Two beams of golden light descended from the sky, and out from them stepped two warriors. They were far taller than ordinary mortals, clad from head to toe in heavy armor and wielding massive weapons like broadsabers and heavy axes. Each step they took made the ground tremble.
The moment they appeared, their eyes fell upon the three corpses before the temple, and rage instantly consumed them. "You dare kill our Great King's only son?! And you slaughtered his two attendants as well! Do you know what a crime you have committed?"
Uncle Sankui, the hunter, stiffened his neck. "What I killed was a white wolf. Who knew he'd turn into a person? What, is your Great King a wolf too?"
One of the warriors sneered. "Our Great King Moon Sage's true form was indeed a white wolf, but he took human form thirty thousand years ago. He served as a mount for a Bodhisattva, guarded the sacred lamps at the foot of Spirit Mountain, and achieved right fruition long ago! The Great King's only son was born in human form!"
The hunter retorted, "I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, I killed a wolf. It ate my livestock, so killing it is only right and natural!"
Listening from the side, Wei Yuan gave the young girl's sleeve a gentle tug and whispered, "Has Uncle Sankui always had a temper like this?"
"Yes. He's stubborn as a mule—nobody can talk sense into him."
Wei Yuan asked again, "What if those two big fellows actually attack?"
"The Master is here. They won't make a move. In this place, you can only settle things through reason."
An inexplicable sense of eerie dissonance washed over Wei Yuan. His consciousness seemed split in two: one part accepted all of this as entirely natural, just like the villagers, while the other felt none of it made any sense at all.
As expected, the two warriors were furious. "Our young master transformed into a wolf purely to practice his shapeshifting arts! Even if he harmed livestock from your village, those were mere mindless beasts without wit or enlightenment! How could they ever compare to our young master, born into human form?"
"And isn't taking human form just trying to be like us mortals?" Sankui mocked.
The two warriors grew even angrier. One snapped, "Our young master was born into human form! His karmic attainment and retribution place him far above you wretches still wallowing in the sea of suffering! You've studied the Buddha's teachings for thousands of years—did it all go to the pigs?"
The other quickly warned, "Watch your tongue! If Lord Zhu Sage hears that, he'll flay your hide!"
Sankui spat a glob of phlegm onto the ground and declared, "I don't care who comes, nothing trumps right and reason! The wolf killed my sheep, so I killed it. Simple as that!"
The phlegm landed dead-center on the young master's corpse, finally pushing the two warriors over the edge. One swung his great saber and chopped straight toward Sankui's head!
The young monk chanted the Buddha's name and let out a sigh.
A sudden gleam of golden light washed over Sankui, leaving him looking as though plated in gold. The broadsaber struck him and bounced high into the air. The warrior had swung with all his might, and the recoil tore the skin between his thumbs and forefingers, splattering the hilt with blood.
Stiffening his neck, Sankui looked at the warrior and jeered, "Well? Can't kill me, can you? With skills like that, you dare raise a hand? Even if your Great King showed up, it wouldn't do any good!"
The other warrior restrained his furious comrade and called out to the young monk, "Monk! How can sentient beings endowed with spirit be mentioned in the same breath as dull, mindless things? If someone kills your chicken, does that mean you can murder that person?"
Beside himself with rage, the wounded warrior bellowed at the monk, "Exactly! If someone steps on your foot, are you entitled to slaughter his entire family?"
Just then, a tall, brawny woman stepped forward from among the villagers. Pointing at the two warriors, she hollered, "If you step on my foot, I'll slaughter your whole damn family! What's wrong with my Sankui bagging a bit of wild game? Who told you lot not to live as humans and go turning into beasts instead?!"
Watching the formidable woman hold her ground with overpowering fury, Wei Yuan remembered who she was: Uncle Sankui's wife. She was the second most powerful figure in the village, answering only to the village head, and no one dared cross her.
Ignoring the woman, one of the warriors turned to the monk. "Monk, what do you have to say?"
