Chapter 583: Foreign Lands as Farmland

Chapter 583: The Frontier Becomes Field

In the Yumo region, the village of Jinzhū.

The barren village lay quietly beneath the bright moonlight; the brick‑wood outpost stood empty, its silence absolute.

After witnessing Dùnzhū be seduced by the Ming and slay the Gānquán Patriarch, the villagers fled in anger.

No lamps glowed within; only faint, primal candlelight drifted from the windows.

Along with it came a hoarse animal cry, as if mourning.

Awakening, Dùnzhū stood outside, restless and uneasy.

In the brief span of night, the once robust frontier man had become gaunt, a dry shell draped over thick bones.

This was the consequence of severing the Buddha's grace and cutting the root of wisdom.

Had it not been for Yuan Mingfei's intervention, he would likely have turned into a cold corpse.

Yet the lingering dread that now filled Dùnzhū's heart was not because he had walked through the gates of the dead.

It stemmed from his negligence, nearly causing Jianjiu Azhòu to commit suicide.

If that were true, he would not know how to confront the wandering spirit of the village chief on the plateau.

In his subconscious, Dùnzhū still believed that a Buddha‑servant's soul lingered after death.

Either reincarnating in the Buddha‑land or lingering on the frontier plateau.

This thought was almost carved into his marrow; even as a murderer of the Buddha, he could not change it in a short time.

A creak sounded.

The outpost door swung open; a frontier woman emerged, carrying a wooden basin, her palm scarred by burns from cursed blood.

Dùnzhū should call her Aunt Jìyīn.

She was no one else but the frontier woman who had knelt before Li Jūn, begging him not to further profane the Gānquán Patriarch.

It was she who, after the other villagers fled, forcefully drove away her own son and chose to stay to care for Jianjiu Azhòu.

Dùnzhū could not quite grasp Aunt Jìyīn's contradictory actions.

He did not understand why the once timid woman suddenly possessed such courage and resolve.

Thinking of this, Dùnzhū awkwardly averted his gaze from Aunt Jìyīn.

Yet she seemed to see his doubt, set down the blood‑stained basin, attempted to clasp her hands, then, after a moment's hesitation, let them fall.

" Dùnzhū, rest assured. Jianjiu A‑dad saved my little one with his life, so I will return a life to him."

Seeing Dùnzhū remain silent, the woman smiled helplessly, lifted the basin again, and walked aside.

"Aunt,"

Dùnzhū suddenly called out to her, his withered face—shriveled by genetic decay—filled with bewilderment.

"Since you cherish Jianjiu A‑dad's kindness, even willing to sacrifice your life for him, why do you still plead for the Gānquán Patriarch? Are all these calamities not because of him?"

"Dùnzhū, you are a native of the plateau; why do you harbor such thoughts?"

The woman paused, turning to look at Dùnzhū.

"Is there any fault in what I say?"

"Right or wrong no longer matters. Perhaps it is your uniqueness that earned the Buddha's favor. Dùnzhū, Jianjiu A‑dad is right; you are a seed of hope, yet you are too eager to sprout."

A fleeting tired smile flickered across Aunt Jìyīn's face; in her eyes shone a clarity Dùnzhū had never seen before.

"When Jianjiu A‑dad died, I heard his soul's voice. All I did was what he wished me to do."

She spoke slowly: "He was Azhòu's grandfather, willing to forfeit a lifetime of merit to die for Azhòu, yet he did not wish the entire village of Jinzhū to suffer. When a Buddha‑servant loses village and land, they lose the path to redeem sin and become wandering spirits on the plateau. Jianjiu A‑dad could not bear to see this happen."

"Pleading for mercy will not spare us from the monks of Gānquán Temple." Dùnzhū buried his head, his voice hoarse.

"Hold onto any chance to live; isn't that what Jianjiu A‑dad has always taught us?"

Dùnzhū's face flushed suddenly; his fists clacked as he clenched.

A wave of guilt swirled in his mind, yet Dùnzhū did not regret his choice.

"Do not blame yourself. If you did not kill Gānquán, those foreign Ming would also kill. The fate of Jinzhū was perhaps already sealed when we were chosen to transport the divine stone to build Gānquán Temple."

