Chapter 966: The Eight Major Hells

The Buddha’s head landed on the headless Buddha’s statue.

The jeweled crown landed on the Buddha’s head.

The kasaya wrapped around the Buddha’s body.

The jeweled beads landed on the Buddha’s left hand.

And the Buddhist sutra landed on his right.

In just the blink of an eye, a Buddha statue that looked exactly the same as the transparent silhouette of Kṣitigarbha Buddha took form in the air.

Then, the silhouette of Kṣitigarbha Buddha walked off the Diting’s back and entered the Buddha’s statue.

When the silhouette and the Buddha’s statue became one, Buddhist chants immediately filled the world. As the Buddha’s statue emitted a faint Buddha light, the cracks on the statue began mending, the damages on the jeweled crown disappeared like they never were, the tattered kasaya regained its luster, the dim beads regained their light, and the ancient-looking sutra looked as good as new.

When the Buddha’s statue opened its eyes, a halo that illuminated all directions chased away the darkness, a Buddha’s voice that seemed like a part of the world itself shook the past and the future, and the Buddha’s light shining from the mural became much brighter.

Amidst the light, countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats and Vajrapanis appeared. It was like the Kingdom of Buddha had manifested.

The Buddha’s light and voice encompassed the entire Lu Tai Yuan, which was why every evil ghost on the icy plains slowly shedded their negative emotions and turned peaceful. Not only that, they seemed to regain their human form before sitting on the ground and chanting a Buddhist sutra while facing in the direction of Kṣitigarbha Buddha.

What was a living hell on earth had transformed into a Buddha’s paradise in the blink of an eye.

While all this was going on, the North Duke and his men could only watch with stunned expressions.

“My Buddha is merciful. The Ten Directions Stupa is now complete, so the calamity of ghosts is no more. Herein lies immeasurable merit.”

Kṣitigarbha Buddha then turned to look at the North Duke’s group and asked, “Are you willing to enter the Ten Directions Stupa and receive my mantle and inheritance? Are you willing to take refuge in the Buddha?”

“This disciple is willing!” Everyone responded and nodded their head immediately.

“Excellent...”

Kṣitigarbha Buddha continued, “Those who enter the Ten Directions Stupa must be punished by eight major hells and be purified themselves of ten unjust deeds. Are you willing to accept this?”

“This disciple is willing!” The group responded again. The North Duke knew from the beginning that there was no way they could receive Kṣitigarbha Buddha’s acknowledgement and subsequently the Ten Directions Stupa just by returning the fragments. He had expected to face some trials and so wasn’t really surprised.

“Excellent, excellent,” Kṣitigarbha Buddha chanted again before declaring, “Off you go. Off you go.”

As soon as he finished, a ray of Buddha’s light struck the North Duke’s group. They immediately disappeared into nothing.

After the North Duke’s group was gone, Kṣitigarbha Buddha turned his head and looked in a certain direction as if he was expecting someone. Not a moment too soon, the seemingly empty space rippled, and Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng stepped out into the open.

“We greet you, Kṣitigarbha Buddha.” Both Chu Wangsun and Su Banchen saluted the Buddha.

“Do you wish to enter the Ten Directions Stupa as well?” Kṣitigarbha Buddha asked.

“Yes, we do,” Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng responded. “We hope you will fulfill our wish.”

“You seek to receive reward without merits. You seek to kill and to steal. I see the malice in your hearts, and I deem you guilty,” Kṣitigarbha Buddha declared. “If you enter the Ten Directions Stupa, the punishments you will receive for your sin of stealing and killing will be multiplied. Are you still willing to enter despite knowing this?”

“This disciple is willing,” Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng replied without hesitation.

“Excellent.”

Kṣitigarbha Buddha waved his hand, and the duo disappeared in a flash of Buddha’s light as well.

After Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng were gone, Kṣitigarbha Buddha asked again, “Do you seek to enter the Ten Directions Stupa as well?”

As soon as he finished, two people slowly walked over from afar. They seemed to be moving slowly, but they really appeared in front of Kṣitigarbha Buddha in just the blink of an eye. Naturally, they were Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou.

“We greet you, Kṣitigarbha Buddha.”

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou gave Kṣitigarbha Buddha a bow. Then, Ye Qing asked simply, “May we enter?”

“You have no merits, and I sense malice in your hearts. You seek to steal, and you are plotting to take another life. Your sins are grave.”

