Chapter 1038: Vedas Vajra
A Vajra adorned with a monastic robe was sitting inside the room. He exuded a scintillating brilliance as if his body was not made of flesh but was rather a statue cast from gold.
His very long brows were as white as snow. The monk markings on his head were especially conspicuous. Each of them emitted light, like little lanterns.
Li Qiye sat down on a cushion and only smiled while looking at the Vedas Vajra.
The Vajra opened his Buddhist eyes that were as sharp as blades. In the blink of an eye, people could feel his evil-subduing power. His eyes were shiver-inducing; no one would dare to act presumptuously before him.
Alas, this had no effect on Li Qiye; he still sat there leisurely.
âHigh Monk must be the recently famous Evil Buddha?â The Vajra placed his palms together. Despite his great status, being rude was not part of his nature.
Li Qiye smiled and casually said: âLet them call me what they want. I am here not to talk about the dharma or to debate, I just want something from you.â
The Vajra spoke: âA monk only has the four great tribulations and a cushion to sit on, nothing else.â
Li Qiye gently shook his head: âIâm not asking about your other possessions. Vedas, I am here for the item that you obtained from the Lesser Deva World.â
The Vajraâs eyes turned sharp for a split second before turning back to normal. He gently shook his head: âI do not know what High Monk is talking about. A monk has nothing besides the tribulations.â
Li Qiye calmly uttered: âVedas, my patience is limited. I must have that item today.â
The Vedas Vajra didnât become angry in his refusal: âHigh Monk, you are making this difficult. I donât have anything, nor do I know of the item you are talking about!â
âVedas, I am sitting here talking to you. This means that I do not want to fight. If you donât hand it over, the consequences will be unimaginable.â Li Qiye spoke.
âHigh Monk, is that a threat?â Vedasâ eyes turned fierce as he exuded an oppressive aura: âA monk should be free of anger. However, when a Vajra is furious, they shall subdue all evil.â
âSubdue evil?â Li Qiye smiled: âMy Vedas, tell me, who is evil here? Letting go of the butcherâs blade to become Buddha? Haha, itâs pretty funny saying it out loud.â He looked at the Vajra and continued: âVedas, I almost burst out laughing, hearing you say the words âsubdue evilâ. It doesnât matter whether you are Vedas Vajra or Vedas Devil right now, I only want to take that item then leave. I donât want to waste time here.â
âWho are you!â The Vajra stared at Li Qiye with a glare capable of suppressing the hearts of others.
âWho I am is not important. Even if I say it, it will only make you jolt in horror.â Li Qiye said dismissively: âHand that item over and Iâll pretend that nothing happened. Otherwise, not to mention that you are only a Vajra, even if you were Buddha, I could still banish you to hell!â
âAmitabha, I shall subdue evil today!â With a chilling glare, the Vajra emitted an aura capable of crushing all things. Even if a Godking was here, they would still immediately fall to their knees.
âVajra, my patience is limited. Brace yourself for the consequences if you donât comply.â Li Qiye lightly said: âBack when I destroyed your Vedas Kingdom, blood flowed for three years! If you think that was a disaster back then, you havenât seen anything yet. If I take action now, I will show you a real calamity, I will banish you to hell with no chance of reincarnation!â
âYouâ¦â The Vajra stood up with his eyes wide open! A terrifying Buddhist aura erupted as he harshly shouted: âYou, you are that devil⦠the Dark Crow!â
âDevil?â Li Qiye smiled: âVedas, you are not one that can call me a devil. Yes, I massacred your kingdom, but if I am a devil, then what are you and those from your kingdom? You werenât even qualified to be called devils. At the very least, I, as a devil, slew all of you openly so that your kind would never rise again!â
âBut you allâ¦â Li Qiye glanced at the Vajra dismissively: âAll of you are just a bunch of wretched abominations. Your kind drank blood and flay skin for pleasure. You built your kingdom upon the belief that humans were mere ants and treated them as food, using their bones to build your palaces. To tell the truth, Vedas, you donât even have the right to be part of the human race. In my eyes, you are only the lowest of abominations. The human race doesnât have such disgusting creatures as you!â
In an instant, the Vajraâs chest was shaking with anger. He was quite emotional despite being a Vajra who had severed all mundane ties! His mood was swinging intensely.
âDark Crow! You killed my wife and slaughtered my children as well as my entire family!â The Vajra shouted.
