Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Chu Mingkong was a little speechless, but he still found it quite interesting.

He wanted to ask the old man again what was going on, whether a typhoon storm was like this, but considering his special status and that he couldn't show himself freely, and that he had already overheard quite a bit, he figured asking again wouldn't yield any new answers.

Besides, so what if it rains? As long as it doesn't stop him from looking for people, he can just run away and go back to play with his cat.

His gaze wavered for a moment, and Chu Mingkong suddenly realized that a monk had appeared beside him without him noticing.

He had a kind and gentle face, a smile on his lips, and wore an old and simple monk's robe. He gazed into the depths of the sea, seemingly lost in thought, or perhaps looking at something with a purpose.

Noticing Chu Mingkong's gaze, the monk turned slightly and performed a clasped-hands greeting. Chu Mingkong's response was simple: just a nod.

Chu Mingkong's impression of the monk was so-so, but sensing something was off, he thought for a moment and then politely said:

"What is the master looking at?"

“I was just looking at the sea, I just saw you, and I’m looking at the sea again,” the monk said methodically.

Compared to the aggressive and wicked monks Chu Mingkong had encountered before, this monk was much more friendly and gentle on the surface.

"Hmm, that's a pretty comprehensive answer..." Chu Mingkong muttered, nodding. "What's so interesting about this sea?"

"The sea lacks a Buddha, and the regret makes it worth seeing."

Answering with ambiguous statements, seemingly nothing at all, yet also seemingly everything—Chu Mingkong had heard Zuo Qiuchi criticize monks in this way before.

Now that he heard it, it really was true. However, Chu Mingkong had figured out something: what exactly he felt was wrong just now.

"I don't quite understand, but I want to know one thing: how did the master see me through the realm of Nirvana? Is this related to the Yin time?"

Chapter 111 Ancient Buddha Corpse

Perhaps Chu Mingkong's mind was left with his master's wife and hadn't returned yet, or perhaps the monk's greeting was too natural, because Chu Mingkong didn't notice the unusual situation at first.

The limitations of this Nirvana Domain are extremely great, but it's still reliable for stealthy thievery. Even his master's wife, Shen Xuejun, had a hard time detecting his Nirvana Domain.

Why did this bald man look at him so naturally, and even smile and bow?

The last time a similar situation occurred was with the person who was suspected to be the cat's mother. She inexplicably noticed his gaze and then disappeared.

"Perhaps this humble monk also understands a little about the meaning of Nirvana?" The monk remained unfazed, his politeness so impeccable that Chu Mingkong doubted whether he was a fake monk. He stared intently at the sky, tilting his head slightly as he answered, and then continued to gaze at the sea after speaking.

Chu Mingkong felt a bit curious: "The meaning of Nirvana, what is the meaning of Nirvana? I have only learned the technique, but I do not understand its meaning."

"Once it passes, it becomes empty. The predecessor of the Nirvana Intent was a sword technique that incorporated killing into the intent, a sword technique for slaughtering people. This humble monk has inquired and found that this Buddhist sword technique was first modified into the Blood Demon Sword Technique, and then into the Nirvana Sword Technique."

There's a proverb that echoes this: "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot." Excessive killing intent will eventually lead to emptiness of mind; from emptiness comes tranquility, and the killing intent will vanish.

"I haven't cultivated any of these Blood Demon or Annihilation sword techniques, and I don't think I've killed that many people," Chu Mingkong pondered, nodding confidently to himself.

Although his reputation in the capital was somewhat related to killing, the main reason for his fame was probably that he had killed many ordinary people.

The kind-faced monk shook his head:

"That's absurd. You only have one life. If that person is burdened with the karmic consequences of their past life, then killing one person is equivalent to killing two. Ten thousand lives may be a lot, but one life is not much?"

Moreover, "excess leads to emptiness." It's not necessary to kill excessively to achieve emptiness; all desires ultimately lead to emptiness. Have you ever seen the flourishing of summer trees in the four seasons? Their decline in autumn, and their withering and flourishing in the harsh winter—it's all the same principle.

When the six senses are purified, tranquility is the ultimate and imperishable state.

