Chapter 564: Like a Dream, an Illusion, a Bubble, Wind Brushing Empty Blossoms, Like Clouds and Mist Scattered in the Wind

"It has indeed been a long time."

"Husband."

Tushan Meng looked at the old monk before her, the corner of her mouth curving into a soft smile, yet carrying within it a hatred, as though she wished to cut him into ten thousand pieces.

"It has indeed been a long time."

Yuankong looked at the woman before him, his expression calm.

"The benefactress has traveled a great distance, and must be tired. Would the benefactress like to come into the temple for a cup of warm tea? This old monk will do his best as a host."

Tushan Meng's fox eyes narrowed slightly, gazing at the old monk for a long while, and finally she gave a nod. "Since that is so, I will trouble you then."

"This way, benefactress." The old monk made a welcoming gesture and led Tushan Meng into the temple.

Tushan Meng walked into Four Void Temple, looking around her.

The monks throughout the temple all watched this beautiful demon woman warily, hostility filling their eyes.

Xu Jing held his broom, hiding timidly behind one of his fellow monks, peering out cautiously.

Tushan Meng glanced in Xu Jing's direction, catching his eye.

Xu Jing gave a violent shudder and shrank back behind his elder brother once more.

Before long, Abbot Yuankong had led Tushan Meng into the rear courtyard.

And above Four Void Temple, those thousands of demons hung like a drawn bow not yet released, as though war might break out against the temple at any moment.

In the guest courtyard of Four Void Temple, Tushan Meng sat on the stone bench.

Yuankong brewed a pot of tea, rolled up his sleeve, and with a steady, aged hand poured Tushan Meng a cup. "This tea leaf was grown by our Four Void Temple's own monks. It sells rather well in the nearby towns. If the benefactress would not mind, please try some."

Tushan Meng said nothing, raised the cup, and drained it in one go, then frowned. "Astringent and bitter. Husband still has no taste, just as he always did."

Hearing Tushan Meng's assessment, Yuankong only gave a faint smile and said nothing further.

Tushan Meng gave Yuankong a light glance, then changed the subject and asked, "That prized disciple of husband's, has he left?"

"I am not certain which one the benefactress is asking about." Yuankong replied, as though he knew nothing at all.

"Husband need not play dumb with me." Tushan Meng turned the rough teacup in her fingers, her tone carrying a faint smile. "Xiao Mo. Has he left?"

"He has." Yuankong gave a nod. "He left just a few days ago."

"What a genuine pity."

Tushan Meng let out a sigh, as though truly regretful on Xiao Mo's behalf.

"In his past life, Xiao Mo contributed a great deal to our Tushan. This time, we finally managed to find Xiao Mo's reincarnation, and wanted to bring him back to Tushan, to cultivate him properly."

"To let him enjoy an endless supply of natural treasures from now on, and we had even prepared a residence for his cultivation and a cultivation partner for him."

"Yet who could have imagined that by the time our Tushan came to invite him back, he had already left."

Listening to Tushan Meng's words, Yuankong only gave a light smile. "When the benefactress invited my disciple back, was that truly an invitation to enjoy good fortune? Was it not more likely that my disciple, upon returning, would have found himself without so much as a bone left within a few days?"

"And what if that were true?"

Tushan Meng had no wish to conceal anything.

"Going back with me would mean death for him. But how do you know that not going back with me would let him live well in the future either?"

Tushan Meng poured herself another cup of tea and drank again, as though the tea itself had opened up Tushan Meng's floodgates.

"These days, most people believe I, Tushan Meng, am ruthless and merciless. I have never denied it. But compared to you men, what am I really, Tushan Meng?"

Tushan Meng turned her head, gripping the cup in her hand tightly, as though the slightest bit more pressure would crush it entirely.

"Back then, I gave you my whole heart, believed in you with everything I had, became your cultivation partner, wanted to grow old with you together. And you?"

Tushan Meng's eyes reddened with blood.

"I never imagined your feelings for me were entirely false. Every word, every syllable you spoke to me as you approached, all of it was for the sake of winning my trust."

"You came into our Tushan on your family's orders, married me, all for the sake of serving as an inside agent, all for the sake of carving up our Tushan!"

"All that so-called 'growing old together,' 'until the seas run dry and stones crumble,' all of it was nonsense. That is what you men are!"

The teacup in Tushan Meng's hand shattered into dust in an instant, scattering from her palm.

"Not one of you men is any good!"

"Amitabha." Yuankong pressed his hands together, closed his eyes, and murmured the Buddha's name. "The fault back then lay entirely with me. I wronged the benefactress."

"Ha, and one 'I am sorry' fixes everything, does it?"

