Ever since Wen Leyang had come back from Mount Emei, the jade knife had done him great favors on many occasions. One could say that when the jade knife had helped to shield Wen Leyang from the thunder it had been because of the Thunder Heart Spirit Jade’s natural instincts, when it had protected Wen Leyang from the treasured weapon Moon’s Disaster it could be said that it was for the Guo Huan’s benefit, but the final favor where the jade knife had summoned the Yin’s Error and Yang’s Mistake within the Weeping Buddha’s palm, that had been genuinely out of its kindness to save Wen Leyang and Mumu’s lives. Thus, it had used the Demon Body Breaking spell and gravely injured itself.
There must be something Wen Leyang could do to repay the debt for saving his life. However, he had not expected that Guo Huan would ask such a senseless question.
Wen Buzuo picked up the scent of a gossip and he floated over, “Our family’s Wen Leyang is Grand Master Chang Li’s pet.”
Wen Leyang too chuckled, there was a sense of pride in between his brows, “When I am speaking in front of Grand Master Chang Li, there really isn’t many restrictions…”
Guo Huan’s voice was even more courteous now, “Very well, very well then. Child, I have a favor to ask of you…” Before he could finish his sentence, Wen Buzuo suddenly shouted loudly at the jade knife, “Speak!”
Wen Leyang could almost feel that the jade knife shiver once, it was stunned for a moment before it asked, “Speak, speak of what?”
Wen Buzuo’s face was glimmering with the glow of excitement, “Acting all coy and shy, that smells like trouble!”
Wen Leyang felt that it was unreliable as well, ever since this jade knife here started speaking, it had always been rigid and arrogant. Other than Grandmaster Tuo Xie, it had paid utterly no respect and courtesy to anyone. Earlier, when it had mentioned Chang Li, it suddenly became soft-spoken as if it was very shy.
“The apple of the Grand Master Chang Li’s eye is my Grand Master, Tuo Xie. Hah, Guo Huan, don’t you dare to forget who it was who had saved your life back then… However,” Wen Buzuo was sneering, yet his face was still the same maniacal expression that got scared when the world was at peace, “When love happens, I’m afraid that it is not up to one’s decision…”
Guo Huan finally understood what Wen Buzuo meant, without waiting for him to finish talking it immediately broke out into curses, “Bullsh*t! I’ve already accomplished my cultivation for thousands of years. I have since lost, lost that kind of intention. Chang Li is nothing but a little girl in my eyes, she’s not much older than all of you…”
Wen Buzuo’s maniacal expression, as expected, still remained the same, “Are you angry from embarrassment?”
Guo Huan was squealing with rage, judging by Wen Buzuo’s manner he planned to continue talking. Guo Huan would bear the risk of shattering its body in order to summon the Yin’s Error Yang’s Mistake just to slash at his mouth.
Wen Leyang was at a loss whether to cry or to laugh as he hastily made peace between them. After a long while of consolation, only then he asked cautiously, “So, you were asking about Grand Master Chang Li?”
“I will never tell when this vile person is still beside me, consider that I have wasted my effort in saving you!” Guo Huan was exhilarated now and it started acting shamelessly once again.
Wen Buzuo burst out laughing in preparation to start speaking again when he was struck by a flying teapot thrown by Fourth Elder Wen and ran away.
Only then did Guo Huan heave out a foul breath, “Child, I would like to ask a favor from Chang Li. I told you last time that I’ve already cultivated into an ordinary form of transformation in the immortal’s cave, which is a body-splitting image of myself. However, because of Chang Li’s disturbance, the primordial spirit in the split body was scattered everywhere and became a foolish person incapable of talking or moving, like the undead.”
Wen Leyang could roughly understand the message that Guo Huan was trying to convey, he opened his eyes wide in surprise.
As expected, Guo Huan continued, “Even though this split body was useless back then but if it were here right now, then it would have come in handy now! This split body here was originally a chunk of flesh that had fallen off from my body…” Listening to Guo Huan’s statement, Wen Leyang could immediately feel goosebumps all over his body.
