The cauldron in Wei Yuan's hands shone with dazzling golden light, and not just the cauldron—his entire body gleamed gold as well. What parried Moon Sage's slash was not Wei Yuan's cauldron, but the golden light bestowed by the Master.
Moon Sage was not surprised in the least. Pointing at the monk, he burst into boisterous laughter. "Your Pure World and Untainted Dharma Body are truly as formidable as ever. But untainted, untainted—so long as sentient beings dwell within it, how can there ever be an untainted Pure Land in this world? Now that your Pure Land harbors these people, it is a Pure Land no longer. Watch as I shatter your golden body!"
Moon Sage pointed his long saber at the villagers, yet they only stared back at him indifferently. None showed fear, and someone even spat on the ground.
Moon Sage took no offense. Smiling, he said, "Year after year, you offer the finest delicacies to the temple. But do you know what Buddha is enshrined within it?"
The villagers looked at one another; this seemed to be something they had never considered. Wei Yuan had memories of his own as well. In his recollection, morning chanting took place every day, but it was always held in the courtyard. The Master would carry out the ritual implements and never allowed anyone inside the temple.
The temple's interior remained perpetually dark; even when passing by the doorway, one could never see clearly what was inside. Every day the Master kept busy, sometimes copying scriptures, sometimes expounding the Dharma to the villagers.
Yet none of the villagers actually listened to what the Master said. Those scriptures were too long and convoluted, and pondering them brought on headaches. It was far simpler to make daily offerings and let the Master protect them. Many villagers did not mind toiling away at hard physical labor from morning to night, but listening to the monk chant scriptures for even a moment made their heads ache.
Originally, no one had considered what was inside the temple to be an issue. Wasn't it obvious? A temple housed a Buddha.
Yet once Moon Sage brought it up, Wei Yuan sensed that something was amiss. Why had he never burned incense before the Buddha?
Moon Sage continued, "You've offered so much incense and so many tributes—aren't you going to see who you've been offering them to?"
A villager muttered under his breath, "What's the big deal? At worst, they were eaten by the Master, weren't they?"
Several people chimed in at once:
"The Master has protected us for so long; it's only right for him to eat some of the offerings."
"The Master hasn't become a Buddha yet. He's still flesh and blood, so of course he has to eat!"
Amid the clamor, Wei Yuan quietly pulled the young girl to his side and whispered, "If anything goes wrong in a moment, follow me and run!"
The girl rolled her eyes at him. "After all these years, when has anything ever gone wrong? You just want to trick me into running off to some deserted place to... do that to me."
Wei Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You're so ugly, I have no interest!"
A terrifying glint suddenly flared in the girl's eyes, and her voice shifted entirely: "You dare call me ugly?"
For reasons he could not fathom, hearing this majestic, aloof, icy voice sent a sudden shiver through Wei Yuan. Right at that moment, saber light flashed once more in Moon Sage's hand, striking the small temple and cutting through Wei Yuan's eerie sensation.
The small temple also surged with golden light, warding off the strike. Moon Sage addressed the villagers: "You see? I cannot enter right now. But you can! Didn't you claim you worship a Buddha? Go inside and see for yourselves, won't you?"
A woman hesitated. "There isn't really something strange inside, is there?"
The village chief scolded immediately, "Don't talk nonsense! The Master must have a reason for not letting us look. This wolf demon has ill intentions. No one is allowed inside!"
Moon Sage remained patient and said, "If there is nothing untoward to hide, why be afraid to let people see? Or could it be that someone thinks you are too stupid and doesn't want you to see the truth? But everyone has the right to know the truth. Your fate should be held in your own hands, not decided for you by a monk and a village chief."
Sankui suddenly spoke up: "The village chief has been inside the temple. What's in there? Why won't you let us in?"
"You dare disobey me?" The village chief glared furiously at Sankui, raising his cane and whipping it down hard. Sankui's head immediately began to bleed. Touching the blood on his forehead, Sankui looked on in disbelief.
A woman beside him suddenly lunged forward, tackling the village chief to the ground. She was strong and robust, while the village chief was old; after taking such a heavy spill, he could not get back up for the moment. Pinning the village chief down firmly, the woman yelled to Sankui, "Hurry into the temple! Once you go inside, you'll be the village chief!"
Gritting his teeth, Sankui charged into the small temple.
"How could it be like this?!" Sankui's cry of astonishment rang out from inside the temple.
Frantic, the village chief cursed under his breath, striking the woman across the face with heavy slaps. A ruthless streak suddenly overcame the woman, and she seized the village chief's head, slamming it hard against the ground!
The village chief's expression instantly froze, and blood slowly seeped from the back of his head.