The woman's tone was calm and unhurried.

It seemed that in the accident a few hours earlier, more than one person had awakened.

They simply made different choices.

"Aunt Jìyīn, I wish to go in and see Azhòu."

"Let her be quiet."

The woman sighed heavily. "The former Jianjiu Azhòu was the most beautiful flower of Jinzhū, a lark soaring in Yumo's sky, but now...

Dùnzhū stared deeply at the window that glimmered faintly, then resolutely turned away.

He walked in large strides, his gaze resolute, his heart ablaze with fierce fire.

Dùnzhū knew his body was rotting step by step; he feared not death, but he could not accept dying thus.

He would seek the Ming who had given him the chance to murder the Buddha.

"When Jianjiu A‑dad died, I too heard his soul's voice."

Dùnzhū muttered to himself, "Azhòu is not a demon; Dad, rest assured, I will help her reclaim her human identity!"

At first arrival, this desolate steppe on the frontier's outer edge taught Li Jūn a lesson.

Though he thought he had long seen deceit and intrigue, countless cannibals, yet his numbed heart was again deeply shaken.

Mountains and rivers quiver; the world devours.

Did the old Ming Empire's two capitals and thirteen provinces eat people? They did.

The disciples of Daoist order, scholars of Confucian order, even followers of the Han‑transmitted Buddhist order—all were similarly bound.

Yet compared to the frontier's Buddha‑servants, they were far more fortunate.

The frontier’s Buddhist "eating people" was more direct and naked, more blood‑lusting and cruel.

What further oppressed him was the unbelievable endurance and obedience of these frontier Buddha‑servants.

Even when cattle and sheep faced knives, they still resisted, yet they willingly gave their lives, even kneeling for the so‑called master Patriarch.

On the frontier plateau, darkness hides five fingers; absurd reality lies within.

Yet Li Jūn did not feel the heaviness of darkness; instead his heart felt light.

Since it was such a frontier, what he had to do was simple.

Simply to kill from head to tail!

No grand justice or chivalry; just cut when one cannot bear to look.

"Sìjiǔ, does that monk have any usable information in his mind?"

A primitive fire pit burning with kindling, people sat around it.

Zou Sijiu, upon hearing this, nodded and said, "Fortune smiles; that lad is the Ganquan Dharma King's confidant, having carried out many nefarious deeds for him and knowing much. Yet if you could temper your hand, do not crush Ganquan's mind into that guise, perhaps we might discern more clearly."

At that moment, Zou Sijiu's gaze fell upon Li Jun, who seemed rather helpless, and Li Jun muttered, "I never imagined he could be so fragile; next time I shall be more cautious."

Li Jun answered in a muffled tone.

"'It is as Aunt Yuan predicted; that girl named Ao Zhuo is not some demonic fallen spirit, but rather a wretched creature fashioned into a form that is neither human nor ghost.'"

Zou Sijiu remarked, "The perpetrator of such affairs is an organization called 'Sheji' within the agricultural sequence."

Concerning the agricultural sequences, Li Jun had indeed taken on some, such as the 'Wuchun Diyiling' Songshan of the Wa Region's Honghu, and the 'Sizhan Qianshe' Master Wu Yao Jing of the Liaodong Lu Fan.

Except for killing, Li Jun's deepest impression of the agricultural sequences was the 'Chunfen' elixir he had once taken on Chengdu's Ninth Dragon Street.

Within the various forces of the Great Ming Empire, the footprints of agricultural sequences were not few, yet most were confined to realms such as medical transformation and food production.

It seemed they held little ambition to dominate the realm, and no province was known to harbor their foundational ground; within the sequence, their practitioners moved stealthily, lacking any prominent presence.

Even Li Jun's former friend He Cangjia found satisfaction in being a carefree local snake in Chongqing.

Overall, to the world it appeared as a sequence without grand ambition.

As Li Jun pondered his recollections of the agricultural sequences, he heard a guard behind Zou Sijiu pose a doubtful question.

"'Are these people the Buddhist slaves of the Ganquan Temple? Does the temple simply watch them idle?'"

"'Ah, you are still too kind,' he remarked."

