The Regressor of Mount Hua

Chapter 241. The Southern Yang Guardian (2)

Chapter 241. The Southern Yang Guardian (2)

Hui Mian held back his stunned gasp and shifted his gaze toward the group of cultists who had just called Fang Fotong "apostate."

"Stop them!" Hong Gao roared while glaring at the fifty-or-so cultists. He couldn't let them snatch away the Shaolin Temple's archenemy!

Rumble!

The Shaolin's warrior monks emitted a terrifying aura and rushed out to block the cultists' path.

"Hah! We got ourselves the Shaolin's finest, boys!" one of the cultists yelled, his eyes bloodshot. The blade gripped in his hand gleamed sharply as it drew a straight line in the air.

The warrior monk on the receiving end of the attack used the slightest movement to dodge, and then he thrust his calloused palm forward.

Smack!

"Argh!" The cultist flew back while vomiting blood. The blade in his hand spun in the air before piercing the ground down below.

"Ah!"

"What the hell?!" The cultists waged an intense battle with the Shaolin monks, who had arrived to interrupt them. However, there was no immediate victor between the two. The cultists tried to break through but failed and were forced to retreat.

"That's enough!" a man roared at the top of his lungs. His looks alone told everyone that he was the leader of this fifty-strong group of cultists.

The combatants disengaged and immediately backed off.

"One Palm Purifying Demons, Hong Jin!" the leader roared, and his brows rose up in anger.

"For a man corrupted by your demonic nature, you still have keen eyes!" Hong Jin exclaimed, glaring and sizing up the cultist.

The man seemed extraordinary. Although it was only a cursory observation, the cultist's martial prowess seemed unfathomable in Hong Jin's eyes. He then tried to remember the names of the famous Demon Heads to identify his enemy.

"To think the head of the Arhats would show up as well! I guess Shaolin is serious this time, then!" the leader of the cultists remarked and raised the blade gripped in his right hand high in the air. The sunlight gleamed sharply off the impressive blade's surface, but oddly, the reflected light was golden.

Hong Jin's brows shot up at the sight of the golden light.

"The Western Domination Guardian, the Golden Saber Demon!" Hong Jin exclaimed. The Golden Saber Demon was one of the Four Great Guardians of the Demon Cult, and he was one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven!

Only a handful of cultivation techniques could make a cultivator's weapon glow in a golden light, and there was only one demonic cultivation technique that could do that.

Without a doubt, the man had to be one of the One Hundred and Eight Cult Protecting Arts—the Golden Yang Destroying Crimson Saber.

"Tsk!" the Golden Saber Demon tutted, and wariness flickered within his deeply recessed eyes. "The Divine Monk's presence alone makes this task tricky, yet we also have to contend with the Eighteen Arhats? It's not like the Cult Leader is here, so how come they've decided to go this far?"

The Golden Saber Demon's expression crumpled unsightly at the sight before him.

Shaolin's warrior monks alone numbered over a hundred, and most of them were experts at the Peak Realm, making things rather cumbersome. To make matters worse, the Eighteen Arhats were with them.

On top of that, the head of the Arhats, One Palm Purifying Demons Hong Jin, and his master, Hundred Paces Fist Monk Hong Gao, were here as well! Furthermore, they were all led by the one and only Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, the Divine Monk of the Eight Empyrean Overlords!

An unwary bystander would think that the murim's public enemy number one had shown up here. Then again, this level of combat force made some sense; Fang Fotong was considered Shaolin's irreconcilable archenemy, after all!

"Namu Amitabha..." Hui Mian stepped forward while calming his raging heart. The Shaolin Temple and the Demon Cult entered an impromptu stand-off and glared at each other.

"To think that two of the Demon Cult's Four Great Guardians would appear in one place! This can't be a simple affair, then. My fellow monks, monitor our surroundings," said Hui Mian.

The Four Great Guardians were big fish within the Demon Cult's hierarchy, but two of them had shown up here in Shanxi, which was some distance away from Xinjiang.

Something ominous had to be afoot here. Hui Mian couldn't help but feel concerned.

"Listen, Shaolin's useless monks. Don't waste your energy here and scram. Our business is with that apostate over there, not you." The Golden Saber Demon pointed at Fang Fotong with his sword.

"..." Hui Mian wordlessly rolled the Buddhist rosary in his hand. Although Hui Xiao's face popped up in his mind just then, he chose to quell his desire for vengeance, at least for the time being.

