The Programmer Cultivator

Guu Donglin was startled for a moment. With a wave of his hand, the book shot off, following the direction indicated by the arrow.

A moment later, everyone arrived in the sky above Huayue Academy. Seeing the arrow pointing downward, the old monk Fuyuan gave Guu Donglin a strange look.

Guu Donglin’s expression shifted several times before he said, ”It seems they’ve pulled a classic ’hiding in plain sight’ on us.”

No one responded as they descended. Since they hadn’t concealed their presence, several Duality Scholars had already noticed the situation and came running over.

Seeing the group on the book and their Dean, they bowed in unison and said, ”Dean!”

Guu Donglin’s face was grim as he asked, ”Whose residence is this?”

They hesitated for a moment, then one of the Scholars cautiously replied, ”It should be the residence of the newly hired Music and Dance Master, Guann Zhenzhen.”

His face still grim, Guu Donglin continued, ”And where is she?”

The Scholar paused for a moment before replying, ”This afternoon, a disciple from the Wu Family delivered a message saying she had urgent business and had to take leave.”

Guu Donglin shot the Scholar a look. ”I’ll deal with you later.”

With that, he waved his hand and flung the book he was holding.

”To set the heart of the universe, to secure the life of the people, to carry on the wisdom of sages past, to open an age of eternal peace!”

The book flew open, and the resonant voice recited once more.

As the pages turned, the character for ”Reveal” materialized within the book.

As the character flickered, an Array materialized before their eyes, stunning many of the Scholars.

Seeing this, Guu Donglin had no intention of entering through the Array.

With a downward press of his hand, the book plummeted. It smashed a large crater right where the Array was in the small courtyard.

To be precise, the book had dissolved a large crater into existence, as none of the surrounding earth was even slightly disturbed.

The group peered through the crater and saw what lay below.

The courtyard above was large, and the crater was just as wide, revealing several rooms below.

Some rooms were empty. Others held a few Children with vacant expressions who, now that a hole had been torn in their ceiling, were all looking up and staring blankly at the sky.

In other areas, a few disciples were scurrying about in a panic.

What was most arresting was a large, hall-like cell. Inside, a young monk was fixed atop a wooden horse... Nearby, a scholar and a Daoist were bound backwards to crosses, each being violated by a burly man...

At that moment, all three of them had expressions of crazed, unbearable agony, as if wishing for death.

Zhang Deming was utterly stupefied by the sight. After a long moment, he sucked in a sharp breath.

HSSSSS...

’These Demon Cultivators... they’re really something else!’

’Don’t mess with them! Don’t mess with them!’

’No wonder Demon Cultivators are so feared. A sight like this is enough to send a chill down my spine and make my asshole pucker.’

The others were just as stunned. The sound of Zhang Deming’s gasp seemed to snap them out of it.

Guu Donglin’s expression was absolutely hideous, his aura erupting violently around him. After a long moment, he roared, ”You bastards! I will flay you, boil your bones, and refine your very souls!!!”

The old monk Fuyuan’s expression was just as grim. He leaped down, and with a wave of his hand, gently freed Huineng from the ’wooden horse’.

Huineng, who had been writhing madly, suddenly stopped. He froze, a flicker of awareness returning to his eyes as his vacant gaze fell upon Fuyuan.

The moment he saw the old monk, his vacant gaze flickered.

After a long moment, clarity returned. A look of anguish and despair washed over his handsome face. He looked at Fuyuan and suddenly let out a heart-wrenching wail, ”Master!!! I... I... WAAAAH...”

It was a sound of pure agony, a heart-rending, soul-shattering cry.

Fuyuan cradled Huineng, his own heart aching as he said, ”It’s alright, it’s alright now. Master is here. It’s all over. Everything will be okay.”

But upon hearing this, Huineng’s sobs only grew more desolate, more shattered, a sound that struck at the depths of one’s soul.

After a long while, he suddenly raised his head. Staring at Fuyuan with a vacant gaze, he said, as if by instinct:

”Master, I vow: so long as Hell is not empty, I shall never attain Buddhahood!

I vow: so long as the Demon Path is not eradicated from this world, I shall never attain Buddhahood!

I vow: so long as sin still exists in this world, I shall never attain Buddhahood!

I vow to offer my body to devour the demon hordes, to extinguish the evil in man, to banish all ghouls and specters, to seal every last Demon Kiln!

I vow to become a vessel of wrath, to break every precept, to cleanse the heavens and the earth, and to restore purity to the world!”

Fuyuan was stunned. The entire underground chamber suddenly flashed with golden light. The phantom of a massive Merit Golden Wheel materialized above the head of the vacant-eyed Huineng.

The Golden Wheel began to rotate slowly. A colossal image of a Buddha, sitting cross-legged in the void, appeared and spoke:

”Huineng of Leiyin Temple has this day made a great vow: that the Demon Path be utterly eradicated from the world. So long as the Demon Path is not extinguished, he shall never attain Buddhahood.

He has made a vow for all ages, to walk a path of endless suffering. When his work is complete and his merit fulfilled, the Buddha’s path shall be revealed. Merit will be bestowed, and the sacred pool will manifest to receive him unto the station of a Buddha.”

The resonant words of the Buddha lingered in the air for a long time. Finally, the Golden Wheel, the voice, the image, and the Buddha Light all converged, transforming into a Swastika Buddha Seal that settled between Huineng’s brows.

The vacant look in Huineng’s eyes cleared considerably, but his handsome young face was now a mask of endless indifference.

”Alas... You... why did you have to do this?” Looking at his disciple, who had just made such an impossible vow, Fuyuan sighed mournfully as he held him.

His Buddhist heart, once as firm as bedrock, had trembled several times today. An emotion he had left behind for countless forgotten years now silently pervaded his being. That emotion was hate.

It was exceedingly faint, but it refused to dissipate.

The Buddha Seal between Huineng’s brows began to spin. His face was a mask of solemn silence as he said, ”Master, I am willing. I have no regrets and no resentment. I will devote what remains of this broken life to eradicating the Demon Path.”