Zou Sijiu sighed, "The solemnity of the Buddha requires the sustenance of demons; the faith of the slave likewise needs demons to buttress it. Without the threat of survival, even a timid flock may aspire to leap over the fence."

"'Such matters are not rare on the imperial mainland, yet those folk do not appear as grotesquely as the borderland Buddhist sects, nor are their methods so cruel.'"

Zou Sijiu's words left no room for rebuttal, and the fire pit fell into sudden silence.

"'Lord Ma, do you know of this 'Sheji' agricultural force?'"

Yuan Mingfei was the first to break the hush, turning her gaze toward Lord Wang.

As the oldest presence among those present, only Lord Wang might possess some knowledge of this 'Sheji'.

"'I once heard some specters mention it, mostly old news from the 'Heavenly Division of Martial Arts' era, yet they all employed the same term to describe the 'Sheji' agricultural sequence.'"

From the reddened eyes, Lord Wang's voice rang heavy and solemn: "Radical!"

"'The members of 'Sheji' are rare radicals among agricultural sequences. Unlike the current sequences that regard themselves as 'fields' for cultivation, they view heaven and earth as cultivable ground, all things as fertile; should one will, they may breed whatever they desire.'"

Lord Wang's gaze swept the crowd: "In their words, even the Buddhist's root, the Dao's foundation, the martial's dantian, are but trivial matters."

It is uncertain whether this is the cause; anyway, after the martial sequence collapsed, the agricultural sequence did not receive a population base to secure their existence. In this regard, the attitudes of the three teachings were strikingly consistent, so the ascendees of the agricultural sequence in recent years have mostly been naturally awakened, not mass‑bred.

The agricultural sequence has always presented itself as rather honest, a humble, face‑spitting demeanor. When the three teachings are willing to grant them, they receive; when they are denied, they cause no trouble.

Lord Wang let out a cold laugh: "But now it seems these agricultural sequences have not found their own fields within the empire's thirteen provinces of the old capitals; instead they turn their gaze toward the borderlands."

If the three teachings were to join forces in suppression, then 'Sheji' would seemingly have no chance to settle in the borderlands. Yet now the border Buddhist sequence and 'Sheji' appear less like rivals and more like collaborators. Why would the border Buddhist sequence risk entanglement with them? Surely it is to consolidate faith?

Zou Sijiu asked, puzzled.

Li Jun, however, seemed to recall something suddenly, his gaze turning toward Yuan Mingfei.

"'In the San Yin Temple's subordinate laboratory called 'Ga Ou He', I should have encountered the 'Sheji' agricultural sequence.'"

Yuan Mingfei gently closed her eyes, her tone calm.

"'In that laboratory, San Yin Temple had mastered a complete process from capture, dissection, mating, gestation, cultivation, to extracting the cultivated entity's consciousness as causal computational power; at the time I did not understand when San Yin Temple acquired such a technique. Yet if the border Buddhist sequence, in secret, were colluding with 'Sheji' behind the back of the Han Buddhist sequence, then everything would be as natural as could be.'"

"'Does the Han Buddhist sequence of the imperial mainland truly not know? Or do they merely pretend ignorance?'"

The ever‑silent Chen Qisheng suddenly spoke, asking.

Having witnessed the sordid squabbles between the old‑school and new‑school Dao sequences, he was exceptionally sharp to such intra‑sequence machinations.

Yuan Mingfei, upon hearing this, displayed a faint wry smile and said nothing.

Zou Sijiu, puzzled, asked: "What purpose does San Yin Temple have in pursuing these technological methods?"

"'To break the lock of promotion.'"

Yuan Mingfei explained: "Just as the new‑school Dao sequence employs 'Huang Liang' to achieve divine transcendence, the Buddhist sequence seeks a path beyond the flesh to attain Buddhahood. The 'Buddha Realm Master Machine' is the product they fashioned by imitating 'Huang Liang'."

Although the emergence of the 'Buddha Realm Master Machine' granted the Buddhist sequence the same cyclic cultivation ability as the new‑school Dao sequence, and even rendered the Buddhist's faculties more potent and agile for those of equal rank, the 'Earthly Buddha Realm' also gave them advantage against Dao and Yin‑Yang sequences; yet this technique bears obvious deficiencies.

