This chain was formed from the Zen Maiden’s divine qi and mental will, capable of binding a cultivator’s saint soul and mental power.
Zhang Ruochen walked ahead, passing pillar after pillar, his face remaining calm throughout. He said, “I once promised Yun Qing Ancient Buddha to resolve the enmity and hatred between our two families, so despite your treatment of me, I will not grow angry.”
The Zen Maiden’s voice came from behind. “That old monk is merely an outsider, understanding nothing at all.”
“The ancient Buddha is no outsider; on the contrary, he has intricate ties to both our families.” Zhang Ruochen said.
The Zen Maiden said, “After so many years of grudges, so many generations of bitter hatred, can a chanting, sutra-reciting monk truly comprehend it?”
“You are a Buddhist cultivator too.” Zhang Ruochen said.
The Zen Maiden fell silent, feeling that Zhang Ruochen talked too much.
In terms of cultivation, she did not regard him as a threat.
If it came to arguing with words, she suspected she would not be his match.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Only after experiencing suffering can one know the suffering of all beings. Only after clinging can one know clinging brings even greater pain. In the past, Yin Xue Tian cast the Dao Severing Curse, severing my Zhang family’s ancestors’ path to godhood. For that, how many were slaughtered by enemies coveting the Heavenly Venerable’s secret treasures and the ‘Thirty-Three Heavens’ technique? Yet you dismiss it with a single phrase: they died because they were too weak, pushing all responsibility away cleanly. Without the Dao Severing Curse, how could they have been weak?”
“This is the blood and tears of countless generations. I can let it go; why can you not?”
The Zen Maiden said, “How old are you? Even if your Zhang family ancestors were once slaughtered and oppressed, that lies across more than ten thousand generations from you. What do you truly know of pain and clinging? To you, those events are like legends, far too distant.”
She added, “Let me ask you this: can you let go of the hatred and pain towards Chi Yao?”
In Zhang Ruochen’s mind, Chi Yao’s figure emerged. He said, “In truth, I have already let it go.”
“Do not deceive yourself.” The Zen Maiden said.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I am not deceiving myself.”
“If you are not deceiving yourself, why, knowing full well that Prajna is her, do you not dare expose it? The reason you think you have let go is simply that your love for her outweighs your hate. It is your selfishness numbing you, not wanting to seek revenge, not wanting to avenge those who died because of Chi Yao in the past. But I am different: debts must be repaid, hatred avenged. No one escapes.”
Seeing Zhang Ruochen fall silent, the Zen Maiden could not help but let her lips curve upwards slightly, though she quickly suppressed it.
Instinctively, Zhang Ruochen felt the Zen Maiden was wrong, but thinking of the plight of the former ministers’ descendants of the Shengming Central Empire, he could find no words to refute her.
He was no Buddha, did not cultivate the Buddhist way, could not achieve emptiness of the four elements.
“You know only of the Dao Severing Curse; do you know of the Withering Death Absolute?” The Zen Maiden said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What is the Withering Death Absolute?”
The Zen Maiden said nothing.
…
Reaching the end of the seventy-two demon god pillars, the Udumbara flower’s fragrance grew even thicker, forming a faint mist of clouds.
Breathing it in brought a sense of refreshment, filling the limbs and bones with power.
But because the fragrance was too intense.
Zhang Ruochen felt a hallucinatory sensation in his mind, his gaze turning dazed.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Quickly release the chain from me. The fragrance contains an illusory power; I must use my mental power to suppress it.”
“Just shut your mouth and stop breathing!”
The Zen Maiden had no intention of unbinding him. In the hazy mist of clouds, she spotted an ancient well. The well platform stood about three chi high, built of yellow stones with numerous cracks between them.
Drip, drip, the sound of water echoed from the well.
The Zen Maiden had just taken a step forward when her face changed in shock. Below the well mouth, a female corpse drenched in blood rose up.
The corpse had dishevelled hair, an astonishing aura about her body. The emanation was like an ancient divine mountain, pressing down so heavily that even the Zen Maiden struggled to breathe. It was as if the female corpse were the heavens themselves, bearing down upon her.
Tears of agitation and sorrow streamed from the Zen Maiden’s eyes. She knelt to the ground, weeping uncontrollably.
The corpse’s appearance was exactly that of Yin Xue Tian.
She had seen it in paintings.
The chain slipped from the Zen Maiden’s hand to the ground. Zhang Ruochen seized the chance to break free, closed his eyes, and mobilised the power of origin mysteries and the Heart of Truth.
Opening his eyes again.
Above the ancient well, where was any female corpse?
Only a flower shimmering with Buddhist light floated over the well mouth, its leaves pear-shaped, roots extending into the well.
It matched the legendary Udumbara flower exactly.
Zhang Ruochen rushed to the kneeling, sobbing Zen Maiden and pressed a palm to her fragrant shoulder, roaring with mental power: “It is an illusion; wake up quickly.”
The Zen Maiden’s cultivation was profound; she recovered in an instant. She immediately clasped her hands together, golden Buddhist light emanating from her body to guard her mind.
After a moment, her bright eyes opened, clear and lucid. Gazing at the ancient well, she saw it had all been illusion. She glanced at Zhang Ruochen beside her, inwardly seething with embarrassment at having lost such face.
