Chapter 85 Together As long as we're both alive, we can be together...
Li Chenjin: "..."
No, what does this have to do with anything?
So what she just said was basically a waste of time, and Shen Zhengyuan only took the statement that "Han Shannan is an idiot" to heart.
She was momentarily speechless, pretending not to hear Shen Zhengyuan's question. After wiping the blood off her hands, her gaze darted around, as if she was eager to find a new topic to move on from the matter.
Finally, her gaze settled on the sky above Hezhang County, landing on the red lights that were constantly drifting out from every corner of the city, surrounded by thick black mist.
The black mist and red light continued to rise, as if trying to fly to the dome, but were blocked by the barrier that was enveloping Hezhang County.
As a result, they accumulated more and more, growing larger and larger, gradually merging into an enormous, constantly twisting and deforming dark red ball of light, which frantically crashed against the magic array barrier that trapped it, emitting muffled rumbling sounds like thunder.
"What are those?" Li Chen asked.
“Demonic energy.” Shen Zhengyuan paused and said, “And the evil thoughts, wicked thoughts, and murderous thoughts in people’s hearts. This demonic energy has long been lurking in the hearts of the people in Hezhang County. It is not visible on ordinary days, but it secretly nourishes the various evil thoughts in people’s hearts, waiting for the right time to close the net and turn people into puppets.”
“Those souls nourished by all kinds of evil thoughts, wicked thoughts, and murderous thoughts can give that demon more power. As for those who are directly killed, although they may also have evil thoughts and resentment in their hearts, they are far less powerful than the former.”
Li Chen suddenly realized why those puppets were both brutal and deliberate when killing people; it was to instill more malice and resentment in people so that the demon could gain more power.
However, this technique sounds somewhat familiar, like the trick that the demons used on Earth hundreds of years ago when Shen Zhengyuan was still a child.
But there was still one thing she couldn't understand...
After pondering for a moment, she continued, "Because the evil thoughts, wicked intentions, and murderous thoughts in people's hearts are the source of the demon's power. That's why you developed this magic array to absorb the thoughts and demonic energy in these people's hearts, thus weakening the demon's power?"
“It can’t be weakened.” Shen Zhengyuan shook his head. “As long as a person is alive, there will always be all sorts of distracting thoughts and evil intentions. I can control the people here, but I can’t control the people of the world. If it loses some of its power here, it can naturally make up for it in other places. So as long as there is one person alive, that demon will not die, and can only be suppressed continuously.”
"But even if it is suppressed, the power of that demon will not be diminished. On the contrary, it will become stronger with the changing of the sun and moon. Even if it can be suppressed again now, after several hundred years, perhaps no one will be its match."
"Can't we find a way to prevent it from absorbing people's thoughts?" Li Chen asked.
Shen Zhengyuan shook his head again, showing no impatience whatsoever, and patiently explained, "That demon has already transformed into countless forms, infiltrating into the bodies of countless people and merging with their primordial spirits. Perhaps a part of it is within your or my primordial spirit, but it has been suppressed by our cultivation levels, which is why it has not caused any trouble."
"But it doesn't work on ordinary people. Those ordinary people will be controlled by it, and it will seek out new people, continue to differentiate into countless clones, and integrate them into the primordial spirits of a new batch of people, and so on, endlessly."
“When I learned about this, the cultivation world had already been rebuilt for many years. During those years, I was unaware of it and had not taken any precautions. So now almost everyone in the world could be the next one. Even if you kill it now, it will be reborn in the next person.”
"Therefore, it will not die unless all evil thoughts in the hearts of all people in the world are eradicated. But as you know, this is impossible. Even if the gods and Buddhas of heaven appeared in the world, they could not eradicate all evil thoughts in people's hearts. As long as there is one person with evil thoughts, it can live forever."
As he spoke, his gaze slowly turned to Li Chenjin, and he continued, "Therefore, the best way, and the only way to kill that demon, is for me to kill all living beings in the world."
“As long as there is no living thing left in the world, it will die, and I will be able to avenge my parents, teachers, relatives, and fellow disciples.”
"Li Chenjin, I can only take revenge by killing people, killing all living beings in the world, including myself."
Li Chenjin: "..."
She looked at Shen Zhengyuan, her lips moved a few times, but she found herself not knowing what to say.
so……
In her memory, Shen Zhengyuan was the one who did those things, who kept killing people, and even wanted to drag the whole world down with him to the underworld.
Actually, he wasn't crazy. Rather, he had already gone completely insane. His only thought was revenge, and the only way to get revenge was to kill, to destroy the world, and to not even spare himself...
but……
Even though she knew about his deeply buried past and obsessions, she couldn't bear to watch Shen Zhengyuan do this, couldn't bear to see the world end up like that, and couldn't bear to see him commit so many atrocities.
It's unbelievable that even with that extraordinary encounter hundreds of years ago, they might ultimately end up on opposite sides...
Shen Zhengyuan looked at her and suddenly smiled slightly.
Unlike before, his smile now carried a strange calm and peace. "But I don't want to do that now."
Li Chen was taken aback. "...What?"
