Yaoying knew that Buddhism originated in the Tianzhu region, spreading to the Western Regions and Central Plains afterward. Its teachings mixed with local beliefs and gradually evolved through centuries of development, giving rise to different sects.
In the Western Regions, Buddhism dominated, with many senior monks and temples emerging from this region. From the king to the slaves, all were devout believers. A large number of Buddhist temples were built in the Western Regions, great quantities of Buddhist scriptures and texts were spread around, and grand Buddhist pujas were held annually. The Western Regions were called "the Small Western Paradise" by the monks in the Central Plains.
In Mondatipa's hometown of Tianzhu, Buddhism was already in decline.
Yaoying remembered when Mondatipa strived to come to the Western Regions despite all the difficulties. Why was he leaving after staying not even a year in the Western Regions?
She asked her question.
Mondatipa smiled slightly: "This poor monk had seen Buddha's son and saw that what I wanted in this life was not vain. Buddha had his own considerations for all living beings; everything has its own cause and effect, in what form it takes, that is, in what form it will be liberated. The Western Regions is not the place where this poor monk is meant to be."
Yaoying remembered Tumorga's turquoise dark lotus-colored eyes and asked, "What is the liberation of the practice that Buddha's son seeks?"
Mondatipa hesitated for a moment, seemingly unable to find words to describe it. After a long silence, he said, "Buddha's son has chosen a very difficult path of practice."
Yaoying sighed slightly in her heart.
She felt that Tumoroga believed in what might be the Mahayana doctrine.
Buddhism was divided into Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. In layman's terms, Hinayana Buddhism believed that ordinary people could not attain enlightenment and emphasized practicing asceticism in order to free oneself from worldly worries; enlightenment was something innate that one was born with. Mahayana Buddhism believed that there were countless Buddhas in the three worlds and ten directions and that Siddhartha Gautama was simply one of them. Each and every person had a Buddhist nature, so in addition to self-transcendence, believers also sought to transcend all sentient beings.
Tumoroga, who guarded the Royal Court and did everything with the people in mind, was clearly of the Mahayana sect.
They left the palace, crossed a stone wall, climbed a trestle, and walked through a long, narrow, and gloomy cave. Before them, the cave entrance opened up. Blazing sunlight shone down and the sound of clamorous voices carried over with the wind.
It was very late at night when Yaoying came to the Holy City. Following that, she continuously stayed in the palace, and still had not seen the Holy City during the day, so hearing the sound of people, she looked around curiously.
With this glance, she could not help but hold her breath.
The daybreak's light was bright, the sky was vast and without a cloud; blue and clear.
Dwelling in the horizon, peaks of towering mountain ranges rose and fell, reaching into the clouds. The first beam of morning light came down, adding a layer of brilliant gold to the snow-capped mountain summits that remained pure-white all year round. The beauty and grandeur could not be described in words.
Halfway up the mountain, the ground was a vast stretch of dark green. Through hazy clouds and swirling mist, picturesque and grand, one could vaguely see the grottoes and ancient Buddhist temples hidden in the forests of the mountains. The ravine at the foot of the mountain was deep, the streams of the river valley weaving in and out. The large and small lakes resembled pieces of aquamarine and emerald gems embedded within the earth, reflections of the blue sky. The lakeside's green meadows invited one to take a slumber on its level terrain.
When Yaoying looked south, a thousand miles of fertile fields of endless rows of wheat were reflected in her eyes.
At the end of the fertile field, was the Holy City that Tumoroga guarded.
It was a magnificent and prosperous capital. A long, wide river wound and flowed from west to east around the high walls with lofty towers at its four corners, magnificent and imposing. The layout of the city was as neat and tidy as Chang'an, spreading out evenly over its confines. A lively bazaar resided in the south and mansions and houses were increasingly concentrated toward the north as the terrain rose and fell. At the northernmost end, flights of palace steps surrounded the elevated Buddhist temple. Many stories with high pecking eaves made up the palace halls. It seemed that it was just temples and Buddhist halls one after another as hundreds of several-meter-high pagodas stood among them. In regal splendor, dignified and majestic, it declared it existed in the Royal Court's exalted sanctity.
That was Tumoroga's Buddhist temple.
Inside the city, carriages and horses jammed the streets. People dressed in different clothes and hailing from different tribes passed through the streets and alleys in streams. Dust rolled on the main road outside the city as merchants herding camels, elephants, horses, long-haired cattle and sheep headed toward the city. The sound of pipa music interspersed with pleasant laughter. It was a scene of serenity and prosperity.
