Chapter 257 — Borrowing a Sword to Slay the True Dragon

Shen Mu's eyes went wide, utterly dumbfounded, seized by a feeling both grotesque and absurd: that sword-light just now had passed him by and struck straight at Foxin's brow, piercing clean through Foxin's skull, and he had not been able to block it in time even had he tried.

The sword-light had come out of nowhere, its purpose to cut down him, the Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult; yet in his clash with Foxin he had wielded the Thunderclap Mahayana Sutra, Buddha-light surging to the heavens, while Foxin had wielded the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra, steeped deep in demonic nature.

The master of the flying sword was still a li or more away, and with the moonlight hazy he had seen only the radiance about the two men and sent his sword flying, taking Foxin's life.

The Crown Prince's attendants were, naturally, of the highest skill, trained in orthodox swordsmanship; and Foxin, gravely wounded by Shen Mu, was caught off guard and muddled away his life.

Beside the boundary stele the Dragon Qilin was staring at the Four-Unlike; the two strange beasts had not yet come to blows before it was all over.

The Four-Unlike, seeing that Shen Mu had not killed Foxin, had breathed a sigh of relief; who would have thought the sword-light would come so abruptly that even it could not react in time, and Foxin was run through with a single stroke.

Several figures came leaping through the air from behind; Shen Mu, without a moment's thought, at once fell back toward the Dragon Qilin. The Four-Unlike, seeing Foxin slain, was thrown into confusion, and the Dragon Qilin's aura pressed it into the lower hand.

Shen Mu sprang onto the Dragon Qilin's back; the Dragon Qilin at once drew away, turned, and went off treading fire-clouds.

"That head is mine!" one of the Crown Prince's attendants cried aloud. "Let no one try to steal my merit!"

He came to the foot of the boundary stele, drew the flying sword out of Foxin's brow, and was just about to cut off Foxin's head when he paused, startled: "Why is there no hair?"

The other attendants of the Crown Prince hurried over; seeing that the "Buddha-Child" had actually ridden off on the Dragon Qilin, while the Four-Unlike that guarded the mountain gate of Great Thunderclap Temple stood there without stirring, they were all astonished.

Shen Mu looked back; beneath the moonlight the Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult smiled faintly at the Crown Prince's attendants, and it was as though they had plunged into an ice cavern.

"The Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult..." Each of the attendants went cold to the bone, at a loss. If the one who had fled on the Dragon Qilin was the Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult, then who else could the man lying dead beneath the boundary stele be?

With difficulty they twisted their necks and saw the attendant beneath the boundary stele standing there helpless; he reached out to plug the sword-hole in Foxin's brow, wanting to stop up the wound, found it useless, rose to drag the corpse away, and turned his head and saw them.

That attendant, utterly distraught, turned to look at the Buddha-Child's corpse beneath the stele, then looked at them, then at the corpse again, over and over.

"What do we do?" he said, on the verge of tears. "We came out together, so don't think you can leave me to fend for myself. If you turn me in, you won't escape death either! Killing the Buddha-Child is a monstrous sin; the Crown Prince will have you executed along with me!"

The attendants had no plan either; one said in a hoarse voice: "In for a penny, in for a pound. Destroy the corpse, erase the traces, and lay it all at the Hierarch's door! The Hierarch has filth enough heaped on his head already; one more won't matter!"

Another reminded them: "But that Four-Unlike saw..."

As one, they turned their heads to look at the Four-Unlike.

"Kill this deer, and no one will be the wiser!" The men suddenly burst into action; from their sword-caskets countless flying swords shrieked from their sheaths and became a rain of swords across the sky, killing toward the Four-Unlike. The Four-Unlike shook its body and revealed its true form, dozens of times more massive, and charged at them through the sword-rain; sword after sword struck its body, but could only pierce the hide, never wound its vitals.

With a great boom, its enormous antlers impaled two of them and slammed them against the boundary stele, and at once two splashes of blood appeared on the stone.

The other two fled in panic through the air. This Four-Unlike was a rare breed among strange beasts, face of a horse, hooves of an ox, tail of a donkey, head of a deer, and having listened to sermons at Great Thunderclap Temple for a hundred or two hundred years, it had long since cultivated vast powers and was exceedingly fierce.

The Four-Unlike shook its head, and the antlers flew from its crown, piercing one man through the chest and nailing him to the ground; the other it ran down, raised a hoof and stamped, crushing him to powder.

The Four-Unlike shook its head again; the antlers flew back and settled once more upon its crown. It looked back at the Buddha-Child's corpse beneath the stele, turned, and ran toward Great Thunderclap Temple.

Its body was stuck all over with flying swords, but they were only flesh wounds, and its speed did not slacken in the least.

Before long the sky was bright, and several elder monks, led by the Four-Unlike, came to the boundary stele. The old monks examined the wounds, and all wore grave expressions.

"The Buddha-Child is dead, just like that..." One old monk in a yellow robe frowned deeply. "The sword wounds are indeed those of the Crown Prince's men, not the swordsmanship of the Dark Demon Cult, and the weapons match as well. But the Tathagata is just now in council with the Crown Prince, settling the great plan for the world to come, to change dynasties, to correct Emperor Yanfeng's reforms, to return to the root and the source. This is a plan for ten thousand generations; if it were ruined by this..."

"The Buddha-Child's passing is indeed grievous, but it is only a stinking skin-bag; to cast it off is to be lightened, no longer to struggle in this great sea of suffering."

Another old monk said: "We cannot let the Buddha-Child's death ruin Great Thunderclap Temple's plan for ten thousand generations. The Tathagata need not know of this matter; it is enough that we Arhats of the Arhat Hall know."

"But the Buddha-Child is dead after all, and several of the Crown Prince's attendants are dead as well; this cannot be hidden."

"Then tell the Tathagata and the Crown Prince that the Hierarch of the Dark Demon Cult did it. The Buddha-Child, in kindness, escorted the Hierarch out of the temple; the Hierarch ambushed him at the boundary stele and killed him, and the Crown Prince's attendants went to stop him and all fell to his foul hand."

The yellow-robed old monks' faces changed greatly, and one Arhat shouted: "A monk does not lie!"

The old monk's long brows flew up, and he said with spirit: "You need not say it. I will. And when I have said it, I will return to lay life and leave the temple! When the future of Great Thunderclap Temple is at stake, what does it matter if I cast away my own good name?"

"Excellent, excellent! Senior brother, your righteousness is great." The monks pressed their palms together and bowed to him.

...

The monks of the Arhat Hall returned to Great Thunderclap Temple. Old Tathagata had already finished his deliberations with Crown Prince Jingping and rose to see him off, saying: "Your Highness should return to the capital at once. If His Majesty should pass away and the realm be left without a lord, and Your Highness is not in the capital, I fear some other prince may ascend the throne."

Crown Prince Jingping said gravely: "What my Buddha says is most true."