SOL Chapter 7

Locked Bone Guanyin (Middle)

Shi En feigned surprise and asked, “Is Patron Li reluctant? You know my nature best, I cherish beauty and pity jade. Young Hero Li is so delectable, I will surely hold him in my hands and protect him carefully.”

Li Huai Su sneered upon hearing this. He knew more than just Shi En’s nature; he also knew Shi En’s methods. They were endlessly varied, and no matter how virtuous one was, they would end up obedient as a dog in his hands.

To expect a cult leader to cherish beauty and pity jade was truly expecting the wrong person. However, now that Li Shan had drunk his own blood, he wouldn’t truly be played to death by Shi En.

Although he knew Shi En was using a provocative tactic, Li Huai Su indifferently said, “His life and death have nothing to do with me. Please, do as you wish.”

Shi En, upon hearing this, made a Buddhist salute towards him, “Good, good.”

With just a few words, the two decided Li Shan’s fate, without the slightest intention of consulting the person involved.

At this moment, Li Shan’s meridians were severed and he was severely injured from the earlier battle with Li Huai Su, making it impossible for him to get up even if he forced himself. How could he escape the palms of the Demonic Lord’s left and right guardians? He could only accept his fate.

Li Huai Su simply glanced at Li Shan silently, bent down to take off the copper bell, and as their eyes met for a moment, Li Huai Su left without looking back.

Shi En slowly stepped forward, and despite seeing Li Shan covered in blood, he didn’t mind. He picked him up and held him intimately in his arms. Li Shan couldn’t move, so he had to rest his head on his chest, and after a few moments of silence, he asked, “What do you intend to do with me, Master?”

Shi En was in a good mood seeing Li Shan take the initiative to talk to him, and explained, “I am not as murderous and tyrannical as Patron Li. Of the three poisons of greed, ignorance, and anger, I am guilty of greed. As they say, food and sex are human nature, and Young Hero is very much to my and Garuda’s ‘taste’.”

Li Shan took a deep breath and slowly said, “I have heard of your name before. Although the No Ferry Sea is not tolerated by the righteous sects, you have indeed saved the lives of many disaster victims in Shu while wandering in the human world.”

Upon hearing this, Shi En lowered his head to look at Li Shan, pinched his chin with his fingertips, and still smiling, he said meaningfully, “What, Young Hero wants to say some soft words to please me? I’m afraid you’re using the wrong place. It’s better to save some strength to please me later.”

Li Shan barely managed to look up and meet his eyes, “I just think there’s room for negotiation with you. Can you let me leave?”

Shi En raised his eyebrows and smiled, “You’re right about that. I am the most soft-hearted person. But as you are now, I’m afraid you can’t go back to Cui Wei Sword Pavilion anymore. Li Huai Su has abandoned you to me, who do you expect to come and save you?” Although his tone was frivolous, he was most aware of Li Shan’s pain.

Li Shan was silent for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t need to wait for anyone to save me.”

Shi En nodded, “Is that so? It’s not impossible to let you leave, but since you’ve fallen into my hands, I can’t just let you go for nothing. What conditions are you going to offer me?”

This made Li Shan difficult. He usually didn’t deal with people much, and these negotiation matters were mostly handled by Zhou Ci Hua and Li Huai Su. It was already very difficult for him to squeeze out those words just now.

Shi En didn’t intend to make things difficult for him, but instead said with interest, “Let’s make a bet. If you win, I’ll let you leave.”

Li Shan slowly raised his eyes, and heard Shi En continue, “There’s a Fengze Village nearby, which is located at the intersection of the Demon World and the human world, and is often harassed by demons. I heard that Young Hero once went there and saved the lives of more than a hundred people in the town. Unfortunately, due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, Shu has not been peaceful in recent years. There have been major disasters and epidemics, and Fengze Village has also suffered this misfortune. Nine out of ten houses in the town are empty and in imminent danger. The human emperor is greedy for enjoyment and naturally can’t take care of this remote place. Are you willing to save them again this time?”

