Estranged - Chapter 99

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After all, do deities exist in this world?

When Chunchi had just entered a Buddhist sect, he had thought that the answer was yes.

He was chanting scriptures piously all the time, sitting in the Buddhist sanctuary, unmoved, for days on end, disregarding whatever else happened.

Most newcomers could not be as firm in their belief as Chunchi. All sorts of worldly dust tried to tempt them, and the slightest carelessness could make one deviate from their beginner’s mind. Chunchi was born into a rich and influential family, so the fair wind had been carrying him forwards throughout his life, and never once did he experience defeat or suffering. When he had started worshipping at his sect, his aptitude did not turn out to be outstanding, so the elders did not attach great importance to him. But time soon passed, yet Chunchi still stood resolutely.

Beginner’s mind: Budd. original intention to learn something new

Monk-cultivators had to be even more resistant to ennui, as their teachings were even more monotonous than those of the other sects. They meditated and pondered, recited Buddhist sutras, adhering to morning bells and evening drums rigidly. Some people could not bear such boredom and left only because of this, while some started to fall behind because of their personalities or because they were lacking in talent. Only Chunchi was always walking ahead steadily, neither too fast nor too slowly.

He had slowly surpassed his fellow disciples, and even his shixiongs who had entered the sect before he did. The Wanlian Buddhist Temple traditionally gave priority to seniority, and Chunchi did not stand out for achieving something extraordinary. After a long period of time, his experience and status had naturally caught up to his cultivation base, and Chunchi had become the one having thousands under his feet, and only one above his head. The Buddhist leader was his shizun, and Chunchi did not have to give face to anyone in the Wanlian Buddhist Temple anymore.

Chunchi’s cultivation had advanced in leaps and bounds. Moreover, he had a great deal of talent. Whether it was a blade of grass, a tree, falling petals or leaves, all of it could help him strengthen his meditative mind, and he was more devoted to Buddhist sects than anyone else. However, when the moment that crushed his beliefs arrived, and his firm views had crumbled, he suffered more than anyone else would have.

Many years ago, at the start of summer, Chunchi’s shizun, Guiye, who was already on his deathbed, had called for him, and asked him about his understanding of the ways of nature. Chunchi had given an answer that was generally accepted and expected of him. His words did not surprise Guiye, and Guiye had asked Chunchi again about what the cultivators of Buddhist sects were trying to achieve in their lives. Chunchi had said that they were pursuing immortality and becoming Buddhas, in order to lead all living creatures. But Guiye had shook his head, and told him that this world had never had deities, and the so-called ascension or turning into a Buddha were mere lies. Of course, Chunchi had not believed him. While there had only been a few people who had ascended throughout history, it was not as if there were none at all. The ways of nature were intricate, which helped strengthen the resolution of cultivators, enhancing their spirits.

Guiye did not explain much to him either. Afterwards, he had passed the Buddhist leader position on to Chunchi, and told Chunchi to rule over the sect, to make it splendid. Guiye never mentioned that thing they had discussed again. However, their dialogue had taken root in Chunchi’s mind, troubling him relentlessly. He had looked through ancient records countless times, searching for an affirmation of those grandmasters’ ascensions, but only found specious myths and legends. The tales of the secular world exalting deities had been embellished with other details, and he could not find their original versions anymore.

The last grandmaster from the Wanlian Buddhist Temple who had gotten the closest to becoming a Buddha was Guiye’s shizun, or, in other words, Chunchi’s shizu. It was said that he had become possessed after understanding a crucial point in a scripture left by Xu Tiancang. He had been one step away from comprehending the divine order of things, but had stopped there. Afterwards, he laughed wildly for three days and three nights straight, before blood gushed out from the seven orifices of his head, and he died. This part of the Wanlian Buddhist Temple’s past had been a disgrace, so they proclaimed that he had perished peacefully, and never mentioned the real reason.

Chunchi did not even dare to inquire about the details. He was afraid that the more he inquired, the closer he would get to the truth that he was unwilling to accept. That would shatter the point of everything cultivators sought during their lives, and his embarking on the path of cultivation would prove meaningless.

