Starting with You, the Village Head

When Yuan Kong stepped out of the tavern again, no matter how loud the noises behind him were, he didn’t dare to look back.

After all…

Over there, dismembered limbs, heads, brains, and blood were scattered across the ground.

Not a single person remained standing to answer any questions.

Even the hell described in Buddhist scriptures couldn’t compare to this.

At this moment, Yuan Kong only felt his stomach churning. The world outside the temple was truly perilous, and he had been far too naive.

And to think he had actually stood there, watching as Chu Xingchen, with a relaxed smile, tore that group of people limb from limb—

All just to confirm a piece of information.

Though Chu Xingchen was bad enough, that ethereal maiden beside him had been far more ruthless in her methods…

Right now, Yuan Kong couldn’t help but feel as though he’d stumbled down the wrong path.

It was as if he’d been led astray by two demonic cultivators, dragged into their wicked deeds.

Chu Xingchen glanced at Yuan Kong’s pale expression and lightly patted his small shoulder.

"Smile a little. Didn’t we just obtain crucial information?"

Yuan Kong turned to him and forced out a painfully awkward grin.

Chu Xingchen frowned in disgust. "Your smile is even uglier than my second disciple’s. Better not force it."

Li Yingling couldn’t hold back a laugh at that.

Chu Xingchen’s divine sense swept across the entire village, but he found no trace of the so-called village chief’s house that the tavern owner and waiters had mentioned. In his perception, the village was nothing but ruins, with no intact buildings left—let alone anything grand.

Everything had collapsed.

They’d have to rely on Yuan Kong to lead the way.

The crumbling earthen houses Chu Xingchen saw were, in Yuan Kong’s eyes, pristine and new.

The village wasn’t large, and with a fixed direction in mind, Yuan Kong quickly guided Chu Xingchen and Li Yingling to a pile of rubble.

Li Yingling’s gaze fell upon a white-haired old man in burial robes, his head bowed as he stared at his own feet, seated atop a tattered red coffin.

The three of them halted.

All eyes turned to the village chief.

Chu Xingchen’s system couldn’t generate entries for these people—likely because they weren’t truly alive anymore.

"You’re the village chief?" Chu Xingchen studied him for a moment. "Are you the one in charge here?"

The old man lifted his head, his murky eyes settling on the trio before locking onto Yuan Kong.

His voice was thick and hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken in a long time:

"Buddha… Buddha’s Child?"

Yuan Kong translated, "He said ‘Buddha’s Child.’"

The village chief let out a bitter laugh and dropped his gaze back to his feet.

"You’re too late… Everything is already gone. Just leave."

Just as Yuan Kong was about to translate again, Chu Xingchen raised a hand to stop him.

"What do you mean by ‘too late’?" Chu Xingchen asked.

"As you can see, goodness is but a fleeting illusion, while wickedness covers the land." The village chief’s laugh was self-mocking. "The Bodhisattva Jialan lost. Human nature is inherently evil…"

Seeing how easily Chu Xingchen communicated with the chief, Yuan Kong realized this man was different from the other villagers.

"So?" Chu Xingchen pressed. "Has everything here already been taken?"

"You… aren’t here to save this world?" The chief looked up in surprise at Yuan Kong. "This Buddha’s Child—isn’t he here to deliver salvation?"

Yuan Kong’s face flushed with embarrassment. After a conflicted pause, he answered honestly:

"I’m here to find the Buddha’s Heart."

The chief nodded in understanding, then loosened his burial robes to reveal his chest.

A pitch-black heart pulsed within, its glow piercing through his withered skin with each beat.

"This is the Bodhisattva Jialan’s Buddha’s Heart… Take it if you wish."

Yuan Kong stared blankly at the heart. It didn’t look like something that could prolong life at all.

If the abbot used this, wouldn’t it just kill him faster?

With Yuan Kong’s objective seemingly fulfilled, Chu Xingchen moved on to his own purpose for coming here:

"Where are the Bodhisattva Jialan’s artifacts or treasures stored?"

The chief pointed without hesitation toward a distant, illusory mountain.

"Mount Ten-Thousand Zhang. The Buddha’s Child may reach it. But if you wish to take the treasures, you must go there first. Once the Buddha’s Heart is taken, this realm will collapse."

The chief’s cooperative attitude caught Chu Xingchen off guard. But judging by the man’s earnest expression… he probably wasn’t lying.

Then again, even if he was, so what? At worst, they’d abandon everything and force their way out.

Having made up his mind, Chu Xingchen turned to Yuan Kong.

"Wait—" Yuan Kong hurriedly asked, "Was the Buddha’s Heart always this color?"

The chief’s dull eyes sharpened slightly as he scrutinized Yuan Kong, then softened with something akin to pity.

Clearly, the question had earned the young monk some disdain.

Ignoring the look, Yuan Kong pressed on—this was his only chance.

"How can it be restored?"

The chief sighed. "When the world they see becomes the same as the one you see, it will be restored."

Yuan Kong glanced uncertainly at Chu Xingchen.

"What… does the world look like to you right now?"

Li Yingling swept her gaze around and answered:

"A wasteland of ruins, littered with bones. A few long-dead corpses wander the streets aimlessly."

Yuan Kong felt his vision darken.

Ruins could be rebuilt. Bones could be buried. But how the hell were they supposed to bring wandering corpses back to life?

No wonder the chief had looked at him like that.

With things in such a state, the man had probably given up all hope long ago.

He’d likely already resigned himself to one thought: Enough. Let it all end.

Helpless, Yuan Kong could only turn his pleading eyes to Chu Xingchen, hoping the formidable man had some solution.

Faced with that pitiful gaze, Chu Xingchen sighed and asked the chief:

"Is this realm governed by the mind?"

The chief’s eyes widened slightly. Compared to this so-called Buddha’s Child, the handsome young man before him seemed far more perceptive.

He nodded slowly. "The inner landscape is born of the heart—of course it is. But you exist in the outer world. How can you interfere with the inner?"

Chu Xingchen replied calmly:

"I’ll ask you this—if the Buddha’s Heart changes, will you still be willing to part with it?"

The chief smiled faintly and nodded again.

Well, it seemed Yuan Kong had effectively hired him for this task.

Chu Xingchen decided to set expectations first:

"Yuan Kong, no one can guarantee success here. I’ll try, but if it fails…"

Yuan Kong immediately clasped his hands in a reverent bow. "The responsibility is mine alone. I will go to Mount Ten-Thousand Zhang regardless."

Satisfied, Chu Xingchen turned back to the chief.

"Stop staring. You bear at least eighty percent of the blame for this realm’s ruin. Right now, we’re short on translators—so you’re coming with us."

The chief considered it. The world was already in shambles—how much worse could it get?

Besides, this confident young man might actually have a way. At this point, what harm was there in trusting him?

It couldn’t possibly get any worse.

"Very well…" the chief agreed.

Back in the tavern where heaven and earth had been overturned…

Chu Xingchen stood atop a rotting skull, seated on a coffin impaled by a spirit sword, his gaze fierce as he watched the tavern owner piecing together corpses.

"From now on! I'm the one who calls the shots here! Everything—from eating to shitting—falls under my rule! If I don’t say you can shit, you’d better hold it in till you burst before daring to let out so much as a fart!"

The village chief stared at Chu Xingchen with a dazed expression.

Chu Xingchen turned his piercing eyes toward the chief and barked:

"What are you looking at? You’re first, starting with you, Chief!"