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Back to school after the camping, it's a fucking cold weather despite the sunny day and Ren was wrapping himself in a blanket inside the Student Council office with his friends. It's just like the cold in Dieng, but this time it was like a winter instead in the middle of summer holiday in Indonesia that came so early because of short vacation. The Student Council President was laying on the couch, wrapped by a blanket around him while Kaizo had to turn on the heater. Izumo just finished counting some cash, noticing that Hakuren carried some books on her hands which is the Yearbooks from last year. "Man... it's so fucking cold in here," Izumo groaned, stretching his arms because his fingers were so cold. Ren's mind was out to space, thinking about how Yifan referred him as a Vidyadhara and said about the cult of the worshippers who spread Nanda's corrupted religion that brings a 'revival' of their deceased god.
Reviving a god is considered violation the law of nature and abusing the power of karma, no wonder Yifan sounded pissed when he heard the reports from the warrior monks who are rebelling (who also had Heavenly Sutras and were still loyal to the deities or their beliefs) and some monks who disagreed with the idea. The idea of rebirth is still alright because once the person dies, their soul can be reborn (the souls of the deceased are stored in Earth Jewel by Sakura if their body wasn't destroyed) and when they enter the abyssal purgatory, either the person will be rewarded or punished in a painful state as a form of consequence) by Sakura who was the God of Rebirth. It is not the same as reviving because they're reviving a dead god back, because Karma will bite their asses eventually and that sort of idea will cause chaos.
"So, tell me more about those warrior monks I've never heard about," he muttered as he sat up from the couch, still wrapping himself in a blanket around his shoulders. Izumo hummed, before he tapped his keyboard to save some files of his finished essays. "Warrior monks are monks who fight against evil and bad guys, many of them usually practiced martial arts to refine their strength and skills as a protector of the temple or a divine residence--much like a guardian," the Treasurer student of his own class explained, typing on his keyboard since he has some articles of them. "The well-known ones in this world are notably known as Sutra Acolytes, they're not like typical monks who are bald and wears robes--warrior monks have to keep their hairs because it's a symbol of never-ending journey," Hakuren added when she sat on the couch after she gave some pile of books for them to see or observe.
Kaizo nodded, before he folded his arms. "They also known for carrying their Heavenly Sutras, the divine scrolls of the deceased gods," he added, pointing at the books where there's a scrolls that belongs to warrior monks from several thousand years ago. "Browsing about this makes me remember the Buddhist Monks who have different cultures and stuff, but I can recall they wear monastic robes," Ren said, his friends nodded in agreement to his statement when they know that Buddhist Monks wore distinctive saffron robes. "Warrior Monks are kind of the same, but more powerful and they have less strict lifestyle than monks... but it isn't really all about that, is it?"
"Yeah, I heard that some of them either smokes and drinks a lot like being lazy yet... strict," Izumo blinked his eyes at his observation, he know that some monk orders forbid smoking and drinking--but they also have to maintain their way of life. "Does that mean Warrior Monks are more dangerous than they look?" Ren asked them curiously, "The short answer: Yes, but I have no details because I can't find more on the internet. Did you met one of them before?" Izumo asked.
He nodded at him, which he answered. "Wang Yifan, have you heard of him?"
They froze when they heard that infamous warrior monk from Tibet, which according to their research was one of them to speak fluently in both Cantonese, Chinese and Indonesian, alongside other languages he learned to and had 'normal' but mature lifestyle--possibly older than 18, 19 or 20 years old (or a same age to Sadana because he's 25 like his Narayana's Scions allies). Not only that, this particular warrior monk is the emissary of the Abbot from Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet... the president told them everything on how they interacted when he crossed paths with him and he could sense the divine aura emitting from the warrior monk's shoulders when they were watching the skies above that are filled with the Heavenly Stars.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?" Kaizo yelled in concern, Izumo and Hakuren had the same response as him--while Ren was silent and curious, he didn't expect Yifan knew him... so it must have a meaning behind it! Is Ren the one Yifan has to watch or warn him not to do something reckless? Kaizo growled a little when Izumo sighed, Hakuren shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "Never crossed my mind that I'll ever see the warrior monk from Tibet in my whole life!" she growled, looking at her friend. "Ren, did Yifan warn you about those dust cults worshipping Nanda?" he asked, turning to Ren with a serious look on his face.
