Chapter 1912

Minghuai felt his bodily strength seeping away bit by bit, while the power from Yuanmu grew stronger and stronger; he was utterly unable to resist Yuanmu, and he gave a bitter laugh: "Uncle-Grandmaster, you are a Buddhist disciple—are you really going to… take my life with your own hands?" Suddenly the pressure on his body eased, as Yuanmu had released him.

Minghuai's first reaction was to flee, but his steps were unsteady and he collapsed with a thud, crying out bitterly: "The Void Great Law… you… you actually cultivated the Void Great Law?"

Yuanmu stepped forward and, with a bang, punched Minghuai's Dantian Qi Sea. Minghuai watched helplessly as the fist came, unable to dodge, and took the blow squarely; his Dantian Qi Sea seemed to split open, and the remaining inner breath scattered completely. His face turned ashen, and he said bitterly, "Uncle-Grandmaster, you are so ruthless…"

Yuanmu sighed, sat cross-legged opposite him, and said: "This is not the Void Great Law; in the world all things mutually create and destroy, and martial arts are the same. Do you remember what I told you when I taught you martial arts back then?"

Minghuai gave a cold laugh and said nothing.

Yuanmu sighed again and said: "You don't remember; back when I taught you martial arts, I once said there are always greater people beyond, and heavens beyond heavens, and also said that a Buddhist disciple seeking consummation must have a steadfast mind and be able to withstand all worldly temptations. At that time I listed for you the several major heretical Buddhist arts that must never be touched—this Blood Asura is one of them. Do you recall?"

Minghuai replied coldly: "After all this time, how could I possibly remember?"

Yuanmu said: "If one's nature is pure and one's resolve firm, they will surely heed the teachings; but if one harbors greed and boundless ambition, they will only nurture covetousness."

Minghuai said: "You deliberately brought up these few martial arts before me, because although they are formidable, you all have ways to counter them, right?"

Yuanmu nodded and said: "Exactly!"

Minghuai said: "You are truly devious!"

Yuanmu said: "Your wisdom is supreme, your perceptiveness extraordinary; the more someone like you—a genius—the harder they are to control. I certainly do not intend to control your future; I only wish you to walk the righteous path. Bringing up the Blood Asura before you was merely a test."

Minghuai chuckled: "How is this merely a test? You deliberately leaked the secret of the Blood Asura to me. I am just a young man; using this method to test my character—what difference does it make from harming me?"

Yuanmu lowered his head, his face full of regret. Such a test was not his own invention; Tianlong Temple has always done this. Minghuai simply could not withstand the test and secretly cultivated the Blood Asura. If he had not given him this test back then, could Minghuai have peacefully remained a Buddhist disciple? Would he not have gone astray? The answer is clearly no.

Yuanmu said: "You have no grudge against Chu Yuanhai—why would you harm him?"

Minghuai gritted his teeth: "You don't understand; despite your long life, you will never comprehend what love and hate truly are. You have long been numb and unfeeling—what difference is there between living and dying for someone like you?"

Yuanmu said: "I, a humble monk, may not understand love and hate, but I do know right from wrong."

Minghuai said: "Right and wrong? Monks do not tell lies; Chu Yuanhai is clearly the son of Chu Fufeng—why do you conceal this secret? If you dare not speak the truth, is that not contrary to the Buddha's teachings? Is this your notion of right and wrong? Chu Yuanhai harbors treacherous intentions, seeking to overthrow the state and seize hegemony over Dakang—should such a person be deemed a traitor and villain, deserving swift execution? Ling Jiazi has thrown the court into chaos, formed factions for private gain, intimidated the Emperor, and endangered the state—should such a person not be eradicated?"

Yuanmu was left speechless by Minghuai's barrage of questions.

Minghuai said: "What have I done wrong? Is it merely because I faked my death to deceive you? These years I have lived under an assumed name; though I left Tianlong Temple, have I ever done anything to betray it? Yet you have joined forces with outsiders to hunt me down, using every means to put me to death—who is right and who is wrong? Between us, who truly owes whom?"

Yuanmu said: "You colluded with villains to sneak into the imperial palace and steal the Spirit-Recognizing Buddha Bone…"

Before he could finish, Minghuai interrupted again: "Spirit-Recognizing Buddha Bone? Do you even know what that is? And whose living Buddha's Skull is it?"

Yuanmu was mute.

Minghuai said: "You know nothing at all; if so, you should just honestly chant sutras and pay homage to the Buddha in Tianlong Temple—why meddle in other affairs?"

Yuanmu sighed, his expression darkening, and said: "I truly cannot manage too many affairs, nor should I, but I must manage you."

