Killing Monks

The entire population of Twin Eagle Fort, including servants, guards, and disciples, exceeded five hundred.

To say that all five hundred people were innocent would be a huge joke.

Those who can establish themselves in Twin Eagle Fortress, or even aid and abet evil, all have some tainted hands.

However, it would not be entirely true to say that all five hundred of them were heinous criminals who took pleasure in oppressing the people.

Among them may be those who were coerced, those who went with the flow, and those who were just trying to make a living.

Guangyuan weaved through the chaotic golden light and carnage, only killing those who, under the influence of the mirror light, behaved particularly violently and cruelly, and whose moves were ruthless and clearly those who had been villains for years.

Most of the people he killed were core henchmen or arrogant leaders of Twin Eagle Fortress.

By the time his fists were stained with blood, most of the most frenzied thugs in the arena had been eliminated.

Guangyuan ignored them and turned to walk into Twin Eagle Fortress.

His target was the dungeon inside the fortress.

In the rumors circulating in Miyake Prefecture and the surrounding areas, the dungeon of Twin Eagle Fortress is a more terrifying place than the Hall of Hell.

Those who are thrown into it, whether they are commoners who have offended Twin Eagle Fortress, disobedient merchants, or certain "uncooperative"江湖客 (jianghu ke, a term referring to martial arts practitioners), often never come out and their fate is unknown.

Pushing open the dungeon's iron door, a pungent, nauseating stench of mold, blood, excrement, and some other indescribable decay assaulted the senses.

The dungeon was extremely dark, with only a few slivers of light filtering through a few narrow ventilation holes high up.

On both sides of the passage were individual prison cells separated by iron bars. Inside, the cells were shadowy and indistinct, and no sound could be heard.

The prison was eerily silent, as if the people imprisoned inside were not living beings.

Guangyuan frowned and strained his eyes to look inside.

In some cells, there were indeed blurry human figures, either curled up in a corner or lying motionless on the floor, making it impossible to tell whether they were dead or alive.

He walked to the first cell, placed his palm on the rusty, thick iron lock, and released his inner strength.

"Click!"

The iron lock snapped in response.

He followed the same method, walking along the passage. With each strike of his palm, heavy iron locks shattered and fell to the ground, making a crisp and piercing sound in the deathly silent dungeon.

"The door is unlocked. You are...free."

Guangyuan's voice echoed in the dungeon, carrying a sigh that he himself was unaware of.

However, what answered him was still that suffocating silence and darkness.

No one cheered, no one rushed out, and there was hardly any commotion.

Guangyuan stood there for a moment, listening to the faint, gradually subsiding shouts of battle outside and his own breathing. Finally, he shook his head, turned around, and left this gloomy and putrid place.

It seems that this is all he can do.

He returned to the open space in front of the fortress gate.

After a chaotic battle and the rampage of the mirror light, the place was in ruins, with corpses lying everywhere, the wounded groaning, and those who were lucky enough not to be bewitched or to regain their senses had already fled.

Bajie remained seated cross-legged in the same spot, with the "Mirror of Karma" still emitting a dim golden light in front of him.

His eyes were closed, his brows were furrowed, his face was covered in sweat, and the back of his monk's robe was soaked with sweat.

Guangyuan stopped a few feet in front of him. Just then, Bajie's eyelashes trembled a few times and he slowly opened his eyes.

He said, "You... are you the 'master' that this 'Mirror of Karma' now acknowledges?"

"I don't know," Guangyuan replied.

"You don't know?" Pigsy was somewhat surprised by this answer. "What do you mean by 'I don't know'?"

"I don't know why this 'mentally challenged mirror' thinks I'm its owner," Guangyuan said, glancing at the Guanye Mirror.

"I don't understand what its criteria are for 'recognizing a master'."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy said, "Buddha's weapons possess spirits and choose their own masters. This cannot be judged by ordinary reason, nor can it be obtained by human force."

He gestured to the monk's knife behind him: "Even this 'evil-suppressing knife' of mine came into my hands due to fate."

"You have gained the approval of the 'Mirror of Karma,' so you must have... unique insights or a deep foundation in the path of Buddhism."

Guangyuan shook his head: "I'm preparing to return to secular life."

"Oh?" Pigsy's surprise deepened. "Why?"

"Because," Guangyuan raised his eyes, looking at the outline of Three Leaf City still shrouded in the shadow of Twin Eagle Fortress in the distance, "Buddhism cannot solve the fundamental problem."

"The fundamental question?" Pigsy seemed intrigued and pressed on, "In your view, what is the fundamental question? Dependent origination and emptiness?"

Guangyuan did not answer directly, but said:

"Without studying math, physics, and chemistry, magic is everywhere. Dialectics is not materialistic; it leads to the idea of ​​gods and Buddhas."

Pigsy frowned, completely unable to understand the meaning of those two sentences.

Seeing the other party's confusion, Guangyuan did not offer any further explanation.

He was just expressing his feelings.

Bajie remained silent for a long time, seemingly giving up on understanding those two sentences, and refocused his attention on the "Mirror of Karma" in front of him.

He exhaled softly, his tone returning to its previous calm: "Very well. Since that's the case, this humble monk will not insist any further."

"Buddhist soldiers choose their masters, and there is a reason for that. My purpose in coming here is to retrieve the Buddhist soldiers who have been scattered and used by evil people, so that they can return to the right path and help people."

"Now that the 'Mirror of Karma' has recognized you as its master, you must have the opportunity and ability to guide it to the right path."

As he spoke, he actually bent down, picked up the lead box from the ground again, carefully placed the "Mirror of Observation" that was still emitting an unstable golden light into the box, and closed the lid.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the entire lead box toward Guangyuan!

"Huh?" Guangyuan instinctively caught the lead box and said in surprise, "You...you don't want this mirror anymore?"

His original intention was simply to exchange a mirror for peace.

He had assumed that the fierce monk had gone to such great lengths to kill Xu Jinying and cause such a commotion, surely in order to seize the Buddhist weapons.

I didn't expect the other party to give up so easily?

Pigsy put his hands together and said, "What this humble monk wants is for the Buddha's weapons not to be misused and to be used for righteous purposes."

"Since it has already recognized you as its master, why should this humble monk forcibly take it, only to increase karmic consequences?"

"I hope you will make good use of this mirror and not fail to live up to the original intention of the Buddha's soldiers in 'observing karma and maintaining right mindfulness'."

"Uh..." Guangyuan held the lead box that had returned to his hands, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Which eye of yours saw me engaging in "mindfulness of karma"?

But Bajie didn't explain anything; instead, he turned and left.

After he left, Lu Fei appeared and said, "Damn, this monk is actually pretty nice."

He was referring to Pigsy returning the mirror to Guangyuan.

Guangyuan glanced at him and said, "If you were from Shuangying Fortress, would you consider Bajie a good person or a bad person?"

"That person is definitely not a good person!" Lu Fei said.

"So, good people and bad people also depend on their stance," Guangyuan said.

"You bald monk, what's your stance?" Lu Fei suddenly asked.

Guangyuan didn't answer the question, but simply said, "Let's go collect the body."