Not everyone in Haomun can understand what I’m saying. In some ways, the White-Robed Scholar might actually understand me better. And when it comes to how I feel about Haomun, the Beggars’ Sect Leader would probably understand me best.
So just because someone belongs to Haomun doesn’t mean they truly understand me.
Likewise, I couldn’t properly understand what the Crazy Monk said to me in my past life. Maybe he held back from trying to beat me to death like other Jianghu bastards at least ten times a day.
The Crazy Monk, dragging me around with him, seemed to constantly wrestle with the identity crisis between being a peaceful martial monk and a vengeance-consumed defrocked monk.
That’s probably why he became someone who was neither a monk nor a defrocked one—just the Crazy Monk.
We stared for a long time at the fierce flames rising from the burning corpses. Beside us, the disciple of the Crazy Monk—my martial uncle Dong-su—was chanting Buddhist sutras, praying for the souls of the dead to find peace in paradise. And since none of us were deaf, we all heard it.
Normally, sutras mention Avalokiteshvara or Amitabha, but Dong-su was mumbling some weird names in odd pronunciations that were hard to make out.
When he finished chanting, I asked him:
“...Who the hell is Azarananta?”
Dong-su looked at me.
“He is the Immovable Wisdom King.”
Hearing the name Immovable Wisdom King made me think of the Crazy Monk.
Even the flames swirling around the corpses resembled the Crazy Monk’s martial arts.
The Crazy Monk mostly used techniques similar to the flame arts of the Golden Nine Free-Wandering Manual, and according to him, it was something he called Feral Flame. In old temples, you occasionally see statues or paintings of the Immovable Wisdom King, and he’s usually surrounded by flames.
That must be Feral Flame.
Maybe that’s why the Immovable Wisdom King always comes to mind whenever I think of the Crazy Monk.
Originally, the Immovable Wisdom King wasn’t a deity associated with mercy.
I don’t know exactly what kind of figure he is in Buddhism, but just judging from how he’s depicted, he looks like an embodiment of rage. He holds a sword and whip and looks like he’s going to beat everything to death. I don’t know if these religious figures ever actually existed, but one thing’s certain: the Immovable Wisdom King was a martial master suffering from rage disorder. The fact that even a Buddhist Wisdom King can’t escape rage disorder shows how terrifying it is.
“What kind of being is the Immovable Wisdom King? He seems pretty far removed from your peaceful mindset, baldy. Isn’t he the guy who beats the crap out of evil spirits?”