Chapter 126: Public Execution, This Is Called The War At The Top!
The stone chamber emitted a rumbling sound, with cracks appearing on the surrounding walls, shaking incessantly as if it might collapse at any moment.
Hong Yuan did not go through the hole smashed by the corpse puppet, and as he leaped up, he raised his hand for a palm strike. With a booming explosion, large chunks of stone splashed outward.
Hong Yuan had already broken through the roof of the stone chamber, shooting out like an arrow off a string and landing on the open ground outside.
The bell rang crisply without end.
Under the bell sound, the corpse puppet seemed to receive a massive stimulus, launching attacks at Hong Yuan again and again.
Hong Yuan easily dodged, his figure like a light swan, occasionally flying out with a kick to send the corpse puppet tumbling away.
‘Compared to when it was alive, its strength and speed have both improved greatly, and its body defense has doubled!’
‘However, without qi and blood circulation, it naturally cannot condense force. It is indeed a dead person, so how does a corpse ‘hear’ the bell sound?’
Hong Yuan spread out the net, enveloping the corpse puppet from head to toe, then raised his brows. As it attacked again, he struck it flying while following up, stepping down on its back with one foot.
The corpse puppet roared repeatedly, struggling fiercely, sending large amounts of green stone and dirt flying, but Hong Yuan shook it with force, and with a bang, the corpse puppet sank entirely into the ground.
Hong Yuan’s gaze fell on the back of the corpse puppet’s head, where there were large stitched scars forming a quail egg-sized bulge. As he shook the bell, faint strange fluctuations emanated from it, as if responding.
Under Hong Yuan’s spiritual sense perception, a piece of jade embedded with strange runes had been sewn into the back of the corpse puppet’s head.
‘And here…’
His gaze shifted again to the corpse puppet’s spine. With a flick of his finger, Body-Piercing Formless Force turned into fine surgical blades, splitting open the leather armor it wore while cutting an opening along its spine, from which faint chaotic low buzzing like mosquitoes emanated.
The net probed in.
Hong Yuan’s eyelids twitched, nearly lifting his foot.
It felt like he had stepped on something filthy.
Within the corpse puppet’s spine, who knew how many thousands or tens of thousands of tiny insects invisible to the naked eye were crammed together. Even with an opening cracked, they did not crawl out.
‘Gu Technique…’
Hong Yuan pondered thoughtfully, shaking the bell again while using spiritual sense to perceive the jade tablet fluctuations at the back of the corpse puppet’s head and the insect swarm’s reactions, adjusting the bell-shaking frequency and amplitude time and again.
After more than half a shichen of constant tweaking, Hong Yuan shook the bell and lifted his foot. The corpse puppet, freed from restraint, stood straight up rigidly, no longer roaring.
Hong Yuan glanced at a large tree nearby. With a ‘ding’ light ring, the corpse puppet charged out with a gust of wild wind, smashing out a punch that pierced straight through the tree trunk.
Hong Yuan nodded in satisfaction and summoned the corpse puppet back.
‘Old Song, I’ve avenged you. No need for you to repay me with your body shattered to pieces, or to tie grass and hold rings in your next life.’
‘Just be a wage-earning zombie under me!’
While Hong Yuan was tinkering with the corpse puppet, the huge commotion alerted the temple’s monks, who all hid in the distance watching, trembling in fear.
“Come here!” Hong Yuan beckoned to several monks, who approached timidly, their faces pale with terror, not daring to meet his gaze.
“Layman, what are your instructions?”
Hong Yuan pointed at the corpse puppet and said flatly, “Take this thing down to clean it up, get it a new set of leather armor, and… nail a mask onto its face.”
With that appearance, it simply couldn’t be shown in public.
“Ah?” The several monks gaped, looking at the corpse puppet, all feeling like weeping without tears.
Hong Yuan ignored them and left on his own. Without his control, the corpse puppet was just a living dead man, merely a bit gruesome in appearance.
He then went to check on Dharma King Baosheng.
Not far from the stone chamber holding the corpse puppet, in another clean stone chamber, Dharma King Baosheng sat cross-legged before a bowl of clear water, chanting scriptures.
The reason no shackles were used was that Hong Yuan had sealed his qi and blood with Six Void Force. Even if he had cultivated Gang Body, without strength in his hands, he couldn’t even stand steadily.
“Master, you’ve been meditating for many days. Have you comprehended anything?”
Hong Yuan stepped inside.
Dharma King Baosheng opened his eyes, gaze lowered to the bowl of water before him. With no wind in the chamber, ripples had already formed on the water surface, reflecting his face in shifting gloom and brightness.
