Cursing a few more times won’t make me any lighter, so let it be. However, after finishing a mantou, Zhang Liang actually found a topic to talk about,
" what are you planning to do with that green bird?"
Feasting on instant noodles, Ye Tian was internally cursing, ’None of your damn business!’ But due to the face of this Sixth Group leader, the displeasure in his heart couldn’t erupt.
"What can I do, just let it be. It’s not like I can kill the little birdie just for a bead. Besides, it originally belonged to it. All things have a spirit, and since the bead has chosen its master, naturally I should follow its will. What do you think?"
" The object belongs to the nation, not to a bird."
"Then go get it if you can." Ye Tian retorted disdainfully, he didn’t have much regard for this guy anyway, given that he didn’t make a move during the fight with the Black-armored Master that night.
"I’m just here to remind you that the bird isn’t yours, don’t get too entangled in this matter, or in too deep."
Zhang Liang, who was eating mantou with his head down, had a bit of a cold air to him, but in Ye Tian’s eyes, this guy was just lonely from spending too much time in the deep mountains.
"And what right do you have to remind me, my dear Group Leader Zhang?"
"This food is delicious, the Monk is full."
Seeing the situation turning sour, the big Monk didn’t try to mediate, instead, he put his palms together and scurried away.
In the freshly paved courtyard, only Ye Tian and Zhang Liang remained, along with a pile of bamboo that had been soaked by the rain and was now sturdy.
Having finished two mantous, Zhang Liang spied a few remaining crumbs on the stone table and carefully picked them up with his fingers and chewed them slowly, as if savoring some exotic delicacy.
Dressed in worn-out camouflage clothes covered with splashed mud, he looked every bit like a construction worker. Apart from his face which still bore a resolute look, there was nothing otherwise special about him. If he were to be thrown into a crowd, he wouldn’t draw an extra glance.
Truly a natural-born concealer, no wonder he had been sent to the depths of the mountains.
Zhang Liang seemed quite satisfied with his meal and stood up, staring straight at Ye Tian, "National interests come first, I hope you understand."
"What’s mine is mine, nothing else to discuss."
Zhang Liang’s eyes narrowed, the Qi Flow around him surged momentarily, taking Ye Tian by surprise as he found himself unable to move his limbs and could only watch as Zhang Liang walked around the stone table that lay between them, approaching step by firm step.
Finally coming face to face with Ye Tian.
Ye Tian’s mouth twitched, "Group Leader Zhang, just because I called you ’leader’, do you really think I’m afraid of you?"
A golden light burst forth from under Ye Tian’s feet, a lotus of golden light blooming. Zhang Liang’s eyebrows were tightly knit, but there was no sign of him rapidly retreating. Instead, with a few sways of his figure, he retreated outside the range of the rice, standing in front of the west wing, right behind was Ye Tian’s room, which used to belong to the little monk.
"Angry Buddha’s Golden Lotus, truly a force to be reckoned with."
Bodhisattvas can bow their heads in humility, and Buddha can glare with vajra wrath. Both are embodiments of immense compassion, yet represent two starkly different methods.
Ye Tian couldn’t play the role of a great philanthropist; he could only assume the fierce countenance of a Vajra.
"I am but a commoner, yet why does someone relentlessly press me step by step? Group Leader Zhang, I am unaware of how significant the national interests you speak of really are."
"To dedicate oneself fully, serving the country and the people."
No sooner had his words fallen than a gentle surge of Gang Qi radiated out from beneath Zhang Liang’s feet, spreading throughout the courtyard. The rolling Gang Qi layered like waves, causing the dust on the ground not to settle, but to float in the air like feathers. In an instant, the entire space was enveloped by these particles of dust, and it seemed this was just the beginning. The next to be affected were the laid stone slabs, originally fine imperial stone now undulating like the waves of the sea, soft and relentless in their motion. Each wave surge was a pound of Gang Qi directed towards Ye Tian at the far end.
The Angry Buddha’s Golden Lotus beneath his feet was but a mirage protecting from external aggression. Yet, such tsunamilike tumultuous waves posed by Zhang Liang were unprecedented to Ye Tian. With just the initial wave, eighty-one Buddha lotus petals had already shattered into five or six pieces, turning into gold dust that dissipated in the air and drifted along with the floating dust.
Quickly followed the second wave, shattering most of the stone slabs, which seemed unable to withstand the intense Qi flow emanating from Zhang Liang’s body. The destruction was severe, and Ye Tian shuddered at the thought that after the fight, days of hard labor would be inevitable.
The Angry Buddha’s Golden Lotus shattered another ten or more petals.
The few dozen petals that remained were all destroyed under Zhang Liang’s final strike, along with all the courtyard’s stone slabs, which from initially spiderweb-cracked turned into irretrievable dust.
"Earth Splitting Ten Strikes, with three remaining, how will you take them?"
Seeing the crushed Buddha lotus beneath Ye Tian’s feet, Zhang Liang asked impassively. Indeed, he too was far from unscathed, as the tattered state of his clothes clearly showed.
Ye Tian chuckled, "At least my clothes are faring a bit better than yours."
"If you can think so, then that’s for the best."
With the fourth strike, a tumultuous wave surged along the ground, and four illusory Earth Dragons rushed from four different directions. The era was engulfed; the earth quaked, stone slabs were flung into the sky – no Buddha or deity could stand in their way!
Zhang Liang’s expression remained unfazed, neither cold nor warm, without joy or sorrow, impossible to measure.
The four Earth Dragons reached Ye Tian’s feet without obstruction, then leapt up, about to collide with him. But just as they were completely airborne, Ye Tian’s mouth quirked, and slowly, he lifted his right foot, pressing it gently onto the ground.
The four leaping Earth Dragons shattered to dust, along with the stone slabs and dust raised by the waves, and the piles of bamboo accumulated in the corner – all settled without a sound upon touching the ground.
"One foot stabilizes the heavens and the earth."
With a smile and narrowed eyes, Ye Tian said, "I dare not claim such, Group Leader Zhang. Your narrowed eyes herald death, and my foot can at most be considered overreaching—hardly worthy of the phrase ’stabilizing the heavens and the earth.’ Besides, what do the heavens and earth have to do with me? Whatever it becomes, what concern is it of mine?"