Guo Huan became more and more excited as he spoke, “Once my split body has been found, I will shatter this piece of Thunder Heart here and bear the huge risk of losing my soul in order to return to my split body. If it’s successful then I will become a human in the world again, if it fails… Hah, well least I tried!”
Wen Leyang was a little confused, “So what was the purpose of you asking for Grand Master Chang Li’s help?”
“Firstly, if there’s a great demon to lead the magic circle that helps to protect and defend me, the rate of success will be greatly improved, but the person who leads the magic circle will definitely lose some cultivation base. Secondly, I recovered the mountain protective circle around my immortal’s cave right before I left to chase after Chang Li, no ordinary people have the ability to enter the mountain, Chang Li had broken the protective circle once in the past. If she’s willing to help me again then that will reduce many bumps and problems. Thirdly…”
When Guo Huan reached the third point, its voice became coy and shy once again, “I can’t recall where my immortal’s cave is any more so I’ll need Chang Li’s help to locate it again for me!”
Wen Leyang said ‘oh’ as he picked up a stick of carrot that had been sent over by a relative in the village, “You can’t remember where your immortal’s cave is located?”
“Even though the Thunder Heart Jade and mountain elf belonged to the same earth element of the five elements, when my soul had attached to the knife I suffered a great loss of my demon vitality. After I had woken up again, I realized that there are many things I can’t quite remember and the most important matter of locating my immortal’s cave was one of it!”
Guo Huan finished talking and stopped like it was afraid that Wen Leyang would not agree to help it. It then started reasoning again, “You see, I did not provoke Chang Li but it was she who had come to my cave and created disturbances before snatching away my treasured weapons. She was also the reason I had cultivated into a foolish body-splitting image of myself so it was her who had wronged me first, right? Both of us then chased and fought one another. Even though I’d used some harsh and foul words to describe her but that wasn’t doing anyone harm either, so that’s not considered a huge enmity right? Afterwards, when the demons plotted against me and I had to bore into the Thunder Heart Jade in order to linger on with my last breath, the root of the problem was also because of her. So right now it is only appropriate for her to help me out… isn’t, isn’t that so? Moreover… when I had cast the Demon Body Breaking spell, to tell the truth, I have already destroyed the chances for this jade knife to be used for a new cultivation again. If I can’t return to my flesh body, my soul will be lost in another eight or ten years.”
Guo Huan’s voice was albeit loud and clear but the more he spoke the weaker it sounded. Judging others by oneself, if he was in Chang Li’s position, he would not even have cared about another demon’s life.
The mountain elf Guo Huan had thought highly of itself, since its old immortal’s cave was destroyed and the mountain had collapsed with the cave altogether, it had kept to itself and paid utterly no attention to the other demons of the same Demon Sect. If it was not embodied within the jade knife now with just a little strand of opportunity to be resurrected, it would have never begged for Chang Li’s help whatsoever.
The moment Guo Huan finished talking, a familiar yet abominable voice was heard from Wen Leyang’s side without a sign, “You must be dreaming, Grand Master Chang Li will never consume her cultivation base in order to help you return to your human body. The first thing you will do when you are resurrected is to seek revenge on our Grand Master!” Wen Buzuo had returned to their side and was standing right next to Wen Leyang.
Wen Leyang was greatly startled.
Guo Huan hastily explained, “My demon vitality is already mostly destroyed, moreover the split body at its best can only bear one-third of my supernatural power so I’m no match for Chang Li. But if you are truly concerned, then just let Chang Li bring me back to my immortal’s cave, she doesn’t need to lead the magic circle!”
Wen Leyang laughed in a rather virtuous manner but his tone of speaking was determined, “When Grand Master Chang Li is back, I will beg of her highness, but I cannot promise whether she will agree to this or not. I will try my best nonetheless!” Guo Huan had cast the Demon Body Breaking spell in order to save Wen Leyang and Mumu’s life. It had wagered on gifting human kindness first in exchange for an opportunity to regain its freedom. Wen Leyang was naturally speechless, he had no choice but to indeed help Guo Huan out.