Chu Mingkong, embarrassed to admit he didn't understand, continued nodding as if he were on the same wavelength.

He pondered for a moment. He wondered what kind of twisted logic the bald man had come from. This man's demeanor was so different from the monks he often saw these days. He was too...friendly.

However, what the monk just said, "If it passes, it will be empty," sounds like a sage's mode.

After incurring a huge debt of bloodshed, one might experience a profound realization, but once the "wise man" mode ends, one will be plotting to continue being arrogant next time.

"The Blood Demon doesn't suit me. If I ever have a free time, I might be able to create my own 'Blood Demon Blade Technique'."

"Master, your example is incorrect. After the withering and flourishing of winter, spring's warmth and revival follow immediately. After a long winter, all the little animals are eager to come alive in spring, like a bustling market."

"That's why the four seasons keep cycling, unable to completely extinguish Nirvana, and are constantly suffering from the confusion of birth and death."

Chu Mingkong gave up arguing. He couldn't win an argument because he lacked eloquence. He just needed to be sure that he was the kind of person who would use the Annihilation Domain to cause trouble.

"Master, you left out a question for me. Are you related to the Yin time? I saw an old friend earlier, but he disappeared in an instant and I can't find him now. How can I find him?"

"Didn't you say it would pass in an instant? Then it has passed away."

Fuck you!

Feeling bored, Chu Mingkong turned to leave, but then felt uneasy and thought of turning back to ask the master a question: "How would you evaluate the current state of Buddhism?"

When Chu Mingkong turned around, the bald man was gone.

"The master is indeed a master. Knowing the question was difficult to answer, he ran away incredibly fast." Chu Mingkong exclaimed in amazement.

It's a pity, he still wanted to plunder some Buddhist scriptures from his past life to debate with these bald men, preferably with a passage from the Great Compassion Mantra.

However, he doesn't know the Great Compassion Mantra and can't memorize it because listening to it costs money! The Buddhist sect, which aims to save all sentient beings, doesn't save the poor.

While inwardly complaining, Chu Mingkong sensed the spiritual energy fluctuations of the paper scroll.

"The Wind Shadow?"

Chu Mingkong glanced at the contents to confirm.

[Fengying: Qingse came to find you and said that the treasure we mentioned before for observing celestial phenomena during cloudy hours has started to be auctioned. She came to ask if you wanted to go to the auction house to take a look.]

The auction is still going on at this hour?

Despite his puzzlement, Chu Mingkong carefully considered whether or not he should go over.

Spending money at that auction... I'm not very motivated.

But who knows, maybe someone will bid on it, and maybe the winner will get to see something through that treasure?

[Fengying: There's one more thing. Over the past two days, cultivator groups have started leaving one after another, in relatively concentrated groups. Today, even more people left. I wonder if it's because they saw the unusual sky.]

It's not unusual for cultivators to leave; some people always feel that their time is up and then they leave. But Feng Ying is talking about a large-scale departure of cultivators, a once-in-a-century event. It's not worth the last half month; joining in the fun and watching it all is worthwhile.

[Chu Mingkong: Is that so? What's going on? The auction is still half a month away. Could it be that after seeing me leave, those people thought they had no hope of birdwatching and just left?]

This statement is a bit too credible and overly self-satisfied, but Chu Mingkong felt that there was a tiny bit of that to it, right?

[Fengying: I'm not sure yet, but the general consensus is that the weather looked off, and since we'd already bought most of what we needed, we decided to leave.]

[Chu Mingkong: Okay, I'll go back now.]

After responding and confirming that Fengying hadn't sent any more messages, Chu Mingkong put away the note, took one last deep look at the sea and the thick fog, and left the coast.

On the way back, Chu Mingkong deliberately slowed down. The prosperity of the entire Guanhai City was built on this once-in-a-century event. Without these outside cultivators, there weren't actually that many locals, and the houses were mostly empty.

Chu Mingkong had several secret rendezvous with girls, strolling through the streets of Guanhai City. Every street was densely packed, and every house was crowded with people.

Now, however, there are many empty houses, and we also encountered many groups of cultivators packing their things to prepare for their departure.

