Chapter 250: The Dharma Protector Redefined by Juer Khan

On Vulture Peak, in the Great Vulture Monastery, Master Baotongzi sat upright upon a meditation cushion, closed his eyes and chanted a few lines of scripture, but very soon he rose irritably to his feet.

Just then, a large, dust-covered fat monk burst in through the temple gate.

The fat monk saw Master Baotongzi and, without a word, let out a howl and lunged at him, clutching the master's thigh and beginning to wail shrilly.

The sound was so piercing that even the clay Buddha statues seemed ready to shed a few tears.

"Chief Seat, you must come forward! If you don't, all of us followers of the Buddha are finished!"

"Get up at once! What kind of behavior is this?" A flicker of disgust crossed Master Baotongzi's face as he shouted sternly.

Seeing that Baotongzi was truly angry, the fat monk no longer dared to keep up his pitiful act, and could only slump down onto the ground.

His broad, fat face was covered in dust, streaked with several muddy channels carved by tears — a sight both pitiful and laughable.

"Speak, then. What exactly has happened? Your Kalana Monastery is at the easternmost edge — surely no scattered soldiers could have drifted all the way over there?" Master Baotongzi asked with some irritation.

Ever since it was said that Juer Khan had defeated the great army of the Pala dynasty outside Torayora City, large bands of routed soldiers had appeared throughout the lands of the Pala kingdom.

These routed soldiers went nowhere else but to harass monasteries, and by now at least several dozen temples, large and small, had been attacked and plundered.

"How could there be none? A dark mass of ten thousand routed soldiers is roaming around our Kalana Monastery. Several places nearby have already been overrun, and monks are scattered everywhere — such misery! I fear it will soon be Kalana Monastery's turn."

The fat monk's face was full of terror, and his plump cheeks twitched involuntarily several times.

"Senior Brother Chief Seat, you and I both know where these routed soldiers came from.

The ones over here at Nalanda Monastery are simply Juer Khan's own troops. The ones by our Kalana Monastery are actually the routed soldiers of Krishnaraja II, who has a home he cannot return to. They are being driven about everywhere by Juer Khan. What exactly does this Juer Khan want? We need a definite answer!"

"You want me to come forward and negotiate with Juer Khan?" Master Baotongzi's expression was hesitant. To be honest, he was somewhat afraid of a shameless, black-hearted man like Juer Khan.

The man had dared to toy at will with both the Pala king Rajyapala and the king of the Pala dynasty, Krishnaraja II — would he show any courtesy to himself?

The fat monk on the ground said nothing, just blinked his eyes at Master Baotongzi. His meaning was perfectly clear.

Nalanda Monastery is the foremost Buddhist monastery in the world, with the highest status and the greatest wealth. If you, the Chief Seat of Nalanda, won't go negotiate, do you expect me to?

"Ah, Junior Brother, there is much you do not know! This Juer Khan acts with utter recklessness. With only a few thousand men he dared to cross Kanyakubja and directly crush Krishnaraja II's great army. Now he is capable of letting defeated soldiers loose to plunder monasteries. His ambitions are enormous!"

Master Baotongzi was in a bind. He truly did not want to go negotiate with Juer Khan, because he would certainly be made to pay through the nose.

But he had already abandoned the Pala king Rajyapala once. If he lost the support of the monasteries as well, how could he remain Chief Seat?

Moreover, Kalana Monastery had branched off from Nalanda Monastery, and the fat monk was his fellow disciple from the same master — the one who had always supported him most.

"However great his ambitions, he cannot swallow us all in one bite. But if we do not go negotiate now, the routed soldiers will truly destroy us all!"

The fat monk's backside was already on fire, and he dropped all pretense of courtesy.

"Ah, very well! Then go back and reply to Juer Khan. Tell him this old monk will return to Nalanda Monastery within the day, and await the grand arrival of His Majesty Juer Khan!"

Seeing that Master Baotongzi had already seen through the fact that he had been sent by Juer Khan, the fat monk's expression twisted awkwardly for a moment, and then he let out a long sigh.

