Yun Xian was caught by the branches, losing all his strength. He was carried into the air like a kite, facing the face of the Smiling Buddha.
Her face no longer bore any trace of Mingren's. It was filled with uncontrollable hostility and self-suppressed madness, and was twisted and covered in a layer of blood. The branches twisted and turned into a sharp weapon, whistling towards Yun Xian's spiritual palace. Yun Xian stretched out his palm to block it, but his palm was pierced directly. The sharp tip rubbed against his flesh, and finally stopped slowly in the midst of everyone's ugly expressions.
Stop, meaning it didn't penetrate, not penetrate. Yun Xian was in excruciating pain, gritting his teeth to prevent himself from crying out. He heard the little blue man in his spiritual palace screaming in panic and falling to his knees, but he still had the heart to laugh: "...You can make sounds?"
I have to say, it hurts, but I've gotten used to it.
Taiping collapsed and said, "Please stop talking! I'm speechless! It's better for me to be suppressed in Jiange than to come out with you!!"
This was said once after the Four-Party War and again during Tang Lingguo's visit, but the Taiping Sword is still firmly tucked away on Yun Xian's waist. Judging from the current situation, it might become a catchphrase.
Jimo Shu gritted her teeth and once again mobilized the little remaining spiritual energy. A purple light flashed for a moment, and she barely broke open a branch, but was wrapped up again.
She was resistant to demonic energy, so she was considered in a relatively good condition. The others were wrapped in cocoons. Ji Rongxue's cocoon was making thumping sounds. Master Mingguang's life or death was unknown. Her eyes flashed, and she clenched her palms fiercely.
The Smiling Buddha was on guard against her trying to save Yun Xian, but she unexpectedly made a feint and rolled the Ming Guang over. Liu Hui loosened his grip and said in shock, "What are you trying to do?! Are you planning to take his essence right here?! I'm warning you, Master Ming Guang is the only designated mascot of Buddhism..."
"Shut up! Are you crazy? Who wants to take essence from this old man?" Jimo Shu said with a gloomy face, "If you want to die, use up the purple gold bowl first! It would be too easy for him to die now!"
She stretched out her hand and absorbed the lingering black air on Mingguang's face. Mingguang's eyes moved slightly twice. She knew that the task was accomplished. She threw the bald donkey to the ground and looked at Su Chi, who was covered in blood.
Jimo Shu wasn't familiar with Qi Zhiye, but at least when they met, they could still exchange insults to keep the conversation going. But with Su Chi, there was really nothing to say. Su Chi's attitude towards demons and humans was the same, and because it was so ordinary, Jimo Shu was a little uncomfortable. She said, "So, whose senior brother is this, are you going to join us?"
Su Chi shook off the blood spot on the tip of the sword and nodded silently.
Without further ado, the two tapped the ground with their toes and struggled to break free from their restraints. A burst of magic sword light instantly shot out, striking the branch.
But the branch did not move at all and remained stuck there.
The Smiling Buddha hadn't known when, but had gradually retracted the branches that had expanded around his body, and injected all the saved spiritual power into the branch in front of him, holding Yun Xian tightly.
She was so determined that she would rather let others run away than let Yun Xian go!
Ji Rongxue finally found an opportunity and broke the cocoon in one fell swoop. The green beast looked at the Smiling Buddha and Yun Xian in the air, and slowly frowned solemnly.
Feng Ye also found it amazing that a lion had a frown on its face, but now was not the time to look at that.
It was unclear whether Yun Xian was unlucky or lucky. The unlucky part was that she was being targeted, but the lucky part was that, although the Smiling Buddha was like a knife stabbing her soul, at least he had no intention of killing her immediately.
No one could guess what the Smiling Buddha was going to do. With Yun Xian in her hands, everyone was restrained. As the Dongji Staff opened, Qi Zhiye raised his eyes and said, "What do you want to do?"
The Smiley Buddha ignored all the annoying voices in the stagnant air. Her bloodshot eyes turned to Yun Xian, golden and black lights flickering within them. Finally, she slowly spoke her first words: "...You all said I was wrong. I also want to know, where did I go wrong?"
She finally spoke.
Being able to communicate means that his mind is relatively clear at least at this moment, but...
Everyone closed their eyes in horror.
Why do we have to catch Yun Xian? Even catching Jimo Shu here would be more dialectical!
