From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 386 I Am the Only One in Heaven and Earth

The rain was pouring down, as if it were urging people to give up.

Floodwaters had already accumulated outside the city, and amidst the drifting rain and mist, the cries of tens of thousands of displaced people rose and fell.

Dugu Kang took off the bamboo hat he was carrying and couldn't help but sigh, "The president really had foresight."

He had no money and no gift from the club president, but he was quite skilled and had already made one on the way. Although it was simple, it was enough to provide shade and shelter from the rain.

Zhao Ying'er didn't even try to shield herself from the rain. Instead, she tilted her head back, stretched out her arms, and vigorously rubbed her face with the rainwater.

As the three were busy with their own tasks, the dark clouds in the sky parted, and a beam of light pierced through the heavens and earth.

The beam of light was extremely mysterious, and its movement was quite divine. Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang were stunned and speechless.

Zhao Ying'er had already washed the dirt off her face. She wanted to borrow a straw hat to wear, but her brother-in-law's two old friends didn't move. When she turned her head, she saw that Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang looked blankly at the sky.

"What's that?" Zhao Ying'er had only just met Jie Kaiping, but she thought he was very good at talking, so she poked him.

"It's the Guru..." Jie Kaiping's voice trembled as he lay prostrate on the water-splattered ground, not daring to lift his head.

Zhao Ying'er was still confused when she saw Dugu Kang follow suit, lying down next to Jie Kaiping and muttering, "Senior brother, will this work?"

"We have to give it a try, right?" Jie Kaiping prostrated himself, shoveling mud onto his arms and gathering it around his head and face.

Zhao Ying'er was also confused, but she knew that the two must be afraid of something, so she asked, "Qing Guangzi?"

Seeing that the two men remained silent, Zhao Ying'er pulled off their straw hats, put one on her own head to shield herself from the rain, and casually gave the other to the panicked refugees.

"What a coward! My brother-in-law is here, what are you afraid of? Once my brother-in-law makes a move, we'll take down all those green and blue beams!" Although Zhao Ying'er boasted like this, she was also very scared as the beam of light got closer and closer. She wanted to learn from Jie Kaiping and was just about to lie down when Jie Kaiping, whose face was buried in the mud, said, "Stay away from us."

"Why is that?" Zhao Ying'er asked, puzzled. "Although we've only just met, you two are my brother-in-law's friends, so you're also my friends. You've come to Shenjing for a visit, and I'm the host, how could I abandon you two?"

"So that when you get struck by lightning later, it won't affect you." Jie Kaiping, being kind-hearted, interrupted Zhao Ying'er.

Without saying a word, Zhao Ying'er took off running.

She tumbled and crawled, landing hard on her bottom. Zhao Ying'er then saw the beam of light surge toward her and, sure enough, land on Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang.

The two men were covered in mud, but the mud dried quickly under the bright light, and their short hair was burned off, leaving them steaming.

"What...who are these two? Why are we looking for them?" Zhao Ying'er slumped to the ground, dumbfounded, but then explained, "So they are my brother-in-law's moles, they're just too useless."

Seeing that the two people had no airs of superiority and were instead crying out in pain, Zhao Ying'er looked down on them even more. "My sister-in-law's little Xiangling didn't even care this much when she lost seven coins to me!"

But just then, the beam of light seemed to ignore Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, and moved towards the city.

Only after the beam of light stopped moving in one spot in the city did Zhao Ying'er dare to look up.

Although she was not directly affected by the beam of light, it had already affected many people when it moved. Most of those illuminated suffered from festering skin and scorched hair, resembling walking corpses.

Looking at Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, the two were still buried in the mud, trembling, and dared not move.

Both of them had their heads shaved, so Zhao Ying'er stepped forward and tapped their bald heads. "Qing Guangzi is gone." Zhao Ying'er's voice trembled slightly. She was also afraid, but she was still better off than the two monks.

Sure enough, Jie Kaiping stood up first, glanced at the beams of light in the city, and the fear on his face disappeared.