Li Shan felt great pity when he heard that the town he had once saved had become a living hell, “Of course I am willing, but I only know how to wield swords and have never learned medicine, so I’m afraid I have no way to save people.”

Shi En smiled, “That’s okay, I know a little about medicine!”

He not only knew medicine but also knew how to teach people to save all living beings.

Hearing this, Li Shan suddenly felt a sense of unease, “Then what do you plan to… bet on?”

Shi En raised his eyebrows very cheerfully and pointed at Li Shan’s face, “I’ll bet on whether they will step on the corpses of their former saviors to beg for survival?”

Mist obscures the pavilions, and the moonconfusedthe ferry crossing. The shadow of death looms over Fengze Village day and night. The townspeople dare not leave their homes, and the small town is in a state of deathly silence.

However, today is a bit different. A ray of faint sunlight penetrates the clouds and shines on this plague-stricken town covered in dark clouds. On the originally silent bluestone road, there is the sound of metal ornaments colliding—jingle, jingle.

The people hiding in the houses listen intently, unable to see the situation outside due to the thick fog, and are very surprised.

“Is someone here to save us?”

“Are the people from the imperial court here?”

Going out is death, and staying in the house is also death, so it is better to go out and look for a glimmer of hope.

The villagers of Fengze Village supported each other and walked out of the houses, their faces full of exhaustion and traces of torture from illness. They gathered in the direction of the sound, using the last bit of strength in their bodies.

The crowd finally arrived at the broken temple in the town that had been abandoned for a long time, and obvious disappointment and despair appeared in their eyes. The broken temple had been abandoned for many years, and the dilapidated roof revealed a bleakness. The overturned Buddha statue lay quietly on the ground, its compassionate eyes seeming to be blind.

The matter of praying to gods and worshiping Buddha had been done with great effort when the epidemic began to spread. If it were really useful, how could the Heavenly Buddha have watched the people of Fengze Village die family by family?

At this moment, a tall figure slowly walked out of the gray fog.

The man was wearing a moon-white monk’s robe, holding a gilded tin staff in his hand. The six rings collided, making a jingling sound. Although he was dressed as a monk, he had long hair like a waterfall and a handsome face.

Someone in the crowd immediately recognized the identity of the person and knelt down and bowed, “Master Shi En! Please save everyone!”

A woman raised the baby in her arms high in the direction of Shi En, wishing she could die in place of her child.

Shi En traveled in the human world in the name of the leader of the Pure World Lotus Sect. The Pure World Lotus Sect has considerable power in Shu, and many people, although they do not believe in Buddhism, have heard some of the teachings of the Pure World Lotus Sect.

Especially among these ignorant people who have suffered from hunger, war, and disease, the Pure World Lotus Sect has a great reputation for saving the world.

Seeing this situation, the villagers, regardless of whether they had heard of Shi En’s name, also knelt down and bowed. The severity of the epidemic in Shu was such that even the people of the imperial court did not dare to take over, but this Master Shi En was not afraid at all, which showed his profound power.

Who knew that Shi En would say, “This is a punishment from heaven, how can I, a mere outsider, save you?”

The villagers, upon hearing this, were extremely desperate and immediately began to sob and cry, “It’s actually a punishment from heaven!”

Looking at the scene in front of him, Shi En’s expression did not change at all. He just raised his tin staff and pointed it, and the villagers suddenly felt a sense of oppression and immediately fell silent. Only then did they hear Shi En continue, “If it were really an unsolvable dead end, I wouldn’t have come here specifically.”

When people are in despair, they really dare to believe anything, even if someone feels a strange feeling in their heart, they still choose that blind “piety,” fearing that if there is a trace of doubt in this piety, they will be excluded from salvation. The villagers were pleasantly surprised, “What the Master said means that we still have a glimmer of hope? Please show us the way to survive.”

