Stranger Danger

Chapter 316: Buddha Taoist

The teacher answered, “I heard it’s because Wang Luori, Bai Xinran and Jiang Huanjian colluded with heretics and were plotting great harm against the people, but the Pacification Bureau and the Black Feather Guards were able to turn it around and smite them where they stood. Sunset Hill, the Bai Clan and the Blood Shadow Palace were just the collateral damage.”

“As for who these heretics are and what they were plotting, we have no answer yet.”

“Heretics, huh? The heretics are probably just part of the reason they went to such drastic lengths,” Zhang Lanjiang said slowly while tapping the table.

The teacher voiced his confusion, “I don’t understand, headmaster.”

Zhang Lanjiang explained, “The Pacification Bureau is making an example out of Sunset Hill, the Bai Clan and the Blood Shadow Palace. Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang aren’t normally this ruthless, but the jianghu warriors went way overboard with their attack on Ye Qing. That is why they took the opportunity to tell everyone that they are not to be fucked with. They want everyone to remember what happened today every time they plot against Luo Shui.”

“Do you think the Pacification Bureau would seek us out, headmaster?” The teacher asked worriedly.

“White Horse Academy is a refined, upright and proper academy that practices what we preach! Whatever their plan may be, they cannot lay a hand on us when we’ve not committed any offense!” Zhang Lanjiang declared imperiously.

“That’s true enough,” the teacher echoed in agreement.

However, Zhang Lanjiang abruptly changed his tune and said, “That said, you remember what happened with Sunset Hill. The brush is mightier than the sword only when the person wielding the sword is willing to reason with you.”

“I heard that one of our disciples, Wen Zailai, shares a close relationship with Wang Luori. He’s also been spreading rumors and fanning the flames regarding Ye Qing. We would have no choice but to capitulate if Gu Suitang decides to attack us through this.”

The teacher understood his meaning immediately and declared in an indignant, sanctimonious tone, “A scholar should conduct themselves in a respectful manner showing dignity, self-respect, compassion, kindness and honesty. But despite our teachings, Wen Zailai is anything but that. For the good of all, I shall expel him from White Horse Academy this instant!”

Zhang Lanjiang didn’t respond immediately. He thought for a few seconds before replying, “It’s one thing if he’s just corrupt and unscrupulous, he has the gall to plot against a Patrolman of the Pacification Bureau as well. That is a major crime that cannot be forgiven easily.”

“Wen Xuan, you will round up some men and escort Wen Zailai to the Pacification Bureau personally. Do whatever you must to garner the Pacification Bureau’s forgiveness!”

“That’s...” The teacher flinched, but Zhang Lanjiang cut him off before he could say anything, “Go!”

“As you wish, headmaster.” The teacher left with his orders.

After Wen Xuan was gone, Zhang Lanjiang looked out of the window and murmured, “I have no choice but to cooperate with the Pacification Bureau on this matter.”

However, Wen Xuan came back much sooner than expected and reported, “Headmaster, Wen Zailai is not in the academy right now. We don’t know where he has gone to.”

“He must have escaped.” Zhang Lanjiang massaged his forehead. “Find him immediately. If he cannot be found, then you will head to the Pacification Bureau and ask for Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang’s forgiveness.”

Wen Xuan replied, “Understood, headmaster,” but Zhang Lanjiang changed his mind a second later. “Actually, forget it. If you can’t find him, then I will pay them a visit myself. Also, make an announcement saying that White Horse Academy will be shutting down for a year. Tell the public that we are planning to forge our body, hone our minds, and expand our knowledge.”

It’s not a tactical retreat, it’s called cultivating for a better future.

“As you wish, headmaster.”

......

At the commandery hall, Jiang Muyang frowned deeply after listening to Li Lang’s full report. A moment later, he arrived at a decision and ordered, “Send Song Yushu[1] in.”

A while later, Song Yushu followed Li Lang into the commandery hall. As soon as the right minister saw Jiang Muyang, he immediately said in an excited voice, “Governor, the Pacification Bureau mobilized the Black Feather Guards without going through use first. That is a major offense, is it not? I urge you to notify Lord Zhou Mu about this and have Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang punished for their transgression!”

“You want punishment?” Jiang Muyang looked at the excited Song Yushu with pity in his eyes. “You may have it.”

“Right Minister Song Yushu, you are found guilty of colluding with the likes of Bai Xinhu and Jiang Huanjian to commit various unforgivable crimes against Chu. Your seal is revoked, your position is no more, and you will be locked up in jail until it is time to transfer you to the Pacification Bureau, which is tomorrow. They shall be the ones to decide your fate!”

“W-What?” Song Yushu could hardly believe his ears, but when his seal was ripped out of his robes without resistance, he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

“I didn’t do it, my lord! I’m innocent!” Song Yushu screamed as he attempted to run up to Jiang Muyang and begged for mercy.

