A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Looking at the extremely malicious smile of the old dog in the formation, Faming felt a sudden unease rise in his Zen mind, which he had cultivated for hundreds of years.

It was as if he had overlooked something of paramount importance.

But he quickly suppressed this strange feeling.

Impossible. How could an old dog shake the foundation of Jinshan Temple?

That's enough.

Faming's voice regained its cold authority, completely dispelling the unease.

"I don't have time to argue with you and engage in these pointless verbal battles."

He took a step forward, and a faint Buddhist light rose around him. The Demon-Locking Array sensed his aura, and its radiance shone brightly. Countless fine Sanskrit characters flowed on the light wall, emitting a deep hum, and the sense of oppression increased.

Faming's gaze, like two tangible golden swords, pierced the old dog in the formation.

"Where is my Bodhisattva status?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable demand and a hint of anger.

"Bodhisattva attainment?"

Dog seemed to pause for a moment, then exclaimed "Oh!" as if suddenly realizing something, and slapped its tail on the ground.

"Look at my memory! So, Senior Brother, your esteemed presence here isn't for catching up, but for that half-full fruition?"

He cracked his neck, making a soft "crack" sound, and a ridiculously smug, suddenly enlightened expression appeared on his dark face.

"You should have said so earlier! You should have just said so earlier! Why go through all this trouble, asking about freedom and talking about fate? It made me think you really missed me."

Dog slowly turned around, positioning his backside towards Faming outside the formation.

Then, under Faming's increasingly somber gaze—

He slightly parted his hind legs, lowered his waist, and stuck out his buttocks.

"Pfft—whoosh..."

A steaming, stinking, and suspiciously colored pile of dog poop was slowly and gracefully placed on the smooth ground of the Demon-Locking Array.

The stench instantly filled the forbidden area, creating a grotesque contrast with the solemn Buddhist light and dignified atmosphere around it.

After Doggy finished pooping, he even let out a comfortable sigh and wiggled his butt.

Then, he turned his head and looked at Faming, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, whose body was surrounded by violently fluctuating Buddhist light, as if he was about to go berserk at any moment. His eyes were filled with pure and undisguised malice.

He grinned, his voice light and cheerful, even carrying a hint of genuine "helpfulness":

"Here you are, Senior Brother, the Bodhisattva status you requested..."

Dog Grandpa stretched out his paw and touched the freshly made, still slightly steaming pile of dog poop on the ground.

"Go inside and search carefully."

"Who knows..."

"You actually managed to find it?"

The steaming hot stuff was still emitting a odor.

The trace of compassion and profundity on Faming's face shattered instantly.

His lips were tightly pressed together, and a golden light flashed in his eyes; he no longer possessed any semblance of his dignified and solemn appearance.

"You wicked creature! How dare you commit such blasphemy!"

The sound was like a thunderclap, causing dust to fall from the stone walls of the forbidden area.

Without another word, he raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and the golden light of the swastika Buddhist seal on his palm shone brightly. Through the light barrier of the Demon-Locking Array, an overwhelming force blasted in!

Dog Lord never intended to dodge—

There's no escaping it.

The golden light condensed into a giant hand, which slammed solidly onto his spine!

"Snap!"

A sharp crack echoed, making one's teeth ache. Dog's massive body was slammed hard onto the ground, its black fur flying everywhere.

He groaned, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but his grin still lingered.

"Heh heh... Is that all the strength you've got? Senior Brother, it's been decades, are you feeling weak? Have you been lying on some nun's body too much? You've gotten a bit frail?"

Faming remained expressionless, his five fingers loosely clenched, and he pressed down!

"Pfft!"

The glossy black dog skin on Dog Lord's back was torn open in the middle like a rag!

There was no blood dripping from the skin; what was exposed beneath the skin was not bright red flesh, but a constantly writhing, dizzying shadow.

"Sizzle—!"

With a few more swift movements, the black dog skin that had been with him for decades was torn to shreds by Faming's Buddhist power, hanging on his body in a sorry state.

But Dog was still laughing, laughing so hard his whole body was shaking.

From the torn flesh on his back, shadows wriggled, and pale, wet eyes suddenly popped out, darting around and staring intently at Faming outside the formation.

In each eye was reflected Faming's face, slightly distorted with shock and anger, his gaze filled with pure, undisguised malice and mockery.

"Crack, crack..."

From the broken spine, a chilling sound, as if the bones were being reshaped, came from the spot.

Several pale, oddly shaped bone spurs protruded from under the skin, their tips cracked with tiny fissures.

The openings and closing emitted a cacophony of soft, overlapping, and chaotic murmurs, the sounds high-pitched and sticky, drilling straight into one's brain:

"Greedy...for incense offerings...wanting more..."

"Anger... that inner demon dares to usurp my position..."

"Foolish...I will surely attain the Bodhisattva stage..."

"Wait... those lay monks, do they even deserve to be ranked with me..."

"I wonder...did Master hold something back then...?"