Guo Huan seemed to be relieved, “If you can just repeat what I have just told you earlier and tell it to Chang Li, by all means, she will help me out once right?”
Wen Buzuo sniggered, “If it’s as you said, then Grand Master Chang Li will crush you into Thunder Heart Sand on the spot and gift it to Xiaoyi.”
The Wen family elders who had been quietly sitting at the side suddenly burst out laughing for they knew that Grand Master Chang Li was not a reasonable person.
Wen Leyang too laughed but he quickly recalled something else and his expression abruptly turned solemn, “Guo Huan, how do you know that Grandmaster Chang Li is still alive?” After Guo Huan had woken up from its long sleep, no one had ever told it that Chang Li was still alive. It was only when he had suddenly brought up the issue of asking for Chang Li’s help did Wen Leyang pay attention to this fact and now that he’s thought of it he was immediately full of curiosity.
This time, it was Guo Huan’s turn to be stunned, “What nonsense are you talking about, she’s still young!” It was utterly unaware that the Demon Sect had almost been slaughtered to extinction in the past two thousand years. From Guo Huan’s point of you, it went without saying that Chang Li was still alive now and it wasn’t only her, but the rest of the great demons too should still be alive and thriving.
While Wen Leyang was talking to Guo Huan, he was urging the Poison of Life and Death within his body to flow around slowly. He had suffered from the Taoist priest Zi Que’s double punches and the Weeping Buddha’s strike during the day but for his body, these injuries were nothing but pure bruises that could be healed in a jiffy.
When Mumu was rescuing Ah Dan, Wen Leyang had slammed hard into her and she had sustained serious injuries. Fortunately, her injuries were just bruises like Wen Leyang’s. The Wen, Miao, and Luo families had no lack of potions to heal injuries. Even though she had vomited a large amount of blood and her little face was so ashen that it made one’s heart hurt, her life had never been at stake. Wen Xiaoyi, with her agile movements, and a few other ladies from the Wen family were taking care of her.
Ah Dan was holding a bronze basin that was filled with clean water as he guarded closely next to his master. After every short while, he would babble and urge others to wipe Mumu’s face.
The torture chamber was deathly still, there was no Buddha’s light to be seen and they also couldn’t hear the chanting of the Buddhist hymn. It was only until dawn the next day when the sound of a thud suddenly echoed out from the house that the people who had been on guard outside immediately rushed into the house.
The old monk Bu Le’s face had turned from the color of ashen white to a dimmed greyish-black. He had tumbled on the ground and was struggling with all his might to stand up. Meanwhile, the demon monk San Duan was still seated on the plank bed and was slowly opening his eyes. There wasn’t a single emotion within his gaze, he appeared to be as dazed as a dead fish.
The folks lifted up Bu Le in a great bustle but the old monk shook his head in exhaustion, “It’s alright, it’s alright. I’ve finally awakened him.” Upon saying that he panted in exhaustion for a moment before speaking to the demon monk San Duan, “After that battle of ours in the Yama-raja’s Temple in the land of evil spirits, I have something to ask you.”
The demon monk San Duan’s eyeballs rolled, he then shot his gaze towards the old monk. The wrinkles on his face were pulling up to the bald scalp of his and twitched once as if he was giving a smile.
The old monk Bu Le, with the support from others, sat down opposite the demon monk, “Do you still recognize me?”
Wen Buzuo stomped his foot in rage, “So that was all that you wanted to ask him?” Everyone ignored him but Wen Buzuo has since gotten used to his position as the ‘king of awkward silence’.
The demon monk San Duan appeared to have lost all his look and luster as if he had already been dead for three days and three nights. However, his voice was unexpectedly clear and pleasing, “A thousand years ago, you had attended my sermon.”
The old monk Bu Le’s face was albeit still ashen but his eyes brightened upon hearing that, “So you really do remember me!”
The demon monk San Duan made a ‘humph’ sound before saying, “The Master had once said that if you could wipe out your demonic characteristics then it is a charitable and pious deed, he would spare your life. So when you had attended my sermon, I kept an eye on you and remembered you.”
