From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 363 Return
The cave was silent, with only the pale yellow candlelight of an oil lamp that had been burning for who knows how long.

Shui Xiangsheng was already exhausted and on the verge of death. He still didn't think about the bond between his fellow disciples. With great effort, he turned around and murmured, "Why don't doctors treat the seriously injured?"

Suwen and Suxin were peeking out from outside the Buddha statue in the cave, their bald heads sticking out. After hearing this, Suwen was about to step forward, but Suxin stopped him.

“They are both dying, and I am the only heir to the medical tradition left in the world. I’m going to go and see them.” Suwen said this and immediately stepped forward.

"Junior sister, I'll protect you!" Su Xin immediately followed, not forgetting to turn back and remind Mingyue, "If anything goes wrong, dear sister, remember to save your sister!"

Mingyue held her sword and completely ignored Suxin.

Suwen's clothes were dirty and tattered. She walked on the bluestone path, paying little attention to the Buddha statues on both sides. Suxin, on the other hand, followed behind, just like Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, who were both bald, and kept looking at the Buddha statues.

Seeing that Suwen had arrived in front of the Medicine Buddha statue, Suxin ran after him.

Suwen knelt down to examine Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin's injuries. Suxin watched from the side and asked, "Was this place truly built by the Medicine King Bodhisattva?"

“How could it be fake? This place was indeed built by the Medicine King Bodhisattva,” Gan Wulin replied, forcing out his strength.

"But second-rank Bodhisattvas live long lives. If the Medicine King Bodhisattva built such a large place, where did that person go?" Su Xin was still curious.

"I don't know, it's not mentioned in the classics." Gan Wulin was very monk-like towards this bald nun. "Our ancestors did leave some words behind. Some say that the Medicine King Bodhisattva ascended to heaven, while others simply say that the Medicine King Bodhisattva broke through the three thousand minor worlds and went to the major world."

Su Xin was stunned, feeling that these rumors were too outrageous. The Western Buddha was also a second-grade Bodhisattva, yet he was honestly facing the wall in meditation. How could there be such a big difference?

Shui Xiangsheng's hair and beard were completely burned away, his face was dirty and stained with blood. He chuckled strangely and said, "Some people say that he was invited by the Medicine King Bodhisattva and the One-Eyed King to go to the Demon Kingdom to advise the One-Eyed King."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt that there was some truth to it.

Meng Yuan touched the wine gourd at his waist. He had heard Hua Suzhi and Elder Miaoyin talk about the One-Eyed King, and they had even invited Li Weizhen to deal with him.

“Demon cultivators live long lives.” Jie Kaiping immediately stroked his chin. “The One-Eyed King has not appeared in the world for a long time, so he must have extraordinary abilities. If he were not restrained, his abilities would not be inferior to those of a second-rank Buddhist Bodhisattva. What kind of schemes or plans could such a powerful figure have made the Medicine King Bodhisattva devise?”

Dugu Kang and his new senior brother were very close, and Dugu Kang immediately understood and said, "Senior brother means that the One-Eyed King sought the help of the Medicine King Bodhisattva in order to find a way to break through to the first-grade realm?"

"Junior brother, we're truly on the same wavelength!" Jie Kaiping patted Dugu Kang's shoulder happily and said earnestly, "Once the matter of Xiangji Kingdom is settled, let's wander the world together!"

"Alright! I'm willing to follow my senior brother!" Dugu Kang was completely fooled by Jie Kaiping.

"Where did you two get to?" Su Xin pushed the two bald monks aside with great dissatisfaction, put her hands on her hips, looked at Shui Xiangsheng, and asked, "Didn't you two go to the Demon Kingdom to look for the Medicine King Bodhisattva?"

"A second-rank Bodhisattva sitting right in front of you, yet you can't even see him, so why bother looking for him?" Jie Kaiping mocked.

Su Xin knew she had asked a stupid question. She glared at the screen, snorted twice, and then said nothing more.

Suwen had already examined Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin's injuries. She did not treat them, but simply stood up and shook her head at Meng Yuan, indicating that the two were beyond saving.

"Good boy." Shui Xiangsheng forced a strange smile onto his skin and bones and said, "A doctor should have a benevolent heart. As a descendant of a medical family, you stood idly by. How are you any different from the two of us?"

