The Wisdom King of Great Compassion

Mu Liang'er opened her eyes to a dim ancient temple. She was tightly bound and hanging from a roof beam.

Though her magical robe had vanished from sight, it was not useless; it still protected her from the pain of the ropes binding her.

After leaving Flying Yellow Mountain, she had headed straight for Longzhu Forest. With her cloud boots, she had arrived without feeling any hardship.

Longzhu Forest stretched over thirty li, with a river beside it and Zongshedu Mountain at its back. The monster scourge originated from a creature on Zongshedu Mountain that called itself the "Lord of Zongshedu Mountain." Monsters lived long lives, but cultivation was no easy matter. When Mu Liang'er had first gone up the mountain as a child, she had heard her martial uncle mention that, over two hundred years ago, when the immortal sects and aristocratic clans migrated north, this "Lord of Zongshedu Mountain" had once run afoul of True Person Gu of the Hidden Worthies Gate on Jade Rooster Mountain.

The monster knew neither heaven's ordained course nor what a True Person was. With a broken saber in its mouth, it had blocked True Person Gu's path and refused to let him pass, fearing that the outer scenery radiating from him would throw Zongshedu Mountain's waters and earth qi into chaos, leaving no living creature on the mountain able to become a monster ever again.

True Person Gu had not been angry. He had proposed a compromise to the mountain lord: if it allowed him and his disciples to pass, he would teach it a method and permit the "Lord of Zongshedu Mountain" to unleash a Beast Tide once every thirty years, using this method to order the earth's veins, gather qi, and swallow elixirs.

As for what qi it gathered, naturally, it was the blood qi of human souls. As for what elixirs it swallowed, naturally, they were human-soul return elixirs.

Humans were the foremost of all living beings, and their blood qi was rich in variation; swallowing it could replenish one's own body. By capturing souls and making thirty human souls devour one another, what remained at the end was called a return elixir.

How could the mountain lord refuse after hearing that?

After settling on Jade Rooster Mountain, True Person Gu had entered seclusion and undergone Transformation.

Later, when the sects divided their territories of governance, no one had expected Longzhu Forest to fall under the Peaceful Way Abbey's jurisdiction. Jade Rooster Mountain neither wanted to offend the Peaceful Way Abbey over a monster nor to violate the True Person's final wishes. They first sent congratulatory gifts, then went to explain matters to the mountain lord.

Thus, they agreed that no monster above the fifth level of aperture opening could take part in the Beast Tide, and that each tide would last only half a month every thirty years. At that time, disciples of the Peaceful Way Abbey would descend the mountain to rescue the mortals and quell the monster scourge.

The mortals would first suffer the terror of the monsters, then rejoice at being saved by immortals. Ordering this qi mingled with sorrow, joy, shock, and fear also accorded perfectly with the Peaceful Way Abbey's cultivation methods.

The monsters gained blood qi, the Peaceful Way Abbey advanced its cultivation, and the Hidden Worthies Gate upheld the True Person's final wishes. All three sides benefited, and a consensus was reached.

Yet after arriving here and observing in secret, she had found no trace of a monster scourge. Instead, she had seen a host of bald donkeys building a temple here, even using their own relatives as living foundation sacrifices and molding Buddhist statues, clamoring to summon a Wisdom King's manifestation into the world.

These bald donkeys had all been ordinary villagers and townsfolk, and could not discern her true identity. Intent on uncovering the truth, Mu Liang'er had deliberately allowed them to capture her and hang her inside the temple. They had said she would become a Wisdom Consort to the Wisdom King.

But...

She turned to look at the youth beside her. He wore brownish-black cloth clothes and was covered in mud, with a shoe dangling from only one foot. The only thing remotely presentable about him was his fairly delicate face, and the red mole between his brows gave him a distinctly uncanny air.

Mu Liang'er had seen with her own eyes the bald donkeys stuffing strong young men into the foundations. By rights, a young man like this, who had not shaved his head, should have been dead already.

She called softly, "Young sir, young sir, how did they capture you? Why did they hang you up?"

At her words, the youth flushed and said shyly, "Big sister, I came to become a Wisdom Consort to the Wisdom King."

Mu Liang'er: ?

