The ruins of the Withering-Glory Temple in the night seemed to connect to some unknown place.
That unknown place drew Jiang Chen closer, consciously or unconsciously.
Jiang Chen walked faster and faster, but his direction grew more chaotic, stumbling forward, backward, left, and right in a disordered manner. Though Chong Xuansheng followed closely beside him, he had an increasingly unsettling feeling that the other was drifting further and further away.
This feeling was unsettling.
Jiang Chen's expression was blank, but the gleam in his eyes showed he was still awake, even deep in thought. Yet paradoxically, he seemed completely unaware of his body's current state.
This scene was so bizarre that Chong Xuansheng, lacking sufficient information, had no way to analyze it.
But he couldn't simply let things be.
Chong Xuansheng reached this judgment and couldn't help but extend his hand, attempting to use the weight technique to halt Jiang Chen's strange movements.
But as the weight technique's power approached, Jiang Chen's hand was already returning to his sword, sword energy surging forth—this was the body's instinctive defensive reaction.
In this state, Jiang Chen couldn't control his strikes, nor could Chong Xuansheng gauge the proper measure. He had no choice but to disperse the weight technique.
As the weight technique dissipated, Chong Xuansheng glanced at Shi Si.
Years of默契 meant that a single glance was enough for Shi Si to understand.
With armor and all, one step placed him directly in front of Jiang Chen.
That single step gave the impression of a mountain rooted to the earth—towering, heavy.
There was no intention of attack, nor any active contact. Shi Si simply stood firm in his path, "waiting" for him to approach.
As Chong Xuansheng had expected, it didn't trigger Jiang Chen's instinctive response.
He merely walked forward urgently and collided with Shi Si, who wore the Burden-Mountain Armor—like crashing into a mountain!
The "mountain" naturally remained unmoved.
Jiang Chen's body also stopped, blocked before the "mountain."
But from his forward-leaning posture and tense muscles, it was clear he was still trying to move forward.
Shi Si could also feel Jiang Chen's forward momentum, then nodded to Chong Xuansheng.
With Jiang Chen's half-baked body refinement, relying solely on instinct, it was impossible for him to push Shi Si aside.
Chong Xuansheng moved closer to observe his eyes.
Jiang Chen's eyes were like a still sea.
Bright, serene, resolute—as if they would always be there, always beautiful, never to be changed... yet within them brewed unfathomable depths.
In that undisturbed still sea, Chong Xuansheng suddenly saw a floating, sinking... "卍"!
At this moment.
In Jiang Chen's perception, he also "saw" this swastika symbol, not in the visual sense.
Then he "heard" a voice, not in the auditory sense.
A sudden clarity dawned in his heart, and he saw the appearance of that yellow-faced old monk—the mysterious monk Ku Jue who had appeared in Qingshe Town, inexplicably wanting to take him as a disciple.
The voice asked—
"For the rest of your life, you shall not kill. Can you uphold this vow today?"
For the rest of your natural life, you shall never kill. Can you observe this precept from now on?
And the essential question it represented was: Are you willing to take refuge in the Buddhist path?
Jiang Chen's consciousness was clear; he had been clear all along. He had been thinking continuously, though some problems did genuinely exist.
Before solving the problems within his heart, he could not perceive the external world.
The fog of ignorance, the fog of ignorance. Cultivators of the Soaring Dragon realm were only just beginning to face "ignorance," wading through it.
As the saying goes, "If you cannot sweep one room, how can you sweep the world?"
As they say, "Rectify the root and clarify the source"—oneself is the root, the heart is the source.
The voice of the old monk Ku Jue suddenly appeared, questioning his heart—
"For the rest of your life, you shall not kill. Can you uphold this vow today?"
Jiang Chen understood very clearly that if he could observe the precept and take refuge, he could immediately "walk" out of that endless interrogation.
This would be escaping the sea of suffering, and also "laying down the butcher's knife to become a Buddha on the spot."