Kṣitigarbha Buddha’s eyes seemed capable of seeing through the past, present, and future. He seemed to know all of creation. At the very least, he had seen through Ye Qing’s ploy instantly. “When you enter the Ten Directions Stupa, you must suffer ten times the punishment to cleanse your sins.”

Ye Qing wasn’t disturbed by Kṣitigarbha Buddha’s surprisingly harsh words, however. He asked calmly, “And if we choose not to enter?”

“Your sins are grave. You must enter even if you choose not to enter,” Kṣitigarbha Buddha said slowly.

“Huh?”

Ye Qing wasn’t expecting this answer. Everyone else got the chance to say no, so why not them?

Before he could mull over the Buddha’s words, a pair of Buddha lights enveloped him and Feng Qingyou. The next moment, they found themselves pulled toward an unknown space by an irresistible power.

“You have no martial virtue, Kṣitigarbha Buddha!”

That was the last thought in Ye Qing’s mind before he disappeared.

When he regained his consciousness, Ye Qing found himself standing at a dark red place. Feng Qingyou was nowhere to be found.

“I guess he separated us.”

Ye Qing examined the land before him. Rivers of molten copper were everywhere, and many tall, massive ghost pawns were standing beside the rivers with one or more prisoners in tow. They were scooping up the molten copper from the river and pouring it into their prisoners’ mouths.

Naturally, the molden copper easily burned through the prisoner’s tongue, throat, and later their stomach. Despite screaming in pain and struggling with all their might, the ghosts could not die, much less struggle free. They could only watch as the ghost pawns poured molten copper into their mouths and subject them to seemingly eternal pain.

“Is this the Hell of Molten Copper?!” Ye Qing lifted an eyebrow and muttered to himself.

There were eight major hells and countless evil ghosts imprisoned in the Ten Directions Stupa. As for why there were eight major hells, volume nineteenth of the ancient Buddhist sutra “Dirgha Agama” stated this:

“The Buddha told the monks, ‘There are 8,000 islands that surround the four continents. There’s also a great ocean that completely encircles those 8,000 islands, and a chain of great diamond mountains encircles that ocean. Beyond those diamond mountains, there’s a second chain of great diamond mountains. There’s an utter darkness between those two mountain chains, where the great illuminating power of the sun and moon gods doesn’t reach.’

‘There are eight great hells there, and each of those hells has sixteen lesser hells. The first great hell is called Molten Copper. The second is called Saṃjñā. The third is called Kālasūtra. The fourth is called Yin Wind. The fifth is called Frigid Ice. The sixth is called Tapana. The seventh is called Mills. The eighth is called Avīci.’ [1]

The Hell of Molten Copper was one of the eight major hells. Those who told lies, flowery words; two-tongued, and vile-mouthed would enter this hell and suffer the pain of having molten copper poured into their throats to atone for the sin of their mouth.

They could leave only when their atonement was complete, and their karmic hidrance was fully cleansed.

Clatter!

It was at this moment a chain appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Ye Qing.

“Hmm?” Ye Qing frowned and unleashed his force, but to his surprise, not even his prodigious strength was enough to break the chain immediately. The next moment, a mysterious energy surged into his body and caused light gray steam to rise out of him.

The grayish steam was dirty, inauspicious, and anomalous.

Behind him, a ghost pawn declared in a cold, emotionless voice, “You are a sinner who is told lies and flowery words; two-tongued, and vile-mouthed! You will suffer the punishment of molten copper three hundred times!”

The next moment, the ground in front of Ye Qing split open, and red hot copper rose from its black depths.

The ghost pawn did not wait for a response. He immediately scooped up a spoonful of molten copper and acted to pour it into his mouth.

Ye Qing did not struggle though. In fact, he cooperatively opened his mouth.

It wasn’t that he was powerless to resist. He just wanted to see what would happen if he allowed the punishment to take its course.

Besides, with his current physique, forget a few spoonfuls of molten copper, he could swim in the river for weeks and not lose a single hair on his body.

What could he do? He was just that strong.

As expected, Ye Qing felt nothing when the molten copper was poured into his mouth. It felt like he was drinking water with a tang of copper rust, but that was all.

1. Translation is lifted from a website, with SOME author changes as you can see that some hells have sanskrit names and some don’t. Regardless, all credit goes to them:

https://canon.dharmapearls.net/01_agama/dirgha/DA_30-4.html

☜