You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Read the full text for free: Chapter 133, "Raging Slaughter, Bloodbath of the Buddhist Sect, and Flattening of the Holy Land of Compassion!" (Link: [link missing])

The following morning.

Inside the prefectural governor's mansion, Lu Zuo's face was grim: "How much was lost?"

Shen Luoyan's expression was grave: "Sir, five counties' reclamation areas have been attacked simultaneously."

"Those disciples who had returned to secular life were familiar with the terrain and the shift changes of guards, so they lured Buddhist masters from other counties to launch a surprise attack at night."

"Although we have followed the orders of our superiors and increased manpower, and have deployed troops in various reclamation areas, but..."

"The enemy has been planning this for a long time, they are numerous and fearless, we..."

"Three of the mechanical beasts, Dangkang, were destroyed, and five others were damaged and require major repairs."

"The number of soldiers stationed in various locations and the recently recruited experts from humble backgrounds who were killed or wounded... exceeds two thousand one hundred."

"What's even more infuriating is that many nearby residents stepped forward to stop them..."

"They were also brutally slaughtered; the exact number is still being tallied, but it is likely no less than several thousand."

Wei Hanjiang chimed in, "My lord, if you hadn't been so insightful and ordered us to prepare in advance, placing experts at key locations to oversee the defenses, the losses last night would have been far greater than these."

"Those thieving bald men have meticulously planned to launch a simultaneous attack throughout Nantong, completely destroying all the mechanical beasts and carrying out massacres to intimidate the people and shake the foundations of Nantong!"

Shen Luoyan nodded and said, "Fortunately, the Imperial Preceptor Zhu Yuyan and Madam Cai personally oversaw the two most important reclamation areas last night and killed several monks from other counties who were experts at the Third Realm."

"The more than twenty experts at the Innate Realm recently recruited by the lord were also dispatched to various places to provide reinforcements in time, which forcibly suppressed the unrest in various places and prevented it from causing a great disaster that swept through the entire prefecture."

"However, some former lay disciples who participated in the attack, as well as a few foreign Buddhist masters, are still causing trouble."

"The Imperial Advisor and Lady Cai have already gone there."

Bang!

Lu Zuo slammed his fist on the table in anger and stood up abruptly!

Son of a bitch!

Can't you just let me develop steadily and allow the people to enjoy a few good days?

At this moment, Shen Luoyan said, "The Sui Dynasty must be behind this!"

"After all, if the Great Chen Buddhist sect retaliates, it will only target you and us... not the mechanical beasts!"

"Sir, the enemy is in the open while we are in the dark, and we are severely understaffed."

"We need to find a way to resolve this matter completely."

Shen Luoyan's words hit the nail on the head.

Lu Zuo had previously guessed that the Sui Kingdom would definitely try to destroy the mechanical beasts, but he had already sent out all the people he could.

Even Madam Cai and Zhu Yuyan were sent by him to the fields to guard the mechanical beasts...

But the losses were still huge!

Even... tragic!

We're short-staffed...

What Lu Zuo lacks most right now is capable personnel!

Without people, no matter how much money, food, or mechanical beasts you have, they will all be destroyed by the enemy!

No matter how high one's cultivation level is, one is still unable to be in two places at once and cannot withstand their continuous destruction!

"To resolve this matter completely..."

Lu Zuo narrowed his eyes, a murderous glint flashing within them: "Luo Yan, you previously said that the monk Wangzheng from the Zhisheng Buddhist Temple went to Qingheng Dreamland, right?"

"Yes, sir."

Shen Luoyan nodded: "The monk Wangzheng and Venerable Qingheng have summoned eminent monks from all over the land to gather in Jurong County to discuss demanding something from you, sir... What are you doing, sir?"

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Zuo had already strode forward and left the lobby.

"I'll go and slaughter them!"

what?

Shen Luoyan and Wei Hanjiang were stunned and speechless.

Those were two cultivators at the Inner Heaven and Earth Opening Realm and countless Innate Realm cultivators...

"you?"

"You...where are you?"

When the two came to their senses, Lu Zuo was nowhere to be seen.

