The little people rolled and crawled, and finally dragged the Minions out.
The originally eerie prison now looked incredibly refreshing. Jimo Shu had crouched outside at some point, trying to poke Yun Xian's face with Taiping, seemingly puzzled as to why he wasn't reacting. Yun Xian called out, "Saintess, I'm here!"
Jimo Shu turned around and saw a bunch of colorful little spirit beings. She asked in astonishment, "What happened?"
"It's a long story. Anyway..." Yun Xianfang was about to speak when he saw Qi Zhiye's eyes on the ground move slightly.
She looked down and saw that the Minion was still unconscious.
The "Qi Zhiye" on the ground was definitely not him.
"..." Yun Xian hurriedly dragged the yellow man back to his small cell and said, "That's not right! Transmitting power, refining, occupying the body, and then repairing the barrier, all of this will take some time. The Smiling Buddha is already a hundred years old, so he's too steady, isn't he? How can he be so efficient?!"
Xue Lingxiu came out and merged the remaining half of himself back, saying, "Hide him quickly!"
Speaking of hiding, no one knows where. They are now in the realm of the Smiling Buddha, where even the most stinking ditch can be dug out.
What's more, this villain Qi Zhiye is too bright, shining with golden light. Yun Xian immediately thought of the four unlucky jade seals during the war.
Jimo Shu looked at Yun Xian's body and opened his eyes, frowning: "What happened to this bald donkey? He's not dead yet, is he?"
"He's not dead, he's just been tricked by grandma." Yun Xian was so anxious that he wanted to kick her out. He thought that the Smiling Buddha really understood the tricks of modern telecommunications fraud. She learned it by herself and had all the necessary factors.
First, she kept Qi Zhiye in isolation, unable to communicate with others for help; second, she fabricated an extreme environment to force him to make a choice, and then harmlessly modified some small details; third, she induced his actions throughout the process, constantly changing the concepts, and in the end it seemed that Qi Zhiye agreed with her ideas, but in fact she "made" Qi Zhiye feel that he had figured it out and everything was under control.
I have to say that the experience is still the best, and the special effects are really realistic. There is a huge bloodstain. Not to mention that Qi Zhiye will have a psychological trauma, the people who watched the whole process will also be traumatized.
"Miss, have you known about Fellow Daoist Qi for a long time?" Yun Xian, in a hurry, broke open a steamed bun and stuffed the unconscious figure, which had already formed an "XqX" shape, into it. She asked, "That Li Xiangxian's reason sounds so strange! His heart is repentant, but his body is not. He's already about to atone for his sins, and he still has time to have children?!"
Ji Rongxue's reaction when Qi Zhiye and the Smiling Buddha were debating was a little strange. It seemed that he had known about it for a long time.
"That man had done business in the Northern Territory before, and I have some impression of him," Ji Rongxue said. "His wife was a widow he rescued during the war. He claimed they were his first wife and children, but they were probably not his biological children. He was also seriously ill, which was true. He knew he would live no longer than fifty, and wanted to complete the orphanage before he died. ... I thought he was dead a long time ago."
Yun Xian was silent for a moment.
Should we say he is a coward? He can accept death calmly, but he dare not admit the crimes he has committed. Should we say he has repented? But what he did in the past cannot be erased. No matter how much he repents, he cannot bring back those innocent people.
Ji Rongxue said bluntly: "He should be killed, but Qi Xingye shouldn't be the one to do it."
If it were her, she wouldn't feel any guilt for killing Li Xiangxian. Since she was already prepared to die, it didn't matter who killed her. Only Qi Xingye was different.
Even a slightly more evil person would not be shaken by this, but for Qi Zhiye, whether he was killed or not in the end, it would be a catastrophic disaster for him.
Mingguang might not have expected that when he saw Li Xiangxian again, this evil man who had once escaped would become what he is now, but he insisted on not letting the two meet. His original intention was definitely not to protect the murderer, but perhaps he did not want Qi Xingye to make this dilemma.
Xue Lingxiu said coldly, "If it were me, I would just put up a reward. When he kills someone, it's like he knows that he will be killed sooner or later. Why should I care whether he wakes up or regrets it?"
Only people in the Buddhist community would fall for this trick.
Qiao Lingshan also agreed. Seeing that Jimo Shu had remained silent, she asked, "Saintess, what do you think?"
"I don't know. I don't have any parents." Jimo Shu said confidently, "But for someone like that, just kill him. Why should you feel guilty?"
Qiao Lingshan: “…” Her tone was so normal that she didn’t know whether she should say sorry or not.
"We can't hand it over to Buddhism..." Feng Ye said half a sentence, then shook his head, "Forget it."
