Over twenty streaks of golden light sailed through the air, stopping above the Chain mountains.
The religious preceptor of the left gazed down at the rising and falling mountains. His eyes narrowed as his gaze passed through the Eight Gates Formation of Golden Locks, locking onto the three words “Qing Xiao’s Home.”
He asked, “Dauntless, is this the buddha nemesis and the wretched daemon’s dwelling?”
The Dauntless monk said, “Religious preceptor, I’m not sure. It might be!”
“Fellows, please lend me a hand!”
The religious preceptor of the left raised the wooden fish mallet slowly, and the Monk Kings all brought their palms together, uttering the buddha’s name.
Tremendous amounts of golden light gathered on the religious preceptor of the left, condensing on the wooden fish mallet. It was even brighter than the sun.
As buddhist cultivators, they came from different sects, but they were still closely-connected to one another. This alone ensured that their teamwork would be far greater than the same number of regular great cultivators working together. On top of that, they had a powerful cultivator that stood at the very peak of the world like the religious preceptor of the left. He was someone who could utilise this terrifying power with ease. Even if Xiao An were in her best condition, she would struggle to take this on openly, let alone the fact that she was heavily injured now.
“Amitābha!”
Only when the religious preceptor of the left had gathered sufficient power did he strike down with his mallet.
At that moment, it was like a sun had fallen into the mountains. Wherever the light reached, the mountain forest was set alight. It was a hundred times more powerful than his sneak attack on Xiao An.
The Eight Gates Formation of Golden Locks were torn apart like a thin piece of paper. The sun fell on the mountains, and the words “Qing Xiao’s Home” melted away in the golden light.
Boom!
Golden light illuminated the world. Over a dozen mountains in the surroundings vapourised instantly as countless mountains collapsed. The entire Chain mountains were reduced to a mess, raging away with fire.
The golden light dispersed, and the sky turned back to blue.
Qing Xiao’s dwelling had vanished from the world already, without a single trace left.
Perhaps there had always been nothing in the world that could not be destroyed, whether it was a mountain or a memory. It would always gradually grow faint in the flow of time until it never seemed to exist in the first place.
So why cling to home?
“Religious preceptor, the buddha nemesis doesn’t seem to be here.”
“Amitābha. In my opinion, no matter where the buddha nemesis has gone to heal herself, it wouldn’t be here.”
The Monk Kings discussed among themselves. They all revered the religious preceptor of the left, but they were still of the same cultivation. Buddhism also placed emphasis on equality, so it was not enough for them to stay quiet.
The religious preceptor of the left’s face was completely sunken. He had gone to such great lengths, yet he still found nothing, so he also felt a little embarrassed. Then he gazed at the burning Chain mountains. Countless birds and beasts had perished in the flames just like that. There even seemed to be a few households.
He let out a great sigh. “Sigh, so be it. The buddha nemesis is vicious and crafty. She truly is a mortal enemy of buddhism. We’ve failed to kill her today, which will definitely lead to great suffering. We can only make another move another day. It’s just a pity that all the living creatures in the mountain have met such a fate, dragged down by the buddha nemesis for nothing. Dauntless, you stay here and recite the Sutra of the Fundamental Vows of the Bodhisattva K?itigarbha, the K?itigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapra?idhāna Sūtra, to expiate their souls!”
“Religious preceptor, my junior brother…”
“Don’t forget about your identity!” The religious preceptor of the left warned solemnly.
The Dauntless monk knew the religious preceptor of the left was currently in a horrible mood. Mentioning the Unraging monk right now would only infuriate him. He did not have a temperament great enough to suck up to him either, and he was in an extremely bad mood too. As such, he simply stood to one side silently with a cold expression.
“Hmph!”
The religious preceptor of the left snorted coldly and stormed off. The other Monk Kings followed close behind.
