Chapter 165: Splattering Buddha with Blood

Chapter 165: Splattering the Buddha with Blood

Two hours before Zhao Qingxia woke up.

Zhongyu District, Luohan Temple.

"All sentient beings in the ten directions, the learners and the learned of the two vehicles, all Tathagatas and Bodhisattvas, I rejoice in all their merits."

"All the lamps of the worlds in the ten directions, the original constructors of the Buddha-lands, I now urge them all to turn the unsurpassable Dharma of computing power."

The chanting of the monks gradually subsided with the striking of the evening drum.

The brightly lit Luohan Temple fell into a stretch of silence.

In the shadows untouched by the temple lights, a figure crouching on the ground slowly rose.

Three days of casing the joint, and Zhou You had already mastered the routine of the Luohan Temple monks.

After the evening service ended, all the low-ranking monks had to return to their dormitories to rest.

And those high monks who had entered the Sequence would also return to their meditation chambers, uploading their consciousness into the Huangliang Buddha-land to enjoy that illusory bliss detached from reality.

At this time, the only thing responsible for the security of the entire Luohan Temple was the 'Divine Listener' security system enveloping the whole temple.

Zhou You tightened the robe on his body, pulled up the hood at the back, took a step out of the darkness he stood in, and walked into the light of Luohan Temple.

Before that side door, the youth familiarly entered the Dharma name of the guest monk, Master Huiyin, onto the visitor application interface.

Not long after, hurried footsteps rang out from inside. With a creak, the side door was pulled open from within, revealing Huiyin's face wreathed in smiles.

"As expected, it is Benefactor Zhou. This little monk has slept uneasily these past few nights, fearing I might delay your business."

Master Huiyin casually spoke a polite word, then couldn't wait to cut to the chase: "Benefactor Zhou, is the incense money for the offering ready?"

"Not yet."

Zhou You's tone was stiff, a face hidden within the hood, expression unreadable.

"Not ready?"

The corner of Master Huiyin's mouth, previously hooked up, instantly froze. A nameless fire surged in his heart. He forced a smile: "Since it's not ready, Benefactor, you should be going to raise funds now. Why waste time here with this little monk?"

"The money isn't far off, but before that, I want to see my younger brother, Zhou Sheng, first."

By now, Master Huiyin's face showed obvious impatience. He let out a cold snort: "This little monk has already said, your younger brother offended a high Bhikkhu monk in the Buddha-land and is currently undergoing punishment. Only by washing away his sins with incense money can you brothers meet."

"Two years ago, back when I wasn't this half-human, half-machine ghost, I was secretly peddling some cheap contraband in the Eighteen Stairs slum, thinking to earn a living for myself and Zhou Sheng."

"But because the price was set too low, I offended a gang of local hoodlums in the Eighteen Stairs slum who made their living specifically from this trade. They caught me and demanded I hand over all my money and goods. I refused, so they carved out my viscera and sold them for money."

"When Zhou Sheng got the news and found me, my body had already been hollowed out. Soaking in a medicinal bath, I had only one breath left."

"To save my life, my brother borrowed fragrant accumulation money from your Luohan Temple, swapped me for this mechanical body, and only then could I cling to life until today."

The warm yellow light of Luohan Temple cast a deformed shadow at Zhou You's feet, like a monster manifesting beneath the Buddha's light.

"The mundane world is a sea of suffering; you and I are both ferrying others across."

Master Huiyin looked impatient, waving his sleeve and rebuking: "All beings suffer, yet the Buddha bestows grace specifically on you two brothers—what boundless benevolence! Benefactor should hurry to raise funds, not come here to complain to this little monk!"

Zhou You's voice did not fluctuate in the slightest due to Huiyin's rebuke, still cold and stiff like a machine.

"By Luohan Temple's rules, to borrow fragrant accumulation money requires a guarantor or collateral. But we brothers have no parents, no relatives, no friends—where would a guarantor come from? So Zhou Sheng could only pledge himself as collateral."

Master Huiyin rebuked angrily: "Benefactor Zhou, please speak carefully. The opportunity to serve the Buddha is so rare; how can you use such a vulgar word as 'pledge'!"

"Using an ordinary person as collateral, one can only sign the lowest-level contract with Luohan Temple. Not even the chance to serve as an ox or horse in the Buddha-land exists; one can only serve as the karmic computing power foundation of the Buddha-land, having one's brainpower drained to satisfy the desires of those high monks who have entered the Sequence."

Master Huiyin was furious: "Zhou You, you actually dare speak wildly beneath the Buddha's seat. Do you not want to see your brother anymore?!"

"I endured all that. It was all my fault, causing Zhou Sheng to fall into such an Avici Hell. So these years I've been desperately earning money, just to redeem him early."

"But I finally, painstakingly, saved enough money. Why do you still press and squeeze me? Why do you still force me?"

At this moment, Master Huiyin finally sensed Zhou You's abnormality. A fierce chill rushed from the soles of his feet to his heart.

"Benefactor Zhou, no one is forcing you. It was Zhou Sheng who sowed the evil cause himself; naturally, he must bear the evil fruit. Every sip and bite is predestined!"

As he spoke, he retreated imperceptibly toward the inside of the door.

"Predestined? Hahahahaha."

Suddenly, a sharp laugh rang out from beneath the hood.

Zhou You slowly raised his head. A pair of bloodshot eyes emerged from the shadows, and a hideous smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Your predestination is to suck the marrow from my brothers' bones?! Fuck your Buddha!"

Master Huiyin was scared out of his wits by this youth who resembled an evil ghost. He was about to cry for help when he suddenly felt a coolness at the center of his brow.

A pitch-black gun muzzle pressed against his forehead.

At the same time, a mechanical construct shaped like a dragonfly crawled out from Zhou You's collar, perching on his shoulder, wings vibrating slightly.

Ripples spread through the air, enveloping the two of them.

The stance propped up by the Dragonfly Sonar caused the 'Divine Listener' security system enveloping the entire temple to detect no anomaly at this side door.

"Ben-Benefactor Zhou, don't be impulsive. Be careful of misfire."

"Dead isn't that just rebirth in the Pure Land?"

"I'm just a lowly novice monk responsible for dispensing fragrant accumulation money. What chance do I have to reach the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss?"

Master Huiyin spoke with a sob in his voice: "Benefactor Zhou, I'm a wretched man too."

Right now, Huiyin was cursing his luck inwardly. He had originally only planned to squeeze a sum of money out of Zhou You to make up for his performance shortfall.

He never expected that the boy who had always acted respectfully and reverently when visiting the temple would actually have the guts to come into Luohan Temple and rob the collateral.

This behavior touched Luohan Temple's bottom line!

Once discovered by the Luohan Hall warrior monks responsible for temple security, they wouldn't care if you had a hostage or not; they would directly perform physical transcendence.

"Take me to find my brother, or I'll kill you right now!"

"Benefactor Zhou, all collateral is stored in the Sutra Hall. If the Abbot and the monks hold the keys, I can't get in either."

"Then take me to find him!"

Gun muzzle pressing against the monk, step by step retreating, the youth lifted his foot and stepped into this magnificent, gilded temple.

"Today, even if I die, I will splatter the Buddhas of this entire temple with blood!"