“I wouldn’t listen to their bullshit scriptures. I forced my way into the temple to personally kill that beast. Those bald donkeys actually formed a Formation, layer upon layer, to protect that murderer! They even spoke righteously, saying I was creating bad karma and needed to be enlightened!”
“Enlightened?” Lu Fan burst into another fit of laughter. “Alright! If you want to enlighten me, then I’ll send you to see the Buddha first!”
“Thanks to my successful training, how could a mere mortal temple stop me? I immediately shattered their Formation, rushed into the great hall, and with one sword strike, chopped off that One-Eyed Dragon’s head!”
“But I didn’t expect that by hitting the small fry, the big boss would actually show up!”
“The bald donkey in that temple crushed a jade talisman. Not long after, an Arhat from Western Niuhe Continent descended, saying my killing intent was too strong and that I needed to be suppressed before the Buddha for a hundred years to cleanse my demonic nature. Naturally, I refused and fought with them.”
“I killed an Arhat, so they sent a Bodhisattva; I injured a Bodhisattva, so they sent more Buddhas! They chased me all the way from Jambudvipa to Western Niuhe Continent, constantly repeating that my sins were profound and that I needed to be enlightened!”
“I, Lu Fan, have a worthless life; if I die, I die. How could I let them manipulate me? If they want to kill me, I’ll kill them back! Killing one is breaking even, killing two is a profit!”
“I killed from the South to the West, killing until the sky and earth were dark, killing until blood flowed like rivers!”
“Finally, I was captured when my strength ran out, and that’s how I ended up here.”
Lu Fan finished speaking.
On the Execution Platform, there was a deathly silence.
The Immortals all had stiff expressions, but their hearts were churning with monstrous waves.
They had originally thought this was just a trivial matter of a Loose Immortal getting hot-headed, demolishing a few temples, and smashing a few Buddha statues.
Who could have imagined that behind it was such a tragic and prolonged bloodbath!
Pure Thought Bodhisattva’s face had already turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
“Nonsense! How innocent you make yourself sound! Do you know that in your killing spree, you destroyed over a hundred temples of my Western Religion in Western Niuhe Continent! You killed thousands of my Buddhist Disciples and devout followers! You have committed such monstrous slaughter, yet you still dare to quibble here!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the Immortals of the Heavenly Court gasped.
“Hiss—”
“Over a hundred temples? Thousands of monks?”
“Oh my goodness… this kid has poked a hole in Western Niuhe Continent!”
“I originally thought the Western Religion was just making trouble for no reason, making a big deal out of nothing… it turns out they were truly slaughtered seven times in and out of their stronghold!”
“This karma from killing… it really is a bit heavy, isn’t it?”
“More than just a bit heavy, this is monstrous sin! It’s a miracle the Buddha didn’t just slap him to death on the spot; that truly shows his cultivation!”
The Immortals’ gazes towards Lu Fan changed.
This kid is truly amazing!
Pure Thought Bodhisattva snorted coldly.
“Lu Fan! Things have come to this; the cause and effect are clear to all fellow Immortals. Because of your personal vendetta, you implicated the innocent, massacred thousands of living beings, and your sins are profound, with ironclad evidence. Before you die, do you have any remorse?”
Upon hearing this, Lu Fan laughed heartily, looking up at the sky.
“Remorse? Why should I feel remorse?!”
He looked directly at Pure Thought Bodhisattva, with no fear in his eyes, only the calm after everything had burned away.
“I only regret that my cultivation was insufficient, that I couldn’t kill my way up to Spirit Mountain and overturn your Great Thunderclap Temple! I only regret that I didn’t kill enough, that I couldn’t send all you sanctimonious bald donkeys to Hell to see my parents!”
“I, Lu Fan, born between Heaven and Earth, live by my desires, and have no regrets in this life!”
“If you want to kill me, then kill me, why say more! I only wish for death!”
He closed his eyes, offering his neck for the blade. That resolute defiance shocked all the deities present.
Sun Wukong, who had words on the tip of his tongue, swallowed them back down.
He scratched his cheek. This time, it wasn’t out of impatience, but rather a tricky situation where he didn’t know where to start.
This kid…
He’s even more ruthless than Old Sun was back then.
Back then, when he wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he overturned Pill Furnaces, toppled palaces, and repelled a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers.
But in the end, it was all superficial damage; there wasn't a single named Immortal he actually killed.
Yet, this Lu Fan in front of him had genuinely carved out a sea of blood in Western Niuhe Continent.
Over a hundred temples, thousands of lives.
This karma from killing was so heavy it could break a person’s spine.
The most crucial thing was his attitude.
“No regrets in this life, only wish for death.”
There was no room for maneuver, not a single thought of begging for mercy.
This was a stubborn stone that even Heaven and Earth couldn't grind smooth.
The flicker of shared sympathy in Sun Wukong’s heart was doused by this resolute defiance, making him calm down.
He knew this matter would be difficult to handle.
“Brother Monkey,” Zhu Bajie had sidled over at some point, his small eyes filled with fear and difficulty, “This… this has really stirred up trouble. The karma from killing is too heavy, even the Buddha can’t suppress his anger. If we speak up, we’d be going against the entire Western Heaven, and then Old Pig’s vegetarian meals would all be withheld.”
He muttered about his vegetarian meals, but his gaze kept darting towards the Western Religion, having clearly understood the current situation.
This grudge was set in stone today.
Nezha, holding his Fire-tipped Spear, his Phoenix eyes filled with Battle Intent, snorted coldly: “What are you afraid of? He killed bald donkeys who were sheltering a murderer, not good people. If you ask me, he killed well!”
What he hated most was this kind of hypocritical pretense that blurred right and wrong, black and white.
Lu Fan’s actions, in his view, were the purest and most satisfying rage of a revenger.
Sun Wukong glanced at Nezha, then at the worried Zhu Bajie, and finally his gaze fell back on the upright figure in the center of the Execution Platform.
“Killing was satisfying, but his life will also be gone.”
“Let’s see how things go. If they really order the execution, the three of us will go together to plead for mercy. Having his cultivation crippled and being sent into Reincarnation is better than having his body and spirit annihilated.”
Annihilation of body and spirit was too tragic; there wouldn't even be a chance to start over.
Zhu Bajie nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: “Right, right, right, just save his life, just save his life.”
Although Nezha felt it wasn't satisfying enough, he also understood that this was the best outcome, so he nodded in agreement.
However…
“You want to die?” A cold smile appeared on Pure Thought Bodhisattva’s face. “It’s not that simple.”
“My Western Religion is benevolent, and the Heavenly Court enforces justice fairly and strictly. We are gathered here today to publicly try your sins, not to arbitrarily pin a crime on you.”
He turned to the King of Hell, his voice icy.
“King of Hell, continue playing!”
“I want all beings in the Three Realms to see clearly where this wicked creature, who constantly claims to be seeking revenge, learned these harmful and murderous Dao laws from, and from which evil demon or heretic!”
The King of Hell dared not delay. He injected his magic power with his fingertip, and the light on the Karma Water Mirror flowed again, the scene resuming.
In the light screen, the solitary young man stood up.
He didn't look back at the simple, isolated grave. He just turned around and walked step by step in the opposite direction from his hometown.
His steps were slow, yet extraordinarily firm.
From then on, he was the only one left in the world.