He had long been terrified by Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities, sighed, and pressed his palms together. “Layman, please speak directly if you have any teachings.”
“Of course. I’m quite interested in the Red Lotus Sect.”
Having left Dharma King Baosheng to stew for several days, only today did Hong Yuan come to inquire about Red Lotus Sect news.
After a while, Hong Yuan left the stone chamber with a smile, immediately running into Huiming and Huizhi.
Huiming pressed his palms together in salute, took several books from Huizhi’s hands, and presented them with both hands. “These are the items the layman requested. Time was too short; we could only gather this much.”
Hong Yuan nodded.
Vajra Temple had been squeezed dry by him, but Songyang Prefecture still had so many noble clans and sects. Having come all this way, he needed a meeting gift.
Thus, he pressured Vajra Temple, and Vajra Temple pressured the others.
Even after its calamity, Vajra Temple’s strength remained at the top of Songyang Prefecture. In just a few short days, it had gathered one true skill, two Microscopic Level force methods, and nine ordinary force methods.
“You’ve worked hard, both masters.” Hong Yuan praised.
Huiming and Huizhi remained expressionless, bowing their heads in salute again.
Huiming glanced toward the stone chamber and asked, “Layman, how do you intend to deal with Dharma King Baosheng?”
Hong Yuan had already opened the true skill. Compared to Vajra Temple’s martial arts, this one was merely ordinary. As he read, without lifting his head, he smiled. “You shouldn’t ask me that. Ask yourselves, both masters. After all, I have no deep grudge with the Red Lotus Sect. On the contrary, the Red Lotus Sect destroyed your Vajra Temple’s pagoda and killed your junior brothers and disciples. That’s a major grudge.”
At these words, both monks Huiming and Huizhi were speechless. Who did the Red Lotus Sect hate most right now?
Didn’t they have any idea in their hearts?
Of course, they also hated the Red Lotus Sect to the bone. As for this Daoist Ten Thousand Calamities, who would dare hate him? Who could hate him?
Hong Yuan quickly finished flipping through the true skill, glanced up at the two silent monks, suddenly put on a stern face, and said righteously, “Even if both masters are compassionate and can set aside personal grudges, as the saying goes, righteousness and evil cannot coexist. Demons and outer path must be executed by all… Do both masters agree?”
Huiming said, “The layman speaks reason. Do you mean to hand that Red Lotus demon monk over to our temple for handling?”
“If I hand him over to you, how would you dispose of him?” Hong Yuan asked in return.
Huizhi said gravely, “We would naturally send that demon monk into the punishment cave, admonishing him day by day with Buddhist teachings to make him repent.”
If it were an ordinary person, they would certainly kill him without mercy, but as one of the Red Lotus Sect’s four kings, Huizhi dared not easily kill Dharma King Baosheng no matter how much he hated him.
Hong Yuan shook his head and sighed, “These fiends where would they repent? As long as they remain in the world for a day, they threaten us righteous folk. Remember, killing is to protect life; cutting karma is not cutting people… Both masters, I have a suggestion, if it’s appropriate to voice?”
“Of course, just a suggestion. Whether to listen is up to both of you.”
Huiming’s eyelids twitched, feeling inexplicably uneasy as he looked at Hong Yuan’s smiling face. He opened his mouth and still asked, “Layman, speak plainly.”
“In my view, the Red Lotus demon monk must be killed, and not secretly. A secret killing won’t deter the demons and ghosts under heaven. To kill, we should post notices worldwide and execute publicly, only then sweeping away the world’s foul qi and restoring a clear sky and bright universe.”
“Both masters are masters of this age. Surely you have the boldness to lead the world, right?”
Public execution?
Huiming and Huizhi’s minds went blank, as if struck by lightning, gaping speechlessly.
Hong Yuan waved his hand again, his words resounding powerfully. “Once the public execution is announced, perhaps even Red Lotus Sect demons will come to kill, or maybe the Red Lotus Holy Lord will show up.”
“I’ve heard the Red Lotus Holy Lord is the incarnation of Great Desire Heaven, the pinnacle master of the human world. But no matter. For slaying demons and exorcising demons, clearing the demonic aura, no matter what enemy comes, with both masters’ Buddhist cultivation, you surely won’t fear or waver!”
“What Red Lotus Holy Lord? Fear nothing! If fighting, fight the top-tier war!”
Huiming and Huizhi felt their scalps go numb. Huiming showed urgency and hurriedly said, “Layman, wait a moment…”
“I understand!”
Hong Yuan nodded, indicating he understood the two monks’ meaning. “This matter is settled. One month from now, public execution! Announce it!”
