Split Open a Bright New World!

"What did that brat just say?" "Vulgar!" "He seemed to be saying... something about plucking chicken feathers?!" Fang Yu's vulgar remark was like a red-hot Branding Iron, pressing hard on the devout hearts of all the believers present. "You... you..." A scholar's face turned from pale to ashen, his fingers trembling like withered branches in the wind, "Vulgar! Shameless! Blasphemous!" He suddenly turned to Xuanzang, "Holy Monk! Such a madman should be expelled from Chang'an!" "Kill him!" A butcher with a face full of scars pushed through the crowd, veins bulging on his thick arms, "How dare he insult my Buddha!" The scene instantly descended into chaos. A dozen strong men rolled up their sleeves, ready to step forward, while the women covered their children's ears, afraid that these foul words would taint their pure Mind Stone. Some even picked up stones from the ground, their eyes flashing with angry Kakkō. Fang Yu, however, Fudo, a mocking sneer on his lips. "Please wait, everyone." Xuanzang's voice wasn't loud, but it flowed through everyone's hearts like a clear spring, Miracles calming the agitation. He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to the angry crowd. "Anger is an obstacle; why must you all be angry about this?" Xuanzang turned to Fang Yu, his gaze peaceful yet profound. "This benefactor's words may be crude, but his question is profound." Xuanzang slowly descended the steps. "A good question, benefactor." He stopped in front of Fang Yu. "What is the relationship between scriptures and the common people? This is indeed a fundamental question." Fang Yu stood with his arms crossed: "Then please enlighten me, Holy Monk." "This humble monk's Journey to the West is not for the scriptures themselves." Xuanzang's voice gradually rose, so that everyone could hear him clearly, "But to seek the true Dharma and to enlighten the world. Although this humble monk has not personally witnessed the tragic state of the Lion Camel Country, I believe it exists." A murmur of astonishment arose from the crowd. "If you believe it exists, why do the All Buddhas of Spiritual Mountain turn a blind eye?" Fang Yu pressed on, "Is this the great compassion you speak of?" Xuanzang remained calm. "Have you ever seen a farmer tilling the land?" This sudden question startled Fang Yu: "What do you mean?" "A seed sown will not bear fruit immediately." Xuanzang's gaze was distant. "The true Dharma is like a seed, it needs time to grow. The calamity of the Lion Camel Country was the result of karmic retribution accumulated over lifetimes, not something that happened overnight." Fang Yu scoffed. "Karmic retribution, my foot! What crime Xuanzang Fang Yu, "Precisely because of this, the Dharma is needed to universally deliver all beings and break this cycle of reincarnation." "Empty talk!"Fang Yu suddenly raised his voice, "You're telling me this is karmic retribution?!"Xuanzang closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, tears were glistening in his eyes: "This is the collective karma of all beings, not the fault of one person. This humble monk's Journey to the West is precisely to seek the path to liberation." "And then?"Fang Yu sneered. "If you bring the scriptures back, will those monsters lay down their butcher's knives? Will those people who were eaten be resurrected?" "No,"Xuanzang readily admitted. "But the true Dharma is like a lamp, capable of dispelling a thousand years of darkness. One person's enlightenment can save millions." "Save millions, my foot!"Fang Yu clapped his hands. "Then let me ask you, if I go to the south and ask an old man surnamed Yuan to teach me an improved rice cultivation method that would allow the people of the Great Tang to have enough to eat every day, then compared to your scriptures, who Boundless Merit? Who is truly benefiting the people?" "Could it be that the people are only doing their proper work by chanting scriptures while starving, and that being full is karma?"Fang Yu's analogy left Tang Sanzang speechless. The square fell silent instantly. "What? Holy Monk can't answer?"Fang Yu stepped forward. "Then I'll answer for you." He suddenly leaped onto the incense table, startling the surrounding people who retreated in surprise. "The so-called true scriptures are nothing more than making the starving believe that eating Guan Yin Soil is accumulating merit! Making tenant farmers believe that being exploited by landlords is a way to expiate their karma!" "You make the people live on their knees, and then you deceive them into believing they can live standing up in their Afterlife!" A commotion erupted in the crowd, and several noblemen in brocade robes turned pale. A young man wearing a gold openwork crown suddenly screamed, "Stop this madman! He slanders Buddha! He slanders saints! He slanders!" "Let him speak."Tang Sanzang gestured for the warrior monks to put away their clubs. He looked up at Fang Yu with a look of martyr-like resolve. Fang Yu sneered and pointed towards the imperial city: " Imperial Power! Religion is merely a means for the Imperial Power to consolidate its own power!" "Boom!" The crowd erupted completely! Daring to openly discuss the Royal Family in such a place. Did he have no regard for his life? "Barking nonsense!" A squad of Golden Armored Guard rushed out from the crowd, their gleaming swords flashing coldly in