The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The courtyard was in dead silence, but with a strange sense of peace. Just like the wind that blew across the river, the atmosphere was quiet and serene.

Recovering from shock, Mu Yunle quickly went to Meng Qi and help him in standing up. She asked with concern, “Master, master, are you alright?”

There was a horrible wound on Meng Qi’s chest. Around the wound, the flesh and blood had turned black. The longsword that penetrated his heart had disappeared, but not a single drop of blood was spilling out. However, the wound was not healing either. Seeing this, Mu Yunle felt frightened and puzzled.

“I’m not dying yet,” said Meng Qi calmly with a smile. Having a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, he looked like he had gone through the vicissitudes of life. Nevertheless, from the look in his eyes, there was something that he was trying hard to suppress.

Hearing that the tone and voice of Master Zhending were calm as usual, Mu Yunle quietly heaved a sigh of relief. Looking at the place where Jie Sha was previously standing, she asked, “Master, w-why was she crying just now?”

Did Jie Sha save the life of Master Zhending before? But why is she showing strong hatred toward him? As the mind of Mu Yunle was thronged by a lot of guesses, she asked the question boldly.

“Being freed from the cage, she has returned to the peaceful state of body and mind. How could she not cry?” the breathing of Meng Qi was slightly heavy due to his serious injury. However, he was still speaking in a calm tone.

“Did she cry because the sword hit you, and it defused her hatred?” Mu Yunle just could not understand how a sword-attack could defuse hatred. Perhaps they are having a love-hate relationship!

Well, this is most likely the case!

Just like a candle flickering in the wind, the gray kasaya on Meng Qi’s body was getting more and more dim. “There is a monster in her body that gives her power and urges her to kill. As her killing intent can make the monster grow faster, she is driven to kill people even though it goes against her own will.”

“No matter how hard she tried to resist the urge of killing, she just can’t help to kill. She has even named herself as Jie Sha, which means swearing off killing. But unfortunately, she has never broken free from the control of the monster. By hitting me with her sword, she has taken revenge on me, and at the same time, I’m paying her a debt of gratitude. So we’re now even. Since the killing intent has entered my body, the monster won’t be fed anymore. Soon, it will leave by itself.”

Mu Yunle could feel that Master Zhending had changed a lot. If it were the time when they were still in the broken temple, he would not have told her so many things. Despite looking tired, at least he was not as quiet as before!

She asked curiously, “What kind of monster is that?”

“Something very similar to the Devil’s Claws,” said Meng Qi in an indifferent tone. His face was so pale, as if all the blood in his body had gathered at the wound.

Mu Yunle opened her eyes widely as she thought, Something very similar to the Devil’s Claws? Does it mean that it’s a Heavenly Weapon?

Why didn’t Master Zhending snatch it over?

Bah! What am I thinking about? Even the Nether Demon Emperor has to resist from being polluted by the Devil’s Claws. If the eminent monk, Master Zhending were to take charge of such a sword, wouldn’t it have damaged his self-cultivation as a Buddhist and his spirit of martial arts?

Thump, thump, thump. The penetrated heart of Meng Qi was beating in a slow but steady pace. Feeling a little better, he said, “Miss Mu, can I ask you a favor? I need your help to hold my arm and walk me to the city gate of Li. Sorry for the troubles.”

“Ah… sure!” after being startled for a few seconds, Mu Yunle quickly supported Meng Qi with her hands to walk toward the city gate.

Being wounded by the Sword Spirit of the Killing Sword, it is nothing less than being hit directly by a Heavenly Weapon. Master Zhending must be badly injured. However, despite risking his life, he is determined to repay Jie Sha’s kindness in order to bring the causal relationship to an end. He is really as merciful as the Buddha, and as gallant as a hero.

When he was young, he must have been a chivalrous man with no fear of hardship and danger!

But why would such a person end up being a depressed man who hides away all his stories, and become a monk?

As they walked toward the city gate, the eyes of Mu Yunle flickered toward Meng Qi and asked in a seemingly casual way, “Master, what made you become a monk?”

She had asked her question in a euphemistic way.

Then, she saw Master Zhending looking up at the sky with a sigh.

“I used to think that humans were able to overcome any obstacles and conquer the world. But later on, I’ve learned the hard way that fate is inevitable.”

Fate is inevitable… Mu Yunle could feel so much of helplessness, despair, and depression from this statement. She felt upset for him. A great man like him should be confident and feel that everything is under his control. What has Master Zhending experienced to end up being so dispirited?

Feeling worried, Mu Yunle could not help saying, “Master Zhending, you can’t think of life this way. It might be true that fate is inevitable, and it does make us feel helpless at times. But the heaven will always leave us a ray of hope, so there will always be a way to overcome fate. Look, although pursuing Da Dao has never been easy, the Heavenly Primogenitor and Buddha still made their ways to achieve transcendence!”

Mu Yunle was at the youthful stage of her life, hence she believed firmly that humans were able to be in charge of their lives. She hoped that the success of the Heavenly Primogenitor and Buddha was able to motivate Meng Qi.

Without saying anything else, Meng Qi walked to the city gate slowly with the help of Mu Yunle.

As time went by, the city gate was about to close. Suddenly, in front of the small courtyard of Jie Sha, a ray of bloody light was shining out of the void. Then, a blurry body figure slowly took shape – he was the Rakshasa of the Bloody Sea!

Looking around, he frowned slightly and said to himself,

“He did come to this place, but he has left long ago…”

I’m late again!

Fate seems to be playing tricks on me. No matter how hard I try to follow the trace of the Frenzied Blade, something seems to be stopping me from catching up with him. I’m always one step behind!

