Goi rose to his feet, following the child's gaze toward the temple nestled higher up the mountain. He gave a single nod, then turned back to the boy. "I will go."
The boy grabbed his sleeve. His heart clenched with guilt. What if his plea led this man to his death?
Goi merely smiled, ruffling the child's shaved head.
"Good news will come soon. Wait for it."
With that, he dashed up the mountain toward Moonlight Temple, where an ominous aura loomed. The boy watched until Goi disappeared into the trees, then whispered a prayer to Amitabha before making his way down the mountain.
In the courtyard of Moonlight Temple, an ancient ginkgo tree stood tall, its golden leaves whispering in the silence. Yet in the glaring noon sun, with no wind to stir it, the colossal tree twisted and writhed, its limbs moving as though possessed by an unseen force.
Seated before it was a middle-aged monk, his head bowed, his lips murmuring sutras with the rhythm of a spell. Encircling his body was a sphere of white light, its ethereal radiance pushing back against the gnarled branches that clawed toward him.
"Let the mind abide nowhere," Jiduck intoned, his voice steady. The aura surrounding him swelled, forcing the grasping limbs to recoil. Yet even as he chanted, an image burned in the darkness of his closed eyes—a woman, breathtakingly beautiful, standing naked before him, pleading.
"Please... From the moment you arrived, I have loved you," she whispered. The ginkgo's branches inched forward once more, slipping through the luminous barrier. "You must see it—this has all happened because of you."
Within the darkness of his mind, faces began to appear. The faces of his fellow monks and disciples, one by one, pale and lifeless. His brow creased in sorrow, and in that instant of faltering, a single branch reached dangerously close to him.
"One who has severed all desire cannot be swayed even by Mara." Jiduck's voice grew firmer, and his radiant aura hardened once more, driving the encroaching limbs away.
"Do you know how deeply I love you?" the woman lamented. "To love you, I was reborn as a woman. Please... my love."
Her delicate form stepped closer, the warmth of her presence growing unbearable. Jiduck, his eyes still tightly shut, clenched his jaw and strengthened his resolve. The branches, undeterred, continued their slow invasion, slipping deeper into his protective aura.
"Form is emptiness; emptiness is form," he murmured, his voice trembling. The branches halted mid-air, but one snaked around behind him, aiming for the back of his head.
"Desire is the root of suffering. Abandon desire, and you will be free from suffering." At his words, the rogue branch ignited and crumbled into nothingness.
The woman collapsed to her knees before him, her fingers reaching toward his face, caressing the empty air. "Why do you not see my heart?" she asked, her voice a fragile mix of longing and sorrow.
Jiduck drew a deep breath. "The mind precedes all things. When the mind leads, all else follows."
But this time, his words failed to push back the branches. They crept ever closer, piercing through the radiant sphere.
"Did I ask you for eternal life?" she murmured. A single finger traced his right cheek. "Did I seek your divine power?" Another finger brushed his left cheek.
"When the mind is pure, the Buddha's land is revealed."
The woman cupped his face in her hands. "I was enthralled by you. I wanted to be with you. I wanted to embrace you."
Jiduck's voice rose in defiance. "Then ask for my life instead!" He sprang to his feet, eyes flying open. "Your desire is one that can never be fulfilled in this lifetime!"
The moment his gaze met hers, the woman lunged forward, wrapping herself around him.
"I have you now, my love!" the woman's arms wrapped around him, her laughter echoing.
The gnarled branches coiled around him, but before they could tighten, a sudden force severed them in one swift stroke. Jiduck fell limply to the ground, unconscious.
The ginkgo tree spirit let out a furious shriek, turning to face the one who had dared interfere. Before her stood a young man, his expression one of pure derision.
Gazing at the spirit, now a woman sculpted from the bark of the ancient ginkgo, Goi sneered. "Ugh, disgusting."
"How dare you insult my beauty?!" the spirit howled in rage.
The ginkgo tree trembled, its roots rising like monstrous legs, and with a great heaving motion, it began to move across the earth. The ground quaked beneath its weight, and the monks who still lived shrank back in terror.
Goi, pinching his nose, grimaced. "That stench! You think you could seduce a man with that? Makes me sick just imagining it."
Sheer indignation boiled within the ginkgo spirit as Goi cast aside his steel blade and drew his bronze gladius. The weapon caught the sunlight, igniting with a golden brilliance.
Each time the ginkgo's thrashing limbs met the burning radiance of the bronze blade, they withered and turned to lifeless husks.
The spirit shrieked in agony.
Goi smirked. "Told you so." His sword sliced through one of the spirit's roots, driving it into the earth where it stiffened and refused to move.
"You surrendered your divinity for the sake of mere appearances," Goi taunted, striking down another root. "You cast aside your sacred nature for the fleeting desire of a mortal." Another sweep of the blade, and yet more of her body was reduced to stillness.
The ginkgo spirit, once a vision of haunting beauty, contorted in pain, her visage cracking and splintering like ancient bark.
Goi raised his sword high, his voice ringing through the temple grounds. "Cleansed!"
The final stroke unleashed a radiant wave of golden energy, engulfing the ginkgo spirit. Her form crumbled into dust, and in her place, the ancient tree remained—a silent sentinel, its golden leaves rustling in the scorching midday heat. Then, the courtyard fell silent.