Most people remained, but the sudden excavation of a quiet corner in the bustling street always stood out conspicuously.

Back at their base, Chu Mingkong didn't immediately discuss the auction upon meeting, but instead said:

"Why don't we retreat first? Or maybe we can send Jinyu and Yongzhen further away. Sometimes going with the flow isn't a bad thing."

"Then let's ask the girls what they think, I'm fine with anything~" Feng Ying shrugged, not making a decision for Chu Mingkong.

"Speaking of Qingse, wasn't she supposed to go to the auction together? Did she go ahead?" Chu Mingkong noticed that one person was missing.

"They'll be here in a bit. It seems Qingse is going to investigate why several groups of people suddenly left in a hurry."

"We found it!" Qingse suddenly appeared and rushed over: "Those cultivators seem to have encountered the ancient Buddha's corpse, sensed something was wrong, and that's why they left!"

Chapter 112 The Living Mask

What exactly is the "Ancient Buddha Corpse"?

"Tell me in detail," Chu Mingkong asked directly, then added, "Where is it?"

Since this so-called ancient Buddha corpse has been discovered, it's better to take a look than to hear a description.

Qingse shook her head: "We can't see them now, those cultivators submerged them in the water."

Chu Mingkong felt that he could never catch the latest gossip; he always heard rumors after the fact. First it was the Yin Shi Asking the Way Monk, and now it's this Ancient Buddha Corpse.

No, what about the mysterious bald man we just met when we asked the monk for directions at this time of night?

"Let's talk as we go. Let's go to the auction house and see how that treasure for observing celestial phenomena during cloudy hours is doing. Hopefully, we won't miss out on the hype this time." Chu Mingkong made up his mind for the time being.

Fengying and Qingse had no objections, and the three of them immediately flew to the fairy island high in the sky.

The flying sword soared into the sky, and the city of Guanhai below and the coastline it connected to shrank. The farther away it was, the dense sea fog gave this coastal town a completely different atmosphere.

It's like a small town isolated from the world, its space constantly squeezed by the sea fog, shrinking into a corner.

Qingse and Fengying both turned their gazes to the nearby sea. Such a sight was truly rare. Qingse did not forget to explain the matter of the ancient Buddha's corpse:

"Among the cultivators who come to the East Sea, some are here to attend the auction, while others are here to dig for sea tombs. It is said that there were once many great figures' dojos beneath the East Sea, but unfortunately, as the seawater surged up, it became the territory of the Dragon King's Palace."

"Since the Dragon King has been quiet these past few days, some people have gone down to sea to look for sea tombs, and then bring them ashore to sell as burial goods in a lottery."

Chu Mingkong nodded. He still remembered the stalls selling burial goods he bumped into while shopping with the girl. Some of the more outrageous ones were even selling coffins and the like.

However, this really shows how well the timing is right. This cultivator's eagerness to explore opportunities sometimes feels like he's frantically digging up people's ancestral graves, only with a nice-sounding name and the phrase "going against the heavens."

As soon as the Asura King finished beating Ao Wei, these cultivators immediately started digging graves.

"And then what? These burial objects yielded the so-called ancient Buddha corpse?"

“Exactly.” As Qingse spoke, she used her spiritual power to draw an image of the ancient Buddha’s corpse. This wasn’t exactly firsthand information; it was something Qingse had learned from the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.

Chu Mingkong examined it closely. Although it was called a corpse, it looked more like a lifelike life-size stone statue with a swollen face and wide, angry eyes. It was about 1.8 meters tall, and the statue was wet with rotten, blackened seaweed hanging on it.

"Why do you say this is a corpse? Isn't this a stone statue?"

Fengying knew a little about this, and she said:

"It does look like a stone statue, but inside is a corpse. If you get close, you can smell the stench of a dead body. No matter how many years have passed, this thing will always give off a foul smell. Moreover, we don't know what the story behind it is. Perhaps many of the stories have been lost."

However, it is certain that this thing symbolizes an ominous sign and is extremely rare. I have only heard some people talk about it before, but I have never actually seen one.

"It doesn't seem like anything special, does it?"