The Empress’s Gigolo

“How was it these last few days?” Ren Baqian asked as he watched the little monk approach from the front. After all, he had been brought over from Earth and could be said to be Ren Baqian’s only fellow villager in this world. Moreover, he was still so young.

It was inevitable for Ren Baqian to show him some concern.

The moment he heard Ren Baqian’s words, the little monk almost cried and stuttered, “This place… is so scary… The people here are very scary too…”

The most fearsome person he’d ever seen in the monastery was the chief of monastic discipline, who always had a very stern look on his face. However, he was considered pretty amiable looking compared to the people here. If he had a choice, he would rather face the chief every day.

Not only was everyone here two times larger than ordinary people, their looks were very fiendish as well. Many of them had scars on their faces and bodies. One would still feel frightened even when they smiled at you.

Needless to say, there had been a world-shaking battle going on and even a big residence was razed to the ground. When had he ever seen such fearsome men and beasts?

All of this made the little monk live in fear over the past two days.

“It’s fake, it’s all fake,” Ren Baqian replied on the spot. “Your karmic hindrance is too great. This is why everything seems so frightening to you, as if this place is an Asura hell. In fact, it’s karmic hindrances that have obscured your vision. As a result, everything you’ve seen is fake. Everyone here is actually amiable looking, kind, and charitable—you’ve just been deceived.

After he was done talking, Ren Baqian first praised himself as he felt that he was pretty intelligent. Being able to achieve such attainments just by looking at some Buddhist scriptures, such innate skills were extremely rare.

“But, they’ve torn down the residences…”

“Those places were about to be demolished so that the people can build new houses.”

“You’re lying to me…” The little monk cried out, “I saw a person’s head! It was so scary!”

“That was a fiendish person who needed to be dealt with through terrifying means. There are also terrifying temple guardian deities in Buddhism, let alone the profane world. The fiendish people that you see are mostly kind and charitable. On the other hand, many of the ordinary looking folks are actually fiendish. This is why your master allowed you to follow me here to spread the Dharma—to educate and guide those who haven’t committed grave sins.”

“Is it like that?” The little monk sobbed.

“Would your master push you into a pit of fire?”

After giving it some thought, the little monk cried out again with a wail, “Master must have known that I stole his tea, tore his undergarment while washing it, peed on his bed, roasted the rabbit from the mountain, stewed the fish from the lotus pond, killed many mosquitoes, overturned the Buddha statue’s altar lamp, pilfered fruits from the tree, and that I told Lin Guo’er that I would leave the monastic order and marry her when I grow older…”

Pffft! Ren Baqian almost spat his tea out. He looked at the pitiful little monk and thought to himself that there would be no injustice even if the little monk died!

If I were your master, you would have died long ago!

You’ve basically done everything that a monk shouldn’t do.

You’re actually quite a talent to have done so many things at such a young age.

Ren Baqian consoled the little monk again, and after a long time, the little monk Xing Ruo, finally stopped his sobbing.

“In the future, this place will depend on you to spread the Dharma. However, this place is different from Jingxin Monastery. Those people that you came across at Jingxin Monastery were those who had some form of understanding of the Dharma or those who identify themselves with it to a certain extent. In other words, in the place that you used to live, even the most ignorant person would have heard of the phrase ‘Amitabha.’

However, none of the people here know of the Buddha, none of them know about Buddhism, and none of them know what you are doing.

As for the future, it will have to depend on you and whether you can stand firm in this place and make them believe you.

If there’s one day when you can really perfect the practice of Buddhism, there may be a chance for you to see your master again.”

“I understand now,” Xing Ruo replied as his eyes reddened.

“I can’t teach you these things, so in the future, you’ll have to count on yourself. Think about it properly!”

After the little monk left, Ren Baqian shook his head. Xing Ruo was really too young. Hopefully by sending him over, Su Wen wasn’t simply firing blindly.

Ren Baqian hoped that Xing Ruo could achieve the things that he hoped to see.

