Chapter 21: A Sword Heart Unchanged

Three hundred li away stands a Cold Mist Mountain, and atop the mountain sits an unnamed temple.

The common folk of the surrounding ten villages and eight townships all know that within the temple resides a Great Master Ku'e, who specializes in saving all sentient beings.

Those who seek children conceive within the same month; those who seek wealth receive gold and silver by midnight; even those who seek success in the exams can at least become a Xiucai.

Such divine wonders have made this nameless small temple's incense burning flourish, with each day as bustling as a market fair.

The believers all wish to ask this Great Master Ku'e to bestow some fortune upon them, so that they may live good lives.

Great Master Ku'e, with compassion in his heart, receives devout believers every day to solve their troubles and ease their worries.

Yet today is somewhat different; the believers who had prepared to rush to the temple before dawn to burn the first incense were all blocked outside. An invisible layer of Jin Guang barred the crowd, and no one could enter the temple gate.

The crowd merely assumed Great Master Ku'e was manifesting his divinity, so they knelt outside the temple and bowed repeatedly, but even after bowing, they refused to leave, hoping that when the Jin Guang dispersed, they would still be the first to rush into the temple and let Great Master Ku'e witness their devotion.

Inside the temple, Great Master Ku'e sat within the main hall. Beneath the Buddha statue, this Gao Seng clasped his hands and chanted scriptures, while behind him stood a woman in a goose-yellow long robe, none other than Su Chunyi.

Chasing the fugitive for three hundred li without rest, and searching bitterly through half the night, she had finally arrived at this place.

The sword intent pointed directly at this Ku'e Monk before her, yet Su Chunyi did not strike immediately; right and wrong must always be questioned clearly. The Qinghe Sword Sect's rules are strict, absolutely forbidding the wrongful killing of good people.

Even though the current Buddhist sects are either demonic paths or heterodox schools, Su Chunyi still needed concrete evidence before taking action.

Yet as soon as she entered the temple gate, before she could state her purpose, this Ku'e Monk sealed the temple and drove all the believers out.

Su Chunyi stood holding her sword and asked, "Great Master Ku'e, what is the meaning of this?"

Ku'e Monk chanted a phrase of "Amitabha," then said to Su Chunyi, "Benefactor, you are filled with murderous intent. Regardless of your purpose, do not harm the innocent bystanders."

Su Chunyi felt puzzled; this Monk truly appeared compassionate, so could he really be a demon who kills people to cultivate his art?

But Su Chunyi trusted the sword intent she had cultivated through bitter training; the grudges of those innocently and miserably killed were all tied to this Monk, and upon careful sensing, she could even hear wailing and weeping coming from the Monk's kasaya.

Su Chunyi, having cultivated bitterly in the Qinghe Sword Sect since childhood, was not skilled in speech, so she asked directly, "Guided by my sword, I have come to track down a demon who has harmed countless people. Great Master Ku'e, are you connected to that murderer?"

Ku'e Monk shook his head and said, "This poor monk has never harmed anyone."

"We are both cultivators. If the Master has truly harmed no one, how do you explain this kasaya stained with resentment?"

"Sentient beings are foolish; all sentient beings suffer. I save sentient beings, so naturally I have absorbed the grudges of mortals. Amitabha."

After Great Master Ku'e finished chanting this "Amitabha," a layer of hazy Jin Guang appeared upon his body, as if he had become a Golden Body Buddha.

Su Chunyi frowned; this divine technique seemed somewhat unusual, resembling a Buddhist divine technique recorded in her sect's archives. Yet the Qinghe Sword Sect's archives were too vast and complex for Su Chunyi to remember them all, and in this urgent moment, she simply could not recall it.

Great Master Ku'e, draped in Buddha light and looking majestic and solemn, turned the question back to Su Chunyi: "Benefactor, you are filled with murderous intent, so you have come solely to kill? It seems the Benefactor has also committed the sin of anger. Why not listen to this poor monk chant scriptures to dissolve the evil thoughts in your heart?"

Su Chunyi refuted, "Upholding justice and eliminating harm for the people—where is the evil thought in that?"

Ku'e Monk continued, "The Benefactor is a cultivator and should not be tainted by the mortal dust. If it is not your karmic cause, forcing it onto yourself is unwise. Foolish actions breed evil consequences; this is evil thought. If not removed early, retribution is inevitable."

Listening, Su Chunyi felt this Monk was speaking twisted logic, but she was not skilled in speech and did not know how to refute him.

Just as she was about to change the subject to clarify whether this Monk was truly the murderer, she saw Jin Guang appear on the Monk's body again; outside the original Golden Body, yet another layer of golden radiance had formed.

