Stranger Danger

Chapter 540: Joy Bodhisattva’s Plan

After the God Sealing Curse was activated, it would spawn curse chains that attacked all living beings within a certain range and consumed their blood. The more blood it consumed, the stronger it became.

In fact, they had purposely leaked Joy Bodhisattva’s exact locations to persons of interest and lured many people over to ensure that the God Sealing Curse would not be wanting in power. That was why there were so many customers in the tea stall just now. Their only purpose was to serve as fodder for the God Sealing Curse.

The nine assassins were expected to provide the God Sealing Curse with enough power to shackle Joy Bodhisattva for some time, but since she was a Half-Step Grandmaster—one who was even stronger than the Wisdom King of Joy—they decided to have some insurance in place.

The Wisdom King of Joy did not believe that his leader could break free from the God Sealing Curse fast enough to save her own life. It was also why he was fearless despite the fact that Joy Bodhisattva was awake.

As for why he didn’t show up sooner, it was because one, it looked like Master of Swords, Master of Curses, the Joy Arhat and the Lampholding Protector would be able to handle everything on their own; and two, he would become the next head of the Buddhist Hall of Joy if Joy Bodhisattva was dead. Naturally, he did not want outsiders to know that he had succeeded the position only because he colluded with Endless Sand to assassinate his own leader.

Unfortunately, Joy Bodhisattva had anticipated an attack like this and recruited Ouyang De to serve as her bodyguard. That was why he had no choice but to set foot on the battlefield himself. This would have happened even if Ye Qing wasn’t present.

“Why?” Joy Bodhisattva asked.

“You betrayed our creed,” the Wisdom King of Joy replied. He was in no hurry to take her life because he could end her with a single thought at this distance. Ouyang De could literally teleport, and he still wouldn’t be able to stop him.

He was a vain man. He did not mind boasting to an enemy who would soon perish by his hands.

“You are our leader, and you worship the Buddha of Joyful Pleasure. But instead of serving our Buddha with ultimate bliss, you suppress desire with desire with the aim of ridding yourself of desire completely. That is completely antithetical to our belief and paints you a betrayer of our creed. Naturally, you must die for your sins.”

“No two paths are the exact same, and the same goes with Buddhas. But in the end, all things begin and end the same way. Be it fueling desire with desire or suppressing desire with desire, both ways are Buddha nature that will eventually merge with the one great way, so what betrayal are you talking about?” Joy Bodhisattva replied calmly.

Ye Qing was surprised. Earlier, Yi Pin had explained to him the difference between the Buddha of Joy and the Buddha of Joyful Pleasure. The Buddhist Hall of Joy was an unorthodox sect that practiced the unorthodox Joyful Way of the Buddha and worshiped the Buddha of Joyful Pleasure, but it turned out that their leader, Joy Bodhisattva, was practicing the orthodox way of suppressing her desire through desire to attain enlightenment and become a Buddha.

“Buddha nature is everywhere, but how can two separate Buddha natures become one, and how can human desire ever be suppressed and extinguished? No, there is only one righteous way, and that is to indulge in our nature and become a Buddha through desire.”

The Wisdom King of Joy sighed with pity. “I did not foresee the extent at which you have fallen… However, the Buddha does not enjoy killing. If you promise to return to our fold, I can consider keeping you alive.”

For a brief moment, lust and greed burned in the Wisdom King of Joy’s eyes. He suddenly had a better idea. Keeping Joy Bodhisattva alive might be a better option than killing her. He knew very well that Endless Sand was only helping him so that they could turn him into a puppet leader and assume control over the Buddhist Hall of Joy, and this was not the outcome he wanted. After all, what was the difference between serving under Joy Bodhisattva and Endless Sand? He would still be a servant in both scenarios.

It was a different story if he could make Joy Bodhisattva his subordinate, however. He would be that much confident in his ability to break free from Endless Sand’s control, and he could dual cultivate with her to rapidly improve his strength. And if he became a Grandmaster as a result? Hah! Endless Sand and Xiong Kuohai would trouble him no longer.