"quick!"

Shen Luoyan dashed out the gate, shouting as she ran, "I'll go inform the Imperial Advisor, you go tell Madam Cai!"

"Only they can stop the adults from coming back!"

……

More than an hour later, in the wilderness.

The soft sobs caught Lu Zuo's attention. He stopped walking briskly and looked in the direction of the sound.

Not far ahead, at the foot of a barren slope, several children were kneeling in front of a newly built earthen grave.

There was no tombstone in front of the grave, only a few stones piled up haphazardly.

The three children were all around ten years old, and the youngest looked only five or six. They were all wearing thin clothes that were patched and filthy.

They were kowtowing to the grave mound, and instead of the usual whimpering of young animals, came the sound of their cries.

A little girl, about seven or eight years old, was lying on the ground nearby.

Her left sleeve was hanging loose, and her severed arm was only hastily bandaged with a tattered cloth, but the bleeding couldn't be stopped at all!

Crimson blood continued to seep from the tattered cloth, dripping onto the nearby soil...

Her face was deathly pale, her eyes were closed, and her breath was so faint as to be barely audible. Only the very slight rise and fall of her chest indicated that she was still alive.

A slightly older boy kowtowed while murmuring in a hoarse voice, "Father, Mother."

"My sister is dying, what should we do?"

Another child said, "What else can we do?"

"I'll have no choice but to beg on the streets..."

"Those Buddhist monks and nuns said that this is our fate, that we were born with sin and don't deserve a good life!"

"My parents just wanted to live a good life, that's why..."

"That's why they've brought this terrible retribution upon themselves!"

"This...this is retribution. We are destined to be lowly, destined not to deserve a good life!"

"Go to hell!"

The older boy flew into a rage, pushed the other child aside, straddled him, and started punching him!

"My parents work from dawn till dusk, what crime have they committed?!"

"It's those bald monks!"

"It's those charlatan nuns who spout empty words of compassion!"

"They are the guilty ones!"

"Stop fighting, you two!" Another little girl, only five or six years old, knelt beside the girl with the missing arm and cried, "Third sister, third sister is about to die."

The two fighting children stopped at the same time and scrambled to the girl with the missing arm, but they could do nothing.

They didn't know what to do either.

All I could do was kneel there and watch...

"Brother, I was wrong..."

"I'll never believe those bald monks' nonsense again!"

The boy, his lip bleeding from the beating, grabbed his best friend, his third sister, and said in a deep voice, "I want to practice martial arts!"

"I'm going to kill those bald monks!"

"Kill those demon nuns!"

"I... I want to avenge Father, Mother... and Third Sister!"

Just then, a 'sizzling' sound rang in my ears.

The children looked over at the same time and saw a tall figure tearing at his clothes as he walked quickly towards them.

Bang bang bang...

While they were still stunned, Lu Zuo had already arrived in front of the girl with the severed arm. He moved his fingers swiftly and sealed several acupoints on her body, immediately slowing the bleeding from her severed arm.

Immediately, Lu Zuo used the strip of cloth he had just torn off to re-explode the girl with the severed arm, and then infused her with a trace of true energy.

"Who are you……"

The girl with the missing arm regained some consciousness and weakly asked Lu Zuo, "Who are you?"

"My name is Lu Zuo."

He replied in a deep voice, took out several gold ingots from his personal space, and handed them to the slightly older boy who was still staring blankly at him.

"Take the money and go to the nearby town to find a doctor for your sister."

"She lost a lot of blood, so she needs to eat something good after she wakes up."

"Once your sister recovers, come find me at the prefectural governor's residence."

After saying that, he straightened up and walked away into the distance.

"Lord Lu?"

"You are Lord Lu!"

After taking only a few steps, the older boy realized what was happening and kowtowed heavily to Lu Zuo's back.

Suddenly, he remembered something and shouted, "Lord Lu!"

"We...were not born guilty, were we?"

Lu Zuo stopped, slowly turned around, glanced at the children, and said in a deep voice.

"no!"

"Absolutely not!"

……

Jurong County, Qingheng Mountain.

