Chapter 557: It's a Buddha (33 Today 1w)

"Roar, roar, roar!!!"

The Yellow Sand Tiger roared in terror, retreating rapidly while bellowing.

To the Human Race, its roars sounded only like fear and unease, but among the Demon Race, they took on an entirely different meaning.

It was cursing very foully, exceptionally foully.

Starting with kinship as the radius, it began to spray insults radially.

Ren Yidao had never expected that a tiger in the mountains of the Eastern Wasteland could have such an astonishing vocabulary... although these words were filthy, they were still vocabulary.

Very unfortunately, both individuals present were Great Demons.

Cang Lan frowned, looking at this weak piece of trash with disdain.

"Hmph."

She had actually thought of competing with it before; looking back now, she must have been blind!

"Roar!!!"

After cursing for a long time, the Yellow Sand Tiger realized its loss of composure; it finally managed to hold back, hanging its head in annoyance.

It really couldn't be blamed for being timid.

The thing it had dug up was simply too horrifying.

"Calm down, what exactly did you dig up?"

Ren Yidao did not find the Yellow Sand Tiger's performance shameful; he knew that although this Demon Beast looked obedient now, it was not as docile as it appeared on the surface.

To be able to scare it to this extent, it must have truly dug up something extraordinary.

"Roar... roar?"

But when asked what exactly it had dug up, the Yellow Sand Tiger lost its voice, and the entire tiger became bewildered.

It was strange; it had actually forgotten what it had encountered before, and only fear remained in the depths of its heart.

The Yellow Sand Tiger's state made Cang Lan realize something was wrong, and she blocked Ren Yidao's path, "Master, there is likely something strange in here."

"Mm, I know." Ren Yidao gently pushed her aside, his eyes filled with excitement, "I came here precisely for the strangeness."

Seeing that she could not stop him, the helpless Cang Lan had no choice but to follow Ren Yidao forward, staying half a step ahead of him.

Although her strength was currently lower than her master's and she could not truly protect him when danger was encountered, she could act as a meat shield at the necessary moment to buy him a few seconds of time.

Ren Yidao was aware of Cang Lan's little thoughts, sighed silently, and did not stop her.

Although it might be useless, the intention was good after all.

And amidst Cang Lan's tension and Ren Yidao's indifference, the two arrived at the pit the Yellow Sand Tiger had just dug out.

"What... is this?" Cang Lan frowned as she looked at the object in the hole; contrary to what she had imagined, the thing inside was not terrifying, and even looked somewhat ordinary.

It was just a headless human statue buried in the mud; the place where the Yellow Sand Tiger had bitten still had a tooth mark, though the mark was left in the soil, not on the statue.

"Divine Statue."

Ren Yidao raised an eyebrow, squatted beside the mud pit, his eyes flickering constantly, "More accurately, it should be called a Buddha statue."

Ren Yidao was very familiar with Divine Statues; he had once possessed one himself, which he later smashed to pieces.

But he had no particular understanding of Buddha statues; they should be about the same thing.

Cang Lan blinked curiously and asked, "Then was the Yellow Sand Tiger backlashed just now? No, should it be that it was punished?"

"Mm, because it was disrespectful to the Buddha statue, it was given a small punishment."

Ren Yidao explained casually, then reached out without hesitation and took the half-person-tall Buddha statue out of the mud pit.

To be precise, he dragged it out.

His movements were devoid of any respect, even bordering on flippant; he pulled it out by the Buddha's leg, making Cang Lan, who was watching from the side, somewhat nervous.

"Master, be careful!"

"It's fine, it's fine~"

Yet he did not receive any punishment from the Buddha statue like the Yellow Sand Tiger had, looking relaxed and at ease.

"This... what is going on?"

"I have no Buddha in my Heart, so I do not need to worship it; I have nothing to ask of it, so naturally, I have no need to fear it."

Ren Yidao did not care, then smiled slyly, "Besides, does It dare to let me worship It?"

You are a Buddha, receiving offerings from people.

I am a god, enjoying the Incense of the Earthly Realm.

We are all of the same path, so how could we worship each other?