"Uhh... no, he just told me where he came from and he's here to look out for me."
Ren explained, however it doesn't convince Kaizo's suspicion because that emissary must have a reason. It's bad news for them, because this ancient warrior monk appeared out of nowhere during the festival when an event starts when something bad was about to happen. The Abbot definitely knows something and ordered Yifan--the top-best young warrior monk from his monk order to intervene or scout something dangerous that will happened after the day is over. The Student Council President read through the books and notice the acolytes from the past, particularly the youth of the monks.
Hakuren can see how serious Kaizo is, she can tell something is not right. "He's definitely here because of that cult, I'm pretty sure," Hakuren spoke, standing up and gathered some books in the bookshelves of the office. Ren was surprised when he saw one of the pictures of warrior monks from the previous generations and started a search, in which Kaizo and Izumo grew suspicious of his behavior. "You don't need to worry about a cult for now, since it seems they're yet to work on gathering the full relics," Izumo muttered to Ren, the Scion merely blinked. "Besides, warrior monk just want to keep the peace of the world while still keeping their way of life like other monks--he did said that right?"
"Perhaps they're here to keep us safe, like guiding us or whatever they do in the first place," Kaizo said as he walked toward the couch, then he pulled the blanket away. "Hey, it's cold you punk!" Ren whined, laughing. "We're on a break, and if you want to feel warm you can have your nice black cloak or even your jacket!" he mocked at him, before they start a 'discussion' of their investigation of Nanda's cult that still roaming around somewhere. "The reason why the monk order around the world formed this warrior monk is because monks are not always a passive role and these military monks made by the religion to fight war between monks with political and religious conflicts, therefore becoming a protection for those that need help and whatnot--they did did an amazing job throughout the ages when there's someone to protect a certain something," Izumo hummed, he printed some of the copies and organized the information about the warrior monks, he have to share it with them.
Ren began to read the articles that Izumo gave to them on the table in the council office, before Izumo added more notes about them. "Some of the most known monasteries... are the Temple of All Seasons. I'm pretty sure we heard about that one, but the fact that the order didn't let anyone know about the existence of the living acolyte out there... it's more concerning," Izumo muttered when he drank his coffee, Ren hummed. "Not to mention, we know nothing about his skills and fighting abilities..." he added.
Yeah... that's the problem, but Ren can't help but think Yifan has a greater purpose than just becoming a warrior monk. Then, they screamed to see a binturong outside the window of their office door--until Yifan grabbed his pet binturong and opened the door with a smile. "Sorry, my pet Bing-Bing always wandering around when I left him alone," he said before he came inside the room, while Ren sighed in relief when the acolyte entered the Student Council office as Izumo raised his eyebrows at him in interest. "We meet again, what can we help you?" Hakuren asked Yifan, watching him closing the door while the binturong is climbing up over his shoulders.
"Sorry, am I interrupting you something?"
"Nah," Kaizo replied, pouring some tea on the cups he prepared. Yifan sat down and put the sleeping binturong on the couch and received a cup of tea from the table, before he sipped the chamomile tea and spoke. "Why are you here? Also, how did you now our school?" Ren asked the warrior monk, who is caressing his animal friend who hissing a bit. "I can come here, because I'm already in the town," he explained to them.
Izumo snorted, before he pointed out. "Come on, you have a phone right?" he guessed, making Yifan realized he just brought his phone and a few gadgets and tools before he had a small sigh and decided to entertain these people a bit. "Okay, fine you caught me. Maybe, I've never seen this school for a bit," he admitted, giggling a bit. "But don't worry, the monastery let me travel here a bit. It's like a home, especially knowing these cultists are around to threaten us," the warrior monk said, while he placed the cup on the table. "I don't know why they choose Indonesia as their hiding place, until I figured out the broken temple of Nanda made them pissed and attacked some locals that happen to practice their religion," he continued, still having a smiling facade despite his sadness revealed beneath his joyful appearance. "Some of the acolytes got injured but they survived, only to retrieve the stolen sutras of the deceased monks--"
"THE WHAT?!"
