Chapter 63: Buddhist Lotus Lamp
Ning Ke curled his lips.
He didn’t rush to follow.
Instead, he turned his head, looking through the crowd, and made direct eye contact with the little monk Wu Gou.
Then, he bared his teeth.
“…” Wu Gou suddenly had an illusion that if he dared to speak nonsense, he would be bitten to death on the spot.
And when late night arrived, he knew that this feeling wasn’t an illusion.
Ning Ke lied to the Abbot, saying that although his cultivation was high, he was only 20 years old, so according to seniority, he was of the same generation as the new batch of disciples.
So, he specially requested to live in the same courtyard as Wu Gou, and the Abbot didn’t say anything against it.
Thus, Wu Gou saw Ning Ke in his own room.
The candlelight flickered in the room.
Ming Xin, who Ning Ke had transformed into, sat on the wooden table with his legs crossed, not looking like a monk at all.
Even though his head was shaved and his appearance changed, that face still enchanted people’s hearts, yao aura running rampant.
Ning Ke asked straightforwardly: “You recognized me?”
Xiao Yuan said Wu Gou had a Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart, so coming to the Buddhist Sect, what Ning Ke worried about most was being discovered by Wu Gou.
Speaking like this now was also a probe.
“Benefactor Ning.” Wu Gou didn’t hide it, nodding to him.
His fingers lightly twisted the prayer beads.
“You, a dignified Yao Venerable, why did you dress up as a monk and come to the Buddhist Sect?”
Ning Ke also answered truthfully: “I need to take something from the Buddhist Sect.”
The third stage mission, to completely free Lou Yunxiao from the worry of going berserk, required using the Buddhist Sect’s legendary treasure, the Buddhist Lotus Lamp, in coordination with the Heart-Clearing Sutra, to achieve the goal.
The system said that lamp was in the Buddhist Sect, and to find it, he had to come to the Buddhist Sect.
“…So, you mean you want to steal something from the Buddhist Sect?”
“Oh my, how can you call it stealing? I’m just borrowing it for a bit.”
“And then never return it?”
“…” Ning Ke didn’t expect the little monk Wu Gou could roast people too.
But he indeed didn’t plan on returning it.
So he was somewhat in the wrong.
But he had a villain persona! Main thing was being unreasonable!
So, the Ning fox bared his teeth again, appeared in front of Wu Gou in the blink of an eye, grabbed the little monk by the neck, and threatened: “What do you care if I return it or not? If you want to live, don’t expose my identity!”
But the little monk just looked at him, his eyes clear as water.
Stating with certainty:
“Benefactor Ning, you won’t kill me.”
“…”
“If you truly wanted to kill me, you wouldn’t explain your purpose to me.”
“From beginning to end, you have never had any killing intent towards me.”
“…………” The corners of Ning Ke’s mouth twitched.
He really underestimated the Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart!
Damn it!
He really couldn’t handle this little monk!
Ning Ke was born in the 21st century; the education he received had nothing to do with killing people. Coming to this world, killing those living dead villagers had already made him feel extremely awful.
How could he kill this little monk who hadn’t done anything wrong?
He was purely relying on his mouth coordinated with acting skills, just scaring people.
“I yield.” Ning Ke let go, annoyedly wanting to grab his hair, only to touch a completely bald head.
“…” His heart instantly hurt even more.
“I indeed won’t kill you.” He said: “So consider this me begging you, please don’t spread the fact that I am the Yao Venerable, okay?”
He rubbed his hands, planning to negotiate: “How about this, I still have many high-grade magical artifacts here. If you want them, I’ll give them to you for free.”
The little monk Wu Gou still looked at him with those clear eyes.
Looking at him made Ning Ke feel waves of guilty conscience.
But, in the next instant, the little monk suddenly smiled.
This was the first time Ning Ke saw him smile since meeting him.
And the words Wu Gou said next made him freeze completely on the spot.
“Benefactor A-Ke, it really is you.”