Blood trickled down Yun Xian's abdomen. She was startled for a moment, then lowered her eyes and said to the anxious crowd below, "Don't worry. I'm fine! It's just a fatal wound..."
Xue Lingxiu, who was pulled out, said: "Can you be serious?!"
"Ha." Yun Xian saw that the scene was too tense and wanted to liven up the atmosphere. She reached out and grabbed the branch and stood up. Her face turned pale and she looked at the Smiling Buddha straight in the eye. She waved to Su Chi imperceptibly.
Don't come over here, big brother.
Just watch her perform!
Su Chi's spiritual energy suddenly dissipated. He paused, a look of surprise in his eyes.
Jimo Shu transmitted a message: "Why not go?" Besides Mingguang, he was the only one in the Spirit Severing Stage present!
Su Chi sheathed his sword. Perhaps it made no difference whether he used it or not, or perhaps he was actually stronger without it. He simply said calmly, "I won't let anything happen to her."
If the situation became critical, he would be confident that he could rescue Yun Xian.
Even though she said that, Yun Xian wasn't sure. She stood up straight and said frankly, "Grandma Buddha, it's like this. I didn't study hard in the lotus seat, and I only remember the first sentence of the Diamond Sutra. If you want to discuss Buddhism with me, I really can't say anything."
The Smiling Buddha still looked straight at her and said indifferently: "Tell me where I went wrong."
It seems that his mind is just clearer.
Yun Xian asked: "What will happen if I can't tell it?"
The Smiling Buddha looked at her coldly, and the answer was clear.
If you can't say it, die.
This is really a life-threatening question.
"I trusted human nature too much, so I made many mistakes and killed many people. I remember every one of them; they died because of my mistakes. So I corrected them."
Seeing Yun Xian remain silent, the Smiling Buddha glanced at Fang Fei's family in the corner, then shattered the illusion he had created with disgust and walked away, his tone cold and indifferent: "I corrected my mistakes and didn't do it again. But why is it that when I made mistakes before, no one ever told me I was wrong? But now that I've started doing the right thing, everyone comes out and tells me you're wrong, you're so wrong, they want to suppress me, they want to liberate me... I'm a human, not a demon, why do I need to be liberated? It's ridiculous! If they have the energy to suppress me, why were there no one there in the first place?!"
Akihito died at the age of nineteen, but the Smiling Buddha will forever remain in the shadow of that year. When he truly showed his true self, his tone of voice still sounded like a teenager, even sounding a little childish.
She looked at the people below.
Everyone's face was filled with negative expressions. Fear, anger, vigilance, sadness... They looked at her like she was a monster, a murderer. But she was clearly doing good deeds, so why didn't she get any good results?
It's always been this way... it's been this way since the beginning... nothing has changed in decades. People are still just as evil, but that doesn't matter. Everyone is the same in her eyes. She treats them all equally, leaving only the good. The darkness of this world will eventually be purged.
In the silence, Yun Xian said, "You are indeed wrong."
The hearts of everyone present were suddenly gripped.
At this point, how Yun Xian survives depends on whether she says what the other party wants to hear - and it is obvious that the Smiling Buddha would never want to hear this answer.
Sure enough, the next moment, the Smiling Buddha sneered and said, "I was wrong?! As expected, you always say the same thing. Let me ask you, where did I go wrong? I am right. Absolutely not! This is exactly the case! The Lotus Seat stretches for thousands of miles, sheltering countless people, and has never seen any disputes or battles. If the two countries of Dharma Joy and Hongyuan could have been like this back then, how could there have been a war? If things are not suppressed at the source, it is better not to suppress them at all!"
"But where exactly is the source?" Yun Xian asked, "Was that palm strike you made the source? Was the abbot's trip to Faxi the source? Or was that swing of the hoe the source? Counting further back, was the splitting of the Galan the source? Without the split, this wouldn't have happened! Counting further back, if the old emperor hadn't choked to death on a steamed bun, if the two kings hadn't been born, if the Galan hadn't existed in the first place, wouldn't the subsequent events have happened?! There's no point in tracing back to the source."
"You don't understand." The Smiling Buddha shook his head and said, "Ultimately, most of the tragedies in this world are caused by malice in the heart. It has nothing to do with the hoe. Without the hoe, there will be hammers, scissors, and axes. If the killing intent is not eliminated, it will only continue. Hatred will spread, and that will lead to war. This is the source!"
