The guardian vajra slowly raised his massive foot and brought it down with a heavy stomp. A ring of golden Buddhist radiance swept outward in an instant, engulfing the entire world like a tempest.
Yet the summit of the back mountain remained peaceful. The monk's corpse glowed faintly. Though dim—only enough to shield the peak—it too was Buddhist radiance. When the two waves of Buddhist light collided, they actually annihilated each other and ignited into flames.
The fire was pale, striking such a shiver through Wei Yuan that he dared not let it touch him even slightly.
It seemed to be karmic fire capable of incinerating cause and effect; once karma and causality were reduced to ash, one would be thoroughly erased from the world without a trace, denied even the chance of reincarnation.
The guardian vajra's Buddhist radiance scoured the entire world, yet it could do nothing against this small patch of ground atop the summit. Wei Yuan had thought all Buddhist radiance was identical, never imagining there could be differences—or that different kinds could annihilate each other. This was nothing like what the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land preached!
By now, the guardian vajra had also spotted the peak. However, his movements suddenly turned exceedingly sluggish. Layers of cobwebs had stuck to him from head to toe at some point, impossible to shake off.
He roared in fury, adopting a wrathful vajra glare as world-purifying glaze fire blazed around his body, crackling against the webs. But the cobwebs were remarkably fire-resistant, taking a long time to dissolve even a small patch.
With a cold snort, the vajra slowly crouched down and placed his palm on the ground. A Pure Land Buddha realm manifested within his palm, filled with countless mighty warriors who all snapped their eyes open!
Innumerable mighty warriors poured forth from the Buddha realm: demon-subduing warriors, Dharma-propagating warriors, defilement-clearing warriors, and many more. At a single glance, Wei Yuan could distinguish over a dozen types, most of which he did not recognize at all.
Wei Yuan promptly recalled all his Dao Foundation flying swords, grabbed the girl, and barked, "Run!"
"Run? Why run? Aren't they from the Pure Land—where we're supposed to go? Didn't they come to receive us?" the girl asked, bewildered.
Wei Yuan replied, "Even if they're from the Pure Land, we aren't souls to be delivered now—we're wicked beasts to be suppressed and slaughtered. At best, we'd end up as mounts."
Pulling the girl along, Wei Yuan reached the cliff's edge. He looked back to see countless mighty warriors swarming across the mountain. Fortunately, none seemed capable of flight.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, several warriors attempted to take flight. But only a few feet off the ground, golden flames burst over their bodies, and with wretched screams, they crashed back to earth.
Wei Yuan pointed across the chasm. "We have to escape over there."
The girl gasped. "That's impossible! The Master said that the Dharma-breaking Xun wind blows over this cliff. No flight art will work—anything that tries will plummet! Below are countless venomous snakes and scorpions; fall down there, and not even your bones will remain!"
"It only prevents flying; no one said we can't cross." Wei Yuan picked up a stone and hurled it with all his might. The stone flew tens of zhang across the gap, landing on the opposite side.
Beside the cliff stood two large trees whose trunks had been shaved thin, currently bent over with their tops anchored to the ground. Wei Yuan grabbed the ropes attached to them and tied them securely around his and the girl's waists.
"Hold on to me!"
"Wh-what are you doing... Ahhh!!"
Amid the girl's screams like a slaughtered pig, the trees snapped upright. The long ropes swung Wei Yuan and the girl upward, releasing them at the arc's highest point. Like riding the clouds, the two soared across toward the opposite cliff.
Once across the abyss, mist billowed beneath Wei Yuan's feet, sharply arresting their momentum so they didn't crash violently into the ground. Still, the forward force was too great; dragging Wei Yuan along, the girl tumbled with him like rolling gourds.
*A burden after all...* Wei Yuan grumbled inwardly, then scrambled up and untied the ropes. He looked back toward Moon Sage and the young monk, an indescribable feeling rising in his chest.
Countless mighty warriors converged at the cliff's edge in ever-growing numbers. Yet aside from chanting the Buddha's name or reciting Vajra Demon-Subduing Incantations, they had no way across. Several wrathful warriors chanted a holy name and leaped toward the far side, only to plunge straight down into the chasm after mere zhang.
Wei Yuan pulled the girl along and ran deep into the mountains.
"Where are we going?"
"Shut up!" Wei Yuan snapped irritably. When running for their lives, they could barely catch their breath, yet she still had the energy to talk? Besides, her question was utterly pointless—how was he supposed to know where they were going?
