电车之狼系列

His very long brows were as white as snow. The monk markings on his head were especially conspicuous. Each of them emitted light, like little lanterns.

Li Qiye sat down on a cushion and only smiled while looking at the Vedas Vajra.

The Vajra opened his Buddhist eyes that were as sharp as blades. In the blink of an eye, people could feel his evil-subduing power. His eyes were shiver-inducing; no one would dare to act presumptuously before him.

Alas, this had no effect on Li Qiye; he still sat there leisurely.

“High Monk must be the recently famous Evil Buddha?” The Vajra placed his palms together. Despite his great status, being rude was not part of his nature.

Li Qiye smiled and casually said: “Let them call me what they want. I am here not to talk about the dharma or to debate, I just want something from you.”

The Vajra spoke: “A monk only has the four great tribulations and a cushion to sit on, nothing else.”

Li Qiye gently shook his head: “I’m not asking about your other possessions. Vedas, I am here for the item that you obtained from the Lesser Imperial Devil World.”

The Vajra’s eyes turned sharp for a split second before turning back to normal. He gently shook his head: “I do not know what High Monk is talking about. A monk has nothing besides the tribulations.”

Li Qiye calmly uttered: “Vedas, my patience is limited. I must have that item today.”

The Vedas Vajra didn’t become angry in his refusal: “High Monk, you are making this difficult. I don’t have anything, nor do I know of the item you are talking about!”

“Vedas, I am sitting here talking to you. This means that I do not want to fight. If you don’t hand it over, the consequences will be unimaginable.” Li Qiye spoke.

“High Monk, is that a threat?” Vedas’ eyes turned fierce as he exuded an oppressive aura: “A monk should be free of anger. However, when a Vajra is furious, they shall subdue all evil.”

“Subdue evil?” Li Qiye smiled: “My Vedas, tell me, who is evil here? Letting go of the butcher’s blade to become Buddha? Haha, it’s pretty funny saying it out loud.” He looked at the Vajra and continued: “Vedas, I almost burst out laughing, hearing you say the words ‘subdue evil’. It doesn’t matter whether you are Vedas Vajra or Vedas Devil right now, I only want to take that item then leave. I don’t want to waste time here.”

“Who are you!” The Vajra stared at Li Qiye with a glare capable of suppressing the hearts of others.

“Who I am is not important. Even if I say it, it will only make you jolt in horror.” Li Qiye said dismissively: “Hand that item over and I’ll pretend that nothing happened. Otherwise, not to mention that you are only a Vajra, even if you were Buddha, I could still banish you to hell!”

“Amitabha, I shall subdue evil today!” With a chilling glare, the Vajra emitted an aura capable of crushing all things. Even if a Godking was here, they would still immediately fall to their knees.

“Vajra, my patience is limited. Brace yourself for the consequences if you don’t comply.” Li Qiye lightly said: “Back when I destroyed your Vedas Kingdom, blood flowed for three years! If you think that was a disaster back then, you haven’t seen anything yet. If I take action now, I will show you a real calamity, I will banish you to hell with no chance of reincarnation!”

“You...” The Vajra stood up with his eyes wide open! A terrifying Buddhist aura erupted as he harshly shouted: “You, you are that devil... the Dark Crow!”

“Devil?” Li Qiye smiled: “Vedas, you are not one that can call me a devil. Yes, I massacred your kingdom, but if I am a devil, then what are you and those from your kingdom? You weren’t even qualified to be called devils. At the very least, I, as a devil, slew all of you openly so that your kind would never rise again!”

“But you all...” Li Qiye glanced at the Vajra dismissively: “All of you are just a bunch of wretched abominations. Your kind drank blood and flay skin for pleasure. You built your kingdom upon the belief that humans were mere ants and treated them as food, using their bones to build your palaces. To tell the truth, Vedas, you don’t even have the right to be part of the human race. In my eyes, you are only the lowest of abominations. The human race doesn’t have such disgusting creatures as you!”

In an instant, the Vajra’s chest was shaking with anger. He was quite emotional despite being a Vajra who had severed all mundane ties! His mood was swinging intensely.

“Dark Crow! You killed my wife and slaughtered my children as well as my entire family!” The Vajra shouted.

“So what?” Li Qiye was too lazy to look at him: “Vedas, I don’t care who you are now. Back then when you rampaged across the nine worlds as an invincible Godking, no one dared to touch you. But in my eyes, you were only an ant!”

