Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

Chapter 85

Yaoying slowly opened her eyes wide.

The smoke and dust rose again, almost covering the sky.

A flowing curve moved little by little through the sand dunes. With light and shadow intertwining, it was as if the hills were floating.

Yaoying looked closely and found that those curves consisted of countless soldiers in differently colored clothing.

Hundreds and thousands of soldiers with broad shoulders and strong bodies, wearing light armor and long robes, slowly approached the hills in large numbers from different directions. They were densely packed, with flags flying and their formation enormous. Although no one was galloping, the sound of horses' hooves coming together was still like rumbling thunder, making the earth tremble.

In the blink of an eye, lightly armored cavalry covered as far as the eye could see.

They did not yell, nor did they run wildly. They simply slowly galloped over.

Immediately, a group of finely armored cavalry in blue upper coats over white robes came out from the crowd surrounding a white banner. At the front of the group was a man riding a white horse.

Thousands of eyes like a tidal wave rushed to the man.

The man's face was calm. Controlling his horse, he unhurriedly made his way to the hilltop, his vivid maroon kasaya robe flicking in the wind.

The Hu merchants in the valley held their breath and stared up at the man, their eyes ardent.

As one man dismounted and knelt, the Hu merchants rolled off their horses one after another and prostrated themselves between the hooves, kowtowing toward the man.

"Buddha's son has come! Buddha's son has come!"

The man glanced lightly at the valley. His pair of deep turquoise eyes were like ceramic glass, the pupils extremely clear and extremely light. They had a not-eating-the-food-of-mortals look of a god overlooking the earth from high above in the clouds, carrying a kind indifference and detachment of regarding all things as dogs1.

The Hu merchants were so excited that they were incoherent.

The Northern Rong warriors who were forced to retreat had a look of fear and reverence on their faces, staring up at the man in awe and quietly putting away their weapons.

In the valley, Yaoying also stared at the man's face in a daze.

This was a man whose appearance was difficult to describe in words. He was noble and dignified, his features deep.

Yaoying suddenly remembered the sentence Xie Manyuan had recited: Face like the full moon in autumn, eyes like the pure lotus flower.

These were the words Bodhisattva Manjushri had used to praise Ananda's appearance.

Ananda, the younger cousin and disciple of Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. Legend had it that Ananda had a handsome and upright appearance, with light and purity akin to a bright mirror. Thus, although he was a monk, there were always women who were enchanted by his face. Repeatedly seduced, his willpower remained resolute and he never violated the Buddhist precepts in his life.

Yaoying suddenly understood why people in the Western Regions were convinced that Tumoroga was the reincarnation of Ananda.

Born so solemn and beautiful, pure and holy and noble. Wearing a vivid maroon kasaya robe gave him a unique, indifferent-to-the-dust-of-earth magnificence.

Such a man, indeed, did not look like a person of this mundane world.

Haidu Aling was a double-edged sword just out of its sheath: thirsty for human blood, his sinister aura dense, fear-inducing.