The hall was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, as if covered by a layer of fog.

The man's exploded body was just like the little girl Xiaofang that everyone saw at the beginning, wrapped in golden light, and then disappeared without a trace. It was unknown whether the Smiling Buddha was really kind or just pretending to be kind, and he also wiped off the blood that splashed all over Yun Xian's face and body.

As if nothing had happened, people inside and outside the courtyard were still chanting.

The other man's face was pale, he just lowered his head, and his teeth were chattering.

He knew he had just been on the brink of death, and then faced his companion's face transformed into a lotus of flesh and blood. His mind was now somewhat hazy, and he hurriedly recited the Diamond Sutra. Amidst the trembling sound of chanting, the lingering scent of incense, Yun Xian, under the gaze of the Smiling Buddha, quietly wiped the nonexistent marks from his face.

She understood.

The red branches of the Smiling Buddha that Taiping and Jimo Shu saw began to slowly penetrate their ears as soon as the person introduced themselves, like a monitoring device. If they detected any murderous intent or malice, they would activate and destroy the person from the inside.

Liu Jian's messy handwriting also wrote that he saw murderous intent on his companion's face. Presumably, his companion, for some unknown reason, had attempted to kill him, but had instead self-destructed. He witnessed the entire incident firsthand, then saw his deceased companion appear at the altar the following night, and even faced a smiling Buddha whose face was completely different from the one he saw during the day. All these factors combined drove him completely insane, robbed him of his sanity, and, after being fully infected, he became what he is today.

Just as Master Mingguang said, it can be seen from the people who disappeared in the Western Realm decades ago that Mingren had been trying this method since then, forcibly brainwashing those who had committed heinous crimes. Today, decades later, she has finally built a complete and solid closed loop.

To sever worldly ties means to make everyone forget everything in the past, including hatred, leaving only the most positive and gentle side. Then the sole power of judgment will be held in one's own hands. If anyone dares to cross the line, his death will not only eliminate the source, but also shock everyone, reinforcing this closed loop again and again.

Judging from the expressions of these people, "heavenly punishment" has appeared more than once. Yun Xian even suspected that Master Jide had also died from heavenly punishment before. But why was a funeral only held for him?

Could that person be a monk?

Malice toward the Laughing Buddha himself is also malicious. If a virtuous master was truly a monk before entering the lotus seat, seeing the Laughing Buddha, who is one with the Buddha and the devil, he would naturally want to convert him. Converting, to put it nicely, is to save, but for the devil, doesn't it just mean killing?

Therefore, the way he died was like that, wrapped in a lotus flower that represents purity and beauty. It is hard not to understand this as the Smiling Buddha's satire on the present-day Buddhism.

Everyone was in a low mood throughout the morning.

Although he had seen many corpses in Tangling Kingdom, the fact that a person who was still alive a few days ago died in front of him, and in front of the Buddha statue, was a huge shock to him. In short, after finishing the chanting early, Yun Xian walked out of the hall and saw Ji Rongxue patting his shoulder.

"Don't even think about it." Ji Rongxue said calmly, "It's normal that we couldn't save him in that situation."

Xue Lingxiu rarely accused her of being unhygienic. She simply took the cleaning talisman and said, "Go wash."

Qi Zhiye's expression was stiff and cold, and he didn't say anything.

From the few words just now, I could hear something, but everyone tacitly pretended not to hear. After all, there are some things that others don't want to talk about, and they have their reasons for not wanting to say it.

"Ah." The fact that the person in front of him had exploded into a watermelon was not something he could ignore so easily. Yun Xian pinched the cleansing talisman and seemed to have regained some spirit. He stretched out his hand and stopped the other person behind Zhang Heyan. "Wait, stay."

It's not that she wants to poke holes in people's wounds. If she could, she would have asked Zhang Heyan a long time ago. But now Zhang Heyan has completely fallen for it. He wants to hug the bed and quilt and sleep directly next to the feet of the Buddha statue every night. It is difficult for normal people to communicate with him.