The rest of them were completely confused while the old monk Bu Le was astonished. He jumped down from the chair but fell over limply. He forcefully stretched out a finger and pointed at the demon monk, “Your Master… who was your Master?!”
The demon monk chuckled twice akin to the chanting of a Buddhist hymn. His laughter was relaxed and lively but his face had the sorrowful look of the tragically deceased. His voice and his expressions were completely the opposite of one another, it filled the air of the torture chamber with a ghastly sensation, “You already know who he was, why did you even bother to ask? One thousand and five hundred years ago, you had cultivated into a human form. The Master had passed by the Great Mercy Temple when he was traveling and saw through your true self.”
Wen Leyang could faintly recall by now that the first time he had met the old monk Bu Le in the Great Mercy Temple with Grand Master Chang Li, Bu Le had told them that when he was first elected as the leader, Bu Le bumped into a wild monk who had been seeking temporary lodging within the temple. He spent days discussing and studying Buddhism with the wild monk. Bu Le had only realized by the time the wild monk left that the opposing party had already seen through his demon body.
The old monk Bu Le’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He swallowed a gulp of saliva strenuously, “Your Master was… that wild monk who doesn’t even have a Buddhist monastic name?” The old monk Bu Le had been engaging in cultivation for one thousand and nine hundred years. So far, the person whom he had the utmost respect and admiration for was Grand Master Chang Li but the person that he had feared the most was that wild monk. When he found out that the demon monk San Duan was actually a disciple of the wild monk, his state of mind was immediately disordered.
The demon monk’s dead fish-like eyes turned away, he no longer looked towards the old monk Bu Le as he accused, “It had been a charitable and pious deed for the Master to let you live. However, I’ve died because of you and I’m not sure if that is considered a charitable and pious deed.”
The old monk Bu Le panted for a moment before he regained his composure. He shook his head, “I can’t figure out why even more now.” Upon saying that he stopped for a moment, “Monk, you will not be alive much longer, I’ve exhausted my strength and supernatural power just to keep you alive for little while not just for this ‘can’t figure out why’ here.”
The demon monk San Duan did not continue to talk about nonsense anymore but he answered dully, “Ask then, after you are done asking, let’s see for the sake of the Master’s deed back then if you’re willing to do something for him.”
Bu Le nodded his head with a solemn expression, “I will do anything within my power. What I can’t figure out is, though you have such a thorough understanding of Buddhism and even possess a set of supernatural powers that I can’t see through, why had you chosen to abandon the golden path of Buddha?!” The old monk Bu Le had cultivated in Buddhism with his demon’s body. Even though he was of rogue natural disposition, he had always prioritized merciful Buddhism in the way he had conducted himself. From his point of view, one could really have exceedingly high powers by cultivating in Buddhism. Now, he’s insisting to clarify the situation how this person, whom he had once had the utmost admiration for and who had an even more thorough understanding of Buddhism, San Duan, could just lift up the butcher’s knife and became a devil.
This form of contemplation was purely based on a technicality.
It was as if the demon monk San Duan was trying to straighten his back but the moment he moved, the cracking sound of his bones shattering echoed out terrifyingly from his body. Following that, his body became even more bent than before, “I’m offering salvation to sentient beings on behalf of the Buddha. There are millions of worshippers in the entire world but how many of those are truly devoted to worshipping the Buddha? Beseeching for safety, beseeching for longevity, beseeching for wealth, beseeching for luck, they are not worshipping the Buddha but they are beseeching from the Buddha! They give a few kowtows, do a few kind deeds, donated some pilgrimage money then come asking for this and that from the Buddha, it is only a trade for them!”
After the old demon rabbit listened to San Duan’s words, it was as if he had forgotten about his astonishment earlier. His eyes brightened as he laughed and continued, “Within the eyes of the traders, naturally the Buddha is a trader too!”