The area is shrouded in mist and clouds, resembling a paradise on earth.

At the foot of the mountain stands a huge stone tablet that reads "Sacred Site of Compassion".

At the top of the mountain, the palaces stretch out in a magnificent manner. Each palace has thick beams and pillars, carved with lotus flowers, covered with glazed tiles, and hung with fine bronze wind chimes.

Inside the main hall, the floor is paved with black jade, so shiny it reflects light like a mirror, and the sound of footsteps is barely audible when walking on it.

Eighteen coiled dragon-shaped golden pillars, each requiring two people to encircle, support the high and wide dome. The pillars are inlaid with gold threads and gemstone powder, faintly shimmering with a warm and precious light.

The jade Buddha statue facing the temple gate is over three zhang tall, with a compassionate and peaceful face, and a huge bronze incense burner is placed in front of the statue.

The entire Diamond Sutra is engraved on the body of the incense burner, and wisps of blue smoke are rising from it. It is made of overseas ambergris and century-old agarwood.

The aroma is rich and lingering, not pungent, but refreshing and soothing, permeating the entire hall.

The surrounding walls are adorned with enormous murals depicting the Western Paradise and the Buddha preaching, inlaid with gold and silver threads and fragments of various gemstones. The murals shimmer with precious light and are extremely magnificent.

The entire hall was solemn and dignified, yet every detail silently revealed an astonishing level of wealth...

At this moment, a group of Buddhist masters from the Southern Chen Dynasty, including Master Wangzheng, Venerable Qingheng, Zen Master Jueming of Baoen Temple, Zen Master Yunhai of Wuxiang Temple, Abbess Jingli of Shuiyue Nunnery, and Abbess Tingxin of Lianyi Nunnery, gathered here.

"Amitabha......."

Master Wangzheng chanted a Buddhist prayer: "Just what is the cultivation level of Lu Zuo, the Prefect of Dongyang?"

"Previously, my personal disciple, Miaoyin, was defeated by him."

Venerable Qingheng said leisurely, "This humble nun guesses that this wicked creature should be between the completion of the Three Primal Elements and the opening of the inner world."

The creation of heaven and earth from within?

Zen Master Yunhai frowned: "This wicked child is only in his early twenties; he shouldn't have such cultivation."

"But regardless of whether one has created an inner world or not, in front of Master Wangzheng, he is nothing more than that."

Master Wangzheng smiled slightly: "What Zen Master Yunhai said is very true."

"By the way, before I went up the mountain, I issued a decree ordering the Buddhist disciples in Nantong who were forced to return to secular life to join forces with the eminent monks of the Zhisheng Buddhist Temple to destroy that bewitching mechanical monster."

"All the foolish people and henchmen who protect the demon can be sent down with lightning to help them pass on to a better life."

Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Immediately, Abbess Jingli of Shuiyue Nunnery laughed and said, "Brother Wangzheng's plan is excellent!"

"This method will show those foolish people who are misled by petty gains and abandon the Buddha's teachings what the end result will be if they follow the demonic path!"

"The Buddha's teachings are solemn and cannot be desecrated; a little blood is the sweet nectar that washes away sins."

Master Tingxin of Lianyi Nunnery clasped her hands together and chanted the Buddha's name: "Amitabha..."

"Those peasants, having acquired a few acres of land, have become arrogant and dare to question the authority of Buddhism and oppose the Dharma protectors. They are courting death."

"Brother Wangzheng's actions are a thunderous act that reveals the compassion of a Bodhisattva, cutting off their delusions and preventing them from going further down the evil path and falling into the cycle of reincarnation forever."

Zen Master Jueming also burst into laughter: "Excellent! That's delightful!"

"Brother Wangzheng has done a great service to our Buddhist community in this matter..."

Boom!

A thunderous roar erupted, and the palace doors shattered, sending splinters flying everywhere!

At the same time, a huge stone tablet inscribed with "Holy Land of Compassion" crashed into the hall with a strong wind, slamming into the Buddha statue inside!

Click...

boom!

The Buddha statue was snapped in half at the waist, its upper body exploding into countless fragments!