Not too long after the little monk left, Qingyun Sword and his compatriot came to pay a visit even before Ren Baqian could send people to look for them.

When they saw Ren Baqian, they first sized him up for a long time.

To them, Ren Baqian taking away Teng Yue’s Heaven-grade weapon was much more impactful than the attacking aboriginals.

After all, the aboriginals didn’t cultivate their state of mind and concentrated on honing their physical bodies. Even though they were really amazed by this fact, it wasn’t too shocking either.

They were so very different from the aboriginals. At the thought of losing the godly soldiers that they had spent a whole life’s effort to cultivate, they were almost on the verge of killing themselves.

Both of them really wanted to know how Ren Baqian actually achieved this.

“Have you all made any arrangements yet? Are there any problems?” asked Ren Baqian, paying no attention to how they looked at him.

“It has all been arranged,” the both of them replied. “They are simply suffering from some of the aftermath at the borders, but there aren’t any adverse effects.”

“That’s good.” Ren Baqian nodded. “You guys specially rushed over. Is there anything important?”

“Sir, we’ve already selected the candidates, but we aren’t sure when we should send them to you?” Zuo Cheng asked in reply.

“Send them over tomorrow morning to find Gong Zheng, then get Gong Zheng to notify me,” Ren Baqian answered.

After that, he inquired about something that struck his mind, “Those people that we sent out should be arriving soon, right? Is there any news?”

“It should almost be time. There is still no news as of now, so I’m afraid that we will have to wait a few more days,” responded Qingyun Sword.

“Let me know once there is an update. For the rest of your people, there’s no need to lock them up anymore. You can let them out daily to take a stroll, but if any of them escape, I’ll kill two people for every person that escapes, starting with their closest relations. If the son escapes, I’ll kill his parents. If a disciple escapes, I’ll kill their master. If the fugitive has no kin, then I’ll draw straws, and those that get selected will be the unlucky ones.

My preferential treatment of you is my benevolence. I’m giving you an opportunity to live. I hope that you will bear this in mind and won’t make any mistakes that end up ruining this opportunity. If your people don’t know their place, it’s best that you settle it yourselves so as to avoid implicating the others,” Ren Baqian said faintly.

The two of them tensed up after hearing what Ren Baqian said. Even though the man in front of them wasn’t very strong, his mind was like a devil’s.

If everybody were to be imprisoned here, nothing would probably happen. However, now that Ren Baqian had allowed them to roam around freely in the city, he had also allowed them to use their own hands to settle those who didn’t know their place!

Plus, there was also the information that he had previously sent south.

After Qingyun Sword and his men had surrendered, within a brief period of time, they had been forced into the abyss step by step through a few of Ren Baqian’s tricks and were unable to break free.

Ren Baqian’s mind was indeed as vicious as a devil’s.

There was really no telling as to how much more hatred had been birthed in Tianjing Basin or how much confidence was left in Ren Baqian.

“You may take your leave.” Ren Baqian waved his hand and went to find the empress after they had left. He accompanied the empress to admire the flowers in the courtyard while casually reporting this matter to her.

“Oh!” the empress answered inattentively. These crafty plots and machinations had never been her cup of tea. She still preferred being straightforward.

“Your Majesty, allow me to read your palm?” Seeing that ashe was uninterested, Ren Baqian stopped mentioning this matter. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the empress’s finger.

“You’ve used this move last time.” The empress rolled her eyes.

Have some sincerity at least?

“That time was physiognomy!” Ren Baqian immediately analyzed the empress facial expressions. “I’ve recently been trying to perfect the Dharma and have benefitted quite a bit.”

“Why not have a look at it yourself and see if you will take a beating today?” The empress glanced at him and grinned. With a flick of her hand, a mirror appeared on the table.

Ren Baqian carefully analyzed the person in the mirror for a long while before sighing and saying, “A thousand words which transform into one word: ‘handsome.'”