Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 466 Why should I take the lead?

Xiao Yi laughed heartily, a very hearty laugh.

After he finished laughing, he looked at Lin Chen with a frank gaze:

"If any girl from Kunlun Region can be abducted by Prince Lin, that would be their good fortune."

Lin Chen glanced at Xiao Yi but didn't reply.

That old fox is completely unyielding.

He can handle anything you say, and he handles it in a way that leaves you speechless.

Qingyangzi sat quietly the whole time.

He held a cup of tea, neither drinking nor putting it down, just holding it there.

At this moment, someone suddenly spoke up, bringing the topic back to the present:

"Young Master Lin, whatever is in that crack will come over sooner or later, and when that happens, no one will be able to escape unscathed."

Lin Chen smiled calmly: "I know."

"What are your plans, young master?"

"Let's wait until they get here," Lin Chen shrugged casually. "They're not here yet, what's the rush?"

Qingyangzi paused for a moment, then nodded. "Young Master Lin is right."

After saying that, he fell silent again.

Lin Chen glanced at him again.

This person is a sensible person, and a sensible person who can remain calm and composed.

Jian Shisan didn't say a word from beginning to end.

He sat there holding his sword, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

After Qingyangzi finished speaking, he suddenly moved.

He walked up to Lin Chen and stopped.

Neither of them spoke.

Lin Chen looked at him, and he looked at Lin Chen.

They stared at each other for three seconds, the atmosphere becoming subtly quiet.

Yao Yao was so nervous behind her that she didn't dare to breathe, her hands gripping Ling Bo's sleeve until her knuckles turned white.

Then Jian Shisan nodded, turned and left without saying a word from beginning to end.

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes. Jian Shisan had just been testing him with his sword heart, but Lin Chen hadn't reacted at all.

He got what he wanted to know and realized that Lin Chen was unfathomable, so he left immediately.

The Void Master was the last to speak.

He twirled his prayer beads, his voice calm and unhurried, each word uttered slowly and deliberately.

"Benefactor Lin, I am Xukong, the abbot of the Arhat Hall on Mount Sumeru."

Lin Chen nodded slightly: "Master."

"This humble monk has come here not to test me, nor to make friends."

Master Xukong looked at Lin Chen with a calm gaze, as calm as a still pond: "Just to confirm one thing."

"What is it?"

"Is the benefactor that 'life force'?"

The private room fell completely silent.

Xiao Yi's hand holding the teacup stopped in mid-air, the teacup only three centimeters away from his lips, but he just wouldn't put it down.

Xu Tian stopped laughing; the smile on his face seemed to have been blown away by the wind.

Qingyangzi put down the cup in his hand very gently, but in this quiet environment, the "click" sound seemed particularly loud.

Even Jian Shisan, who had just reached the door, stopped in his tracks.

All eyes were on Lin Chen.

Lin Chen leaned back in his chair, stared at Master Void for three seconds, and then chuckled:

"Master, I have a question for you."

"Please ask, benefactor."

"Why is your Mount Sumeru closed?"

Master Xukong stopped twirling his prayer beads, remaining still for a full two seconds before resuming his movements.

His voice was still steady when he spoke, but his pace quickened slightly: "Heaven and earth are ruthless, but Buddha saves those with affinity."

Lin Chen laughed again, this time even louder, so loud that everyone in the room could hear what he was laughing about.

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft when he spoke, but every word was barbed.

"The external passage hasn't even been opened yet, and you've already sealed off the mountain."

Heaven and earth are heartless? Ha! How are heaven and earth heartless? What heartless things have they done to you?

Master Void remained silent.

"Buddha saves those who are destined to be saved; those who are not destined to be saved are not saved."

Were those ordinary people destined to be apart or destined to be together? When you closed the mountain, did you think of them?

Master Xukong stopped twirling his prayer beads.

Seeing that the old monk could still tolerate it, Lin Chen continued to mock him:

"Don't you preach every day that you can save all sentient beings and that Buddhism is boundless?"

Now that the passage to the outer realms is about to open, and a great calamity is imminent, why doesn't your Buddha make an appearance or show his power? Or is your Buddha a fake?