…

After going out of the Li City, Mu Yunle supported Master Zhending to walk down the road. She felt that it had been a very exciting experience to be with him. In fact, this was the most exciting experience in her life so far.

Knowing that Master Zhending had been living in seclusion in an ancient temple on a barren mountain, Mu Yunle assumed that he did not know much about the current situation of the world. Thus, she chattered about all kinds of Jiang Hu anecdotes.

Although Master Zhending doesn’t reply at all, he didn’t stop me from talking either. Hehe, he must be interested in listening to me. Mu Yunle was feeling pleased with herself.

After I get familiar with him, perhaps he will be telling me something about himself.

The sky turned dark after they walked for a while. Since Master Zhending was injured badly, he might not be able to deal with the demonic monster if they really encountered one. Mu Yunle looked left and right, and integrated her spirit with the heaven and earth. Spreading out her spirit, she was looking for a place to sleep at night.

Suddenly, she leaned backward slightly. Feeling a tingling sensation in her Primordial Spirit, she was being attacked!

What bad luck! It seems that we’re bound to come across enemies! At the moment of being attacked, Mu Yunle had already recognized the identity of the opponents – they were the Three Vicious Men of Northern Lake!

They were martial artists from the Southern Wasteland that had just entered the Half-Step Exterior Realm. They were said to have some connections with the Blood Cloak Cult!

Mu Yunle had once met with them. During that time, two of them had not reached the current realm yet, hence they were beaten hard by her. After that battle, each of them had a blinded eye. Unfortunately, Mu Yunle had failed to kill them – after all, she was fighting alone against three people.

“Haha, isn’t this the Jade-Cleansing Sword, Swordswoman Mu?” three people rushed out of the forest and surrounded Mu Yunle and Meng Qi.

Surprisingly, the Three Vicious Men were quite good-looking. However, since each of them had a blind eye, they were staring hatefully at Mu Yunle with their remaining eye, which looked rather creepy.

The leader of the Three Vicious Men took a look at Meng Qi, only to find that he had barely noticeable aura and looked extremely weak. Feeling relieved immediately, he laughed aloud, “Mu Yunle, ah, Mu Yunle… you’re getting into hot water yourself. With your current realm of Man-Nature Integration, are you sure you can fight against three of us while protecting the injured monk?”

“Mu Yunle, you have a well-deserved reputation as one of the most beautiful women in the Jiang Hu. Your appearance and body figure really are fascinating. Don’t worry, I’ll be very gentle to you later!” one of them licked his lower lip.

The other one laughed and said, “The swordswoman Yuan Yang is in the valley now, hiding from the Insect Lord. Sooner or later, she will be having the same ending as you!”

“Is Swordswoman Yuan being tracked down by the Blood Cloak Cult?” integrating her spirit into the heaven and earth, Mu Yunle was not affected by their filthy speech at all. She was analyzing the current situation calmly.

If she were alone, she would be able to find a way to escape. However, currently, she needed to take care of Master Zhending who was seriously injured.

The Three Vicious Men were experienced fighters in the Jiang Hu. After venting out with the aim to disturb the enemy’s state of mind, they suddenly moved from three different directions.

One of them, holding a sword that looked like a piece of silk cloth, was slashing toward Mu Yunle using the sword power. The other one was turning the grass and trees around him into ten thousand swords that attacked her all at once. The last one was hiding under the ground while waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Mu Yunle was about to pull out her sword when she heard three shrill cries. At the next second, she saw the Three Vicious Men lying on the ground. The leader was pierced by ten thousand swords that were made of grass and trees. The next person had his crotch region penetrated by a thin sword. The last person was embedded in the ground, and his body was split into half by the sword power. All of them were dead.

“This…” the mouth of Mu Yunle was half open, she felt like being in a dream.

This was the first time she encountered such a strange incident. Why were the Three Vicious Men killing each other all of a sudden?

“Miss Mu, bury them in the forest, and eliminate the traces,” the voice of Meng Qi came into her ears.

Yes, it must be Master Zhending! Mu Yunle immediately turned her head and looked at Meng Qi, only to see his indifferent face. The look in his eyes was as calm as an ancient well, with a sense of tiredness. It was as though nothing could possibly attract his interest.

That was superb!

Last time when Meng Qi was having a battle with the Bodhisattva of Joy and Jie Sha, Mu Yunle was too far away from them, therefore she could not see the battles clearly. In addition, Meng Qi did not really get into fight with them. As a result, although she was aware that Master Zhen Ding was undoubtedly strong – even stronger than her own Master, she had not seen it with her own eyes. However, at the moment, looking at the corpses of the enemies, she had truly realized how strong Master Zhending was!

How incredible! Even when he is badly injured, he could still kill them effortlessly… the heart of Mu Yunle beat a little faster. Taking a deep breath, she quickly buried the corpses in order to destroy all traces.

After that, she wanted to ask Master Zhending for a favor to rescue Swordswoman Yuan, but she was hesitant about that. Being injured so badly, even though he can kill the enemies of the Half-Step Exterior Realm easily, it doesn’t mean that he can defeat a guru as well. I shouldn’t ask him to do something that is beyond his ability!

Just then, she heard Master Zhending saying in a deep voice, “Let’s go to the south and meet Yuan Yang.”

Meet Yuan Yang? Feeling surprised and curious at the same time, Mu Yunle quickly supported Master Zhending with her hands while they headed to the south.

Does he know Swordswoman Yuan?

…

A ray of blood-red conveyance light was flashing through layer upon layer of voids. It was the Rakshasa of the Bloody Sea!

After pausing for a while, he had decided to head to the north to go after the Frenzied Blade.

Fate was inevitable.