Dugu Kang, having been influenced by his surroundings, had long since learned about the cultivation of Qi in the form of a pheasant. Seeing the disdain in Zhao Ying'er's eyes, he put on a confident demeanor and said, "I knew that Master would never pay attention to the two of us. He just sensed some familiar aura and came to take a look."

"Wipe your sweat." Jie Kaiping wiped the sweat from Dugu Kang's forehead, acting like a father to his senior brother, and added, "It's not that Master is too lazy to deal with us, it's just that there's a surging killing intent in the city, and Master has gone to find the person who provoked us!"

The rain hadn't stopped, and Dugu Kang's legs were still a little weak. He forced himself to stand up, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked at the beams of light in the city, and murmured, "Is that Meng Feiyuan?"

"Of course!" Jie Kaiping said.

"Who else could it be but my brother-in-law?" Zhao Ying'er felt much more confident. "My brother-in-law is very capable!"

No sooner had the words been spoken than a golden, illusory image of a Buddha appeared in the sky above the gloomy rain and howling wind.

The illusory image of the Buddha was radiant and upright, sitting cross-legged between heaven and earth, truly giving the impression of being all-encompassing and unique throughout the ages.

"I sit alone on the eternal lotus throne." The vast and boundless voice resounded between heaven and earth, without being harsh, as if it were ringing in one's ear, yet it possessed unparalleled majesty.

Sure enough, Zhao Ying'er looked up blankly and saw a lotus platform appear beneath the illusory image of the Buddha statue.

The lotus platform was pure and the Buddha's image was radiant. Even though the rain had not stopped and the dark clouds were still there, Zhao Ying'er felt something upon seeing it. She felt that if she could devoutly worship the Buddha and serve the Buddha with her body, she would no longer suffer or grieve. The dark clouds in the world would disappear completely, and she could even regain peace.

In a daze, Zhao Ying'er was about to kneel down, but then she felt a sharp pain in her head and couldn't kneel down no matter what she did.

Zhao Ying'er turned her head and saw Jie Kaiping grabbing her hair with a smile on her face, looking like a despicable high-ranking monk.

"Why are you grabbing my hair?" Zhao Ying'er glared angrily at Jie Kaiping, finding the man repulsive and ruining her Buddhist faith.

"Since your three thousand strands of hair still cause you pain, then you cannot kneel." Jie Kaiping spoke slowly, truly appearing as a wise person who could alleviate suffering.

"Besides, what's the use of kneeling?" Dugu Kang also wanted to grab Zhao Ying'er's hair, but he was too scared to move by Zhao Ying'er's angry glare, so he could only say, "Female benefactor, what you're thinking is all fake. Don't be fooled. You have to trust your brother-in-law."

"..." Zhao Ying'er was stunned for a moment, then felt a gentle warmth coming from her hair, and her mind immediately cleared.

Once she regained her senses, Zhao Ying'er immediately came to her senses. She saw the torrential rain and the countless refugees before her kneeling before the lotus platform and Buddha statue in the sky, all of them extremely devout.

Just then, Zhao Ying'er saw a wisp of flame shoot into the sky from the beam of light in the city.

"What is that?" Zhao Ying'er didn't recognize the person.

“It’s your brother-in-law.” Jie Kaiping had witnessed Meng Yuan’s abilities firsthand. He looked up in bewilderment and saw that the flame in the beam of light became more and more subtle as it went higher, to the point that it was almost indistinguishable from the starlight. However, it became more and more tenacious, as if it were immortal and indestructible, and it shot into the sky along the beam of light.

"Fool," the Buddha statue spoke again, pressing down with his palm, "I am the only one worthy of respect in heaven and earth, how can I tolerate your insolence?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she untied the screen and felt the dark clouds in the sky instantly dissipate, leaving only endless light, as if it wanted to illuminate all the suffering in the world and eradicate endless afflictions.

At this moment, both Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang recalled the heavy snowfall that day in Songhe Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)