Until one day, when the master of the Wanjian Immortal Clan had shared a secret with Chunchi.

Jiang Li had said that his shizun, Immortal Luomei, had never broken free from the human world and took flight to the land of immortals. He had not broken through any realms after becoming a grandmaster. His spiritual soul had stayed away from his body for too long, and so, his souls had eventually scattered away, since the spiritual powers of cultivators were originally foreign to their bodies.

Be it the legendary gods, or the top grandmasters—all the talk about supposedly breaking away from the human world to reach the realm of blissfulness was absurd for anyone.

Lying above the human world was neither the domain of deities nor a higher cultivation realm. Instead, it was boundless, eternal death.

Luomei had forced his spiritual soul to enter the human world again to let his disciples know this secret.

Chunchi had trembled. He was at a loss.

Since instead of getting a new life after ascension, cultivators would only die—so what was the point in their painstaking cultivation?

He had then accepted Jiang Li’s conditions and started working together with him.

It had been Chunchi’s last sliver of hope. He wanted to know whether the hiding deities would still fold their hands and stay away from humans if the world was in grave danger, and demons were running amok. He also wished to know what a world free of deities and occupied by demons instead would look like.

Humans had taken over the essence of the spiritual powers of heaven and earth, but they were still slaves to their desires. They would annihilate each other for a small profit, fighting to their last gasp. Cultivators were not an exception, and there were always those who killed people for treasures. Who knows, maybe, driven to a dead-end, this world would actually be reborn.

Yet now, a golden statue appeared behind Sun Buku’s back. Since it was not an illusion, what could it be?

Could it be that the fozun favored the Qingyun School of the two major clans of Buddhism more?

The beliefs Chunchi had been holding onto had already been shattered once. Now, a new hope was born in his heart, but he was not overjoyed. Even if it cost his life and his immortal souls, he wished to get the answer to his questions.

His body flew back, and fell to the ground heavily. His spiritual power had been damaged, and his body wounded, but he was still staring fixedly at Sun Buku.

Sun Buku landed on the ground, and quickly went over, holding his cane.

Chunchi knew for sure that his situation was hopeless. The evil spirits around them had been mostly swept away by Jiufang Changming. The Sifei Sword was an exceptional spiritual weapon. By sacrificing itself, the sword had managed to uproot the evil, and the lotus pond that had been nourished for many years was destroyed in a single day, so it could not provide Chunchi more strength.

“[The world never had deities, but a heart striving for deities is sacred itself].”

Sun Buku was looking down at him, the Golden Glass Beads Staff raised high above his head. The golden statue of Xu Tiancang was also watching Chunchi with mercy in its eyes, as if relaying to him wordlessly that Sun Buku was the one beloved by gods, while Chunchi was only calling himself a Buddha presumptuously, being nothing but a scum of the Buddhist sects.

“Chunchi, you’re deceived by appearances.”

Sun Buku’s voice was ringing near his ears.

Chunchi shook his head. This answer could not satisfy him.

They either existed, or they did not. He could only accept one of these answers.

But he could not ask again. As soon as Chunchi opened his mouth, blood started to ooze out of it incessantly.

Not only from his mouth, but also from his eyes and ears. His line of sight was slowly filling up with blood. He was suffering from head to toe, and his spiritual power was flowing away, as fleeting as the wind.

The remaining evil spirits from the lotus pond…

Before, he had been using them for his needs, but as soon as they noticed his weakness, they rebelled against him one after another, rushing at him and striving to be the first to take his spiritual power for themselves. Chunchi was controlled by Sun Buku’s Buddha light, and he could not even muster a final struggle. The black fire had wrapped itself around his body, and his body was withering up quickly, as he was turning into a dried up corpse. His face could no longer be recognised, and his souls had scattered away.

A grandmaster of the prominent Wanlian Buddhist Temple having stooped so low could certainly make one sigh with regret.

