Chapter 1: The End of a Top Student

Brian White was very unlucky. While traveling to Shaolin on Mount Song, he was actually crushed to death by the sudden collapse of the Sutra Pavilion.

Of course, if he hadn't been trying to save a mother and her child at the time, he wouldn't have died so tragically under the pavilion. You could say he sacrificed himself for righteousness.

Brian White felt extremely frustrated. Damn, my plan to dominate all credits and all academic years hasn't even been realized yet—what a case of heaven being jealous of talent.

When Brian White opened his eyes again, he found he was no longer on Mount Song, and his mind was a bit muddled.

Hadn't he already died?

Pain—

The pain proved he wasn't dead yet; at least, the dead don't feel pain.

A pungent stench of decay filled the air. Brian White's face turned a bit ugly. Looking around, he found himself in a wasteland, surrounded by crooked tombstones, some coffins protruding from the ground, and even exposed bones.

"Could this be hell? Why does hell have a mass grave?"

"This is neither the era you know nor the world you know."

Suddenly, a strange voice sounded in Brian White's ear. Brian White was startled all over; in this kind of environment, any movement could scare him out of his wits.

"Who? Who's talking? Human or ghost? Come... come out... I'm not afraid..."

"Me? I'm not human..."

"Help! A ghost!" Brian White seemed to be injected with chicken blood; his back didn't ache, his legs didn't hurt, and he sprang far away, dashing out of the mass grave in a flash.

He ran while screaming, clearly terrified by that voice.

But the voice still followed him like a shadow, echoing slowly in Brian White's ear: "I'm not a ghost either..."

Brian White was stunned, his steps suddenly halted, and he looked around blankly: "Then what are you? Where are you now?"

"I'm in your sea of consciousness."

"Sea of consciousness? Where's that?"

"It's in your head."

Brian White almost fainted from fright: "What are you doing in my head?"

"You think I want to be in your head?" The voice sounded extremely impatient, or rather unwilling, and said indifferently, "It's too much trouble to explain. Just come in!"

"Come... come in?" Brian White hadn't figured out what was happening when he suddenly felt the world spinning, lost consciousness, and collapsed to the ground.

Flowers and mist swirled before his eyes, and in the blink of an eye, everything became clear. A golden, radiant tower stood before him.

In an instant, Buddhist chants rose, auspicious clouds coiled—

In front of the tower stood a stone stele, with three golden characters containing profound Buddhist meaning: Sutra Pavilion!!

The red lacquered doors slowly opened. Brian White stood there, bewildered and at a loss.

Misty air flowed out from the crack in the door. Brian White kept muttering to himself, Am I here to see the Buddha in the Western Paradise?

The doors finally opened wide, and the next moment's visual shock nearly suffocated Brian White.

Standing inside the Sutra Pavilion was not a kind-looking Buddha, but a burly, rough monk in a gray robe and kasaya, half-naked, with a golden hoop binding his messy hair.

The monk's face was covered in stubble, looking like he had never groomed himself in his life. Not only did he look fierce, but he was also filthy all over. He looked more like a bandit or a butcher than anything else.

"Ma... master..."

"Master your ass, my Dharma name is Abstain from Killing." As soon as this monk named Abstain from Killing opened his mouth, he started cursing angrily.

"So it's Master Abstain from Killing. I am Brian White, greetings, Master." Brian White didn't dare show the slightest disrespect. He was in an unfamiliar place and didn't know who this person was, so it was best to keep his head down.

"I know who you are. Your name is Brian White, you're twenty years old, a senior in college who hasn't graduated yet, with excellent grades. You got terminal stomach cancer, went out for a walk, and ended up sacrificing yourself to save a mother and child. You really died an unjust death."

Brian White's eyes widened: "Are you doing a census?"

"Census your ass, my master calculated it with his fingers." Robbery and Murder said impatiently.

"May I ask, Master, which school are you from? What is your Dharma name?"

"Tathagata."

Brian White almost spat out a mouthful of blood. The Buddha Tathagata could have a disciple like you?

"Damn you, what's with that look? You think I wanted to be Tathagata's disciple?" Abstain from Killing cursed angrily, as if "damn you" was his catchphrase. Who knows how the great Tathagata tolerated such a disciple.

Brian White gave a dry laugh, feeling there was no need to explain—facts spoke for themselves.

"I was a bandit in my previous life, believe it or not. In this life, I've never killed the innocent indiscriminately, but I met the old monk Tathagata in disguise, who tricked... enlightened me, brought me into Buddhism, and gave me the Dharma name Abstain from Killing."

With that depressed look on Abstain from Killing's face, Brian White could guess how he felt. For a bandit who killed without blinking to suddenly put down his butcher's knife and live a life of purity and abstinence—anyone would find it hard to bear.