A blood-stained hand adjusted the bodycam, pointing it at Jinglong who no longer looked human.
"Come on, present your courtroom testimony!!"
Things happened quickly, and people died just as fast.
The Purple Cloud Temple abbot and Golden Dragon Temple abbot, who had been arrogantly boasting just moments earlier, were now one dead and one severely injured.
Such a powerful impact left many people unable to comprehend Lu Ding's meaning at first.
Courtroom testimony.
This was testimony given in court.
First came the arrest, now came the trial, and immediately following would be the execution!!!
If things hadn't happened, everyone could have remained peaceful.
But now that things had happened, Lu Ding would press him down until death!!As the old saying goes, if you don't kill the snake completely, endless troubles will follow.
Lu Ding particularly loved listening to old sayings.
Jinglong, with half his face shattered, was firmly pinned to the ground. Though he had lost his mouth, he was still at the Heavenly Perception realm and could speak without one.
His exposed trachea and esophagus continuously sprayed black blood as he gasped out: "Lu... Lu Ding, we... we don't need to go this far. Even if you... kill me, you still can't save Wutian..."
"The Demon Suppression Cave... can only be entered, not exited... This... this is our Buddhist internal matter. If you... stop now, I can give you whatever you want..."
Lu Ding glanced up toward the Demon Suppression Cave's location.
How many places in this world truly allow entry but not exit?
Enough with this bullshit - he refused to believe such superstitions.
Noticing his gaze, Jinglong continued struggling for survival.
"I... I know you've entered restriction arrays at Whaleguard Island that can withstand Heavenly Perception cultivators..."
"But what our Buddhist predecessors left behind... isn't some inferior product used by Tai Island people... If you... release me... we can discuss this together."
Lu Ding withdrew his gaze, looking down at Jinglong who sprayed blood like a fountain.
"Threats, intimidation, attempted bribery of a 749 investigator - you have additional crimes added to your charges."
Hearing this, Jinglong understood that Lu Ding had no intention of stopping.
His emotions grew agitated.
Others might consider the consequences and dare not kill him, but Lu Ding was notoriously lawless.
Now he was frantically piling charges onto him.
With the heavy weight of multiple crimes combined, he truly couldn't withstand it.
"I will report you!! I will report you to the 749 headquarters!!! You're abusing public power for personal gain, killing indiscriminately, arbitrarily interfering in our Buddhist affairs!!!"
As he spoke, Lu Ding was cracking his knuckles.
By the time he finished speaking, Lu Ding had finished cracking all his knuckles.
"Obstructing law enforcement, attempting to attack an investigator, continuing threats and intimidation while under control, attempting to bribe an investigator, and finally slandering and defaming 749 investigators for abusing public power - multiple crimes combined, additional charges added."
No!!!!
Jinglong knew disaster was coming.
As he tried to say something in defense, Lu Ding stomped on his face, completely suppressing him.
"In the name of Yunhai 749 investigator, I sentence you, Golden Dragon Temple Abbot Jinglong, to death. Immediate. Execution!!!!!"
Black energy erupted from his acupuncture points, creating the appearance of wolf smoke soaring skyward.
Lu Ding raised his hand and formed a fist, the black energy retracting back into his acupuncture points, returning to a state of simplicity.
"I'll be waiting for you to report me."
The terror in Jinglong's eyes extinguished instantly as Lu Ding's fist came crashing down.
The earth churned, mountain bodies collapsed, the terrifying force transmitted downward caused earth dragons to turn over, reshaping the surrounding terrain.
Lu Ding straightened up, looking at Jinglong's shattered corpse with complete disdain in his eyes.
Lingshun 749 indulged you all because they had no alternative.
But I won't indulge you.
I have plenty of methods and means...
Flying out of the deep crater, Lu Ding nodded to An Wuyang and Deputy Director Ji.
He had intentionally prevented these two from intervening.
If Lu Ding handled it himself, no matter how bad the situation became, he had ways to control it. But if Deputy Director Ji and An Wuyang joined in...
The nature and circumstances of group action versus individual action were completely different.
Watching Lu Ding approach, the monks from Purple Cloud Temple and Golden Dragon Temple who had come with Jinglong and Yuanzhen retreated from him as if fearing a tiger, not daring to even breathe loudly.
If Lu Ding stood there a moment longer, they probably wouldn't be able to endure this atmosphere and the inexplicable pressure, and would start talking nonsense.
After all, being stubborn and obstinate were two of their characteristics as monks.
But now Lu Ding didn't have the leisure to engage in pointless arguments with them.
"Deputy Director Ji, please keep these accomplices under watch. Don't let them escape. After this matter is over, bring them back to 749 for 'thorough' investigation."
With the heavy burden of multiple crimes combined, he truly couldn't withstand it.
As these words were spoken, the monks wanted to say something.
But now that Yuanzhen and Jinglong were dead...
While Deputy Director Ji couldn't defeat these two elder monks, that didn't mean he couldn't handle these junior monks.
Circulating his spiritual energy, he raised his hand to suppress them.
Approaching Master Kongshi.
"Amitabha, Benefactor Lu, you... ah... this is a debt Kongshi owes you. If you ever need anything in the future, this old monk will come uninvited."
After speaking, he glanced at the already closed Demon Suppression Cave.
A sense of helplessness gradually grew in his eyes.
"This Demon Suppression Cave was left by our Buddhist predecessors as a place to suppress demons. To prevent the demons and monsters inside from escaping, it can only be entered, not exited. Even if this old monk entered himself, he couldn't come out."
Though not explicitly stated, his words hinted to Lu Ding that everything now depended on Wutian himself.
Hearing this, Lu Ding momentarily didn't know what to say.
Master Kongshi was excellent in every way.
Good character, high cultivation, profound Buddhist knowledge.
But he had one flaw - his temperament wasn't particularly strong.
The most resolute he'd been recently was when he retrieved the Patchwork Robe for that ordinary master.
As for why someone with such a temperament became the Lionheart Temple abbot...
It was because he was overly protected as a child, being the youngest with high talent. Later, when Lionheart Temple's great masters successively went out to resist foreign enemies and suppress the Chiseltooth demon, it caused a generational gap in leadership.
At that time, Master Kongshi was still a young old monk.
Without true strong masters to teach and guide him, achieving what he had now was already quite good.
With anyone else, Lu Ding could have retorted with a few sharp words.
But facing Master Kongshi, Lu Ding couldn't bring himself to rebut.
He was too heavily burdened by what people called Buddhist righteousness - these were limitations and rigidity of thinking.
In other words, something as simple as a bowl of ice jelly could make a Heavenly Perception cultivator like Master Kongshi feel torn apart inside.
Resigning from the abbot position and standing in front of Wutian was the most extraordinary thing he had done in his life.
Rejecting many thoughts in his mind, Lu Ding finally said: "Leave everything to me."