261: Taking advantage of the situation

A scent of incense wafted into his nostrils. Tang Ku woke up slowly, only to find himself tied to a pillar. Surrounded by brick and stone, he seemed to be in a cavern. Opposite him, the monk Moon Spirit was waving a stick of incense back and forth in front of his nose, a sinister smile on his face.

"Senior Brother, you... what is the meaning of this?"

Tang Ku looked at him with astonishment, his face full of confusion.

"Heh heh, let me teach you something: the kitchen in our temple is just a kitchen; it's not called the Incense Kitchen!" Moon Spirit laughed. "Once the Abbot says the words 'Incense Kitchen', it means the person is to be kept behind as a True Buddha for our Buddhist hall!"

"A True Buddha?"

Tang Ku exclaimed in shock. "This Poor Monk has never thought about becoming a Buddha. I have not cultivated any Karma, so how could I have the opportunity to become a Buddha?"

"Heh heh, don't be anxious or panicked. You certainly have the opportunity to become a Buddha, and you will be the first True Buddha in this temple besides my Moonlight True Buddha! In the future, even more people will become Buddhas in my temple!"

Moon Spirit laughed sinisterly. "Look over there... see that cauldron? It contains liquid gold boiled with the golden feathers of a Peng bird. In half an hour, this stuff will be poured into your mouth and all over your body, and you will become a True Buddha... Heh heh, your appearance is somewhat similar to a Buddha of Sandalwood Merit I saw before. Once drenched in the liquid gold, you will be the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit... Not only that, if any other monks come here later, we will compare their features, and those with dignified appearances will all become Buddhas! And by drenching you in this liquid gold, your body will be preserved for a thousand years without rotting!"

Tang Ku turned his head and saw several burly, bald men holding iron skewers, stirring a massive iron pot.

"If that boiling liquid gold is poured in, won't I... won't I be dead? How could I become a Buddha?"

Tang Ku couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Although this Poor Monk does not fear death, this... this is truly too frustrating. Does that Moonlight True Buddha know that you are treating human life like grass?"

"What kind of talk is that!" Moon Spirit suddenly said with a stern expression. "It is precisely the instruction of my True Buddha to let us deliver you all to become Buddhas. You should be grateful!"

Tang Ku was silent for a moment, then said: "I don't believe it. It must be you and the Abbot colluding and acting on your own. I want to see the True Buddha!"

"Heh heh, you will see him. In a while, when the moon rises to the treetops, the True Buddha will descend. But by then, you will have already become a statue of the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit. You will see my True Buddha every day... accept your fate!"

Moon Spirit laughed. "And don't worry, in light of your great piety, I won't force-feed you. I will use some knockout drugs or sedatives to let you become a Buddha while unconscious. Be grateful to me... ahahahaha..."

"Mercy, mercy..."

Tang Ku suddenly said. "You must at least let this Poor Monk die with an understanding of why. Even if I turn into a Buddha statue, it serves no purpose for you. Is it to attract believers? But with the existence of the Moonlight True Buddha, believers will always increase. Why must you kill people? This act goes against the Heavens; are you not afraid of retribution?"

"Hahaha, retribution? With the protection of my True Buddha, what retribution would dare to fall upon us!" Moon Spirit said arrogantly. "As for why you ask... heh heh, once you become a True Buddha and your soul condenses within the Buddha statue, you will know why!"

"..."

"Sigh!"

Tang Ku was actually speechless. This guy was a bit too superstitious about that so-called Moonlight True Buddha. He really felt a bit bad about bullying this fool.

"You say that no retribution would dare fall upon you, but this Poor Monk cannot agree!"

Tang Ku smiled helplessly. His body gave a slight jolt, and the ropes on his body instantly snapped, giving Moon Spirit a start.

"What... what is going on? You... damn it, you pigs, how could you not tie this monk up properly..."

Moon Spirit was shocked. He reached behind him with his right hand, pulled a short blade from his waist, and shouted to the back: "Are you all dead? The prisoner is escaping!"

Hearing the commotion, the burly men dropped the iron skewers in their hands and rushed towards this direction. They each drew precept knives from their waists under their monk robes and surrounded Tang Ku.

"Hmph, I don't know what evil magic you used to untie yourself, but for you alone, wanting to escape this place is extremely difficult. If you are sensible, surrender, and you might avoid physical suffering. Otherwise, heh heh, I will teach you the power of your Grandpa Moon Spirit!"

Moon Spirit said viciously.

Tang Ku curled his lips and said with a headache: "Do you know why I let you bring me here on purpose? It was to find out what you idiots are up to with that fake Living Buddha. But now it seems that I won't be able to ask anything from you... Didn't you say that retribution wouldn't fall on you? Heh heh, then this Poor Monk tells you, you are truly wrong, because this Poor Monk is your retribution!"

Moon Spirit felt a chill in his heart and thought to himself: "This monk came prepared; I'm afraid he is not to be trifled with. I must hurry and notify the Abbot so everyone can be prepared..."

With a wave of his hand, the dozen or so burly, bald men surrounded Tang Ku, their steel blades gleaming. Moon Spirit turned and ran, but before he had taken two steps, he saw the monk in the moon-white robe standing in front of him, smiling and watching him.

"You... how..."

Suddenly looking back, he saw that those fake monks holding precept knives had already fallen to the ground, with more air going out than coming in through their noses...

Moon Spirit felt his scalp tingle, knowing that he had truly encountered an expert this time. His eyes rolled, and he suddenly threw the short blade in his hand at Tang Ku.

He possessed martial arts, and this blade was quite fierce, but it was casually pinched by Tang Ku's fingers. Then, with a slight flick, the fine steel knife shattered into countless pieces and fell to the ground.

However, Moon Spirit never intended to use the throwing knife to deal with him; in fact, this was just a smokescreen.

The moment Tang Ku caught the throwing knife, he was already chanting something, and then his figure flashed and he burrowed into the ground, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Heh heh, Earth-Walking Technique? Did that so-called Moonlight True Buddha teach you this too?"

A divine light flashed in Tang Ku's eyes. He suddenly turned around and punched the ground. Large sections of brick were smashed to pieces, and Moon Spirit was forcibly dragged out from under the ground by Tang Ku.

"You..."

Before Moon Spirit could speak, he felt a sharp pain in the bridge of his nose, and immediately fell into a groggy sleep.

Just now, Tang Ku used the minimal amount of force, using the "flicking finger" technique to gently flick the bridge of his nose, knocking him unconscious. The force was controlled perfectly; otherwise, for a piece of Trash like him, Tang Ku could have flicked him to death with a single finger.

"If I didn't still have questions to ask you, you would have been dead long ago... So, be content!"

Tang Ku grabbed this guy and walked towards the entrance of the cave.