That person was Lin Zhishuang, who had previously introduced himself. He was stopped and tremblingly said, "Again, what..."

He looked almost frightened.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, I have a question for you." Yun Xian said straight to the point, "What exactly is the conflict between you and him?"

This was like stirring up a hornet's nest. Lin Zhi's eyes were bloodshot as she complained, "Who knows what he was thinking! We said before that we were brothers and that we should bring him along if anything good happened. I brought him to Young Master Zhang's team with good intentions, but who could have imagined things would turn out like this? He's blaming me, saying I'm selfish and dragging him down with me. ... If he dies, it's all my fault! Tell me, what does this have to do with me?! Huh? Even if he dies, it's his bad luck. How can you blame me?!"

To be fair, it's not really a relationship. Where there's profit, there's risk. It's impossible to take advantage of something for nothing. But according to cause and effect, it was indeed Lin Zhishuang who brought that person into the lotus seat.

Now that he's dead, his one-sided account can't be fully trusted. If he truly had good intentions, how could they have reached such a point where they were willing to kill each other?

But no matter what, the person is dead, and there is no point in talking about it now.

A thought flashed through Yun Xian's mind. "I'm dead now" and "I'm here now" were surprisingly similar; both were auspicious phrases that could be used to temporarily stop thinking.

Haha! I can’t laugh.

Lin Zhishuang didn't get a response from the crowd, and his face turned even darker. "What do you mean by not saying anything? What's the meaning of that look? Do you actually think I killed him? I didn't do it, he was the one who tried to kill me first! He just didn't succeed!! He deserves to die, he deserved to die..."

Taiping suddenly screamed, "Don't let him say it!"

"Stop!" Ji Rongxue noticed something was wrong and frowned, "Keep talking?"

Yun Xian swung the hilt of his sword, and Lin Zhishuang felt a pain in his face. Only then did he regain consciousness and said miserably:

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. It feels like everything here has gone crazy, everyone has gone crazy."

Everyone sat on the edge of the field, looking at the clear blue sky and the scorching sun, and agreed deeply.

If we really talk about madness, Akihito must have been the first one to go crazy, but the history of the past has been covered up, and everyone is now sitting on the lotus throne, so there is no way of knowing.

Ji Rongxue first let out a long sigh.

Yun Xian understood what she was thinking and patted her back comfortingly: "Miss, you must be thinking how good it would have been if you had come earlier. Tang Lingguo would have been even more powerful if you were here."

For the body-building technique, even without spiritual energy, her body has been tempered to be extremely hard. If Ji Rongxue was there, Tang Ling and the others would not be in such a miserable state in the early stage.

"Forget it. Let's not talk about this." Ji Rongxue said skillfully, "Since we're here."

"Yes." Yun Xian said, "As long as we have a little trick up our sleeve, I believe we can do it."

Ji Rongxue nodded: "You can play the lion now."

Xue Lingxiu: "..." He doesn't want to hear any more puns! !

Let’s get down to business.

"The rules she set for us also apply to her." Qiao Lingshan wondered, "That Smiling Buddha killed so many people, why didn't he get into trouble?"

"She doesn't think it's murder," Qi Zhiye said. "The moment someone harbors murderous intent, she sees eliminating that person as just removing a speck of dust."

Yun Xian: “…”

As expected of someone who came from Buddhism, what a powerful method of spiritual victory! As long as I feel that I am not killing a human, it does not count as killing, just like if you don't look at the calories, there are no calories. The logic is self-consistent and quite magical.

"That's strange," Feng Ye said without hesitation, "but not all murderous intent in this world is malicious. If someone killed my parents, can't I seek revenge? If that person is already full of evil, then killing him is clearly a way to eliminate harm for the people."

Everyone was silent suspiciously for a moment.