Tushan Meng gave a cold laugh.

"Do you know how utterly despairing it was for me, when I learned you had betrayed me?"

"Did you think that dying before me back then, letting me dig out your demon core, would somehow make up for everything you did?"

Yuankong remained silent, his eyes closed.

"Never mind. What is the use of telling you any of this?"

Tushan Meng rose to her feet.

"Though I do not know why, after your soul escaped, you seized the body of an old Jade Simplicity realm monk."

"Though I also do not know what purpose you have served, reciting sutras here day after day."

"But you must care a great deal about the ordinary people of these nearby villages and towns, do you not?"

At Tushan Meng's words, Yuankong opened his eyes and let out a quiet sigh. "Benefactress, every cause and consequence rests with me. Whether to kill me or cut me apart, this old monk accepts it all. But the people nearby are innocent. I ask the benefactress to spare them and not create needless bloodshed."

"Benefactress... bene... ha ha ha... benefactress."

Tushan Meng repeated the word "benefactress" from Yuankong's mouth again and again with a cold laugh.

In the next instant, a flash of sword light passed by Yuankong's side, and the stone table was instantly cut in two, collapsing toward either side with a crash.

Her voice was like a black blade cutting into stone, carving each word with force.

"My name is Tushan Meng! Not some worthless 'benefactress'!"

"Back then, your seven great sects killed countless people of my Tushan clan. Were they not people I cared for?"

"Now that you care so much about these common people, I will kill them for you to watch!"

Tushan Meng gripped the longsword in her hand tightly, a vicious light flashing through her fox eyes.

"And Xiao Mo in this lifetime was raised by you from childhood. You have the debt of raising him owed to you. He must care about you a great deal too, does he not? These common people come often to your Four Void Temple to burn incense and worship. Xiao Mo must have some feeling for them as well, does he not?"

"Tell me, if my demon kind destroyed your Four Void Temple and slaughtered these people entirely, how would Xiao Mo, being human, view the demon race?"

"And Jingci, being my Tushan's Holy Woman, what position would the two of them find themselves in?"

"..." Yuankong let out a heavy sigh. "Why must it come to this?"

"In this world, the most useless words are 'why must it come to this.'"

Tushan Meng gave a sweep of her hand and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

"Master."

Half an incense stick's time later, Xu Jing saw his own master emerge from the rear courtyard and ran up to him quickly.

"Master, what... what exactly is going on? Who was that lady just now? Master, have you offended someone?"

"You could say that."

Yuankong gave a nod, crouched down, and looked at his closing disciple.

"That lady just now, this master offended her a very, very long time ago, and now she has come to make trouble for me."

"Then, Master... what should we do?"

Xu Jing was so anxious he was nearly in tears, having not even reached ten years of age, never having witnessed anything of this scale.

"Xu Jing."

Yuankong reached out and gently touched his shaved head.

"In truth, the two things this master is proudest of in this entire life are taking you and your elder martial brother on as disciples."

"This master also knows that you have always taken your elder martial brother as your model, always thinking, when faced with a problem, 'What would elder martial brother do?' This is good, but it is not entirely good either."

"Going forward, when you face something, you should instead ask yourself, 'Just because elder martial brother did it this way, does that mean I must follow his example exactly?' You are you, not anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Master..." Tears welled in Xu Jing's eyes. "Why does it feel like you are giving your final words before passing away in meditation?"

"Ha ha, you little rascal."

Yuankong gave Xu Jing's head a helpless tap, half laughing half sighing, then rose to his feet and looked up at the sky, thick with demon presences.

He raised a hand and pointed in one direction.

"Xu Jing, from this day forward, no matter what happens, keep walking toward the southeast, toward a place called the Western Regions. There are many Buddhist temples there."

"There, perhaps, you may recite the sutras in peace."

"If one day you hear that your elder martial brother is about to do something unwise, you must persuade him, persuade him as much as you can."

"Do you understand?"

"Master."

Xu Jing wiped his tears and wanted to say more, but in the next instant, thousands of demons poured down, charging toward Four Void Temple.

"Go."

Yuankong gave a great sweep of his sleeve, and golden lotus flowers bloomed out of thin air.

Golden Buddhist lotuses spread for a hundred li.

The people of the villages and towns near Four Void Mountain all raised their heads, looking with puzzlement at these blooming lotuses.

In the next instant, these lotuses shattered suddenly, transforming into golden petals that settled onto every single person.

Before the ordinary people could even come to their senses, they had already transformed into streaks of golden light, flying off toward the southeast.

"For the sake of these ant-like mortals, you are willing to burn your own essence blood. Since when have you become so compassionate?"

