Meeting

Xiniu Hezhou, Wanzhou Ridge.

Runan pinched a Nirvana Sarira in his hand, his gaze fixed directly on Huang Miao, who was standing in the air.

In the past, Huang Miao had intercepted someone at the Pudu River; now, he was intercepting Huang Miao at Wanzhou Ridge. This could be considered a cycle of karma.

Runan looked at Huang Miao's leisurely expression and just stood silently in the distance, not taking any hasty actions.

This was not difficult to understand.

The Bright Buddha was, after all, a member of the Buddhist sect. The internal slaughter of the Buddhist sect had nothing to do with Huang Miao. Right now, he was purely here to disgust people.

Or rather, given Huang Miao's temperament, just coming here to stand was already giving Chu Xingchen enough face.

Runan also did not speak. His eyes half-narrowed, he sat within the golden lotus canopy, quietly waiting for time to pass.

Huang Miao was resting with his eyes closed when suddenly, his eyes opened. A streak of light arrived at extreme speed from the horizon, and he raised his hand to summon it.

Runan looked over with a vigilant gaze.

He saw a smile emerge on Huang Miao's face. Looking at Runan, Huang Miao finally spoke:

"Junior, the level of incompetence in your Buddhist sect has once again broken through my imagination."

Runan remained silent, looking at Huang Miao with a gaze as calm as water.

Huang Miao raised his hand, pushing the message token in his hand toward Runan, and chuckled lightly:

"Today, I'll give you a piece of news for free, just to let you know how good I, Huang, am to juniors."

Runan looked at the mocking Huang Miao and the slowly drifting message token. Without much hesitation, he raised his hand and summoned the token into his grasp.

Not daring to look would instead mean falling into a disadvantage. Moreover, why not look at free intelligence?

Runan gently pinched the message token and sent his spiritual energy into it. He quickly saw the contents of the message.

"The Bright Buddha has been retrieved from Xiniu Hezhou. The mission is over, Senior may return."

"If you meet the Honored Buddha Runan, you may inform him that the Bright Buddha is waiting quietly for Runan at the Huazhen Hall to sort out past mistakes."

Runan's expression remained calm. The news Huang Miao gave could only be read, but it was impossible to believe it.

With a mocking expression, Huang Miao glanced twice at Honored Buddha Runan. The next moment, he turned and left without hesitation, leaving only the Buddhist personnel there.

Watching Huang Miao leave without any hesitation, Runan put away the message token in his hand. He glanced sideways at the Arhat beside him and said:

"Go and ask whether the Evil Buddha has been captured. If not, ask if he has escaped."

The Arhat beside him respectfully bowed and complied.

Runan waited calmly for a moment. The Arhat beside him spoke softly:

"Honored Buddha, the Evil Buddha has not yet been captured. As for escaping, the report says he probably hasn't and that they are still searching."

Runan looked sideways at him:

"Probably hasn't? It was previously reported that Chu Xingchen was within the encirclement. Now, Huang Miao has left so confidently, even saying that they would sort out mistakes with me at Huazhen Hall."

The Arhat bowed his head and asked softly:

"Should I ask the Buddhas to reply in detail?"

Runan's gaze followed Huang Miao's departing figure as he said:

"I will personally go back to take a look. All the Buddhas present should stay here for now, lest Huang Miao play any little tricks."

The Arhat cupped his hands, acknowledging the command.

Runan's luxurious canopy remained motionless, staying in place, but the golden curtains hung down, concealing the canopy.

Buddha Wenliu's divine sense swept past, his face grave and solemn.

The Evil Buddha was fully prepared and had attempted to escape by taking a detour. After being discovered, he used his long-prepared measures to hide himself once again.

Originally, this was no big deal.

After all, the encirclement was still shrinking, and there were not many places left for the Evil Buddha to hide.

But with a letter arriving from Honored Buddha Runan...

Wenliu looked at True Buddha Hua Wu, who had regrouped with them. He said nothing, but his eyes were full of suspicion.