Feng Ye was wondering why no one responded, but when he saw Qi Zhiye's cold face, he immediately remembered: "Sorry... I didn't mean that!"

This is really a case of bringing up something that is not related to the topic.

Honestly, while everyone's current interactions were chaotic, overall they were harmonious. They were all worthy of being called top-ten teammates, but to call them friends was a bit vague.

After all, except for the three people from the East Realm who knew each other's background, the others were not very familiar with each other's experiences. They were so close that they could sleep in a big bunk together, and they didn't even know how many people were in each other's families.

"...What's there to apologize for?" Qi Zhiye stood up with a stern face and said stiffly, "There's nothing wrong with talking about my parents. Everyone in the Buddhist community knows about it; it's not taboo. I don't know much about Mingren's affairs, but if this is useful, I'll tell you."

Xue Lingxiu coughed lightly: "If you don't want to say it, you don't have to say it."

Yun Xian felt something was amiss and frowned slightly: "Brother Xue, can you please stop being so sarcastic at this time?"

Feng Ye said, "That's right."

"...I'm not being sarcastic." Xue Lingxiu closed her eyes and endured, "It's literally what I meant!"

After a few words, Qi Zhiye's expression actually softened a bit. It made sense. For someone with such a strong sense of self-esteem, if everyone put on a face ready to pound the heavens and scream, with occasional sympathetic glances, it would be better not to say anything. He stood with his arms folded, his lips slightly twitching, and said, "I see you're all quite curious. Why hasn't anyone asked?"

Ji Rongxue said bluntly, "I was planning to ask again tomorrow."

Qi Zhiye: “…”

Yun Xian thought, the eldest lady is really, a little sympathetic, but not much.

The story of Qi Zhiye's parents was similar to what everyone had speculated, but even more cruel.

Just as the Buddha said, his parents were both devout Buddhists. Although their cultivation was not high, they would go to the Buddhist temple every year to make blessing lanterns by hand. They believed that good would be rewarded and evil would be punished. They even specially asked for a small Buddha statue to be placed at home, and would offer incense to it during festivals.

That year, when Qi Zhiye was about five or six years old, bandits invaded the area. One night, a refugee from the foothills knocked on his door, saying he hadn't eaten in days and his wife was starving. He begged Qi's mother for a meal. They often encountered monks begging for alms, so this time, without giving it much thought, they simply served him some food. Seeing the refugee's ragged clothing, he asked if he wanted to come in and rest for the night before making any plans.

The refugee was originally a respectable family and declined the invitation on the spot, but the next day he came again with his wife.

The bandits couldn't find anyone, so they scraped away a layer of the soil and took it away. They burned all their houses and dug up the land, destroying all the winter seeds they had planted. The village had completely become a territory occupied by bandits, and they could never go back.

Saving someone from danger was a great deed, so Qi's father and mother didn't hesitate to let the family stay temporarily. On weekdays, the two families took turns cleaning and cooking. Qi's father and mother even tried to find them odd jobs in the city to help them stay. The two were so grateful that they wanted to repay their kindness with their lives.

The peaceful life lasted less than half a month. One night, bandits strangely appeared near the house, as if looking for someone.

They said, don't worry, the bandits will go back once they find the person they are looking for.

They said that there was no need to report to the police, as it would alert the enemy and the result would be more trouble than gain.

That night was an ordinary night. Qi Zhiye was still practicing jumping on the plum blossom poles behind the house when he suddenly heard the sound of weapons. He was still confused when his mother quickly rushed into the house, stuffed him into the closet, and locked the door from the outside without saying a word.

Although Qi Zhiye was still young, he still sensed something was wrong. As soon as he opened his mouth, his mother covered his mouth and said sharply, "Don't talk!"

Through the tiny gap that could only be seen, flames were already rising into the sky outside the house, and there were groups of bandits with ferocious expressions on their faces, like Mara.

