In a world where demons and monsters have returned and the uncanny is everywhere, the spiritual energy of the Dharma-Ending Age has run dry, greatly weakening traditional Taoist arts and Buddhist teachings. When vengeful ghosts come to claim lives, even the eminent monks' sutra chanting and rites of salvation have little effect. That is, until a monk named Yuan Heping arrives at Pudu Temple as its abbot. Two meters tall and built like iron, he wears a brocade kasaya, yet never chants sutras or meditates. Instead, he spends all day studying firearm modifications and gunpowder formulas.
When people question him, he presses his palms together and smiles compassionately. “Benefactor, you're attached to appearances. Caliber is justice, and range is truth. This six-barreled rotary ‘monk's staff’ of mine spins at 3,600 rounds a breath. It deals with anyone who refuses to behave. This is salvation by physics.”
And so the whole style of the story changes.
Vengeful ghost: “Master, spare me! I'll lay down my weapon!”
Yuan Heping pulls the trigger. “Too late. This humble monk is sending you to meet the Tathagata in the Western Paradise, so the venerable one can forgive you in person.”
From then on, a saying spreads through the cultivation world: “Homage to the Gatling Bodhisattva. Six purified roots, depleted-uranium rounds. 3,600 turns a breath, great compassion saving all beings.”
