Chapter Ch81.2 - Papaya Flavored Senior Brother Gong (19)
Translated by Hua Li ^_~
However, Xia Xinya’s unawareness of her soiled pants made her secretly glance at her father. Fearing him, she buried her head deeper into her mother’s embrace, crying uncontrollably and avoiding eye contact with anyone.
The righteous sect members looked at each other with frowns, but they were currently in no mood to pay attention to someone else’s family affairs.
This was because the time for one incense stick had pa.s.sed.
Gou Liang was leisurely eating a slice of orange fed to him by Yue Qian. He spat out the seeds, wiped his mouth, and asked nonchalantly, “Have you made up your minds? This is your only chance.”
The poisonous army advanced further, with scorpions, centipedes, and poisonous ants already covering half of the city walls, a terrifying sight.
However, despite their thoughts, the sweaty righteous martial artists hesitated to be the first ones to surrender to the Demon Cult.
Gou Liang nodded, “You’ve got some backbone. Since none of you want to live—”
“Amitabha.”
The sound of a Buddhist chant interrupted Gou Liang.
This person had an extremely deep inner strength, and his voice rang out like the sound of a bell in the whole Wumo City, just like the tolling of the bells in Shaolin Temple. It made people’s minds clear, allowing them to escape from the emotion of fear, and they all turned their gaze towards the source of the sound. A thin monk dressed in ash-gray robes walked out from the Shaolin monks, stepped out of the city wall, and stood in mid-air. He said, “Amitabha, I’ve seen Benefactor Ye. Forgiveness leads to blessings. I implore Master Ye not to create more karma.”
“Hey, you monk, you’re quite amusing. Are you the one in charge of sweeping the floors at Shaolin Temple?” Gou Liang remarked with a smirk.
“How dare you!” The Shaolin abbot quickly stepped forward, scolding Gou Liang before respectfully addressing another person, “Disciple pays respects to Master Xuandu!”
“Oh, so it’s the esteemed monk Xuandu!” The sect leaders were delighted and greeted Xuandu with respect.
However, Xuandu paid no attention to their greetings and said, “The Buddha taught that saving a life is better than building a seven-level paG.o.da. These people are no longer a threat to Benefactor Ye, so why bother to kill them? The Buddha takes pity on them.”
Gou Liang couldn’t care less about Shaolin Temple’s anger and retorted, “It’s pitiful for you to be a disciple.”
Then he continued, “Monk, let me ask you, did Buddha tell you that all living beings are equal? These people came to kill me, and you didn’t stop them. Now that they can’t defeat me, you want me to spare them? Is it that in your eyes, the life of Ye Gui, the leader of my Demon Cult, and the lives of tens of thousands of my sect members, are less n.o.ble than those people behind you?”
“Amitabha, all things have causes and consequences. As for the karma created by the Demon Cult in the past—”
“What an excellent cause and effect! The Demon Cult’s robbery and killings were the cause, and the righteous sects’ collective retaliation against us is the effect. The righteous sects killed us and robbed our secrets. So we, too, return the evil they deserve. This is the so-called cycle of cause and effect. Monk, am I correct in saying this?”
The Shaolin monk didn’t know how to refute Gou Liang for a moment, and Gou Liang sneered, “No need to bring your Buddha out to beat around the bush.”
“In the end, you just don’t want me to kill these people, do you? Why should I listen to you? Is it right for my Demon Cult to be killed, and the righteous sects can get away with it? From what I see, the monk’s wisdom is quite limited. It might be better for you to leave the monastic life early to avoid wasting your Buddha’s saliva.”
“You insolent brat!”
How could the Shaolin abbot stand by and watch his elders being humiliated? He was infuriated, but before he could launch an attack, the knowledgeable and aware Shaolin monk stopped him.
“Amitabha, what Benefactor Ye says is true. I was narrow-minded for a moment.”
The Shaolin monk sighed, “However, since I am here today, I cannot let Benefactor Ye initiate this killing. An enlightened person speaks straightforwardly. How can these young people be spared? I am willing to mediate peace between the righteous and the demon factions.”
“Monk, do you have the ability to make them surrender to me, or will you present your sect’s secrets to exchange for their lives?”