But Sun Buku had no time to grieve Chunchi. He quickly waved his cane, leaping to the side—

The battle between Jiufang Changming and Yun Weisi was raging like fire at that moment.

The two who had once been a master and his disciple had now turned into mortal enemies. Yun Weisi’s face was expressionless, but his attacks were merciless, as if they had returned to the day they met again after their long separation. All his thoughts were filled with his desire to kill Jiufang Changming.

Changming was not at a disadvantage, and he seemed to be handling the battle with ease. However, with his experience in cultivation, defending instead of attacking meant falling into disadvantage, because only the one who had no time to attack would switch to defence.

The Sifei Sword was gone, so he was now fighting bare-handed, while Yun Weisi still had the Chunzhao Sword. However, for him, the Chunzhao Sword was superfluous now. The roaring demonic flames had enveloped his body, and right now, it was a fitting weapon that followed his will. As soon as he thought of something, the flames would shoot in that direction. They were even more obedient than the Chunzhao Sword.

Changming stepped back, stumbling.

It was the second time the demonic fire had hit him in his chest. It used the moment to assault him violently, surging in waves, just like Yun Weisi’s gloomy expression of someone who had turned away from love to hate instead. It quickly rushed over to his face, charging at the sea of his consciousness.

A mouthful of blood came up to his throat. Changming wanted to swallow it, but choked and vomited it in the end.

His clothes had been stained with red long ago, so this mouthful of blood did not matter much. His jade hairpin had disappeared somewhere, and his long hair was dishevelled. Everything about his appearance right now screamed of his chaotic situation.

Obviously, Changming could still fight, but Yun Weisi knew for sure that Changming had been hanging on by a thread, and would soon finally suffer a defeat.

Once, Yun Weisi had been willing to sacrifice his life for this person. Now, he did not show a trace of pity for him. Yun Weisi raised his head, and the black fire, following his intention, lashed at his opponent with a bang, bursting open like a black flower, extremely revolting yet gorgeous.

The moment the black flame captured the hem of Jiufang Changming’s sleeve, it would swiftly spread along his body, before burrowing into his skin, flesh and bones, corresponding to the demonic qi that had already infiltrated his body. Jiufang Changming would burn to ashes!

Yun Weisi’s hand trembled slightly.

In a flash, the black fire surged forwards, whistling!

A sharp wind blew over, and a golden light engulfed the black flames. Yun Weisi’s expression changed, and he retreated nimbly.

Sun Buku landed between the two of them with his cane at the ready, like the Wisdom King.

Wisdom King: a type of deity that protects from demons

Unfortunately, he was born too handsome. Even if he was not smiling, his expression always retained a faint smile. Even if he was standing straight as an arrow, he still looked like the rabble-rousing Deva-mara of Buddhist canons.

“You want to kill him, but have you gotten my permission?”

Yun Weisi was expressionless: “You rebelled against him a long time ago, why are you meddling now?”

Sun Buku smiled: “A teacher for a day is a father for a life.”

Yun Weisi: “I remember that you were going to capture Jiufang Changming and kill him when he left Buddhism.”

Sun Buku: “Back then, I didn’t understand the true essence of Buddhism. Just like Chunchi, I was always obsessed with meaningless ideas. But I’m not who I was in the past. Of course, I respect Shizun the way I did before.”

Yun Weisi: “So you want to protect him.”

Sun Buku: “Yes.”

Yun Weisi squinted.

Sun Buku was at the pinnacle of his strength. The statue behind his back had not gotten dimmer at all, while Yun Weisi’s Demonic Heart had just formed. He could not guarantee that he would be able to defeat Sun Buku and kill the person behind his back at the same time.

“For now, you’ll have a few more days left to live. I’ll come for your life again in the future,” Yun Weisi said indifferently. Then, he took a few steps back, turned around and disappeared in the black flames that had enveloped the sky.

As Yun Weisi left, the flames had dispersed a bit as well.

The author has something to say:

PS, There is a reason why Yun Weisi has changed, but it’s not obvious at first sight. The next few chapters will explain it