Outside the secret realm.
Maitreya stood at the door of the dilapidated temple with a faint smile on his lips.
"This pool of merit should be able to eliminate the side effects of my forced resuscitation."
After saying that, Maitreya took out a wooden bucket, poured water into it, and soaked himself in it.
About half an hour later...
The pool of merit in the bucket had bottomed out, and Maitreya opened his eyes and slowly stood up.
After feeling the state of his body, Maitreya had a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Jianlong neglected his duties, guarded and robbed himself, stole water from the pond of merit, killed Arhats riding on elephants, and Arhats sitting on deers."
"You even tried to bribe me, which is really an unforgivable crime."
After sneering twice, Maitreya clasped his hands behind his back and left leisurely.
As for subduing the dragon...
After the Buddhas return, it will be his death.
A mere Arhat-level dog, Maitreya... he really never cared.
…
Xiao'an Temple.
Maitreya stood at the door of the temple, frowning slightly.
What about the plaque?
After making sure again that he was not going the wrong way, Maitreya sighed and shook his head.
During these years of sleeping...
What exactly happened.
As he took a step forward, a strong wind suddenly blew up.
"Are you still obsessed?"
Maitreya murmured to himself, and then said: "We haven't seen you for many years, why don't you invite me in and sit down?"
A crisp bell rang, and the temple door opened on its own, revealing the old tree inside with a novice monk hanging on it.
As the temple door opened, the corpses of the novice monks hanging on the trees collectively opened their eyes, staring at Maitreya with somewhat empty gazes, then fell off the trees and lined up in two rows at the door.
Maitreya looked at the strange scene in front of him without any change in his expression. He took a calm step and walked into Xiao'an Temple.
The moment Maitreya entered, the temple door suddenly closed, and thick branches flew out from the old tree, rushing towards Maitreya, as if they wanted to tie him up.
Maitreya paused, and bursts of golden light emitted from his body, blocking the vine.
"You know, these things can't stop me."
Maitreya's voice was calm, he sighed, shook his head and said, "Are you still a little resentful about what happened back then?"
"Boom!"
The bell rang again, but this time the bell sounded a little dull, seeming to convey an angry emotion.
"It's just natural selection."
"If I was the one who failed back then, my fate now would not be any better than yours."
"In the end...neither you nor me is wrong, it's the world that is wrong."
"It's wrong...it's this common people."
There was a little sigh on Maitreya's face, and a look of compassion. At this moment, he looked like a real Buddha, full of thoughts about saving all sentient beings.
but...
The coffin board of the coffin in the backyard of Xiao'an Temple suddenly flew away, and an old monk with completely withered skin sat up from it. His eyes were in the direction of Maitreya, and his eyes gradually returned to some sense from the void.
As if he felt the breath coming from the backyard, Maitreya suddenly smiled and walked around the old tree and opened the wooden door of the backyard as if taking a leisurely stroll.
"Have you really come this far?"
Maitreya looked at the old monk sitting in the coffin, frowned slightly and said.
The old monk tilted his head slightly and looked at Maitreya stiffly, as if he was remembering something. After a long time, his voice became hoarse and he spoke like a broken box: "What are you doing here?"
"Come to see you."
With a faint smile on his face, Maitreya bowed slightly and looked very respectful.
"hypocritical..."
The old monk's stiff face had a sarcastic expression, which was quite rare.
"Whether it's hypocritical or sincere."
"But now, this is the best ending."
However, Maitreya was not angry at all and said, "It's just that I didn't expect you to actually take this taboo step."
"if not?"
"Are you waiting to die?"
It seemed that he was gradually waking up, and the old monk's voice gradually became smoother: "Don't I even have the right to live?"
"Of course!"
Maitreya shook his head: "It's just that doing this is against the harmony of nature and is inappropriate."
"Tianhe?"
"What is Tianhe?"
"Lingshan...slaughtered the people...when he was alive, he didn't mention heaven...and peace."
"When you absorb blood...qi, you don't mention Tianhe."
"Now that I'm here, you mention such nonsense...Tianhe, don't you feel disgusted?"
The old monk seemed to suddenly become angry and sat up from the coffin. He exuded a terrifying energy fluctuation and seemed to be on the verge of going berserk at any time.
"For your sake."
"This world has always been about the weak and the strong. This is the law of survival between you and me."
"It is also the law of survival among all living beings."
"I am strong, he is weak."
"Then I can control them at will. The strong will be stronger and the weak will be weaker. Is there anything wrong with this?"
"Who hasn't come from a weak childhood?"
"Becoming someone else's nourishment or slave, you can only say that you are incompetent, and you blame others?"
Maitreya shook his head, the smile on his face slowly disappeared, and he spoke calmly.
"Ah..."
"As expected of you, you can explain everything."
"Future...Buddha...Honored One."
The old monk said mockingly, walked out of the coffin completely, and stood opposite Maitreya.
Following the old monk's movements, the bells in Xiao'an Temple rang wildly. Every rise and fall of the bells would be accompanied by a terrifying energy tide that kept circulating in the temple.
"Future Buddha..."
"After all, it's just the future."
"Everything is not practical and cannot be done accurately."
"And you say I'm hypocritical. What's the difference between you and me back then?"
"It's just that I am the winner and you are the loser, that's all."
"If you were the one who won back then, I might have become a skeleton."
"At least, I let you live and be able to stand in front of me and speak."
"Isn't this enough?"
Maitreya put his hands behind his back. At this moment, he was no longer as kind and low-key as before, but was showing off wantonly, as if he was the real protagonist in this world.
In comparison, even the old monk was somewhat outclassed.
"Then I really want to thank you for your mercy."
"If there's nothing else, please go slowly without seeing me off."
The bell rang again, but the energy in the old monk slowly dissipated. He shook his head a little lonely and wanted to return to the coffin.
