Chapter 685 - 548: He Has Quite a Few Female Confidantes
Chapter 685: Chapter 548: He Has Quite a Few Female Confidantes
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「Sikong Mountain.」
This mountain lay quietly, stretching across the western side of the Suanyu Kingdom.
A woman in a long dress walked alone through a village that had been desolate for countless years.
Beneath eaves entwined with withered vines, not a human voice could be heard, only the wind moaning as it passed through the crumbling walls.
The woman walked step by step toward the mountain peak. Her embroidered shoes stepped upon rubble and withered leaves, yet they remained unstained by even a speck of dust.
Though the venomous creatures nearby lacked any spiritual intelligence, the terrifying, suffocating pressure emanating from the woman still made them clearly feel a fear that arose from the depths of their bloodlines.
All the venomous creatures fled in panic, giving the woman a wide berth, not daring to offend her in the slightest.
Reaching the foot of a mountain peak covered in withered desolation, the woman stopped. She looked up, gazing silently at the bare mountain, then lifted a long leg from beneath her dress and slowly stepped onto the cracked stone stairs.
When the woman reached the summit, a dilapidated temple appeared before her.
She stood silently before the temple gate. A hint of reminiscence seemed to flash quietly through her picturesque eyes.
After a moment, she stepped into the temple.
The vermilion lacquer on the gate had long since peeled away, revealing the gray, mottled grain of the wood beneath.
When the wind blew, the crooked wooden gate creaked, like a terminally ill bird whimpering softly.
In the cracks between the temple’s green bricks, withered yellow weeds grew thick. The taller ones rose past her ankles, while the shorter ones spread out, clinging to the ground.
At the base of the walls, moss had formed a thick layer, so green it was almost black.
The woman passed through the dilapidated front courtyard and slowly entered the main hall.
A few sparse rays of sunlight leaked through the ruined roof, slanting in through the gaps between broken tiles and illuminating the dust motes floating in the air.
The offering table was covered in a full inch of dust. The woman extended a finger and gently traced a line through it, leaving a mark as clean and sharp as if carved by a knife.
She looked up.
The gold foil on the Buddha statue was tattered and incomplete, revealing the rough, grayish-black clay body beneath. The statue itself was covered in fine cracks, like a dry riverbed.
Yet the statue still held a flower with a smile, its head bowed and eyes lowered, gazing compassionately upon all living beings.
The woman, however, looked at the Buddha with undisguised mockery in her eyes.
"Amitabha Buddha..."
Before the statue, an old monk kneeling on the ground softly chanted the Buddha’s name, then slowly opened his eyes.
"Donor Tushan, it has been a long time." The monk’s voice was placid and calm.
"It has been several thousand years."
Tushan Jing Ci gave the monk a detached look, her tone betraying no emotion.
"When I came out of seclusion, I heard that your Western Regions were torn apart by a Cultivator from a Demon Sect. Forget the other Buddhist Temples, even your Kongnian Temple was nearly wiped out?"
"Indeed... that did happen."
Xujing scratched his head, a look of embarrassment on his face.
Even after so many years, Xujing still felt a flush of shame to think that the great Buddhist Sect of the Western Regions had nearly had its lineage severed by a single person.
"If my information is correct, the man who nearly wiped out your Kongnian Temple was named Xiao Mo?" Tushan Jing Ci pressed, her voice unconsciously turning a few degrees colder.
"That is correct..." Xujing fell silent for a moment before finally nodding.
"It was *him*?" Tushan Jing Ci said coldly, the chill in her eyes intensifying.
Who was the "him" Tushan Jing Ci spoke of?
The old monk knew.
The old monk sitting on the cattail cushion fell into a long silence.
After a long while, he finally nodded slowly, his voice deep and calm. "This humble monk is also unsure... It’s just that the Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect looks exactly like my Senior Brother."
"To be honest, if that Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect really is my Senior Brother, then it’s only right for me, his Junior Brother, to be bullied by him a little."
"It’s just that..."
Xujing’s voice softened, almost becoming a sigh.
"Even if he is my Senior Brother, he is ultimately no longer my Senior Brother."