Minghuai, hearing this, felt like crying but had no tears; such was the reality—his martial arts had been abolished, and even if he did not want to be controlled by Yuanmu, he could not help it. He let out a long sigh and said: "How must I be for you to let me go?"

Yuanmu said: "Hand over the Spirit-Recognizing Buddha Bone, and I will take you back to Tianlong Temple to apologize to the abbot; thereafter you shall face the wall and reflect on your faults."

Minghuai slowly shook his head and said: "The Spirit-Recognizing Buddha Bone is not with me, and I will not return to any Tianlong Temple. I am Jialuo; Minghuai is already dead, and there is nothing left between us."

Ji Feihua walked down the steps, holding a Night Pearl in her left hand to light the way. When the stairs ended, the lights in the passage ahead lit up one by one. Ji Feihua looked forward; the passage was clean and empty of any white-furred monster. A heavy, slow movement sounded behind her, but it was merely the stone door closing.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained; since she wanted to uncover the truth, Ji Feihua had to go alone, and she was accustomed to acting solo. As she observed the surroundings, the old voice sounded again: "You need not fear; just walk along the passage."

Ji Feihua walked over slowly, having gone a hundred or so steps, when a chasm appeared ahead, the opposite cliff about ten-odd zhang away. Between the cliffs floated stones of various sizes; Ji Feihua blinked, confirming she was not mistaken—these stones were all suspended in midair.

"Come over!" the voice came from the opposite side.

Ji Feihua stepped onto a floating stone, pressed down with her foot—the stone sank slightly. Satisfied it could bear her weight, she placed both feet on it, then stepped from one stone to another, soon crossing the chasm in midair.

On the far side, the sound of flowing water greeted her; following it, she soon saw a pool shrouded in mist, obscuring what lay within.

The water splashed loudly as a huge head, the size of a bucket, rose from the surface; Ji Feihua's heart tightened, and she instinctively rested her hand on the hilt of her light sword.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Ji Feihua said nothing, merely watching the other warily.

At that moment, a strange face appeared in her mind: pallid skin, a head twice the size of a normal person's, large eyes, a flat nose, thin lips, and a mouth disproportionately small for the head.

The other said: "You can understand my speech."

Ji Feihua struggled to banish that face from her mind when suddenly a Lan light flashed before her eyes, the brilliance so intense she dared not stare. After a while, within the white light appeared an image: a tall, strange figure emerged in the radiance, its face nearly identical to the one she had just envisioned—bald-headed, no hair growing, pallid skin covered in wrinkles, clothed in a white linen robe, leaning on a cane, stooped with age.

Ji Feihua stared at this strange oldster, unable to tell whether it was male or female.

The oldster planted both hands on his cane; the light around him faded, and his gray-blue eyes surveyed Ji Feihua as he said in a low voice: "You don't know me, but I know you!"

Ji Feihua said: "Are you the Heaven's Chosen One?"

The oldster laughed, though his expression remained unchanged: "The so-called Heaven's Chosen One is merely a title outsiders have imposed on us; I am no such thing, just a few lost souls." In his large eyes lay a sorrow only Ji Feihua could read.

Ji Feihua said: "Are you one of the few who escaped from Qixia Hu back then?"

The oldster nodded: "To be precise, I am one of the fifty-two crew members of the crashed airship."

Ji Feihua's eyes widened in astonishment; she had not expected so many.

The oldster said: "You need not worry; only nine survived the crash. Most of the crew perished in the disaster, and the remaining eleven prepared to abandon ship and flee, but they did not anticipate that the scene of the airship's fall would be seen by the Dakang people, prompting them to dispatch a large army."

Ji Feihua said: "In that battle you lost two comrades."

The oldster said: "Those two were our captain and helmsman."

Ji Feihua then understood why the other Heaven's Chosen Ones could not repair the airship and depart. She whispered: "So you have been striving all these years to leave, doing all these things?"

The oldster slowly shook his head: "Families have family rules, states have state laws, and the universe has its own laws. We will not lightly violate any planet's operational regulations; even though they killed our captain and helmsman, we never thought of repairing the airship, nor even of returning."

Ji Feihua looked at the oldster with some astonishment, half-believing, half-doubting his words.

The oldster said: "Exploring the unknown carries great danger; discovering others simultaneously exposes oneself. One of our laws is that, once danger is foreseen, we will never bring it back to our homeworld. The airship's crash that year was no accident—it was man-made."

Ji Feihua's heart sank; it seemed the matter was far more complicated than she had imagined.

The oldster said: "During our long exploration we rescued a person—this very individual caused our disaster. Her genes even surpass ours by far. When the captain discovered her plot and ambition, he chose to deviate from the course, destroy the star charts, and even perish together with her." (To be continued~^~)