Chapter 365: The Great Evil Monk, Zen Master Jingyun

Chapter 365: Chapter 365: The Great Evil Monk, Zen Master Jingyun

"And who are you?" Gui Fan demanded, turning to glare at the newcomer.

He had been the Imperial Grandson, after all; how could he not have some pride? There was a difference between him choosing to kill someone and others goading him into it from the sidelines.

"You’re not from the Southern Domain, so it’s only natural you don’t recognize me," the old man said with a wave of his hand. "Don’t mind us. You carry on with your business, and we’ll just watch from the side. Those folks from Sunset Valley are a bad lot. Killing them is a service to the public."

"Ba Manzi, you old bastard! Did I fuck your wife or something?" Qiu Changkong roared.

"Heh, my old lady’s been dead for decades. If you want a piece of that, I won’t stop you," Ba Manzi chuckled, revealing two missing front teeth. The grin looked exceptionally sleazy.

"Amitabha," Hui Ke said, shaking his head from the side. "Such vulgarities are truly an offense to the ears."

"Heh, Little Monk, weren’t you born from between a woman’s legs, too?" Ba Manzi said with a wicked grin.

Hui Ke gripped his Profound Iron Staff, pressed one palm to the other, and said, "Amitabha. This monk does not wish to take a life, but what choice have you left me?"

Gui Fan, however, was getting excited. "Mage," he said, "you take these four old geezers, and I’ll take the rest of them. How about a little competition?"

"Very well." Hui Ke nodded, gripping his Profound Iron Staff and charging straight at Ba Manzi and his three companions.

Ba Manzi hadn’t expected the Little Monk to have such a short fuse. ’I barely said anything, and he’s already trying to kill me?’

’Aren’t monks supposed to be compassionate and refrain from killing?’

’Why is he coming to kill me over a single taunt?’

"Hey, Little Monk, there’s no need for this, really!" Ba Manzi said, even as he drew his Sword.

Meanwhile, Gui Fan charged straight into the group from Sunset Valley.

Neither Hui Ke nor Gui Fan were kind-hearted souls. Though Hui Ke was a monk, aside from his abstinence from women, the Buddhist precepts meant less than dog shit to him.

’Taking a life? What’s the big deal?’

And Gui Fan was the former Imperial Grandson of the Hua Xu Empire. Accustomed to his lofty status, he saw human lives as worthless as weeds.

After traveling far and wide with Hui Ke, his temper had improved considerably, but that still depended on the situation.

’What’s the point of practicing martial arts if you don’t fight back when provoked like this?’

Ba Manzi and his three companions were all at Integration Realm Peak. The four of them had a combined offensive and defensive Technique, allowing them to face even a Void Realm opponent without fear.

As a result, they rarely met their match while roaming the Southern Domain.

This had allowed Ba Manzi to develop a bad habit of running his mouth. He never imagined that today, his loose tongue would lead the four of them to a point of no return.

The Profound Iron Staff in Hui Ke’s hand was a gift from Chu Fan. It was unpolished and weighed over eleven thousand pounds.

His Staff Technique was all sweeping, powerful blows, each strike carrying immense force.

Seeing that the Little Monk was truly so relentless, Ba Manzi and his companions grew furious. They immediately unleashed their coordinated technique, moving as one to surround Hui Ke.

Hui Ke was slightly taken aback; he found that when the four of them worked together, they could actually withstand his assault.

This forced Hui Ke to get serious.

In contrast to Hui Ke’s fight, what Gui Fan was engaged in was a complete, one-sided slaughter.

"Great hero! Great hero! We were wrong to run our mouths! Please, spare us!" Qiu Changkong pleaded as he fought a retreating battle.

"Run your mouths?" Gui Fan sneered. "If you were stronger than me, I’d be the corpse right now, wouldn’t I? We did nothing to offend you when we met. You were the ones who attacked us on sight, screaming for our heads. And now that you’re losing, you beg for mercy? Heh. You wish."

Even as Gui Fan spoke, he cut down another three disciples from Sunset Valley.

"Amitabha. The Buddha taught that by laying down the butcher’s knife, one can attain Buddhahood on the spot. For the sake of this old monk, why don’t you all lay down your weapons and talk things over peacefully?"

