Chapter 391: Doubt

After Lu Yang followed True Person Dangmo out on a streak of flight light, he soon saw the bustling crowd gathered outside the Yushu Jiange's mountain gate.

At their head stood an old man.

His face was covered in wrinkles, his figure hunched, yet he wore a monk's robe and held a string of prayer beads, standing silently in the center of the crowd.

"A Buddhist cultivator?"

Lu Yang felt a slight stir in his heart but quickly shook his head, seeing through the old man's true nature; he knew the man had merely cultivated a few Buddhist arts and chanted a few sutras without receiving the Pure Land's acknowledgment. Such independent cultivators were numerous throughout the world, but they were entirely different from true Buddhist cultivators.

"But his courage exceeds that of a true Buddhist cultivator."

Looking at the old man and the crowd behind him, Lu Yang couldn't help but sigh inwardly: What are a group of background-less independent cultivators trying to do by gathering before the Yushu Jiange's mountain gate?

They've rebelled!

"No, that's not right; they might not lack backing after all."

Under normal circumstances, these people's voices wouldn't even reach True Person Dangmo's ears; there must be a mastermind behind the scenes setting up this trap!

"True Person Que Xie and the Great Disciple Guangming? They moved so fast?"

Lu Yang suddenly understood: the independent cultivators causing trouble at the Yushu Jiange's mountain gate wasn't because the Yushu Jiange respected them, but because someone within the Yushu Jiange needed this great chaos!

However, this was only bullying True Person Dangmo; as the number one sword cultivator under heaven, facing a group of independent cultivators, he actually came out of the mountain gate personally to welcome them. If this happened in the Holy Sect, these people would have evaporated on the spot, their souls sent to refine magic power secret realms to add bricks and tiles to the Holy Sect disciples' cultivation.

"Shi Yuan... you are old."

True Person Dangmo descended on his streak of flight light before the old man, frowned slightly upon seeing his monk's robe attire, and then sighed:

"It seems the aftereffects from back then are still severe."

"You have once again conceived the thought of joining the Pure Land?"

As his words fell, True Person Dangmo extended his hand, seemingly wanting to pat the old man's shoulder, but the next second, his expression froze abruptly on his face.

Because the old man stepped back.

True Person Dangmo's hand remained frozen in mid-air, his eyes meeting the old man's angry gaze, while a questioning voice suddenly rang in his ears:

"Ye Guangji!"

The old man's body trembled, seeming fearful, seeming cowardly, yet he resolutely raised his head and actually spoke out, directly calling True Person Dangmo by his personal name.

"I ask you! Was that drop of Buddha Blood that fell into Jimo City back then because of your battle with a Pure Land Great Virtue? You beheaded that Great Virtue of the Pure Land but deliberately let the Buddha Blood fall into my Jimo City, using it as an excuse to slaughter all the residents of my city! Is that the truth of back then!?"

The old man's words were like thunder issuing from the mountains.

Lu Yang stood beside True Person Dangmo but saw the crowd of followers behind the old man also turn to look at them, their gazes filled with interrogation and doubt.

However, Lu Yang felt nothing upon seeing this.

After all, aside from Jimo City being merely an independent cultivator faction, there was only Mo Shi Yuan, the old man, a Foundation Establishment True Person, and the rest were just a group of Qi Condensation cultivators.

They aren't even people; why bother taking them to heart?

Lu Yang remained unmoved on his side, but True Person Dangmo's expression changed; he exhaled a deep breath of turbid air, his face showing helplessness:

"What happened back then was not done by me; there were other hidden circumstances."

As his words fell, True Person Dangmo sighed and said, "My great battle with the Pure Land's Guanzhen, though I beheaded him and cut off his form, was actually not an easy matter."

It was still the same saying: he was not a True Lord.

The limit of the number one Foundation Establishment was beheading the Great Disciple with three sword strikes; three strikes was a process, indicating that both sides still had room to exchange blows and fight with magic power.

But if it were a Jin Dan True Lord, would it be so?

Unless the World Venerable himself descended, otherwise a mere Great Disciple, no matter how miraculous, would be crushed with one hand!