Golden Armor followed his gaze and also looked at True Buddha Hua Wu, then asked:

"There are very few places where the Evil Buddha could flee, and there is only one direction he could escape."

True Buddha Hua Wu's expression was calm. "Are you trying to say that I let the Evil Buddha go?"

"At that time, you were the only one alone!" Golden Armor stated decisively.

True Buddha Hua Wu scoffed:

"When you came to reinforce, did you see with your own eyes that the Evil Buddha was his true self?"

"Naturally, I could confirm it."

"You and Wenliu rushed from my direction to reinforce, so do you think the direction the Evil Buddha escaped would be towards me?" True Buddha Hua Wu's tone was equally unceremonious.

"If we go by your logic, could it be that you harbored selfish motives and deliberately let the Evil Buddha go?"

"Five people couldn't catch him, yet you want to blame it on me alone?"

"Your cultivation base is extremely loose, and when things happen, you only know how to shirk responsibility."

Hearing this, anger rose in Buddha Golden Armor's heart, and he glared fiercely at True Buddha Hua Wu.

True Buddha Hua Wu's gaze narrowed, and he met his eyes without showing any weakness. His heavy Tribulation Transcendence aura pressed down, and in just a moment, Buddha Golden Armor's gaze instantly calmed down.

True Buddha Hua Wu rarely returned to the Great Thunderclap Temple, and most of the Karma Buddhas in the Great Thunderclap Temple no longer managed affairs.

Apart from Runan, the Mortal Buddhas actually managed most of the affairs of the Buddhist sect.

The Karma Buddhas in the Great Thunderclap Temple basically never had any disputes with the Mortal Buddhas, or rather, the Karma Buddhas would make extra concessions.

Over time, Buddha Golden Armor would sometimes forget...

This group of Karma Buddhas was truly exceptionally capable of fighting.

As soon as that extremely profound aura, which seemed like heaven and man were one, was revealed...

Buddha Golden Armor remembered that the Karma Buddhas made concessions not because they couldn't win, instantly bringing him back to his senses.

Seeing this, Buddha Wenliu hurriedly spoke:

"The matter has not yet been finalized. It is hard to say that this isn't Chu Xingchen's diversionary tactic."

True Buddha Hua Wu withdrew his aura and cast a disdainful glance at Buddha Golden Armor, then looked towards the east.

Buddha Wenliu looked over in confusion, only understanding the situation after waiting for a moment longer.

The Buddhas present also waited quietly.

Runan's figure arrived at extreme speed. His gaze swept over the waiting Buddhas. He did not offer any greetings but directly asked:

"Is there absolutely no trace of the Evil Buddha at this moment?"

Wenliu stepped forward and replied, "There is, but it is difficult to pinpoint and track him. His concealment seems to be much stronger than before, and we don't know what methods he used."

Runan then asked, "Then do you think what Chu Xingchen said is true or false?"

Wenliu replied again, "At least I feel that this Evil Buddha has not yet escaped. Chu Xingchen is full of tricks, so we should guard against this being a ploy."

Runan nodded gently, looked at True Buddha Hua Wu, and asked softly:

"Hua Wu, what do you think we should do right now?"

True Buddha Hua Wu did not think much and directly said:

"Naturally, the encirclement here remains unchanged. Chu Xingchen dares to send an invitation; whether it is true or false, we will know once we see it."

Runan looked at True Buddha Hua Wu and waited for a moment before asking:

"What if the Evil Buddha has truly escaped?"

True Buddha Hua Wu looked at Runan and chuckled lightly:

"We are the orthodox Buddhist sect; why should we fear crooked ways and heretical doctrines?"

Looking at True Buddha Hua Wu's expression, Runan naturally understood that these words carried a mocking tone towards himself.

If it was really as Hua Wu said, wouldn't their current pursuit be a joke?

Seeing this, Buddha Wenliu quickly chimed in:

"Why don't we discuss it after meeting him?"

Runan nodded gently:

"Tomorrow, both you and Hua Wu will come with me."

Wenliu bowed and agreed.

Hua Wu merely nodded gently, without saying a word.