Chapter 250: Verbal Slaughter
Qin Mu felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing an acquaintance. He had grown up hanging around a blind man and a cripple, learning various knowledge from the nine elders of the Crippled Village since he could remember. His childhood had been utterly dull, without even a single playmate.
Although he had only fought once with the monk Mingxin, they were still peers, so it was natural to feel some closeness.
Mingxin chanted a Buddha’s name, suppressing the rising anger, and said with a smile, “You defeated me that day, but now you may not be able to beat me. When I lost to you, I reflected deeply and corrected my flaws. How about another match?”
Qin Mu asked in surprise, “Did you fix the flaw at your throat?”
Mingxin looked smug and said, “Last time I lost because you struck my throat. This time, I definitely won’t let you succeed!”
Qin Mu exclaimed, “Little monk Mingxin, how old are you, and you’re already recklessly modifying the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra? With your current level of insight, the more you change, the more mistakes you’ll make, and the more flaws you’ll create! Instead of making random changes, why not go directly to the Tathagata and ask him to teach you… Hmm, I’ve also recklessly modified my own techniques. My techniques have been changed beyond recognition, so I can’t really talk about you.”
Qin Mu felt embarrassed. He had also altered his techniques. The Overlord Body Three Dan Art had been modified more than once, and the Great Cultivation Demon Sutra had been merged with the Overlord Body Three Dan Art, fixing the flaw on the left shoulder of the Overlord Body Three Dan Art.
Calling out Mingxin for randomly changing techniques was like the pot calling the kettle black. Maybe Mingxin really had erased the flaw at his throat.
Mingxin was eager to act and said, “So, will you grant me some instruction?”
Just as Qin Mu was about to speak, an old monk suddenly said, “Disciple, don’t be rude. This is the Celestial Demon Sect’s Sect Leader Qin!”
Mingxin was startled and blurted out, “When did you become the old demon head of the Celestial Demon Sect?”
Qin Mu sighed and said, “The details are hard to explain. I didn’t want this either, but I was forced into the position of sect leader and have no choice but to take it.”
He looked at the old monk who had spoken. It was the old monk Jingming, Mingxin’s master. True to his name, he was very shrewd. His loud announcement that Qin Mu was the demon sect leader of the Celestial Demon Sect wasn’t really to warn Mingxin, but to inform all the monks present.
After his shout, the many monks studying the Hundred Dragon Diagram turned to look at Qin Mu. They chanted Buddha’s names softly, clearly struggling to suppress their urge to vanquish demons and eliminate evil.
Mingxin quickly said, “Then hurry up and step down. Don’t be the demon sect leader. It’ll get you killed! There are many senior monks in our temple who hate evil like an enemy and are used to killing demons. Every time they go out, they subdue a few demons to accumulate merit. They’ll beat you to death! I won’t compete with you. Hurry down the mountain and flee for your life.”
Qin Mu shook his head and said, “Thank you for your kindness, but I’m a guest now. The old Tathagata is my senior brother, and he said I could stay in the temple. In that case, will they still vanquish demons?”
Mingxin hesitated for a moment and said, “I can’t say for sure. They’ll probably come to debate with you and try to persuade you to reform. If they can’t win the debate, they’ll most likely still beat you to death.”
Qin Mu was speechless and indeed saw several monks walking toward him.
“Amitabha!”
One monk took the lead, pressing his palms together and saying, “Demon, dare you debate the Dharma with me?”
Qin Mu asked, “Have you achieved the state of the Four Emptinesses?”
The monk was slightly stunned and shook his head. “No.”
“Then what Dharma is there to debate?”
Qin Mu laughed and said, “You haven’t attained the Way yourself. You’ve opened six of the seven apertures, but one is still blocked—utterly clueless. You’re just a fake monk who relies on sharp tongues. Step back.”
The monk was left speechless. Another monk quickly said, “Demon, let me talk to you about truth, goodness, and beauty…”
Qin Mu asked, “Are you a Tathagata?”
The monk’s face flushed red. “I am not yet a Tathagata…”
“Then you haven’t attained the word ‘truth.’”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “The Tathagata is the True Suchness, having attained the word ‘truth’ and achieved truthfulness. Since you yourself are not truthful, how can you talk about truth, goodness, and beauty? Step back. Don’t make a fool of yourself. Wait until you’ve achieved it. Don’t demand of me what you can’t do yourself. Don’t be lenient with yourself and strict with others.”
The monk was left speechless. Another monk pointed at the ground, and a golden spring gushed forth, blooming with lotuses. He said, “The Buddha’s Dharma speaks of Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, the unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, the highest wisdom and awakening…”
Qin Mu asked, “Have you attained the highest wisdom and awakening?”
“I…”
“Step back.”
Another monk laughed loudly and said, “Demon sect leader, you have a sharp tongue. If you won’t discuss the Buddhist scriptures with me, then let me talk to you about worldly matters.”
Qin Mu perked up and said, “Great monk, don’t start yet. Let me ask you: if everyone becomes a monk, doesn’t farm, doesn’t marry, has no children, then in a hundred years, will the human race go extinct? What grudge does humanity hold against you? Why do you want to annihilate them?”
The monk was stunned and said, “That’s not what I wanted to talk about. Your Celestial Demon Sect does all kinds of evil, with demonic techniques that use living people to train…”
Qin Mu said, “Compared to annihilating the human race, which is worse?”
The monk’s eyes widened as he suppressed his anger and shouted, “That’s not the same thing!”
Qin Mu said, “Then let’s talk about the same thing. I encountered a hall master of the Holy Church who used infants to train, and I killed him. Just now, at the foot of Mount Sumeru, I saw a Buddhist temple raising exotic beasts, feeding them meat mixed with narcotics to deceive the world. Where did the meat come from? Is that killing? I dealt with the scum in my sect. Now it’s your turn. Go destroy that temple and kill those monks.”