“How did you…”
Ning Ke was shocked by this unexpected dropping of his disguise.
Staring blankly at Wu Gou.
“I can see the karma on all living things.” Wu Gou said: “So no disguise can hide from me.”
“Benefactor Ning, you are the most interesting person I have encountered so far. Oh, no, I should say the most interesting yao.”
Once the little monk started to smile, that face appeared amiable and friendly, only cunning hid in the depths of his eyes.
Which was very well concealed by him.
“Rest assured, I will absolutely not expose your identity.” He put his hands together, his gaze locked tightly on Ning Ke, and said seriously: “I only have one request, which is to allow me to stay by your side.”
“To bear witness to everything you do.”
Wu Gou cultivated destiny.
Karma originates from destiny and determines destiny.
And the aura of karma on Ning Ke’s body was the most intense, which was why Wu Gou made this request.
He wanted to bear witness to all of this from an observer’s perspective.
“…What kind of ridiculous request is this?” Ning Ke was speechless.
But since Wu Gou relented, he naturally had no objections.
So he nodded.
And agreed to it.
As a result, after agreeing, he discovered a very terrifying fact.
—At the Sect Competition, the little monk who looked so silent was actually a chatterbox.
“Benefactor Ning, can you tell me why you dressed up as Benefactor A-Ke?”
“Do you nine-tailed foxes really have nine tails?”
“Benefactor Ning, have you really lived for almost ten thousand years?”
“Did your family members all ascend to the God Realm, or did they die of old age?”
“Benefactor Ning, what is the thing you want coming to the Buddhist Sect this time?”
The corners of Ning Ke’s mouth twitched, and he turned to glance at Wu Gou.
The latter blinked his eyes, that delicate face with red lips and white teeth looking entirely innocent.
“What I want is your Buddhist Sect’s legendary treasure, the Buddhist Lotus Lamp.”
“You are but a minor disciple of the Buddhist Sect. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to find it.”
As a result, as soon as Ning Ke finished speaking, he saw Wu Gou open his right hand. In the blink of an eye, a staff appeared in the little monk’s hand.
Spiritual energy was injected. At the top of the staff, framed in the center of a semicircular metal ring.
A lotus-shaped lamp emitted a pale green light, radiating vigorous life force.
They saw the tightly closed buds of the white magnolia flowers planted beside the two actually welcome this life force and slowly bloom.
The wind rose.
The fragrance of flowers overflowed.
“Is the Buddhist Lotus Lamp Benefactor Ning speaking of this one?”
Xiao Yuan’s voice sounded:
[Host, that’s it! That’s the Buddhist Lotus Lamp!]
Ning Ke subconsciously leaned forward to snatch it.
However, in the next moment, the staff in Wu Gou’s palm disappeared.
The little monk revealed that same pure and kind smile.
He said: “It seems Benefactor Ning already understands that the Buddhist Lotus Lamp is in my hands.”
“So this is the reason why you never use a staff?”
“A common man is guiltless, but treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime.” Wu Gou said: “The legend of the Buddhist Lotus Lamp has circulated for ten thousand years. Since I possess this lamp, I naturally have to hide it well.”
Ning Ke said thick-skinned: “…Then can you let me use it?”
Actually, asking this, Ning Ke felt there was no hope.
After all, his friendship with the little monk wasn’t deep enough for the other party to give him such a precious treasure.
But the little monk answered: “I can even give it to you.”
“Only…”
He added a condition: “Next, you have to do as I say.”
Translator’s Note:
- Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart (七竅玲珑心): In Chinese mythology, this refers to a perfectly clear, pure, and supremely intelligent heart. It allows the possessor to see through illusions and understand the deepest truths of the world.
- Benefactor (施主 – Shīzhǔ): The term Buddhist monks use to address laypeople.
- A common man is guiltless, but treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime (匹夫無罪，懷璧其罪): An idiom meaning that possessing something of great value will invite trouble and envy from others, even if the owner has done nothing wrong.
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