Chapter 43: A Series of Misunderstandings

Chapter 43: A Fortuitous Mistake

One minute prior, on the street outside the Bodhi Corporation.

"Chief, do we really have to do this?"

"How so, you got an opinion?"

"N-no, I don't dare. I just feel... is this going a bit too far? After all, we're here to stir up trouble for Shu Dao Logistics. We've got no beef with these baldies."

"Cut the crap. Either we don't do it, or we do it right. The Boss's order was to stop Shu Dao's people from getting the Imperial Edict. So I'm leveling the whole damn building. Let's see who can get their hands on it then!"

Wu Shihu snorted coldly, lifting his foot to kick the man square in the ass. "Move it, snappy."

The man dared not speak further. He took a five-chi-long iron tube from a comrade and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

Within the gaping, furious maw of the dragon, nestled a shell as thick as a grown man's fist.

"Flying Dragon Emerges from Water" — a single-soldier rocket launcher manufactured by Tianfu Heavy Industries!

"Target locked."

As the intelligent assistance system emitted a cold electronic chime, Wu Shihu roared: "Fire the damn thing!"

The next instant, the shell screamed from the dragon's maw, the sound of tearing air sharp and high, like an enraged dragon's howl.

BOOM!!!

A violent explosion reverberated through Songpan Wei. The sudden tremor startled countless outsiders lost in wine and neon from their stupor. They stared, faces pale with shock, at the towering inferno suddenly erupting in the distance.

Those not yet pickled in alcohol recognized the direction as the Bodhi Corporation, their faces instantly twisting into disbelief.

In this patch of Songpan Wei, someone actually dared to touch... no, *slap* that bunch of baldies on the head?!

Inside the Qudeng Bar, Jin Lisheng looked at the dust dancing beneath the ceiling and the violently swaying Western chandelier, a look of stunned astonishment on his face.

"No way, this guy's temper is *that* big?"

In the narrow alleys off the main thoroughfare, whether it was the foreign civilians meditating cross-legged or the wandering monks turning prayer wheels barefoot, all prostrated themselves on the ground.

Palms upturned to the heavens, they chanted in terrified whispers.

"Buddha have mercy, Buddha have mercy."

Crackle... crackle...

The red-brick-and-timber building housing the Bodhi Corporation had now half-collapsed. Amidst the ruins, flung corpses and shattered ritual implements were strewn everywhere.

Sutras blown to fragments fluttered down like snow, finally licked into ash by the rising flames.

The remaining structure swayed precariously in the blaze; the total collapse of the building was merely a matter of time.

"Heh... heh..."

Li Jun gasped heavily, half-kneeling on the ground. His left hand braced against the floor, his right gripped his blade horizontally above his head, bracing against a fallen crossbeam.

As for that priceless "Wei Wu Zu: Battle of Yin Jin" edition saber, god knows where it had flown off to.

The acrid smell of gunpowder rushed into his lungs with every breath, as if seeking to ignite his entire chest cavity, torturing Li Jun alongside the bone-deep agony in his abdomen.

Li Jun tried contracting his abdominal muscles. Moments later, his tightly furrowed brow relaxed a fraction.

Judging by the muscle response, the shrapnel that had buried itself in his left flank during the explosion hadn't damaged his viscera.

Once his breathing steadied somewhat, Li Jun shoved the beam aside with his right hand. Two fingers of his left hand pressed together and probed into the wound.

After a moment of digging, he successfully pried out the fragment embedded in the muscle.

Tossing the shrapnel aside, Li Jun turned his head and spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm. Only then did he raise his eyes to look ahead.

The Giant Buddha, the Dharma Protectors, the Golden Summit Temple — everything within the Buddha Kingdom had vanished without a trace.

In their place, occupying half the floor, stood a massive ritual altar.

A ten-foot-tall golden Buddha statue sat enshrined at the altar's center, exquisitely crafted, hands forming the gesture of holding a flower.

But now, half the statue's golden body had been blasted away, revealing the mechanical structures and electronic components within, still sparking with fire.

Hundreds of foreign civilians sat cross-legged in a massive circle over thirty meters in diameter, centered on the statue.

Strand after strand of neural cables connected to the brain-computer interfaces resembling ordination scars on their crowns. The cable ends all converged at the lotus throne beneath the statue's feet.

The twelve devotees closest to the statue had shattered bodies, lying in pools of blood.

Their wounds mirrored exactly the Vajras Li Jun had smashed within the Buddha Kingdom.

The other devotees were in an equally bizarre state. Even as flames licked at their sides, they did not move a muscle.

As if they had lost their souls, leaving behind only empty, hollow shells of flesh.

Watching this eerie scene, the corner of Li Jun's mouth slowly curled into a smile.

Because he saw the Red Monk Mu Cuo standing right before the statue, trembling violently, eyes blood-red.

The Huangliang Buddha Kingdom mainframe destroyed, hundreds of painstakingly cultivated devotees backlashed into vegetables.

More importantly, he himself had lost the ability of Nirvana Rebirth.

The colossal loss made Mu Cuo feel as if his heart were bleeding. His expression was savage and ferocious; not a trace of Buddhist serenity remained on him.

"You're courting death!"

Mu Cuo howled savagely. His well-proportioned, tall frame swelled rapidly like those Celestial Maidens. His crimson robes were shredded into strips by his exploding muscles.

Berserk mental power erupted from the ordination scar on his crown, dragging the shattered ritual implements on the ground to assemble a golden Dharma Wheel behind his head.

*Bang!*

The Vajra-transformed Mu Cuo leaped into the air. He plunged down from the high-rise like a cannonball, smashing through the building's exterior.

"Tianfu Heavy Industries! You dare destroy my Buddha Kingdom! Today, not a single one of you leaves Songpan Wei alive!"

Beneath the full moon, Mu Cuo's voice was sharp and shrill as a night owl, piercing eardrums with pain.

Then, an even more arrogant, domineering voice rang out.

"Holy shit, playing the 'Faith Burst' transformation trick, huh? Without that damn Buddha Kingdom, you're nothing! Strutting around in fake muscles, yapping at me? I'll feed you bullets till you're full!"

The next moment, gunfire erupted below, roars like thunder.

The smile on Li Jun's face faded, his expression turning rather strange.

Upon hearing Mu Cuo scream those four words — "Tianfu Heavy Industries" — he knew these people were definitely gunning for him.

But he never expected these Tianfu Heavy Industries guys to be *this* fierce. They blew up the Bodhi Corp building, destroyed Mu Cuo's Huangliang mainframe, and by a fortuitous mistake... saved him.

Where's the revenge in this? These are clearly his benefactors!

Li Jun pressed a hand to his abdomen and stood up, just about to peek out and watch his saviors fight Mu Cuo to the death. Suddenly, the charred, warped floorboard beneath his feet gave a cracking sound.

*Crunch!*

A large hand suddenly shot out, clamping onto Li Jun's ankle and yanking downward.

Caught off guard, Li Jun was dragged down through the floor to the level below.

During the fall, Li Jun didn't panic in the slightest. He chopped forward with his blade, forcing the hand gripping him to release. A mid-air backflip later, he landed steadily.

A monk of immense stature, clad in yellow robes, stood before him. His body was covered in burns from raging fire. Half the flesh on his face was gone, yet one could still recognize him as the spitting image of that terrifying Giant Buddha that had flipped the roof.

Li Junlet out a cold sneer; yet another charlatan feigning mystery had emerged.