What could the Buddhist sect do? It wasn't the Sword Sect. A disciple seeking revenge could simply kill him and leave the matter to the Buddhist sect. At best, they would lock him up and ask him to reflect, chant sutras, and study Buddhism. Taking his life was out of the question. But could Qi Zhiye be content without taking his life?
"I don't want to think about it anymore!" Yun Xian was really afraid of this kind of ethical issue that was difficult to distinguish right from wrong. What was more important now was the situation with the enemy at hand. How should they deal with it? "The Buddha statues given by Master Mingguang have all exploded. The Smiling Buddha has been severely damaged. The barrier cannot be repaired quickly in a short time. We have to find a way to preserve Qi Zhiye's consciousness before that. Perhaps, while the iron is hot, I can injure her a little more..."
There was still two-thirds of a sword brick in her arms. She definitely couldn't kill the enemy, but she could still cause some damage.
"Ah?" Qiao Lingshan glanced at Qi Xingye, who was still lying dead, and said hesitantly, "But she is using Fellow Daoist Qi's body now..."
These sword talismans are all aimed at Qi Zhiye.
"Now that things have come to this, let's not worry about this little detail." Yun Xian said, "Fellow Daoist Qi has such a good temper. He's very tolerant. If you hurt him a little, he probably won't get angry."
Feng Ye: "...There's no point in being angry about this. And why did you put him in the steamed bun? He's not a fried dough stick!"
Everyone looked closely and saw that Qi Zhiye's golden spirit figure had been flattened by the clamp, and it really looked like a fried dough stick. They were suddenly silent.
Fellow Daoist Qi, you've suffered so much. Even if I had placed you with Xue Lingxiu, you wouldn't be stuck here.
"Actually, what Lingshan said makes sense." Yun Xian glanced at Xue Lingxiu, and after meeting his inexplicable gaze, he cautiously warned: "Brother Cai, don't take revenge on personal grudges, and it's best not to scratch someone's face."
Although Qi Zhiye is not as good as Su Chi, he can still make a living with that face.
Xue Lingxiu swung the handle of his fan over: "Who are you calling Brother Cai?!"
There was another round of chaos, as if the whole place was trembling. Yun Xian had originally thought that his vision was dark due to insufficient Qi and blood, when he heard Jimo Shu suddenly stand up. Taiping was still holding her hand in frustration. Its aggrieved red eyes met Yun Xian's, and it transmitted a voice: "Save me!"
Yun Xian pretended not to hear and looked up: "Saint, what's wrong?"
"It's too late." Jimo Shu took out the demon cultivator's skull from her arms with a serious expression, examined it carefully, and said, "The demonic energy in the Smiling Buddha's body has completely overwhelmed the Buddha's energy."
Xue Lingxiu was stunned: "What do you mean?"
"All your previous speculations about her next move were based on her actions when she was still half-Buddha, half-demon," Jimo Shu said. "She's already deeply possessed by the devil. What a demon can do is beyond human comprehension. I suggest you be prepared. She's very likely to go on a killing spree."
"She's killed a lot of people before." Ji Rongxue said coldly, "I understand what you mean. The rules she set for herself may no longer apply to her."
At this moment, the sky spun and the earth trembled rapidly. The prison was no longer a prison. The bars twisted like waves. The sky and the earth were scarlet. The sun and moon were dim. The scene before them was like a dream, a mixture of reality and illusion. In this scene, people became the most solid and reliable objects. Jimo Shu said to Yun Xian, "Hold on to me!"
Yun Xian had an excellent sense of balance, but he still felt dizzy. He followed the sound and grabbed Jimo Shu's hand.
"..." Jimo Shu was held by her warm hand, stunned for a moment, and said with disgust: "Why is it so hot? Are you still sweating?"
"I have fire-attributed spiritual energy, so it's normal for my hands and feet to be hot. Oh, don't worry about it too much at this time!" Yun Xian shouted to the others, "Where are you all? If you hear me, just let me know!"
People came over one after another, and at least they caught everyone present, so that they would not be thrown away somewhere. Wangcai was awakened, his face full of confusion: "Who am I? Where am I?"
The younger brother panted and said, "Big sister, have you been sleeping just now?"
As soon as Wangcai woke up, he rubbed his head angrily: "I dreamed that an old lady insisted that I give up my seat! When I refused, she hit me and knocked me unconscious. I was so angry, I never hit her before!"
Yun Xian: “…” Why is the Smiling Buddha still taking advantage of his seniority?
Amidst the earth's trembling, the prison vanished in an instant, replaced by a crimson expanse. The red earth stretched out into the distance, and buildings atop it gradually rose. The Smiling Buddha seemed to be attempting to recreate the prosperity of its former lotus throne. But for some unknown reason, the temples were built and then torn down, and the statue could no longer be erected. It seemed as if something was hindering her consciousness, or perhaps the image of the Buddha in her mind had faded. Ultimately, all that remained before everyone was a dead, silent expanse of ruined walls.
