Chapter 711 - 564: Like a Dream, an Illusion, a Bubble, a Shadow
Chapter 711: Chapter 564: Like a Dream, an Illusion, a Bubble, a Shadow
"It certainly has been a long time."
"Husband..."
Tushan Meng looked at the old monk before her. The corners of her lips curled up slightly into a gentle smile, yet it was laced with a hatred so intense it was as if she wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.
"It has indeed been a long time."
Yuan Kong gazed at the woman before him, his expression calm as he spoke.
"Benefactress, you have come a long way and must be tired. Would you care to enter the temple for a cup of warm tea? This old monk must fulfill his duties as a host."
Tushan Meng’s fox-like eyes narrowed slightly. She stared intently at the old monk for a long moment before nodding. "If that’s the case, then I’ll impose."
"Benefactress, please."
The old monk made a welcoming gesture and led Tushan Meng into the monastery.
Tushan Meng walked into Sikong Temple, her eyes scanning left and right.
The monks in the monastery all watched the beautiful woman from the Demon Race warily, their eyes filled with hostility.
Xujing, meanwhile, clutched a broom and hid timidly behind one of his senior brothers, peeking his head out cautiously.
Tushan Meng glanced in Xujing’s direction, her eyes meeting his.
Xujing shuddered violently and ducked back behind his senior brother.
Before long, Abbot Yuan Kong had led Tushan Meng into the rear courtyard.
High above Sikong Temple, tens of thousands of members of the Demon Race hovered like a drawn bow, ready to be loosed. It seemed as if war could break out with Sikong Temple at any moment.
In the courtyard where Sikong Temple received its guests, Tushan Meng sat on a stone stool.
Yuan Kong brewed a pot of tea. He rolled up his sleeve, and with a steady, aged arm, poured a cup for Tushan Meng. "These tea leaves were personally grown by the monks of Sikong Temple. They sell quite well in the nearby towns. If you don’t find it beneath you, Benefactress, please have a taste."
Without a word, Tushan Meng raised the cup and drained it in one gulp. She frowned. "Bitter and astringent. Husband, you’re just as you’ve always been—utterly devoid of taste."
Hearing Tushan Meng’s assessment, Yuan Kong simply smiled faintly and said nothing more.
Tushan Meng gave Yuan Kong a cool glance, then changed the subject. "Your prized disciple, has he left?"
"I wonder which one the benefactress is asking about?" Yuan Kong replied, feigning ignorance.
"Husband, don’t play dumb with me." Tushan Meng’s fingertips toyed with the coarse teacup, a faint smile in her voice. "Xiao Mo. Has he left?"
"He has." Yuan Kong nodded. "He just left a few days ago."
"That’s a real shame."
Tushan Meng sighed, as if she truly felt it was a pity for Xiao Mo.
"In his past life, Xiao Mo made many contributions to my Tushan. This time, we went through great trouble to find his reincarnation. We wanted to bring him back to Tushan to nurture him properly."
"We would have given him endless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. We even prepared a cultivation estate and a Dao companion for him."
"But to our surprise, by the time we of Tushan came to invite him back, he was already gone."
Hearing Tushan Meng’s words, Yuan Kong just gave a faint smile. "Benefactress, when you say you wanted to invite my disciple back, was it truly to let him enjoy a life of fortune? I’m afraid if my disciple had gone back with you, his bones would be all that was left within a few days, if that."
"And what if that were the case?"
Tushan Meng had no intention of hiding it.
"He dies if he goes back with me, but how do you know he’ll live a long and healthy life even if he doesn’t?"
Tushan Meng poured herself another cup of tea and took another sip. It was as if the tea were liquor, loosening her tongue.
"Most people in the world today think that I, Tushan Meng, am cruel, ruthless, and utterly heartless. I’ve never denied it. But compared to you men, what do my actions even amount to?"
Tushan Meng turned her head, her grip tightening on the teacup in her hand. It seemed as if the slightest bit more pressure would shatter it into dust.
"Back then, I gave you my heart. I trusted you completely. I became your Dao companion, wanting to grow old with you. But you?"
Tushan Meng’s eyes were bloodshot.
"I never imagined that your feelings for me were all fake! Your getting close to me, every single word you ever said to me—it was all to win my trust!"
"You entered my Tushan on your family’s orders and married me, only to act as a spy from within! It was all just to carve up my Tushan for yourselves!"
"All that so-called ’growing old together’ and ’till the seas run dry and the rocks crumble’—it was all bullshit! That’s what you men are like!"
The teacup in Tushan Meng’s hand instantly turned to dust, scattering from her palm.
"You men... not a single one of you is any good!"
"Amitabha Buddha..." Yuan Kong pressed his palms together, closed his eyes, and recited the Buddha’s name. "The fault at that time was all mine. I was the one who wronged you, Benefactress."
"Hehehe... And you think a simple ’I was wrong’ is enough?"
Tushan Meng sneered.
"Do you have any idea how much despair I felt when I learned you had betrayed me?"
"Did you think that dying before my eyes back then, letting me dig out your Demon Pill, would be enough to atone for everything you did?"
"..." Yuan Kong kept his eyes closed and did not answer.
"Forget it. What’s the point of telling you all this?"
Tushan Meng stood up.
"I don’t know why you chose to possess the body of an old monk at the Jade Realm after your Divine Soul escaped."
"And I don’t know what you hope to achieve by chanting sutras and reciting Buddhist scriptures here every day!"
"But you care a great deal about the ordinary people in these nearby villages and towns, don’t you?"
As Tushan Meng’s words fell, Yuan Kong opened his eyes and sighed softly. "Benefactress, all karma lies with me. Whether you want to kill me or torture me, this old monk will accept it all. But the people nearby are innocent. I implore you, Benefactress, to be merciful and not commit a needless slaughter."
"Benefactress... Benefactress... Hehehe... Benefactress..."