The Headless Monk of the Forbidden Sea

Keke's lively and restless nature could not be contained. In the end, it overstepped the boundary of the burial shroud and ran all the way to the cabin area. That bold little white beast actually hopped onto the undying nether lamp, the eternal flame that never went out, and perched there curiously to take a look.

A mournful wail, though not particularly loud, cut clearly into Xiao Chen's ears. A gust of阴风 swept by, sending a chill through the air. In an instant, the little beast's snow-white fur bristled from end to end. The sudden sound had startled it badly, and it hastily leaped down. The Little Defiant Dragon, on the other hand, blazed with fighting spirit; half its body had already probed into the cabin, its black dragon scales glinting with tiny points of light, as if it longed for battle—whether against ghost, beast, or man.

Xiao Chen snapped awake. He felt a helpless frustration. Neither of these two young beasts was ordinary. Trying to keep them truly still and obedient seemed nearly impossible. But exploring so recklessly—this was truly unwise.

A tremendous roar erupted. It was a dreadful sonic wave steeped in death. The battle-hungry Little Defiant Dragon was blasted back out of the cabin by a mysterious force. At the same time, ghostly voices rose—a cacophony as if a thousand beings were whispering and weeping together, utterly hair-raising.

The white beast and the Little Defiant Dragon hesitated for a moment. An enemy they could not see told them their situation was dire. They began to retreat instinctively.

At the same time, billowing black nether fog surged out of the cabin like rolling storm clouds. Vaguely, dozens of ferocious shadowy figures could be seen writhing within, seeming ready to charge at the two young beasts.

Flash. Divine light flickered. Keke's Binding Art manifested, a sphere of multicolored light that shot forward and enveloped over a dozen of those shadowy forms. Then it slammed them hard into the depths of the cabin.

It was as if some balance had been broken. The golden sea, which had been relatively calm and peaceful, suddenly howled with阴风. Nether fog towered to the heavens. The King Ship shuddered violently. From within the cabin came a blood-curdling scream—a savage, oppressive aura instantly shrouded the surrounding space.

An eerie, deathly atmosphere made this area feel like the underworld. The starlight above was completely blotted out. Roars shook the ears—truly the sound of ghosts. The great ship rocked violently as it lumbered forward.

"Come back this instant!" Xiao Chen was genuinely angry.

The two young beasts retreated slowly, still watching the front nervously.

"Did I not tell you not to go over there?"

Seeing Xiao Chen rebuke her like this for the first time, the white little beast pointed in the direction of the cabin with a look of grievance, then made a clawing, fierce gesture. Xiao Chen listened carefully and finally understood: there were terrifying ghostly things in the cabin spying on them. The two young beasts had charged over because they sensed the malevolent intent of those creatures.

"Divine beasts truly have sharp instincts," Xiao Chen had to admit. His own spiritual perception, which could sense things without seeing or hearing, had failed aboard the ancient ship. He had detected nothing abnormal, could not see through to whatever lurked deep in the cabin, but the two beasts had keenly perceived it.

"It seems I wronged you. Here's a little reward." Xiao Chen broke off a piece of the Snow Lotus Heart and began to divide it among them.

"Ya-ya..." Keke called out in dissatisfaction, as if saying that it was all hers.

After careful observation, both Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng sensed that there did seem to be unknown ghostly things in the cabin direction, watching them. This was a very bad sign. With the ancient ship moving at such a speed, they might drift on the Forbidden Sea for a very long time. If things grew worse... who knew what terrifying events might unfold.

The ship lurched violently once more, startling Xiao Chen and the others. The hull had actually tilted just now, as if on the verge of capsizing in the Forbidden Sea. A low but unspeakably dreadful sigh sounded from within the ancient ship. It was as if a malevolent ghost with power that could shake heaven had awoken from slumber.

This was a wordless oppression. Even breathing became abnormally difficult. There was a genuine sensation of suffocation.

This atmosphere left Xiao Chen and the others deeply alarmed. The situation was now too worrisome. Even Keke, who usually feared nothing, fell silent. Only the Little Defiant Dragon's eyes blazed with fierce light; its fighting spirit surged, as if it was ready to charge at any moment—the same indomitable, unyielding state it had shown when facing the Companion Dragon Kings on Dragon Island.