If the lotus seat before was the last impression Akihito had of Buddhism before he defected, then the scene before him was simply a dilapidated and uninhabited land. The Buddhist temple stood in tatters, with cobwebs everywhere and the coating on the Buddha statues peeling off. It was even more dilapidated than the many Buddhist temples that Yun Xian and his party had seen before entering the lotus seat.
A cold wind howled in the distance, blowing across the blurred stone tablet at the intersection. There, inscribed in the most brutal red sand handwriting, was the following:
[This is the realm of great aspirations. Anyone who enters with the joy of Dharma will be killed!]
Yun Xian and Jimo Shu were thrown into the middle of the field, along with Zhang Heyan and his group. Everyone who had been in the lotus seat was finally vomited out, even the physical cultivator who had been planting sweet potatoes at the village entrance. Now, he and Liu Jian were carrying hoes with a bewildered look on their faces, unsure of what to do.
"Huh?" The body cultivator asked in confusion, "Where's my sweet potato? Where's the wind and flower?"
Liu Jian also said: "I... I don't know..."
Zhang Heyan was heartbroken: "How come you've been brainwashed and even your accent has changed? You're from the Northern Realm!"
"Didn't you recite the Diamond Sutra while holding the Heart Sutra when you were brainwashed?" Xue Lingxiu smiled and said, "Compared to that, you're still better."
The pile of constructed Buddha-like phantoms disappeared, and all that remained were people, or rather, they had once been people.
The eyeless old woman and the handless old man supported each other. The young girl beside them looked extremely pale. She raised her eyes to the dark sky. She seemed very afraid of this place and shivered, "Dad, Mom, what happened to Lord Buddha?"
The old lady's hollow eyes were filled with sorrow. She didn't answer, but just sighed.
"The Smiling Buddha has completely lost control." Ji Rongxue stood up, dusted himself off, and said solemnly, "If these people represented the Buddha's side, they would have almost no power left."
Smiling Buddha, what should we do now?
There seemed to be some wriggling branches under the ground trying to break through the ground and climb upwards. The moment Yun Xian noticed the movement, the blood-red branch broke through the soil and rushed straight towards her face. Her expression froze, and the next moment, the branch broke in front of her, fell softly to the ground, and withered.
Jimo Shu sheathed the Taiping sword and said with satisfaction, "Your sword is quite useful."
Yun Xian: "That's for sure."
The magic sword is paired with the witch, of course it is useful. Taiping is good in every way except that it is too noisy. You can even use it to peel apples into round shapes.
Taiping screamed again, causing outrage among both humans and gods: "Yun Xian!! If you don't save me, I tell you, you will lose me!!"
Who cares? Jimo Shu snorted coldly and threw Taiping back into Yun Xian's arms. "You can even throw away your own natal spirit sword, why don't you throw yourself away too?"
The branches were wriggling in all directions, trying to attack the people present, but it looked like they had no consciousness and were acting only on instinct. They were extremely scattered, but still manageable.
The only thing he had to worry about was the brainwashed group at the village entrance. Yun Xian had previously robbed their house without them saying a word, but now, upon seeing these strange branches, their first reaction was to sigh deeply, close their eyes, and resign themselves to death: "It seems I'm doomed..."
The frail little brother behind Wangcai slapped the branches away and looked at him quietly, with the look of someone looking at a mentally handicapped person.
This one glance, everything is said without words.
Finally, amidst the astonishment of the crowd, the dark clouds were broken by a golden light. Everyone looked up and saw the "Smiling Buddha" in her current form. Of course, she was now using Qi Zhiye's body, but it was already a little blurry, like a swirling black mist. It seemed that this had greatly improved her control over her skills. She raised her hand and, before everyone's astonishment, blasted the lotus seat barrier apart with a single palm strike!
The broken barrier emitting golden light was instantly shattered, and Yun Xian and his group stood there in a daze.
Everyone had thought they could use the barrier to buy time, or at least wait until Master Mingguang arrived. Now, the Smiling Buddha directly blasted the barrier with a palm, and the barriers between the inside and the outside suddenly opened up. Everyone could even see the lonely mountains in the distance, the houses with curling smoke rising from their chimneys, the gurgling stream flowing by itself, and -
People came in large numbers from all directions.
Some of them still had ink stains on their hands, some were still wearing aprons, and some had wet cuffs, as if they had temporarily dropped what they were doing and rushed here. Their clothes, whether indoors or outdoors, were all mixed together, and no one noticed anything wrong.
The sound of Buddhist chants resounded throughout the heavens and earth. Everyone's expressions were dull, almost invisible. They just kept moving forward one after another, passing through the lotus seat door.
