648 Committing Evil (1/2)
Shangguan Ru felt more and more that this wasn't something Lotus would do. Kidnapping and espionage weren't at all a part of the killer's style. Yes, the Waning Moon Hall was well-versed in all kinds of fantastic secret arts and knockout drugs, and they made full use of them to kill, sometimes even outdoing the Golden Roc Castle. But it was exactly because of this that they rarely wasted them on anything other than killing.
Shangguan Ru's impression of Lotus was that of a person with a bottom-line. Everyone said that the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were all crazy, but throughout all the tough times Shangguan Ru had spent with her in the Land of Fragrance, she hadn't found anything unusual.
In spite of the repeated betrayals she had suffered and the fact that those closest to her kept secrets from her, Shangguan Ru still persisted in trusting her own judgment.
But this was not the most urgent problem at hand.
There were already twenty or so monks who were on the verge of losing control, each acting as a catalyst for the others. Everyone had the same idea in mind: Why can't I do it if he can?
Most of the nuns on the other side were very old and therefore could still keep their composure, but there were two younger nuns whose hearts were beginning to beat faster and their bodies heating up. They couldn't help but look up at the monks near the door. Though they didn't get up, their eyes said everything implicitly.
But most of the monks were still focused on Xiao Fengchai. These people were disciples of the famous temples and had little contact with the mundane world. Just the word 'prostitute' was enough to make them blush and their hearts beat fast, not to mention the one in front of them who was a real courtesan and looked more gorgeous than the enchantress that occasionally entered their dreams.
Xiao Fengchai's face turned pale. Although she was a prostitute, she wasn't humble, and she was even more reserved than many high-born maidens. ”Tenth Gongzi, your kung fu is very good, isn't it?”
Shangguan Ru comforted her, saying, ”Don't worry. I won't let them lay a finger on you.”
Having said that, she was actually unsure about if she could keep her promise. If there were only one to two monks, or even three to four, she was sure she could handle it even if she had no internal energy left. But with so many people grouping up, it was hard to protect herself, let alone others.
The best course of action would have been to rush out of the tent as the courtyard had more room to maneuver, but the monks happened to have barricaded the door.
”Masters, it's time to get up and help.” Shangguan Ru could only ask the senior monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple for help. But she was taken aback at what she saw when she looked down.
Fayan was all right. Though his smile was a little stiff, he looked normal with his eyes closed, still meditating. Lianqing, however, was staring at Xiao Fengchai and Shangguan Ru with his eyes wide open and a posture of a hungry tiger, whose eyes roved over their bodies as he whispered to himself with a low voice, ”She's a prostitute, there's nothing I can't touch. This is not the Retention Alley, and there's no need to worry it about even if I don't have money…”
The monks looked at each other. When one person took a step forward, those next to him would take a step as well and half-like a multi-footed monster, the group slowly pressed forward towards the two women who were in the innermost of the room.
Perhaps feeling that Shangguan Ru was also trembling in fear, Xiao Fengchai knew that this 'Tenth Gongzi' might not be able to protect her, so she steeled her heart and stood out in front of Shangguan Ru instead. She held her head high and asked, ”Who's in charge here?”
Xiao Fengchai, who had just arrived, hadn't exchanged much more than a few cursory words with Shangguan Ru and didn't know what was going on, so she thought that as long as there was someone in charge here she could subdue him.
No one answered her question. The monks were engaged in a fierce struggle. Like normal people, they had to find a suitable excuse before breaking their precepts and doing evil. The servant monk of Kumie straightened his justifications first, and he pointed to Xiao Fengchai and loudly said, ”She's a whore, a demon that has come to bewitch the world, and we are going to subdue the demon.”
”Subdue the demon, subdue the demon…” The other monks echoed and shuffled forward a little.
”If even the Buddha was seduced by the enchantress, then how can we persist? We don't have the Buddha's composure, and we are thus forced to break the precept.”
”We are forced, forced…” The monks were eager to try, leaving only a thin layer of obstacles in their hearts.
”Women are all demons!” Nobody knew who yelled this out, but it was the signal for the monks to rush up in a crowd, falling over one another. Only Lianqing who was sitting besides the two had a favorable position, and therefore wasn't affected. He jumped to his feet, shouting, ”That's what prostitutes do!” Then he stretched out his arms though he tried to grab both Xiao Fengchai and Shangguan Ru at the same time.
”Amitabha!” A thunderous chant rang out, which rumbled in everyone's ears. The crowd tottered and almost fell. Lianqing's kung fu, however, was very good and therefore, he was hurt the most, falling to the ground and fainting after a short yelp.
Shangguan Ru and Xiao Fengchai supported each other and therefore were the ones who stood the firmest in the tent.
Fayan's smile wilted, and he began reciting a sutra that all the monks and nuns were unfamiliar with. Its pronunciation was strange and the tone equally dull, but it had the power to directly reach a person's heart. It was like thunder, successive and endless, and also like the ocean, wave upon wave, reaching for the sky.
The monks had never heard of the scripture but Shangguan Ru was very familiar with it. It was precisely the Essay of Severing Obsession that she had learned from Master Lianhua and recited every day. But Fayan's pronunciation of it was very different from what she had heard before and the effect was also quite different. She could only use it to remove her murderous heart but the old skinny monk could influence others with it, and he could also remove more than just killing desire.