That answered their question, as Kaizo's cup landed in his mouth when he dropped it while Izumo groaned in annoyance. "Just great, never imagined those assholes were stealing the divine sutras of the monks that passed away too--what a fucking stupid dickwads they are," he growled in annoyance, Hakuren folded her arms and shook her head. "So, Nanda's worshippers stole the divine scrolls?" Ren asked him, this is going to be very challenging for them. "Yes, they wanted to revive their god but they need those sutras in order to complete it. Even if they failed, they must feel foolish to achieve such a stupid thing," Yifan hummed with a half-lidded stare. "Then, I found this..." he added, revealing an artifact that somewhat shocked them.
Flashback--
Yifan breathed a smoke from his smoking pipe as he has arrived in front of the broken temple, he reloaded the bullets inside his flintlock as he and the rest of the warrior monks hiding around to ambush the worshippers. He sensed the evil karma and dark negative aura all over the temple, also the area he currently standing. Suddenly, his nose twitched when he felt a strong scent--chancing himself to the bush and he looked up at the same time when the worshipper finally appeared. "Good evening," Yifan greeted with his glasses shimmered by the moonlight, before he shot the worshipper's foot when they spotted him and all of the warrior monk jumped from the bushes, ambushing the evil group that have the scrolls of Heavenly Sutras on their arms.
Yifan had a bored expression on his face when he fought these cultists, he simply evaded their moves when he used the sheath of his handgun to sweep them--he even uses his palm strikes. There's no point in using his gun because this part of his job is like... having a routine or whatever makes them fight. "So boring," he said with a mysterious smile, before he chanted a mantra from his Heavenly Sutra around his shoulders and conjured a spiritual bow and arrows made of pure divine energy, shooting them everywhere--before he can shoot more people off their feet, he saw a golden artifact being gripped by one of the acolytes with a different hanfu and that robe of an ancient warrior--that item belonged to their founding deity and one of the emissaries of the Great Abbot in the temple of the warrior monks.
He stared at the young woman as she fled to the temple ruins, this is not the right time for the cult to interfere, something felt off. "Nanda, or... Yuèguāng, God of Wealth... your followers may be obedient," he muttered, before he grinned as he aimed his handgun and he threw the metallic paper talismans on the air. "How about you, your followers are mere trash and fools in your place, give them punishment when the dawn comes," he commanded them, before he pulled the trigger and shot those flammable metal paper talismans--creating a loud explosion that eliminated all of the cultists or the acolytes that believed their god was coming back to this world, ending up the rest of the remaining acolytes laying on the ground either unconscious or dead.
"Ah, I see now... there's more than just you guys."
Yifan muttered, blowing the smoke from his weapon before he approached the burned map on the ground. He observed the artifact and took out a scroll from his pocket, reading the details and he smirked. "Yeah, these assholes know that everything--these artifacts of the Gods are somewhere where Nanda herself hid some of them..." he muttered, standing up and gestured his hand at his acolytes to search around the temple until the sun rises. Once he finish the investigation in the temple, he came out from the ruins with his warrior monks following him behind.
"Back to our Monastery, we're heading back now."
As they got rid of the dead worshippers, Yifan use his beads to communicate with the Abbot in Tibet. "We recovered some of the sutras from the cult, Your Excellency," he said as the Abbot stayed still and closed his eyes--and Yifan ended the call, he brought out the scroll he borrowed from the library before the call to show the location of the divine object from his Lord, his mission was to find the locations and took them away from the cultists before he proceeded. He spotted a certain holy stature of Nanda on the ground, probably it was a model when Nanda was alive.
As much he didn't want to disrespect the deceased god, he hated the idea on how they want to revive themselves to start another war--when they, the warrior monks are on guard and they want to prevent another rift between the order of Buddhism or Hinduism or any other religion in this world and destroy their holy places and cultures, causing the humans who are believing in said religion to start distrusting each other. His Abbot was planning a visit to Indonesia to meet the Indonesian Abbot of the monastery, there must be an important news to tell them and have to protect the Borobudur Temple; the important pilgrimage site for the Buddhist monks and the relics of the lost deities.
