Chapter 166: Truth and Falsehood

Chapter 166: True and False

The night wind swept across the spacious plaza before the Sutra Pavilion, issuing a faint, bleak wail.

In the silent surroundings, every footfall Zhou You took rang out with crystalline clarity, like drumbeats striking against the heart.

Zhou You scanned the solemn, majestic Buddhist architecture around him. A thick, suffocating sense of dread and sin coiled in his mind; the pistol grip in his hand felt as scorching hot as a branding iron.

"Benefactor Zhou, it is not too late to pull back from the brink now. The Buddha is merciful; He will surely forgive your deeds, and may even reduce the merit debt owed by you and your brother, allowing you to be reunited."

At this juncture, Monk Huiyin no longer dared hope to squeeze a ticket into the Huangliang Buddhist Realm from Zhou You; he only thought of how to persuade Zhou You to lay down the butcher's knife.

After all, even meager performance was better than losing one's life.

Zhou You let out a cold laugh. "Saying this now—don't you think it's a little too late?"

"Not late at all. No one has discovered us yet. As long as you turn back, Benefactor, this little monk will certainly keep his mouth shut."

Huiyin's hurried tone had just begun to rise when it was crushed down by the sound of a hammer being cocked behind his skull.

"Where is the room where the collateral is stored?"

Zhou You's gaze was icy, flashing like lightning.

"Right... right there."

Huiyin raised a trembling finger, pointing to the room ahead.

Following his gesture, Zhou You saw a dark red light pulsing before that room, brightening and dimming like breath.

The characters "Outsiders Stop" were projected onto the steps before the door.

Suddenly, a surge of excitement welled up from the depths of his heart. The youth's entire body trembled uncontrollably; even his breathing grew rapid.

"Where is Master Ke Tou?"

Huiyin shifted his fingertip horizontally, pointing to an inconspicuous side hall beside the Sutra Pavilion. "His room is right next to the Sutra Pavilion."

"Does the access key for the Sutra Pavilion use his iris or his fingerprint?"

"Benefactor, I truly don't know this," Huiyin wore a mournful face. "I am merely the lowest-ranking guest monk; usually..."

*Crack.*

The sound of a neck snapping was exceptionally crisp in the night. Zhou You caught Huiyin's suddenly limp body and dragged the corpse into a blind spot of the temple wall.

Though it was a blind spot, stripped of the cover of the Breathing Mantis, Huiyin's corpse would soon be discovered by the temple's "Divine Listener" security system.

The time left for Zhou You absolutely did not exceed a quarter of an hour.

The youth knew the urgency. He hesitated no longer; his figure fluttered like a ghostly phantom toward the side hall where Master Ke Tou resided.

"Rohan Temple Guest Master, Dharma name Hui Tong, possesses an artificial Wisdom Root, cultivation at Early Stage Buddha Nine."

Zhou You recalled the intelligence bought from the underground black market once more in his mind, his hands moving without pause. He pressed a crab-shaped mechanical construct against the door lock.

As the indicator light on the "crab's shell" flared red, eight mechanical legs silently pierced into the door seam.

Moments later, as the indicator shifted from red to green, the tightly shut door cracked open a slit.

Zhou You peered in. The side hall was pitch black; in the deepest recesses, a figure sat cross-legged, seemingly deep in meditation.

As expected, at this hour, the high monks of Rohan Temple were all "idling" in the Buddhist Realm to cultivate.

The youth pushed the door open soundlessly and stepped silently over the threshold.

In that very instant, Zhou You suddenly felt his vision ripple like a disturbance on water.

The next moment, as if waking from a nightmare, or perhaps as if a nightmare were invading, everything around him abruptly began to change.

The same dim vision, but the originally pitch-black monk's quarters had transformed into the ruined wreckage of a dilapidated civilian house.

Maniacal laughter drifted from behind the broken walls, falling into the youth's ears, instantly widening his eyes.

This voice—he would never forget it in a thousand lifetimes.

Memories sealed deep in his heart began to churn. That unforgettable pain, like death by a thousand cuts, once again assaulted Zhou You's mind.

The youth now possessed not a shred of his former calm. He sprinted wildly, vaulting over the broken walls.

The scene revealed before him made Zhou You tremble from head to toe.

The cluttered room was covered in congealed, brownish bloodstains, permeated by a stench that refused to dissipate.

Jars filled with preservative fluid were stacked in the corner; human limbs could be seen floating and sinking within them.

A burly man with a savage grin stood before an operating table awash with blood. A frail youth lay upon the table, his chest cavity cleaved open, revealing steaming, still-beating viscera.

"Brother..."

The youth on the table turned his head. A pair of dull eyes were filled with agony and despair.

"Run..."

Zhou You's eyes nearly split from their sockets. He would never forget this scene, but what was even more unacceptable was that the one having his organs harvested had become his younger brother, Zhou Sheng!

"Why make him suffer like this? Why?!"

"Because you ran away. I had to use him to pay the debt."

Zhou You trembled all over, his blood-red eyes locked dead onto the burly man walking toward him with a sneer.

"Now it's perfect. You brothers can die together. Don't worry, I'll pickle your hearts in the same jar, so you won't be separated."

"Ugh—ah!"

A beast-like roar tore from Zhou You's throat. He raised his right arm and squeezed the trigger to the bottom.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Searing bullets shot forward, but upon striking the burly man, they only sparked showers of fire before being deflected.

The burly man, clearly just an ordinary person in memory, now displayed strength akin to a Sequencer.

Zhou You discarded the empty pistol, lunging forward like a wolf cub driven to a dead end.

But the result was the same as in his memory.

Zhou You remained the weaker party. He had no room to resist under the burly man's hands and was effortlessly knocked to the ground.

*Thud!*

Zhou You's head slammed hard against the floor. A shoe sole stained with blood and filth ruthlessly ground against his cheek.

"Trash is trash. You and your brother are only fit to be organ-farmed pigs!"

Zhou You's hands, unwrapped in bio-synthetic flesh, erupted with cyan electric arcs, yet he could not budge the foot pinned on his head.

As the burly man stomped down again and again, his arm snapped, his sternum caved in, and his consciousness sank into a trance.

At this moment, Zhou You finally gave up resistance, letting the burly man sneer as he destroyed his mechanical body inch by inch.

Tears mixed with blood streamed down his wooden face. His eyes stared fixedly at the youth on the operating table.

"I'm sorry..."

Just as Zhou You's vision was about to plunge into darkness, a resonant Buddha's proclamation suddenly rang out.

"The Buddha is compassionate, ferrying the world across suffering, saving lost sentient beings."

This Buddha-name rang out like a sharp sword cleaving the dark clouds; the light within the room flared bright in an instant.

The brawny man caught in the radiance let loose a heart-rending shriek, his body melting into nothingness in the blink of an eye, like a candle in a fierce fire.

Zhou You froze, stunned by the bizarre transformation before him; he lifted his face in a daze, only to discover he now stood, he knew not when, in the midst of a meadow.

A warm breeze blew past, green waves rolling all around, revealing herds of cattle and sheep grazing within.

"Brother."

A long-parted call sounded by his ear; a pair of warm arms hauled Zhou You up from the ground.

His body was no longer that ugly, wretched machinery, but true, tangible flesh and blood.

"A-You."

Zhou You looked at the handsome youth beside him, hot tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.

"Don't cry, Brother. The Buddha saved us."

Zhou Sheng smiled broadly, raising a hand to point into the distance.

Zhou You lifted his gaze—there, at the very edge of this heaven and earth, a magnificent temple stood towering atop the mountain peaks.