Chapter 385: The Gap Between People

He actually went through with it!

The news reached higher authorities, and the faces of the Heavenly Gate members turned pale, as did those of the Buddhist sect.

Wait—he *actually* killed them?

This wasn’t battle killing—this was something else entirely.

In battle, casualties occur, and while people may be angry, there's nothing to be done—spells are blind.

But now, the other side had already surrendered, and while the higher-ups were breathing down their necks, you still killed them?

"Amitabha! Pure Heart, what the hell are you doing? Didn’t I tell you to instruct the Bright Buddha Temple not to kill?" The Merit Buddha exploded.

Pure Heart Bodhisattva was beyond caring.

"Buddha, this humble monk warned them repeatedly, but Fa Hui refused to listen and charged ahead like a bull."

"If he ignored you, why not replace him?"

"With Heavenly Gate’s captives dead, and Emperor Daohen hasn’t even emerged from seclusion—who will bear the Emperor’s wrath when he does and demands answers?"

Merit Buddha’s face twisted in rage.

What kind of idiots are they? So senseless?

"Fa Hui believed that taking real action would lure out Lu Ye. Lu Ye assumed the Buddhist sect wouldn’t dare kill Heavenly Gate’s people, which is why he acted so brazenly. Now that they’ve actually killed them, he thought Lu Ye would just roll over."

"And? What happened?"

"Did he surrender without a fight?"

Pure Heart’s face soured.

"No..."

"The Bodhisattva’s dead too..."

Hearing this, the Merit Buddha nearly had a stroke.

Now what?

At this moment, even the Merit Buddha felt completely at sea.

The Bright Buddha Temple had lost their damn minds—no, rather, Fa Hui had lost his damn mind.

Like he’d stop just ’cause they said so?

No. Because at this point, Fa Hui had no way out.

Even if he stopped killing Heavenly Gate’s people now, he was dead either way.

They needed a fall guy—though "blame" wasn’t even the word, since he truly was the one responsible.

But the Merit Buddha quickly devised a plan.

"Contact the others in the Fifth Heaven immediately. Capture Fa Hui directly, release Heavenly Gate’s people, and declare that all crimes were committed by Fa Hui, who had fallen into demonic delusion..."

Before he could even finish speaking, a roar of explosions cut him off.

"Damn the Buddhist sect!"

This time, the Heavenly Gate came with vengeance in their hearts, each member seething with grief and rage, their killing intent overwhelming.

You think the Heavenly Gate is a bunch of weaklings?!

You Buddhist bastards actually dared to kill?!

A Buddhist sect with an Emperor whose fate is unknown actually dares to provoke the Heavenly Gate, which has an Emperor in his prime?

You’ve got a death wish!

All hell broke loose.

The Sixth and Seventh Heavens went up in flames, especially since the Heavenly Gate was truly enraged this time, escalating the intensity of the conflict. Casualties piled up the second the fighting started.

The Sixth Heaven quickly contacted those in the Fifth Heaven.

The second Heavenly Gate member died!

Then the third.

Before each death, Lu Ye would hear their final words.

Fa Hui had stopped caring—letting them say whatever they wanted before executing them when the time came.

"Sect Leader, take care of yourself. Our deaths are worth it!"

"Sect Leader, avenge us. In the next life, I’ll still follow you!"

"Sect Leader..."

The monks of the *Bright Buddha Temple* watched in growing shock. Holy shit, since when is the Heavenly Gate this tight-knit?

Even if Lu Ye were to die, not a single one of them complained? How is that possible?

Why is this happening?

What they didn’t realize was, the fallen Heavenly Gate members were thrilled to bits. Someone had already informed them through celestial runes that the *Book of Life and Death* in the Underworld was waiting for them. If they died, the book would preserve their memories and prevent them from reincarnating. They only needed to wait for Lu Ye to ascend to power—he’d personally come to get them.

In this world, only two artifacts possess such a method of guiding true spirits.

One is the *Book of Life and Death*.

The other is the *Heavenly Tome of Reincarnation*.

In other words, though they had fallen now, they would not truly perish. Once Lu Ye grew powerful enough and found them, what huge rewards were in store?

When the Sixth Heaven’s Sect Leader relayed this message through celestial runes, he was practically green with envy.

He outright said, "Why couldn’t it have been me?!"

So now, those who died felt no fear, no psychological burden—because they knew dying was a win. The worse they died, the bigger the payoff.

Hell, the Buddhists were doing them a solid!

Fa Hui’s eyes were bloodshot, not a shred of monk-like calm left—he looked more like a gambler on a losing streak.

The other monks were drowning in despair. Lu Ye wasn’t showing up.

The man’s heart is made of stone! The members of the Heavenly Gate die without resentment, yet he remains utterly unmoved. He has no heart at all!

A monk moved soundlessly toward Fa Hui.

Without warning, he attacked—a golden bracelet flashed toward Fa Hui, splitting into two, then four, then eight, encircling him completely.

Fa Hui’s bloodshot eyes snapped toward the attacker.

"Senior brother, don’t hold it against me. The Pure Heart Bodhisattva ordered me to restrain you temporarily. He said we must stop killing the Heavenly Gate’s members. Now, our fellow Buddhists in the Sixth and Seventh Heavens are being slaughtered. For every Heavenly Gate member who dies, we lose at least a thousand of our own."

"So, please rest."

"Attacking your own abbot—Fa Ming, how dare you! Release me at once!" Fa Hui roared in fury.

"Senior brother, you’ve led Mingfo Temple down the wrong path. We cannot watch you continue down this wrong path!"

"Seize Fa Ming! I’ve done nothing wrong! If I don’t act now, if we don’t eliminate Lu Ye, Mingfo Temple will face nothing but ruin!"

"We have no retreat left—we must press forward!"

"Arrest Fa Ming!"

Yet despite Fa Hui’s furious shouts, not a single Arhat stirred. Their gazes were profoundly conflicted.

It seemed they too had realized—using the lives of the Heavenly Gate’s members to threaten Lu Ye was a strategy doomed to fail.

This path was wrong.

"What’s going on here?" Fa Hui’s eyes gradually cleared as he took in the motionless crowd.

No—what exactly do you all mean?

"Senior brother, this path truly seems mistaken. You must repent and change your ways!"

Even the Arhat who had been loudest about killing the Heavenly Gate’s members now pleaded earnestly.

"Yes, yes! You should turn back. I, too, had misgivings about this approach before. What a pity..."

"Senior brother, this is your mistake. As monks, we must hold compassion in our hearts. Treating fellow practitioners this way is truly wrong. Later, you must apologize."

Fa Hui listened to their self-righteous lecturing.

He recalled how the Heavenly Gate members faced death.

They were innocent casualties, yet they faced their end with such fearlessness.

Now, the Mingfo Temple—after he had followed their counsel down this path—were quick to pin all the blame on him.

The difference between people… could really be this vast.