The refugees were not refugees at all. The so-called wife was the former woman of the bandit leader. Due to uneven distribution of the spoils, she and her lover conspired to poison the bandit leader and escaped with the money. The bandits were leaderless and were determined to find these two people at all costs. They would not show any mercy until their death.

The woman had already been stabbed to death, leaving the remaining man trembling like a sieve, mumbling, "I really don't know where she hid all that stuff! I really don't know! Please let me go!!"

"You said you didn't know, so you didn't know?" The bandit sneered, "Who are these two to you? Are they your accomplices? Did you give them the things? Oh, they even offered Buddha statues! How funny!"

The gang members behind him burst into laughter. Perhaps they didn't know what was so funny, but since the leader laughed, the others had to laugh too.

Father Qi said, "We don't know him. We just took him in out of kindness. We are not his accomplices! The debt has its creditor. Please let my wife go. She..."

Qi's mother pursed her lips and just shook her head.

The bandit looked at the two men, feeling irritated. He couldn't tell if it was because he'd been contradicted, or simply because he saw someone else being emotional, or perhaps because he saw someone acting more humanely than he did. But malice didn't need a reason. He threw a knife at the fake refugee and said, "You're saying these two aren't your accomplices? You're saying you're innocent and were deceived by that woman? Then kill them, and I'll believe it."

This logic was simply unbearable. It was completely unreasonable, torturing people for fun, yet the refugee actually picked up the knife with trembling hands, muttering as he walked away, "Kill them and you'll let me go, right? We agreed, kill them and you'll let me go..."

Shadows fell, blood spilled out, and the bowl of steaming white rice that had been handed to him was exchanged for being hacked into pieces. The refugee closed his eyes, not daring to look, but shouted as if to comfort someone: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I really don't want to die, I don't want to die—"

Before he could finish his words, a huge knife came crashing down from behind his head, and he fell dead on the spot.

The bandit laughed heartily and said to Qi's father and mother, "Look at you. Look who you saved? It's better to save a dog. Are all Buddhists as stupid as you? Great philanthropists? Let me tell you, good people don't live long, but evil will last for thousands of years! Hahahahahaha!"

The other bandits still had no idea what he was laughing at, and what was so funny about it, so they laughed along: "Hahahaha!! So stupid, so stupid!!"

After arrogantly lecturing the two, the group searched the house for money, but their joy at finding the money was less than one-tenth of what they had been earlier. After all, they had never had the opportunity to teach others before, so now, of course, they were extremely excited. The Buddha statue fell, buried in the rubble, and accidentally crushed by someone. Qi Zhiye waited stiffly for two hours, and finally heard a soft sound outside the door, beyond the dead silence.

Mingguang sighed, "...Amitabha."

He was taken out of the closet and saw his mother's eyes, which were still afraid to look at him before she died. Her face was full of guilt, regret and disbelief.

"Before Buddhism could suppress them, the bandits dispersed on their own." Qi Zhiye gritted his teeth and sneered, "The leader who killed my parents became ill in middle age and has now turned to Buddhism. Every year, he competes to be the first to burn incense, spends all his money to help others, and even donated two golden statues to Buddhism. Now he's a great philanthropist respected by everyone in the area."

Yun Xian waited a moment before asking, "Have you seen him since then?"

"No." Qi Zhiye said gloomily, "If I had seen him, he would have been dead without a burial place."

It can also be imagined that Mingguang used the Dongji Staff to suppress his murderous nature. Even for Qi Xingye, he would never let the two meet again.

After all, he had raised Qi Xingye since he was a child, and he knew it very well. Given Qi Xingye's personality, it would be incredible for him to kill that person with just one sword. If he really had the chance, he would definitely return the favor with every blow.

The grace of raising him was profound, and no matter what, the Buddhist sect couldn't be blamed for this. The entire Western Realm was vast, and for something like this small village, nestled in the harsh mountains and waters, Mingguang was able to discover, handle, and properly bury the child within two hours, which was already quite fast. But from Qi Zhiye's perspective, how could he not feel resentment?