"Senior Brother Chief Seat, do not blame me. If this humble monk had not come as an envoy, all of Kalana Monastery, high and low, would surely have been lost!"

At nightfall, just as Zhang Zhao was preparing to rest, Ma Shacai came running over in a hurry.

"Great King, King Krishnaraja of the Pala dynasty has indeed broken away from the army and fled. He took only about a hundred knights with him, and Wang Tongxin has already latched onto them."

"The army?" Zhang Zhao snorted. "What army does that old dog still have? Still, his patience is not bad. I thought he would not be able to hold out two days ago, but he has somehow lasted until now."

Since leaving Torayora City, the strategy Zhang Zhao had been carrying out could truly be called vicious. He deliberately hung behind Krishnaraja II's army without launching any large-scale attack, simply keeping them on a leash and giving the enemy no chance to relax.

Krishnaraja II had attempted to turn west and return to his own country, but every attempt had been beaten back directly.

He had also tried sending troops to block the pursuit while he himself shook off the pursuers and fled, but each time, before he had gone far, Juer Khan's army had broken through his blocking force.

What was even more worrying was that of his six thousand-odd men, only a little over two thousand were cavalry, while Juer Khan's army was entirely cavalry.

After several blocking actions and running battles, the cavalry of Krishnaraja II's army had fallen to just over a thousand. From then on, where to fight and how to fight were entirely decided by the other side.

They were forced to keep moving east, and forced to keep breaking into monasteries to obtain supplies.

For this, Krishnaraja II, in his fury, had even given the lying-flat king Rajyapala a great slap across the face.

Because this lying-flat Pala king could not even get a single monastery gate opened, nor conscript more than a handful of soldiers.

For everyone knew the Pala king had been taken captive. After Juer Khan's great army had shattered the Pala dynasty's fifty thousand troops, both the monasteries and the nobles great and small had begun to sit on the fence and watch.

This was the greatest harm that lying flat brought. Rajyapala had lain so flat, so convincingly, that once he left the royal city, everyone else took him for a true lying-flat king, a puppet monarch.

Such a monarch, fallen into the hands of the Pala dynasty, his family's enemy of a hundred years — it would be strange if he had any authority at all.

And so Krishnaraja II, deliberately driven by Zhang Zhao and used by Zhang Zhao as a tool to pressure the Buddhist establishment of India, could only take a desperate gamble while he still had some elite knights under his command.

In the middle of the night he slipped away from the main force with a hundred-odd picked knights, leaving the remaining three thousand-odd broken remnants to be led by his trusted subordinates.

It must be said, he very nearly got away. Fortunately, Zhang Zhao had long since assigned Wang Tongxin to keep a death grip on this man.

After the problem was discovered the next day, several days and nights of searching finally located Krishnaraja II, who was already slipping eastward.

"It is late today. Tomorrow, pick five hundred elite troops to come with me, and we will go together to catch that old dog Krishnaraja."

Zhang Zhao said to Ma Shacai, then turned to look at Bai Congxin.

"Nalanda Monastery has finally yielded. Tomorrow, clean up those broken remnants across from us, then regroup at Torayora and return to Rajagriha."

Just as the arrangements were finished, in the temporary camp, an unexpected guest appeared before Zhang Zhao.

Queen Avachi!

The queen was long past her former radiant beauty. Her originally somewhat round, plump little face had grown much sharper.

Her fair features were touched with the dust of travel, and only those long, slender, taut legs seemed perhaps even finer than before.

A queen, with only a few trusted maids, traveling from Torayora at least seventy li away to this desolate wilderness — what had she come for? It went without saying.

Do not get the wrong idea. Her Highness the Queen had not come to throw herself into anyone's arms, but to save her husband, the lying-flat king Rajyapala.

What Zhang Zhao was up to now was perfectly clear to anyone with eyes.

