Chapter 915: and ===GLOSSARY=== sections

Bu Wu said: "You think kowtowing three times can offset the sins Tianlong Temple accuses me of? Tongyuan, why bother putting on an act, doing what you know is useless? It's just to show your forbearing virtue before the Tianlong monks, to curry favor with this dog emperor. Monks should be pure-hearted; having so many schemes is rare." The words reveal contempt for this Tianlong abbot.

Tongyuan calmly said: "If that's how you see it, Uncle, I can't help it. I just ask you to consider the common people a little more, don't let your personal grudge drag down Dakang's populace."

Bu Wu said: "You monks don't even care about your own families' lives, let alone the common people. Who are you spouting this utterly hypocritical lie to? Who are you putting on an act for? Saving this dog emperor? Fine! Come with me."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Release the Emperor."

Bu Wu sneered: "One grieves for the world and pities the people, the other protects the Emperor, loyal to the country—fine! You both come with me!" After saying that, he seized the false Emperor, leapt up a few times, and entered the interior of the Cangshu Lou through a broken window on the seventh floor.

Tongyuan's face grew solemn as he stepped toward the Cangshu Lou; the monks beside him urged in unison: "Abbot!"

Tongyuan's steps paused: "Without my order, no one may enter the Cangshu Lou." Yet someone followed him over; Tongyuan looked and saw it was Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian said: "He said I could come in too." Bu Wu's earlier mention of "serving the country with loyalty" obviously referred to him.

Tongyuan sighed: "Benefactor, why involve yourself in this?"

Hu Xiaotian lowered his voice: "If I don't go, it's a dead end; please, Abbot, grant me this."

Tongyuan knew Hu Xiaotian spoke the truth; the Emperor had been abducted, and as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, he bore the primary responsibility; wanting to distinguish himself before the Emperor was only natural. Tongyuan said: "Follow behind me, and do not act rashly."

Hu Xiaotian followed Tongyuan into the Cangshu Lou. The disciples inside, upon receiving Tongyuan's order, left one after another.

The lower six floors of the Cangshu Lou held only ordinary Buddhist scriptures; its essence lay in the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors. Under normal circumstances, an outsider like Hu Xiaotian could not enter the Cangshuge. Following Tongyuan to the seventh floor of the Cangshuge, Bu Wu sat in a chair while the false Emperor lay sprawled like mud at his feet. Not far away, two elderly monks leaned against the wall, motionless, obviously having had their acupuncture points sealed.

Hu Xiaotian feigned deep concern: "Your Majesty!" He seemed about to rush forward, but Tongyuan reached out to stop him; even in this situation, the Tianlong Temple abbot showed no trace of panic.

Tongyuan said: "What do you want, Uncle?"

Bu Wu said: "Tell me honestly, thirty years ago. The Sutra Library was once robbed—what exactly was lost?"

Tongyuan said: "You should know what was lost, Uncle."

Bu Wu snapped: "Bullshit! I was framed and mistakenly entered Tianlong Temple, yet you blamed all responsibility on me and let the real culprit escape. Utter nonsense!" His anger mounting, he suddenly raised his hand and struck the old monk in the corner with an invisible palm; the monk's chest cracked with breaking bones. Bu Wu killed him with a single palm.

"Amitabha!" Tongyuan's face filled with sorrow, yet he was powerless against Bu Wu's methods.

Seeing Bu Wu strike and injure someone, Hu Xiaotian's heart chilled; he suddenly realized that although Bu Wu was his master, he was still a demon. Imprisoned by Tianlong Temple for thirty full years, his hatred for the temple was etched deep; he did not rule out a massacre, and with Bu Wu's martial prowess, who knew how many innocents would be harmed today—Hu Xiaotian began to feel some regret.

Bu Wu said: "Which of you Tianlong Temple monks, from top to bottom, isn't hypocritical? All twenty thousand monks of Tianlong Temple deserve death!"

Tongyuan said: "Uncle, why not release them? I am willing to bear whatever punishment they deserve."

Bu Wu slowly nodded: "Because of those words, you're better than your worthless master—at least you have some courage." He pointed to the surviving old monk in the corner: "I spare his life; you take a punch for him."

Tongyuan said: "Uncle, please throw your punch!"

Bu Wu slightly bent his right arm, then suddenly punched Tongyuan in the abdomen—*Peng! *—Tongyuan's body shuddered, he staggered back three steps, his face flushing red then turning pale then yellow; with each step he retreated, the blue bricks under his feet cracked. Tongyuan bore Bu Wu's punch head‑on, relying solely on his internal energy to deflect the force downward, but the opponent's strength was simply too great; even with Tongyuan's ability, he could not fully neutralize the blow.

Hu Xiaotian bit his lip; even as a bystander he felt uneasy—if Bu Wu had fought Tongyuan openly, that would be one thing, but now he struck a man who had offered no resistance; his master's conduct was rather lacking.

