Chapter 51: Dialectic

Chapter 51: Dialectics

Li Huowang tilted his head back to gaze at the Buddha, but with the moon behind them, he could not see the faces of these colossal figures.

All he could see were the hands writhing like tentacles behind their backs, and their massive, shadowy heads, while a bizarre stench of blood mingled with incense wafted from their bodies.

Li Huowang took a few steps back, glanced left and right, and realizing he was truly alone, shook his head at the Buddha before him. "I won't go." Resolute, his hand reached behind him to grasp the hilt of his sword.

With a creaking groan, the gigantic Buddha bent down, blocking the moonlight above Li Huowang's head, and an immense, suffocating pressure bore down upon him.

In the darkness, Li Huowang could feel the Buddha's lantern-sized eyes fixed upon him.

"Amitabha. Benefactor, you should still go; we are doing this for your own good." Unexpectedly, Jiandun made no immediate move to attack, continuing his calm persuasion.

"If you truly have my best interests at heart, why not just let me leave? Aren't monks supposed to be compassionate? What harm is there in letting me go?"

"It is precisely out of compassion that we absolutely cannot allow you to leave, Benefactor."

Just as he spoke, a stone flew through the air and struck the Buddha's head with a crisp, resounding clang.

Li Huowang and Jiandun both turned toward the sound, spotting Bai Lingmiao and the others standing in the distance, holding up glowing night-stones.

"Senior Brother Li! Run!!" More stones were hurled their way, striking the Buddha's body before falling weakly to the ground.

"Amitabha... The sea of bitterness is boundless; turn back, and you shall find the shore." Jiandun pressed his enormous hands together in a heavy prayer, his slender legs crouching slightly before he pushed off with explosive force.

With a deafening boom, Jiandun's towering figure soared into the air, then plummeted like a boulder, snapping over a dozen trees and crashing heavily right behind Bai Lingmiao and her companions.

Seeing the frail Bai Lingmiao standing beside the Buddha, not even reaching his belly, Li Huowang's face twisted into a hideous grimace as he screamed hysterically, "Stop right there!!"

"Boom!" As if sensing something in an instant, every Buddha, whether beside Li Huowang or in the distance, simultaneously took a synchronized step back.

"Benefactor Xuanyang, we mean no harm. Please, remain calm." A hint of tension had crept into Jiandun's voice, as if he were afraid of provoking Li Huowang.

"Hm?" The scene defied everyone's expectations; a single command from Li Huowang, and they had actually obeyed.

"Are they... nervous? Why would they be nervous around an ordinary man like me?"

"Monks do not take lives; this poor monk merely wishes to quiet them down." As he spoke, Jiandun effortlessly snapped the surrounding tree trunks with his giant hands, weaving them into a crude wooden cage to trap everyone inside.

Having dealt with the onlookers, Jiandun swayed back toward Li Huowang, stopping right before him.

"Benefactor Xuanyang, since you are unwilling to return with me, how about we engage in a dialectical debate?"

"A debate? You're trying to talk me into going back?" Li Huowang stared at the palm larger than his own torso, utterly baffled by the monk's intentions.

"Indeed. Benefactor Xuanyang is a reasonable man who understands propriety; this poor monk believes he can persuade you."

"Hm?" Recalling his previous encounters at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang suddenly noticed a glaring logical inconsistency.

Whether it was the abbot or Jiandun before him, despite their overwhelmingly superior strength, they refused to use violence against him, insisting instead on trapping him with deception and emotional manipulation.

"Why go to such lengths when they could easily resolve this with force? Is there something special about me?" Bewildered, Li Huowang spread his arms and stared at his utterly unremarkable palms.

"Aside from being a lunatic, what trait do I possess that would warrant their attention?" Li Huowang pondered silently, completely ignoring Jiandun's words.

He needed to figure out what they were afraid of; it might be his only slim chance of escape.

"Let's reverse the logic: if they threatened my life with force, what would be the consequences?" Every experience in this world flashed through Li Huowang's mind like lightning.

His thoughts finally halted at the moment the corpse-herder was dragged into the darkness—the only time on this journey he had faced true life and death, yet it had been resolved in a profoundly bizarre manner.

Li Huowang's pupils contracted to pinpoints. "Danyang Zi! They dare not use violence against me because the moment I face a lethal threat, Danyang Zi, whatever he has become, will appear! Danyang Zi is actually protecting me!"

Having pieced it together, Li Huowang experienced a sudden epiphany; he had always assumed Danyang Zi's presence was meant to harm him, but now he saw it was quite the opposite.

Though Li Huowang had killed him, from Danyang Zi's perspective, his final disciple had done him no wrong, and had even assisted him in "achieving immortality."

"The monks of Zhengde Temple clearly saw this long ago, yet they kept it from me, going to great lengths to deceive me and use the Grand Universal Fast to eradicate Danyang Zi once and for all."

"If they eliminate Danyang Zi, then we'll truly be meat on the monks' chopping block." The mere thought of what the Zhengde monks were capable of sent a chill down Li Huowang's spine.

Snapping back to reality, Li Huowang looked up at Jiandun again, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "You're afraid of Danyang Zi? If he's already become a Buddha, why are you monks still terrified of him?"

Jiandun's expression stiffened. "Benefactor Xuanyang, this poor monk knows not what you speak of. Monks do not speak falsehoods; I swear to the Buddha that the Grand Universal Fast will cause you no harm whatsoever, save for the eradication of Danyang Zi."

Those words only confirmed Li Huowang's suspicions.

In this world, no kind soul would simply lay all their cards on the table; to uncover anything of value, one had to gather information and judge for oneself.

"I've suddenly realized it's not so bad having Danyang Zi around; after all, he is my master. It would feel wrong to just dispose of him like that." Having figured it all out, Li Huowang was no longer panicked in the slightest.

"Amitabha, that is absolutely out of the question. Danyang Zi concerns not only you, but all living beings under heaven."

Li Huowang looked up at Jiandun, his lips curling into a slight smile. "Why don't you tell my master that to his face?"

"What?"

With a sharp clang, Li Huowang gripped the hilt with one hand and drew the sword, the blade that could slice through iron as if it were mud now resting in his grasp.

Seeing this, Jiandun's face broke into a benign smile. "To think you could break this poor monk's Buddha-body with such a trifle... Benefactor Xuanyang, you are far too attached to illusions."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I told you to talk to Danyang Zi face to face."

The words had barely left his lips when Li Huowang pressed the sword beneath his neck and slashed fiercely.

The skin parted effortlessly, and scalding blood sprayed forth, instantly dyeing Li Huowang's Daoist robe a vivid crimson.

"Heh..." His consciousness beginning to blur, Li Huowang clutched his neck and whispered softly, "Do you hear that? It sounds like... thunder."

(End of Chapter)