Liu Hui said, "That makes sense."
Qiao Lingshan: “…” What the hell are you talking about, you Dao Zong?
Yun Xian: "Hiss, Taiping, I feel like she's right."
Taiping really couldn't believe that he, a swordsman, could also serve as our second debater: "What a feeling! Even if it is true, what this person says is right and what she does is right are two different things, okay?!"
I can’t stand it anymore!
"What you said is right, but that's different from what you did being right!" Yun Xian's expression turned stern. "Judging by the actions, not the heart, human nature is complex. Convicting someone based solely on malice in their hearts, why isn't that considered wanton killing of innocent people?"
Smiling Buddha: "Do we have to wait until they've committed murder and set fires, and the dust has settled, before punishing them? What wrong did the innocent people who died at the hands of these evil men do to deserve such a sudden disaster? When the war has already begun and is unstoppable, will we arrest and convict the ringleaders?! Human nature is evil, those people don't deserve sympathy, they deserve to die! All I do is to enlighten them and lead them to goodness, nothing more. Humans are unenlightened Buddhas, and Buddhas are enlightened beings. As long as you follow good, everywhere is a paradise."
"...No." Yun Xian's brain was almost smoking. He said, "Peace is short-lived. Is war just because one side has ill will towards the other? No! As long as there are interests, as long as there is unequal distribution, there will be conflict, there will be wars of varying sizes. This is the source, it is an unchangeable law of history!"
Liu Hui suddenly realized: "It makes sense."
Qiao Lingshan: "...Can you please shut up and listen?"
The Smiling Buddha sneered, "Benefits? The people of the Lotus Seat will never—"
Yun Xian interrupted her: "Have you tried it?"
Smiling Buddha: "...Tried what?"
"You keep these people captive in the Lotus Seat, providing them with food and water, and living in harmony every day. Naturally, they won't harbor malice due to conflict. Even if they do, they won't dare to show it out of fear of divine punishment." Yun Xian stepped forward and said, "Have you ever tried? If you put them in a harsh environment, where they can't afford to eat without working and will starve to death, and are heavily taxed, and can only eat half of the five corns they grow in the fields, just like the people of Faxi Hongyuan back then, you might think they are stupid, vicious, and vulgar, but in the same situation, could the people of the Lotus Seat still act like this?"
The Smiling Buddha was startled.
"You said the people of the Lotus Seat turned good because you extracted their evil side. The people you experimented on changed their personalities drastically, so you thought you succeeded." Yun Xian said, "No, you never succeeded. Otherwise, why did those people you released, who were clearly not yet of age, still die from heaven's punishment? Didn't they turn good? Why would they still have murderous intentions towards others?"
"One thought of good and evil, how can you use this to judge a person!"
The scene was silent for a moment, and then the Smiling Buddha's expression changed, becoming even more ferocious. "Ridiculous! Nonsense! Are you making excuses for the evildoers?! Everyone does this, so why doesn't Fang Fei attack her own kind? Is she doing it any better than the others?"
"I'm not making excuses for them. How many purely good people, or purely evil people, are there? Most ordinary people can only follow the crowd to protect themselves. They're definitely not good, but they're not the worst either." Yun Xian shook his head and said, "Even in the most beautiful paradise, there will be people with malicious intent. Even in the deepest mud, there will be people with good intentions. You used to be a Buddhist disciple, how could you not know that?"
"I used to be... a Buddhist disciple..." Something seemed to flash before the Smiling Buddha's eyes, and he smiled miserably, "I wish I had never been one."
Qi Zhiye's fingertips curled slightly.
The Smiling Buddha's rare, human-like expression only flashed for a moment before quickly giving way to a blanket of ice. "Malice and murderous intent are different. If anyone crosses that line, they can no longer be called a human and will be punished by heaven."
“…But the intention to kill is different from the killing intent.”