Gou Liang sneered, “Killing them is effortless for me. Letting them go would cause endless trouble. Ha, how can I choose? Besides, since I succeeded Bao Shi as the leader of the Demon Cult, has the Demon Cult wantonly killed anyone or stolen any secret manuals? We live freely in our sect, and I even married Yue Qian without causing trouble for anyone. It’s you who want to be enemies with us, not allowing me to live peacefully.”
“All the consequences today are a result of your actions.”
“Talk of peace? Hmph, I never give a second chance to fleas that jump at my doorstep.”
He smiled wryly, “So, Benefactor Ye still wants to fight?”
“In that case, Benefactor Ye, don’t blame us for being impolite.”
With these words, five people suddenly appeared before everyone. They were dressed simply, and among them, one had white hair and a youthful face, two looked like young men, one was an elderly hunchback, and one had a big belly and smiled like a jovial Buddha.
Their auras were the same, surpa.s.sing anyone present, undoubtedly making them peerless experts.
One of the young men played the zither by their side, and the melody of “Falling Phoenix Flute” echoed in the air. Unlike the previous performance led by Ye Gui, this time, the poisonous creatures in the air emitted sharp cries, and several creatures even fell from the sky.
The poisonous creatures on the city wall quickly retreated.
Gou Liang smirked, finding the situation more interesting.
To rea.s.sure Yue Qian, he tied the jade flute back to his waist and said, “Senior, you are not gentle at all. You have scared my little ones here.”
The person who played the zither was polite and courteous, saying, “I have been impolite.”
Only now did Pavillion Master Ye have the chance to ask, “May I know who you are and what connection you have with my Fanyin Pavilion?”
Obviously, apart from the Shaolin monk who first appeared, no one recognized the other five. The zither-playing young man, who was asked, turned his head to look at Ye Gezhu, but then averted his gaze without answering— that faint glance made Ye Gezhu’s heart tighten, as if she was facing her mother’s disappointed expression from the past.
Seeing Pavillion Master Ye’s disappointment, the others dared not inquire further.
Only the Shaolin monk spoke, “Amitabha. Benefactor Ye, we have no intention of causing you trouble. However, the life and death of our disciples cannot be disregarded. We hope Benefactor Ye can give us some face.”
“The old monk, instead of beating around the bush, why don’t you be straightforward? Making so much fuss irritates me,” Gou Liang sneered. “Teaming up with Yue Qian, I might not be unable to fight against you all. However, that would only lead to both sides suffering losses, and the righteous sects that reap the benefits in the end would be the ones profiting from a loss-making business. How about this instead? I will spar with a few of you young men. If they lose, I will take one secret manual and spare someone’s life from their sect; if I lose, I will immediately let everyone go. How does that sound?”
The group of Shaolin monks exchanged glances and said, “That sounds good. But we hope Benefactor Ye won’t take their lives.”
“I have the ability to kill, don’t you have the ability to save?”
Gou Liang didn’t take their advice seriously and stepped forward, saying, “Master Xia, you don’t need to wait for me to invite you down, right?”
Being watched by the Shaolin group, Master Xia couldn’t bear it any longer and could only fly down from the city tower.
“Xia Jiu of the Beiyuan Sect seeks to learn from Master Ye!”
Before the words had even settled, he took the lead and drew his sword.
The Beiyuan Sect was famous for its fierce and domineering style, and Xia Jiu’s swordplay was indeed ruthless and unrestrained. However, after watching him for a while, the Shaolin group shook their heads one after another—swordsmanship could reveal a person’s nature the most, and Xia Jiu’s sword was no longer fierce but merciless.
After dozens of moves, as expected by the Shaolin group, Xia Jiu was defeated.
Xia Jiu’s face was full of unwillingness, but he sheathed his sword and said, “I lost. What secret manual do you want?”
“I don’t want those broken sword manuals from the Beiyuan Sword Sect,” Gou Liang smiled and suddenly moved like lightning to uncover the human skin mask on Xia Jiu’s face, “In terms of the Hehuan Sect’s disguise techniques, truly, no one can surpa.s.s you.”
He landed and looked at the “Xia Jiu” with a light smile, “Master… Are you safe and sound?”