He put the scroll away after he opened it, using the talismans he attached it to the statuette to guard the statue and track the power within the relic inside before he tossed the device away to another direction where the worshippers are hiding. "Let's purify the area before they could do the ritual," he said to his fellow allies, chanting the mantra from his Heavenly Sutra and holding the prayer beads on his hand and the warrior monks began to purify the area.
Flashback ends--
"Wow, you have some experiences... and I'm interested about this, but if the objects belongs to the Gods..." Kaizo pondered, Hakuren finished. "Then, the objects are sacred. We need to get those objects to seal the final artifact and kill those gods that are gonna be revived back in the last place, we have no choice but we must stop their corruption."
Yifan nodded, before he coughed a little and fixed his short messy hair. "So, tell me... what is my main goal today?" he asked them curiously, when Izumo gave them the information in detail--they noticed Ren was confused because the reason why Yifan must be hiding his true identity from everyone except the president and his friends. "To stop the cultists?" Hakuren guessed, her eyes widened when he meant is not just about the cult, they need to find the important secret relic hidden from centuries with the help of the key as the clue, the warrior monk is like their ally because he was sent by the Abbot. "It's not just that, we're here to stop any revival of the deceased gods. Kuran is an exception because he's reborn as a fallen deity by Sakura the God of Rebirth, so we let him slide. He might have to use his magic for the first time without causing an imbalance of balance because you and us are supposed to track those assholes back, what is your game plan for this?" he grumbled in annoyance.
"Woah, you didn't hunt after Kuran? He's a God of Pledge though?" Kaizo asked, seeing the acolyte shake his head. "As long he's following the cycle of nature and has a role for all people, we did not do anything to disturb his identity nor his abilities. Besides, he has gone through a cycle of rebirth after all. Furthermore, he passed the test of adulthood that he's no longer a god to the court of Gods... thus, the reincarnation came on its own way and his name shall change into the mortal's," Yifan informed, smiling grimly at them. "In other words, he's still a God of Pledge but with different name like how you mentioned your name, because he's not your typical deity or the one you could offend easily," he added, then his binturong woke up.
"As for Nanda's case, since she died like long time ago... this God of Wealth broke the law of nature--before she died because of you, Riyanda... she declared that she will be returning once she found the heart of all heroes as her container and soul container, she will be revived to bring destruction to mankind and bring upon a time of economic crisis in the world just because of her insatiable greed and other factors can make her human too," he muttered, while his binturong is being cute and rubbed his body around his arms. "And, you mean like another deity that I killed evil accident?" the Student Council President whispered, tilting his head in confusion.
Yifan laughed a little at him, nodding his head. "Yes, all of you are in deep trouble--but we came here to assist you with your friends."
Well... shit.
--Borobudur Temple, Magelang, Yogyakarta--
There were several Tibetan monks gathering with the Abbot they took a visit to Indonesia, inside a room in the middle of the temple. The tourists also surprised by their presence but took respect of them, most of them are Indonesians and expatriates who either took a photo and videos of them with their phones. There's also warrior monks who were male and female ones, like the Buddhist nuns--they were able to communicate with opposite genders but they have to follow their code of ethics in order not to break the rules, the tradition between men and women must be followed and keep purity of their soul and the relationship as warrior monks or nuns.
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Ren watched them as the Surabaya Cultural School had a field trip AGAIN for them, but that was because they want to give a best experience for the third-year high school students including for the rest of the grades--they were doing a research on religion history so it fits. However, Ren is more concerned about the Borobudur temple and had to protect it from Nanda's worshippers might plot a heist on the temple since this is the origin of the relic they are possessing. As the class doing their research and have a tour around the temple and enjoy their selfie, while Ren leaned his side on the table.
Yifan was there with the other warrior monks, the tourists wanted to take a picture with them as they were seen guarding the temple. Ren could read them, they expressed a simple and peaceful look on their faces like the way Yifan explained to him last month when they spend some time talking. As he continued to read about Buddhism History from the ancient past with Izumo, when the treasurer of the Student Council snickered by the tourists who got excited when the warrior monks are a magnet of tourist attraction and taking a picture with them.
