thigh in approval. Mu Xiuloutuo gave Tu Zhe a deep, appreciative look.

The little dog tugged at Tu Zhe’s mouth. "Rogue Brother, what kind of brain do you have? I could just die of envy, hahaha..."

Tu Zhe felt a touch of pride, almost humming a spring tune.

Mara asked, "So, what do you plan to do?"

The dog chimed in, "Give it to Indra, then spread the word, and see if that old fox survives, hee hee..."

Mara gave a thumbs-up. "That’s vicious. But even ten thousand Indras can’t compare to a single Brahma Egg, little dog, haha..."

The dog rolled its eyes. "I’m just talking. Would I really give it away? Not like that pig-headed brain of yours, who can’t figure anything out..."

Mara felt an urge to bang his head against the wall.

Tu Zhe gently tapped the dog on the head. "A Golden Brahma Egg? Ha! Now that it’s in my hands, it’s like throwing a meat bun into the night—no way it’s coming back, ha..."

The little dog unleashed a flurry of punches, forcing Rogue Brother to cry for a truce.

Mara considered. "Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll send this Brahma Egg deep into your sea of consciousness. As long as your soul remains calm, it will conceal its presence. But to be safe, you’d best learn a technique like Stealing Heaven, to shroud your Amara Consciousness Sea. Learn the art of refinement as soon as possible—you can’t wait until the thief comes back for it."

Tu Zhe was taken aback. "Amara Consciousness Sea? What’s that supposed to be? I know the eight consciousnesses: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, manas, and alaya. Where did this Amara come from?"

Mara nodded. "Amara is the highest level of spiritual consciousness!"

Tu Zhe felt dizzy. The highest level of spiritual consciousness? What on earth was that, and where was it hiding?

Mara, relishing the moment, said, "The mountain of books has roads, the sea of learning is boundless, isn’t that so? Knowledge must be accumulated bit by bit. You can’t get fat in one bite—and if you do, you’ll choke, right? See, your understanding of consciousness and ours differ, but there are parallels. In your Daoist tradition, cultivation is divided into five great stages. You know that, right? Maybe not. The five stages are: one, Foundation Building and Essence Refinement; two, Refining Essence into Qi; three, Refining Qi into Spirit; four, Refining Spirit to Emptiness; five, Merging Emptiness with the Dao. Now, do you know what Qi is? Maybe not?"

Tu Zhe thought his master was amusing—so proud and eager to teach, unlike those teachers in his previous life who only went through the motions in class and made money off their students after hours.

The dog rolled its eyes at Mara. "You’re such a show-off, aren’t you? Qi is just what cultivators call true energy, right?"

Mara scratched his neck. "More or less, but to be precise, there are differences. Take Qi, for example. In Daoism, there’s innate true Qi and primordial Qi. Innate true Qi is what you’re born with; primordial Qi can give birth to worlds. It’s akin to what we call pure Brahma energy. Daoists call it primal chaos energy, but it’s all the same thing under different names. The real difference is that, in Daoism, refining Qi into Spirit uses this primal chaos energy or pure Brahma energy to strengthen oneself, develop supernatural abilities, and forge the primordial spirit. For us, aside from these, we mainly seek enlightenment amid pure Brahma energy, perceiving the laws of creation and destruction, pursuing the source and essence of the world, and ultimately attaining the fruits of Arhat, Bodhisattva, or Buddha."

At this, Mu Xiuloutuo—usually mild and indifferent to worldly affairs—suddenly spoke with rare gloom, "Tell me, Lord of Realms, who was it that once said, in the age of Dharma’s decline, they would use the body of Buddha to destroy the Buddha’s teachings?"

Mara couldn’t help but turn aside. "Tsk—everyone has their flaws, right? Back then, I talked the Buddha to death just because I couldn’t stand those five so-called elders and their hypocritical brows. All their talk of compassion and precepts—no lust, no killing, all that nonsense—how many truly live up to it? Anyone can speak fine words, but how many can follow through? Take Indra, for example. Once he became the Buddha’s guardian god, he was supposed to be compassionate and pure, right? But not only did he defile Mount Sumeru, he even went out to seize men and women, causing countless innocent celestial beings to perish. Forget all that—if being a hypocrite means being a gentleman, I’d rather be a true scoundrel. My nature is open and free, joyful and unrestrained. Is that why they branded me one of the Four Great Heavenly Demons? So be it—let them bite me if they dare!"

Mu Xiuloutuo’s single comment sent Mara into a fit. The little dog added fuel to the fire, "Long live true scoundrels! Down with hypocrites! Yay—"

Enough, enough—let’s get back to the serious matters.