Chapter 255 — The Source of Calamity

Within those fleshy bodies, the Buddhist true words became tangible characters, like great dragons shuttling through the pagoda, pouring one after another into Granny Zhu's brow, suppressing and refining the heart-demon Fan Xuanshu.

These past days, the Old Tathagata had personally led the monks, using the Buddha-nature hidden within the fleshy bodies of successive Tathagatas to suppress and refine Fan Xuanshu, and it had shown considerable effect, wearing away much of Fan Xuanshu's primordial spirit; Granny Zhu's moments of clarity had grown ever more frequent.

This was why he had dared to leave with peace of mind, entrusting the suppression to the assembled monks—after all, so many fleshy bodies of successive Tathagatas still sat in the pagoda.

Yet just then, Granny Zhu's pupils suddenly turned incomparably dark. With a cackling laugh, a voice full of bewitching charm came from within the pagoda, like a lover's whisper at one's ear, drilling into the ears of the monks outside, drilling into their hearts. At once, one monk after another fell into disorder of Buddha-heart, and heavenly demons bred within their Buddha-hearts.

"Steady yourselves!"

An old monk cried out sternly: "Do not listen to her voice!"

Hardly had his words fallen when a fair face suddenly thrust out of the pagoda and gave him a foolish smile. Heavenly demons bred within that old monk's Buddha-heart; the Buddha-light behind his head, like a wheel, suddenly dimmed, and he fell from the pagoda.

"Wretched!"

Another old monk loudly chanted the Buddha's name, then raised his hand, extended two fingers, and dug at his own eyes, meaning not to look upon Granny Zhu's countenance. With a fierce heart he gouged out both his eyes—yet at his ear came again a light laughter, drilling into his Buddha-heart, scratching and scratching.

The old monk gritted his teeth, and his two fingers stabbed into his own ears, piercing through his eardrums, so as not to hear her voice.

This white-browed monk, face and head bloody, loudly chanted sutras, stirring the fleshy bodies of successive Tathagatas within the pagoda. He could not hear and could not see; he did not see the sight of one monk after another falling from the pagoda, nor hear the sound of their bodies striking the ground.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of soft, slender jade hands, with just the right warmth, gently stroking his face, his bald head.

The old monk's body shuddered; the Buddha-light behind his head burst apart with a crash, and he fell from the Ten-Thousand-Appearance Pagoda.

Shen Mu urged the Dragon Qilin charging up to the Golden Summit, and saw the monks atop the Ten-Thousand-Appearance Pagoda tumbling down this way and that, strewn across the ground. Old Master Huo and the blind elder shot into the air, giving chase to Granny Zhu, who had thrown off the suppression of the Ten-Thousand-Appearance Pagoda.

The three of them moved with extreme speed, gone in a flash; even the Dragon Qilin was left far behind, beyond reach.

Shen Mu was dumbstruck: "You..."

The Golden Summit was a scene of chaos. Old Master Huo and the blind elder were both gone, leaving him all alone on the Dragon Qilin's back.

The youth was dazed for a moment, then said sullenly: "I wonder whether Great Thunderclap Temple is willing to let me, the Dark Demon Cult Hierarch, go back. The feeling of entering the enemy camp all alone is truly awful—no elder at my back to hold me up..."

The Old Tathagata had just sat down in the Great Hero Treasure Hall and had not yet had time to exchange a few pleasantries with the Crown Prince of Jingping when a monk came flying to report: "World-Honored One, Fan Xuanshu has fled!"

The Old Tathagata was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "I underestimated him. I had thought that a dignified Demon Cult Hierarch would disdain to learn the arts of bewitchment; I never expected he had kept a trick in reserve. Since I have not suppressed and refined him, then let the Dark Demon Cult Hierarch descend the mountain."

The Crown Prince of Jingping said in surprise: "The Dark Demon Cult Hierarch is at Great Thunderclap Temple? Is he not Shen Mu, the Court Counselor of my own court?"

The Old Tathagata nodded and said: "It is indeed him."

The Crown Prince of Jingping was overjoyed and said: "My Buddha, this man is the Dark Demon Cult Hierarch, steeped in wickedness. He must never be allowed to leave; better to rid the world of a root of calamity right here on the mountain!"

The Old Tathagata shook his head and said: "He came up the mountain to seek something of me, and so I kept him here. Now that I have failed to accomplish what he sought, then I permit him to descend the mountain, and none shall obstruct him. Our Great Thunderclap Temple cannot do things like a demon."

The Crown Prince of Jingping was about to speak further when the Monk's Heart, the Buddha-Son, rose hurriedly and said: "World-Honored One, I will go see Cult Hierarch Shen down the mountain."

The Old Tathagata nodded, looked at the Crown Prince of Jingping, and said: "Crown Prince, this old monk knows your purpose in coming, and knows what you seek. It is precisely because it concerns the common people of the world that this old monk hurried to meet you, and so was taken advantage of by Fan Xuanshu. The Poor Scholar and the others should have met you already, have they not?"

The Crown Prince of Jingping nodded and said: "They are powerless against my Imperial Father, and so they earnestly beg my Buddha to act."

The Old Tathagata laughed and said: "His Majesty's Nine Dragons Emperor Art has been cultivated to its utmost limit. Indeed there are few in the world who can do anything about His Majesty. This old monk counts as one."

And at that moment, the Monk's Heart, the Buddha-Son, came to see Shen Mu, his gaze flickering, and said: "Cult Hierarch Shen, the World-Honored One has commanded me to see you down the mountain."