This humble monk likes it too

"Master!"

"The Master has manifested his divine power!"

"The Master's divine powers are boundless!"

At the sight of the golden Buddha palm floating in the air and the Buddhist halo behind their Master's head, most of the fanatical followers immediately dropped to their knees. Some believers attending a Dharma Assembly for the first time hesitated briefly, then involuntarily knelt as well.

"Devotees, my fellow devotees!"

The Master raised both hands and pressed them down twice, and the entire gathering miraculously fell silent.

"The Age of Dharma Decline is approaching! The Twin-Body Buddha's Evil Body is about to destroy the world. And at this moment, I, your Master, have descended into the mortal world as the Twin-Body Buddha's Good Body to save the world!"

The Master thrust a fat hand into the air and proclaimed this passionately at the top of his lungs, spittle flying.

"Hah!"

With a thunderous shout, he raised a palm and pressed it toward a man-high ornamental rock in the courtyard. A hazy golden fist materialized out of thin air and smashed the rock to pieces.

"Some people slander our True Faith Society as an evil cult. Look at this Buddhist halo! Look at this Buddhist power! Could an evil cult possess such things? Our True Faith Society is the only true faith. Those people are the evil ones!"

"I know some of you have spent your entire fortunes for the True Faith Society, lost your wives and children, and endured contempt from your friends and family. But those are merely trials before salvation. Those who slander the True Faith Society as an evil cult are jealous that you can be saved! They are demons sent by the Evil Body!"

The believers prostrating themselves on the ground were moved to tears, bowing their heads over and over.

"Savior! Savior!"

"Long live the True Faith Society!"

"Ah, Master! We swear to follow you to the death!"

After the crowd had vented its fanaticism and the roar gradually subsided, the Master nodded in satisfaction and whispered a few words to the monks beside him.

The monks brought forward several tightly bound, gagged people. There were men and women, young and old.

"These people tried to betray the true faith and leave our society. Some even intended to inform the police and television stations. Those who have been tempted by the Evil Body and refuse to repent must be purified by my Buddhist power!"

The Master raised his palm as though swatting flies. The golden Buddha palm struck down on them one by one, crushing them into pulp.

Among the hundreds of followers present were friends and relatives of the dead, but none of the believers wavered. Instead, they cheered fanatically.

This was undeniable divine power. A Master who could wield such supernatural strength had to be a true Buddha, a savior!

"Mm!"

Looking at the devout believers who were utterly devoted to him, the Master wore a smug expression on his fat face.

With a Buddhist halo above his head, he paced back and forth among the believers. Wherever he went, they lowered their heads with the utmost reverence. Some even kissed his footprints.

"Every devotee here has endured trials and proven their faith. Yet a rat has slipped into our midst!"

The Master stopped before a middle-aged man who was feigning fanaticism, though his eyes were full of unease. The Master's own eyes brimmed with mockery and malice.

"I am completely loyal to you, Master..."

Before the middle-aged man could finish, the illusory golden Buddha palm seized him, lifted him into the air, and slowly tightened its grip!

"You can't kill me! I'm with the Metropolitan Police Department! I'm from the Public Security Fifth Division!"

Facing death, the middle-aged man could no longer afford to conceal his identity and hurriedly shouted it out.

"What? You're from the Metropolitan Police Department?"

For the first time, fear and unease appeared on the face of the Master, who had been dispensing life and death like a god.

He had assumed this was some reckless fool of a reporter. He had killed people hoping to break a big story before, but someone from the government was another matter entirely.

Seeing the change in the Master's expression, the middle-aged man forced an ingratiating smile.

His life now depended entirely on the Master's whim. Even if the Public Security Bureau arrested the Master afterward, what good would that do? He would still be dead.

Thinking quickly in desperation, the middle-aged man tried to persuade him again.

"Actually, there's no conflict between you and the government, Master. We can work together! Our Fifth Division has been searching for eminent monks like you who possess genuine spiritual power."

During its recently resumed investigation of religious groups around Tokyo, the Fifth Division had discovered the rapidly expanding True Faith Society. There were also some deeply troubling rumors, but most importantly, some people swore they had witnessed the Master manifest divine power.

