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Chapter 543 Meals
Those survivors, pinned under the golden locks, immediately began to curse.

"You son of a bitch, a bald, mangy slave, born of someone but raised by no one, kill me or torture me as you please, stop pretending—you still believe your promises? Believe your mother's ass! I shouldn't have believed your mother's nonsense in the first place, and ended up giving birth to a bastard like you with no anus."

However, no matter how harsh the insults were, the old monk Hongyi always smiled, until someone, being so ignorant, went beyond the bounds of propriety.

"Judging by your appearance, the Arhat you worship is probably a dog's mother. What Buddhahood? I think he's just a human in disguise."

"Paji——"

The man's words came to an abrupt halt.

His tongue was pulled out alive—but that wasn't all. After the tongue, a whole series of airways were connected, followed by his internal organs, flesh, and bones.
In the end, all that was left of this person was a thin layer of human skin.

Only then did the old monk Hongyi speak.

“It is alright if you insult this humble monk, after all, this humble monk has indeed violated the precept against lying, and will request to have his tongue pulled out as punishment in the future. But you should not slander the Arhats. This is a great sin of blasphemy against the Buddha, which must be repaid with everything.”

After saying that, he looked at someone else.

"I'll say it again: this method is only to prevent you from acting impulsively; I have no ill intentions."

Among the survivors, the one who had vaguely appeared to be the leader looked at the gruesome corpses beside him and suddenly spoke.

"If we promise not to harm you, will you let us go?"

"of course."

"Then please, Master, untie this thing."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old monk Hongyi actually waved his hand and unlocked the pile of chains.

The survivors showed no intention of making a move; they simply huddled together and coldly stared at the old monk Hongyi.

However, the deadlock was quickly broken.

Faxian approached and whispered a few words to him. Then, the old monk Hongyi nodded and pointed to the crowd.

Then, several pieces of flesh that were still writhing were thrown over.

The surviving member of the heretical sect frowned, then asked.

"This is."

"This is the apple of Lord Mude's eye, and most of it is now here. I don't need to say more about its value. Whether you use it to refine pills and make magic artifacts or sell it to others, it is priceless. This is my reward to you."

Seeing this windfall, everyone was a little stunned.

"For us?"

"Exactly."

"We can take all of these with us?"

"Yes."

Are you sure you won't hunt us down?

Upon hearing this, the old monk Hongyi suddenly burst out laughing.

"This humble monk swears by the true name of an Arhat that he will never do anything detrimental to you benefactors after this. If he breaks this oath, he is willing to be forever trapped in the abyss, never to be liberated for all eternity. Is that acceptable?"

Upon hearing this, the survivors looked at each other, then immediately tore off their rightful pieces of flesh and blood, and ran out of the valley at their fastest speed.

Only Yan Feidie hesitated for a moment, glanced at Zhou You who was still holding his arms and acting as if nothing had happened, and finally gritted his teeth and scattered like a flock of birds.

The old monk Hongyi did not stop him.

He didn't even move.

Now, the old monk appears even more withered, but unlike his dying body, his eyes shine brightly—like those of a hungry wolf in the wilderness.

Faxian quietly withdrew again, leaving only the old monk Hongyi and Zhou You behind.

Someone looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground, then at the lifeless faceless giant, and suddenly laughed.

"The abbot is truly a man of his word. Well, a few pieces of meat and he's already fooled this group of resentful people—what am I supposed to do now? Are you planning to kill them to cover your tracks?"

The old monk Hongyi shook his head with a wry smile.

"Young friend, you jest. There are less than one in ten survivors in my Hanshan Temple. What ability do we have to kill you to silence you?"

Without waiting for Zhou You's reply, he continued.

“I know you have grievances against me, young friend, but it was a helpless move on my part—if I had known the true name of the Wood Star Lord beforehand, you would have been more likely to run into trouble. It’s better to enter with a sincere heart, which will make it easier to break through the barrier of the dream.”

So you know everything?
Zhou You simply crossed his arms, neither speaking nor refuting, and quietly watched the old monk.