Xiao Chen hastily pressed it down. No joke—under these circumstances, they absolutely must not provoke the unknown but terrifying existence in the cabin with any external force. They could only pray for the dawn to come quickly.

Yet, after an hour and a half, the terrifying atmosphere slowly dissipated. Nothing happened. The black nether fog gradually receded, and the starlight above emerged once more, as if nothing had occurred.

Occasionally, ghostly sounds came from the cabin, but Xiao Chen and the others would have preferred to stay in this state. Compared to the oppressive atmosphere just now, these faint ghostly cries were almost like gentle music.

After all, they could clearly sense that these sounds posed no threat to their lives. The dangerous atmosphere that had accompanied that single sigh was the real peril.

At last, a sliver of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, and then a red sun leaped above the sea. A new day began. The terrifying atmosphere of the night was gone for good.

At noon, Xiao Chen was delighted to discover that the small Sacred Tree hanging beneath the ship's railing was glowing with an increasingly brilliant radiance. The seven-colored little tree was bathed in golden light. When he pulled it back onto the ship, he saw that it had grown a fourth leaf—or rather, a tiny sprout was more accurate. Several small golden leaf buds had already emerged.

This brought a feeling of satisfying joy. To truly see the little Sacred Tree growing was a tangible harvest.

The palm-high tree had not grown taller. Its trunk was sturdy and vigorous, like a coiled dragon, seeming to have acquired a bit more ancient, weathered aura. From bottom to top were the ink-jade leaf, the white-jade leaf, the emerald-jade leaf, and now a golden sprout. Clearly, the golden jade leaf might take shape within the Forbidden Sea.

Of course, the happiest one was the white little beast.

Xiao Chen once again placed the little tree outside the ship. He also looked forward to its further growth, eager to see what it would become when fully mature. As they slowly advanced across the vast, boundless Forbidden Sea, although terrifying events occurred frequently on the ancient ship over the following days, no actual danger materialized.

Time passed quickly. After ten days in this dangerous yet tense atmosphere, the little Sacred Tree's golden jade leaf was nearly fully formed. It glowed with brilliant gold, crystal clear like a jade artifact, suffused with endless divine power.

The power drawn from the Forbidden Sea on ordinary days was not great, but the accumulated energy over time had been enough to let it grow.

And as they sailed for so long, the great ship's speed seemed to increase. The color of the Forbidden Sea also gradually changed, shifting from gold to a pale gold. Xiao Chen knew they were approaching the outer reaches of the Forbidden Sea; they might soon escape this terrible sea region.

Yan Qingcheng was both surprised and overjoyed, seeing hope of complete escape. But she also knew that time was running out for her. She had to make a decision.

They truly were leaving the Forbidden Sea. The seawater's color was slowly turning pale gold. The speed of the King Ship had surpassed that of a slow jog. Clearly, the divine power of the Forbidden Sea was weakening at its periphery, and the resistance had greatly decreased.

On the fourteenth day, an extraordinarily strange event occurred. The sound of Buddhist chanting drifted from afar.

This was too bizarre. This was the Forbidden Sea, albeit at its edge, but it should still be impossible for anyone to remain safely within it. Yet now, Buddhist voices were lightly carried here.

"The body is the Bodhi tree, the mind like a clear mirror stand..."

The voice grew clearer and clearer, melodious and pleasant—it was a young man's voice, as if filled with boundless Buddhist power. It came again and again, like the ringing of a great bell in Xiao Chen's and Yan Qingcheng's ears. Like enlightenment through fine wine and pure milk, it felt as if their minds were being inspired with some kind of realization.

A figure appeared—ethereal and untainted by worldly dust. Clad in white robes as pure as snow, he walked across the golden Forbidden Sea. His grace was beyond description, like a banished immortal descending to the mortal world.

Closer, and closer. They could now see clearly: he wore a monk's robe, his entire being was transcendent and empty, untouched by any worldly impurity. A faint white mist shrouded his upper body, obscuring his true face.