Lin Chen's voice wasn't loud, but the air in the room seemed to have been sucked out.

Master Xukong's hands, which were holding prayer beads, began to tremble slightly.

He has lived for over two thousand years, seen countless people, and heard countless words.

I've been criticized, praised, hated, and respected.

But no one has ever dared to stand in front of him like this, pointing their finger at him and cursing him—"You Buddha are deceiving the world and stealing fame?"

The Void Master's aura fluctuated for a moment.

It was a very brief moment, but Lin Chen sensed it.

It was an extremely rapid emotional rollercoaster—anger, humiliation, and the feeling of being hit where it hurts, like a volcano about to erupt.

The void around the Void Master began to fluctuate violently.

But the Void Master quickly suppressed that fluctuation.

It relies on two thousand years of cultivation, two thousand years of chanting, two thousand years of "letting go," and—fear.

Because he dared not, he couldn't see through Lin Chen's cultivation level.

He couldn't sense any spiritual energy fluctuations from Lin Chen, just like he was facing an ordinary person.

But the Buddha pointed out that the person in front of him was the source of "life"—the Buddha was not wrong.

Master Void hesitated for half a second between being angry and not being angry, and then he chose not to be angry.

It wasn't because he was generous; it was because he couldn't afford to gamble.

Lin Chen chuckled inwardly as he watched Master Void swallow his anger.

He's really good at enduring things; no wonder he's an old monk who's been chanting scriptures for two thousand years.

The Void Master's voice was a little strained, but ultimately remained steady:

"This humble monk has come not to argue, nor to preach."

Master Void raised his head, his gaze more clouded than before, as he tried to remain calm.

But Lin Chen's words were like a knife, cutting a gash in his two thousand years of cultivation. The wound wasn't deep, but it hurt.

"This humble monk merely wishes to confirm whether that 'life force' has already appeared."

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes and smiled disdainfully:

"Master, I don't know what 'vitality' is."

"Even if I were, I wouldn't care. If the sky falls, why should I be the one to hold it up?"

I have a wife and children, a family and a career. Why should I risk my life for the sake of all living beings?

Master Void opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Lin Chen stared into Master Void's eyes and said, word by word:

"I must remember what you said on Mount Sumeru—Buddha saves those with affinity."

You only help those who are destined to be helped, and I, Lin Chen, only protect my own people.

As for the common people and the world, what do they have to do with me!

Lin Chen paused, his voice turning deep:

"If fate is truly unchangeable, if that day truly comes, if your Mount Sumeru continues to remain closed off and hidden... Master, let me be clear beforehand, this glimmer of hope will absolutely not come true on Mount Sumeru."

Master Void's pupils contracted sharply. He stared at Lin Chen, his lips moved, and his voice was somewhat hoarse:

"Are you threatening my Mount Sumeru, benefactor?"

Lin Chen looked at him without saying anything.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Master Xukong looked away first. He lowered his head and looked at the string of prayer beads in his hand that he had twirled countless times. He remained silent for a long time.

No one spoke in the private room; even their breathing was deliberately suppressed.

Then Master Xukong stood up, put his hands together in prayer, and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "Amitabha."

He didn't say anything more, turned around and left.

His grey robes fluttered as he walked with composure, but his steps were not as light as when he arrived.

Lin Chen watched his retreating figure, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

They've been chanting scriptures for two thousand years, yet they still can't understand them, and they don't even know what they're cultivating.

Xiao Yi put down the cup of tea he had been holding for a while, got up and said goodbye.

Xu Tian and Qingyangzi also bowed and took their leave.

As for Jian Shisan, he had already disappeared outside the door.

After the five people left, only Lin Chen and his men remained in the private room. Yao Yao then loosened Ling Bo's sleeve and let out a long breath.

Lingbo glanced down at her crumpled sleeves and smoothed them out expressionlessly.

Lan Fenghuang glanced at Lin Chen: "Weren't you afraid of offending people with what you just said?"

Lin Chen picked up his teacup and took a sip:

"So what if I offended you? I was just telling the truth. Why should I take the blame?"