The Buddha’s cranial relic was not merely a treasure of the world, but a sacred treasure of the Great Zhou.

The Buddha’s cranial relic had been at Famen Temple for a hundred years. Since Emperor Taichang and Empress Zheng opened the Buddhist pagoda to worship and make offerings to the relic in the ninth year of Taichang’s reign, the pagoda at Famen Temple hadn’t been opened for exactly forty-one years. Yu Fuwei couldn’t imagine any reason that would persuade Famen Temple to open the pagoda and willingly give the Buddha’s relic to Li Ying.

Unless the old abbot of Famen Temple had gone mad.

Yu Fuwei even had a fleeting thought—could Cui Xun perhaps beseech the Empress Dowager, telling her that her daughter urgently needed the Buddha’s relic to save her life? But Yu Fuwei quickly dismissed this idea. The Buddha’s relic was an incomparably sacred object, while talk of ghosts was utterly absurd. The Empress Dowager would never easily believe such a story. Most likely, before Cui Xun could even make his request, those who wished to harm him would seize upon the opportunity to devour him alive.

This approach wouldn’t work, and neither would others. Yu Fuwei began to grow anxious. Looking at Li Ying’s condition, she couldn’t wait much longer. If they couldn’t obtain the Buddha’s relic within three days, Li Ying’s spiritual meridians would be completely severed.

Cui Xun, on the contrary, had calmed down. “Yu Fuwei, I will go to Famen Temple. You take good care of Bright Moon Pearl.”

Yu Fuwei was stunned. “You have a way?”

“Yes.”

With that simple word, Cui Xun, bearing his numerous whip wounds, mounted his horse and galloped off toward Famen Temple in the depths of night.

Yu Fuwei could never have imagined that Cui Xun’s “way” would be to forcibly break into Famen Temple and compel the abbot to open the pagoda.

In front of the pagoda at Famen Temple, the abbot and a group of monks exchanged bewildered glances. The old abbot reluctantly stepped forward, pressed his palms together, and uttered “Amitabha” before speaking: “Vice Director Cui, the Buddha’s cranial relic is a sacred treasure of the Great Zhou. Without an imperial decree from His Majesty, this old monk dares not open the pagoda on his authority.”

Cui Xun was covered in blood. He was standing only by sheer force of will, leaning on his sword for support. He glared fiercely at the old abbot: “The Investigation Department is conducting an official investigation. Do you dare refuse?”

The old abbot was in deep distress, wondering why the notoriously vicious “Rakshasa” had come to make trouble at Famen Temple. He wanted to have the monks drive Cui Xun out, but didn’t dare to do so. After all, Cui Xun was a close official to the Empress Dowager. Especially after the Heavenly Guard incident, the Emperor had nearly become a puppet, and Cui Xun’s power had grown as blazing as the midday sun. Rumors said that while he had ostensibly resigned his position to the Empress Dowager, he was seeking the position of Left Deputy Director of the Department of State Affairs. The Empress Dowager, after careful consideration, had not granted his request yet.

But given the Empress Dowager’s favor toward him, the position of Left Deputy Director would sooner or later be Cui Xun’s. By then, his power would dominate the entire court.

Therefore, the old abbot didn’t dare offend Cui Xun. He could only stall for time while secretly sending monks to ride at full speed to summon the Prefect of the Capital. The abbot asked, “May I inquire what Vice Director Cui plans to do with the Buddha’s relic?”

“Why should you care what I do with it?” Cui Xun held his sword directly against the abbot’s throat. “If you keep stalling, I’ll kill you!”

The abbot was terrified, not daring to move at all. A young, hot-blooded monk nearby protested indignantly: “Vice Director Cui, this is Famen Temple, not the Investigation Department. How dare you behave so recklessly?”

Cui Xun’s expression was cold and forbidding. He cast a glance at the monk, the sharpness in his eyes making the monk retreat several steps. “If you continue to waste my time, I’ll burn down this entire Famen Temple!”

The abbot was shocked: “Vice Director Cui, Famen Temple is an imperial temple. You wouldn’t dare!”

Cui Xun merely gave a cold laugh: “Venerable Abbot, this is not the first time you’ve heard of my infamous reputation. When I say I dare to burn it down, I mean it. Do you want to test me?”

The abbot didn’t dare to take that risk. Cui Xun’s sword tip had broken the skin of his throat, and his expression grew increasingly fierce, his words no longer respectful: “Old baldy, will you open it or not?”

The abbot’s face turned ashen. Cui Xun truly would kill him. Gritting his teeth, he ordered: “Come! Open the pagoda!”