The monk said angrily, “That’s not what I’m talking about! I’m talking about doctrine! Our Great Thunderclap Temple has tens of thousands of Buddhist scriptures, each classic worthy of being passed down, teaching people to do good!”
Qin Mu said in surprise, “Your own Buddhist sect still harbors filth and hasn’t been cleaned up. The monks in the temple don’t even do good themselves. How can they teach others to do good? Fools love to act as teachers to others, yet they can’t do it themselves. Enough. You talk about doctrine, so let me talk about doctrine. The Way of the sages is no different from the daily needs of the people. Can your Buddha’s Dharma be used in the daily lives of the people? If not, it can only be recorded in books. What use is it? If it has no use, it might as well be burned.”
“You demon!”
The monk flew into a rage and was about to pounce, shouting, “Twisted reasoning and heretical ideas! You talk about burning scriptures and destroying Buddhism as soon as you open your mouth. You’re truly steeped in demonic nature! I’ll fight you to the death!”
“Hold on.”
Qin Mu raised his hand and said with a smile, “You want to kill me. Let me ask you: does the Buddhist scripture permit killing?”
The monk stopped, suppressed his anger, and said, “The scripture encourages people to do good and forbids killing. However, when facing a demon, even the Buddha Lord can become wrathful on the day of vanquishing demons!”
Qin Mu asked, “Is grass a living thing?”
The monk said angrily, “Of course it is.”
“Grass produces seeds, many of which are grains. Grains are also living things. Why do you eat living things? You eat vegetarian food and chant Buddha’s name every day, thinking about goodness, beauty, and truth, but you don’t realize how many lives you consume with every bite!”
Qin Mu said, “The older you get, the more lives you’ve eaten. What face do you have to talk about Buddha’s heart and kindness?”
He took a flower seed from his glutton sack, held it in his hand, and activated the Creation Earth Element Art. The seed sprouted, the shoot grew, roots broke through the shell, and in moments, a spiritual herb grew in his hand. The herb was tender and fresh, budding, and with a gentle tremble, the flower bloomed, delicate and beautiful.
“Is it beautiful?” Qin Mu asked.
The monk was somewhat mesmerized and nodded. “Beautiful.”
Qin Mu handed the flower to him and said, “Flower seeds are like grains—also beautiful lives. How many have you eaten? When will you repay them? If they had spirits and cultivated into demons, would they cry out that you’ve eaten billions of their kin? Have you ever thought about the countless spirits of flowers and grass surrounding you, waiting day and night for you to pay with your life?”
The monk held the flower in both hands, his face growing increasingly ashen. He felt that the flower’s beauty had become sinister and terrifying, as if it were demanding his life. Suddenly, the monk sat in a lotus position, tears falling, and said, “I have eaten countless of your kin. My sins are heavy and hard to dissolve! I am willing to turn to ashes to nourish you!”
With that, the monk’s body burst into karmic flames, burning his physical form to ashes in an instant. The karmic fire consumed him completely but didn’t harm the flower in the slightest. The flower fell into the bone ash, still fresh and beautiful.
“Dust returns to dust, ashes to ashes. In the end, cultivating Buddhism is useless—only good for fertilizing flowers.”
Qin Mu bent down, gathered the bone ash together, and planted the flower, saying, “Monk, you were useless in life, but in death, you’ve become useful. This flower should grow well. It will produce many seeds and more flowers. You should be comforted in the underworld. Your bone ash fertilizes the flower. Though the flower isn’t a commoner, it still fulfills that saying: no different from the daily needs of the people. Good indeed. You and I are now on the same path.”
He stood up and looked around. Though he was young, he had the bearing of a sect leader. He said leisurely, “Is there any other great monk who wants to debate the Dharma with me?”
Silence fell all around.
Qin Mu’s gaze met the eyes of the solemn-faced monks. They quickly looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.
Ma Ye and Blind were standing in the distance, chatting with a few old monks. Blind laughed and said, “If Mu’er stays at the Great Thunderclap Temple, and these monks don’t kill him immediately, then in no time, half the monks here will return to lay life, and a small portion will go mad. Those who don’t go mad will be fake monks. He’s even more formidable than Granny Si.”
Suddenly, a monk shouted sternly, “He’s a demon! A celestial demon! Spreading heresy!”
Another monk cried out, “He used heresy to kill Senior Brother Xinkong! We can’t let this demon live! Kill him to vanquish evil!”
In an instant, the crowd grew agitated, shouting for Qin Mu’s death to eliminate the demon.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, his laughter growing louder and louder. Gradually, the shouts around him faded, leaving only his laughter echoing.
The laughter slowly subsided, and Qin Mu said desolately, “You wanted to debate the Dharma, so I debated with you. When I debated with you, you switched to doctrine. Fine, let’s talk about doctrine. When you couldn’t beat me on doctrine, you switched to killing. Fine, let’s talk about killing. You couldn’t beat me on killing either, and now you want to kill me. What kind of Buddhism are you still cultivating? Step back. Return to lay life.”
Some monks were bewildered, their hearts empty. After a moment, a few monks sighed, turned around, packed their bags, and went down the mountain.
The other monks didn’t retreat, their expressions hostile.
Qin Mu shook his head and laughed. “In the end, it still comes down to fighting. If I’d known that, why waste words?”
His spirits lifted as he scanned the crowd, his gaze like lightning. “Who wants to die first?”
Zhaizhu went for a check-up, noon update moved to evening
Notice: Today, Zhaizhu’s family went for a check-up. The noon update will be moved to the evening. It might be late.