Shi En smiled slightly, “Have you heard of Buddha Meat?”

The villagers’ eyes seemed to burn with a flame in the wilderness, but when they raised their eyes, they saw the frightening desires in each other’s eyes.

The legend of Buddha Meat happened in Lingjiu Village not far from Fengze Village. Shu had been in war for a long time, and the people were living in misery. There were also droughts and floods, and famine broke out earlier than the epidemic. However, a “mortal Buddha” appeared in Lingjiu Village. This mortal Buddha was originally an ordinary village woman, but one day she suddenly said that she had received a heavenly grant, and as long as the villagers ate her flesh and blood, they could ascend to the immortal platform and enjoy bliss, without having to endure the hunger and pain of the mortal world, and she herself could also pass through tribulation and attain the Dao, and escape reincarnation.

Although famine was spreading at that time, people were still barely maintaining their conscience and morality. The village woman’s words seemed to break a shackle and stimulate the animalistic instincts in the villagers’ hearts—she voluntarily gave up her life to save us, so why not?

No one knows what happened to the villagers of Lingjiu Village in the end. Someone once went to Lingjiu Village to investigate, but did not find the villagers’ bones. Perhaps they really went to the immortal platform to enjoy bliss as the rumors said.

But none of the villagers of Fengze Village had that kind of “sudden enlightenment”! Who would be that one point of connection, the fleshly body of the Buddha bestowed by heaven? If the heavens chose my child, my relatives, my friends…

Someone thought of this and couldn’t help but feel a chill, not daring to think further. A dazed look also appeared on his face, and he shrunk his neck slightly, taking a few steps back.

Shi En raised his hand and pointed towards the broken temple. The dark temple door was like a gluttonous mouth, and everyone’s eyes followed. Only then did they hear Shi En say very gently, “He is inside.”

“The Buddha cannot bear to see you suffer the pain of heavenly punishment and is willing to bear all the suffering for all living beings, using his own flesh and blood to save the lives of the entire town. As long as you eat his flesh and drink his blood, you will no longer have to suffer from the pain of illness and the pain of family separation, helping you to move towards the path of liberation.”

The crowd nodded and echoed, their eyeballs rolling stiffly, with a strange look of joy on their faces. Their hearts had long been numbed by the plague and death, and now they could finally get a glimmer of hope.

A sigh of relief also floated in their hearts that they did not have to harm familiar neighbors.

People seemed to have gained a clear and pure power, and they poured towards the direction of the broken temple. Even the villagers who were almost too ill to get up and were carried by their families stood up as if they were recovering, staggering forward.

And Shi En had long since disappeared.

The door of the broken temple was pushed open again, and the villagers filed in, and saw a white figure sitting quietly on the lotus platform where the statue should have been placed. The shape of the person was not clear through the shadowy curtains.

However, the villagers all seemed to have seen some kind of miracle, and were shocked by strong emotions. For a moment, they wanted to escape out of the broken temple, but finally they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed incessantly.

“Buddha have mercy, save us!”

“Please show your spirit, Buddha, and save Fengze Village!”

Li Shan just listened quietly. His meridians were severed all over his body, and he couldn’t move at all. He was also sealed by Shi En and couldn’t speak to remind them that this was just a prank by Shi En. A ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds leaked in from the broken hole in the eaves and fell on Li Shan’s face. Li Shan was stung by the sunlight and couldn’t help but close his eyes.

The villagers got up and gathered around, and the bolder ones took the lead in lifting the curtains, and they could see clearly that what was on the lotus platform was not some kind of miracle, but just a young man.

The young man was wearing a white robe embroidered with lotus patterns in gold thread, and a string of luxurious beads hung around his neck. A layer of white tulle covered his head, making it impossible to see his face clearly. He sat motionless on the lotus platform, only the faint rise and fall of his chest proving that he was still alive.