Chapter 77

The old Sword Saint was still highly sensitive to demonic beings. Moreover, he had noticed something was off at first glance. Although this demon had transformed into a small monk no taller than 1.2 meters, its demonic aura suggested it had about a thousand years of cultivation... He had almost said "a thousand years of cultivation" to the point of annoyance today. It was truly bizarre that he had encountered at least four such beings in just one day. Had the thousand-year cultivation become so common?

"Fiend! Don't you dare resist capture?!" The old Sword Saint glared fiercely and pulled out a bag from his sleeve.

The little monk, with tears in his eyes, lifted his head and stretched out his hands, which were already tied with ox sinew, "You've already bound my hands and captured me, what more do you want?!"

"Uh..." The old Sword Saint's face stiffened, feeling a bit awkward. He paused, then pointed to the bald heads groaning on the floor, "You have harmed countless lives here. I cannot let you off..."

"Cough, cough!" Qi Feng coughed twice, interrupting him, and reminded him softly, "These bald heads were all injured by us..."

"Huh?!" The Sword Saint turned his head with a strange expression, "What?"

Qi Feng pointed to the three large figures sitting at the other end, who were looking gloomy, "They did it. Hey, by the way, didn't you hear us talking just now?"

The Lone Sword Saint said, "I was just sending my spirit to check the bag. Fortunately, both are still alive..."

The little monk, the Jade Buddha Bead, suddenly jumped up and accused in a childish voice, "You bunch of evil people, you've disturbed the peace of my Buddhist temple and prevented people from converting to Buddhism. I can't defeat you today, but the Buddha will surely deal with you!"

...

Qi Feng quickly waved his hands, "This is all their doing, it has nothing to do with me. I'm a good person..."

Zhao Ling'er's face was flushed red, bowing and apologizing... It made Qi Feng dizzy. Cough, cough, it seemed like this was the wrong way around. Sister Ling'er, you should step up. According to the plot, you should use your verbal skills to deal with this little demon. Hey, your lines from back then were so ancient, I can't remember them at all. Otherwise, I could have done it. But are you admitting defeat now?

The Lone Sword Saint stood there, feeling as if he was about to petrify. He had been catching demons for decades and had never encountered such a strange situation. Who was the righteous one here?

"What do you mean by 'my Buddha, my Buddha'? You, a fiend, pretending to be a Buddhist disciple?!" The old Sword Saint's mind finally clicked.

Qi Feng tugged at his sleeve again, pointing to the little monk, "Ah, this... little monk, actually used to be a bead on Dharma's prayer beads, having cultivated for 999 years. He has been studying the Buddhist scriptures on his own, truly a disciple of Buddhism."

The Jade Buddha Bead exclaimed, "How do you know?!"

The old Sword Saint exclaimed, "How do you know?... Hmm... Why did I say 'again'..."

...

The Lone Sword Saint examined the little stone bead, then turned to Qi Feng, "So, you mean I can't just lock this kid in the Demon Lock Tower?"

Qi Feng nodded, "And he is still a good demon, apparently saving many people from zombies."

The Lone Sword Saint rolled his eyes, "Another good demon?! I've been catching demons for decades, how come all the good demons decided to show up today?"

Han Mengci, who was giving medicine to the injured, stepped forward to testify, "This... little master indeed saved the three Jiang family sons and a few villagers... but..." She stopped halfway.

"What do you mean by 'but'?" The Lone Sword Saint, of course, wanted to know the full story.

Han Mengci, who was grateful for the little stone bead saving her beloved's brothers but almost lost her marriage, was conflicted and hesitated, "The people he saved and those who went to the Jade Buddha Temple... ended up staying there as monks."

"All of them became monks there?" The Lone Sword Saint immediately sensed something was wrong. He had seen many virtuous monks, but none had such a high conversion rate. Even Dharma himself couldn't do it.