"Ahh... warrior monks, they're meant to be loved," Izumo commented, the President nodded in amusement by his reaction and looking through the paper about religion he have. Kaizo was writing down the notes of his research application, along side Hakuren as she keep an eye on their interactions.
Yifan was holding his beloved binturong, patting his head with a playful smile when the guests had the chance to ask him a question about his monk order. "Is it okay if we can take picture with your pet?" the guide asked Yifan, the young man waved a positive response when the group of people were gathering around him with their cameras on and phones for their cameras. His binturong cuddled up to him with a quiet hiss, the acolyte began to think for himself when he knows that Ren is keeping an eye of the temple, exchanging information between cultures, religions and connection the warrior monks make for each year. "His name is Bing-Bing, but he can do more than just hissing!" he joked, and his binturong meowed in delight as the tourists took a picture with the handsome monk.
'Typical compatriots of mine... as an Indonesian, in social media--they will post 'a viral handsome warrior monk with a binturong' and the story goes on--possibly will be the top click because of how I look attractive and have a feeling from my lifestyle,' Ren thought, the Chinese-Indonesian can see the kids were patting the exotic furry animal on their clothes. 'Despite our job is to prevent the cults from breaking and restore the culture or society by restoring it,' he whispered silently, thinking how calm their lives were despite having a very hard responsibilities while in real world, these ancient monks actually spend time guarding the monks to maintain their order despite never shaving their hairs and such.
Also, they lived in ascetic life just like Buddhist monks around the world and he mentioned about some of his master have to look after younger monks like Yifan. He tried to control himself, trying to refocus on the real world--instead of space out and he immediately read back on his research. Ren find out that Shenlan was trying to sell his precious gold imperial Ingots through scam as she snickered like a naughty kid, he growled as he snapped at her. "SHENLAN! IF YOU KEEP ON TRYING TO SCAM, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Ren yelled in annoyance, before she yelped and got chased by him.
Dinda made a respect gesture in front of the warrior monks as Farlan did the same, he want to know about these warrior monks (save for Seraph and Yomi who's monitoring them from the distance) and how were they allowed to carry weapons. Dinda asked them a question, Farlan was impatient and curious as hell, and he wants to challenge one of them with spars of their weapons. "Why did you warrior monks are carrying spears and swords, and how you can keep being a protector for the past days?" Dinda asked.
One of them, the silent old-timer with a long beard with short hair was like in his mid-forties and replied. "Our purpose is not just fight the wars, it is to protect you all. It has been done for thousands of years, long before the Gods..." he began, smiling calmly at them. "If the world gone mad and chaos happened, many will look for someone to help them. My order, and probably more martial orders that made by different religions... a different deity has their own monks from various sects and orders--have sworn to protect you all, and as you can see..."
"Here we go again, old man Huolan is lecturing again..."
Wu Jiaheng--the youthful female warrior monk spoke to Yifan with a tranquil tone, observing their Captain-General who was talking with the tourists. She has a bluish-purplish hair long hair tied in messy braid, pale skin, and blue eyes--wearing a standard black monk robe with a scrolls with Tibetan calligraphy around her shoulders and long sleeves. She has a black thin, tight-fitting sleeveless mock-turtleneck, with black fingerless gloves and black short pants with black socks and thigh-high black boots. Jiaheng has a stoic, aloof, and detached nature; and her ability to keep herself relaxed even with the most difficult tasks helped her when she was on guard as a guardian for the temple.
She can be serious and devoted in terms of mission, and will work under the leadership of her superior. Not only that, she holds the Heavenly Sutra that commands the over life and existence--while Yifan holds the one that commands death and nothingness, together they hold the balance and thus keep harmony in the temple without their master. "I know that, Jiaheng... but the order, doesn't complain," Yifan reassured her, caressing his beloved animal friend's fur softly. "And, today is... like a day like the other, right?" Yifan guessed, looking at her.
"Depend on what can you do with Riyanda and them."
The other monks who are observing the tourists to lower the barrier around the temple had fun, Yifan knew that he had no choice. "Here it comes, these two Abbots going to the Borobudur Temple," one of the warrior monks reminded them, it is their duty to protect the monks from their Abbot and the Abbot's disciples--alongside taking care of the tourists. And one of the Abbots is their master with their Abbots were able to assist them when they patrol outside or inside, while Yifan have a duty to follow him wherever he goes and guarding him.
