Dialectics

Li Huowang tilted his head to look at the Buddha statues. With the moon behind them, he could not see the faces of these enormous Buddhas.

He could only see their hands, which writhed like tentacles behind them, and the massive dark heads. He could also smell a strange odor coming from them, a mixture of blood and incense.

Li Huowang took a few steps back, looked around, and confirmed that he was truly alone. He then shook his head at the Buddha in front of him.

"I'm not going," Li Huowang declared resolutely as his hand reached behind him to grasp the hilt of his sword.

With a creaking sound, the enormous Buddha bent down, blocking the moonlight above Li Huowang. The overwhelming pressure came crashing down.

Li Huowang could feel the Buddha's eyes, the size of lanterns, staring at him from the darkness.

"Amidha Buddha, benefactor, you should go. We do this for your own good," said Jiān Dùn unexpectedly, not attacking directly but continuing to persuade in a calm tone.

"If you truly wish me well, then let me leave. Aren't monks supposed to be compassionate? Why not just let me go?" Li Huowang retorted.

"Monks are compassionate, which is precisely why we cannot allow you to leave," Jiān Dùn answered.

As he spoke, a stone flew towards the Buddha's head, striking it with a crisp "clang."

Li Huowang and Jiān Dùn both turned their attention to the source of the stone and saw Bai Lingmiao and others in the distance, holding night-glow stones.

"Li Shixiong! Run!" More stones were thrown, hitting the Buddha's body and falling feebly to the ground.

"Amidha Buddha, the sea of suffering has no bounds, turning back is the way to shore," Jiān Dùn muttered, bringing his enormous hands together in a heavy gesture, his slender legs crouching slightly before he pushed off with great force.

With a tremendous "boom," Jiān Dùn's towering figure soared into the air, and then, like a massive rock, fell back to the ground, snapping several trees in half. His immense body crashed heavily behind Bai Lingmiao and the others.

Seeing the frail Bai Lingmiao standing near the Buddha, barely reaching the Buddha's stomach, Li Huowang's expression twisted in rage, and he screamed, "Stop it!!"

With a sudden reaction, the Buddha beside Li Huowang and the distant Buddha both took a step back in unison.

"Xuan Yang benefactor, we have no intention of doing anything. Please, calm down," Jiān Dùn said, his voice now tinged with a hint of tension, as if not wanting to provoke Li Huowang.

"Huh?" This scene caught everyone by surprise. Li Huowang's single sentence had made them comply.

"They... are nervous? What could they possibly be nervous about, I'm just an ordinary person," Li Huowang thought in confusion.

"Monks do not kill, I only wish to calm them," Jiān Dùn said as he casually snapped off nearby tree trunks and interlocked them to form a simple wooden cage, trapping everyone inside.

After dealing with the bystanders, Jiān Dùn returned, swaying back toward Li Huowang.

"Xuan Yang benefactor, since you are unwilling to go back with me, why not engage in a dialectical discussion with me?" Jiān Dùn proposed.

"Dialectics? You think you can talk me into going back?" Li Huowang replied, looking at the massive hands that were even larger than his own body, unable to understand what Jiān Dùn was trying to do.

"Indeed, Xuan Yang benefactor is a person who understands propriety. I believe I can persuade you," Jiān Dùn said calmly.

"Huh?" Reflecting on the events at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang realized something very illogical.

Whether it was the abbot or Jiān Dùn, despite their overwhelming power, they had avoided using violence against him. Instead, they continually tried to trap him with deceit and emotional manipulation.

"Why go through all this trouble when they could easily resolve this with force? Do I have something special about me that concerns them?" Li Huowang thought, looking at his own ordinary hands in confusion.

"Aside from being mentally unstable, what else about me could they be worried about?" Li Huowang thought to himself, disregarding Jiān Dùn's words.

He needed to figure out what they were concerned about, for that might be his only chance to escape.

"Let's reverse engineer this: if they threatened my life with force, what would be the consequence?" Li Huowang's mind flashed with all the experiences he had gone through in this world.

It all culminated in the moment when the God of Joy was dragged into the darkness. That had been the only true life-or-death situation he had encountered, and it was resolved in a strange way.

Li Huowang's pupils suddenly contracted. "Danyangzi! They don't dare to use force against me because, whenever I face a life-threatening crisis, Danyangzi—whatever that entity is—will appear! Danyangzi is actually protecting me!"

Upon realizing this, Li Huowang felt enlightened. He had always assumed that Danyangzi was trying to harm him, but now it seemed the opposite was true.

Although he had killed Danyangzi, from Danyangzi's perspective, he had not done anything wrong and had even helped him "attain immortality."

"The monks at Zhengde Temple clearly understood this, but they never told me. Instead, they schemed to deceive me and planned to use the Pu Du ritual to eliminate Danyangzi once and for all."

"If they eliminate Danyangzi, then we will truly become meat on the monks' chopping block," Li Huowang shuddered at the thought of what the monks at Zhengde Temple might do.

Realizing all this, Li Huowang looked back at Jiān Dùn, a faint smile creeping onto his face. "You're afraid of Danyangzi? Since he's already become a Buddha, why are you monks still afraid of him?"

Jiān Dùn's expression stiffened. "Xuan Yang benefactor, I don't know what you're talking about. Monks do not speak falsehoods. I swear to Buddha that the Pu Du ritual will only eliminate Danyangzi and will not cause you any harm."

That statement further confirmed Li Huowang's suspicions.

In this world, there were no good-hearted people who would freely reveal everything. To discover something truly valuable, one had to gather the information themselves and judge accordingly.

"I've suddenly realized that it's not so bad having Danyangzi around. After all, he is my master. It's hard to just get rid of him like that," Li Huowang thought to himself, no longer feeling anxious.

"Amidha Buddha, this is absolutely not acceptable. Danyangzi is not only crucial to you but to all beings in the world."

Li Huowang looked up at Jiān Dùn, his smile widening slightly. "How about you talk to my master face-to-face instead?"

"What?"

With a swift motion, Li Huowang grasped the hilt of his sword and swung it forcefully.

Jiān Dùn looked on with a gentle smile as Li Huowang raised the sword. "You think you can break my Buddha body with that? Xuan Yang benefactor, you are truly clinging to form."

"Did you not hear what I said? I'm asking you to talk to Danyangzi in person."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Huowang swiftly brought the sword to his neck and made a deep cut.

The skin was easily sliced open, and hot blood sprayed out, quickly soaking Li Huowang's Daoist robe in red.

"Heh..." As his consciousness began to fade, Li Huowang clutched his neck with one hand and whispered, "Did you hear that? It seems... like thunder is coming."