After Bu Wu landed that punch on Tongyuan, he nodded and said: "Alright, you may go!" He flicked his fingers, instantly releasing the old monk's sealed acupuncture point; the monk staggered to his feet, trembling, and said: "Abbot!"

Tongyuan said: "Senior Brother, go first; I'll handle this."

The old monk dared not linger, turned and hurried downstairs.

Tongyuan said: "Uncle, what will it take for you to release the Emperor?"

Bu Wu said: "Those who besieged me back then were Yuan Mu, Yuan Kong, and your worthless master; Yuan Kong has already met his retribution, but Yuan Mu and Yuan Chen still live—do you really think hiding in this Cangshu Lou keeps me from knowing?" His voice suddenly rose, shaking Hu Xiaotian's ears with a buzzing, making the floor tremble beneath his feet, and dust fell from the beams.

From the stairwell's corner came an aged sigh; a white‑haired old monk appeared—none other than the former abbot of Tianlong Temple, Yuan Chen, who was also Bu Wu's master.

Hu Xiaotian had been watching his surroundings, yet he hadn't noticed another expert lurking nearby—Tianlong Temple truly hid dragons and tigers; its true strength was shocking.

Bu Wu respectfully said: "Master!"

Yuan Chen gazed kindly at Bu Wu and said softly: "Tongyuan, you have more responsibility than your master; the master's choice of you as successor was indeed correct."

Bu Wu chuckled: "Just a hypocritical tradition passed down—nothing to be proud of."

Hu Xiaotian finally understood: Bu Wu's true goal had never been the Sutra Library; he simply wanted to seize the false Emperor. In the past there was the ploy of "holding the emperor to command the princes"; today Bu Wu staged a modern version of that with a monk, using the false Emperor to make the Tianlong Temple upper and lower ranks hesitate. Bu Wu was truly cunning, even scheming against his own disciple. Recalling Bu Wu's painstaking instruction of him earlier, Hu Xiaotian realized it had merely been a means to gain his trust, and he felt a chill inside.

In fact he had long realized that his and Bu Wu's master‑disciple relationship was based purely on mutual use; yet after getting along, Hu Xiaotian inevitably developed feelings of mentorship and even began to sympathize with Bu Wu's plight. Now being used by Bu Wu, he felt a sense of loss. Bu Wu did not know that the person he had seized was merely an impostor, and even the Tianlong monks were unaware that the Emperor was fake.

Hu Xiaotian suddenly realized that the situation was actually in his hands; if he did not expose the truth, Bu Wu could certainly continue to blackmail, but if he made the truth public, Bu Wu would lose his only leverage.

Yuan Chen said: "Junior Brother, your killer instinct remains as strong as ever; thirty years of secluded cultivation have not dispelled the hatred in your heart."

Bu Wu sneered: "You needn't call me Junior Brother; that worthless master of yours I did kill, but I never acknowledged him as my master."

Yuan Chen said: "The master gave his life to awaken your conscience, yet you remain obstinately unrepentant. Amitabha! Good! Good!"

Bu Wu said: "Yuan Chen, let me ask you: if you hadn't used schemes and tricks, could you have detained me back then?"

Yuan Chen shook his head: "I am no match for you; even if we brothers had joined forces back then, we still couldn't have dealt with you."

Bu Wu laughed: "At last you speak a truth—back then I came to Tianlong Temple only to seek my enemy, yet you sheltered that worthless one and plotted against me, didn't you?"

Yuan Chen's expression darkened: "Back then we too were deceived by him; we only wanted to stop you from killing, never intending to harm you, and certainly never plotted against you."

Bu Wu said: "The three masters combined their strength to wound me, then blamed the loss of the Sutra Library's secret texts entirely on me—are these facts?"

Yuan Chen nodded: "They are facts! But at the time we didn't know the truth; we thought those secret texts had been stolen by you."

Bu Wu said: "To extort the secret texts' whereabouts you went to great lengths, using both soft and hard tactics, endless torment; you constantly proclaim great compassion and mercy, yet your actions are crueler than most people in the world."

Yuan Chen's expression darkened: "Indeed, I myself was at fault back then."

Bu Wu said: "Since you know you were wrong, why did you then order me imprisoned in Tianlong Temple for thirty full years?"

Yuan Chen said: "When you stormed Tianlong Temple back then you harmed twenty‑three innocent lives; if not for heaven's virtue of cherishing life, how could you still be alive today?"

Bu Wu roared with laughter: "If it weren't for you harming me first, how could so many lives have died? How laughable, you bunch of hypocritical bald donkeys, actually dreaming of dragging me into Buddhism—your dead master kept nagging in my ear; I never wanted to kill him, he brought death upon himself!"

Second update uploaded, again asking for Monthly Tickets! Zhangyu's Monthly Ticket rise speed lags far behind the pursuers; at any moment it could explode, there's no other recourse—only to seek help from brothers! (To be continued~^~)