The demon monk San Duan too burst into a loud laughter, “This monk was helping the Buddha to convey the message to the common people that the world is emptiness, other than causality and karma there is nothing but emptiness in it. However, people kept telling the Buddha that I am worshipping you not for emptiness but just the opposite. I am worshipping you so that I am not emptiness, I have already burned the joss stick for you so you ought to at the very least bless me with luck, right.”
Contrary to the demon monk San Duan’s raging laughter, the old monk Bu Le heaved a sigh helplessly, “The common people don’t know that, which is why we need to advise them, help them, salvage them. It has never been an easy task to awaken the wisdom of the world, but there will still be some people with a profound root of wisdom that can lead one to truth in the end, that can understand the golden path of Buddhism thoroughly.”
The demon monk San Duan’s voice remained the same, it was still clear and loud, “You’re wrong!”
The old monk Bu Le was stunned, “What have I done wrong?”
“Wrong at being insistent! The golden path of Buddha is paved all the way to the spirit realm of the western paradise of Sukhavati but how many people have walked on it since the ancient times? Since the common people cannot walk on it, what is the act of offering salvation to sentient beings if not being insisted?” The demon monk San Duan’s voice has become louder and louder, the not very spacious torture chamber was rumbling and shaking, “There is a bitter tree in the middle of the desolated mountain, every day it goes through the laborious work of absorbing dew water to stay alive. Someone then told the tree: there is a huge lake about 150 kilometers West from here, the lake is green and blooming with vegetation, why don’t you go there? The bitter tree was so elated it broke off all its roots, but before it could even take one step forward it had died on the desolated mountain!”
The old monk Bu Le blinked his eyes, he was unsure what to say.
The demon monk San Duan continued, “The common people are like this bitter tree, they live a laborious life but at least their life is sustainable. Why should there be a necessity for him to go to the lake? That person had advised the tree out of kind intentions but they had forgotten that the tree was not them, and they are not the tree! The Buddha is not the common people, so the common people is not the Buddha!”
The demon monk San Duan completed his speech and inhaled a deep breath, “The Master had spent his life trying to offer salvation to sentient beings on behalf of the Buddha, eventually he ended up losing his soul. So why should I be bothered to worship Buddha forever and refuse to let go!” As he was saying that, it seemed as if he was exerting all the strength from his body. He then shook his arm and tossed away the little jade Buddha that the monk Bu Le had placed in his palm!
The old monk Bu Le frowned but it was difficult to tell if he was feeling sorry or relieved, “Your Master had attained parinirvana?”
The demon monk San Duan sneered again, “Don’t worry, I have only myself to blame for dying in your hands. I never said that the Master had passed away and even if he was still alive, he would never come to seek revenge on you.”
Bu Le’s old face blushed, it seemed like the demon monk had seen through his worries.
The wild monk that had spared Bu Le’s life had no name nor monastic name, he was utterly unknown to the cultivation world but his powers could only be described by the word immeasurable. He had formally acknowledged five disciples in his life; the demon monk San Duan was his third disciple. His root of wisdom and natural endowment was the best amongst his brother disciples, not only was he possessed a thorough understanding of Buddhism, he was also the only one who had received the Master’s full teachings. So, when the old demon rabbit had attended the sermon, he did not manage to see through this person’s true abilities.
The wild monk had cultivated his supernatural power stronger and stronger until he finally received the God’s punishment. The demon monk San Duan had built the ‘Yama-raja’s Temple’ in order to help his Master to accumulate enough karmic power to pull through the punishment.
The wild monk was earnest and conscientious his entire lifetime, he offered salvation to sentient beings on behalf of the Buddha. Whether it was himself or those five disciples of his, they were all extremely confident about pulling through the punishment. However, when the day of God’s punishment arrived, the first thunder shattered his protective circle spell, the second thunder destroyed his punishment-resistive treasured weapons, and the third thunder dispelled all his supernatural powers. The fourth thunder then destroyed the human body of the wild monk!
The wild monk too had a profound cultivation base so even though his human body was destroyed, he managed to retain some of his primordial spirit.