Ren learned that Yifan is one of the five high-ranking warrior monks known as Arhat Acolytes or the Arhats; a powerful captains that commands their fellow subordinate warriors. No wonder he heard that the Khen Rinpoche is in the midst of being in a special protection cover from a 'higher' security--the warrior monks, also Jiaheng is one of the Arhats--these group are the only Abbot's trusted chosen warrior monks because they're one of a kind that they can face 'evil' with more experience than the rest of the warrior monks. Only the five of them who can wield the five Heavenly Sutras--which he could guess they're capable of using the sutras' abilities. "Woah..." Izumo managed to squeak when one of the older warrior monk came out of nowhere, he looked like an old man in his seventies but like the other warriors monks; he didn't shave his hair.
They began their prayer by walking around the temple, the tourists begin their conversation with the tourist guides and monks that wanted to know. One of them is the legendary Chinese tale of Shenlong's story, about how the ancient stories involving him and some of the legend from China. Yifan commanded his subordinates to guard the entire area along the police, since he has the absolute authority--though his Abbot is the one they take orders from and his underlings are on command of him.
Suddenly, Ren can see one of the suspicious person dressed in cultist-like fashion tried to attack them--before Jiaheng aimed her silencer gun and shoot him, making his bloodied corpse into pieces in the ground. After that, the dust came in from the corners of the large temple with the cultist in the middle of the holy praying and then they transformed into disgusting hyena beasts. "Well well well... these bootlickers of Nanda's are daring enough to show their ugly faces again," Jiaheng snorted in disgust, smirking. "For so long I see a woman like you who can do this, I have so much to learn," Yifan complimented her as the dust beast snarled and began to lunge at them.
Jiaheng began to chant her mantra as the scrolls manifested with red color and Yifan chanted his own with a blue hue around him, the scrolls casted a lighting barrier and bolts at the dust beast at the same time, followed by the ice spike that froze them and crushing them into pieces. They have no time, soon the dust beasts begin to emerge from the corners of the temple while the people screamed and rushed to get out, forcing to be evacuated as the Indonesian authority guarded the monks. Ren nodded at his friends, before they assisted them to stop the dust beasts.
Yifan's binturong transformed into a huge black beast and roared at the dust monsters, tackling a few of them that lunged at him until Ren shot them at their neck with the silencer arrows and Izumo uses his tanegashima gun throwing at the dust hyena. Shenlan is having fun as usual, clashing her chain-blade at the beasts with quick and swift cuts, Kaizo slain them with his katana and Hakuren with her katana too. Dinda played her zither to produce arrow-like blasts from her melodies, Farlan spun his polearm with Ren as they made a combined attacks together.
Seraph slashed the beasts with his wakizashi, his eyes narrowed when he bend down and lift his foot backwards--revealing a blade that stabbed the dust beast from his boots. Yomi made a constructive cuts from her katana, it seems like the Dust Cultists were anticipating to kill the Abbot with the monks and they have no idea about the location of Ren and his group. Either that, they got too cocky--when a single bolt of blue lighting arc, disintegrating the cultists with no mercy and followed by the blade from two groups of monks that took out some of them.
Then, it was time for Seraph's turn, forming a double swords from his wakizashi and they clashed them at the beasts. Wu Jiaheng and Wang Yifan knew Ren and his friends haven't reached the true state of their power yet, the battle continues as the binturong used his energy whip and slashed many of the dust hyenas, roaring with a bright heavenly light. They were no match for the Warrior monks, before the Dust Cultists got arrested and some escaped. "They escaped, but we know where are they. Just in case if you need some information or explanation on their behalf, we will send it to your school," Jiaheng told Ren with a smile, nodding at the Chinese-Indonesian Vidyadhara with pride as Yifan's pet binturong rolled over to him and cuddled.
"Alright, here you go Bing-Bing," Yifan said with a smile, cradling the binturong as they were dealing with the arrested cultists.
Back at home...
