Chapter 46: Gautama Kingdom - 46
Despite how lovely it was, Zhou Fan didn't stay in the kingdom for long. The goal of this journey was not to find a nice place to live, but to experience and understand the very essence of the dao.
Zhou Fan left the kingdom in the direction of the imperial capital. He was very interested in how the number one place in the world would look.
Unfortunately, there was a long way to go. The mortaniel empire was far bigger than any other.
For example, traversing from one end of the boundless empire to the other would take around 6 months if he didn't use a wagon.
Traversing from one end to the other in the mortaniel empire, on the other hand, would take around 2 years without a wagon.
Not to mention, it was also wider, and the overall surface area was more than 10 times that of the boundless kingdom.
Zhou Fan estimated that even if he traveled by wagon the entire way, it would take him 6 months to reach the imperial capital.
Based on the path he was taking, he would go through 5 more kingdoms, including the number 1 kingdom, the gautama kingdom.
After a couple tries, Zhou Fan was luckily able to hitch a ride to the next kingdom.
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After 2 weeks, Zhou Fan and the caravan he was riding on were halfway to the next kingdom.
In the distance, a line of people blocked the path. A look of fear and realization made its way to the owner's face.
Looking behind, another line of people were similarly blocking the way.
Sighing in resignation, the caravan owner moved the wagons towards the people blocking the front.
As they moved, the back line of people followed. When they finally made it to the front line, more people came out of the sides and along with the front and back line, a complete circle was formed around the caravan.
Hopping off of the head wagon, the owner walked to the leading man.
Clearly, these people were bandits.
"Hello sir, can I ask why you've stopped us." The owner said, despite knowing what was happening.
"Well good sir," The bandit leader imitated, "I've happened to take an interest in your products here. Tell me, are they for sale?"
The bandit leader had a mocking grin on his face as he played this charade with the owner.
"For sir, of course. What would you like." The owner said with a resignated smile.
"I was thinking.... everything!" The bandit leader said, swinging his sword down upon the owner.
The owner closed his eyes in fear, but the pain never came.
Opening his eyes, he saw the poor and starving man he allowed to join earlier, stopping the blade from advancing with his hand.
As the bandits were surrounding them, Zhou Fan had a decision to make.
A: Let these kind people die.
B: Unseal himself and save them.
Although Zhou Fan was unwilling to unseal himself, and was even planning to let them die at first. He realized he couldn't as he saw the blade swinging down.
In a split second, Zhou Fan unsealed himself and grabbed the blade of the sword.
As the bandit leader retreated in surprise, Zhou Fan spoke.
"Why don't we leave it here?" He suggested.
The bandit leader stood there for a second, both comprehending what happened and considering Zhou Fan's suggestion.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the bandit leader waved his hand and ordered a retreat. He had no clue what just happened and it didn't seem like a good idea to continue pushing his luck.
As the bandits retreated, the caravan owner took a look at Zhou Fan with cold sweat flowing down his face.
Just as he was looking, Zhou Fan disappeared from his eyes and appeared right back on the wagon, sealing himself.
When the owner looked back and saw him there, he gave a slight thank you nod and ordered the caravan to continue on.
As he expected, Zhou Fan didn't need a big thanks or to even be talked to.
Sitting on the cart, what Zhou Fan feared didn't happen.
Instead of his progress stopping after he unsealed himself, it went forward a large margin.
Perhaps his action of saving the man, even at the cost of stopping his progress, is what made him understand the dao even more.
'The Dao is merciful' Zhou Fan thought.
As the journey continued on, 2 more weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Seeing the city gates up ahead, Zhou Fan had some high expectations.
He had made it to the Gautama kingdom.
The first thing that was noticeable was the gold. So much gold!
The walkways were gold, the houses were gold, the city gates were gold. Even the clothes the guards had contained some gold.
As they reached the gate, Zhou Fan said goodbye to the owner. With a bow and a thank you, the owner bade him farewell.
However, Zhou Fan didn't enter the city. When they were riding earlier, Zhou Fan saw a man sitting under a tree with many others listening to him talk.
Zhou Fan went in that direction and after 10 minutes of walking, he reached the area.
When he saw the group up close, his first thought was that they were beggars. Each one of them were as bony as him, including the man talking.
Even though he walked up, none of them paid him any attention.
Since they were focused on the talking man, no older than 18, he too sat down and listened.
At first, Zhou Fan thought that the man would be saying nonsense. However, after just moments, Zhou Fan too fell into a trance while listening to him.
Every word the man spoke slightly increased Zhou Fan's understanding of the Dao. If he was conscious, he would be surprised at its incredible progress.
Unfortunately, the man stopped talking after another 10 minutes. As the people woke up from their trance, they bowed and paid their respects to him.
Afterwards, the group of 50 people started to talk with each other. Since they were now talking, Zhou Fan went up to the nearest people to ask them some questions.
"Who is that man?" He asked as soon as he came to them.
"He is Siddhartha gautama. He was the 3rd prince until about a year ago when he left his position. Since then, he has wandered around and meditated, understanding the ways of life. Eventually, people like us started to gather around him and ask him questions, leading to the current state." He said, looking at Zhou Fan.
