The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

"Thank you for hosting."

The five abbots thanked Abbot Jingkong.

"My five junior brothers should all know Lord Marquis, so there's no need for this humble monk to introduce them, is there?"

Abbot Jingkong looked at the five abbots and said.

"Greetings to the Marquis."

Upon hearing this, the five members of the academy bowed to Chu Xiu with their hands clasped together.

"You're too kind, five academy masters."

Chu Xiu smiled calmly and said.

“Five junior brothers, I have summoned you here today because there is something extremely important I need to tell you.”

"This matter concerns the reputation of our entire Daxiangguo Temple."

Master Jingkong spoke with a serious expression.

"Is this related to the reputation of Daxiangguo Temple?"

The five people, including the abbot, became even more puzzled.

"Our Great Xiangguo Temple has a spy from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple within its ranks!"

"This person holds an extremely high position in our Great Xiangguo Temple; he is an elder!"

"This matter was discovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Shadow Guard together."

“This humble monk has already verified it before His Majesty, and the evidence is conclusive and there is not a trace of falsehood.”

Abbot Jingkong said in a deep voice.

"what?"

"Our Great Xiangguo Temple actually has a spy from the Wanfo Temple?"

"Amitabha, does Wanfo Temple think that our Daxiangguo Temple is easy to bully?"

"What a fine Wanfo Temple! Abbot, my junior brother is willing to go to Wanfo Temple in person to see just how powerful they are, daring to plant spies in our Daxiangguo Temple!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the five members of the academy were enraged and angrily rebuked him.

On the surface, it is impossible to tell that Abbot Jingwu is a spy for Wanfo Temple.

"This person is Zhikong."

Abbot Jingkong spoke calmly.

"Zhi Kong?"

Upon hearing this, the academy master and the others were stunned for a moment.

“Jingwu is blind to human nature; please preside over his punishment.”

After a long silence, Abbot Jingwu gave a bitter smile and bowed to Abbot Jingkong.

"Amitabha, good, good, good."

“A spy from Wanfo Temple has appeared among Junior Brother Jingwu’s disciples.”

“You really need to be punished. I’ll punish you by sending you to Wuya Cave for thirty years of seclusion.”

"For the next thirty years, you are not to step out of the Boundless Cave!"

"I will select an elder from the Luohan Academy to serve as the abbot of the Luohan Academy."

Abbot Jingkong put his hands together and spoke with a compassionate expression.

The Boundless Cave is located within the Great Xiangguo Temple. It was specifically prepared to punish monks who violated the laws of the temple, but whose violations were not particularly serious.

The cave was pitch black, with only the sound of the wind.

Even eminent monks can easily go mad in such an environment.

Under normal circumstances, being confined in the Boundless Cave for five or ten years would already be an extremely severe punishment.

Not to mention the thirty years of seclusion in the Boundless Cave.

"Yes, Jingwu obeys."

Abbot Jingwu spoke calmly and serenely.

"No!"

“Abbot, although Senior Brother Jingwu has taken Zhikong as his disciple, it is impossible for him to know Zhikong completely. Zhikong is a spy of Wanfo Temple. Even dismissing Senior Brother Jingwu from the position of head of the Arhat Academy is already very harsh, not to mention that he has to be in seclusion in Wuyadong for thirty years.”

"Yes, host, isn't this punishment too harsh?"

“Amitabha, please preside over the punishment of Brother Jingwu lightly.”

Upon hearing this, Abbot Jingliao and the others' expressions changed slightly, and they pleaded with Abbot Jingkong for leniency.

"There is no need to discuss this matter further."

"Fellow disciples, you may now return."

Abbot Jingkong spoke with an unchanged expression.

Abbot Jingwu bowed to Abbot Jingkong and then turned to walk towards the main hall gate.

however!

at this time!

Abbot Jingkong appeared out of thin air behind Abbot Jingwu and struck out with a palm towards Abbot Jingwu's back.

When this palm strike was unleashed, all that could be seen was the golden Buddhist light contained within Abbot Jingkong's palm; its power was extremely restrained.

Upon seeing this scene, the abbot and the others' expressions changed drastically; they were completely stunned.

Did Abbot Jingkong launch a sneak attack on Abbot Jingwu?

Abbot Jingwu clearly hadn't expected Abbot Jingkong to launch a sneak attack on him; the palm strike landed squarely on his back.

Although the Golden Arhat Dharma on Abbot Jingwu's body automatically defended, it burst forth with golden light.

However, he was still powerless to resist Abbot Jingkong's palm strike.

He was sent flying, smashing through the main gate of the Buddha Hall and flying out of the hall.

Swish!

Abbot Jingkong moved and disappeared outside the Great Buddha Hall.

A strange light flashed in Chu Xiu's eyes, and his expression turned odd.

to be frank.

He thought that Abbot Jingkong would expose Abbot Jingwu's identity in public and openly crush him with overwhelming force, using the combined strength of everyone to suppress Abbot Jingwu.

result……

The old monk pretended not to know the identity of Abbot Jingwu, allowing Abbot Jingwu to be completely unprepared before launching a sneak attack.

That old monk is cunning, so incredibly cunning!

Chu Xiu moved his feet and appeared outside the Great Buddha Hall with Abbot Jingkong.

Abbot Jingliao and the others exchanged glances. They hadn't realized what was going on from beginning to end, and could only follow them out of the Great Buddha Hall. However, they were wary of Abbot Jingkong.

Could it be that there's something wrong with the abbot of their Great Xiangguo Temple?

It shouldn’t be possible!

“Senior brother, you may kill me or torture me as you see fit.”

"But I don't understand, why did the abbot attack me?"

Abbot Jingwu struggled to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes dim, and he looked at Abbot Jingkong with a face full of grief and indignation, asking questions.

He changed his address for Abbot Jingkong from "Abbot" to "Abbot Brother".

"Jingwu, do you really not understand?"

“Our Great Xiangguo Temple isn’t just about Zhikong being a spy for Wanfo Temple; you are too!”

Abbot Jingkong looked at Abbot Jingwu calmly and said.

"Is Senior Brother Jingwu a spy for Wanfo Temple?"

"Junior Brother Jingwu is a spy for Wanfo Temple??"

The abbot and the others looked astonished, their eyes filled with surprise and doubt.

"If you want to incriminate someone, why bother?"

“Senior brother, since you say I am a traitor, then kill me.”

Abbot Jingwu closed his eyes and said with a look of resignation.

“Jingwu, you don’t need to put on an act in front of this humble monk.”

"You used the excuse of seclusion to secretly go to Yangzhou, hoping to find an opportunity to eliminate the Marquis. Did you really think you could get away with it without anyone noticing?"

"In fact, your every move is being watched by the Shadow Guards."

"The reason I didn't expose your identity directly just now was because I was afraid that if you knew your identity was exposed, you would harm your fellow disciples."

Abbot Jingkong said calmly, "Choosing to ambush you would have severely injured you. Even if you wanted to risk your life to take your fellow disciples down with you, you no longer have the strength."

"..."

Abbot Jingkong and the others were stunned. So Abbot Jingkong chose to launch a sneak attack because he was worried that Abbot Jingwu would find out their identities and perish together with them.

"I never imagined that my decades of hiding would be exposed because of the Yangzhou incident."

"But even if we're exposed, so what?"

"If you want to know about Wanfo Temple from me, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

Master Jingwu paused for a moment, sighed deeply, raised his right hand, and slapped it against his forehead.

It's obvious that Abbot Jingwu wants to commit suicide!