Another monk came flying from the city gate. He looked ancient, but his kasaya was a brilliant, vibrant red that seemed almost new.

He carried a Nine-Eared Golden Dragon Zen Staff taller than himself and wore a Vilu Crown, giving him the appearance of a truly Enlightened Monk.

"Old Monk, save me!" Qiu Changkong cried out, as if clutching at a final straw.

Gui Fan and Hui Ke ignored him completely, not even sparing him a glance.

Even after the old monk arrived, Gui Fan killed another man.

On Hui Ke’s end, he finally shattered the four-man formation, heavily wounding all of them with a single swing of his staff.

Seeing that the pair had shown him no respect whatsoever, the old monk became enraged. He flew into the air, pointed his Zen Staff, and a bolt of lightning shot down, blasting toward Hui Ke.

"A Magic Attack?" Hui Ke was stunned. He dodged the bolt, which blasted a crater several meters wide into the ground.

Gui Fan paused at the sight.

The power of that lightning bolt was indeed formidable.

"Amitabha. You are a member of the Buddhist Sect. How can you disregard its precepts and kill so wantonly?" the old monk admonished Hui Ke.

Hui Ke just smiled. He recognized this monk.

To be precise, Hui Ke’s past incarnation, Master Jikong, had known this monk. Despite his current high-and-mighty, righteous-sounding words, he was a true "flesh-and-wine" monk—and a thoroughly evil one at that, who had committed countless wicked deeds.

It’s said that the good die young while a scourge remains for a thousand years. This old monk was just such a scourge.

No one knew his secular name, but few in the Southern Domain were unfamiliar with his Dharma name: Zen Master Jingyun. He was originally a monk from Bodhi Hall in the Central Domain, but after violating the sect’s sacred rules, his Cultivation was crippled, and he was imprisoned in the hall’s Monument Forest.

This led to a disaster for Bodhi Hall. While the Grand Mage of Bodhi Hall was away traveling, a group of assailants stormed the hall, slaughtering over a thousand monks and rescuing Jingyun.

Jingyun later arrived in the Southern Domain and took up temporary residence in a temple, claiming to be a visiting monk.

No one knew where he acquired it, but he obtained an Evil Technique. He then massacred every monk in the temple, using their blood to fuel his new Cultivation, and in just ten short years, he reached the Mahayana Realm.

In his previous life, Master Jikong had crossed paths with Jingyun. At the time, Master Jikong was already injured when he happened upon Jingyun committing some evil act and decided to subdue him.

Normally, even an injured Master Jikong would have had no trouble dealing with Jingyun. But who could have known that the man was so treacherous? He feigned death and launched a sneak attack, worsening Master Jikong’s existing injuries.

By the time Master Jikong had recovered and went looking for Jingyun again, the man had long since vanished into hiding.

The current Hui Ke was no match for Jingyun, who was in the Mahayana Realm. So naturally, Hui Ke wasn’t about to start pointing fingers.

He was not nearly as guileless in this life as he had been in his last.

"This monk is merely exterminating Demons and defending the righteous path," Hui Ke said, pressing one palm to his chest. "Which one of these men’s hands isn’t stained with the blood of countless innocents?"

"This old monk observes that you, Bhikkhuni, are not from our Southern Domain, are you?" Jingyun said.

Before Hui Ke could respond, Qiu Changkong immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, Master! These two aren’t from our Southern Domain! When this ancient city appeared, they came here to steal opportunities meant for the Cultivators of our Southern Domain! We were just telling them to leave, but who would’ve thought they’d just start killing people!"

"A life for a life is the natural order of things. Since you’ve come to our Southern Domain to kill wantonly, you will give this old monk a reason not to kill you."

Jingyun’s gaze on Hui Ke was chilling.

At that moment, Hui Ke recalled the Evil Technique Jingyun cultivated. He had mastered it by slaughtering all the monks in that temple.

And Hui Ke was also a monk—a Void Realm monk, no less. To Jingyun, he must seem like a priceless tonic.

’So, it won’t be so easy for Gui Fan and me to get out of here today...’