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Chapter 174 Rebirth
What the hell!
This was the purple-robed man's first thought.

—There are only a handful of people in this Dharma realm, who else could he possibly talk to!?

This was the purple-robed man's second thought.

A chill ran down his spine, making him afraid to even lower his head. But as the hands clenched tighter and tighter, and the smile grew more and more delightful, he finally gritted his teeth and looked down.

The hands that held his ankles were quite ordinary, with pale skin that wasn't particularly strong, but it was covered with muscles from years of hard work and looked quite sturdy.

But the problem is the body of this arm.

...There was no head on it.

His identity is obvious.

Right at the start of the scene, Zhou You kicked Zheng Sandan, who was standing next to the man in purple robes.

But the problem is that Zheng Sandan had already been beheaded with a single sword strike, so how could he possibly reach out and grab him?
And... where did that sound come from?
In a panic, the purple-robed man strained his legs, trying to break free from the grasp—with Red Tara's blessing, even the steel shackles were shattered—

however.

For some reason, the hand didn't move at all.

The aged voice rang out once again.

"Old ghost, you don't need to struggle anymore. Guess how much I tampered with your internal organs back then? Now you are nothing more than a child to a strong man, and you have no ability to resist at all."

The man in purple gritted his teeth, and amidst the grinding of the insect swarm, an incredulous voice rang out from within.

"Who are you? What do you want? What do you mean by this?!"

Although he said that, he had already guessed who it was—

How could this guy do this? How dare he do this?!

But the man ignored his feelings and continued in his aged voice.

"I told you from the beginning that you were just a reckless brute, all muscle and no brains. Now it seems I was right after all—when my master sought revenge against the Tantric sect, all the other masters ran away, but you, unable to see the situation clearly, still wanted to charge headlong into it. Sure enough, you were almost beaten to a pulp."

An invisible and intangible erosion gradually spread throughout his body, even severing his connection with the Bodhisattva. Overwhelmed by a deep-seated unease, the man in purple robes could only search left and right, desperately trying to find the person who had spoken.

Unfortunately, nothing was found.

In the end, all he could do was roar out that name.

"Liao Chen, you fucking get out here!"

"Come out? Isn't this humble monk right here?"

As the words fell, an oval-shaped object tilted upwards.

It was Zheng Sandan's head.

At this moment, a serene smile graced the head as it spoke to the man in purple robes.

"Old ghost, even your resurrection plan is full of loopholes, and I had to rack my brains to fix it for you. But you are not only ungrateful, you also agreed to help me rebuild my Dharma body first. After you received the Bodhisattva's blessing, you turned your back on me and even started to treat me like a slave."

At this point, even the insects all over the purple-robed man's body began to tremble—but he was no longer able to utter a single word.

So Zheng Sandan made his judgment with a light touch.

"So, what you don't want to give, I'll just have to take it myself."

After that, the man in purple robes was finally able to speak.

"Liao Chen, I know I was wrong, please forgive me—"

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, the headless corpse clenched its fist tightly.

In the blink of an eye, pale flames engulfed everything. Zheng Sandan's corpse, his body covered in insects, including his fresh internal organs, all melted together in the flames.

Only the statue of the Bodhisattva in the background remains, still retaining its charming and graceful appearance.
-
After an unknown amount of time, the flames finally died down. All traces of the purple-robed man turned into a lump of mud. A dung beetle-like insect struggled to crawl out of it, but before it could move, it was stomped on by a large foot and crushed.

A naked man emerged from the wreckage. At first glance, he appeared to be in his early thirties, in the prime of his life. He was not particularly strong, but he was not thin either. He had a few ordination scars on his head, and in his ordinary face, one could still vaguely see some familiar traces.

Zhou You, who had watched the entire performance, raised an eyebrow and said.

"Liaochen".

—It's not a question, it's an affirmative statement.

The man clasped his hands together and bowed to him.

"It's down."

"You look like you've become younger, or your body has been reshaped?"

"...Both are true. It is thanks to your help that this humble monk was able to usurp the old ghost's position and successfully seize the Bodhisattva's grace."

After saying that, the black Buddha statue suddenly slipped from the old monk's hand, but he did not rub it as before, but instead applied a little force with his hand.

With a 'crack', the Buddha statue shattered instantly, and a radiant relic fell into his hand.

The golden light shimmered, captivating all who saw it.

Zhou You glanced at it casually, then curled his lip indifferently.

"Don't joke around. I'm not trying to help you. If the road down the mountain hadn't been blocked, and you hadn't exploited my weakness by threatening these people's lives, I wouldn't care if you two were fighting like dogs."

Faced with these words full of dissatisfaction, Liao Chen's face did not show the slightest fluctuation; he simply smiled and said...

"But in terms of the result, you have indeed helped me a lot—if it weren't for your help, let alone rebuilding my Dharma body, I would probably have been squeezed to the point of my soul being scattered by that old ghost—so I am also grateful for your kindness and will feel free to make any requests you may have."

Zhou You turned his head and glanced at the people from the escort agency who were shrouded in malevolent energy. He saw that, except for Lu Ping, they had not yet broken free from the spell. Then he casually said.

"Then explain these reasons to me first. What you wrote on that piece of paper is unclear, and there are many parts that I don't quite understand."

Liao Chen bowed.

"It's actually very simple. As you already know, my Ci'en Temple's Dharma was purified by the former abbot who insisted on his own way. And that guy went to great lengths, severing the cause and effect of the Dharma. If we want to rebuild it, we can only find something external to contaminate it."

"—So, Tantric Buddhism?"

Upon hearing Zhou You's question, Liao Chen nodded.

"What you say is true. If one wants to corrupt the Dharma, besides directly seeking out extraterrestrial demons, one can only seek out those gods and Buddhas who have also been corrupted. About ten years ago, I happened to meet this old ghost who was nothing but a skeleton. We shared the same goal, so we hit it off immediately. I helped him restore his body and used the 'method of usurping Buddha' to guide the descent of Red Tara. In return, he helped me rejuvenate and rebuild the Dharma in the temple. It was originally a mutually beneficial arrangement, but alas..."

Liao Chen sighed softly, as if with great regret.

“This person is far too short-sighted. He becomes arrogant as soon as there is a glimmer of hope. I think the whole plan will fall apart sooner or later. So, I have no choice but to find a way to save myself. And coincidentally, your group is coming up the mountain. So, I would like to ask for your help.”

Zhou You flicked Duan Xie away and suddenly revealed a deeply mocking smile.

"So you threatened me with the lives of the entire escort agency in that letter, and even turned one of them into a puppet?"

However, Liao Chen's attitude was extremely sincere. He maintained the clasped hands posture, but his waist suddenly bent deeply.

"I am truly sorry, benefactor. This is a last resort for me. Moreover, if you do not join forces with me, under that old ghost's manipulation, you probably won't be able to take the remaining people out. After all, this temple has already set up a maze. Even if you risk your life to leave through the forest, you will eventually only arrive at the back mountain, which has already been heavily fortified."

Zhou You remained silent for a while before speaking.

"Alright, now I have my second request—I wish to bring the entire escort agency down the mountain. Do you agree?"

However, faced with this very ordinary request, Liao Chen, who had always been accommodating, gently shook his head.

"Master Zhou, you can go down the mountain whenever you want, and I will not stop you. But the rest of you..."
"I'm afraid that won't work."

(End of this chapter)