Tushan Meng's voice rang out across the wilderness.

"Cut down every one of these ants! Do not let a single one escape!"

The moment Tushan Meng's words fell, thousands of demons tried to stop these streaks of golden light but the monks of Four Void Temple all leapt up together, fighting the demon cultivators to protect the fleeing people.

"Amitabha."

Yuankong pressed his hands together and murmured the Buddha's name.

A golden Buddha statue, taller than any mountain range, rose from the earth, its golden Buddhist light blazing like the sun, covering a hundred li.

"All of you, go too. Do not linger."

Yuankong transmitted his voice to his disciples.

"Master." All the monks looked at their abbot, their hearts full of reluctance.

"All of you, go." Yuankong said again. "Every cause and consequence rises with me, and falls with me as well."

With that, Yuankong swept his wide sleeve, and Buddhist light enveloped the monks as they scattered in all directions.

Yuankong closed his eyes, pressed his hands together, and sat cross-legged.

The mountain-tall golden Buddha statue also sat cross-legged in the sky.

Every time a monk or a common person at Four Void Temple suffered harm, that harm was instead borne by Yuankong.

In less than half an incense stick's time, blood flowed from the corner of Yuankong's mouth, and cracks began appearing across the golden Buddha statue yet the old monk remained utterly unmoved, like a mountain, reciting the sutras from his lips.

"The Buddha's land brings forth stems of five colors. In every flower, a world. In every leaf, a Tathagata."

"It is like a single lamp entering a dark room, a hundred thousand years of darkness can all be dispelled by it. The lamp of the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's bodhi mind is likewise so, entering the dark chamber of sentient beings' hearts, the countless unspeakable eons of afflictions, karma, and every manner of darkness and obstruction can all be dispelled."

"If one wishes to understand all the Buddhas of the three times, one should contemplate the nature of the Dharma realm, that all things are created by mind alone."

"The Buddha's land brings forth stems of five colors. In every flower, a world. In every leaf, a Tathagata. It is like a single lamp entering a dark room, a hundred thousand years of darkness can all be dispelled by it."

After the battle of the seven sects surrounding Tushan, a man's physical body had been destroyed, his demon core gone, only a remnant soul drifting aimlessly.

Not knowing where he had come to, his soul on the verge of dissolving, he heard, faintly, the sound of Buddhist chanting among the mountain forest.

He followed the sound of the chant.

In a dilapidated temple, the man found an old monk.

The man walked forward and sat before the old monk.

The old monk opened his eyes, looked at the man before him, and said with a smile, "Benefactor looks somewhat wretched."

"Ha, nothing more than what I deserve." The man gave a smile. "They say you human monks are compassionate by nature. My remnant soul is about to dissolve. Might the master have some sutra that could offer me deliverance?"

"There is such a thing." The old monk gave a nod. "But I see, benefactor, that you still carry some attachment?"

"You could say that."

The man let out a quiet sigh.

"I was sent by my parents' order to approach a woman, but I came to love her, and in the end, I betrayed her. I caused the deaths of too many people, and I killed too many as well."

"Though I know it is too late now, if it is possible, I want to atone."

"Anything else?" The old monk gave a faint smile.

"There is one more thing."

He still remembered that night, when the man had encountered the old monk whose lifespan was nearly at its end.

He still remembered that night, when that old monk, after passing away in meditation, had voluntarily opened all his spiritual channels and meridians, letting the man take over his body.

He still remembered that night, the last thing the man had said.

"There is one more thing."

"After a person dies, no one can say for certain what the next life will bring. I am afraid... of forgetting her."

Within Four Void Temple, he slowly opened his aged eyes, looked at the woman in the sky, and gave a gentle smile.

The moment the last streak of golden light disappeared into the distant horizon.

Yuankong finally closed his eyes.

"Everyone, stop!"

Tushan Meng suddenly shouted sharply at all the demons.

The demons attacking the golden Buddha statue all ceased their assault but in the next instant, that towering golden Buddha statue collapsed suddenly, transforming into countless points of golden light, scattering and drifting through the air.

Tushan Meng took a step forward, flying swiftly down from the sky.

"All the dharmas of this world are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, wind brushing empty blossoms, like clouds and mist scattered in the wind."

The old monk's face showed a kindly smile as he murmured the Buddha's name quietly.

"Amitabha."

Tushan Meng landed, ran quickly to the old monk's side, and reached out to grasp at him fiercely but he had already dissolved into scattered points of light, slipping quietly through her fingertips, impossible to hold, impossible to keep.

Within the empty temple, only the woman stood alone.

In her hands, there was nothing at all.