Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 501-Chapter 600)

Why was kindheartedness grouped with loneliness, turning it into a word of negative connotation?

Li Qingshan rubbed his head. He found it rather painful to understand. This was no longer merely evil, but a complete reversion of right and wrong, as if under their ideology, anyone who did good and made personal sacrifices would be extremely disgraceful and foolish.

He vaguely understood the meaning behind the Demon Suppression hall now. If these people were not suppressed here, every single one of them would be beings of great wickedness outside.

“Didn’t I just save you earlier? Isn’t that taking pleasure in helping others? Doing what’s righteous?”

“No, no, no, definitely not. I can help you lead the way, and I can help you fight. If you’re hungry, you can even eat me. This is all within your calculations. This is definitely not taking pleasure in helping others. You’re very clever and very powerful, a demon among humans of great wickedness and evil!”

Duoge paled in fright as he trembled in fear, justifying himself in a hurry. In the end, he even extended his thumb and gave Li Qingshan the honourable title of a “demon among humans.”

The feeling was like someone asking you, “You think I’m a bitch, an idiot, and a piece of trash?” It was very difficult to not take that as an infuriating threat.

The corner of Li Qingshan’s lips twitched, and he forced out a happy expression. He sucked in a deep breath and raised his head, yelling at the ceiling.

“Release me! I’m completely unqualified to be in this Demon Suppression hall!”

Compared to this child, he felt like he could be considered as a peerless well-doer—oh wait, that was a curse here.

The Unraging Monk laughed aloud, while the Dauntless Monk shook his head. “These demonfolk are as dense as always. They don’t know they should repent and mend their ways. Even this little demonfolk is filled with wickedness.”

“Demonfolk are planted with a demon heart the moment they’re born. Their five skandhas, their five aggregates of clinging, blaze brightly. They have no concept of good and bad, completely inverting right and wrong. Probably only the buddhas of the Western Paradise can lead them to salvation. It’s well beyond what we are capable of. There’s no need to lose your temper over them, senior brother.”

“Junior brother, we might not be able to lead them to salvation, but we can exterminate these nemeses of buddha. We can halt their growth and prevent them from making even more trouble. We can’t view them as humans, or become softhearted because of their age.”

The Dauntless Monk said as he seemed to indirectly warn the Unraging Monk. The Unraging Monk laughed aloud, but he said nothing.

……

Their voices echoed through the long passageways, but there was not a single reply.

Li Qingshan let out a sigh and asked Duoge, “What’s the demonification you speak of?”

“All demonfolk can demonify, just like this!”

Duoge clenched his fists, and his small face became bright red, even letting out straining sounds. In the end, only the colour of his eyes changed slightly, and his body loosened. Eagerness filled his eyes.

“I’m still too young. Once I grow up, I’ll definitely become an extremely powerful Demon King.”

“Demonfolk, Demon King…” Li Qingshan murmured. If he did not consider these strange words and actions, then Duoge behaved no different from regular children. They wanted to be scientists, presidents, and so on.

Li Qingshan patted Duoge’s head and no longer said much more. “Let’s keep going. Are there any stronger opponents here?”

“Venerable, you truly are a brutal and vicious demon among humans. The place we’re going to has a lot of powerful people to kill!” Duoge’s eyes lit up and admiration filled his face.

“I’ve heard my grandfather mention that it actually doesn’t matter even if you’re a human. As long as you have a demon heart, everyone can become demons. You will definitely become a powerful Demon King in the future.”

He was solemnly trying to comfort Li Qingshan. Li Qingshan shook his head with no idea how to respond. He waved his right hand gently, and a rolling cloud rose up, lifting up Duoge as well. Afterwards, he said, “You just have to lead the way. We can get to the place you speak of faster.”



The cloud took off with a swish. Duoge leaned at the front, constantly giving out directions. The cloud shot through the maze-like Demon Suppression hall just like that.

They flew past thousands of cages. Li Qingshan could imagine the past, dignified glory of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga suppressing daemons and demons when this place had been filled with prisoners. After thousands of years of rest and recuperation, the monastery had only grown stronger. If he revealed his identity, he probably would not be able to escape the fate of being suppressed.

“Demonfolk” appeared before them one by one. If they did not block their way, then Li Qingshan ignored them, but if they were bold enough to block their way, Li Qingshan would not be bothered with taking action either. He would just fly right through them.

He could modify the toughness of the cloud he rode on, and it moved with startling speed. Anything that was struck by it would have its bones shattered as blood sprayed into the air. However, with how tough these “demonfolk” were and how powerful their life force was, who knew whether they actually died or not.

The passageway gradually widened, and the twists and forks gradually decreased.

However, more and more “demonfolk” appeared, all of them growing stronger and stronger. Some even wielded weapons like blades, spears, swords, and halberds, and they became even more disfigured too.

The advance of the cloud obviously slowed down too.

Bang! The cloud smashed into a blade-wielding “demonfolk”, and his blade flew into the air.

Duoge leaned out of the cloud, and with a scoop, he caught it. He tossed aside the bone club he had recently obtained and placed the bloody, long blade on his back, but it was even longer than him, so it formed quite a funny sight. However, he was very happy, as innocent as a regular child who had found a beloved toy.

Li Qingshan felt rather sorrowful. He was not a person overflowing with sympathy, but he would always be a little softer towards children. Children were always so feeble and vulnerable, completely bound by their environments. They were unable to fight back if they were abused, and they believed everything that people told them, whether it was true or not. By the time they had grown up and could make decisions for themselves, they would have been twisted beyond all recognition already.

Perhaps I was reminded of my past self!

Li Qingshan exhaled and rubbed Duoge’s head. Duoge’s head shrank back and turned away, cautious and uneasy.

“Don’t worry. As long as you don’t have any ill intentions towards me, I won’t kill you, nor will I eat you. I’m not demonfolk, but a foolish human.”

Duoge tried to say something, but he had no idea what to say!

A pair of huge, gilded doors appeared at the end of the passageway. Over a dozen strangely-shaped demonfolk gathered around it, either sitting or standing on the ground. Between them were two demonfolk fighting desperately as the others on the side cheered on.

“Kill him! Kill him!” At the same time, the others eyed them covetously, ready to feast on the flesh of the loser. When they saw the cloud approach, they all looked over. Only the two demonfolk in the centre continued to brawl with one another furiously, tearing at each other's bodies viciously with their sharp teeth like two rabid fighting dogs.