The so-called "laying down the butcher's knife to become a Buddha on the spot" doesn't mean that after killing someone, you can become a Buddha simply by putting down the knife. Rather, it means putting down the evil thoughts in your heart, putting down that "butcher's knife" which can harm all living beings. With no evil in the heart and compassion for all beings, one naturally becomes a Buddha.
That endless interrogation bombarded his heart moment by moment.
One careless slip, and his Dao heart would shatter.
But as long as he observed the precepts, as long as he "washed his heart and changed his ways," he could immediately escape this dangerous situation.
But Jiang Chen's voice rang out from the depths of his heart—"I cannot uphold it!"
"For the rest of your life, you shall not kill. Can you uphold this vow today?"
"I cannot uphold it!"
What need is there for monastic rules and precepts? I follow my own heart.
The moment this voice emerged, in the external world, Chong Xuansheng and Shi Si could clearly sense that Jiang Chen's forward momentum had halted.
And within his heart.
Facing those interrogations head-on, Jiang Chen answered them one by one.
"As for Fang Heng, I remember him, I miss him, but I do not regret killing him. The friendship was real, and so was the hatred.
As for Hu Shaomeng, I fulfilled my promise with a clear conscience.
...
As for the Pig-Bone Mask, the Snake-Bone Mask, the Dragon-Bone Mask... my resolve to kill is unwavering. If the Age of White Bones truly comes, I will kill them again!
...
As for the soldiers of Yang, stepping onto the battlefield means staking everything, entrusting one's life to it. They are so, and so am I!
On the battlefield, there is only life and death—where is there room for right or wrong!"
The "卍" character in his eyes vanished in an instant, and all the approaching faces, the fierce interrogations, disappeared.
Everything he saw and heard returned to tranquility.
In the end, Jiang Chen's spirit became clear and luminous, and in an instant he regained control of his body, blurting out: "I have a clear conscience!"
At this moment, he already understood the cause and effect.
Back in Qingshe Town, without his knowledge, Ku Jue had left a symbol on him—the "卍".
This was an auspicious symbol passed down through Buddhist tradition, meaning an accumulation of auspiciousness and boundless virtues.
This swastika symbol itself posed no harm or influence on Jiang Chen; its sole purpose was to point him in the right direction when his heart was confused. It could be said to serve the function of protecting one's original intention—though this "direction" naturally pointed toward taking refuge in Buddhism.
This swastika symbol would perhaps never need to take effect, because the firmness of Jiang Chen's original heart far surpassed that of ordinary people.
It should be said that the old monk Ku Jue harbored no ill intent.
But tonight, when he came with Chong Xuansheng to the ruins of the Withering-Glory Temple to seek answers—
This swastika symbol had resonated with something in the Withering-Glory Temple, causing him to fall into an almost endless Dao-heart interrogation, and he was also drawn by some unknown place.
It nearly harmed him, but it also saved him.
When he fell into the Dao-heart interrogation, this swastika symbol had provided him with a method—to use "precepts" to discipline oneself, and to赎 "sin" through action.
But Jiang Chen chose his own way—
He directly released all defenses and questioned his heart.
And he had a clear conscience!
Body and mind clear, will unified.
"What happened?" Chong Xuansheng asked.
He examined Jiang Chen, sensing that the other seemed to have undergone some kind of cleansing from the inside out, giving off an otherworldly quality.
Jiang Chen recounted everything that had just occurred in his heart.
Only then did Chong Xuansheng and Shi Si realize the danger he had just faced.
"Let's leave here first," Chong Xuansheng immediately said.
There must be some secret hidden in the Withering-Glory Temple. And Chong Xuansheng, at his current level, couldn't even perceive it. Had it not been for the swastika symbol Ku Jue left on Jiang Chen, Jiang wouldn't have fared any differently.
This was sufficient to show that the secret hidden in the ruins of the Withering-Glory Temple was beyond their current strength to reach.
Chong Xuansheng was, of course, a clever man, so he chose to leave immediately, abandoning even the answers he had originally sought.
Having no strength yet being too curious—that was seeking death!
But just as they were walking out, new sounds came from outside.
This time, not just Jiang Chen—all three of them heard it.
The sound was:
"Clack—clack! clack! clack!"