Mu Liang'er vaguely remembered her martial uncle mentioning that the northern Dao Lineage resembled that of the western Buddhist lands. In the west, it was called the "Wisdom King Chan Contention Way," and in the north, the "Wisdom King Exegesis Way." Neither Dao Lineage used the terms outer scenery or inner scenery in its early cultivation stages, but later on, both cultivated into Wisdom Kings, equivalent to the purple mansion stage.

Wisdom Kings often paired with other Wisdom Kings, symbolizing the united workings of wisdom and compassion. The northern Wisdom Kings had no such arrangement, cultivating wisdom and compassion within themselves instead. In the western Buddhist lands, however, Wisdom Consorts were common. Legend had it that the Wisdom King Who Surpassed All Names had thirteen thousand Wisdom Consorts.

She could not recall which Wisdom King this one was, but that was frightening enough already.

Could the bald donkeys from the western Buddhist Land have invaded?

She looked down. The half-finished Wisdom King effigy in the temple, pieced together from flesh and blood, made her scalp crawl. Whichever lineage this Wisdom King belonged to, if they truly brought this sinister manifestation into the world, never mind one Mu Liang'er—even all the Various Sects of the six mountains might be converted together.

This is so strange. Where is the Lord of Zongshedu Mountain? How could that old monster tolerate these mortals committing such atrocities on its own territory? Could it be... that it has already undergone Transformation?

Mu Liang'er still refused to believe it. How could a mere group of mortals possibly summon a Wisdom King? Yet the bloody, grotesque scene before her left her no choice but to believe.

As she pondered, a villager below slowly pressed his palms together before the flesh-and-blood Wisdom King effigy. His face full of devotion, he chanted softly, "Homage to the Wisdom King of Great Compassion, who illuminates the worlds of the ten directions and delivers all living beings."

As his words fell, two men dragged a living person forward. The man struggled desperately, rasping in his throat.

"Wang Erniu, you've gone mad! You've all gone mad..."

Before he could finish, they pressed him straight onto an upright iron post.

The top of the iron post had been cast in the shape of a lotus. Someone swung a great hammer, driving the living man onto the post blow after blow. Bones shattered, flesh split, and red lacquer drenched the post. The man screamed, his body hanging limply from the pillar, becoming a section of the Wisdom King's bodily form.

Beside him, another person rummaged inside the living man's belly and drew out something long. Holding it in both hands without a change of expression, he proclaimed, "The Wisdom King descends into the world, yet this mortal realm is foul. He must be clothed in a kasaya!"

Everyone chanted the Buddha's name in unison, unfolding the thing and draping it over the Wisdom King built from heaps of flesh and blood. Red and white mingled, covering the mutilated body just like a kasaya.

Another person stepped forward. His expression solemn, he looked around at everyone and said, "The Wisdom King descends into the world. He must have a lotus throne."

At those words, seven people stepped forward together, took knives in hand, and silently sliced themselves into layers from shoulder to thigh. Ghastly white bones emerged. The seven sat cross-legged, their skin and flesh sliced away, and their seven skeletons formed lotus seals with their hands. Layer upon layer, they took the shape of a deathly white lotus throne, supporting the Wisdom King's bodily form.

Mu Liang'er nearly vomited at the sight. Just then, a chill spread over her chest, pulling her mind back.

Is that the Ying Hailin?

Mu Liang'er glanced around, knowing this was no longer something she could handle alone. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Something this earth-shattering must be reported to Master at once. All the Various Sects of the six mountains must know."

Though the people below were eerie and sinister, they were still mortal flesh and blood in the end. Mu Liang'er formed a hand seal and cast an illusion down upon them. Their gazes froze, and they stood rooted to the spot like clay statues and wooden carvings.

She turned to look again at the uncanny youth hanging beside her and asked, "Do you believe in the Wisdom King?"

The youth shook his head.

Mu Liang'er said no more. With a turn of her wrist, she freed him as well. The youth landed on the ground, his eyes lighting up as he said excitedly, "Big sister, are you going to take me away?"

"If you don't believe in the Wisdom King, I'll save you. Stay close and show me the way."

Without looking back, Mu Liang'er strode outside.

The moment the two stepped through the temple doors, the villagers behind them, whose eyes had been clouded by the illusion, suddenly turned their heads in unison. Their necks crackled as they stared fixedly at Mu Liang'er and the youth's departing backs. Pressing their palms together, their eyes boiling with fervor, they chanted loudly as one, "We bow farewell to the Consort of the Wisdom King of Great Compassion."