Chapter 51: Dialectics

Li Huowang looked up at the Buddhas. With the moon behind them, he couldn't discern their faces. He could only see their hands, wriggling like tentacles behind them, and their enormous dark heads. He also smelled a strange mixture of blood and incense emanating from them.

Li Huowang took a few steps back. After looking around and confirming he was truly alone, he shook his head at the Buddha in front of him. "No," he said resolutely, reaching behind him to grasp his sword hilt.

With a creaking sound, the colossal Buddha bent down, blocking the moonlight above Li Huowang. Immense pressure enveloped him.

Li Huowang could feel the Buddha's lantern-sized eyes watching him from the darkness.

"Amitabha, benefactor, you should still go. We are doing this for your own good." To Li Huowang's surprise, Jian Dun did not directly attack but continued to persuade him calmly.

"If you truly mean well, why don't you let me leave? Aren't monks supposed to be compassionate? What's the harm in letting me go?"

"It is precisely out of compassion that we cannot allow the benefactor to depart."

Just as he spoke, a stone flew through the air, striking the Buddha's head with a clear clang.

Li Huowang and Jian Dun simultaneously looked in that direction. They saw Bai Lingmiao and others standing in the distance, holding glowing stones. "Brother Li! Run!" More stones rained down, hitting the Buddha's body before falling powerlessly.

"Amitabha~ The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back and find the shore." Jian Dun brought his massive hands together in a heavy prayer gesture. His slender legs bent slightly before he pushed off with force. With a tremendous boom, Jian Dun's towering figure shot into the air, then plummeted like a massive boulder, snapping a dozen trees as he landed heavily behind Bai Lingmiao and her companions.

Seeing the frail Bai Lingmiao standing next to the Buddha, barely reaching its belly, Li Huowang's expression twisted into a distorted, hysterical scream: "Stop it!!"

"Boom!" As if sensing something instantly, both the Buddha beside Li Huowang and the one in the distance simultaneously took a synchronized step back.

"Benefactor Xuanyang, we intend no harm; please calm down." At this moment, Jian Dun's voice carried a hint of tension, as if he didn't want to provoke Li Huowang.

"Hmm?" This scene was beyond everyone's expectation; Li Huowang's single command had made them comply. "They... are nervous? What is there to be nervous about for an ordinary person like me?"

"Monks do not kill," Jian Dun said, effortlessly breaking off nearby tree trunks with his colossal hands. He then crisscrossed them to form a rudimentary wooden cage, trapping everyone inside.

After dealing with the "distractions," Jian Dun lumbered back, stopping before Li Huowang.

"Benefactor Xuanyang, since you are unwilling to return with me, perhaps we could have a debate?"

"A debate? You intend to persuade me to return with mere words?" Li Huowang looked at the hand larger than his entire body, completely bewildered by the opponent's actions.

"Indeed. Benefactor Xuanyang is a reasonable person, and this humble monk believes he can persuade you."

"Hmm?" Recalling his previous encounters at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang now noticed a glaring inconsistency. Neither the abbot nor Jian Dun, despite being vastly more powerful, wished to use violence against him. Instead, they consistently tried to trap him through manipulative and emotional means.

"Why go to such trouble for something that could be easily solved with force? Is there something special about me?" A puzzled Li Huowang spread his hands, looking at his unremarkable palms.

"Besides being mentally ill, what other quality could possibly interest them?" Li Huowang pondered inwardly, completely ignoring Jian Dun's words. He needed to figure out what they were afraid of; this might be his only chance to escape.

"Let's work backward: What would happen if my life were threatened by their force?" Everything he had experienced in this world flashed through Li Huowang's mind like lightning. His thoughts finally settled on the moment the God of Joy was dragged into the darkness. That was the only true life-or-death moment he had faced on this journey, yet it had been resolved in an exceedingly strange way.

Li Huowang's pupils instantly constricted. "Dan Yangzi! They dare not use force against me because if I face a fatal threat, Dan Yangzi – whatever he has become – will appear! Dan Yangzi is actually protecting me!"

With this realization, everything clicked for Li Huowang. He had habitually assumed Dan Yangzi's presence was harmful, but now it seemed otherwise. Although he had killed Dan Yangzi, from Dan Yangzi's perspective, his closed-door disciple had done nothing wrong to him; in fact, he had even helped him "achieve enlightenment and become an immortal."

"The monks of Zhengde Temple clearly understood this long ago, but they didn't tell me. Instead, they went to great lengths to deceive me, hoping to use the Grand Universal Salvation Ritual to completely get rid of Dan Yangzi."

"If they got rid of Dan Yangzi, then I and everyone with me would truly become meat on the monks' chopping block." A shiver ran down Li Huowang's spine at the thought of what the Zhengde Temple monks would do.

Coming to his senses, Li Huowang looked up at Jian Dun again. This time, a slight smile played on his lips. "You're afraid of Dan Yangzi? If he's already become a Buddha, why would you monks still fear him?"

Jian Dun's expression hardened. "Benefactor Xuanyang, this humble monk does not know what you are speaking of. Monks do not lie; this humble monk can swear to the Buddha that the Grand Universal Salvation Ritual will cause you absolutely no harm, apart from resolving Dan Yangzi."

This statement further confirmed Li Huowang's suspicions. In this world, no benevolent person would kindly reveal everything. To uncover more valuable information, one could only gather clues and judge for oneself.

"I've suddenly realized that having Dan Yangzi around isn't so bad after all. He is my master, after all. It would be truly inexcusable to just get rid of him like that." With everything clear in his mind, Li Huowang felt no panic now.

"Amitabha, that is absolutely not permissible. Dan Yangzi concerns not only you but also the fate of all living beings under heaven."

Li Huowang looked up at Jian Dun, a slight smile on his lips. "How about you talk to my master face-to-face?"

"What?"

With a *clang*, Li Huowang gripped the hilt with one hand and sharply pulled the long sword, which could cut through iron like mud, into his grasp.

Seeing this, Jian Dun revealed a benevolent smile. "To think you could shatter this humble monk's Buddha body with that, Benefactor Xuanyang, you are truly too attached to appearances."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I told you to talk to Dan Yangzi face-to-face."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Huowang pressed the long sword against his neck and drew it across forcefully. His skin was effortlessly sliced open, and hot blood gushed out, instantly dyeing his Taoist robe crimson.

"Heh heh," Li Huowang, his consciousness fading, covered his neck with a hand and whispered, "Did you hear that? It sounds like... thunder."