the sunlight. "Take down this madman!" the leader shouted sharply, his blade pointed Fang Yu's throat! Xuanzang's expression changed drastically: "Wait!" But his voice was instantly drowned out by the terrified crowd. The people screamed and scattered in all directions, overturning incense tables and spilling offerings everywhere. "Clang!" A sword struck Fang Yu's neck, producing a metallic clang! A nick appeared in the blade, and the captain's hand was split open, blood dripping from the hilt. Fang Yu didn't even blink, instead grinning: "The supporters of Imperial Power are getting anxious?" He flicked the blade with his fingertips, "Because you're dogs before the Royal Family, but you act like officials before the common people." " Demon Person!" The captain staggered back, "Fire! Fire!" Twenty Zhang Jiao bows were drawn simultaneously, the arrows whistling sharply through the air! Golden Flames surged in Fang Yu's eyes: "I'm speaking for the people, and you all jump out—" He spread his arms, "What a spoilsport!" "Boom!"Conqueror's Haki erupted like a tsunami! The arrows that reached them shattered instantly, and the front-row guards collapsed one after another as if struck by lightning. The archers in the back fared even worse, foaming at the mouth and fainting! Within a five-zhang radius of Fang Yu, the area was instantly cleared. The onlookers in the distance were collectively speechless! This was truly unbelievable! "It's quiet now."Fang Yu dusted off his sleeves and turned to the pale-faced Xuanzang. "What did the Holy Monk want to say just now?"Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together, his eyes filled with compassion: "Benefactor, is it wrong to persuade people to do good and teach them to be virtuous? Buddhism guides people towards goodness and eliminates violence; this is the foundation of universal salvation." Upon hearing this, Fang Yu laughed loudly, his laughter full of sarcasm: "Persuade people to do good? Do you need to travel thousands of miles to India to learn this simple principle from those ass-picking Indians? Even a three-year-old knows that murder and arson are evil, and respecting the elderly and caring for the young are good! Does your Great Tang have no sages to teach you? Do you have to kneel down and beg for foreign tattered scriptures?" He suddenly pointed to an old man selling steamed buns on the street. "Ask him if he'd rather listen to you chant scriptures to improve his Afterlife, or if he just wants to eat more meat in this life!" The old man, startled by being called out, shrank back, but under Fang Yu's piercing gaze, he finally stammered: "This old man just wants to save money to get a house and a wife for his grandson." "Did you hear that?"Fang Yu sneered. "You keep talking about blessings in the Afterlife, but have you ever made sure his dilapidated thatched hut doesn't leak? You teach him to endure hunger to eliminate karma, but the high-ranking officials in Chang'an City eat meat every day, why don't you go and advise them to eliminate karma?"Xuanzang frowned: "You're mistaken, benefactor. Buddhism doesn't teach people to be submissive, but rather—" "But what a load of rubbish!"Fang Yu interrupted rudely. "You only know one-sided thinking, treating Buddhist scriptures as golden rules! Telling people to cultivate for the Afterlife? In my opinion, Daoism is the right path!" "I don't care about the Afterlife Afterlife! We cultivate in this life! Daoism follows nature, it speaks of retribution in this life! You, a Buddha once rolled around in the Preta Path, are you qualified to teach us how to be human?" A person dressed as a Daoist priest in the crowd had his eyes light up and quietly squeezed forward. "You made the people eat chaff and wild vegetables their whole lives, and then lied to them on their deathbeds, telling them they'd be kings in their next life."Fang Yu suddenly grabbed a steamed bun from the offering table and threw it at Xuanzang's feet. "Suffering is a blessing, hardship is a reward! You've turned people into walking corpses, without ambition, without any primal human desires!" "No food, no drink, no procreation, no enjoyment of life! I ask you! Are they still human? Is living this life just for a better next life? Then why can't we live this life a little better?" The steamed bun rolled to the ground, covered in incense ash. Xuanzang's face turned deathly pale, and he took a half-step back. "Dare not accept?"Fang Yu grinned maliciously as he approached. "Your tricks might fool the ignorant masses who've been kneeling for too long, but they won't fool me! Daoist alchemy for prolonging life is cowardice, while you monks waiting to die while chanting wooden fish is considered noble?"Xuanzang took a deep breath. "I understand, benefactor, you mean to let the people cultivate Daoism." "Wrong!"Fang Yu said decisively. "I'm going to overturn this cannibalistic world!" As he spoke, he flew into the Hiten, gradually rising above the heads of the people, all of them basking in the blazing sun as they watched his radiant body. He said: "What gods and Buddhas don't care about, I will!" "What monks can't save, I will!" Lightning surged around Fang Yu, and the Nine Heavens Thunder Pool roared in his arms. "With this thunder! With my burning passion!" "I will cleave a bright and clear world!" At this moment, Tang Xuanzang knew clearly that he had lost.