Chapter 356: Worshiping Buddha and Taking Refuge

Unknowingly, Du En had already left the main tunnel and arrived at the various branch tunnels that scattered in all directions.

Although they appeared disorganized, uneven in height, and lacked any pattern, there were times when, not wanting to use his divine sense at will, he even had to stop and listen to the communication of the local camp people, or reveal himself to ask questions, in order to find and confirm the path that detoured to the west.

However, Du En could still perceive that these underground tunnels were actually interconnected as a whole, forming a vast tunnel network resembling a chaotic spider web that surrounded the central camp and the four main tunnels, constructing a territory of no small size.

Thus, after spending another day, when he successfully finished cultivating his Daoist techniques, he officially left the southern region that the people here spoke of and arrived in the western region.

The underground tunnels, the underground camps, and the various underground sceneries had not changed in the slightest, but the overall atmosphere of the people was subtly shifting in a gradual manner.

Du En immediately sensed the clues.

"Relatively speaking, the people in the south are quite peaceful, while here, they are... restless and uneasy?"

This was quite unimaginable.

The locals he had encountered before—to put it nicely, were peaceful; to put it bluntly, were brainwashed by devout faith. Even though their living conditions were arduous, they were generally like a pool of stagnant water; seemingly bubbling and boiling, they had actually long since cooled, and their hearts were completely bound and fixed.

It was a very normal phenomenon, a direction and trend that would inevitably appear when centering around the Queguang Sect and centering around that Spirit Mother, regarding her as the sole savior.

"But here, it is..."

While lost in thought, Du En slowed his pace and focused his attention on scouting.

He went in and out of various camps, listening and acting.

"Has the Spirit Mother not yet granted us her grace?"

"Is there no end to this suffering?"

"Why? I have clearly been so devout!"

"Is this life already destined?"

"Can I obtain liberation in the next life?"

As the movement continued, people's words and people's emotions gradually began to shift in their tendencies.

Finally, a term that could not be ignored reached Du En's ears.

"Buddha!"

It was as if stepping into another world; as the underground residents dared to discuss this openly, everything changed, and the overall state shifted abruptly.

A completely different kind of fanaticism began to rush toward him!

"The affairs of this life are already destined!"

"It is karma! The karma of past lives forges the fruit of this life; this is our karmic retribution!"

"The radiance of the Spirit Mother cannot illuminate the next life; the only thing that can save us is to purify the karma of this life!"

"Buddha! Only Buddha is the savior!"

"Quick! Let's go! Go and pay homage to take refuge in that Buddha, go and cross our sea of suffering!"

"The Reincarnation Pure Light Buddha is the true savior!"

As Du En arrived near the periphery of the western main tunnel, the fanatical, converted crowds were already dragging their families along, leaving their original settlements, and gathering to head further west, beginning their pilgrimage of taking refuge.

Unless they obtained the permission of the Queguang Sect, leaving one's settlement at will would be viewed as being a fugitive, resulting in the loss of all rights, and being killed at will would not even be considered a crime.

This sect used this to firmly enclose and solidify its rule and domination, but now, as the devout faith in their hearts changed, more and more people were choosing to break away from their original shackles and chains.

They gathered together, calling themselves those who take refuge and worship Buddha, no longer believing in the Spirit Mother, turning instead to believe in the next life and worshiping that newborn sect, the Pure Light Sect's Reincarnation Pure Light Buddha.

Which was the "Buddha" they spoke of.

Du En quietly mingled among them, continuing to listen to the conversations of these people who were taking refuge and worshiping Buddha.

Finally, he learned the core philosophy of this Pure Light Sect.

The doctrine of the Queguang Sect was actually quite easy to understand: offer devotion, obtain pity, and receive the grace of spirit paste and spirit fire, which allowed people to live better in this underground world.

But the doctrine promoted by this Pure Light Sect made Du En frown slightly.

It held that the suffering of this life was the karmic retribution of past lives, and also the ticket to the blessings of the next life; only by exhausting suffering in this life could one obtain a happy and fulfilling next life.

"The most critical point is, where are the sect members?"

Du En had already followed them for a stretch of the road, and the number of people converging from all directions was increasing; they silently pressed their palms together, walking in the dark tunnel, but he could not see a single person who was truly a member of the Pure Light Sect.

Everything he saw was people taking refuge and worshiping Buddha! Within this situation, a feeling of horror faintly permeated.

Especially since Du En had used his Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze several times and had not seen anything suspicious or strange, which only highlighted the oddity of it all.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—suddenly, from the east side of the western main tunnel, a rumbling, galloping sound came.