True Person Dangmo could not do this; he still needed three strikes, so there were always some things he could not control, such as a drop of Buddha Blood from the Pure Land's Guanzhen.

"The incident at Jimo City was indeed caused by that drop of Buddha Blood; it contained the Pure Land's evil arts, the chanting of salvation, which infected everyone who heard or saw it, turning them into Buddhist cultivators. If it had not been stopped then, Jimo City and even the surrounding regions could have become a small Pure Land."

If she had succeeded, then even if she died, the Pure Land's goal would have been achieved.

Furthermore, the Pure Land and the various True Lords had already reached an agreement, so the True Lords of the Yushu Jiange did not intervene.

It was even good for True Person Dangmo, because afterward it could be completely packaged as Buddhist cultivators causing trouble, and he killed them to avenge the dead.

However, True Person Dangmo was unwilling. He did not come to avenge the dead.

He came to save people.

So, with one man and one sword, he beheaded the entire population of Jimo City, cutting off the influence of the Pure Land they had received and allowing them to regain their sanity.

Speaking to this point, True Person Dangmo showed a look of confusion:

"I explained this matter to you back then, Shi Yuan; your relatives and friends did not die. Didn't you come to visit them and catch up a few years ago?"

"They didn't die?"

Upon hearing this, the old man's eyes instantly turned red: "You deceived me! If you have the ability, open your storage bag and show everyone!"

Hearing this, True Person Dangmo nodded calmly, then removed his storage bag, untied the opening, and instantly, the sounds of people like mountains and seas poured out from within the storage bag. Countless heads inside were divided into countless circles, communicating with each other, their expressions joyful, completely devoid of deathly aura or sorrow.

However, the more so it was, the more eerie it became.

Lu Yang had seen this many times and still felt his scalp go a bit numb; let alone the independent cultivators behind the old man, who were instantly terrified and stepped back one by one.

"Everyone, look!"

"Do you think these are living people?"

The old man's eyes bulged as if his eyelids would tear, and he spoke in a deep voice: "People without hearts must die. These are people whose necks and everything below are gone; can such people still call themselves living people?"

"How are they not living people?" True Person Dangmo looked confused, waved his hand, and directly brought out the crowd from Jimo City whom he had beheaded in the past: "A few years ago you still communicated with them; they do not have Foundation Establishment, yet with my magic power protecting them, so many years have passed and their appearance remains unchanged..."

"You lie!"

The old man directly interrupted True Person Dangmo and shouted hoarsely: "I received guidance from the Great Virtue long ago; these people are neither alive nor dead; they are already like your puppets!"

"Named saving people, actually enslaving them."

"All those killed by you, seemingly not dead, are actually suffering a punishment more terrifying than death, forever acting as a tiger's deputy under your control!"

Lu Yang: "..."

Speaking to the end, the old man was so angry he stomped his feet straight: "Moreover, the Pure Land is the foremost place of goodness; where do we need your saving? If you had not done this unnecessary thing, today I might already be cultivating Buddhism in the Pure Land, becoming a Buddha or Ancestor, enjoying eternal supreme bliss, but now I am still suffering in this red dust!"

"You have cut off our common people's great path to seek the Buddha, and now you seek to take our lives as well."

"What 'no killing'? You are clearly seeking fame and reputation!"

Seeking fame and reputation!

As the old man's words fell, everyone behind him shouted out.

To Lu Yang, this sound was like a gentle breeze brushing his face, not worth mentioning; yet to the ears of the True Person Who Sweeps Away Demons, it made him unable to help but sigh deeply.

This sigh was not because of the old man and Jimo City.

As the number one sword cultivator in the world, the True Person Who Sweeps Away Demons had a good personality and was approachable; however, this did not mean he was a weakling.

The accusations that Lu Yang himself did not care about.

Although he would care, he would not be shaken because of this.

'Shi Yuan is not someone with access to sensitive information; to know about my storage bag, to know these things... I fear it was not an outsider, but someone within the Yushu Jiange who told him.'

This corroborated Lu Yang's report just now from the side.

This was the reason for his sigh.

'Are they so impatient?'

'Do they so desperately want me to sacrifice the sword intent I have cultivated for a lifetime?'

(End of this chapter)