Killing Monks

"Why don't you believe?" The believer tilted his head.

The combination of childlike movements and a mature tone seemed particularly strange.

Guangyuan replied, "I believe what I see before my eyes."

Xin Chi smiled gently: "What you see before you may only be a partial view."

"People tend to subconsciously believe that the world they see and experience is the whole truth."

Guangyuan's expression remained unchanged: "Then I trust my judgment."

"Your judgment might be wrong too," Xin Chi shook his head.

His tone was gentle, as if he were instructing a stubborn junior: "People always unconsciously believe that their judgment is always right."

Guangyuan continued, "Therefore, I use my own eyes to see, and then I judge based on my own understanding."

"Even so, it doesn't necessarily bring us closer to the truth," Xin Chi sighed, with a hint of unfathomable pity.

"Isn't that closer to the truth than just believing whatever others say?" Guangyuan countered.

Upon hearing this, Xin Chi's ambiguous smile deepened as he stared at Guang Yuan:

"So, you don't believe what I, this old monk, am saying?"

"I trust my own judgment more," Guangyuan replied without the slightest hesitation.

"This mirror," Xinchi pointed to the octagonal bronze mirror floating beside him, "is one of the eight weapons of Buddhism, passed down for hundreds of years, carrying countless legends and Buddhist power. You don't believe it either?"

Guangyuan slowly shook his head, his attitude clear.

He saw only the mirror tempting people's hearts, confusing them, and causing them to kill each other.

Xin Chi looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Hundreds of years ago, the world was in chaos and divided, with constant warfare and countless lives lost."

"The karmic obstacles of sentient beings are heavy, and their inner demons grow and spread like weeds."

"At that time, countless practitioners, unable to understand the root of their own karma, eventually went astray, became mad, and wreaked havoc in their communities, adding even more bloodshed to the chaotic world."

"At that time, there was a Buddhist monk with great compassion who could not bear to see the common people sinking into the sea of ​​suffering and his fellow practitioners being misled into demonic possession."

"Therefore, after ten years of painstaking effort, collecting rare and precious materials and integrating supreme Buddhist teachings, this 'Mirror of Karma' was finally created."

"The power of this mirror lies in its ability to reflect the root of the karmic entanglements within the hearts of living beings."

"Through the mirror, we can guide sentient beings to face their own sins, generate the right thought of repentance, and thus correct their mistakes and do good."

"It can also help those practitioners who are just beginning to experience inner demons and are on the verge of going astray in their cultivation, to dispel the gloom in their hearts and awaken their clear minds."

"For a long time, it did indeed protect the region and soothe many chaotic minds, and was revered as the 'Buddha Jewel of Observing Karma'."

"It was even once enshrined in the royal temples of the previous dynasty, enjoying the incense offerings."

Upon hearing this, Guangyuan retorted, "So what?"

"Throughout my journey, I have not encountered any so-called great monks who are compassionate and merciful and save all living beings from suffering."

"On the contrary, we have seen quite a few 'high monks' who invent pretexts to force people to sell their land or themselves and become slaves for life."

He continued, "May I ask, Venerable Monk, what about those 'high-ranking Buddhist monks' you speak of who forge Buddhist weapons and protect the peace of the martial world...?"

"Back then, did he, or any of his disciples and followers, also engage in such 'meritorious' acts of forcing people to sell themselves into slavery?"

He was once just like Lu Fei.

Upon seeing a Living Buddha, one feels awe; upon hearing of a Divine Monk, one has unwavering faith; upon holding a Buddhist scripture, one feels that every word is a gem and a truth.

At that time, he believed whatever he saw, thinking that this was piety and the right path.

It wasn't until he stepped out of the temple gates on behalf of Jinjia Temple that he went to "collect merit debts" for the first time as a "warrior monk".

Until that quiet night, when he stood alone in the main hall and looked up, he truly "saw" for the first time that beneath the majestic Buddha statue's lotus pedestal were eight muscular strongmen struggling to lift it up...

At that moment, it felt as if something inside me had shattered.

He then realized that he was wrong.

It was a naive mistake, a laughable mistake.

Therefore, now, facing this legendary "ageless monk" and this renowned Buddhist weapon, the "Mirror of Mindfulness,"...

He felt no blind faith, only skepticism.

No matter how sacred the other party described the origin or how perfectly they explained the reasoning, in his eyes, the tragedy caused by this mirror in the canyon was the only fact!

It is a monster that drives dozens of people to madness and fight each other to the death!

"Is that really what you think?"

The last faint smile on Xin Chi's face, which seemed both old and young, vanished, replaced by a clear chill.

An invisible pressure suddenly emanated from his seemingly frail body, making the flow of the surrounding air seem somewhat sluggish.

The variegated dog that had been lying docilely at his feet stood up at that moment.

Its ears perked up alertly, a low growl escaped its throat, and its eyes looked at Guangyuan with a hint of wariness, as if it could pounce on Guangyuan at any moment!

The previously peaceful atmosphere of the conversation instantly plummeted to freezing point.

The mountain breeze carries the chill of winter.

Guangyuan remained calm as he faced the pressure.

Instead of retreating, he took a half-step forward without leaving a trace, perfectly shielding Lu Fei, who was still recovering from injuries and whose breathing was unsteady, behind him.

He met the believer's gaze and nodded:

"Yes."

Xin Chi stared intently at him, a dangerous glint seemingly flickering in the depths of his weathered eyes.

The air on the cliff seemed to freeze, even the wind stopped, leaving only the bronze mirror still slowly and silently rotating.

Lu Fei held his breath behind him, his palms slightly sweaty, almost anticipating the earth-shattering move that was about to happen.

But just as tensions were about to escalate and a fight was about to break out, Xin Chi suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a sneer, nor a mockery, but a sincere and gentle laugh.

The suffocating pressure and chill just now vanished without a trace, like mist in the sunlight, so quickly that one wondered if it was an illusion.

"Okay, okay, okay," he said three times.

He looked at Guangyuan again with sparkling eyes, as if admiring a piece of uncut jade.

"Meeting you, young monk, today is truly beyond this old monk's expectations. Wonderful! Wonderful!"

He then changed the subject, his tone becoming serious and seductive:

"So...would you like to become the old monk's successor?"

He reached out and gently brushed the octagonal bronze mirror floating beside him, its surface shimmering with light.

"How about inheriting this 'Mirror of Mindfulness,' and carrying on the mantle of this old monk?"

Lu Fei's eyes lit up. Becoming the disciple of the Immortal Monk and inheriting the Buddhist weapon—wasn't that an incredible opportunity?

Guangyuan simply saw Xinchi say, "I no longer want to be a monk."

He wore monk's robes not because he wanted to become a monk, but because the robes fit him well.

"My successor may not necessarily be a monk," Xinchi said.

"Then who is your successor?" Guangyuan asked again.