"A spell of the Word Spirit type?! No, this is the Open Mouth Zen. You are a demon of the Niepan Sect!"

Su Chunyi's expression suddenly changed; sword light swirled around her body, guarding her vital points.

Ku'e Monk sighed, "Benefactor, evil thoughts entangle you, and you do not understand the subtleties of my Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Our Niepan Sect saves all sentient beings; how could we be evil people?"

"Your Niepan Sect's 'saving all sentient beings' means slaughtering the innocent?!"

Sword light arrived with her voice, striking Ku'e Monk. After identifying the Monk's identity, Su Chunyi hesitated no longer and intended to slay him on the spot.

The Niepan Sect is the Demonic Gate.

This sect claims, "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot," using this as a reason to gather all evil rogues under heaven and commit heinous atrocities.

Years ago, the Niepan Sect's Sect Master died beneath the sword of the Qinghe Sword Sect's Sect Master; the two sects are not only opposed in stance but also harbor deep personal grudges.

Recognizing this as a divine technique of the Niepan Sect, combined with the Monk's body full of resentment and the warning of her sword intent, Su Chunyi had no more doubts and immediately intended to kill this evil disciple.

The sword light struck the Ku'e Monk's protective Jin Guang, emitting a tremendous boom that shook the entire temple, sending dust flying wildly.

However, of the two layers of Jin Guang on Ku'e Monk's body, only one was broken, and he remained unscathed.

Su Chunyi showed an expression of surprise; she could clearly sense that this Monk's cultivation was inferior to her own, yet her full-force sword strike could not even break his protective Jin Guang?

Ku'e Monk laughed, "Violently attacking and injuring others at the slightest disagreement—this is the face of your Righteous Path. Unable to win the argument, you resort to killing to vent your anger. Who is the demonic path?"

Su Chunyi fell silent, but another layer of Jin Guang appeared on Ku'e Monk's body.

This was the Open Mouth Zen.

Buddhist divine techniques are mostly related to precepts, or are a kind of contract; upon fulfilling certain conditions, one obtains effects like spells.

This Open Mouth Zen appeared to be "words spoken, laws followed," but Su Chunyi remembered her sect elders mentioning that as long as one could refute the other's twisted logic, their technique would be directly broken.

But how does one debate scriptures with a Monk?

Ku'e Monk seemed to see through Su Chunyi's thoughts and opened his mouth again to mock, "Benefactor knows the secret of this Open Mouth Zen, and now your heart thinks of debating logic with this poor monk? You do not seek to distinguish right from wrong; you only seek to defeat this poor monk. Your motive is impure, your heart holds malice. What logic are you debating? Words do not match the heart. A foolish person can never penetrate this; you will never break my flawless Golden Body."

Watching yet another layer of Jin Guang appear on Ku'e Monk's body, Su Chunyi pressed her lips tightly together. This Open Mouth Zen was indeed formidable; her previous sword qi had held nothing back, yet it could only cut through one layer of Jin Guang.

The Monk spoke without stopping; with every sentence, another layer of Jin Guang appeared. If this stalemate continued, Su Chunyi's spiritual energy would not keep up with the consumption.

As for debating scriptures, Su Chunyi could not help but think of Chen Ye, whom she had just met.

"If he were here, perhaps a few words would suffice to break this Monk's Open Mouth Zen. Cultivating bitterly in the mountains alone indeed causes one to miss much."

Su Chunyi sighed in her heart, but immediately regained her composure.

Years of bitter training, though making Su Chunyi unskilled in speech, had not been a waste of time.

Her sect elders had said that when encountering a divine technique like that of the Niepan Sect, if one cannot refute the opponent with logic, one must break their Golden Body by another method.

Su Chunyi joined two fingers like a sword; a green lotus bloomed at her fingertip, and a brilliant sword edge emerged from the lotus, instantly suppressing all the Jin Guang on Ku'e Monk's body.

"Nourishing the sword with one's body?! Benefactor, do you not fear the sword edge's backlash? At that time, even your soul and spirit will be damaged!"

Ku'e Monk's face was filled with shock.

Su Chunyi had turned her physical body into a sword sheath, nurturing her flying sword within her body. Although this could greatly increase the power of her magical treasure, the sword qi surging through her body caused pain that no ordinary person could endure.

Even within the Qinghe Sword Sect, there were probably few who would cultivate using such an extreme method.

"The sword heart is the human heart; as long as sincerity is unified and both hearts are upright, where would the injury come from?"

Su Chunyi held the sword, its radiance swirling as if a fairy descending from heaven.

"Demon, meet your end!"

The Green Lotus Sword thrust at Monk Ku'e, ten thousand sword lights blooming like a lotus.