Ren watched the news of the Dust Cultists' attack in the Borobudur Temple happened recently and the people were alright, it went viral on the news around the world and how the warrior monks worked to protect their Abbot. "Son, did you heard of those warrior monks?" Rihan asked his son, making a dish at ten in the morning after Ren and his friends got home. He nodded, sitting crisscrossed on the couch while watching the news. "Yeah, I did," he said, holding the burr puzzle which is the God of Pledge's heirloom--in case he wanted to summon Kuran for help. "Also, the Wang Yifan guy is the well-known warrior monk from the warrior monks' ancient martial order. Oh, and he has a binturong too!" Rihan laughed a bit, looking at his confused face on the camera.
That battle was a close one, the Borobudur Temple is safe along the monks and their Abbots that Ren and his friends tried to protect even though they're not one of them. However, it seems like they were going after something, and he wondered if they knew about the objects Kuran possessed. He groaned in annoyance, feeling something wrong about him when everything was calm today like he was being the only suspect he ever suspected. His mind went to focus on him, getting back to himself with every thoughts he had including he could be the key of the end of the year. "No, no, no... get back to me," Ren muttered at his body pillow when he fell off from the couch, his body hurts so bad after he just got back from there earlier.
"Hey, just lay down and rest. Let me make your favorite hot pot, so you don't need to worry," Rihan reassured him with a caring smile, he felt terrible and just nodded in defeat. "I'm too late..." Ren grumbled to himself, he didn't have any idea this one who's carrying their destiny of mankind in secret! Then, he smelled his favorite hotpot, before he sighed in relief to enjoy it with his father. Rihan is known as a tycoon in tea industry, due to his sense of originality and new ideas in combination with traditional ones. Which is why he's rich as well, while Ren produced golden imperial Ingots that could be traded for money. "Son, are you okay?" he asked, seeing him sulking in sadness.
"Don't worry, I'm okay," Ren replied to him with a smile, he must be weak and needed his care as his only son... but how can Ren break the destiny and the faith he can choose, without the consequences to bear upon his burden as a 'chosen one'... by destroying the flow of destiny once and for all. He didn't want to look weak in front of his father, but Rihan told him to not lie if he wasn't feeling well and it will affect his health. He had no idea how he could stop being like this, the student council president let out a soft breath.
Ren's head hurts as he tried to forget his thoughts that made him overthink, then... he decided not to tell the truth. "Fine, I'm not okay..."
Ren began explaining how it began as a simple thought, at first he thought nothing more of it. "But the longer I kept thinking on it, the worse it grew... I'm always hide my weakness when I'm leading my friends during the battle--but deep down... I'm afraid that I will look bad for not doing the right thing. To make sure that nobody has to die, I just... couldn't help but wanting to protect them," he said, holding the pillow tighter on his body. "I have to make sure that the world will be saved, and my friends will survive and I did it before because I'm helping myself that if the worse can happen, they have to prepare for it and will be fighting together to the very end," he whispered, taking a sip of the lemonade tea.
"Riyanda Tjahyana... are you telling me this all along?"
Rihan spoke to his son with a caring voice, Ren is like his personality reflected his father since they share the same problems of concern; love and caring for other people they love and hold important in their lives. Ren's friends are the people he treasures the most and they're really loyal to him, just like how Farlan is loyal with his comrades. Rihan smiled at him, before he resumed back to serving the hotpot and watch the news with a blanket to cover himself for warmth. "I'm sorry, father. I feel weak because I have too many thoughts and feelings about me... at the same time, the feelings wanted to make my skin burn so hard... before they burst in flames," he groaned, he can feel the warmth enveloping him again.
"If we have lost something important, those lost feelings can turned into a passion to find those lost feelings. Maybe the missing pieces... the missing clues or the one you needed the most, could be in you--even the one that you needed at the moment like the one you trusted for the whole time," Rihan said when he remembered his past, he started to learn more about the balance in the world and how the cycle of nature changes the world as the Gods' will follow the fate. Ren remained quiet, before his father patted his head and ruffled his short messy amber-brown hair--making him yelped like a kitten and blushed in embarrassment. "Hang in there, keep your eyes wide open and seek what's in your heart. Your journey is not the end," he giggled a bit when his son is pouting and whimpering at him in response.