As the wooden doors rumbled open, Cui Xun, sword in hand, limped into the pagoda. The vermilion wooden doors closed behind him. Outside, the old abbot faced total darkness and nearly collapsed to the ground. The monks hurriedly rushed forward to support him. The abbot asked, “Has Prefect Xue arrived yet?”

“We’ve sent for him.”

Famen Temple was over two hundred li from Chang’an city. Even riding at full gallop, the journey there and back would take at least two hours. The abbot’s breathing became rapid as he muttered, “Now, I can only pray that Buddha will manifest his power and prevent that Rakshasa from obtaining the cranial relic.”

The pagoda stood thirteen stories high, representing the thirteen Buddhas. Built of brick and stone, it had two hundred and one steps in total. The Buddha’s cranial relic was enshrined on the thirteenth floor. Cui Xun, enduring the pain from his whip wounds, staggered into the underground palace. Looking around, he saw walls carved with the one hundred and eight arhats. Each arhat had a different expression, but all bore the wrathful visage of Vajra guardians. Whether Cui Xun looked left, right, or straight ahead, he seemed surrounded by wrathful guardian deities. His head spun with dizziness; he could only use his sword’s scabbard planted on the ground to support his swaying body. The one hundred and eight arhats seemed to question Cui Xun—how dare someone with such blood-stained hands disturb the peace of the pagoda? Cui Xun lowered his eyes, no longer looking at the arhats on the wall. He pressed his lips together and, using his sword as a crutch, moved step by step deeper into the underground palace.

In the depths of the underground palace was a stone door. Cui Xun pushed it open to reveal blue brick steps. He moved to the stairs and took one step up. But just as he was about to take the second step, an invisible force threw him back down. He fell heavily onto the blue brick floor, reopening his whip wounds. Blood flowed from the wounds, seeping into the blue bricks, forming winding rivulets. Cui Xun’s body shook violently with pain, but he still gritted his teeth and struggled to rise from the ground, attempting once more to climb the steps.

Yet again, upon reaching the second step, he was thrown back by an invisible force. The third time, the fourth time, the fifth time—it was always the same. Cui Xun lay on the ground, cold sweat streaming down his forehead from the pain. He finally realized the truth: having served as Vice Director of the Investigation Department for three years, acting as the government’s hound, executing dissidents, his hands were stained with blood. How could someone like him climb the pagoda and obtain the Buddha’s relic?

But if he couldn’t climb the pagoda and get the relic, Li Ying’s spiritual meridians would certainly be severed, her soul scattered forever.

Cui Xun’s eyes reddened. He gave a bitter smile and murmured, “Buddha above, I, Cui Xun, am guilty of unforgivable sins and deserve my punishment. But Bright Moon Pearl is pure and unblemished. She shouldn’t suffer the fate of her soul being scattered. I beg the Buddha not to punish Bright Moon Pearl because of me. I am willing to kowtow at each step as I climb the pagoda, to show my sincerity.”

After saying this, he truly knelt at the bottom of the stairs, kowtowed heavily, then staggered to his feet. He climbed to the first step, knelt, and kowtowed heavily again. When he rose and stepped onto the second step, this time, he was not thrown back.

Cui Xun was overjoyed. He knelt, kowtowed, and whispered, “Thank you, Buddha.”

At each step, Cui Xun knelt and kowtowed heavily. Before reaching the twentieth step, his knees were already torn open, causing excruciating pain with the slightest movement. His forehead was broken from the kowtowing, but he seemed completely unaware as he continued to rise unsteadily, kneel, and kowtow. The pagoda echoed with the dull sound of his forehead striking the blue bricks. Down the center of the stairs ran a long trail of blood. Cui Xun’s breathing grew increasingly labored, the dizziness intensifying. He dug his fingernails deep into his palms to maintain a thread of clarity. Looking up at the seemingly endless stairs, determination burned ever stronger in his eyes.

Li Ying had done so much for him, had saved him so many times, had dragged him back from the endless abyss of hell. What was a mere hundred kowtows in comparison? If he couldn’t endure this, then he had no right to speak of loving her.

Outside the pagoda, the abbot and the monks anxiously awaited the arrival of the Capital Prefect’s forces. Many monks silently cursed Cui Xun for his contempt for the Buddha’s law and his arrogance. Inside the pagoda, the supposedly arrogant Vice Director of the Investigation Department was kowtowing at each step, dragging his injured body up all two hundred and one steps, performing two hundred and one kowtows. Nearly at his last breath, he crawled to the thirteenth floor of the pagoda.

