The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 577 No Turning Back, Life and Death Are Irrelevant

The Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts – The Mighty Vajra Palm.

What should have been a powerful and fierce palm technique capable of splitting mountains and splitting rocks was instead devoid of any killing intent. It was as light and graceful as the Buddha plucking a flower, or as calm as morning dew dripping onto a petal.

Susanoo's movements stopped there.

Bang bang!

Li Miao threw a backhand punch, deflecting his arms. After landing, he staggered back several steps and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Bang!
Susanoo's enormous body then collapsed.

The figure standing behind him was revealed.

He was thin and tall, with sunken cheeks, narrow and drooping eyes, and a downturned mouth, his face etched with sorrow. His skin was loose and covered in scars.

"donor."

"Grandmaster."

Li Miao coughed a few times and then gave a thumbs up.

"happy!"

Jianzhen's drooping lips suddenly curved upwards.

"I feel the same way."

After laughing, he sighed again.

"But you shouldn't put yourself in such a dangerous situation."

He spread his arms and looked himself over.

He was completely naked, and the bloodstains were still wet.

Behind him, the pool of blood from Susanoo had mostly dried. A trail of bloody footprints stretched all the way to Jianzhen's feet.

That half heart.

After being pierced by Li Miao's sword, the half of Susanoo's heart that he spat out was Jianzhen.

Jianzhen slowly shook his head.

“Benefactor, when you plunged your sword into my heart, you should have killed both me and the demon. But you deliberately delayed for a few breaths, probing the boundary between me and him—and then deliberately separated me.”

"Does the benefactor know that if this humble monk had solidified his body for even a moment tonight, or been momentarily slowed down by his sexual desire, you would be—"

Li Miao waved his hand, interrupting him.

"Isn't it all your fault, Master?"

He coughed a few times, reached out his left hand to grasp his severed right arm, tore off the festering flesh, and activated his healing technique to begin mending the wound. Then he looked around and found an open space to sit down.

"We agreed to join forces against the enemy, but I've been waiting for you for so long and haven't heard a thing. I guess I'll have to gamble on whether I can cut you off and see what happens."

Jianzhen slowly shook his head, and with a single hand, blood congealed into a monk's robe. He took a few steps forward and sat down cross-legged opposite Li Miao.

"It is this humble monk's fault."

"From the moment I gave up the initiative, it was as if I was submerged in the sea, dazed and unable to react. I could only slightly delay Susanoo's moves, but it didn't seem to have any effect."

"Even after being cleaved in two by your sword and spat out by Susanoo, I was still in a daze and unable to move."

"When you were captured by Susanoo just now, I almost broke my vow of anger."

Jianzhen first sighed, then smiled.

"But if I hadn't seen you in such a perilous situation, I doubt I would have been able to conjure a physical body in such a moment of urgency. Could it be that you did this on purpose?"

Li Miao squinted at him.

He reached out and touched the wounds all over his body.

"Does the master think I'm a fortune teller?"

"Or do you think the injuries your ancestor inflicted on me were fake? With the upper, middle, and lower dantians gone, it's already quite impressive that I've managed to fight like this."

Jianzhen smiled and nodded.

"It was my recklessness."

The two were silent for a moment.

After a few breaths, Jianzhen suddenly spoke seriously.

"Could you please help this humble monk find a wooden fish?"

Li Miao sighed and pushed himself up.

"You stinking monks, you always order people around."

“Xingchi, Damo, and you too, one by one, you’re shoving people’s last wishes in their faces and putting them on the moral barbecue grill—just wait.”

He got up and left.

After a while, Li Miao returned carrying a package, plopped down opposite Jianzhen, unfolded the package, revealing several items inside.

"It's fortunate that Yanli Temple is full of monks who indulge in wine and meat. If this kind of fight had happened in a temple in the Central Plains, it would have been difficult to find this stuff. Hmm, it's aged, not bad."

Jianzhen looked down and was taken aback.

“Benefactor…this humble monk is a Buddhist monk.”

"A proper monk." Li Miao took out a wine pot from his bag, filled the wine cups with wine, and said nonchalantly.

"What kind of lousy, respectable monk is this?"

"You've broken the precepts against killing, anger, and speech all night long, so what's one more sip of wine?"

"Besides, didn't you say that if we were born in the same era, you would definitely join forces with me to fight the enemy and drink and make merry? You've finished fighting the enemy, but forgotten about drinking and making merry?"

He pushed the wine glass away.

Li Miao pointed to the sky.

"Look."

"The bright moon hangs high in the sky, and the dark clouds have all dispersed."

"The past is over, and worldly ties are severed."

Li Miao raised his glass.

"Shouldn't we have a big toast?"

Jianzhen remained silent for a long time, then suddenly smiled, reached out and picked up a wine cup, raising it towards Li Miao.

"It is time to have a drink."

"Respectfully, benefactor."

when.

They clinked their glasses, raised them, and drank them down in one gulp.

Li Miao filled it up again.

"I'll toast you too."

"Thank you, benefactor."

He raised his glass again and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Miao picked up the wine pot, intending to pour Jianzhen another cup, but Jianzhen covered the cup with his hand and said with a wry smile.

“Benefactor, things don’t happen more than three times—this humble monk is truly a respectable monk.”

Li Miao pursed his lips.

"Boring."

He then leaned back against the collapsed rubble, picked up the wine jug, and poured it into his mouth.

Jianzhen looked at Li Miao for a while, then shook his head with a smile. He reached into his bundle, took out a wooden fish and placed it in front of him, then took out a wooden mallet and held it in his hand.

He didn't strike it immediately, but instead stroked the layered patterns on the wooden mallet, as if recalling something. After a while, he turned his gaze to the mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and ruins all around him.

A long sigh.

"A dream of eight hundred years, a dream in a single day."

Benedict.

The wooden mallet fell, striking the wooden fish.

“Subhuti! If someone were to fill countless asamkhya worlds with the seven treasures and use them for almsgiving…”

Benedict.

Jianzhen's back slowly hunched over, and the monk's robes on his body, which were made of blood, gradually melted away, collapsing like a snowman.

"If there are good men and good women who have aspired to be Bodhisattvas, and uphold this sutra, even just four lines of verse, and recite and explain it to others, their blessings will surpass those of others."

Benedict.

His tall, emaciated figure gradually shrank, with only the devout and calm chanting continuing, word by word, without the slightest hesitation.

"How can one preach to others without being swayed by appearances, remaining unmoved? Why is that?"

Benedict.

"All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning, they should be viewed in this way."

Wow.

The blood collapsed and spread out.

The wooden mallet lost its support and fell onto the wooden fish, making a final, crisp sound.

Benedict.

Li Miao took a sip of wine and looked up at the night sky.

The moonlight shines down, illuminating those who walk this path from eight hundred years ago to the present, unchanged in the slightest. Li Miao's shadow is cast on the ground, and he too raises his wine cup, as if this drinking contest spanning eight hundred years is still continuing.

Outside the ruins of Yanli Temple, Lu Wushuang followed the trail and rushed over. In the distance, she heard Li Miao humming calmly and contentedly. The melody was strange and the lyrics were plain, but it gradually calmed her anxious heart.

"The moon splashes across the starry sky, and the road ahead is long."

"The wind and smoke have faded, leaving only the lonely figure."

"Abandon enlightenment and delusion, yet remain unchanged amidst the six senses."

"There's no turning back, life and death are irrelevant..."

(End of this chapter)