607 Beneath the Cloud, over the Ground (2/2)

He could calculate there were more than 1,000 monks in the temple, as well as over 100,000 people living in the wild plain according to the view he saw. These swarthy and shabbily dressed farmers provided the necessary living supplies to the temple and suffered due to the heavy labor.

Since the temple was built, the farmers had been living and working at the bottom of the sinkhole. They worked hard in the damp and dark underground day by day to support the temple. Ning Que believed that even the most religious believers could not stand an endless torment like this. The monks in the temple must have a special ability to enslave them like animals. In this sense, the farmers were more like serfs, a practice long abolished in the Central Plains.

Many images emerged in his head at this moment: the slaves who were pierced on the scapula after they tried to escape, the atheists who were massacred in the field, innumerable poor mortals knelt in front of the mountain, and the monks' extravagant life... He put the telescope down, frowned his brow and watched the temple in the cloud.

Sangsang lifted the curtain and became shocked when she saw the view.

Ning Que passed her the telescope and said, ”Take a look. It's the legendary Xuankong Temple.

If he was the savior, Ning Que would climb down the cliffs and secretly revolt with the farmers to overthrow the malformed Xuankong Temple, or he would dive into the temple to search for the treasures they accumulated for so many years.

However, he was not. After observing the Xuankong Temple for a while, he drove the carriage toward the opposite direction without any hesitation.

The treasure was good but he might not survive this. If he was the old Mr. Thirteen before he went to the Lanke Temple, he would seize the opportunity to travel around the temple because even if they seized him, they would not dare to kill him. However, he was with Sangsang at present and they hardly found a place to rest in the whole world, let alone the Buddhism Holy Land, a place that badly wanted her dead.

The black carriage quietly sneaked away. After a while, they deviated a little from the spot they showed up, by the bodhi tree.

Ning Que watched it through the window and said, ”It should be the place where the Buddha died.”

Looking at the tree whose trunk was gray and leaves were futon-like, Sangsang thought it was amazing that a lonely tree could be alive in the Wilderness during such a winter. She became more surprised when she knew it was the tree where the Buddha died.

Ning Que smiled and said, ”You are as good as the Buddha now, so you don't have to be awed of it.”

They had no time to discuss that, or they didn't want to after they left the Lanke Temple, but they could not keep silent about it forever.

Sangsang whispered after a long silence, ”Am I really going to ruin the world?”

Ning Que thought of the Xuankong Temple and the cruel truth that he was suspecting. Then he said, ”I don't know and I don't care. But if the world is like that, it doesn't matter if it's ruined.”