"The body is the Bodhi tree, the mind like a clear mirror stand. Wipe it diligently from time to time, lest dust settle upon it."

Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng were stunned. Someone could actually walk on the waves within the Forbidden Sea? This seemed almost unimaginable. This man undoubtedly possessed unfathomable great power!

Then, in an instant, they both gasped sharply. A gentle breeze stirred, scattering the mist around the upper body of the white-robed divine monk, revealing him fully—a headless corpse... an ethereal, transcendent headless monk!

The mist drifted lightly, once again covering his upper body. But Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng had truly seen the scene just now, even if only in a fleeting glance.

Ethereal and divine, sacred beyond compare—yet a headless corpse. It was too bizarre. Despite being filled with the aura of immortals and Buddhas, it inspired a sense of fear.

The headless white-robed monk drifted past the ancient ship like a banished immortal, walking on the waves. But in less than half an hour, he turned back and caught up with the ship again. He repeated this pattern, always hovering around the vessel.

At this moment, though his aura was ethereal and otherworldly, he felt more like a specter. It was hard to form any positive association.

"Could it be... the legendary genius of the Buddhist Chan sect..." Yan Qingcheng's expression was not good.

Xiao Chen had also realized it. This headless monk was very likely the legendary Shenxiu—the monk of peerless grace and dazzling talent.

"The body is the Bodhi tree, the mind like a clear mirror stand. Wipe it diligently from time to time, lest dust settle upon it." This gatha had been famous for a thousand years, known to all even outside the Buddhist faith.

But the story of that brilliant monk Shenxiu was a tragic one. His gatha had just emerged when it became a foil for another's brilliance.

"The bodhi tree is originally not a tree, and the clear mirror is not a stand. Originally, there is not a single thing. Where can dust settle?" This gatha, which appeared at nearly the same time, came from the mouth of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng. It was masterful, utterly eclipsing Shenxiu's brilliance.

The Fifth Patriarch Hongren had originally intended to pass his robe and dharma to Shenxiu, but because of the later gatha, he completely changed his decision. He knew that another might be more suitable to receive the transmission.

Without Huineng's emergence, Shenxiu might have walked an entirely different path. Shenxiu was the one who made Huineng possible. The gatha "The bodhi tree is originally not a tree..." has been passed down through the ages, but without Shenxiu, Huineng's gatha would never have existed.

A brilliant great sage of Buddhism, utterly overshadowed. Those familiar with the story would never forget this buried genius of the Buddhist path.

"The legendary great Buddhist sage, Shenxiu..." Xiao Chen murmured to himself. He found it hard to believe. That was a figure from the Mortal World thousands of years ago. He had never imagined that in the World of Immortality, he might actually meet him—even if headless, even if not in a normal state, it still stirred great waves in his heart. Perhaps in the future, he would see even more legendary figures.

The headless monk followed for dozens of li, then finally vanished into the Forbidden Sea without continuing his pursuit.

"What is this? How can this be..." Yan Qingcheng's mind was also tumultuous, hard to calm. She murmured to herself, "Dragon Island is truly terrifying. There are figures like this in the Forbidden Sea surrounding it..."

Two days later, blue waves surged ahead. The pale gold sea had completely changed color. They had sailed out of the Forbidden Sea! Finally free of that cursed region. Both Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng were extremely excited. Even the two young beasts leaped with joy. Only the three skeletons remained as calm as still water.

But at that moment, thunderous dragon roars seemed to descend from the Nine Heavens, rolling and crashing across the blue sky, causing the sea to churn violently.

In the distance, a seven-colored great ship shimmered with radiant light, cutting through the waves like a giant dragon. It was that very divine ship which had carried away Yizhen, Liu Mu, and the others. Xiao Chen had not expected to encounter it here, and a vague premonition of trouble stirred within him.

Sure enough, the divine ship came charging directly toward them from the outer reaches of the Forbidden Sea, stirring up endless waves, as if intending to overturn the King Ship.

A deep, ghostly howl erupted from the King Ship. The jet-black ghost ship, as if possessing intelligence of its own, roared back in response, showing not an ounce of weakness.