There had to be a complicated circumstance behind the Western Domination Guardian, Golden Saber Demon, coming this far with fifty cultists.

"Nonsense!" Hong Gao yelled, unleashing the Lion's Roar. His thunderous voice rocked the surroundings, making the cultists swear while scowling deeply.

The demon-purifying qi contained within Hong Gao's roar dug sharply into their eardrums and made them shrink back. The roar sounded pure to all the righteous faction warriors in the vicinity, but the cultists found it to be the exact opposite.

It felt like countless bugs were crawling inside them as soon as they heard the roar.

"Do you expect us to believe that?! Besides, even if you are speaking the truth, we cannot let our archenemy go!" Hui Fa roared. He was one of the Shaolin's older monks, and he was furious as well.

He had also lost a senior brother during the slaughter forty years ago.

The bad blood between Shaolin's Hui generation and Fang Fotong was basically irreconcilable. Perhaps that was why the monks volunteering for this trip to Shanxi happened to be on the older side.

The other warrior monks had headed for Qinghai to prepare for the Great War of Good and Demonic.

"Wheeew." The Golden Saber Demon groaned deeply.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me your story?" Hui Mian asked Fang Fotong, who was stuck between two camps.

"Master! What is the point of listening to a great head demon like him?! That's a waste of time," said Hong Gao.

"He's right, Senior Brother!" Hui Fa also raised his disapproval.

"I do understand where you two are coming from, but your rage has blinded you. We need to take a step back and calm ourselves down first," Hui Mian said, speaking as if he were pacifying an angry mob. In his eyes, everyone here was unnecessarily agitated.

Of course, it was understandable, as the sect's sworn archenemy was right before their eyes. However, their behavior was unbecoming of Buddha's monks. Their murderous intent was far too excessive.

It seemed that the highest monk's speech had gotten through them, as the viciousness on the warrior monks' faces softened a tad bit.

Yes, now isn't the time to get swept up in anger, Hui Mian mused. He could still remember the events forty years ago as if they had happened just yesterday, but he shoved them all the way to the deepest recesses of his mind.

If he were just a senior brother to these monks, he wouldn't mind allowing his anger to take over him. However, he was Shaolin's Abbot; he knew he had to remain calm at all times.

He had to differentiate between personal affairs and official businesses. Even if a sworn enemy was standing before him, he had to remain objective. He was a warrior monk and a leader of a large sect, after all.

"Thank you, Divine Monk," Fang Fotong replied gratefully while bowing deeply. To think that one of the Demon Cult's Four Great Guardians would bow so respectfully toward Shaolin's Divine Monk! This was unprecedented even throughout the murim's history.

"I have no excuses for what I've done forty years ago. I've been regretting my actions and have been reflecting on them every day," said Fang Fotong. He spoke gravely, with not a hint of mocking nor falsehood in his voice. "The Demon Cult is... wrong."

Everyone doubted their hearing for a second there. Fang Fotong had just uttered words that rejected the path he had been walking on his entire life, never mind his beliefs!

"Until recently, I thought the strong devouring the weak was par for the course."

The law of the jungle—the strong preyed on the weak!

"However, that path is wrong. We commit all kinds of crimes against humanity, and we use strength as an excuse to do anything we want as if that's the truth of the world. Don't you think that ought to be forbidden?"

The Demon Cult's Great Guardian sighed and reflected on his past.

"I finally understood why you call us demons. That's why I left my cult and came this far to the Central Plains to surrender myself to the Martial Alliance. I-I do not wish to kill any more people."

On his skin wrinkled from trials and tribulations of life... Tears began dripping down.

"Twenty years. It's been twenty years since I reached the Extreme Demon Realm. Of course, I tried to reach the realm above it.

"So, I began looking back to find out where my strength had come from. And it.. it made me realize how terrible and inhumane I have been."

Fang Fotong stared at the Divine Monk and began begging.

"I know how shameless my actions are, but I beg you to give me a chance to repent. If what I know as one of the Four Great Guardians of the Demon Cult can help you, I'll tell you everything. I don't know if that's enough to earn your forgiveness, but please... please accept this aging demon's attempt at repenting for his sins."

Hui Mian didn't reply. Instead, he closed his eyes. What the Iron Fist Demon had done in the past could never be forgiven. After all, he had murdered countless people under the pretext of training.

Simply recalling the events back then made Hui Mian grit his teeth. Hadn't he embraced the cold corpse of his junior brother and wailed in bitter sorrow at the time?