“That’s right, I destroyed your sect and slaughtered all of your family!” Li Qiye calmly said: “I won’t say that it was for justice or retribution in the heaven’s stead. I will just say that maggots like your kind were not eligible to be included in the human race. Thus, I deemed you an eyesore and killed all of you!”

He paused for a moment and glanced at the furious Vajra: “Vedas, did you really think you managed to escape my grasp? How amusing, you were only a lost dog forced into a corner, crying in despair. Then all of a sudden, you finally wanted to become a good person, throwing away your butcher’s blade and repenting!”

“Isn’t this hilarious, being a devil for your entire life only to suddenly want to become a good person?” Li Qiye coldly glared at the guy: “Are you aware? If the Buddhist Lord didn’t guarantee me that you had truly repented and would never kill again, not even an ant, I would have crucified you down in hell so that you would never reenter samsara. Even the Buddhist Funeral Plateau wouldn’t have been able to protect you!”

After hearing this, the Buddhist light from the Vajra pulsed in an unstable manner. His expression changed unpredictably as he stood there.

Eventually, he sat back down on the Buddhist cushion. He placed his palms together and chanted: “Shanzai, Shanzai, Oh Merciful Buddha, how sinful...” [1. Remember that one word meaning good/excellent? That is shanzai, but imagine putting excellent in the beginning. It is a bit jarring, so I’ll just use the pinyin here.]

Suddenly, his eyes shed tears.

Li Qiye looked at the vajra and spoke: “The Buddhist Funeral Plateau is indeed unfathomable; it even managed to convert an evil heart into a Buddhist heart. It seems like you have repented, so I won’t kill you today.”

The Vajra sat there and continued to chant scriptures over and over again. His pulsing radiance began to stabilize. Once it lit up again, he turned back into a Vajra like before.

“Because the Buddhist Kingdom gave its assurance, I will spare your life.” Li Qiye spoke: “But if you don’t hand that item over, not to mention the kingdom’s assurance, even the high heaven’s assurance won’t do!”

“Amitabha.” The Vajra chanted and finally relaxed. He opened his eyes to say: “High Monk, the thing you desire is no longer in my possession.”

Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and repeated: “Not in your hands?”

The Vajra placed his palms together in response: “A monk does not lie. Vedas Devil is dead, so I don’t need to trick you. A few days ago, a young miss from the Eternal River School traded an old item for it.”

“That girl.” Li Qiye knew who it was. He looked at the Vajra and said: “I trust that you wouldn’t dare to lie to me.” He stood up to leave.

“Your Excellency Dark Crow...” When Li Qiye reached the door, the Vajra stood up then kowtowed on the ground.

“What?” Li Qiye looked at him: “Thanking me for sparing you?”

“No, Your Excellency, even dying a hundred times over wouldn’t be enough to atone for my heavy sins.” The Vajra prostrating on the ground spoke: “I thank you for sparing my newborn great-great-grandson back then.” [2. Chinese has a word for great-great-grandson, so it flows better in the raws.]

Li Qiye answered: “Those who deserve to die were completely killed off, both men and women alike. However, for those who didn’t deserve to die, I wouldn’t bother staining my hands with their blood. I didn’t spare him, he was not guilty from the start.”

“I know that even suicide wouldn’t allow me to redeem myself. After becoming enlightened, I only want to stay and train at the plateau in hopes of saving mortals in agony to make up for my crimes back then.” The Vajra spoke with piety.

“Interesting.” Li Qiye glanced at him: “You left Spirit Mountain as well as your Buddhist heart at the Buddhist Kingdom while they branded you. Truly interesting.”

“I wish to reduce the suffering in this world and bring about kindness and light. Once my beneficence is enough, I want to return to my homeland and spend my final moments there to purify the grievances in that place. Just like you said, I am not qualified to become Buddha.” The Vajra spoke.

“That is your Spirit Mountain’s business. You being able to live for so long and become a Vajra is indicative of your will to change for the better.” Li Qiye spoke insipidly: “I don’t care for the Buddhist Kingdom’s matters. Just keep in mind that Vedas Devil and Vedas Kingdom are no more. Otherwise, I will show you what eternal damnation is!”

“Amitabha...” The Vajra’s forehead met the ground: “My sin is immense...”

Li Qiye didn’t say anything else and left the temple.