As soon as one passes through that door, the spiritual energy in the body disappears along with the memory, and is connected by branches that cover the sky, just like one moving blood bag after another, continuously providing the Smiling Buddha with nutrients to control himself.
Yun Xian's grip on Taiping's hand suddenly tightened: "She's not even pretending anymore."
Wangcai cried out in surprise: "They are all here!"
"What?" Yun Xian asked, "Are these all people from your village?"
"Yes. All of them!" Wangcai's eyes flickered sharply over the crowd that had gathered around him, counting them one by one: "Dapang, Linglong, Dingdang, Tiesuo, they're all here! They're all from the village! And this one, this person is from the next village. How many people has she attracted?!"
As she spoke, her expression became more and more angry. As soon as she placed her hand on the big knife at her waist, she felt shortness of breath, and red veins climbed up her face like lightning. Yun Xian was quick to close her eyes temporarily.
Wangcai was confused and asked, "What to do?"
"She's breaking the rules, but we still have to." Yun Xian said sternly, "She's become a demon in everyone's hearts, and now she knows everyone's real name. At least for now, we can't have any murderous intentions towards her!"
It's really difficult from hell. In this situation, it's normal to want to protect yourself.
Ji Rongxue said, "If I can't control myself any longer, just knock me out."
Qiao Lingshan said: "I also want you to help knock me..."
Jimo Shu: "I can knock you out right now. Do you want to?"
People continued to pour in from all directions. Even though most of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage, with only a few Golden Core cultivators occasionally present, the accumulated energy grew stronger and stronger, and the spiritual light on the Smiling Buddha grew stronger and stronger, like a dazzling sun.
Finally, she stopped for a moment, then looked at everyone present.
There was no emotion in his eyes. Yun Xian rubbed his arms and felt like goosebumps were about to fall to the ground.
Yun Xian sighed: "...I've never thought Fellow Daoist Qi looked so scary."
Xue Lingxiu: "Why do you always speak at such critical moments?"
"I'm a little nervous." Yun Xian looked at "Qi Zhiye" standing far away in mid-air. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind like thunder. She suddenly began to talk to herself: "According to the time of the last contact, the abnormality here is so obvious. In a while, Master Mingguang should be here, bringing his stolen purple gold bowl. But now the Smiling Buddha is using Qi Zhiye's body. In other words, we can use some means, some methods, to learn from the foreigners and use them to defeat them..."
Qiao Lingshan felt something was wrong: "Yun Xian, what do you want to do now?"
Yun Xian suddenly smiled.
Feng Ye: "...I've never thought Yun Xian's smile was so scary."
"It's scary every time she laughs like this!" Qiao Lingshan had just finished speaking when, as if guided by something, people from all directions rushed towards them like galloping horses and surrounded them in an instant.
But just surround it.
These people's memories were wiped out, and the Smiling Buddha didn't have time to make new ones for each of them. They themselves didn't know what they were doing, let alone attacking anyone. They just surrounded them, squeezed them, entangled them, and dragged them until they couldn't move. They looked extremely creepy in the air, like a group of wriggling ants wrapped around food.
The Smiling Buddha stood in mid-air, watching coldly.
It’s not enough, it’s still not enough.
There are only a few people, but it's still not enough.
She wanted the world to be united, to eliminate murderous intent, to allow everyone to live a stable and happy life, to work from sunrise to sunset, and no longer be destroyed by hatred, nor hate caused by destruction. This was everyone's wish, and she only had to do her best to make it happen, no matter what the cost.
No matter what she becomes... she is righteous, she is the one everyone wants. Everyone is waiting for her, she must do it. She must complete it, that's all.
The group was trapped in the crowd, and she would notice any unusual movement.
The Smiling Buddha closed his eyes and was about to mobilize his spiritual energy to reach further places when he saw a magic wand suddenly stretched out from the pile of heads.
It is simple and golden, shining with a gentle golden halo, and is embedded with a century-old Bodhi stone.
It was the weapon that Qi Zhiye hid in his waistband.
Yun Xian's full-bodied voice rang out: "Do you know what this is?"
The Smiling Buddha's expression froze.
"Clang clang clang! Dongji Staff!" Yun Xian lowered his voice and said amidst the green faces of the group, "What a coincidence! Fellow Daoist Qi happens to have an overprotective parent. Because they are always worried that Fellow Daoist Qi will get into fights and cause trouble outside, so-"
She suddenly urged her spiritual energy, and the golden light of the Dongji Staff became even more dazzling, and it began to tremble violently. At the same time, "Qi Zhiye" also felt a weight coming down from her body, falling straight to the ground from mid-air, as if bound by some invisible net. She struggled angrily and roared, "Ming Guang!"
The group watched quietly.
"What are you looking at?" Yun Xian waved his hand inexplicably: "Hurry up and get on with it!"
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