"..."

That's not Dog's voice at all!

Those were countless whispers, each carrying the timbre of Faming's voice, yet filled with all sorts of dark emotions—his deepest, most hidden evil thoughts and flaws that he never wanted to show to anyone!

"you--!"

Faming's pupils contracted sharply, and his face turned deathly pale.

Without a second thought, he was struck as if by lightning and suddenly retreated backward!

In a single step, he retreated to the stone steps at the entrance of the forbidden area, so fast that he was just a blur!

Even though he retreated quickly, a faint, invisible, and intangible whisper, filled with filth and malice, still followed the contact between the Buddha's power and Dog Master's body, like a maggot clinging to a bone, and burrowed into his mind.

A fine layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

"Hehehe... Hahahaha!"

Inside the Demon-Locking Array, Dog Lord laughed so hard he almost fell over. The mouths on the bone spurs opened and closed even more joyfully, and the babbling became increasingly noisy and jarring.

"What's wrong, Senior Brother? Why are you running?"

Dog Master tilted his head, which still barely retained its dog shape, and the countless eyes on his body moved with his movements, all looking at Faming with a mocking expression.

"Listen to this, listen carefully! How lively it is! Greed, anger, ignorance, pride, doubt... it's all there, and it's quite pungent!"

"These are all things you keep to yourself, things you've kept hidden away, things you're afraid others will find out! What are you afraid of? Are you ashamed?"

"I'm not afraid."

"Over the years, I've endured each day listening to these sounds. Only by listening to them can I fall asleep, and only then can I remember who I am, where I came from, and who I should settle accounts with. Oh dear..."

He sighed dramatically, and all his eyes narrowed as if he were savoring some unparalleled delicacy.

"Who would have thought? The dignified and respectable Master Faming of Jinshan Temple, who receives offerings from thousands of people, harbors a heart more filthy than maggots writhing in a latrine!"

"Shut up!"

Faming forced out three words through gritted teeth, his face turning red and blue.

It wasn't anger, but the evil thought that had seeped into his body that, like a spark, ignited something deep within him!

An invisible yet intensely hot fire suddenly ignited from the depths of his internal organs! It did not harm his flesh and blood, but burned his soul and scorched his Buddha-heart!

"Well…!"

Faming let out a muffled groan, and his skin instantly turned bright red, like a red-hot iron, with faint white steam rising from his pores!

A strange smell of burnt flesh actually emanated from his body!

He dared not be negligent in the slightest, and immediately sat down cross-legged, formed a mudra with his hands, focused his eyes on his nose, and silently recited the Heart Sutra.

His body radiated a brilliant Buddhist light, attempting to suppress and extinguish the fire that originated from himself but was maliciously ignited!

Upon seeing this, Dog was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand something and burst into an even more unrestrained and vicious laugh!

"Hahaha! I get it! I get it!"

He laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face, and the mouths on his bone spurs opened to their maximum size, emitting sharp whistles.

"No wonder! No wonder you were in such a hurry, like a dog that's caught the smell of meat, personally running all the way to Jinghai to catch me! Turns out you were stuck on a hurdle!"

Dog's voice trembled with extreme excitement, carrying the ecstatic joy of revealing a shocking secret.

"You're almost there! Hehehe... You're about to face the first calamity of the Three Calamities, the Fiery Karmic Fire, aren't you?"

"But you lack that half of a Bodhisattva's attainment, your merits are insufficient, and your Buddha-heart is flawed! Without subduing this inner demon within me, without thoroughly cleansing this filthy thing of mine, how can you expect to achieve a so-called pure Buddha-heart..."

He drew out his words, each one like a poisoned nail, striking hard against Faming's trembling mind.

"You'll never get over this first calamity in your life!"

"Just wait, senior brother."

Dog's voice softened, but it sent a chill down people's spines even further than before.

"The karmic fire burns your body, starting from your internal organs, drying up your blood, scorching your flesh, melting your bones, and finally even your relics will be burned into a stinking pile of mud."

"You will die a horrible, slow, and painful death."

"You will watch yourself turn into charcoal, inside and out, little by little."

"hey-hey……"

Dog closed his eyes contentedly.

"These are the two things I love to see most in all my years of life."

"Firstly, it's because I want to see my brat get frustrated and angry."

"And also..."

Dog Lord reopened his eyes, and together with the thousands of eyes on his body, they radiated pure malice.

The malice, like boiling asphalt, was poured unabashedly onto Faming, who was struggling to resist the burning internal fire.

"Go to hell."

"Burned to death by karmic fire, struck by heavenly lightning, hacked to death by a hail of blades..."

"I don't care how I die."

"I, Doggy, love watching them all."

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die..."

Inside the Demon-Locking Array, Dog Lord's broken body lay there, countless eyes blinking and countless mouths opening and closing.

With the purest malice and pleasure, they watched as the high and mighty Bodhisattva outside the formation was slowly tormented by his own karmic fire.