I might dare to worship, but does It dare to accept?

Ren Yidao patted the headless Divine Statue, shaking off the mud to reveal its original appearance.

A Buddha statue standing with hands hanging down, not sitting in meditation or displaying a Dharma seal.

"Oh? Indeed, an idol made of mud."

It was just that there was no straw or similar filler mixed in the middle; it was molded entirely from a single piece of clay.

The cross-section at the neck was very smooth, not as if it had broken during a collision, but as if it had been severed by a sword.

"Who did this? To have such great enmity as to actually behead a Buddha..."

Accidentally breaking it would be one thing, but intentional damage was a different outcome, and it was done with a sword at that.

This was a great enmity, a great Causality.

What deep hatred and what great resentment!

Ren Yidao's brows twitched, and he noticed something else; he narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the headless Buddha statue: "It's a bit strange, there isn't even a trace of Faith Power on it. Which Buddha is this? How did it fall to such a state?"

This was somewhat beyond Ren Yidao's expectations; logically speaking, as long as the original owner of this Buddha statue had not been forgotten, it should have had Faith Power on it even if it were missing arms or legs.

And if there was no increase in Faith Power, then this Buddha statue would completely turn into an ordinary idol, possessing no Dharma Power at all.

However, looking at it now, not only can it punish a Transformation Realm Great Demon like the Yellow Sand Tiger, but even when Ren Yidao squeezes it with slight force, his Heaven Realm physical body cannot cause any change to this clay idol.

It is very hard, and it carries a faint trace of Buddhist power.

Ren Yidao thought for a moment, but in the end, he did not draw the Sanlu Sword to test just how hard it was, abandoning that bold idea.

Although he is not very afraid of those Buddhas in the Western Desert, fear aside, there is no need to deliberately provoke them.

However, after discovering that this Buddha was sufficiently hard, the more Ren Yidao looked at this headless half-body Buddha statue, the more he felt it was handy... er, pleasing to the eye.

Oh no.

I really kind of want to grab its ankle and swing it around to see...

"... Ahem."

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

After quickly picking it up and casually swinging it to test the feel, Ren Yidao directly put the Buddha statue away and gave a dry cough, pretending nothing had happened.

"Ahem!"

Everyone saw nothing.

Really, it's not that I wanted to do this, but my hand just wouldn't listen to me.

"Master, is that the thing you were looking for?"

Although Cang Lan had some thoughts about Ren Yidao's disrespectful actions, the Demon Race does not believe in Buddha, and their fear of Buddhas outweighs their respect.

In the confrontation between the Demon Race and the Human Race, the Western Desert Divine Continent is a very unique faction; they are very fanatical about subduing demons and eliminating devils, and they are also very skilled at it.

Furthermore, that group of bald heads has a unique hobby: they like to indoctrinate the Demon Race, making them repent and return to the right path.

In every confrontation, there are Heavenly Demon-level Great Demons who get bewitched, become mounts for the other side, and turn around to slaughter their former kin.

That state is absolutely not normal!

If they had died in battle on the spot, it would be one thing, but being clearly controlled by the other side makes the Demon Race feel even more pained.

And anything related to Buddhas, in the eyes of the Demon Race, is not a good thing; it reeks of evil.

Ren Yidao doesn't think much of it; he also knows how to control and convert others, but his methods aren't as crude as the monks'. He prefers to moisten things silently, choosing a long-term approach to make them willingly throw themselves into his embrace.

"Not certain, but there is a high probability."

After putting the Buddha statue away, Ren Yidao left the bottom of the pit with Cang Lan and the others, rubbed his chin, and said, "It's just that I don't understand why He left this thing for me? I don't practice Buddhism, so what use is this thing to me?"

That giant beast was clearly a Demon God; the legacy of such an existence shouldn't be anything bad.

It's just, what is the point of leaving this thing to me?

And just as Ren Yidao discovered the Buddha statue, the monk Chijiao also stepped into a dilapidated temple.

His appearance looked much more disheveled than before.

His monk's robe was torn in several places, and it was unclear what had attacked him.

Creak.