I, the Great Khagan Zhang, could easily have defeated Krishnaraja II's few thousand soldiers, but he simply would not strike. He only drove these defeated troops onward, letting them ravage the surrounding Buddhist monasteries thoroughly.

Moreover, whenever Krishnaraja II's routed soldiers attacked a great, renowned monastery, Juer Khan's army would arrive just in time, while sieges of small temples were often allowed to succeed.

This was clearly meant to use the hands of Krishnaraja II's routed soldiers to intimidate and threaten the Buddhist establishment all around.

And before this, word had begun to spread among the nobles and eminent monks of the Pala dynasty that the Gurkhan hoped to obtain the title of Dharma-Protecting King — and if so, his purpose in doing this was already plain for all to see.

It was just that everyone still found it somewhat hard to accept: the Gurkhan, who claimed to have come to India to protect the Dharma, had actually used the method of robbing and harassing temples to obtain the title of Dharma-Protecting King. Wasn't this a bit... too shameless?

"The Queen has come here in the dead of night? What business brings you?"

Zhang Zhao of course knew what this woman wanted, but he still chose to play dumb, because he had not yet decided whether to keep Pala King Rajyapala or not.

Queen Avachi's face suddenly flushed. By convention, the Gurkhan should have addressed her as Queen Avachi; this bare "Queen" sounded rather ambiguous.

"I... have come to beg the Great Khan to rescue His Majesty. It has been half a month since His Majesty was carried off by the King of Parihara. His health has always been poor — I do not know whether he can hold out."

As she spoke, Queen Avachi dabbed at the corners of her eyes, putting on the appearance of weeping.

"If the Great Khan can rescue my king, the Pala royal house is willing to offer an equal weight of gold as a reward. In addition, we can also send people to assist the Great King in tracking down Master Baotongzi!"

Zhang Zhao smiled faintly, then slowly shook his head. "It seems the Queen's heart is not sincere. Does she think that if I rescue His Highness Rajyapala, he could avoid paying an equal weight of gold as a reward?

As for Master Baotongzi, I already know where he is, and at this moment, the one who should be anxious is him, not me.

The conditions the Queen has proposed are, in fact, all things bound to happen regardless. What a fine bit of catching a wolf with empty hands!"

Zhang Zhao was not lying — he truly was a little displeased. Had these Indians been comfortable for so long that their brains had rusted?

Even if you knelt on the ground and begged bitterly right now, it would be better than proposing these two conditions. This is completely taking things Zhang Zhao is certain to obtain anyway, and using them to sell Zhang Zhao a favor! What are you thinking?

Queen Avachi was stunned. In truth, she had not thought that far; she simply felt that she could offer no other good conditions, and could only be of some use in the two matters of the ransom and Master Baotongzi.

As for begging — Queen Avachi was born into a great noble house of the Pala dynasty, and had always lived in silks and fine food.

When she came of age, the Pala King's first wife died in childbirth, and she was married directly and became queen. Her whole life had gone smoothly, and the words "plead" and "beg" simply did not exist in her mind.

Under the dim yellow oil lamp, the two sat facing each other, a lone man and a lone woman. Zhang Zhao, who had been a monk for over half a year, suddenly reached out as if moved by some spirit, and lightly pinched Queen Avachi's fair, tender chin, his thumb even rubbing twice over her red lips.

Queen Avachi started violently. Her right hand brushed it away, and the oil lamp was knocked over onto the table, instantly extinguished!

Now the room grew even dimmer, with only faint moonlight filtering in through the window, and the atmosphere was incomparably ambiguous.

Zhang Zhao drew a deep breath and stood up directly. A faint, subtle fragrance reached his nose, and a feeling as if his whole body was about to explode rose from the depths of his heart.

He gently drew his thumb away from Queen Avachi's lower lip, then slowly slid it downward.

The long-legged queen began to tremble uncontrollably all over, but she did not stop Zhang Zhao's hand, nor did she run away. Only faint moans occasionally escaped through the gaps of her fine white teeth.

All chapters have been cached for you. Download the APP to view them.