Ripped Out!

The newcomer looked utterly ordinary, the kind of face that would vanish the moment it was tossed into a crowd. There was no sign at all that he was the head of a faction.

He wore a Five-colored Dharma Robe. Its base was blue silk, embroidered from bottom to top with sea waves and river cliffs in multicolored thread, a lotus throne, and symmetrical golden twin fish on either side. There were canopies, multicolored cloud patterns adorned with red bats, Dharma wheels, seahorses, ruyi scepters, coral, and other assorted treasure motifs.

One corner hanging over his chest was decorated with flat-gold embroidered ruyi cloud heads, along with a multicolored embroidered image of Shakyamuni Buddha and lotus flowers. The opposite corner hung at his back, while the other two corresponding corners rested over his left and right shoulders. The left, right, and rear corners were trimmed with bright yellow silk tassels, and the front and back were adorned with gilded copper bells.

On his head was a Five-Skull Crown, like a variant of the Five-Wisdom Crown. It was made overall from gold, agate, and rubies, except that the five little skulls stood out rather prominently.

This sort of thing was usually worn during large-scale Dharma ceremonies, or by Great Monks of extremely high status. Who knew which category the head of Shangyang City's Bufa Temple Family Branch fell into—or whether he occupied them all?

"Impossible. Weren't you going to attend Bufa Temple—" The leader, who had been about to wipe out everyone present with a single palm strike, stared wide-eyed, his face full of disbelief.

Before he could finish, Wang Bo waved a hand and cut him off.

"That's right. I was indeed headed to the Highland. However, I went there to be promoted to the position of Dharmapala. A Guru