1 The Death of a Monk

Fan Li lay there in his monastery dying of old age surrounded by all the people he has helped during his long long life, to his left was his apprentice and adopted son Ming Hao, when Ming Hao was 6 years old he came to the door of his monastery looking for a place to stay some food to eat, Fan Li accepted him and took him in as his own son.

To his right were all the monks of the monastery laying there at the foot of his bed praying to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Fan Li was the abbot of this monastery and he had quite a bit of reputation amongst the monks, all of the monks said that Fan Li was the closest person to achieving Buddhahood they have ever seen.

Fan Li spent almost his entire life in the monastery in pursuit of enlightenment, if it was said that Fan Li knew the Buddha's teachings second best, no one in the world would dare to claim to be the first.

And as Fan Li was about to draw his last breath, his adopted son Ming Hao, laid a hand on his chest and said "Amitabha, Father may you complete your dream of achieving Buddhahood in your next life." and so after saying that he reached out and closed his father's eyes never again to be opened.

At least that is what was supposed to happen but in the next moment Fan Li, or at least Fan Li's spirit, once again opened his eyes to find himself looking at the starry sky, except it was all around him.

He was floating within this inky blackness, but his first thought wasn't confusion it was a sudden and all-encompassing hunger as if he hasn't eaten since forever, and his next thought was an excruciating coldness as if all the warmth had gone from the world and he could feel his body dispersing in this coldness.

But then soon he felt those distant stars, or at least what looked like stars, calling out to him, as if they are the only pieces of warmth in this world, and his very essence longed for them.

When he reached out to one of them, lead by instinct alone, the little star jumped into his body, and after that, the only thing he felt was warmth, an all-encompassing warmth, it reminded him of his mother's embrace.

What he didn't notice however that, while he was enjoying the warmth and not paying attention, all the stars in that inky blackness swarmed into his spirit, slowly making it bigger and turning it into a purplish color from his pristine white.

And while his own spirit was getting bigger and bigger, amidst the black space slowly a white crack opened up and swallowed his spirit whole.

The next thing he knew after that bright light swallowed him whole was a piercing pain coming from his lungs, and his whole sight became completely blurry, but what he could make out was that he was in the arms of a woman.

And it was at that moment he figured out that he had reincarnated, he couldn't help but shed tears of joy, but all that looked like was the normal crying of a small infant in the eyes of his new family.

#I have the opportunity to finally accomplish my life's goal of achieving Buddhahood!# he thought, but all of that would have to wait because first, he had to eat and not die of embarrassment.

After having his first meal in this life, he first had to adjust his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the room he was in, after his mother fed him, he was then taken into another room to let his new mother rest.

When he saw the room that he was in, he was quite shocked to see that the room looked quite antique. It looked like it was from ancient times, all around the room were statues made of jade and it looked like he was inside a palace from Ancient China, and waiting by his crib were two maids that had a blank look on their face, staring directly at him.

#It appears that I have reincarnated back in time or even in another world, and apparently my new parents are quite affluent, it appears that I will have to deal with a lot of unnecessary problems in this new life# Fan Li thought, and his thoughts were completely unlike others ,if they were put in this same situation.

Fan Li was quite content living his humble life in the monastery and saw all other matters of secular life as unnecessary problems that would stain his soul with their karma.

But it appears that fate had another matter in store for him because it was at that moment that the doors of his chamber were swung open and a man dressed as an emperor from Ancient China with an oppressive aura not unlike that of a dragon walked in.

"Where is my son?" the man said quietly but the words still managed to reach everyone in the room as if whispered into their ears, the strange thing was that Fan Li could understand this man as if he was speaking in his own mother tongue.

The maids were quick to react and pick Fan Li up and hand him to the man, "Here he is your Majesty!", the man picked him up as easy as picking up a feather and brought him close to his chest, then Fan Li felt a warmth enter his body and go to his abdomen when it entered his abdomen, the man's face changed and turned into a grimace before very quickly switching back to his neutral expression.

Then he whispered to Fan Li "Don't worry little one I will take care of you as long as you live." before he gently placed him down in his crib and swiftly exited the room.

Fan Li was left dumbstruck, he couldn't figure out what was happening,

#What was that warmth and why did my father make that face? What is happening?# He thought but before he could take this thought further his exhaustion caught up to him and he fell into a deep sleep