Cui Xun no longer had the strength even to walk. He lay on the ground, dazed and confused. From the bowl-sized wound on his forehead, fresh blood seeped into the cracks between the blue bricks, mingling with the dust to form a reddish-black stain. After a long period of dizziness, the fingers of his prostrate hand finally trembled slightly. He slowly opened his eyes, supporting himself with his elbows to rise, and shuffled step by step into the stone chamber at the top of the pagoda.

In the center of the stone chamber stood a black altar table. Above it was a pure gold pagoda with a jewel crown, single eaves, and four doors. Inside the gold pagoda was a radiant pearl—undoubtedly the Buddha’s cranial relic.

Cui Xun was overjoyed. He practically rolled and crawled to the altar table, struggled to stand up by supporting himself against it, then carefully reached out his hand to take the Buddha’s relic from the golden pagoda.

But the moment his fingertips touched the golden pagoda, he felt a burning pain explode at his fingertips, as if they were on fire. Under the intense pain, his face instantly turned pale, and his fingers fell weakly. He looked at his fingers in disbelief—there was no sign of burning at all. He reached out again to take the Buddha’s relic, but just as with the stairs earlier, after several attempts, each time he touched the golden pagoda, he was driven back by the burning pain and could not touch it again.

Cui Xun stared fixedly at the Buddha’s relic within reach. Suddenly, he laughed bitterly and knelt before the golden pagoda. Scenes from the past three years flashed before his eyes, especially the moment when he deceived Li Ying and sent her to the underworld to die—the memory remained vivid. His mind kept replaying the vision in the soul lamp of Li Ying being devoured by the Boer elephant, blood reddening the entire Nai River. Because of his lies, Li Ying had nearly died in the underworld. This was his sin, his karmic obstacle, and he could not deny it.

Due to the Five Heinous Crimes and Ten Evils, he had created karmic obstacles.

With his karmic obstacles unresolved, he could not take the Buddha’s relic.

Cui Xun pressed his lips together. He kowtowed heavily once more, then raised his head. At this moment, his eyes were unexpectedly calm. Word by word, he said: “Buddha above, I, Cui Xun, am deeply sinful and deserve my punishment. I am willing to not enter the cycle of rebirth after death, to be reduced to ashes, my soul scattered, to pay for my sins. In exchange, may those I have harmed ascend early to paradise and be reborn in the Pure Land.”

To be reduced to ashes, soul scattered—even the most vicious criminals, after being punished in the underworld, at least have the hope of eventually clearing their sins. But with his soul scattered, there would be no hope at all.

After his soul scattered, Cui Xun’s spirit would not enter the underworld, and there would be no future life. Li Ying would never find him again. This was the heaviest punishment for him.

With such a severe punishment, he would atone for his sins and wash the blood from his hands, in exchange for the rebirth of those he had harmed.

Would this allow him to qualify to take the Buddha’s relic and save Li Ying?

After speaking, Cui Xun kowtowed heavily three more times before slowly rising. He tried again to take the Buddha’s relic. This time, the burning pain disappeared, and he successfully removed the Buddha’s relic from the golden pagoda.

Holding the Buddha’s relic, his eyes showed both sorrow and joy. Tears fell uncontrollably like rain. Bright Moon Pearl could be saved now.

And he would have no future life.

He stood dazed for a moment, intending to force his body to leave, when his gaze suddenly fell upon two open wooden boxes on the altar table.

In each wooden box was a lock of hair, presumably cut from Emperor Taichang and Empress Zheng. The Emperor and Empress had offered their hair in place of their heads to worship the Buddha’s relic.

But Cui Xun looked at the wooden box containing Emperor Taichang’s hair. Inside the box was also a folded yellow hemp paper with a birth date written on it.

Cui Xun picked up the yellow hemp paper and unfolded it. It read: “The twenty-seventh day of the first month in the Xinsi year.”

This was Li Ying’s birth date, not Emperor Taichang’s.

So the hair in the wooden box was Li Ying’s, not Emperor Taichang’s.

Cui Xun’s gaze returned to the golden pagoda. So the reason Li Ying’s spiritual meridians had not been completely severed was because in the ninth year of Taichang, when Emperor Taichang descended to the underground palace, he had used Li Ying’s hair in place of his own to worship the Buddha’s relic.

Those who worship the Buddha’s cranial relic would not fall into hell and would receive boundless blessings. Unexpectedly, Emperor Taichang had given this opportunity for blessings to his most beloved daughter.