Yun Xian seemed a little hesitant, but in the end he avoided mentioning it. "There's a long distance between the intention to kill and the actual action. Regardless of the reasons, I had the intention to kill someone and was about to do it, but that day I suddenly saw my elderly parents, and I felt that I couldn't do this, so I stopped. This is the intention to kill. I had planned the time and made a plan, but at the last moment, I remembered that he might be in pain and bleed to death, and I felt that I couldn't bear it, so I stopped. This is the intention to kill. Even after I had already done it, he was injured and lying on the ground wailing, and I realized what I had done, and hurriedly treated his wounds and stopped the bleeding, and then turned myself in - this is also the intention to kill. But who deserves to die, and who shouldn't die?"
The Smiling Buddha was instantly enraged. She roared, "Is there any murderous intent in this world that needs to be forgiven?!"
"...Senior Mingren." Yun Xian's face and lips were pale. She looked at the Smiling Buddha and said in a very low voice, "Then why didn't you feel any killing intent when your mother wanted to kill you?"
At that time, the Smiling Buddha had already been possessed by a demon. If her mother really wanted to kill him, why would she wait until she entered the door? She would have died on the spot the moment the thought came to her mind.
She might have been thinking this all the time, but the pillow pressing against her face was like the gentle touch she had countless times in her childhood. However, her mother's tears were not from joy, but fell like dewdrops on the back of her stiff hand.
"Runde... this can't go on any longer..."
"Mother can't let you go on like this... Please forgive me..."
The force on the pillow trembled, perhaps because of old age, or perhaps because of reluctance. Thinking of killing a cultivator in this way was simply laughable and naive. But the Laughing Buddha opened his eyes wide, his heart calm, with only a dark thought roaring helplessly in his heart -
"She really wants to kill me. She really wants to kill me!!"
The Smiling Buddha could still insist that she did not see the injuries that were obviously caused by herself, could still insist that it was a punishment from heaven, and forcibly ignore all the unreasonable connections, but at this moment, a light thought came to her mind.
Maybe my mother wanted to kill her, but she might want to kill herself more.
How could mother not know that she would find out? Why did she say those words? Was she begging her to wake up? Was she begging her to end this torture?
Because she did all this, death would be a relief for them?
The Smiling Buddha froze in mid-air and didn't say a word for a moment.
No one spoke, only the crowd below was still surging. The golden light of the purple gold bowl lit up again, Mingguang vomited blood, and slowly sat up.
From childhood to adulthood, Qi Zhiye had never seen his master look like this. Master Mingguang would occasionally get angry, but most of the time, he maintained a composed demeanor, neither overly happy nor overly sad. In the minds of the younger generation, the elders were always an impenetrable fortress, a shield against wind and rain. For the first time, he saw their powerlessness.
Just like the first time Akihito saw the helplessness on the abbot's face, he was stunned.
"It's my fault." Mingguang said, "Mingren, it's my fault."
The Smiling Buddha said indifferently: "Don't call me by that name."
"..." Mingguang said, "It's because I didn't realize it earlier. I was too weak. Recognizing your own inability is a very cruel thing. I knew as early as that year that I was not as good as you, and I didn't have any talent to lead the Buddhist sect. So, whatever the abbot asked me to do, I did it. If he asked me to rescue, I did it. If he asked me to return to the mountain, I did it. If he asked me to fight, I did it. If he asked me to stay in Buddhism, I stayed. If I was there at that time, if I caught up with you, if I found you, then wouldn't things have been different..."
"What does it have to do with you?" The Smiling Buddha got angry for some reason: "What does it have to do with you!!"
Mingguang's frosty eyebrows knitted together slightly. He picked up the purple-gold bowl and said, "It's my fault."
There was a sense of determination in his words.
Qi Zhiye said: "Master!"
In the blood mist, the phantom of Fang Fei, which should have dissipated, appeared again in the sight of the Smiling Buddha.
For decades, she had shattered and condensed these three illusions, condensed and shattered them again. Every time she saw them, Smiling Buddha felt a heart-wrenching pain. She couldn't even transform into her normal Fang Fei. Whenever she thought of them, she recalled the gruesome scene of death, over and over again, like being tortured to death. But she was so lonely, she needed someone to accompany her.
She wished Fangfei was still alive so much that she would sometimes chat with Phantom.
Her consciousness, which should have been stabilizing, began to become chaotic again. She waved away the phantom, but Fang Fei, with a pale face, appeared before her again like a ghost.
The Smiling Buddha asked, "What do you want to say?"
Fangfei opened her mouth and said, "It's my fault."
