Chapter 481 — The Shaman God Strikes at the Soul
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu looked at the bald-pated demon monk, who lay prostrate on the ground, trembling with fear. Shen Mu hastily shook his head. "Since he's your junior brother, you can treat me, but I can't eat him."
The Demon Ape scratched his head and looked at Little Tathagata beside him. The fat on Little Tathagata's face twitched wildly as he forcibly suppressed his anger. "Disciple, your friend has come—are you going to treat him to your master as well?"
The Demon Ape hastily shook his head.
Shen Mu laughed. "We haven't seen each other in a long time. You don't need to think about treating me to meat. When in Rome, eat vegetarian. Even someone as powerful as Tathagata can't be eaten."
The Demon Ape was delighted. "Vegetarian, strong!"
Jing Yan asked curiously, "Does Senior Brother Zhankong always speak so concisely?"
Little Tathagata said, "Zhankong has great Buddha-nature; he treasures every word like gold, and every word carries profound meaning. It was precisely this trait that made me take him as a disciple."
Jing Yan was puzzled. She could see that he treasured every word like gold, but she had not seen the great Buddha-nature.
Where was the Buddha-nature in grabbing your junior brother and offering him as meat the moment you met?
The Demon Ape followed them up the mountain. When they reached the summit, Shen Mu looked around and saw that it resembled the golden peak of the Great Thunderclap Temple, except there were many more stone statues, placed there presumably to ward off the darkness.
Atop the mountain stood pagoda after pagoda, each with monks cultivating there—most of them bird-headed or beast-headed human-bodied monks, draped in yellow kasayas, solemn in demeanor.
These monks were likely great demons who had attained the Way in the Wasteland. Cultivating here, they must hold no small status.
Shen Mu's eyelid twitched. These great demons' cultivation was exceedingly formidable, the demonic aura about them intense beyond measure. Some monks' demonic aura was so heavy that even he felt a stir of dread—these were likely powerhouses of the Hierarch level!
What was more, some had blood-light seeping through their demonic aura, clearly marking those who had committed no small amount of slaughter in the past!
"I can't take it anymore! Every day eating vegetarian and chanting Buddha's name, eating vegetarian and chanting Buddha's name—my mouth has gone so bland a bird could fly out of it! When will this end?"
Suddenly a yellow-robed monk with a bird's head and human body leapt to his feet. He ripped his yellow robe to shreds in one motion; his neck shook, and at once countless golden feathers sprouted madly from his neck. His body swelled wildly; from among the feathers burst bird head after bird head—nine in all. He spread his wings, and his wingspan stretched across dozens of mu!
"I've roamed and lorded over the Wasteland, eaten countless men and beasts, and long since been tangled in karmic debt. What the hell do I need to eat vegetarian and chant Buddha's name for?"
The nine-headed great bird, shaped like a peacock, beat its wings and rose, crying fiercely, "This karmic debt can't be washed away—so I'm going to eat my fill!"
Other monks rose into the air one after another; Shen Mu even saw that several monks were of the human race, joining forces to subdue the nine-headed peacock. "Senior Brother Ming, you've been seized by your inner demon again—wake up quickly!"
"A thousand years of cultivation—don't let it be destroyed by a single moment of folly!"
...
With their combined strength, the monks finally subdued the nine-headed peacock, but the great peacock remained unruly and unsubdued, clamoring to go on a killing spree.
Little Tathagata stepped forward and abruptly tore open his monk's robe. Taking a knife, he slashed his own chest, cut off a piece of flesh, and tossed it to the nine-headed peacock, shouting, "If you want to eat meat—come and eat!"