He doesn't want to stay in Buddhism, could it be that he really just doesn't want to chant scriptures?

It’s contradictory, too contradictory.

The sky was still as blue as ever. Everyone sat on the edge of the field, the wind blowing across their cheeks. For a moment, no one knew what to say. After a long while, only Xue Lingxiu said gently, "My condolences."

Ji Rongxue was stunned: "Should I tell you now?"

Isn't it common to express condolences right after someone passes away? She doesn't really understand these social interactions.

"Then why don't you say something!" Xue Lingxiu said angrily, "It would be even weirder if you didn't say anything, okay?"

Yun Xian: "Yeah. Fellow Daoist Qi, I think I might have been a little too loud with you before."

Qiao Lingshan: "I think so too."

Feng Ye: "Me too."

"..." Qi Zhiye looked at everyone coldly and said speechlessly: "It was fine the way it was before. Don't try to disgust me with this."

I got goosebumps all over my body.

Mingren is a senior to Qi Zhiye, but Qi Zhiye is obviously also somewhat special to Mingren.

Maybe Akihito wants him to do something, or maybe he can do something for Akihito that no one else can do...

I really need to know what happened back then.

"The sound transmission talismans in this place can only be used within the lotus seat." Yun Xian sighed, "It would be great if I could ask Master Mingguang. Even if Fellow Daoist Qi doesn't know, he must know."

Qiao Lingshan said, "I can't get out now. Is there any way to contact Master Mingguang?"

Ji Rongxue said, "Fellow Daoist Qi, think of a solution."

Qi Zhiye: “…”

Aren't these people moving on from this topic too quickly? Never mind, it's pretty good.

He looked at the thriving bodhi tree towering overhead, frowned slightly in uncertainty, and after a while said, "Maybe. But I'm not sure if it can be used."

"Really?!" Yun Xian jumped up with a somersault, "Then go try it first! Go try it first and see if it works."

“…”

After half an incense stick.

Qi Zhiye said to everyone as a matter of course: "Start to meditate."

Yun Xian: “…………”

In front of everyone was the thick trunk of the Bodhi tree, which was so thick that six people could not hug it together. It was exposed to wind and sun, and was extremely rough, giving off a feeling of rotten wood.

"So, what you're saying is," Yun Xian pointed at the tree trunk and said in disbelief, "if we close our eyes and keep imagining the Bodhi tree in front of us as a Buddha statue, and keep thinking about it, it will really become a Buddha statue???"

The only Buddha statue on the entire lotus pedestal is the one with its back to the evil Buddha. If you kowtow to him, you don't know who you are worshipping, so you definitely cannot do so.

Buddhism has a unique way of communication. If two people happen to kowtow to the Buddha statue at the same time, their minds may be connected, but this is only limited to people who are close or acquaintances.

Xue Lingxiu said rudely, "Are you kidding me?"

"No." Ji Rongxue had read a bit. After all, a sect leader couldn't be illiterate, except for Jiange. She said calmly, "Buddhism does have this technique. I've seen Buddhists contemplate the seal in their spiritual palaces all day long. After more than ten years, the seal materialized and became their natal spiritual treasure."

"?" Yun Xian said briefly, "What you mean is, I imagine there's a sword here every day, and then I actually bite one while thinking about it?"

"You could say that. But you'd better not think about the spirit stone in your spirit palace, or you might not be able to pull it out." Ji Rongxue saw through Yun Xian's next move and continued, "Some great monks don't need to visit temples when they travel. They see Buddha in the mountains and in the water. As long as they have the heart, they will see Buddha statues everywhere."

Yun Xian displayed his virtue of honesty: "But this is just wood."

Qi Zhiye's patience was zero. He patted her on the back of the head and said, "Didn't I ask you to think about it?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it, why are you shouting so loudly?!" Yun Xian was even louder than him. He closed his eyes and began to imagine that the tree trunk in front of him was a Buddha statue.