“I don’t want to do that anymore,” Shen Zhengyuan repeated. “Because before I knew you were still alive, I wanted to protect the Zen community for you; after I knew you were still alive, I wanted to stay with you and protect everything you wanted to protect.”
He paused, then spoke again, his voice lower, "Most importantly, I have no way to kill you, nor can I kill you... So this path is destined to fail, which is why I will join forces with the Zen community."
Li Chenjin: "..."
After a moment of silence, Li Chen asked, "Why didn't you tell me these things before?"
“Because I will definitely find a way to really kill it, so whether I say these things or not is not important,” Shen Zhengyuan said. “What is really important is that as long as I live, I will definitely let you live too. If we both live, we can be together, forever together.”
Li Chen felt a chill run down her spine as she listened. Looking at Shen Zhengyuan's gaze, which was focused to the point of being almost eerie, she felt a chill run straight to the top of her head. She couldn't help but frown and ask worriedly, "Are you sure you're not being controlled by that demonic energy?"
Shen Zhengyuan's expression instantly returned to normal, and he said calmly, "No."
"Oh...that's good, that's good..."
Li Chenjin almost immediately replied, his gaze drifting elsewhere, somewhat awkwardly changing the subject: "I think this magic array is quite... um, quite beautiful? This, this sun is nice too... uh... the weather is nice too... and this land is quite nice too, um..."
She scratched her head and suddenly realized that it was really hard to find a topic to talk about. She had already asked almost everything she wanted to ask, and she couldn't think of anything new. She could only say a lot of nonsense, which made the atmosphere awkward instead of changing the subject.
Finally, her gaze returned to the magic circle, and she asked, "How long will this magic circle last?"
"That's about enough." Shen Zhengyuan didn't expose her awkward way of changing the subject. He said, "I will have these collected demonic energies sent to the Zen cultivation world and entrusted to Mingcun for research and safekeeping, in order to find a way to neutralize them."
Li Chen nodded without changing his expression. "It seems that old monk Mingcun knows quite a lot. Well... cough cough, is that so?"
“You see, I’ve been away from the meditation community for so long, and this matter is of great importance, so I’m very concerned. I must go back to the meditation community and tell Venerable Mingcun in person. So, why don’t you, Abbot Shen, go back to your Dharma practice community to take charge of the overall situation, and we’ll take our leave here for now, and meet again if fate allows?”
Li Chenjin said this, but what he really thought was completely different from what he said.
This time, she returned to the meditation community, and she may have the life to return, but not the life to leave.
Although she now looks no different from an ordinary person, and even the flow of her spiritual meridians no longer feels sluggish and painful as before, the intense pain throughout her body has also strangely subsided.
But based on her years of medical practice and her understanding of her own body, this was by no means an improvement in her injuries, but rather a final burst of energy before her death.
Therefore, all she wants now is to return to the meditation community, to leave quietly in that peaceful place, so as to avoid further suffering and to stay away from people she shouldn't get close to, so as to avoid being unable to resist taking action or making a fuss.
Shen Zhengyuan gazed at her quietly, seemingly oblivious to her thoughts, and slowly said, "Liu Yan is no longer in Hezhang County. If she is to leave, she must find a place where she can be saved."
"And this Weeping Dew Pavilion did not appear out of thin air. Those who disappeared must have had somewhere to go. Even those puppets were not made by the Weeping Dew Pavilion, but were transported to the Weeping Dew Pavilion by people posing as disciples of the Weapon Cultivation World."
"This means there's someone above her, otherwise she couldn't have orchestrated such a scheme. Are you really going to just give up, not investigate who's behind it all, and not try to save those who might still be alive?"
Li Chen listened attentively and nodded repeatedly. "I naturally know what Sect Leader Shen is saying. I do want to investigate this matter; I do want to save that person; but isn't Sect Leader Shen here now? With Sect Leader Shen here, handling those matters will be a piece of cake, won't it?"
Shen Zhengyuan said, "Disciples of the Dharma Cultivation Realm have always only known how to kill, not how to save. Moreover, the skills of Dharma Cultivation Realm disciples are incomparable to those of Sword Cultivation Realm disciples, and they never engage in direct combat. If it were me to take action, I would only set up a killing formation and raze that area to the ground."
Li Chenjin: "..."
I thought about so much before, but I forgot to think about this point.
Shen Zhengyuan is right. When people in the cultivation world face off against an enemy, they will try every means to keep their distance and rely on a variety of magical formations to defeat the enemy. They are the type who would rather stab someone in the back than confront them head-on.
However, while disciples of the Dharma Cultivation Realm are virtually invincible in long-range combat, they are extremely poor in close combat. Not to mention, when engaging in close combat, they also have to find and rescue others, which is an almost insurmountable challenge for them.
Therefore, the most convenient method is to set up a killing formation directly, regardless of whether the enemies or hostages are inside. Killing them all will definitely solve the problem once and for all.
Author's Note: Xiao Shen asked "Do you like me?" so many times, really just wanting to hear Xiao Li admit "I like you." Unfortunately, Xiao Li didn't say it, making the already insecure Xiao Shen even more anxious and uncertain. [laughing and crying emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