"Thank you." Zhou Fan said before walking over to the man himself.
Chapter 47: We Are Not The Same - 47
"Hello, my name is Zhou Fan." Zhou Fan said while holding out his hand.
"Hello Zhou Fan, my name is Siddhartha Gautama. It is nice to meet you." The man said with a smile on his face.
He then shook Zhou Fan's hand.
Zhou Fan sat down in front of Siddhartha and started to talk.
"What exactly are you doing?" he asked.
"I am practicing the dharma." He answered.
"The dharma? What is that?" Zhou Fan inquired. He had never heard such a term before.
"It's normal that you haven't heard it. As I traveled the empire, I came across an interesting group of people. They practiced what was called the dharma. It is the cosmic law of the world and teaches many things about life." Siddhartha responded.
When Zhou Fan first heard Siddhartha describe what he called the dharma, he thought that it was their name for the Dao.
However, after some discussion, he realized that it was only a part of the dao, and not the dao itself. The Dao encompasses a much larger idea.
"Can you tell me your story?" Zhou Fan asked.
The man in front of him was really unique. He had never met another man such as him in all his travels.
"It started when I snuck out of the palace. I had always been entrapped, or protected, from the outside world. I didn't even know what death was. Only after sneaking out did I see it. After that, I told my parents my findings, and after I learned that they knew of such a thing all along, I demanded to leave. Although they didn't like the idea, they realized they couldn't stop me for long. Since then, I have been understanding the world, the dharma, and even life and death." He told.
"You seem as if you have suffered a lot." Siddhartha said. "Would you like to learn with me, and all the people here?" He asked.
"I would." Zhou Fan responded.
Just like that, Zhou Fan started to follow the man and learn with him.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, 5 years passed.
By now, Siddhartha's philosophy was much more refined. He had also become clearer and clearer on the output of life.
After so long, many people had come and gone. However, a few stayed the whole way. After a while, they became known as his five disciples.
One of those disciples was Zhou Fan. When he first met Siddhartha, he felt that they were equals, and would have never thought that he would become his disciple.
However, as time passed, Zhou Fan realized that the man that sat before him was much much greater than anyone else he had ever met.
In fact, Zhou Fan almost felt a sense of inferiority. But before Siddhartha's teachings, Zhou Fan got rid of such feelings.
In another blink of an eye, 12 years passed.
Today, Zhou Fan turned 30. To him, it truly felt like the blink of an eye.
However, something much more important was happening today. At this moment, Siddhartha was becoming perfect.
In his own words, he was achieving nirvana. Freedom from the cycle of rebirth. Only 5 people sat around him. Namely, his five disciples. The rest had left or died along the way.
All of a sudden, Siddhartha stood up.
As he walked towards Zhou Fan and the other disciples, he uttered a few words that not a single one, including Zhou Fan, would ever forget.
"I am the arahant in the world, I am the supreme, I alone am a perfectly enlightened one, whose fires are quenched and extinguished, I go now, to the empire of mortaniel, to set in motion the wheel of the dharma. In a world that has become blind, I go to beat the drum of the deathless."
As Zhou Fan heard these words, his comprehension of the Dao shot forward farther than ever before, doubling.
If he was previously at the 1/4th point, he was now halfway to the end.
Along with the other disciples, Zhou Fan bowed to Siddhartha. They couldn't help it. Although he wasn't a cultivator, the aura spilling out of him filled them with indescribable reverence.
Zhou Fan and the other disciples soon stood up and followed behind him. In the next few years Siddhartha would teach hundreds of thousands of people the way of nirvana, gaining countless followers and countless fame.
However, he never searched for fame or hoped for followers. Instead, he followed his duty, to teach the people of the world how to end the endless cycle of rebirth, and end suffering.
He eventually gained the name 'Buddha' and marked his place in history.
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In an empty field outside of the entrance to the capital of the kingdom of Gautama, Zhou Fan sat alone.
No one would know, but the tree he sat under was the first tree he met Siddhartha under.
By now another 40 years had passed, and Siddhartha had passed away. Zhou Fan felt indescribable sadness under the tree. He felt a loneliness that couldn't be described with words.
Every single one of the Buddha's disciples, and some of his followers, achieved nirvana. However, Zhou Fan was the exception.
A couple years ago, he made it to the end of the Dao. Or at least, one step before the end.
This step, no matter how understanding Zhou Fan was, was unsteppable.
As the buddha died of old age, he took one last look at Zhou Fan, who hadn't aged a day since they first met, and mouthed one last sentence.
"We are not the same."
When Zhou Fan heard this, an extreme feeling filled his heart. He couldn't understand it at all, but it felt like he held the key, but was missing the lock.
As Zhou Fan sat under the tree, he repeated the words Siddhartha had mouthed just a month ago. It echoed back and forth in his brain for hours and hours and hours.
Days passed and seasons changed as Zhou Fan's mind was filled to the brim with the same sentence.
"We are not the same."
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