Miaoji's intervention provided Miaohua with brief protection.
The malevolent thought, unexpectedly encountering a meddler at this juncture, failed to consume Miaohua. Realizing the futility of his attempt, he swiftly tried to retreat back into the sea of consciousness.
"Don't go!"
Yan Shouyi pursued him, grabbing the malevolent thought by the ankle and forcibly dragging him out of the sea of consciousness.
"Scoundrel, let go!" the malevolent thought roared in fury.
If it weren't for this brat's appearance, how could my relationship with Miaohua have deteriorated so much!
After all the time I spent getting Miaohua to compromise, you've ruined it all, you brat!
Lacking a physical form, the malevolent thought could alter its appearance at will. The moment Yan Shouyi grabbed him, the malevolent thought's right hand transformed into a python, savagely biting Yan Shouyi's left shoulder!
Yan Shouyi cried out in pain but did not let go. With his right hand, he wielded the Zhenguo Sword and thrust it towards the malevolent thought's body.
The malevolent thought had nowhere to hide and was impaled in the stomach by the Zhenguo Sword. However, this only caused it pain, not a fatal wound.
"Let go, let go!!"
Eager to break free from Yan Shouyi, the malevolent thought's body suddenly exploded outward, releasing countless black spikes from within, resembling a giant sea urchin.
The numerous spikes pierced Yan Shouyi's body. The intense pain caused him to tremble uncontrollably, his body spasming!
But he still didn't let go!
The malevolent thought had not anticipated Yan Shouyi's resolve. His tolerance for pain was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
It retracted its spikes. Yan Shouyi's body was riddled with wounds but was rapidly healing.
Since brute force failed, the malevolent thought resorted to cunning:
"What good will it do you to help Miaohua kill me? He will still kill Abbot Yansong! It's better to help me eliminate Miaohua. Miaohua and Yansong are one; I would never kill Yansong!"
Both inner demons and malevolent thoughts were adept at manipulating people.
Fortunately, Yan Shouyi was already influenced by his inner demon, which exerted a strong possessive influence over him. Thus, he was naturally immune to being swayed by the current malevolent thought.
As such, the malevolent thought's words went in one ear and out the other for Yan Shouyi.
He did not respond to the malevolent thought's words, instead forcefully pulling the Zhenguo Sword from its body.
The secondary wave of pain made the malevolent thought cry out.
Before the malevolent thought could catch its breath, Yan Shouyi plunged the Zhenguo Sword into its chest again!
"You... you brat..."
The malevolent thought gasped for air in pain, glaring venomously at Yan Shouyi. "Do you insist on my death?"
Influenced by his inner demon, Yan Shouyi was in a frenzy and ignored the malevolent thought's struggles and pleas, stabbing the Zhenguo Sword into its body again and again.
Miaohua, witnessing this scene, would have silently recited Amitabha.
"This is too much!!"
The malevolent thought finally lost control, roaring, "Since you want to hunt me down to the very last, don't blame me. We'll all die together!"
Miaohua sensed the malevolent thought's descent into extremism and immediately exclaimed:
"Amitabha, pure essence!"
However, Miaohua's power was limited; his disciplinary force had little impact on the malevolent thought.
The malevolent thought hesitated for a moment, received several more blows from Yan Shouyi, and then its body exploded once more!
This time, the malevolent thought did not transform into a sea urchin to harm Yan Shouyi.
Its body became a mass of clay, with countless contorted faces appearing. Desperate hands struggled to claw their way out, but their bodies were all fused together.
At this moment, the malevolent thought resembled a large fleshball covered in human faces.
"Miaohua, you speak of boundless compassion, yet you indirectly caused the death of my entire family!"
"You're just a fake monk. What wrong did my children do? Why did you separate us, flesh and blood!!"
"We will haunt you even as ghosts!!"
The faces on the fleshball seemed to harbor immense hatred for Miaohua. They wailed and cursed at him with vulgar and unbearable words.
Miaohua appeared to be terrified of these faces, even covering his ears as if to avoid them.
What was going on?
Yan Shouyi frowned, unable to comprehend Miaohua's connection to these faces or why Miaohua feared them.
At this moment, Yan Shouyi noticed that the sea of consciousness beneath him was becoming turbulent.
Numerous whirlpools appeared, churning the sea of consciousness into chaos. Waves crashed inward from both sides, and the broken spray, instead of falling, rose towards the sky.
The world seemed inverted.
He also observed that the distant sea of consciousness had reached an edge, with countless streams of seawater pouring into a waterfall leading to an unknown destination.
The sky also began to be slowly consumed by darkness...
"This is Miaohua's sea of consciousness. If the sea of consciousness is in trouble, it means... Miaohua's consciousness is in trouble?!"
Yan Shouyi speculated that if his reasoning was correct, once the sea of consciousness collapsed, neither he, Miaohua, nor the malevolent thought would survive.
This confirmed the malevolent thought's earlier words of "mutual destruction."
Miaohua must be stabilized!
However, the one who tied the knot must also untie it. Yan Shouyi had no idea why Miaohua feared these faces. Even if these faces were eliminated, it would be useless.
"Miaohua, my heart is devoted to Buddha. Why do you seek my death? Are the Buddhas of Sidde Temple different from the Buddhas of Hanshan Temple? Or perhaps, only you have faith in Buddha, and the myriad beings do not?"
Yan Shouyi suddenly heard a familiar voice. He looked closely and saw a familiar face within the large fleshball that the malevolent thought had become.
It was Abbot Haixin of Sidde Temple!
How could Abbot Haixin be here?!
In a mere breath, Yan Shouyi realized that the faces on the fleshball were likely innocent people whom Miaohua had killed while influenced by the malevolent thought.
Miaohua had no control over the killings; he could only watch helplessly.
This led to immense guilt in Miaohua's heart for these departed souls. The malevolent thought had transformed them all into inner demons and unleashed them at this critical moment to influence Miaohua's state of mind!
Upon seeing these faces again, Miaohua was overwhelmed by guilt, even experiencing a suicidal impulse.
This was the reason for the collapsing sea of consciousness!
"Miaohua, wake up!" Yan Shouyi shouted. "These people were killed by the malevolent thought; it has nothing to do with you!"
Naturally, these deaths were related to Miaohua. However, Yan Shouyi could only offer such comfort to stabilize Miaohua's emotions at the moment.
Unfortunately, Miaohua showed no sign of relief from Yan Shouyi's comfort.
His expression was pained, his head felt like it was splitting open, and he kept hitting his own head with his hands.
His eyes were filled with guilt and despair.
"I killed them... I did it all... they were all innocent people... I deserve to die! I truly deserve to die!!!"