Ren remained silent after the time, recalling Yifan and his words; "the fated warrior who holds a key to end this and prevent from complete... to prevent the dead from coming back alive and the power will never go into a mortal's hands," he spoke, reciting Kuran's wisdom that he's remembering.
Jiaheng shook her head as she took out a box, she was with another warrior monk and they were standing alone to the side while the celebration was ongoing. Yifan was holding his prayer beads, a scimitar with steel blades on his side, he's inside of a room and praying to the Buddha (mostly communicating with the court deities who has the closest presence near the temple)--before he's looking outside through the window of the room.
They are known as Buddha's Warrior of Thousand Years; the Arhat Acolytes' official title of their respective role. Normally, the warrior monks are mostly Tibetans but each sect of the warrior monks from the different religions have different cultures, countries and custom tradition. Those he know are some of them that are foreigners and well-trained in martial arts than Buddhist Monks because some monasteries are similar to monastic communities, where the monks trained the martial arts or other fighting abilities they adopted from their compatriots.
Jiaheng watched Yifan's pet was rolling around the hall, until he woke up to see one of the Arhats walking by him--it makes a hissing sound and runs around the hallway to play catch. "Bing-Bing, are you hungry?" she asked, before the binturong snuggled against her arms and she laughed a bit. "You're not gonna stop unless you get something to eat, huh? I have a fruit for you," Jiaheng hummed, petting the binturong and watching it meowed at her in glee. She knows the main language when talking with others, and a few languages they speak aside from Chinese, Tibetan and Indonesian.
Yifan yawned after he left the prayer hall and saw his precious pet walked towards him, he carefully held his binturong that purred at him and he patted his black furred back. "Did you had fun playing with Huolan and Jiaheng?" Yifan asked and chuckled at his binturong's antics, he patted his little head. Jiaheng walked towards her colleague and friend, as they were about to take a rest after they're done with their mission of protect the Borobudur Temple; until they noticed a random people accidentally ate an amethyst fruit and got drunk immediately. "Someone got drunk already?" Jiaheng exclaimed in slight surprise.
The amethyst fruit is a fruit, yet it contains a strong type of alcohol inside of it. The monk's robe will not work on clothing them, as Yifan held Bing-Bing close to him and saw five drunk kids were acting like a jackass after consuming the amethyst fruit. They are giggling with a random person who happened to be eating the fruit, before they start breaking through their own cultures and being an ass with each other. That person however, turned to see Yifan and started to flirt with him. Yifan used his mantra to knock these people off, who dropped and were sound asleep like they were exhausted.
"Time to drag them back to the authority."
Ren watched the news of some people got drunk after consuming the amethyst fruit as Yomi told him everything; why are those 'totally-drunk' people eating this alcoholic fruit and because of that... why they're like dumbasses. "Well, that's understandable," the Chinese-Indonesian man muttered, watching the news. "What are they, a dumbass avatar with 1000 solutions except for the drunk-free solution after consuming the booze fruit? Like come on, common sense; don't consume the unknown fruit from a temple!" Ren replied, while Izumo snorted to see the news with his friends in Ren's house. "Hallucination is one of the side effects when an alcoholic drink influence your feelings and reactions," Izumo added, Hakuren nodded. "They couldn't experience the effects of regular alcoholic drinks if they use the same one, so they eat amethyst fruit instead and just... getting high until tomorrow," she said, the camera screen showed the scene of the trouble makers getting captured and were dragged into the police cars as they were being taken care of.
Rihan watched the news of the people getting drunk for three until six days after consuming an amethyst fruit, he shake his head as he once kicked a drunkard out of the traditional home and telling him to not throw the bottles to the public--then, he decided to create and develop an alternative replacement of any beverages that can actually solve people to consume alcohol rather than that. But, he stopped because it's impossible and hell--the smell of amethyst fruit is so fucking intoxicating and mixed alcohol in case the human body was created with chemical ingredients, before he returned his attention back to his son and his friends. "Don't ate them, if you don't want to embarrass yourself in public like that."
"Okay..."
Yeah... they definitely won't do that because they're going to graduate from high school after this war is over, their respective relatives will whoop their asses and won't going to help them if they get drunk and shit.
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