He glanced back at the burning Chain mountains again. So much for being the abbot of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, this Dauntless is so unaware of his status and the bigger picture. Sure enough, the school of chan is almost a school of heresy. However, we’ve managed to deal a heavy blow to the buddha nemesis this time. She probably won’t come out and make any more trouble. Once we complete that great deed, it’s not like it’ll be too late to deal with her then.
The Dauntless monk gazed at the burning mountains with a frown. He did not recite any K?itigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapra?idhāna Sūtra, directly returning to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga.
……
A while ago.
The sharp claws pierced Qian Rongzhi’s cheeks, only to suddenly stop and slowly pull back.
Qian Rongzhi opened her eyes. Through the cracks between the jagged, white bones, she saw Xiao An with her eyes open, looking at her with her clear eyes, which made her tremble inside. She smiled, but it also made her feel a little wry for some reason.
“Pain leaves people with clarity, right?”
Xiao An raised her hand and gazed at the four tooth marks from the snakebite on her wrist. She nodded seriously.
With a wave of her hand, the Skeleton Demons turned back into prayer beads and returned to her wrist, except they were very sparse now.
With another wave of her hand, the huge, white bones on the ground turned back into Samādhi Flames of White Bone, which she sucked into her body through her mouth.
Inspecting her body internally, her white bones were covered in cracks. Her wounds could not recover that easily, but at the very least, it seemed much better on the surface.
She reached into the Blood Sea Banner and grabbed the Immortal Relinquished sword by its hilt before grabbing Qian Rongzhi’s hand and venturing deep underground.
Rock and soil flashed past rapidly. Qian Rongzhi felt a multitude of emotions as she gazed at her back. She felt like something had filled her up inside, yet it was also empty.
At this moment, a great rumble reached underground. The ground shook.
Xiao An stopped and raised her head as if she saw the destruction of the Qing Xiao dwelling. She balled her fists.
A while later, she lowered her head. “Thank you.”
“Are… your wounds fine?”
Qian Rongzhi seemed to have lost her usual silken tongue. Sometimes, sincerity was even more difficult than lying.
Xiao An shook her head gently and sat down on a rock. Her face was still devoid of any emotions, but she seemed both weary and lonely.
Qian Rongzhi immediately became rather flustered, unsure about what to say. She gave it some thought and sat down on the ground beside her. Suddenly, she brought her hand before her, and a green vine sprouted from her palm. Its powerful tendrils reached deep into space, off to a place unknown.
Xiao An’s gaze was drawn away by the wondrous plant as well. She asked, “Did you obtain this from Chu Tian?”
Qian Rongzhi smiled. “You still remember Chu Tian.”
“He’s still alive. He’s called Lin Xuan now.”
Xiao An’s calm voice was like a bolt from the blue to Qian Rongzhi. She murmured, “I see, I see… Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Qingshan didn’t want me to.”
Xiao An pursed her lips, displaying such a human expression for once.
As a result, Qian Rongzhi was completely unable to blame her for hiding this from her in the past. “Alright then. Why did you tell me now then?”
She did not think she had a concept of gratitude. Even if she did, she probably would not betray Li Qingshan’s wishes over something so small.
“I want to do some things that Qingshan doesn’t want me to do.” Xiao An was rather gloomy. She looked at the ground. “I don’t know if he’ll forgive me.”
“This is all for him?”
“Yeah.”
“Then he’ll definitely forgive you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Thank you. I’m going to go.” Xiao An sounded a little more grateful. “What about you?”
“I want to stay here for a while longer.”
“Alright.”
Xiao An left, leaving Qian Rongzhi there alone, murmuring to herself, “Chu Tian, Lin Xuan, Chu Tian, Lin Xuan…”
The corner of her lips curled into a smile. The smile gradually grew wider as she let out a chuckle. Then it turned into shrill laughter, continuing until it turned into maniacal laughter.
Snakes danced madly around her, savouring this pain to her heart’s content as they swallowed her.