Such claims were hardly unusual among new religions, however. Which believers didn't regard their own leader as a god? The Fifth Division had not paid them much mind, deciding only to try its luck and see what turned up. And so he had been sent to infiltrate the True Faith Society.

He had never expected the True Faith Society's Master to be a genuine Superhuman. A big catch!

"There's no need to be afraid, Master. Our Fifth Division can help clear you of everything you've done. We can let bygones be bygones!"

Though he had only recently infiltrated the group, the middle-aged man had already discovered that the True Faith Society had committed plenty of crimes in secret. Its Master was particularly notorious: murder to silence witnesses, killing for money, abusing men and preying on women... Actually, there were no women involved. After all, that business between abbots and young novices could be considered part of Japan's traditional Buddhist culture.

But so what? The dead were only ordinary civilians. As long as the Master surrendered and obediently followed orders, he would naturally receive preferential treatment as the government's only Superhuman.

Even if someone exposed it later, they could simply kneel and apologize, and the matter would blow over. Who hadn't made mistakes when they were young? Why refuse to let them go?

Even the Buddha had said that one could lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot. The Fifth Division had to give people a chance to reform.

At these words, the Master's gaze flickered with interest, and the middle-aged man couldn't help smiling.

If they recruited this Superhuman into the Fifth Division, their division's status would surely soar. They could completely suppress the Investigation Fourth Division, perhaps even absorb it into the Fifth Division and upgrade their department. And with such a great achievement to his credit, he could earn a promotion...

But just then, something unexpected happened. The golden Buddha palm crushed the middle-aged man outright, splashing blood all over the Master's head and face!

The Master looked equally bewildered and shocked, as though he had never expected this to happen. But he soon understood and cast a glance full of humiliation, anger, and resentment at the Wisdom King statue in the worship hall.

Then the Master turned back with a dark expression and walked out of the crowd. The handsome Senior Brother Ida hurried over with an ingratiating look and sang his praises.

"As expected of you, Master! Your power is boundless. What could a mere mortal government possibly do to you? Once you display your power, won't the Metropolitan Police Department fall to its knees at your feet?"

Smack!

The Master slapped Senior Brother Ida across the face, sending him staggering.

Senior Brother Ida clutched his cheek in disbelief. During last night's empowerment ritual, the Master had been so gentle and promised to pass his power on to him. Why had he suddenly turned on him today?

"How are the offerings coming along?" the Master asked viciously, his expression ugly.

"The male twins have arrived. Only the female twins Junior Brother Kimura is responsible for are still missing!" Senior Brother Ida hurriedly took the opportunity to make Kimura look bad.

"A bunch of useless fools! Forget it, we're not waiting. Begin the sacrifice! I'll go change into another kasaya."

The drizzle gradually grew heavier.

Monk Kimura, who had been looking anxiously around outside the True Faith Society's headquarters, had completely given up. The Yakuza really were a bunch of hopeless good-for-nothings. They couldn't even manage to kidnap two high school girls.

He had thought their local connections might make them useful. Had he known it would turn out like this, he would have been better off taking the monks to abduct the girls himself.

Just then, a figure wearing white monk's robes and a bamboo hat that concealed his entire face emerged from the darkness and approached the True Faith Society's gates.

"Where did a stray monk like you come from? Get lost! Our True Faith Society doesn't take in traveling monks!" a monk guarding the entrance shouted.

"This humble monk has not come seeking lodging. I heard that the True Faith Society's Master has a profound understanding of Buddhist teachings, and have come to discuss them."

"The Master has countless matters to attend to. Do you think a wandering monk like you can just meet him?"

Monk Kimura curled his lips and gestured for the monks beside him to drive the visitor away.

"Buddhist teachings? These are Buddhist teachings!"

A burly monk with a brutish face, who looked more like a Yakuza thug than a monk, gripped a wrist-thick staff in both hands and swung it viciously at the bamboo-hatted monk's waist and belly.

"Yes, precisely the kind this humble monk meant!"

The bamboo-hatted monk caught the staff in one hand, then yanked it free with a reverse pull. He brought it down on the burly monk's bald head with overwhelming force, driving his head straight into his abdominal cavity!

"This humble monk also very much enjoys discussing Buddhist teachings this way."