Inexplicably! The Smiling Buddha crushed her to pieces. But one Fangfei disappeared, and another appeared, again saying, "It's my fault." The Smiling Buddha's heart burned like fire. She crushed one after another, but each one kept saying, "It's my fault." Finally, she couldn't control herself and roared, "What's your fault?! What does this have to do with you?! Huh?!"
Fangfei looked at her quietly, almost laughing and crying, as vivid as a real person: "I should have contacted you earlier. I couldn't bear to smash the wooden statue you gave me. If only I could see you sooner. If only I could say a word to you again."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" The Smiling Buddha said, "Even if I had gone there earlier, do you think you wouldn't have died? So many people died, so many innocent people..."
"If I had met you earlier," Fang Fei said quietly, "I would have been able to tell you in person that this isn't your fault."
The Smiling Buddha was stunned.
For a moment, her distorted expression looked as if she was about to cry.
Fang Fei kept repeating: "It's my fault." "If only I could tell you earlier." "It's my fault..." The Smiling Buddha couldn't be driven away, couldn't be dispelled, so she just covered her ears and said, "What are you talking about... What are you talking about!! Fang Fei! Obviously, it has nothing to do with you!!"
What does this have to do with you? ! !
You are just an ordinary person, an innocent person. You have no ability to deal with all this. Why do you say it is your fault?!
The branches danced madly, and in the blurry vision, Yun Xian's ethereal voice came: "So, Mingren Senior. Why do you think this is your fault?"
Why do you think this is her fault?
Smiling Buddha said: "If I had discovered it earlier..."
Qi Zhiye: "War will still happen."
Smiling Buddha: "If I hadn't struck that blow..."
Ji Rongxue: "The war will not end either."
The Smiling Buddha was at a loss: "If...if..."
Qiao Lingshan: "But, there are no ifs in this world."
Xue Lingxiu: "If you say there are mistakes, everyone is wrong. If you say there are no mistakes, no one is wrong."
“…”
"What do you mean by 'Buddha is an enlightened being, and humans are unenlightened Buddhas?'" Jimo Shu sneered, "What bullshit! You're lying with your eyes wide open! Buddha is Buddha, and humans are humans! Humans need to eat, to survive, and to fight tooth and nail, and they can die at any moment. Doesn't Buddha need that?! All Buddha needs to do is sit there and listen to the bald donkey banging the wooden fish all day! Of course, he can say anything he wants! You're using Buddha's standards to hold humans to?! I can't stand it anymore. Just treat humans like humans!"
The Smiling Buddha croaked, "What do you know?! What do you know!!!"
No matter what, she couldn't listen, couldn't accept it! Because, because what they said was wrong! If it was right, then what did she do all these years...all these years? ! !
"Senior Mingren, treat others as human beings, and treat yourself as a human being too." Why did the Saint Lady steal the show? Never mind, just keep talking! Yun Xian didn't show it on the surface. He said, "As a human being, there are things that you can't do. There are things that you can't do. It's better to say that in a person's life, there are far more helpless things than things that you wish you could do. Even Buddha doesn't dare to say he will save the world. Human power is limited. Being able to save people is the best, but if you can't save them, does that mean you killed them?!"
"Well said! That's very well said!" The Smiling Buddha laughed heartily. "Then let me ask you! Do you think the Buddhist way is right? Is it the best? Is my way wrong? Is it bad?!"
Mingguang's expression suddenly froze.
...Sure enough, in the end, I still came back here.
This has been a knot in Akihito's heart for decades. Who is right and who is wrong? What is right and what is wrong? What is the right thing to do? And what can be done to turn the tide?
The Buddhist sect told her not to fight back, but she did. The Buddhist sect told her not to leave the mountain, but she did. But each time the result was the worst.
The demon's words to Akihito that night were heartbreaking. The demon said to Akihito, "First there was the sea of suffering, then there was Buddha. Didn't you see how many more people burned incense and worshipped Buddha during the war? If there were peace and prosperity, would anyone still worship Buddha? Would there still be a need for Buddhist temples?" The demon said to Akihito, "Think carefully, who is the one who least wants the war to end?"
Perhaps Akihito didn't believe such absurd words. Or perhaps, he believed them a little. But later, no one knew, because she had become a smiling Buddha.
In the silence, Yun Xian suddenly said, "It's not the most right one, nor the best one. It's just that there has to be someone like this."
