Gradually, I stepped back a little, and my view became clearer. The Sanskrit inscriptions on the stone stele began to shift. Astonished, I watched as the strokes broke apart, scattered, then reformed into new characters—characters I could understand.
When all beings are saved, only then is enlightenment attained; if hell is not empty, I vow not to become a Buddha.
Just sixteen simple words, yet they radiated boundless heroism. Between the lines, I sensed a fervent wish—a faith. I had heard this before from the mouth of the Ghostworm Monk; it is the Buddhist verse of the Saint of the Underworld.
Everything before me was utterly unbelievable. I felt I was receiving some kind of guidance, step by step, toward the glowing stone stele.
"What are you trying to tell me?"
I shouted, staring at the words on the stele as they began to slowly disperse and revert back to Sanskrit.
Step by step, I approached the stele. The glowing stone kept guiding me forward. With a whoosh, I passed through it.
I was stunned. All around me stretched vast, pale-blue mountains—the Sanctuary Range. Beneath my feet, it was as if I stood atop a mirror.
Amazed, I looked down at the blue-tinted landscape. Then I saw a monk, his face resolute, carrying a small bundle, weaving through the mountains. Gradually, he reached the center of the range.
When the monk arrived at the summit of a peak, he stopped, took out a chisel, an axe, and other tools, and began carving right there among the mountains.
The scene beneath my feet shifted rapidly. Soon, I saw the flattened mountain top, the path hewn out with an axe. I couldn't understand why the monk wanted to carve the Sanctuary Range.
Time flew by. Year after year, day after day, the monk kept at his work. Gradually, I saw the beginnings of Jialan City.
With each carving, the monk gave his all, repeating the labor tirelessly. Eventually, Jialan City took shape, the mountain paths connected, and the monk returned to the center, atop the peak. By then, something about him had changed.
The gray monk's robe he wore when he first arrived had faded, tattered and worn. At last, exhaustion showed on his face. He sat down at the summit, and I saw a crack appear in the unchanging gray sky above.
Gradually, beams of golden light descended.
"Unshaken as the earth, deep contemplation like a hidden treasure. Now... you have attained great enlightenment, achieved true fruition, and should return to your place..."
A stern yet infinitely compassionate voice drifted down from the sky. The monk stood, pressed his palms together, and made a Buddhist gesture.
"What wrong have mortals done, why must they descend to hell? Though I have attained enlightenment, my original vow remains. How can there be true enlightenment when my wish is unfulfilled? I am deeply uneasy..."
As he spoke, the monk slowly sat cross-legged, picked up his tools, and began moving stones back and forth. Gradually, he built a massive stone stele.
"Let this stele bear witness: I choose to remain here and leave behind my sixteen-character vow."