Hadn't he sworn vengeance back then? Even though forty years had passed since then, hadn't traveled this far for the sake of fulfilling that promise, even though a grave crisis—the Great War of Good and Demonic was just around the corner?

"Senior Brother. No, Abbot," Hui Fa quietly spoke up.

"...Not repenting for your crimes is indeed wrong. However, not accepting the person seeking forgiveness for their crime is just as wrong," said Hui Mian.

"But, Master!" Hong Gao cried out.

"Buddha taught us that reflecting on one's crime and wanting to repent is to be commended. And forgiving those who repent is just as commendable."

This teaching was from the Samyuktaagama.

"Southern Yang Guardian... No, Sir Fang Fotong," Hui Mian turned toward Fang Fotong and clasped his hands. "This old monk shall forgive you, but I do not speak for the entire Shaolin. You should seek each one out and beg for their forgiveness."

"D-Divine Monk...!" Fang Fotong gasped, more tears pooling near his eyes.

"Huh-uh!"

"Senior Brother, Abbot!"

"Namu Amitabha...!"

The monks of Shaolin reacted in many different ways. Some were clearly dissatisfied, some were stunned, while some sighed in resignation. A few exploded in rage, while some monks simply recited Buddhist sutras.

It had only been a few moments since they resolved to capture Fang Fotong and make him pay for what he had done. However, the Abbot had just told them to stay their hand.

This was a stark reminder of the Abbot, the Divine Monk's influence and authority.

"This is a trial. A trial, indeed..."

According to Buddha's teachings, Shaolin's monks ought to be merciful, but the grudge from forty years ago was far too heavy to be resolved so easily.

"As expected of Shaolin's useless monks, you sure love to yap on and on, don't you?!"

The Golden Saber Demon closed in as if he had emerged from a folded space. The saber qi enveloping his saber overlapped before solidifying into an enhanced qi. The saber light gleaming in gold tore the air apart before descending toward Fang Fotong's head.

Its goal? To split Fang Fotong's skull in half!

"Huh!" Hui Mian's figure vanished from the spot only to reappear near Fang Fotong.

CLANG!

The Golden Saber Demon's face crumpled hideously. His saber couldn't reach its target and was suspended in midair. He glared at the figure standing in his way to Fang Fotong—Divine Monk Hui Mian!

***

Really? A Great Guardian has cast aside the cult?

Zhou Xuchuan was shocked. He had witnessed the development from afar. They had unleashed their lightness arts to their fullest, allowing them to reach their destination not long after Shaolin's monks.

However, something completely unexpected unfolded before their eyes. They thought the Demon Cult's troops would join up with Fang Fotong, but they were mistaken. The cultists were actually trying to kill Fang Fotong!

The behavior of their extermination target, Great Head Demon Fang Fotong, proved to be extremely puzzling. To think he'd request assistance from none other than the Shaolin!

"Haha. I've never imagined that one day, I'd see one of the Four Great Guardians requesting a Shaolin monk for help," Meng Ge said, chuckling hollowly.

Everyone's surprise was understandable, as "strength" was the truth of the Demon Cult. As long as one had the strength, they could lord over the others like... perhaps not like an emperor but like a king.

They could assault men and women to their hearts' content whenever they felt like it.

Even wanton plunders were tacitly allowed as well along with murders.

Anyone with common sense could tell that such an ideology was insane. However, if someone in the Demon Cult were to point that out, they would only become a laughingstock.

A society run by such an ideology was, for all intents and purposes, a paradise for the cultists who had allowed themselves to be corrupted by their demonic nature by casting aside their humanity.

Even if one were to bare their fangs and challenge the cult leader only to taste defeat and flee, they would only get labeled as a coward or a weakling, not an apostate.

An exception were spies. Since they hadn't really turned their backs on the cult, they weren't considered apostates.

A cultist rejecting his faith was unprecedented. Logically speaking, even if a cultist wanted to reform and abandon his beliefs, no one would accept them.

It was no wonder the sight of a Great Guardian—an individual who had to have been completely brainwashed by the ideals of the Demon Cult and had been enjoying all sorts of privileges—abandoning his cult was incredibly shocking!

"I don't think this is the time to stay shocked," said Luo Xiaoyue before pointing to somewhere in the distance.

"...!"

"Shaolin's people are going to get ambushed from the rear. Let's go help them!"

With that, Zhou Xuchuan's group jumped into the fray.