The young monk pressed his palms together. "His was an unwitting offense as well..."
The warrior sneered. "Fine, fine! An unwitting offense! So killing without intent doesn't count as murder? Even a monk stoops to crooked sophistry! If he harbored neither greed nor wrath, how could my young master have died? We cannot best you in debate, so we have no choice but to invite our Great King to talk reason!"
The two warriors caught beams of golden light and flew away.
Somewhat worried, Wei Yuan quietly asked the girl again, "Is their Great King very formidable?"
"I don't know. The king is different every time. Some are powerful, some are quite ordinary."
Wei Yuan found her answer bizarre, yet he couldn't put his finger on what was so strange about it.
Seeing the warriors depart, the villagers began to disperse. The hunter Sankui wanted to say something to the young monk, but his wife yanked him away, muttering, "The Master will protect us! Otherwise, why would we offer up so many supplies every year? It's enough to raise several half-grown boys!"
Wei Yuan had assumed the king wouldn't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. Yet before the villagers had even scattered, a thick beam of golden light suddenly crashed down from the sky. Out stepped a long-limbed, silver-haired man. Standing fully two zhang tall, he had to stoop just to see the monk.
Golden light rained down continuously, and warrior after warrior appeared until the small temple was completely surrounded. Surprisingly, all of these warriors possessed human forms without any beastly traces, though some were exceptionally towering and hulking, while others bore crimson faces and glaring eyes like temple vajra guardians.
Great King Moon Sage looked at the young monk and said, "Lianxin, we debated the scriptures for seven days back then, and I thought we were friends. Who could have imagined that the people under your shelter would kill my only son? Heh."
The monk sighed. "Mortal minds are clouded by ignorance. It is inevitable that their thoughts stray into error..."
"I will debate you later! First, let me see how much dharmic power you have left!" Great King Moon Sage's long saber suddenly flashed from its scabbard. A ray of saber light tore through the world like startled lightning, flashing and gone in an instant!
Uncle Sankui screamed. The golden light over him appeared a fraction of an instant too late; a slash mark ruptured across his face, and blood sprayed from his left eye!
Sheathing his saber, Great King Moon Sage shook his head with a sigh. "What a pity. Just a hair's breadth from avenging my son."
Seeing Sankui collapse while clutching his face, the fierce woman went mad. Screaming and shouting, she charged toward Great King Moon Sage to tear into him with her bare life.
Saber light flashed once more in Great King Moon Sage's hand, but this time it failed to pierce the golden light protecting the woman. He struck no further, simply gesturing for two warriors to restrain her.
With her protective golden light, which even Moon Sage could not breach, the warriors certainly could not harm her either. Yet the woman was ultimately a mortal and could not inflict any damage on the two warriors. The two sides remained locked in a stalemate, though her venomous curses only grew louder, as if she would never tire.
Moon Sage looked at the monk and said, "The more you protect them, the more evil they commit. And every wicked fruition falls upon you to bear. I am quite curious—just how much longer can you bear it? Oh, right, and your descendants as well—generation after generation must bear it alongside you. That makes me even more curious: do your descendants know their fate? Are they truly willing to shoulder this karma for you? Or have you simply kept the truth from them all along?"
Moon Sage added, "Ignorant mortals talk about having eight lifetimes of sheer bad luck. Heh, but being your descendant, how could eight lifetimes ever be enough?"
He swept his gaze over the villagers one by one, as though inspecting meat on a chopping block. Only now did fear finally seize the villagers, and they instinctively took several steps back. Scanning through the crowd, Moon Sage's gaze landed upon Wei Yuan and the girl.
"This pair looks quite well-matched. Nothing sickens me more than seeing people enjoy a happy union, so I'll slaughter you two first!" The moment Moon Sage spoke, another blinding flash of saber light burst from his blade, cleaving straight down at Wei Yuan's head!
Clang!
Wei Yuan held up a glittering golden cauldron in both hands, parrying the strike.
Chapter 263