Yaoying reined her horse, looking at the Holy City at her feet, her heart like crashing tides. She was speechless for a long time.
The glorious mountains, the dark green valleys, the flourishing capital. The neatly lined houses, the peaking pagodas. The ranges of hills, the lakes, and mountains, the peace and happiness of the world. It was like a magnificent painting scroll, slowly unfolding before her eyes.
In this desert, 8,000 miles away from the Central Plains, she actually saw the blooming of peaches and plums, the view of mulberries everywhere in full bloom.
If it weren't for the unending snowy peaks in the distance, the vast yellow sand beyond the river, and the Buddhist temples in the city, that were very different from the buildings of the Central Plains, Yaoying almost thought that the trestle she had just crossed had brought her back to Jingnan.
This oasis nation in the desert was so prosperous and rich.
No wonder the Northern Rong had always thought it imperative to control the Royal Court. No wonder Tumoroga had endured for so many years to guard this capital...
Yaoying gazed at the noisy and lively Holy City in the first glimmers of dawn, seeming to see Tumoroga's lonely life.
Mondatipa and his group had already gone far away while she was still stopped at the entrance of the cave, staring at the sight before her in a daze.
The personal soldiers were as shocked as she was at what they saw before them. It took a long time before they could come back to their senses.
Yaoying looked down and found that they were on top of a high-hanging earthen cliff with a steep rock face below. A large river with shimmering reflections zigzagged and made its way through the cliff below. The wind blew past with a whistling sound.
That night, Tumoroga had led the way back to the city after it turned dark, but it was the same hidden path. Climbing the high stone steps allowed one to directly get from the back of the mountain into the palace. She had only seen a towering earthen cliff and a large river tens of meters wide, so, seeing nothing else, she thought that the Holy City was simply a small, ordinary oasis city.
It turned out that the Holy City was deep in the canyon, surrounded by towering earthen cliffs, forming a natural barrier. This unique terrain was probably one of the reasons why the Northern Rong had attacked the Holy City several times but had always been unable to prevail.
Unfortunately, after Tumoroga's death, this prosperous nation was destined to fall under the iron hooves of the Northern Rong.
Yaoying turned her horse around.
One after another, her personal soldiers followed after her.
They descended the hill and walked a long way down a deep mountain stream. When they turned back, they could no longer see the towering pagodas of the Holy City.
The group stopped to rest. Yaoying was feeding her horse two grass cakes when the sound of hoofbeats falling like rain suddenly rang out ahead.
Sand and dust flew into the sky. Soldiers atop horses sped along like lightning as the sound of horses' hooves echoed between the steep cliffs.
Yuanjue, who was escorting Yaoying to Tianzhu, jumped up. He pointed to a rider on horseback, his face full of ecstasy: "It's General Ashina! General Ashina has returned!"
Yaoying followed his line of sight and saw that the young general on the horse had galloped right in front of her. It was a young man in his twenties, with blond hair and blue eyes and deep contours. His snow-white robes were flying in the wind.
The two's eyes met. Ashina Bisha had a momentary lapse of concentration, but did not stop, and galloped past them.
Yaoying stared blankly, suddenly feeling that the other man's eyes looked familiar.
He also had a pair of turquoise eyes.
Ashina Bisha returned in time, so Mondatipa immediately turned around and went back to the royal palace.
Tumoroga was saved.
Yaoying did not hesitate and returned to the Holy City with Mondatipa.
Going back to the Central Plains by sea through Tianzhu, she would certainly be able to avoid Haidu Aling, but the journey was long, the risk great. Unless it was her last resort, she hoped to return to the Central Plains from Helong.
Because she was afraid she would miss Li Zhongqian.
She had been away for so long that Li Zhongqian would definitely come to find her-whether he had recovered from his injuries or not, whether the news of the destruction of the Yelu tribe had reached Chang'an or not, Yaoying was sure that as long as her elder brother was alive, he would come to her.
Since Tumoroga was saved, she should stay in order to find a chance to return to the Central Plains from Helong.
Sooner or later, Haidu Aling would turn around and attack the Central Plains. Instead of living in fear and trepidation every day, it would be better to make preparations early. Now, he was nothing more than an irritable and gloomy prince of Northern Rong with an unstable position, far less scheming and farseeing than he would be in a few years. Since he was already an enemy, cut off his wings before his power grew!