Joy Bodhisattva saw through him in a single glance, however. “You just want to use me to keep Endless Sand in check and assist you in becoming a Grandmaster.”

The Wisdom King of Joy’s face immediately darkened. “Stubborn fool. If you desire the Buddha that much, then you shall see him right now.”

The Wisdom King of Joy didn’t care that Joy Bodhisattva saw through him. What he cared about was the fact that Master of Swords was within hearing range. If Xiong Kuohai hears of this, then it would be that much harder for him to enact his plans in the future. The only way he could clear his name now was to kill Joy Bodhisattva as quickly as possible.

But would it matter? The wedge had already been driven. Xiong Kuohai would always be suspicious of him.

Regret and frustration gripped the Wisdom King of Joy. Why hadn’t he killed Joy Bodhisattva immediately? His desire to gloat at her had backfired on him, hard.

Eyes burning with killing intent, the Wisdom King of Joy finally stopped holding back and attacked Joy Bodhisattva with the intent to kill. However, he met resistance yet again when his finger was about an inch away from her forehead.

He thought that the reason he failed at the beginning was because Joy Bodhisattva had one final shred of resistance left in her, but what about this time? What could possibly be stopping him from killing her?

The Wisdom King of Joy suddenly had a bad feeling about this, and his fears came true just a second later. His eyes widened in shock and horror as the curse chains wrapped around Joy Bodhisattva’s body suddenly broke off on their own, and the woman slowly rose to full height.

Unable to maintain his lofty appearance any longer, the moon behind his head abruptly shone so bright that both heaven and earth were dyed in white. At the same time, the image of a Wisdom King manifested into existence.

However, the moonlight stuttered for a moment, and Joy Bodhisattva abruptly appeared in front of the Wisdom King of Joy. Then, she brushed her slender fingers against his forehead.

A ripple of invisible energy broke out, and the Wisdom King of Joy was flung back like he had suffered a huge blow. The moon behind his head abruptly shattered into pieces, his Yin God winked out of existence, and blood jetted out of his orifices and drenched his white robes in red.

“You… you’re a…!”

The Wisdom King of Joy couldn’t care less about his injuries, however. His attention was fully absorbed by the infinite power pressing against him from all sides.

“Grandmaster?!”

“Grandmaster?!”

Some distance away, Master of Swords and Ouyang De blurted out at the same time. However, Master of Swords’ outburst was filled with fear, whereas Ouyang De’s was simply filled with surprise.

On the other hand, Ye Qing was completely confused by the sudden turn of events, so much so that he didn’t even look when the Joy Arhat finally fell down from the sky.

What the fuck is this double reverse quadruple agent[1] nonsense that’s happening right before my eyes? If you’re a Grandmaster, then just slaughter all of your enemies from the get go! There’s no need to make it so convoluted!

“Correct. My breakthrough happened a little over a month ago.”

Joy Bodhisattva suddenly looked in Ye Qing’s direction and raised a finger. It was such an innocent and harmless gesture, and yet the power it exuded was so terrible and all-encompassing that the surrounding air froze, and the world shuddered in response. It was as if she could shatter anything and everything with one finger.

Ye Qing didn’t resist, however. It was because the attack wasn’t aimed at him.

As expected, the finger suddenly appeared at the center of the Joy Arhat’s forehead. The monk was trying to attack Ye Qing while he was distracted, but as soon as the finger struck flesh, his crazed expression stiffened, and his pupils contracted bit by bit. In the end, he collapsed on the ground and stopped breathing forever.

Ye Qing figured out what happened immediately. Joy Bodhisattva had wiped out his mind in a single touch.

The woman gave Ye Qing a nod before looking back at the Wisdom King of Joy.

1. Itsa trope. You can Google the details if you want to. ☜