I saw the sorrow in Master Swallow's eyes as he took the wine gourd I handed him and drank deeply.
"I learned about it through Mona Ouyang, Ethan Zhang, as my disciple told me."
Although I had suspected before that perhaps Master Swallow's family and disciples were killed by Brother Owen, now it seems everything has been confirmed. From Master Swallow's melancholy expression, I could see how deeply he was hurt.
"Ethan Zhang, look at the inscriptions on these mountain walls."
After a careful examination, I recalled the scripture Master Swallow had just recited.
"It's the Kṣitigarbha Sutra."
Master Swallow spoke, then took another deep drink.
I gasped in surprise, staring at the Sanskrit on the mountain walls—astonished that it was the Kṣitigarbha Sutra.
Master Swallow seemed overwhelmed by sorrow. He kept drinking, yet there was not a trace of drunkenness in his eyes.
"I can't get drunk anymore. This wine, Ethan Zhang, I'm sorry. Two years ago, when I was among the Renegade Monks, something happened, so..."
"It's alright, Master Swallow. I'm doing well now."
Master Swallow gazed into the distance, then began to speak.
This Jialan, long before Hell was fully formed, already existed here. It seems that a monk spent thousands of years painstakingly carving it out by hand.
I gasped, looking at Master Swallow in astonishment.
This was just a story my master once told me. I never expected it to be true, haha.
As Master Swallow spoke, the sorrow in his eyes grew ever deeper.
I had heard from Master Richard Ming that when Master Lucian went mad and slaughtered the monks, after being defeated by the celestial beast—the Golden Howler, the monks spared Lucian. It was Master Swallow who carried him down the mountain and cared for him.
"Do you want to hear it, Ethan?"
I nodded. Master Swallow took a sip of wine, then handed the gourd to me. I drank as well.
When I was four, a terrible famine struck. Years of drought left our land barren. Most people had fled, leaving only those too weak from hunger to move, surviving on tree roots and grass. By then, my parents were already gone.