âSo what?â Li Qiye was too lazy to look at him: âVedas, I donât care who you are now. Back then when you rampaged across the nine worlds as an invincible Godking, no one dared to touch you. But in my eyes, you were only an ant!â
âThatâs right, I destroyed your sect and slaughtered all of your family!â Li Qiye calmly said: âI wonât say that it was for justice or retribution in the heavenâs stead. I will just say that maggots like your kind were not eligible to be included in the human race. Thus, I deemed you an eyesore and killed all of you!â
He paused for a moment and glanced at the furious Vajra: âVedas, did you really think you managed to escape my grasp? How amusing, you were only a lost dog forced into a corner, crying in despair. Then all of a sudden, you finally wanted to become a good person, throwing away your butcherâs blade and repenting!â
âIsnât this hilarious, being a devil for your entire life only to suddenly want to become a good person?â Li Qiye coldly glared at the guy: âAre you aware? If the Buddhist Lord didnât guarantee me that you had truly repented and would never kill again, not even an ant, I would have crucified you down in hell so that you would never reenter samsara. Even the Buddhist Funeral Plateau wouldnât have been able to protect you!â
After hearing this, the Buddhist light from the Vajra pulsed in an unstable manner. His expression changed unpredictably as he stood there.
Eventually, he sat back down on the Buddhist cushion. He placed his palms together and chanted: âShanzai, Shanzai, Oh Merciful Buddha, how sinfulâ¦â 1
Suddenly, his eyes shed tears.
Li Qiye looked at the vajra and spoke: âThe Buddhist Funeral Plateau is indeed unfathomable; it even managed to convert an evil heart into a Buddhist heart. It seems like you have repented, so I wonât kill you today.â
The Vajra sat there and continued to chant scriptures over and over again. His pulsing radiance began to stabilize. Once it lit up again, he turned back into a Vajra like before.
âBecause the Buddhist Kingdom gave its assurance, I will spare your life.â Li Qiye spoke: âBut if you donât hand that item over, not to mention the kingdomâs assurance, even the high heavenâs assurance wonât do!â
âAmitabha.â The Vajra chanted and finally relaxed. He opened his eyes to say: âHigh Monk, the thing you desire is no longer in my possession.â
Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and repeated: âNot in your hands?â
The Vajra placed his palms together in response: âA monk does not lie. Vedas Devil is dead, so I donât need to trick you. A few days ago, a young miss from the Eternal River School traded an old item for it.â
âThat girl.â Li Qiye knew who it was. He looked at the Vajra and said: âI trust that you wouldnât dare to lie to me.â He stood up to leave.
âYour Excellency Dark Crowâ¦â When Li Qiye reached the door, the Vajra stood up then kowtowed on the ground.
âWhat?â Li Qiye looked at him: âThanking me for sparing you?â
âNo, Your Excellency, even dying a hundred times over wouldnât be enough to atone for my heavy sins.â The Vajra prostrating on the ground spoke: âI thank you for sparing my newborn great-great-grandson back then.â 2
Li Qiye answered: âThose who deserve to die were completely killed off, both men and women alike. However, for those who didnât deserve to die, I wouldnât bother staining my hands with their blood. I didnât spare him, he was not guilty from the start.â
âI know that even suicide wouldnât allow me to redeem myself. After becoming enlightened, I only want to stay and train at the plateau in hopes of saving mortals in agony to make up for my crimes back then.â The Vajra spoke with piety.
âInteresting.â Li Qiye glanced at him: âYou left Spirit Mountain as well as your Buddhist heart at the Buddhist Kingdom while they branded you. Truly interesting.â
âI wish to reduce the suffering in this world and bring about kindness and light. Once my beneficence is enough, I want to return to my homeland and spend my final moments there to purify the grievances in that place. Just like you said, I am not qualified to become Buddha.â The Vajra spoke.
âThat is your Spirit Mountainâs business. You being able to live for so long and become a Vajra is indicative of your will to change for the better.â Li Qiye spoke insipidly: âI donât care for the Buddhist Kingdomâs matters. Just keep in mind that Vedas Devil and Vedas Kingdom are no more. Otherwise, I will show you what eternal damnation is!â
âAmitabhaâ¦â The Vajraâs forehead met the ground: âMy sin is immenseâ¦â
Li Qiye didnât say anything else and left the temple.
1. Remember that one word meaning good/excellent? That is shanzai, but imagine putting excellent in the beginning. It is a bit jarring, so Iâll just use the pinyin here.
2. Chinese has a word for great-great-grandson, so it flows better in the raws.