Zhang Ruochen sensed none of her anger and said, “Your cultivation and mental power far surpass mine; it is only that your inner obsessions are too heavy, causing you to sink so deeply.”
The Zen Maiden rose, flicking her wide sleeves lightly and clasping her arms behind her back. She said, “The reason you could resist the illusion is that you refined the Buddha ancestor’s relic. It is the Buddha ancestor’s power that makes your heart like a bright mirror.”
Zhang Ruochen did not wish to argue with her and said, “I now suspect that even this Udumbara flower may not be real. It is highly possible we are still in an illusion… what are you doing…”
Zhang Ruochen discovered he was bound again.
And even tighter this time.
The Zen Maiden had trussed him into a human stick, binding even his legs.
Her pupils turned golden, with Sanskrit characters floating within. She said, “This is undoubtedly the Udumbara flower; it is no illusion! Wait here and do not think of escaping. The black desert outside is full of eerie demonic shadows; you are no match for them.”
The Zen Maiden stepped towards the ancient well.
After just over ten steps, her body began to fade, vanishing completely at last.
Zhang Ruochen stared at the ancient well dozens of steps away, then at the vanished Zen Maiden, his face showing utter incomprehension. He truly could not grasp what had just occurred.
He exerted force with both arms; black electric light immediately flickered on the chain.
“Crackle crackle!”
The black lightning whipped at him like lashes. At once, Zhang Ruochen lost control of his body and toppled straight to the ground like a pillar.
Zhang Ruochen’s entire body ached and numbed. He thought this the worst of it, but as he recovered, he beheld a scene of utter terror.
Not far off, the demon god stone carvings on all seventy-two pillars had come alive and were advancing towards him.
Remember, Zhang Ruochen lay on the ground, unable to move a muscle.
The seventy-two pillar demon gods danced like a horde of fiends. Some resembled lions with gaping maws, roaring deafeningly. Others had human bodies but faceless heads topped with skulls. Some had wolf bodies and snake tails, fangs sharp.
They regarded Zhang Ruochen as prey and pounced.
“Illusion, it must be an illusion!”
Zhang Ruochen muttered it repeatedly.
Yet the ground quaked, a bloody scent filled his nostrils, and the demon gods’ divine might felt so vivid. They closed in rapidly, even emitting harsh, cruel laughter.
“Not an illusion; flee!”
Zhang Ruochen kicked hard with both feet, rolling his body towards the ancient well.
The dozens of steps closed in an instant.
Nearing the well, Zhang Ruochen finally saw the Zen Maiden again. Anxious, he shouted at once: “The demon gods have all come alive; quickly release the chain.”
The Zen Maiden stood two steps from the well, her slender jade hand extended forward.
But her fingertips had not touched the Udumbara flower.
It was as if she heard nothing of Zhang Ruochen’s voice. Her body stiffened, her skin swiftly turning yellowish-brown, sprouting bark-like withered patterns. Her entire form became like rotten wood, shrivelling rapidly, suffused with deathly qi.
This sight stunned Zhang Ruochen.
What was happening?
Was this ancient well even more terrifying, instantly stripping a great god of life?
The current Zen Maiden resembled a withered tree, devoid of any vitality or grace; her once crystalline skin grew rougher than stone.
Her cultivation was profound after all; Buddhist light flickered on and off her body, clashing with some force.
After a moment, a pained, drawn-out howl escaped the Zen Maiden’s mouth. Her withered body spun and fled at speed, vanishing from Zhang Ruochen’s sight in an instant.
The shock had not yet faded from Zhang Ruochen’s eyes when, from behind, the seventy-two pillar demon gods charged from all directions, howls unending, demonic clouds blotting the sky, assailing his saint soul.
Any other person would have despaired by now, abandoning all hope of survival.
But Zhang Ruochen’s will was unyielding, his mind resolute. He mustered every ounce of strength to resist the black lightning surging from the chain and slowly stood upright. In his heart burned a single thought: leap into the ancient well at once.
Jumping into the well might offer a slim chance of survival.
He bent his legs and leaped.
Just as he launched, another chain wrapped around his waist. Then his body lightened, and he flew out, crashing into a warm, soft embrace. A gentle palm pressed against his back, dissipating all his force.
Zhang Ruochen turned his face and beheld Gu She Jing’s beautiful countenance, a playful smile on her lips.
“Gu She Jing!” Zhang Ruochen exclaimed in shock.
He never imagined encountering her here.
How was this possible?
Zhang Ruochen’s first thought was that he must still be in an illusion.
Gu She Jing could not possibly be here!
“It is not Jing Jing; it is Huan Huan.” Gu She Huan grinned cheekily and reached out to undo the chains binding Zhang Ruochen.
Behind them.
The seventy-two pillar demon gods bared fangs and claws, demonic might surging to the heavens, charging straight at Zhang Ruochen and Gu She Huan, each one murderous and grotesque.
Gu She Huan showed no fear whatsoever.
Zhang Ruochen was about to ignite his origin mysteries’ power when he saw the oncoming seventy-two pillar demon gods shatter one after another, cries of agony resounding as they all dissipated.
Zhang Ruochen turned and saw, behind Gu She Huan, another figure.
She stood there, extraordinary and peerlessly beautiful, in red robes and white hair, serene and composed. It was as if, with her presence, the heavens would not fall, nor the universe collapse.
In that instant, the entire world fell utterly still.