Cultivating an ascendant of equal rank consumes resources far beyond those of the new‑school Dao sequence; the higher the rank, the more this deficiency magnifies. Some Buddhist sequences of rank four possess causal computational power insufficient to fashion a sufficiently realistic and vast Buddha realm.

Moreover, since the border Buddhist sequence first appeared, their doctrine includes many rituals concerning blood and flesh organs, so their understanding of the corporeal is no less keen. In fact, among all sequences of the Great Ming Empire, only the border Buddhist sequence can barely keep pace with the agricultural sequence.

Therefore, even after accepting the Buddhist realm technique crafted by the Han Buddhist sequence, many within the border Buddhist sequence still regard the mysteries and potentials of the flesh as a capability forged by the technique, a Buddha realm that far surpasses the machine. They name this flesh‑based capability capable of replacing the Buddha realm master machine as 'Sharelizi'.

Thus the thread of events became crystal clear.

Like Jian Jiu Ao Zhuo, supposedly fallen due to unfaithful belief, is most likely a failed experiment abandoned at some laboratory.

They were not destroyed but were taken by various temples, repurposed, and turned into sacrificial offerings to bolster prestige.

Across the highland's sky, not only do Buddha figures preside over the fate of the border people, but also a cadre of demons capable of making their lives worse than death.

"'It seems our grievances with this 'Sheji' are not new, but also carry old resentment.'"

Li Jun cast a bundle of firewood into the fire pit, his cold eyes reflecting the ever‑growing flames.

"'If Jian Jiu Ao Zhuo can become that form, the Yumò region surely harbors a 'Sheji' experimental field.'"

Li Jun instructed: "This is our first encounter; to be prudent, you, Mingfei, take Old Chen and Old Zou together to meet them, and test just how deep this 'Sheji' runs."

Yuan Mingfei frowned at the command; before she could reply, Zou Sijiu beside her remarked, "Must it be such a grand entourage? I wonder if I alone might suffice?"

Chen Qisheng scoffed, "Are you so eager to become a test subject for others? Yet you lack the strength of the Yin‑Yang sequence's shoulders, have no research value, and studying you alone would be enough."

"'You old fool, are you trying to stir trouble?' Zou Sijiu lifted an eyebrow."

Chen Qisheng, hands tucked in his sleeves, smiled, "You jest, I dare not. How about this: let you first pull me into a dream, then we can train together?"

Chen Qisheng now carries countless Wudang spirits; with Zou Sijiu's current strength, could he possibly haul him?

In this world, it would be even more futile; ten of him bound together could not defeat Chen Qisheng.

"'If you dare not, then consider it understanding.'"

Zou Sijiu promptly seized the first half of the phrase and walked away, ignoring the rest of Chen Qisheng's words, and turned his gaze toward Li Jun.

"'We are going to deal with 'Sheji'; what shall you, Old Li, do?'"

"'You once complained that my hand was too heavy; now I shall undertake tasks that require no such division.'"

Li Jun laughed, "I and Lord Wang shall go confront those Buddhist masters standing in plain sight, and, by the way, repair their temples and super‑spirit them."

But...

Yuan Mingfei's face revealed concern, but before she could finish, Li Jun cut her off.

"'Rest assured; those who trouble San Yin Temple are not limited to us. Moreover, even if we encounter an intractable obstacle, my lord and I can make a swift escape.'"

"'Run? When the third‑tier promotion was updated, Lord Wang had already excised that ability.'"

Lord Wang elongated his tone, his brazen demeanor causing the previously humbled Zou Sijiu to feel envy.

"'Lord Wang is even more swaggering; why not challenge him?'"

He jabbed Chen Qisheng with his elbow, squinted, and spoke in a teasing tone.

"I told you to pull me into the dream first."

Zou Si‑jiu stared wide‑eyed and, in fury, asked, "Are you now speaking to me?"

"I told you to pull me first."

Chen Qisheng repeated the same words, and Zou Si‑jiu's teeth ached instantly, yet he was powerless.

Just then, a muffled thud erupted suddenly outside the watchtower.

It sounded as if someone was ceaselessly striking their head.

Under the moonlight, the gaunt Dun Zhu knelt on the ground, his forehead already gushing with blood.