San Duan could not accept that his Master, who had been a devout Buddhist his entire life, had been unexpectedly shattered by the God’s punishment descended from the Buddha. All these years of accumulated faith had immediately collapsed.
Meanwhile, the jade knife suddenly interrupted, “The God’s punishment is the power of the world gathered from the Ninth Heaven Thunder, it is the final trial for a profound cultivator and it’s not descended from the Buddha… what is the Buddha actually?”
The demon monk sneered, “If the God’s punishment was descended from the Buddha, why did the Buddha want to harm my Master? If it wasn’t descended from the Buddha, then why did I bother worshipping the Buddha?”
The demon monk San Duan had a catastrophic change of morale after he had failed to help his Master in pulling through the punishment. He almost immediately betrayed the Buddha by protecting his Master’s remnant primordial spirit. He then found the land of evil spirits and he stopped at no expense to rescue his Master by sealing the vitality point so the evil spirits could grow and spread there. Even though he had ranked in the middle of his brother disciples, but he was the one with the highest prestige while Yi Duan, Er Duan, Si Duan, and Wu Duan had looked up to him for direction.
The rest of the four brother disciples joined hands and they moved the ‘Yama-raja Temple’ out to the land of evil spirits in one night. However, the four of them were exhausted and finally died in the middle of the land of evil spirits. The demon monk San Duan then planted his Master’s primordial spirit into the ghost’s flesh mushroom in the vitality point and awaited the day that his Master could be reborn into a human again.
The demon monk San Duan had initially cultivated with the Buddhist supernatural power but when he was finally expelled from the Buddhism Sect, his power had become severely damaged. Therefore, his method of cultivation changed from the orthodox Buddhism school to the demon magic from the evil sect.
Wen Leyang and the rest of them looked into the eyes of one another. Frankly, this matter was a treason in all the heavenly laws of morality and filial love in the eyes of the old monk Bu Le but for the rest of the people, this was just an ordinary thinking. In order to save the life of that important person, one could not care less if the world became covered by a deluge or be melted by flames!
The old monk Bu Le heaved a sigh once more, “Then why did you not stay and guard the land of evil spirits?”
The demon monk San Duan forced a smile, “Because of causality, those were all lives!”
The wild monk had regained momentary consciousness as his primordial spirit was planted into the ghost’s flesh. He was utterly unaware of what his disciples had done and he only said to San Duan that there was one more strand of his primordial spirit which had escaped.
If the wild monk’s remnant soul was left attached to the ghost’s flesh mushroom to slowly grow, it would take a few thousand years to take a human form but if this other strand of primordial spirit could be found, then he could yield twice the result with half the effort. San Duan utterly did not expect anyone to enter the land of evil spirits nor did he think that there was someone who could destroy the ghost’s flesh mushroom. He had been out wondering about on usual days in search of the wild monk’s other strand of primordial spirit that had escaped.
In the end, all those unexpected matters had taken place one after another, the wild monk’s remnant soul too was consumed by Ah Dan.
The demon monk had realized this when he returned to the land of evil spirits, coincidentally he then bumped into Bu Le who had been there to provide reinforcement to Wen Leyang in the Miao stockade village. The two parties then fought in a battle and both finally escaped after being defeated.
At this point, the demon monk San Duan stopped momentarily, “The Master within God’s punishment had left behind two portions of primordial spirit, one of which was swallowed by that zombie baby. Hah, I wonder if this was his moment of rebirth or his inexorable doom. The other portion of primordial spirit was nowhere to be found but between these two portions, there is still something for me to get close to. I spared no expense to merge my life into the Weeping Buddha in order to claim this zombie baby so that I could use it to look for my Master’s other portion of primordial spirit!”
As he was said that, the demon monk San Duan’s neck suddenly made a loud and clear bone cracking sound. He raised his head vigorously, his dead-fish eyes stared fixedly at the old monk Bu Le as he pronounced word by word, “This is the matter I am begging of you! For the sake of my Master who had once spared your life, use that zombie baby and search for his portion of escaped primordial spirit!”