It was as if a cavalry unit was charging over, invisibly shattering the original atmosphere of the people taking refuge and worshiping Buddha, and a panic began to spread from the tail end.

"It's the Fallen Soldiers of Queguang!"

"It's the Yakshas of hell!"

"It's the evil ghosts of the human world!"

"They are trying to stop our refuge, fellow travelers, follow me, ah!!!"

Before the words of the person waving their arms could finish, they abruptly turned into a scream.

Du En did not need to turn his head to know that the Holy Crusade soldiers of the Queguang Sect—those wearing third-tier heavy armor, like canned goods, completely manufactured killing weapons—had already arrived and begun a massacre! The galloping cavalry sound from just now was the noise made by their marching steps.

At this moment, they swung the third-tier heavy swords in their hands that were the size of door planks; there was no spiritual light, no manifestation, only the most plain and simple, only naked violence!

One sword slash, and a human body was split in two, with blood and internal organs spilling all over the ground.

One sword sweep was even more horrifying, directly turning people into a pool of meat paste.

They had no emotions, only silently charging into the crowd; in an instant, heads were rolling and minced meat was everywhere, composing twisted, rampant wails and screams in this dark underground tunnel.

"Sure enough, the suppression has come..."

Du En, who was in the midst of the chaos and had not yet seen the front of the crowd far in the back, was the only one who already knew the situation, yet he did not feel surprised.

After all, the Queguang Sect was a tightly organized, clearly hierarchical sect whose style of conduct was entirely evil; regarding the collective flight and conversion to a different sect by the people under their jurisdiction, it went without saying that there would inevitably be the most cruel and bloody suppression and slaughter!

And these people taking refuge and worshiping Buddha were basically all unarmed, and few possessed sufficient combat power; encountering those killing weapons that could rival the Golden Core stage, they naturally collapsed into a rout in the blink of an eye, suffering heavy casualties on the spot.

"However, these methods are truly quite monotonous."

The Holy Crusade Army of the Queguang Sect had no other tricks; they simply charged and smashed, swinging their heavy swords to carve a bloody path through the crowd.

They charged in in an endless stream, and the fastest and foremost had already broken through to the middle of the group.

"It's the lackeys of Queguang!"

"Ah! Damn you! You reject the light, why must you stop us?!"

"You who willingly degenerate, ah!!!"

Words and pleas were completely unable to stop the other side's slaughter; the soldiers were utterly unmoved, simply stepping forward to continue their charge.

Faced with this situation, the converts to the Buddha finally collapsed. "Run! Run!"

"Hurry and escape from these bloodless, fleshless light-devouring beasts!"

"Escape further west, escape to the seat of the Buddha!"

Amidst the various chaotic noises, the converts to the Buddha scattered and fled, diving into any crack they found and running into any hole they encountered, scattering like birds and beasts in an instant.

Faced with this situation, the soldiers of the Holy Crusade Army naturally would not let even one go; they immediately dispersed as well, launching the most merciless slaughter and pursuit.

"There are thousands of soldiers coming here. If the influence of that so-called Pure Light Buddha has already spread to the west of the entire central camp, then there must be more than just these people who have converted to the Buddha; a conservative estimate would be hundreds of thousands..."

To suppress and slaughter these converts who had turned their hearts and minds away from the sect in such a short time, even calculating with a reduction of several dozen times, at least ten thousand soldiers would be needed.

But Du En had been to the base camp of the Queguang Sect, and judging by the garrison strength there, there was clearly a significant shortage of troops.

"So, that is why they were rapidly creating new soldiers before, and why they pulled over the troops that should have been suppressing the Blood Demon."

The ravages of the Blood Demon were merely a minor skin irritation, but this scourge of the Pure Light Sect was the true threat at the elbow!

According to conventional logic, the Queguang Sect was not wrong to have this reasoning.

Before Du En arrived, or rather, before the changes here occurred, perhaps things were truly unfolding according to the structural framework of this place.

However, it was clear that True Monarch Huiqing was now pushing for these changes to happen—perhaps it was the transformation of the Spirit Mother, or something else—in any case, now that Du En had arrived, everything needed to be examined from a different perspective.

The sudden outbreak of the Pure Light Sect's scourge, the immediate mobilization of troops to suppress it—it didn't happen sooner or later, but happened to launch this suppression just as he was infiltrating!

"Are they thinking of making me take action, or are they trying to make me step into some other trap?"

Linking this to that Sect Leader Luo Heng, who was suspected of appearing in the south earlier and watching Du En's actions from afar, it was even more necessary to be cautiously suspicious of these things.