The little monk, with a puffed-up face, said, "The Buddha says all beings have the nature of Buddha. I guide them to convert to Buddhism, what's wrong with that? You all come here with murderous intent, destroy my Jade Buddha Temple, and accuse me of being a fiend?"

"This..." The Lone Sword Saint, who was devoted to swordsmanship, was not good at debating scriptures. He frowned and stepped back, "If I can't capture this demon, I can at least avoid it. Whoever caught him, you deal with it."

Zhao Ling'er, who should have stepped in, seemed to be short on words because she had hit people. She just stood there with a red face, continuously casting healing spells on the injured. No wonder she was a descendant of Nüwa; although the spells weren't very advanced, the continuous casting without stopping was superhuman.

"Ha ha." Qi Feng found the scene amusing and looked around, "Since it's a misunderstanding, why don't we just let him go?"

The Han family girl was a bit worried and said softly, "If we let him go, will he take Shao Yun... to become a monk again?"

The Lone Sword Saint nodded, "I think this little demon has been brainwashed by the scriptures. If we let him go, it won't be long before this area is full of monks."

Well, now that Zhao Ling'er wasn't dealing with this little guy, they were in a bind. The Dharma's bead had become a hot potato.

Just as Qi Feng was about to continue watching the show, he suddenly felt the atmosphere was a bit off. He noticed Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, and Lin Yueru were all looking at him. Looking around, even the old Sword Saint, the Han family, General Gai, Elder Shi, and Leader Lin were all looking at him. "Hmm?... Why are you all looking at me?"

Li Xiaoyao had somehow moved next to Qi Feng and nudged him, "I think you have the most ideas here. Think of a solution."

Qi Feng was surprised, "You want me to think of a solution? Are you the main character or am I? You're trying to pass the buck?"

Li Xiaoyao was confused, "Main... character? What are you talking about?"

Qi Feng sighed, "Forget it..." He stepped forward, squatted down, and smiled at the zealous little monk, "What's your name, Master?" The little stone was originally a nickname given by Zhao Ling'er, and he didn't know what the little monk was called now.

The little monk, who might have found Qi Feng the most acceptable, first because he didn't participate in the destruction of the Jade Buddha Temple, second because he didn't try to capture him like the Lone Sword Saint, and third because Qi Feng had immediately recognized his origin, making the Jade Buddha Bead feel a bit familiar.

The little monk put his hands together (they were already tied) and bowed, "I am Zhi Ze. Hmm, I see you have great wisdom... Why don't you come to my Jade Buddha Temple and become a monk?" He suddenly remembered his temple had been destroyed and stomped his foot, "No worries, it will be rebuilt soon."

You're still not giving up, huh...

Qi Feng touched his black hair and chuckled, "Forcing someone to convert to a religion is not right."

Zhi Ze said, "Why not? The Buddha says all beings have the nature of Buddha..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Qi Feng interrupted, "The Buddha says all beings have the nature of Buddha, right?"

Zhi Ze, not knowing what Qi Feng was up to, nodded blankly, "Yes..."

Qi Feng chuckled, "So, what the beings say must be right, right?"

Zhi Ze thought for a moment and nodded again, "I guess... that's not wrong..."

"Very good, listen carefully. Everyone has the freedom to choose their own religion according to their will, and the freedom not to believe in any religion; the freedom to believe in one religion and the freedom to believe in another; the freedom to have believed in a religion in the past but not now, and the freedom to have not believed in a religion in the past but now believe in it..." Qi Feng wiped his sweat; reciting the constitution was quite a mouthful.

"Ah? Ah?..." Sure enough, this tongue-twister confused the little monk, "This... this is what the beings say?"

"Exactly!" This was passed by all the people...

Zhi Ze was dazed for a moment, then pointed at Qi Feng's forehead, "Don't lie to me, I have the Heavenly Eye and the Heavenly Heart..." Then his finger glowed...

Qi Feng didn't feel anything, but Zhi Ze suddenly trembled and fell to the ground, "It's true! You can hear the hearts of all beings, you must be the Buddha!"

"Ah? What?!"