Returning to the dilapidated thatched hut that served as their temporary shelter, Cang Yaochen placed the unconscious Jiang Li gently onto the crude wooden pallet. The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows across her face, which remained as pale and fragile as parchment.
He sat by the bedside, his eyes—once capable of piercing through ten thousand cycles of reincarnation—now clouded with a turbulent mix of self-reproach and complexity. He reached out, his touch feather-light as he wiped the lingering blood from her fingertips. It was the evidence he had personally buried using the Calamity Ash, a desperate act of sacrilege to shield her from the karmic backlash. He couldn't fathom why, ever since he sensed that ethereal, haunting familiarity within her soul, he found himself repeatedly compromising his Buddha-nature just to deliver her from ruin.
[Ding! Warning: Host's Karmic Deviation is rising.] [System Insight: Continued interference with cause and effect will force the "True Buddha" persona into a dormant state. Recommendation: Distance yourself from the variable, Jiang Li.]
Cang Yaochen ignored the mechanical screeching of the system. He remained a silent sentinel through the night, using his pure Buddha-light to suppress the violent, chaotic ripples surging within Jiang Li's body.
However, the fleeting peace was shattered at dawn by the shrill whistle of a sword. Lin Yuan, his expression as dark as a storm cloud, kicked open the door followed by several disciples from the Hall of Discipline.
"Monk Cang," Lin Yuan began, his voice hard and uncompromising. "The Sect has ruled Zhao Hu's death an accident. But this girl... she made a Saint Beast submit, and she reeks of Turbid Qi. She is an anomaly, and she can no longer remain with you."
He stepped forward, his aura flaring to block any path of retreat. "By order of the Elders, she is to be relocated to the Beggar's Pavilion on the North Mountain. It is far from the Inner Sect, shielded by the Elders' formations. It will ensure she no longer disturbs the Sect's tranquility."
Cang Yaochen rose to intercept him, but Lin Yuan was faster, cutting him off. "As for you, Monk... the purity of your aura is uniquely suited for mending the Life-Wheels. You will accompany me to the Hall of Void. It's closer to my quarters, and I shall personally... 'oversee' your duties."
It was a blatant move to isolate them. Lin Yuan was tearing them apart, scattering them across the Sect's vast grounds to break them individually. Cang Yaochen took a slow, deep breath. He could still feel the faint resonance of the Blood Lotus he had planted within Jiang Li, and the Beggar's Pavilion did indeed hold the aura of an Elder—perhaps she would be safer there for now.
To prevent his Buddha-nature from collapsing entirely in a fit of rage, he eventually lowered his gaze, his silence a reluctant concession to this forced separation.
[New Task Triggered: The Shadow Mender.] [Task Description: Enter the Hall of Void and repair three damaged "Vessels of Law."] [Reward: Unlock 0.05% of the "Eros-God" Divine Seal. Failure: Immediate exposure of the "World Virus" identity.]
For the first two days after the relocation, Cang Yaochen was not permitted to enter the inner sanctum of the Hall of Void. Lin Yuan kept him under a form of gilded house arrest, but the monk's mind was elsewhere, tethered to the North Mountain by a thread of golden blood.
When he was finally led into the depths of the Hall of Void, the sight that greeted him was a chilling testament to the world's decay. Rows of crystalline pillars stood like silent gravestones, each encasing a fractured Life-Wheel that pulsed with a dying, rhythmic light. These were the "Vessels" he was to mend—remnants of disciples whose essence had been harvested by the Stripping Sequence.
Cang Yaochen stood before the first pillar, his hand trembling slightly as he felt the agonizing screams embedded within the shattered Life-Wheel. To mend them was to prolong their torment; to refuse was to trigger his own destruction.
In the shadows, Lin Yuan watched him with a predator's patience. But what Lin Yuan didn't see was the golden light in Cang Yaochen's eyes beginning to bleed into a faint, obsessive crimson.
The "True Buddha" was mending the wheels, but the "Eros-God" was already weaving a web of illusions that would soon turn this hall of void into a sanctuary of nightmares.