The two bolted like headless flies until Wei Yuan suddenly halted before a deep gully. Over a dozen zhang deep, it was hemmed in by sheer rock faces.
"Right here." Gathering the girl into his arms, Wei Yuan leaped to the bottom of the ravine. An immortal sword appeared in his hand, and he carved out a circular block of stone from the rock wall.
*The rock is fairly solid and intact...* Wei Yuan evaluated it using the knowledge he had learned during centralized instruction, then dug furiously. In the blink of an eye, he hollowed out a small cave, tossing the excavated stones straight into his Dao Foundation.
Meanwhile, the guardian vajra was advancing toward them. Though his movements were slow, his height reached several thousand zhang; each of his strides spanned a thousand zhang. In moments, he reached the small village, then hurled the demon-subduing pestle across the chasm, lodging it perfectly between the cliffs to form a bridge.
Countless mighty warriors crowded onto the bridge. But the demon-subduing pestle was rounded; those near the edges lost their footing and were shoved off into the abyss.
Wei Yuan had finished digging the cave. He stuffed the girl inside first, crawled in after her, and then fitted the circular block of stone back into place, sealing the entrance.
Several peculiar components appeared in his hands, which he carefully installed behind the natural stone as an inner sealing layer. The pieces were exquisitely crafted, leaving not a single seam once assembled.
This, however, made the already cramped cave even tighter. Furthermore, Wei Yuan had dug the ceiling low, so sitting upright risked bumping one's head. The hollow was curved as well, making it impossible to sit on opposite sides; the girl slid down the curvature until she pressed tightly against Wei Yuan.
"What was that layer you just put up?" The girl truly was full of questions.
"Thermal and sound insulation. It doesn't involve any dharmic power, so they shouldn't be able to detect it... right?"
"What do we do now?"
"I don't know. Let's hide through this wave first." Wei Yuan shook his head, but as he did, his nose and mouth brushed against the girl's face. His lips, in particular, seemed to touch something exceptionally soft and tender.
*Mmh...* The girl let out a soft sound like a kitten.
The utter darkness within the cave concealed the awkwardness, and Wei Yuan drew back slightly. But the girl shifted a bit closer, and the two brushed against each other again.
Wei Yuan had no choice but to reach out and steady her. Yet her posture was somewhat strange, and misjudging the position in the dark, his hand found no purchase on anything firm. Fumbling about, Wei Yuan finally located her shoulder and held her in place.
At that moment, a feeling of dread gripped both their hearts simultaneously. The surroundings trembled faintly, and muffled roars of demon-subduing fury echoed from without. For the sound to penetrate layers of rock and Wei Yuan's insulation, the power of those demon-subduing roars was formidable indeed.
Frightened, the girl began to tremble. "Are we going to die?"
Wei Yuan did not know the answer either. At this point, he had no idea how to escape this world. It was different from the Nether Cold Realm; although both were worlds traversed via the Origin Soul, the Nether Cold Realm was open, allowing entry and departure. This place was entirely cut off from the world; Wei Yuan could not sense the Native Realm at all, nor did he know where his physical body was.
He believed the Marquis of Xiang likely had not intended to harm him—otherwise, his master and Eldest Senior Sister were not ones to take things lying down. There had probably been some unforeseen mishap in this world. Another possibility was that the time to leave had simply not arrived yet; after all, even now, Wei Yuan had not yet seen what the Arhat true blood looked like.
Yet now was not the time to think about gains, but a question of how to survive. If his Origin Soul was destroyed, his physical body would be reduced to an empty shell, which amounted to death all the same.
Wei Yuan had no desire whatsoever to fall into the guardian vajra's hands. Ending up in his grasp, the best possible outcome would probably be serving as a mighty warrior in the Buddha realm of his palm, without even the chance to become a mount for a Bodhisattva.
As for the guardian vajra, his karmic attainment was not worthy of having a mount in the first place.
After pondering, Wei Yuan answered, "We might."
From the dialogue between Moon Sage and the monk, Wei Yuan had gathered that the existence of this Pure Land depended on the survival of all the villagers. And Wei Yuan and the girl were villagers too.
Therefore, as long as the two of them did not die, the Pure Land would not perish.
Terrified, the girl pressed even closer to Wei Yuan. Then, as if recalling that Wei Yuan had tasted quite nice just now, she could not resist taking another taste.
Wei Yuan was not on guard against such a move and was caught completely off guard.
Having tasted it again, she found it indeed delightful, and so prepared to take yet another bite.
Chapter 268