Of course, these were actually not the reasons why Du En was unmoved.

The only reason he did not take action and sat by watching the suppression was simply that he did not want to.

Yes, he felt there was no need to take action.

Simply put, it was about respecting the choices of others.

Since these people decided to turn away from the Queguang Sect and convert to the Buddha, then so be it; the people of that so-called Pure Light Sect hadn't even shown their faces to provide rescue, so there was no need for an outsider like him to intervene.

However, it was not that he didn't take action at all.

Those ignorant young children who were dragged along by their elders would be secretly intercepted and sent away if they were about to meet disaster.

So, he did take action after all.

And...

Amidst the chaos, Du En took a step forward.

In a pit ahead, a young man holding a hunting knife had jumped in because he was running blindly; after discovering there was no way out, he turned his head and saw a heavy-armored soldier, stained with blood as if draped in a cloak of flesh and blood, blocking his path of retreat.

"Damn it!"

The young man Chang Lingfeng widened his eyes, gritted his teeth, and the veins in his hands bulged as strands of Dharma power surged within them, his body emitting a faint Dharma light.

He let out a roar and lunged with his knife.

Whoosh! The soldier swung his heavy sword with cold, mechanical precision, bringing a gust of wind that could scrape flesh; Chang Lingfeng was so terrified he immediately recoiled, feeling death sweep past him, and when he looked again, the hunting knife in his hand had been smashed to pieces.

Alas!

It's over!

He was filled with despair, yet he still gritted his teeth, subconsciously wanting to find a way to survive, but no matter how he looked at it, it was a dead end...

Bang! Just as Chang Lingfeng thought he would fight to the death, a loud thud suddenly rang out.

He saw an incredible scene.

The Holy Crusade Army soldier, who had been as terrifying as a god or demon just a moment ago, was slammed directly into the cave wall as if he were being swatted like a ball; he couldn't even be pried out, and only blood oozed from his shattered armor, flowing across the ground in the blink of an eye—it was clear he was not going to survive.

Chang Lingfeng was stunned.

Du En walked closer and revealed himself.

"You! You, you, you!"

Chang Lingfeng came to his senses, gripped his knife handle in terror, and slammed backward against the bottom of the pit, appearing hysterical and terrified as he shouted: "I, Chang Lingfeng, have lived clearly and died brightly; I don't need you lot to save me, don't think about making me convert!"

It was clear he had misunderstood Du En's identity.

But that was normal; at this time, the only ones who would attack the Holy Crusade Army soldiers of the Queguang Sect seemed to be the Pure Light Sect, which worshipped the Buddha.

"I am not from the Pure Light Sect."

Du En spoke to clarify, stating the facts in a calm tone that was invisibly convincing, causing Chang Lingfeng's emotions to begin to recover; soon, he also found some corroboration from Du En's appearance and attire.

"Really not?"

"Not."

"Then I truly thank you for your help, Excellency. I have nothing on me right now, and I fear I cannot repay you."

"It's fine, I'm not looking for that."

Du En had only taken action because he saw a normal person.

Chang Lingfeng could also see his directness, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Um, I dare to ask, could you please lend me a hand?"

He was in such desperate straits that he had to be thick-skinned enough to ask his savior this.

Du En could naturally see that a normal person who had infiltrated the ranks of the converts to the Buddha must have had their own reasons.

Perhaps it was a trap, who could say.

He thought for a moment, then spoke: "It's noisy here, not a place for talking; let's walk and talk."

"Right, right, right, soldiers have died, the commanding priest will likely arrive soon, we need to run quickly!"

Clearly, Chang Lingfeng had misunderstood again, but Du En did not clarify the misunderstanding, simply turning to walk, taking the other person along, and leaving this place.

In Chang Lingfeng's view, it was as if he truly possessed foreknowledge, for after wandering about, in no time at all, they had arrived in a narrow tunnel that was clean, with neither those who had converted to Buddhism nor any soldiers of the Holy Teaching Army.

Although narrow, it could be walked through continuously, continuing to head toward the west.

Judging that the direction was correct, Chang Lingfeng set aside what he had originally intended to say, planning to reorganize his thoughts before speaking again.

Just at this moment.

"Wah! Wah! Wah!"

The sound of a baby crying rang out, causing Du En to stop his pace and making Chang Lingfeng shift his gaze in surprise, finally discovering a small stone statue that was pitch-black on the outside and completely blended into the tunnel, which was not illuminated by any firelight.

(End of this chapter)