The old monk glanced at him and then sighed.

Then, this guy raised his arm—unlike his previous ease, he now seemed to be carrying a thousand pounds of weight, struggling to manipulate the golden chain, inserting it into the body of the Wood Star Lord, stirring it around, and then pulling out a piece of pale white bone fragment.

In just that one moment, the old monk Hongyi seemed to have aged ten years, but he was still panting as he threw the bone fragment into Zhou You's hand.

“Take it. This is what I promised your master. This item is a thing formed from the last bit of obsession of the Wood Star Lord. With this as a trump card, Master Chongxu’s preparations this time are almost guaranteed.”

Zhou You remained silent.

In fact, he was somewhat stunned the moment he got his hands on the bone fragments.

The reason was not that the Venerable Master Hongyi kept his promise, but rather...
"—Congratulations, player. You have obtained a well-preserved source of immortality and Buddhahood. If you can keep this item and not completely transfer ownership to others, you can obtain a special reward by comprehending this source when this scenario is resolved."

"For reference, the rewards that can be exchanged for this source are (partial): Eternal Evergreen Blade, Dew of Spring for Withered Trees, and Fragment of the Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Monarch's Scripture."

"Keeping this item may drastically increase the difficulty of the scenario, so please make a careful decision."

To be honest, Zhou You originally thought this thing was just a quest item; he would take it back to his sect, hand it in, and complete the quest.

But now
He was indeed a little unsure.

But that's all in the future. Zhou You glanced at the bone fragments, then casually put them into his pocket—this thing was a special mission item and couldn't be stored in the Diancang Ring at all—then a smile appeared on his face, and he bowed to the old monk Hongyi.

"Since you are so magnanimous, Abbot, I will not be pretentious. However, there is one more thing I am curious to ask."

"Please speak, young friend."

"Abbot, your temple is almost dead." He gestured around. "Almost. Please don't take offense at my bluntness—logically speaking, Hanshan Temple is practically expelled, and besides, 'a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime,' so what will happen next for you?"

The old monk Hongyi had long, drooping eyebrows and a sorrowful expression.

"They sacrificed themselves for Buddhism and will receive countless blessings. As for our temple... to be honest with you, young friend, I have already distributed all the valuable things. No one but us can use this remains. As long as we wait for the Arhat to be reborn through this and maintain the foundation of the temple, no matter how many people die, the temple will eventually be able to return to prosperity."

—Is this what they call putting yourself in a do-or-die situation to survive?
Zhou You looked at the old monk Hongyi's seemingly genuine expression, and finally put his hands together and said to him.

"Then I wish you success in fulfilling your great aspirations. I need to return to report, so I won't bother you any longer." The old monk Hongyi returned the bow.

"I also wish that the Arhat would bless you and your master, so that everything you wish for may come true and there will be no more obstacles."

After saying this, the old monk Hongyi stopped paying attention to Zhou You and instead directed the remaining monks and devout men and women to cut off the faceless head of the Wood Star Lord, put it on a cart, and have it pulled step by step towards the mountain gate by manpower—all the livestock had already died in the fight.

Is this considered an amicable parting? Could it be that these monks are actually a bunch of good people?
Zhou You watched the figures recede into the distance, then shook his head and decided it was best to get out of there as soon as possible.

Otherwise.

Just then, a voice suddenly reached his ears.

The voice was ethereal and unreal, as if it could be carried away by the wind at any moment—yet it was also incredibly real.

Zhou You immediately frowned and turned his head away.

—No one was seen.

But he remained standing there, lost in thought, before finally taking a step and heading towards the valley's exit.

at night.

Hanshan Temple remains unchanged.

Although the main force was almost entirely wiped out, some monks, like the cooks, and the refugees they had taken in were still there, so it wasn't too deserted.

Furthermore, because they had accomplished a major event that had been planned for a century, and with the prospect of an Arhat's descent into the world seemingly within reach, the temple held a grand celebration.

To put it more simply...

Food is unlimited—including Curry's treasured honey cubes, which are now available in unlimited quantities and can be asked for as much as you want.

