"Buddha's Son!"
"Don't!"
Rujie waved a hand.
"They've already sat down at our doorstep. We can't exactly carry the vegetarian meal over and beg them to finish eating before they leave."
Chen Changqing, hearing this from afar, nodded faintly.
"Still got that same flavor."
Liu Ruyan glanced at him.
"You're not stepping in?"
"No rush."
Chen Changqing leaned against the stone railing beside the mountain path.
"Let's first see whether he's improved at all over the years."
On the dharma platform, Wuchen raised a hand.
Golden Buddhist light condensed into a scroll of scripture.
"The first round: debating scripture."
"Rujie, please."
Rujie stepped onto the platform and pressed his palms together.
"Please."
Wuchen's very first question made the monks of Heavenly Sound Temple change expression.
"If the Buddha saves all living beings, why may the strong claim the incense offerings while the weak can only kneel and beg for protection?"
Rujie's brow twitched slightly.
Wuchen continued.
"Heavenly Sound Temple has no True Lord, no Heavenly Monarch. It cannot protect the millions of believers in the Northern Region."
"You occupy the incense offerings, yet offer no protection."
"This is not Buddhist Dharma. It is greed."
The square fell silent.
Those words were venomous.
He did not discuss the meaning of scripture—he first pinned a crime upon them.
Rujie looked at Wuchen, the smile vanishing from his face.
"The Buddhist Sect protects all living beings; it does not weigh them on a scale of strength and weakness."
"By your reasoning, since Great Thunder Sound Temple is strong today, it may seize Heavenly Sound Temple's incense offerings."
"If a Tribulation Immortal comes knocking tomorrow, should Great Thunder Sound Temple also kneel and hand over its mountain gate?"
Wuchen's face darkened slightly.
The disciples of Heavenly Sound Temple immediately murmured their approval.
Rujie continued.