Chapter 37 (1/2)

Translator: CKtalon

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong were stunned when they heard Jingfa’s words.

Jingfa stared at them for two seconds with his blinking red eyes before saying to Long Yuehong, “You don’t know about the Kalendarium.” After saying that, he looked at Shang Jianyao and spoke without any emotional fluctuations. “You know.”

Huh? Long Yuehong turned to look at Shang Jianyao in confusion and surprise. The two of us have received the same education and lived in the same environment. We are also often inseparable. Why have I never heard of the term ‘Kalendarium’ before when Shang Jianyao seems to know it very well?

Shang Jianyao’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he frankly replied, “I’ve heard a little about them.”

The red light flickered on Jingfa’s metallic black face again. “Ending, beginning; end of year, beginning of year… You learned about it from the believers of the Arbiter of Fate.”

Shang Jianyao, who had been feeling strange, immediately confirmed one thing—the mechanical monk opposite him seemed capable of hearing some of the voices in his heart!

Long Yuehong couldn’t be bothered to think about the title, ‘Arbiter of Fate,’ and also sensed that something was amiss.

Jingfa didn’t continue. Instead, he simply explained, “The Kalendarium are the deities who control time and this world. There are a total of 13 such deities, and they correspond to different months.”

“Aren’t there just 12 months?” Long Yuehong pointed out the obvious. He had an inkling that the Kalendarium was a popular religion or myth on the world’s surface.

Jingfa’s voice was cold and deep, sounding nothing like a human’s. “There’s one Kalendria that rules over the leap month, or rather, the entire year—all time.”

Without waiting for Long Yuehong to ask any further, Jingfa cut to the chase. “Our parish speaks of the corporeal body’s nothingness and the four elements’ hollowness because this world is Buddha Lokeśvara-Tathāgata’s dream world.”

Shang Jianyao suddenly interrupted Jingfa. “Lokeśvara-Tathāgata? Isn’t it supposed to be Subhuti?”

Jingfa pressed his palms together. “Lokeśvara-Tathāgata is a Buddha of the past, the sovereign of creation. Buddha Subhuti is the Tathāgata of the present world, the origin of all sentience. Don’t you want to ask about the Kalendaria who’s in charge of the leap month and represents the entire year? This Penniless Monk will tell you now that it’s Lokeśvara-Tathāgata.”

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong came to a realization and nodded indiscernibly.

Jingfa lowered his head and chanted, “Namo Lokeśvara-Tathāgata.”

As he chanted, he straightened his back—which was made up of metal bones. He maintained the posture of pressing his palms together and bowed slightly at the towering ‘chimneys.’

“Are you going to ask why this Penniless Monk bows to the tower that refines iron and steel?” After Jingfa raised his body, he took the initiative to voice Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong’s thoughts.

“That’s because Buddha Lokeśvara-Tathāgata has another name, Stupa. This is another form of address for Buddhas. At the same time, it represents a Buddha tower. Therefore, when we recite Lokeśvara-Tathāgata’s Buddhist title, we should salute the highest tower around us. It can be a Buddha tower, a water tower, iron tower, signal tower, or high-voltage towers.”

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong originally found the mechanical monk, Jingfa, to be reasonable and logical. However, they began to find him a little strange when they heard the latter half of his preaching.

It was unknown if Jingfa had sensed their thoughts, but he stopped in time and said, “Outside of asceticism, Buddha Lokeśvara-Tathāgata has another honorific name.”

“What is it?” Long Yuehong blurted out.

Jingfa remained cross-legged. It was impossible to discern any emotion from his metallic face. “Master Zhuang.”

“Master Zhuang… Kalendaria Master Zhuang… Once before, Master Zhuang dreamt of being a butterfly…” Shang Jianyao couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Jingfa’s head bobbed up and down. “Master Zhuang’s dream is referring to our world. All of you should have had dreams before and know that everything in a dream is an illusion. All your feelings and interactions are only emulated by fate. If you can’t figure this out, you will continue to sink into this darkness, experiencing life, old age, disease, death, love, separation, hate, desire, and pain of the five appropriated aggregates over and over again.”

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong thought about it and inexplicably felt that the mechanical monk opposite them made sense. Of course, the premise was that this world was indeed a particular deity’s dream.

At that moment, Jingfa changed the topic. “Patrons, please wait a moment. This Penniless Monk needs to carry out maintenance.”

“…” Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong dazedly watched the monk in the monk robe and kasaya opposite them as he opened a metal cover at its waist and took out a plastic bottle.

He then unscrewed the small metal lid at the location of his clavicle and poured a little of the plastic bottle’s sticky yellow ‘oil’ in.

“This is…” Shang Jianyao spoke curiously.

He didn’t expect Jingfa to answer, but the latter frankly replied, “Dedicated lubricant.”

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong’s expressions froze for two seconds. They instantly found themselves ridiculous for previously finding sense in what the monk had said.

Jingfa seemed not to notice anything. After putting away the special lubricant, he looked up at the two people opposite him with his blinking red eyes. “Patrons, how old art thou?”

“?” Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong were momentarily at a loss for words.