Third Month, First Year of the Xiande Era Abstain from all evil, practice all good, and purify the mind. This …
Third Month, First Year of the Xiande Era
Abstain from all evil, practice all good, and purify the mind. This is the teaching of the Buddhas. Master Miaoshan... (The remaining text has been torn away.)
Fourth Month, First Year of the Xiande Era
Today, during Master's sermon at the Thousand Buddha Pagoda, divine radiance truly descended upon us... (The rest is smudged beyond legibility, with a furious scribble added below: "Sorcery and deception, utterly vile!")
Sixth Month, Second Year of the Xiande Era
"The Master's audience before the Emperor has shaken the realm. The status of Mercyheart Monastery will never be the same. Could he truly be... a Buddha? (The following lines are aggressively overwritten with fresh ink—only broken phrases like "collusion" and "scheming" can be discerned.)
Second Month, First Year of the Jianlong Era
Since the Master left the monastery, not a word has been heard. I fear the worst. Tomorrow, I shall depart to seek him.
Third Month, First Year of the Jianlong Era
Miaoshan—from start to finish, it was all a lie. "Holy monk of the Dharma?" A fraud, bloated on stolen reverence! Had I not uncovered these old letters, I might have died shackled to his deceit. Tian Ying ensnared me with Buddhist platitudes, turning me into his accomplice for years. My life, half-wasted! I will have vengeance.
Now, recalling the "Dharma" that charlatan preached for over a decade, I feel only revulsion. The Twelve Nidānas? Fabrications. The Three Realms and Six Paths? Delusions! From this day forth: All that sings Buddha's praise I defy. All that Buddha abhors I will glorify. Why should clay idols lord over the living? If he could pose as a Bodhisattva... why not I?
Fourth Month, First Year of the Jianlong Era
Even now, fools chant Amitabha and cling to Tian Ying's lies. Disgusting! Fortunately, Huiyong and his bandit-born brethren long despised Tian's faction. Together, we drove those swine out. Now, not a whiff of Buddhism taints Mercyheart Monastery. At last... peace!