Ever since.

The temple had practically become an open-air banquet, with dazed figures everywhere, wolfing down their food.

Such consumption naturally kept the kitchen extremely busy.

Dozens of large pots had been set up in the room, but the demand still couldn't meet the supply. The person in charge here—a burly, fat monk—was wiping the sweat from his brow as he hysterically gave orders.

"Bencheng, are your eyes lanterns? Can't you see the water's about to boil dry! And Benzheng, can't you be a little more efficient and chop the vegetables faster? If you really can't, ask your senior brother to come and help you—this is a big festival at the temple, if we mess it up and the abbot blames us, we'll all be dead!"

However, when you're not busy, nothing happens, but when you're busy, things immediately pile up.

This is not.

A novice monk, covered in sweat, lifted the lid of the vegetable jar, looked inside, and then cried out in despair.

"Master, we're out of meat!!!"

"What kind of meat? Pork, duck, or cured meat? Why worry about so much at a time like this? Just use whatever you have!"

The novice monk paused for a moment, then continued.

"Master, it's mutton."

The fat monk's voice finally stopped for a few seconds.

Which mutton?

"It's that mutton that can bring merit."

The conversation was extremely cryptic, but the fat novice monk still understood what it meant. After thinking for a moment, he called over another novice monk.

"Go to the livestock shed and pick out two fat ones. Remember, they must be fat. The temple's animal husbandry is slow to mature lately, so the leaner ones probably won't meet the requirements for making merit food."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this instruction, the novice monk looked troubled.

“Master, the elders repeatedly warned us to use these sparingly, otherwise we might not have enough for our fellow disciples and fellow disciples. Now that we’ve brought over two without permission, I’m afraid it’s a bit against the rules, isn’t it?”

But the fat monk only smacked him on the back of his bald head.

“Just go when I tell you to, stop with all the nonsense—besides, don’t you think about it? Only a few people came back today, and that’s not right!” The fat monk seemed to realize something and slapped himself again. “—In short, there aren’t that many mouths to feed right now, so using one or two won’t hurt. Maybe we’ll even have some left over later, so hurry up and bring them over. Don’t forget the temple’s rules.”

"Nothing is more important than eating!"

Upon hearing this, the novice monk could say nothing more and could only reluctantly run into the night.

The kitchen was once again bustling with activity.

Before long, the novice monk knocked on the door again.

"Master, I'm back!"

"Damn it, when did you develop this lousy habit? Get in here right now, all the ingredients are ready, we're just waiting for you!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the door was pushed open.

Then they saw the novice monk struggling to pull two things from outside into the kitchen, using two thick hemp ropes.

Judging from the level of effort they were putting in, those must have been two plump and strong livestock.
No.

Not livestock.

Looking through the oil lamp on the roof beam, it was clear that the novice monk had brought in two fat sheep.
Instead, they were two creatures that reeked of a foul stench, wore tattered clothes, and at first glance appeared to weigh about four or five hundred pounds. Their hands and feet were smothered in fat, and they could only crawl on the ground with difficulty.
people.

Yes, even with such a strange appearance, even with a blank and silly expression, and even with drool dripping all over the ground, this is still a human being.

As always, there are great living people.

But the fat monk looked at the two men with no regard for their kind. Instead, he waved his hand impatiently and said...

“What are you still looking at? These two guys have accumulated enough merit to slaughter you all. Tear off their clothes, wash them with water, and then open the furnace door and let them in.”

The novices did as they were told, and the two enormous fat men seemed to have no senses at all, letting them do as they pleased.

Finally, the two naked people were herded into a hanging furnace, and beneath it, a golden flame rose up.

However, despite the fact that people were being burned alive, there were no cries or screams of agony heard from them.

Even more so, faintly, one could hear the chanting of Buddhist hymns of great compassion.

After a while, the bubbling, fragrant soup dripped from the stove.

If Zhou You were here, he would definitely recognize him at a glance.

—This is the warm hospitality that the Venerable Master Hongyi showed him when he first arrived at the temple.
That kind of hot soup.

(End of this chapter)