Jiang Muyang barked harshly, “What are you waiting for, Li Lang? Take him away!”

“At once!” Li Lang immediately stepped forward and apprehended Song Yushu. Then, he dragged the flailing, screaming man out of the door.

Stripped of his seal and position, Song Yushu was no more powerful than an ordinary person. Naturally, he was no match for Li Lang.

“I’m innocent, my lord! I’m innocent! Please, please!”

The screams grew weaker and weaker until the commandery hall fell completely silent. Jiang Muyang stared in the direction Song Yushu had disappeared to and sighed. “I told you not to provoke the Pacification Bureau, but you just wouldn’t listen to reason.”

“How can I save you now that the Pacification Bureau is making an example out of everyone who had transgressed them?”

......

At the Pacification Bureau’s headquarters, every Pacification Bureau member save for a handful of essential personnel were currently gathered at the training grounds.

Fang Xiaoman and Gu SUitang were standing on an elevated platform, while the Peacemakers—Ye Qing, Lin Yuhuai, Chu Nianjiu and more—were standing in a line behind them.

“Zhou Chaosheng, Zhan Yang, Deng Sheng, Jin Chen, Sun Shangwen, Xu Feilong...”

Gu Suitang named twelve people in a row before sweeping his gaze across the Pacification Sentinels and crushing everyone with his aura. For a moment, everyone felt like a wooden raft desperately trying to survive a rainstorm on the sea.

“Bring them forward.”

The next moment, two dozen Pacification Sentinels dragged the twelve prisoners onto the platform.

“Kneel.”

As Gu Suitang commanded in a murderous tone, the twenty four Pacification Sentinels raised their sabers and smashed the prisoners’ kneecaps into bits, dropping them onto the floor. All twelve men writhed like worms but could only make desperate, whiny noises from their throats. It was because their tongues had already been severed.

Gu Suitang looked at the confused crowd and sneered. “Do you know what crimes these twelve have committed? Do you know why I’m making them kneel in front of y’all?”

The crowd was as silent as they were solemn.

Gu Suitang continued, “It’s very simple, really. As Pacification Sentinels, it is their duty to protect the people and slay all those who will threaten Chu. Instead, they betrayed us by colluding with outsiders, selling our secrets, aiding our villains, and generally undermining the Pacification Bureau.”

“While we are slaying Strangers and heretics and protecting the people, the ones who are supposed to watch our backs are scheming against us and pointing their blades at our backs. What do you think they death?”

For a moment, no one could say anything. Then, a man roared, “They deserve death!”

It was like the spark that lit the powder keg. Everyone’s fury was lit, and that fury joined together into a chorus of full-throated shouts,

“THEY DESERVE DEATH!”

“THEY DESERVE DEATH!”

“THEY DESERVE DEATH!”

When the cries had subsided a little, Gu Suitang uttered, “They do deserve death. According to the law of Chu, those who collude with heretics, leak our secrets, and plot against their own are to be executed without mercy. So it shall be.”

“Kill them!”

Gu Suitang waved his hand, and the sabers were lowered. A second later, twelve bloody heads were rolling across the floor and dyeing the limestone floor red.

“Ding Bumian, Lin Zhao, step forth!” Gu Suitang ordered next.

The Chief Enforcer Ding Bumian and the Flying Dragon Officer Lin Zhao stepped out of the crowd with crestfallen expressions.

“You’re my Chief Enforcer and Flying Dragon Officer, but you failed to recognize the villains right in front of you and were manipulated into harming your own colleagues. Do you plead guilty?” Gu Suitang said harshly.

“We plead guilty,” The two men admitted without any fanfare.

It was far too late to defend themselves anyway. Last night, Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang had summoned them and the twelve prisoners before capturing them all in one fell swoop. After they were escorted into a black site, they were interrogated the whole night and forced to spill everything they should and shouldn’t say. Therefore, there was no point denying their crimes anymore.

They could try, but they would face the twelve prisoners’ fate. It was that simple.

“Good. You have brought shame to the Pacification Bureau, but at least you’re taking responsibility for your crimes.”

Gu Suitang declared, “I hereby announce that Chief Enforcer Ding Bumian and Flying Dragon Officer Lin Zhao are stripped of their posts and demoted to Pacification Sentinels.”

“Thank you for the mercy, chief.” Lin Zhao and Ding Bumian were extremely relieved to hear this. Losing their posts was far more preferable to losing their lives.

“Remember. As members of the Pacification Bureau, it is our duty to stay true to ourselves, uphold all that is virtuous and just, eliminate the strange, and protect the people.”

Fang Xiaoman then declared in a loud, dignified voice, “Pacification for the people!”

“Pacification for the people!”

“Pacification for the people!”

“Pacification for the people!”