Jimo Shu turned around and looked at her. What? She could actually say such a thing... Wait.
Su Chi's staring is a bit too obvious! Move your eyes a little!
Yun Xian was frightened by herself. She hadn't prepared a speech yet, but she could only bite the bullet and continue: "To be honest, I knew from the Four-way War that this is how Buddhism works. If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Qi, I guess Senior Brother and his group wouldn't even want to kill a turtle, and would have been stuck in the pit praying for the souls of the soldiers to be reincarnated for days and nights. The Sword Sect called them idiots behind their backs every day, but they just laughed it off. They didn't want any benefits, but took all the bad things on themselves. They were constantly stabbed in the back by those they helped, and they refused to change despite repeated warnings, which led to them winning the first place in the competition for the smallest number of sects for many years..."
Qi Zhiye and Liu Hui both blushed: "..."
Mingguang politely reminded: "Young friend Yun, this year is Jiange."
"Okay, that's not important!" Yun Xian choked, then continued, "Anyway, it's always been like this. That's why their strength has been gradually weakening in recent years. Maybe it will improve in the future... That's beside the point. Well, what I mean is, I can't say it's wrong, nor can I say it's right. It's just that this is the choice of the Buddhist sect. Since it's a choice, you won't regret it if you bear the consequences. You can laugh at them for being stupid, saying that good intentions are not rewarded, that good intentions lead to bad results, and that they are deceived every day... Anyway, monks won't talk back. But no matter who you are, you hope that when you fall into a mud pit and don't know what to do, there will be someone like this who will risk their life to pull you out."
Yun Xian looked into the eyes of the Smiling Buddha and said, "Just like the palm strike you gave him back then. It was a trap, a snare, a killing move aimed at the nineteen-year-old Ming Ren, but you were saving him, you did nothing wrong."
The Smiling Buddha looked at her, bewildered: "No one is wrong...?"
So what is the right thing to do?
"You can be Mingren or Runde. Buddhism is not your sole responsibility. You can choose to take responsibility, or you can choose to let go." Yun Xian said confidently, "I am a swordsman. I am not educated. I don't understand who is right and who is wrong. Perhaps no one can understand it. Anyway, I only know that if we do not follow the same path, we cannot work together!"
Like a gentle breeze blowing through the demonic barrier, for the first time in the long silence, it blew away the deep-rooted illness that had obscured the heart.
Amidst decades of entangled inner demons, countless choices began to unravel. The scene moved forward bit by bit, and the figures scattered. Yun Xian asked Mingren the same question she had previously asked Qi Zhiye: "If you could do it again, would you do it again?"
The scene stops at the very end. The young Mingren wiped the tears from his face and buried Fangfei's body. She still took the sachet away.
She still ran up the endless long steps of the Buddhist temple and saw the old abbot.
The abbot looked exhausted and said to her, "...Akira, it's my fault."
Mingren shook his head and said to the abbot, "I'm sorry."
She ignored the incantatory whispers in her ears, and instead walked out of the mountain gate. She kowtowed three times to the towering and indistinct statue of the compassionate Buddha, stood up, took off her robes, and gently placed them in the old man's hands.
Mingren: "Runde, please retreat from the mountain gate."
Taking a step back opens up a new world. The abbot looked at her, tears welling up in his eyes, but he still smiled: "...Go!"
There are countless ways in the world, and she has a clear conscience.
Not long after, a young and mysterious hero appeared in the two countries. He always wore a mask, his martial arts skills were like a dragon, his eyes were like thunder and lightning, and he saved many people, but also killed many people.
From Faxi to Hongyuan, and later to Jialan, the nineteen-year-old hero is still light in body, steady in hands, taciturn and calm as water. Only before taking action will he touch the worn sachet around his waist.
Some say the hero would buy fried dough sticks for his parents for breakfast. Some say the hero actually drank alcohol for the first time. Some say the hero would cry when he saw the fragrant flowers in spring. Others say the hero would laugh, but it didn't seem like he was gloating.
"Oh my god, the Buddhist monk Mingguang got beaten again for trying to stop a fight!"
"Wow! Got beaten again?! How many times has this month been? I think Buddhists don't practice the Golden Bell Cover, they practice the Tortoise Shell!"