He slowly pushed open the temple's main gate, and accompanied by the heavy sound of the doors and rising dust, he stepped into this hall forgotten by the world.

Although the Buddha hall was dilapidated, it exuded a mysterious yet desolate aura.

It was once very magnificent, and although it is now half-ruined, it is not hard to see its former glory.

The Bodhi tree outside the hall had already withered, its twisted branches curled to the side; all its vitality and tender leaves had long since vanished.

Inside the hall, the blue stone steps had chipped away at the corners, and the wooden door frames revealed the traces of time.

Even so, each hall still preserved ancient Buddha statues; every Buddha statue wore a cluster of flowers on its head and sat with knees hugged, though the faces of the statues were incomplete and it was already difficult to recognize their original identities.

The entire Buddha hall seemed to be exuding an ancient energy, slowly fading away its former splendor and brilliance, yet no one could deny that a silent, simple, and mysterious aura flowed through the mute and ancient Buddha hall.

"..."

After entering the temple, the monk Chijiao's expression shifted slightly, but he did not chant any Buddhist name, nor did he bow his head in salute.

He held his head high and looked around, his gaze carefully sweeping over every Buddha, identifying the true form of each one.

"Is it not here either?"

Chijiao's face turned gloomy, the Demon Qi on his body erupted with a boom, and his voice sounded like a thunderclap.

"Do you insist on erasing every trace of His existence!?"

"The events of that year were your fault! You know it, yet you insist on blaming him! He also knew it, yet he did not argue, willing to die for you!"

"But now, you aren't even willing to give Him this bit of Incense!?"

"Are you that afraid of His return!!?"

The great hall shook violently.

Then, time in the entire temple began to flow backward.

The Bodhi tree outside the hall began to stretch, turning from withered to verdant, sprouting new branches.

The various Buddhist implements inside the hall regained their luster, and the hall began to echo with the sound of synchronized chanting and the striking of a Wooden Fish.

That group of originally incomplete Buddhas also seemed to come alive, exuding waves of majestic aura, and pairs of eyes shining with golden light looked toward the monk Chijiao.

However, when Chijiao faced those majestic Buddhist eyes, not only was he not afraid, he was even more furious.

"Do you want to erase me along with Him too!?"

"Come on then!"

He slammed the Zen staff in his hand heavily onto the ground, shattering the blue bricks of the floor directly.

"I want to see, do you actually dare or not?"

Both sides refused to give an inch, neither willing to retreat even half a step; the atmosphere became increasingly terrifying, and a thunderous roar could be faintly heard in the great hall.

Just as the battle was on the verge of breaking out, a deep bell toll suddenly rang out from outside the hall.

Dong—

The bell toll dispersed all the murderous intent within the temple, forcing Chijiao and the multitude of Buddha statues to calm down.

"... Hmph." Having regained his senses, Chijiao let out a cold snort, said nothing, and turned his head to walk straight out of the hall.

Some of the Buddha statues seemed to want to reach out to stop him, but at a signal from the great Buddha in the center of the hall, they withdrew their hands and closed their eyes once more.

When Chijiao walked outside the hall, the Bodhi tree had already withered again, yet it had borne a fruit on its newly grown branches.

Taking advantage of this revival, it had poured all of its life essence into this fruit.

The Bodhi tree did not beg Chijiao to rescue it from this place, but merely bore a single fruit.

When that fruit is planted, what grows will not be it, but a newborn Bodhi tree.

But, this was enough.

Because this world needs a Bodhi tree.

"I will hand it to a suitable person."

Chijiao understood the Bodhi tree's intent; he pressed his palms together in a salute, plucked it, and tucked it into his bosom.

He strode toward the outside of the temple, and only when leaving did he stop his steps, saying in a deep voice to the hall that had completely returned to silence: "When you cast Him out and judged Him a sinner back then, did you ever think of this day?"

"Have you ever regretted it?"

The hall was silent; no one answered.

"Right, you are Buddhas; how could you care about such trivial matters."

The monk Chijiao laughed aloud, utterly disappointed, and strode away.

"You are Buddhas indeed!!!"

Behind him, the temple vanished into thin air, as if it had never appeared at all.