Chapter 112 The Underwater Palace (1/2)
Suddenly, the monk put his palms together and chanted Buddha's name again. A faint golden sheen began to screen his entire body, as if a golden Buddha had descended to earth. This was quickly accompanied by incessant tolls. The golden sheen shielded his body, forming a massive, translucent golden bell.
Xiao Chen heaved a sigh of relief. This was the supreme art of the Buddhist sects, the Golden Bell Shield. At the same time, he was quietly astounded. This monk looked only a little older than himself, yet his cultivation was so profound. He must be in the middle stages of the Sarira Realm.
Buddhist Sects also had their own realms. The Sarira Realm was equivalent to the Core Forming Realm. After that came the Golden Body Realm, the Inner Demon Realm, the All Shining Realm, the Imperishable Realm... they corresponded to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Nirvana Realm, the Apotheosis Realm, and the Grand Completion Realm.
More than 200 people realized that they could do nothing to the monk. Their attention turned to the lad who had turned up from nowhere. One bellowed, ”Another stinking lad from nowhere! Are you the one who have hidden the magic treasures?”
Xiao Chen thought that these men had long been butchering one another. He could not be bothered to answer them. Suddenly, a flying sword came hacking at him. He condensed True Qi on his fingertips and deflected the sword away, shouting angrily, ”Are you serious about fighting? Very well, I shall kill you all!” He mobilized the True Energy inside his body forcefully. Wild gales began to soar all around.
Luo Shangyan saw his gaze turned red and his face full of murderous intent. She had never seen him so horrifying before. She pulled at his sleeve immediately and asked, ”Junior Brother Xiao! What has happened to you?”
Xiao Chen waved his arm and pushed her away. He proclaimed in a deep voice, ”I shall kill them all!”
”Amitabha... ” The monk shook his head. ”Almsgiver, you have been infected by the Demonic Flower... ” Then, he made a seal. A golden light streaked down from heaven and surged into Xiao Chen's Tianling acupoint.
This was the Buddhist art of Sobering Enlightenment. Xiao Chen finally recovered somewhat. He shook his head and wondered why a fierce intent to kill had surfaced in his heart. He glanced at the enormous flower beside himself and said in a deep voice, ”So that's why!” He hacked his sword at it and severed its stem. Where he hacked, red juice resembling blood flowed out.
When he saw that Xiao Chen was all right, the monk continued to talk the men out from fighting. ”Did you see that, sirs? There are only Demonic Flowers here which urge you to kill, not magic treasures. Please don't fight anymore, sirs.”
A small fraction of the people had recovered, but the majority were still deluded. They all yelled, ”Bald ass! It must have been you conspiring with that lad to trick us! Hand the magic treasures over and we will spare your lives!”
In an instant, the fighting resumed. Countless flying swords were released into the air. They were about to descend on this side. The monk gave a look of despair and suddenly roared like a lion. Crests of matchless sound waves surged out. The 100-odd men covered their ears in agony. ”Damn! It's that Lion's Roar again! What can you monks from the Wuyin Monastery do but roar?”
When the roar had faded away, the rest slumped to the ground. The monk suddenly sat down cross-legged and started to expound Buddhist lore with great patience. Dozens were already terribly vexed. One shouted, ”Enough, enough! I've heard this story about the monk feeding his flesh to the eagle 180 times! Are you done? Fine, we'll quit fighting!”
The monk stood up and started to beam. ”Verily, verily, you almsgivers have finally understood Buddha's pains that day... ” The people realized that he was about to lecture again. They cried out in unison, ”Enough, enough, we have understood! Amitabha, the Buddha is all merciful and compassionate... ”
The monk was overjoyed. ”Good, good. Why don't I tell you another story? Once... ” The crowd began to shout together, ”Stop, stop! We know! Once, the Buddha met a person on a bridge... ”
The monk kept nodding and smiled. ”Good, good... ”
The people finally put away their weapons. However, no one had discovered that the blood which had seeped into the earth was streaming underground toward Wuwang Wind Cloud City slowly.
After the 200-odd company had all departed, Xiao Chen walked to the monk and put his palms together. ”How should I address you, Reverend?”
The monk said, ”My dharma name is Xu Gu... ” Then, he fixed his eyes on Xiao Chen for a long time. Finally, he sighed. ”You have a heavy air of aggression about you, sir. I'm afraid your inner demon has overpowered you for too long. No wonder that Demonic Flower could infect you so easily... ”
Xiao Chen was alarmed. It was true that ever since he had read the Devil Book, he had suffered from a mania for blood. He had unconsciously moved away from the teachings of his Master Ling Yin, who advocated compassion for all living beings.
”Please point me a way out, Reverend.”
”Amitabha... ” Xu Gu sighed and said, ”Sir, your Inner Demon has been with you for too long. I'm afraid you cannot exorcise it at once. Why don't you follow me back to the Wuyin Monastery, where there will be Buddhist lectures that can release you from suffering... ”
Before he had finished, Luo Shangyan had walked over and stood between them. She snapped. ”You are blabbering nonsense, monk! How can my Junior Brother Xiao have an inner demon?”
Xiao Chen whispered, ”Senior Sister Luo, don't be rude to the Reverend.” Xu Gu asked, ”What is your surname, sir?” Xiao Chen answered, ”My name is Xiao Chen. Where are you going, Your Reverend?”
Xu Gu put his palms together and shook his head, sighing. ”The world is obsessed with greed everywhere. Naturally, I have to talk these people out from killing. More than 1,000 must have died here. Are you here for the non-existent magic treasures as well, Mr. Xiao? Listen to my advice. There are no magic treasures here. Don't believe in hearsay... ”