But as expected, no matter how she thought, when she opened her eyes, the tree trunk in front of her was still a tree trunk, and had nothing to do with the Buddha statue. Yun Xian had always been very good at comforting herself. After all, she had not had a connection with Buddhism for a long time, and there were other people around. She didn't think anyone would expect her to -

She turned around and found that everyone except Qi Zhiye was looking at Mu Mu with a look of despair.

Yun Xian started a private chat with each of them: "Did you spot the Buddha statue?"

Qiao Lingshan: "The woodpeckers have pecked thirty-three holes in this wood. Amazing!"

Xue Lingxiu: "Can you be quiet?"

Ji Rongxue: "This is wood."

Feng Ye: "I can't tell it's a Buddha statue, but this pattern looks a bit like poop. Hahaha, it does!"

“…………”

Only Qi Zhiye was still frowning and thinking quietly.

Yun Xian looked at his gorgeous, handsome face and thought to herself, she seemed to have discovered something remarkable. If Buddhists had to meditate like this every day, male masters would go bald even if they didn't shave. Bhikkhunis are a bit better; women don't tend to go bald easily. But a bald head is always more beautiful than a bald head. No wonder they want to shave. Hahaha, hahahaha... Sorry, Buddha! No disrespect meant. Go back and beat the wooden fish more often.

Suddenly, Qi Zhiye opened his eyes and a golden light flashed!

A mysterious outline slowly appeared on the tree trunk, which looked somewhat like a sitting human figure.

After Yun Xian was shocked, he was delighted!

This method is actually feasible? ! !

Then the next step is to contact Master Mingguang——

Silence.

"Fellow Daoist Qi." Yun Xian restrained himself and asked, "Where is your master?"

Qi Zhiye was so annoyed by her that he wanted to hit her on the head: "He can't be praying to Buddha all the time, right?"

That being said, everyone waited.

After waiting for a while, there was finally some movement from the other side. Qi Zhiye opened his mouth and said, "Master..."

"Is that you, Senior Brother Qi? You're not dead! That's great!" A young nun, with a slightly childish voice, asked sweetly, "Who are you looking for?"

Why was someone answering the phone? I didn't even know which Buddha statue it was connected to. Qi Zhiye said in a low voice, "...Xiao Li, I'm looking for my master. I have something urgent to tell you."

"Master Mingguang seems to be in the main hall." The little nun heard that he had something urgent and became anxious too. "Okay, Brother Qi, don't worry, I'll go find him right away. Wait a minute, I'll be right there, huhuhuhu..."

The sound from the other end was intermittent and fluctuating, sometimes far away and sometimes near. It seemed that the little nun had left the temple and was running.

Yun Xian was puzzled: "This has mobile functionality? Buddhist Mobile? No, it seems to be China Unicom..."

An angry shout came from the other end: "Zhili! Put down the Buddha statue! What are you doing?!"

Everyone: “…”

Even in the smallest side hall, the statue is at least five or six meters tall.

This little nun really... risked her life for Qi Xingye.

Zhi Li panted on the other end, "Don't chase me, and don't scold me, I have something urgent to do! It's Brother Qi looking for Master Mingguang!"

She carried the statue from the side hall all the way to the main hall, humming and snoring. The six people here didn't dare to imagine what Master Mingguang's expression would be when he saw this scene, but unexpectedly, the main hall was completely silent, with only the sound of the wooden fish pausing slightly.

Yun Xian stood in awe.

He is indeed a master!

Qi Zhiye was silent for a while, and finally said, "Master..."

Mingshu's deep voice, which had aged by a dozen years, finally rang out from the other end. He said woodenly, "...Senior Brother, you're looking for Master. What's going on? Can you tell me in one sentence?"

Qi Zhiye: "...Just go and call Master over for me. Thank you."

Yun Xian almost burst out laughing at an inappropriate time.

The unlucky silence meditation has been broken again!