Chapter 40: Yellow Robe

Chapter 40: The Yellow Robe

The second floor of Bodhi Corporation remained undivided into rooms; the entire floor was open on all four sides, forming a vast space with a ceiling height of a full five meters.

The load-bearing beams and columns supporting the building had been wrapped in thick copper sheathing, fashioned into the style of brass prayer wheels.

Hundreds of meditation cushions were arranged neatly upon the brown floor, and at the very back stood a lecture platform draped in red silk.

This should have been a classroom for expounding scriptures and resolving doubts.

But where were the people of Bodhi Corporation?

An inexplicable unease welled up in Li Jun’s heart. The second floor, too, was devoid of any human presence, deathly silent.

Just then, a rustling of footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairwell leading to the third floor. Li Jun instantly flashed behind a brass pillar, looking toward the source of the sound.

A bald man in a yellow robe descended the carved wooden stairs. His figure was tall and slender, his brows and eyes exquisitely refined, exuding a heavy sense of artificiality.

Li Jun’s gaze fixed on the space between the yellow-robed monk’s eyebrows. There, a vermilion cinnabar mark glistened, vivid as fresh blood.

Possessing a spiritual root—he was a Buddhist Sequence adherent!

"Threat level low. Should be an ordinary Sequence Nine." Li Jun speculated silently.

Trailing behind the yellow-robed monk was a youth in a common fan robe. He kept his head bowed low, his steps stiff, looking utterly terrified.

The two had only taken a few steps down the stairs when the fan-robed youth, seemingly unable to bear the fear in his heart, dropped to his knees with a thud. Limbs and forehead pressed tight against the floor, palms upturned in supplication, he spoke frantically in the Fan language.

Li Jun pulled a language translation device from his wrist guard and stuck it behind his ear, silently grateful that the security department’s info terminal still possessed this function; otherwise, he wouldn't have understood a word.

"Jia Yang, why did your will fall into disorder within the Buddha Realm? Have evil thoughts sprouted in your heart? Speak, and the Buddha will forgive you."

The yellow-robed monk’s tone was calm, his voice delicate, sounding indescribably soothing.

Yet the youth reacted as if he had heard some irresistible, supreme terror. His body suddenly curled like a shrimp, smashing his forehead violently against the floorboards.

"Venerable Master, I did not break the precepts! Please, spare me!"

The youth kowtowed repeatedly. The dull thuds of impact echoed endlessly in the empty, vast lecture hall, exceptionally eerie.

The bald monk in yellow wore an expression of compassion. He spoke slowly: "Under the Buddha’s gaze, nothing escapes. You cannot hide it. The seven emotions and six desires—which one is it that entangles you?"

The youth’s forehead was a mess of blood and flesh; within the rolled-back gore, the pale white of his frontal bone was visible. He collapsed onto the floor, curling into a ball, repeating over and over that he had not broken the precepts.

Not a trace of pity could be seen in the yellow-robed man’s lowered eyes. The hand held upright before his chest slowly beckoned.

"Jia Yang, raise your head."

The cowering youth seemed seized by an invisible hand at the throat. His face flushed crimson, his eyes desperate.

But no matter how he struggled and resisted, he still slowly stretched his neck toward the monk.

The yellow-robed monk extended his palm, hovering an inch above the youth’s crown.

The next scene sent a chill down even Li Jun’s spine.

From the monk’s palm shot out several nerve bundles, black as snakes, precisely piercing the brain-machine interface port on the youth’s crown, shaped like a ordination scar.

"Ah!"

The youth let out a miserable scream. His body tensed, the black pupils in his eyes dissolving and vanishing, replaced by a terrifying, dead white.

This action, like an empowerment ritual, lasted nearly a minute. When the nerve bundles detached from the brain port, the youth had gone limp, turning into a corpse.

"To sever one’s own path of cultivation for the sake of familial affection—how utterly foolish."

The bald man withdrew his hand, holding it upright before him. His tone was mocking, yet his expression remained fixed in compassion.

"I have some doubts too, Master. Care to enlighten me?"

At that moment, a cold wind suddenly surged into the lecture hall, passing straight through. The candle flames on both walls flickered, casting two nearly overlapping shadows.

The yellow-robed monk lowered his eyes to glance at the long saber that had appeared at his throat at some unknown time. The sharp edge had already sliced through the outer layer of synthetic skin, a mere hair’s breadth from severing his windpipe.

"Relax. This blade is very sharp. If you move again, your throat might just be slit instantly."

The monk’s tense body slowly relaxed, signaling he would not struggle. He spoke in an awkward Sichuan accent:

"Outsider, whatever your purpose, I think we can talk this out calmly. Don't worry. Everyone in this building is currently idling in the Buddha Realm on the fourth floor. No one will come down unauthorized."

This monk is quite cooperative.

Li Jun’s heart eased slightly. As long as he feared death, things were much easier to handle.

"Where is the Chongzhen Edict?"

"So you’ve come for the Chongzhen Edict." The yellow-robed monk’s eyes flickered. "Which faction from Chengdu Prefecture are you with?"

Li Jun’s fingers tightened fractionally. The monk’s trachea was instantly nicked, wisps of milky-white synthetic blood winding down his neck.

"I ask the questions. You answer. Don't want to die? Then speak."

Li Jun, facing away from the monk, missed the cold sneer curling the other’s lips. "The Edict is stored on the fifth floor."

"You just said everyone is idling on the fourth floor. So the fifth floor should be unguarded?"

"Correct."

Finally confirming the Edict’s location, Li Jun steadied his resolve. He was about to withdraw the blade and slit the throat when he suddenly heard the yellow-robed monk say: "But you cannot take the Edict away."

Li Jun’s hand paused. "Why?"

"The power of the Buddha Eight Bhikkhus is not something you can challenge. Lay down the butcher's knife now, and I can beg Master Mu Cuo to absolve your sins."

"You can follow me in cultivation. With Bodhi Corporation’s protection, those who sent you here will never be able to harm you again."

The monk’s voice was gentle and warm, driving the chill from the dark room.

Li Jun felt as if he were standing by a bonfire. Warmth spread through his entire body, and the strength in his limbs rapidly drained away.

"Trust me. I am the Buddha’s walking envoy. My words are the Buddha’s words. For the Buddha’s people, nothing can harm."

As the monk coaxed Li Jun, he slowly reached out to grasp the saber at his throat. But just as his fingertips touched the blade, a lazy voice suddenly rang out from behind.

"Baldy, your conversion skill isn't great! The wind-up is too long, the intensity too low. I even relaxed my mind on purpose, and you still couldn't convert me."

"You—"

Thud! The yellow-robed monk’s head rolled onto the floor.

Li Jun reached out, catching the collapsing corpse and pulling it before him. He wiped the blood from his blade on the monk’s robe, peering through the spark-spewing gap at the severed neck.

"High degree of cybernetization. Not many original parts left."

Li Jun examined it closely. Just as he was about to look away, he saw the severed head staring fixedly at him.

"No wonder there was no 'Mastery Point' prompt. There’s a life-support system inside the skull."

Li Jun sneered coldly, raising his saber to pierce the head through, but he saw a faint smile grace that exquisite, statue-like face. Lips moved soundlessly.

"I’ll wait for you in the Buddha Realm."

Li Jun clearly couldn't read lips, yet in that instant, he understood the meaning perfectly.

Pfft!

The blade pierced the crown, pinning the severed head through.