"Thank you for helping me advance, senior." Suwen had a disciple who had practiced Buddhism for many years. She put her hands together and said, "Senior, if a doctor treats everyone, then he is not a benevolent person. The elders in the temple know that I have medical skills, but they have repeatedly warned me that a doctor should have a benevolent heart, but there are also people who should be saved and people who should not be saved."

As Su Xin spoke, she bowed respectfully to Shui Xiangsheng. "You mean, the two of us shouldn't be rescued?" Shui Xiangsheng asked.

“There’s no way to save them.” Su Wen shook his head and sighed, “Senior Shui’s life flame has burned out, and Senior Gan’s life flame has been poisoned. Their life stamina is intertwined, and they have both reached the end. If you want me to save them, then I can only burn my own life flame to prolong their lives.”

Upon hearing this, Shui Xiangsheng chuckled strangely but remained silent.

Gan Wulin nodded with satisfaction and said, "The Buddha of Freedom lent me his divine artifact in an attempt to measure the length of lifespan in order to extinguish the poison of my senior brother's life fire. But if a person doesn't even care about their life, using lifespan as poison and life as a catalyst, what is the Buddha of Freedom?"

Gan Wulin rolled his bloodshot eyes, stared at Su Wen, and a look of tenderness appeared on his face. He said softly, "My senior brother and I are still locked in a battle of wits. We will have to rely on you in the future."

After speaking, Gan Wulin took out a short ruler from his sleeve and handed it to Suwen with trembling hands.

The short ruler was about a foot long and the width of a thumb. It was bluish-white in color and very ancient. I don't know what material it was made of. It was engraved with many inscriptions.

“This was sent to me by the Buddha of Freedom. It can absorb the life force of others, thus having the effect of borrowing their lifespan. I have used it many times, and it does indeed prolong life.” Gan Wulin forcefully handed over the short ruler, saying, “Good child, if you encounter difficulties in the future, it may be able to ward off a crisis.”

His voice was full of kindness, without a trace of violence; truly, a dying man's words are kind.

Suwen did not take it, but shook his head and said, "A doctor's duty is to save lives."

Upon hearing this, Gan Wulin was stunned for a moment, then it seemed as if the last bit of energy had been drained from his body. The short ruler in his hand fell to the ground, and his eyes lost all their luster.

Gan Wulin then collapsed to the ground, lifeless, beyond any doubt.

"Hahahaha!" Shui Xiangsheng laughed out loud when he saw Gan Wulin die before him. He coughed up a lot of blood, but said to himself, "Junior brother is exceptionally talented, but he has never been able to advance further. When his mind is filled with troubled thoughts, he naturally goes astray."

Shui Xiangsheng seemed to have an epiphany, "Thinking about it, we were happiest when we were practicing medicine abroad. We didn't have so many schemes, we just wanted to see more of the world and save more people."

After saying this, Shui Xiangsheng's cloudy, dull, and lifeless eyes seemed to regain a spark of light. He looked at Su Wen and said, "Aren't you going to ask about your background? Back then, my junior brother and I were full of vigor, and there was a woman..."

“Amitabha.” Suwen shook his head, interrupting Shui Xiangsheng, and said, “It’s all just smoke and clouds. Knowing too much only adds to your suffering.”

Shui Xiangsheng was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded blankly, gave a few bitter laughs, and collapsed to the ground, clearly having lost all will to live and unable to continue.

Upon seeing the two brothers dead, everyone fell silent once more. Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, also brothers, couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow, and the two even began reciting the Rebirth Mantra.

Su Wen knelt before the corpses of Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin, muttering something unintelligible.

Meng Yuan reached out and started a fire, flicking it towards the short ruler left behind by Gan Wulin.

The spark seemed capable of burning everything in its path; the short ruler trembled incessantly, and finally, a grand aura was revealed.

But the short ruler did not summon the Buddha of Freedom; it merely turned to ashes.

Meng Yuan then took a wooden box from the finger of the Medicine Buddha statue and handed it to Su Wen.

"Let's go, it's time to go back." Meng Yuan just wanted to go home.

(End of this chapter)