Their loud, passionate cries would not fade until much later.

......

While every faction in Luo Shui was fearing for their existence, and their bosses their lives, something strange was happening at a village located at the periphery of Luo Shui.

Many villagers were flooding into a clearing from every direction and kneeling on the ground. They kept muttering the name “Mara Buddha” again and again with empty eyes. Wisps of faith energy flew out of their bodies and gathered at a certain point in the sky, and eventually, it formed the silhouette of a massive, demonic-looking Buddha.

At the same time, every Mara Buddha statue in the village slowly crumbled and released wisps of demonic qi. They formed a pitch black heart at the center of the Buddha’s body.

Thump!

Thump!

Suddenly, the heart started beating slowly. The whole world fell silent, and the demonic Buddha shrank and condensed until it took the form of a young, handsome, and demonic-looking monk.

It was at this moment dark clouds abruptly flooded in from the horizon and gathered above the monk. The howling wind raged like hurricanes, the rain poured like waterfalls, and lightning as thick as dragons shot through the sky.

Strangely, there was no thunder. There were only the howling noises of the wind and rain.

The next moment, silver lightning poured from the black clouds and struck the demonic monk, spilling demonic qi everywhere. It was a scene that could only be described as brutal. Still, there was no thunder. The sharp contrast between the violent imagery and lack of thunder painted a gorgeous picture that was unlike anything the world had ever seen.

As the soundless lightning hit the demonic monk again and again, his skin began cracking all over the place like a porcelain vase that could break at any moment. His heartbeat was growing slower and quieter as well.

“Amita Atman[2], is that the Tribulation of Nirvana?”

It was at this moment an old Buddhist monk wearing a Taoist robe appeared in the village. He was muttering a gatha[3] that was half Taoist and half Buddhist, and so didn’t fit in either religion at all under his breath.

“He’s using faith energy to forge his golden body and demonic qi to forge his demonic heart. This is how he’s planning to come back to life. No wonder he summoned the Tribulation of Nirvana of all things!”

The half-Taoist, half-Buddhist monk smiled mercifully while holding a horsetail whisk[4] in one hand and prayer beads on the other.

“A golden body with a demonic heart? What a wonderful seedling. I shan’t allow you to be destroyed by the damned heavens.”

The old man smiled and waved his horsetail whisk. The world shuddered, and every wind and rain within five kilometers of the site flew upward in reverse. It didn’t stop until it annihilated the soundless lightning and scattered the black clouds into nothing, returning light and warmth to the world.

After the tribulation was destroyed, the demonic monk’s heart started beating once more, and the cracks covering his body began healing slowly. The surrounding demonic qi was also gradually replaced by golden light until he resembled a second sun, divine and untouchable.

A moment later, the monk opened his eyes and slowly looked at the villagers. The villagers immediately dropped to their knees and chanted “Mara Buddha” like humble servants.

“Namo Marakaruna...”

“Namo Marakaruna...”

“Namo Marakaruna...”

“Namo Marakaruna[5], please allow us to become your followers...”

The demonic monk smiled, and every flower in the mountain where the village was located bloomed at the same time. However, the villagers began rotting and withering rapidly. Their vitality was vanishing like that of an old tree at death’s door.

When Buddha smiles, flowers bloom everywhere. When Mara kills, no grass will be left alive.

After the villagers had all turned into dust, the demonic monk faced toward the old man and knelt on his knees. “Master...”

The old man laughed. “Since you’re joining my sect, you should know my name. I am Dao Fo[6]. They call me Buddha Taoist in the jianghu. As the abbot of Little Western Paradise, I grant you the Dharma name, ‘Demon Heart’.”

The demonic monk bowed deeply. “Demon Heart thanks you for the name, master.”

“Good. Let us go.”

Dao Fo let out a hearty laugh before he started singing,

“Half monk, half Taoist, destined for both,

Not Buddha, not Tao, not human either.

Like a demon, like a Buddha,

Like a God, like a ghost.

I decide who and what I am, no one else.”

“Amita Atman...”

As the old man sang, the flowers bloomed like spring, and gentle winds blew through the village, warm and healing. But no one wasn’t there. Humanity was gone.

1. Just a reminder, but this guy is Li Yuechun’s best friend. Li Yuechun is the guy who tried to escape the zombie outbreak, and also the guy with two Hatred-class Strangers hiding his residence. ?

2. meaning “Infinite Buddha of I”. Treat it like the chant, “Amitabha”. The actual sanskrit only means “Infinite Self” but I can’t really slot the word “bha” or “Buddha” in without making it sound awkward, so. ?

3. Meaning hymn or verse. ?

4. An equipment that is commonly used by Taoist. ?

5. For those who don’t remember, it means, “My Mara Buddha is merciful.” ?

6. He probably named himself, meaning Dao Buddha. ?