"He used to be Xiao Mo, the Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect. Now... he is Xiao Mo, the Sovereign of Zhou."
And the moment Xujing’s words fell, an utterly terrifying pressure filled the entire temple.
"I don’t care how many times he reincarnates! His soul is Xiao Mo’s, so he will always be Xiao Mo!" Tushan Jing Ci’s voice was like shattering ice, and her undisguised killing intent pressed down on the dilapidated temple like a toppling mountain. "All these debts, I will make him repay them one by one... No matter how much time passes! It’s useless!"
Listening to Tushan Jing Ci’s words, Xujing slowly closed his eyes. He remained silent, merely fingering his Buddhist Beads, as if chanting sutras in his heart.
"I also heard that your little granddaughter is named Wangxin? That she’s had a lot of contact with him, and that the two of them have even developed feelings for each other?" Tushan Jing Ci asked finally.
Cold sweat broke out on Xujing’s forehead, but he quickly shook his head. "This humble monk doesn’t know the specifics. Only that Xiao Mo of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect saved Wangxin’s life back then, and he was even the one who personally brought Wangxin to Kongnian Temple. It would be normal for my disciple to develop feelings of admiration for Senior Brother, but Sen—... but Xiao Mo of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect... seems to only see Wangxin as a little sister."
"A little sister? Heh, he has quite a few female confidantes." Tushan Jing Ci sneered.
With that, the hem of her dress fluttered as she turned and left. She paused at the threshold and said coldly, "My Nine-tailed Country has taken the Suanyu Kingdom. Next, your Western Regions—my Demon Race’s World will take them too!"
"I summoned you here today, you bald ass, to give your Buddhist Sect of the Western Regions two choices."
"First, submit to my Demon Race’s World."
"Second..."
Tushan Jing Ci paused briefly, tilting her head to glance askance at Xujing. Then, she continued walking forward, but her voice drifted back coldly, echoing throughout the dilapidated hall.
"Die."
...
After Tushan Jing Ci left, a dead silence fell over the dilapidated temple. A spider crept quietly across its web, and it seemed as if even the sound of a falling leaf could be heard clearly.
The old monk, Xujing, slowly raised his head and gazed at the broken, incomplete Buddha statue before him.
A trance-like look seemed to fill the old monk’s eyes, and what might have been a low sigh dissipated into the wind.
In his daze, the ruined Buddhist Temple before the old monk’s eyes seemed to return to its former state: filled with a rich Buddha’s Rhyme, an endless stream of worshippers, with green-tiled roofs and clean, austere brickwork.
And in this Buddhist Temple, one not particularly famous but deeply trusted by the common people, there had once been a young monk.
This young monk was handsome, kind-hearted, and performed many good deeds. His attainments in the Buddhist Dharma were especially outstanding.
The common folk in the villages and towns below the mountain liked him.
The masters and martial-uncles in the temple liked him too.
And he, the junior brother, had always looked up to his senior brother as a role model, admiring and learning from his every word and deed.
Back then, the little junior brother often thought to himself.
’If Senior Brother ever became the Abbot of this Sikong Temple, I would do everything in my power to assist him, help him manage this temple well, so that its incense would burn forever and its blessings would extend far and wide.’
But one day...
Senior Brother took off his Monk’s Robe, changed into Daoist attire, and shouldered his travel pack.
"Senior Brother... A-Are you... not going to be a Monk anymore?"
His junior brother, only eight years old, looked up and asked with wide eyes, his voice full of confusion and unease.
"Mm... I suppose not." Senior Brother ruffled his junior brother’s smooth, shaved head and smiled gently, his tone as warm as ever. "Xujing, from now on, you must study the sutras and cultivate well. Take good care of Master. From now on, I’m leaving Sikong Temple to you."
"Why? Why aren’t you going to be a Monk anymore, Senior Brother? You’re so amazing, you could have become a Buddha one day..." The little junior brother’s eyes were red with distress, his voice on the verge of tears, as if he could break down crying at any moment.
"Why..."
The man, who was no longer a monk, just smiled faintly.
He didn’t answer.
He stood up.
He walked, step by step.
Farther and farther away.