Some villagers grew frightened, others stood watching, but even more rushed into the small temple. Wei Yuan was quite curious as well, so he followed the crowd inside.
In the very center of the temple sat a Buddha statue with bowed head and lowered eyes, its golden body already tarnished black. Yet the statue appeared remarkably youthful—the spitting image of the Master when he sat in meditation.
The one enshrined in this temple was actually the Master himself?
Wei Yuan suddenly felt an indescribably eerie sensation. The offerings on the altar table bore marks of having been eaten, while the altar platform holding the statue was caked in dust. A cobweb hung in the corner of the room, its spider hidden away who knew where.
Right then, a sharp snap broke the silence. A crack suddenly split across the crown of the Buddha statue's head, and fresh blood slowly began to seep out!
Sensing something, Wei Yuan burst out of the small temple. The woman had already stood up, looking dazed at the motionless village chief on the ground, muttering over and over, "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to..."
Someone had died in the village...
At this moment, a part of Wei Yuan's consciousness found it unbelievable—how could someone die in the village? Moreover, the dead person was the village chief, someone everyone feared and who beat whoever he pleased. Yet another part of his consciousness felt that the sky had collapsed and he needed to find defensive positions or fortifications immediately.
Wei Yuan began to look all around.
By now, most of the villagers were still focused on the Buddha statue inside the temple, largely indifferent to the village chief's death. Pointing at the statue, they demanded of the Master, "Is this you?!"
The young monk merely let out a sigh. "It is I."
"Were all our offerings eaten by you?"
The monk nodded.
Rage instantly erupted among the villagers. They shouted, "After eating so many of our offerings, where is the Dharma Wisdom Pure Land you promised us? Hurry and open the gate! We want to go to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and enjoy eternal bliss!"
The crowd shoved and jostled the young monk, constantly demanding that he open the gate in the sky. Several people even slapped his bald head forcefully, making loud smacking sounds.
With eyes half-closed, the monk neither resisted nor offered an excuse, letting them shove and strike him as they pleased.
Wei Yuan suddenly grabbed the young girl and bolted toward the village. His objective was the tallest, largest, and sturdiest house in the village: the village chief's home.
Moon Sage, crouched beside the village chief, watched him breathe his last. He suddenly burst into loud laughter, but as he laughed, a weeping undertone crept into his voice: "Lianxin, your Untainted Treasure Body is finally broken!"
Shoving the villagers aside, he hoisted the monk before his eyes. Right to his face, Moon Sage plucked a handful of silver wolf fur from his own body and scattered it across the ground. Instantly, it transformed into hundreds of silver half-human, half-wolf monsters.
"Your Dharma Body is broken, and a fissure has appeared in your Pure Land Buddhist realm. These children of mine are mere mortal beasts, possessing no Dharmic power—they can slaughter these villagers! Once everyone is... hm?"
Moon Sage only then noticed that the affectionate young pair had already begun running away long ago, and were now about to dash inside the village chief's house. Quite infuriated, Moon Sage pointed right at them, and over a dozen wolf demons surged into the village, lunging toward the village chief's house.
Only then did Moon Sage continue, "...Once everyone in the village is dead, you will have to begin your next reincarnation. Sooner or later—"
Right then, a tremendous boom cut off Moon Sage's words again.
A long tongue of fire suddenly blasted out from within the doorway of the village chief's house. The few wolf demons that had already charged inside flew backward through the air, their tendons snapped and bones broken, severely injured.
Moon Sage's eyelid twitched. With another flick of his hand, several dozen more wolf demons charged into the village. Only then did he resume speaking to the monk: "...Sooner or later, I will drag your Lapis Lazuli Pure Land World down and make it mine!"
The monk looked at him, sorrow and compassion flickering in his eyes, and said slowly, "Are these words truly what you yourself want to say?"
Moon Sage froze, then snapped, "If it's not me saying them, could it be you?"
Meanwhile, inside the village chief's room, the girl stared blankly as Wei Yuan stowed away an emptied cylindrical tube and hauled out an even thicker one. One end of the tube was riddled with honeycomb-like holes, each exposing the tip of a flying sword. The sword tips had a faint whitish sheen—they were none other than Wei Yuan's latest flying sword, White Silk.
Wei Yuan said apologetically to the girl, "That earlier one was an older model, a bit crude. This one is the latest generation."
Flat, square cauldrons continuously materialized in Wei Yuan's hands as he drove them into the floor of the room. After planting a few, he had set up a barricade, atop which he mounted the cylindrical tube, aiming the dozen-odd flying sword barrels squarely at the front door.
Chapter 264