"What are you laughing at? Don't you know how tough he is? I hid in his robes the whole way. There were so many people around, but they didn't even get hit by a single punch... Amitabha, good, good! Thank you, Master Mingguang. I'll go burn incense again tomorrow!"
“…”
The image suddenly shattered, transforming into tiny dots of light, illuminating Akihito's face. Tears slowly streamed from that youthful face as he smiled, "But it's too late now."
Yun Xian looked at her silently and pursed his lips.
"How I long to share a fried dough stick with my mother again. If I were older, I might become a renowned hero. Of course, it's also possible that I'll still miss the Buddhist life and decide to return to become abbot, allowing Buddhism to flourish under my management! Mingguang can't snatch his place from me anyway. I will definitely not allow another Mingren to appear. Well, who knows? Perhaps someone will eventually fulfill my wish."
Mingren's tone returned to her youthful, cheerful and lively self, which was her truest character, but her face was aging at an alarming rate. "It's just that the more I think about it, the more painful it becomes. The more painful it becomes, the more I hypnotize myself. Once I step into the abyss, I will no longer be the same person I used to be."
It's too late. There are no "ifs" in this world. It has always been so cruel. One wrong step, one wrong thought, and you will be doomed forever.
Mingguang finally shed tears: "Runde..."
Mingren said, "That golden bun over there! I'm sorry about what happened to your inner demons before. But you should also reflect on yourself. How could you let me lead you away so easily?"
Qi Zhiye smiled bitterly and said, "Senior Mingren..."
The branches broke and curled up bit by bit, symbolizing the rapid weakening of her spiritual energy.
The moment he came to his senses, Akihito was determined to die.
"Okay! Stop crying, brother. It's really ugly. Besides, you're old now, so you look even uglier." Mingren said, "I can't remember how many people I've killed over the years. My consciousness is hazy, and I've been acting on instinct. But I remember that demon was called Chiyou."
"Chi You?" Jimo Shu pressed on, "Are there any more detailed characteristics?"
"Yes." Akihito pondered, "He's dressed so coolly."
Everyone: “…”
This is the most useless trait, okay?! And has the Demonic Cult actually had a tradition of not wearing clothes since eighty years ago?!
Seeing everyone's sullen faces, Mingren's already old face actually smiled and said, "Just kidding. There's a notch on his right ear."
Yun Xian was really unbelievable: "No way, you are still joking at this time?!"
Everyone angrily said: "What qualifications do you have to say that about her!!"
The shriveled branches swelled up again and shot straight towards everyone. Yun Xian was startled and had no time to hide. He only saw the branches shining with golden light instantly sink into his spiritual palace and begin to infuse spiritual energy!
This may be the final gift.
Su Chi came to her side in a flash, drew his sword and looked around in confusion.
Yun Xian: “…”
Su Chi: “…”
"Everyone has branches to stick to, why not give it to you?" Yun Xian said: "Big Brother, what on earth are you?"
Su Chi said, "I don't know."
After just two blasts of the branch, Yun Xian realized something was amiss. She felt a golden light gradually flashing in her head, and some fragments of the Diamond Sutra that she had tried her best to memorize flashed in her mind, almost frightening her to death: "...Wait!! Senior Mingren! Grandma Mingren!! The spiritual energy you infused is mixed with the great wisdom of Buddhism?! I am a sword cultivator! Once a sword cultivator, always a sword cultivator. I don't want to get a haircut and beat a wooden fish!!"
"What's the big deal? Just combine them! Buddha and devil can combine, what a joke." Mingren wanted to be happy at the end. It was rare for him to talk to someone for so long. "If you ask me, the Buddha Sword sounds much better than the Dog Sword!"
"No, that can't be compared to—" Yun Xian suddenly opened his eyes: "No way, grandma?! You usually get obsessed with it, but you don't stop reading tabloids?!"
Wait, you definitely can’t read tabloids.
Mingren must have seen his inner demon. Oops, Yun Xian had no confidence in his inner demon at all, it must be extremely filthy!
Sure enough, while seeing Yun Xian’s dying look, Mingren looked at Su Chi beside her, and the old lady was happy again.
"This beautiful senior brother." Ming Ren shouted happily before disappearing: "Do you know? Your junior sister is plotting against you——"
Everyone: “………………”
Master Mingguang didn't even know whether to wipe his tears or not.
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