"Later?" the Balding Boss said with a bitter smile. "Naturally, no one believed me. Not harvesting mature grain meant a huge loss in yield…"
"Then the disaster truly struck. All the villagers' harvests were destroyed by torrential rain, and there was no grain to buy in town. People fell ill, people starved to death. But what I didn't expect was them—"
At this thought, the Balding Boss's face instantly became ferocious, like a demon. Heiji was startled, his hand instinctively gripping his nichirin blade.
He didn't notice that Ono, standing beside him, had a strange look in his eyes, seemingly terrified.
But when he saw the sunlight shining on the boss, Heiji secretly cursed himself for being overly suspicious and put his blade down.
"What happened then?" Although he had a faint feeling that something was amiss, the sun was out, and Heiji still lowered his guard.
"Later?" the Balding Boss sneered. "The villagers couldn't find food. Eventually, I don't know who, but someone took the lead and said that our family had grain. So they all frantically rushed to our house to steal it, leaving not a single grain. Not only that, but before they left, they called me a jinx, blamed me for everything, and then set fire to our house, leaving us homeless."
Hearing this, Heiji could only sigh. He was still young and couldn't comprehend the complexities of human nature.
"Then, Boss, how did you survive that famine?" After a pause, Heiji couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Survive? Haha, my parents were burned to death by them that very night…" In the sunlight, the Balding Boss's face became increasingly strange, simultaneously ferocious and benevolent.
"While the villagers were busy searching my house for grain, they threw me into the well. But they never expected that afterward, those ungrateful people would tie them up and throw them into the house to be burned to death with it."
"Weak and sickly as I was, I survived this famine thanks to them. What do you think I ate to survive?"
Upon hearing this, Heiji was horrified and quickly gripped his blade. "You… you?!"
However, the Balding Boss calmly held him down. "Don't rush, guest, my story isn't finished yet. Afterward, I, weak as I was, struggled to climb the mountain and found Baima Temple. Fearing I would cause trouble for the Baima Zen Master, I snuck into the temple under the cover of night. I couldn't understand why human nature was like this, why good people didn't receive good rewards. I desperately wanted to seek answers from the Buddha. Yet, when I secretly reached the Baima Zen Master's room, guess what I heard?"
"Wh-what?!" Heiji realized at this point that his body was weak and powerless, finding it difficult even to draw his blade. He couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
And Ono, who had been devouring his food earlier, sat rigidly, his face already filled with despair.
"It turned out that the Baima Zen Master, because I had told him about my dream this time, knew about my ability and that disaster would surely strike. So he found people to conspire with, disguised as merchants, to buy up all the surplus grain in town beforehand, and then sell it after the disaster occurred to make a huge profit."
At this point, the Balding Boss's sinister yet benevolent expression was like half Buddha, half demon.
"My most respected Baima Zen Master was actually one of the accomplices who caused the death of my entire family. I truly couldn't comprehend it. That night, I stumbled and knelt dazedly before the Buddha statue, not caring if I was discovered and beaten to death as a jinx. I just wanted to seek an answer from the Buddha."
"Later, I was discovered by a monk, and then, to keep the secret, the Baima Zen Master beat me to death and buried me in the forest. That adult appeared."
"He told me, if I couldn't understand, then I should keep thinking until I did. I could take one hundred, two hundred, even three hundred years to think. And so, I became a demon, hahahaha—"
At this point, the Balding Boss mockingly touched his prayer beads. "Those ignorant villagers actually thought that the Baima Zen Master willingly sacrificed himself to save them and avert the disaster, but they didn't know that the natural disaster wasn't averted by him, but the man-made disaster was orchestrated by him."
"I captured all the monks and put them on trial before the Buddha. I told them that if the Buddha manifested and spared them, I wouldn't eat them. If the Buddha remained silent, then they were utterly sinful.
The result, hehe ~ the Buddha did not forgive a single one of these people. If I don't go to hell, who will? So I ate them all, making them repent in my body for all eternity—"
"Amitābha—"
After finishing this lengthy story, the Balding Boss silently picked up his prayer beads and recited a mantra, his sincere demeanor like that of a high monk who had cultivated for many years.
"You… you… why… aren't… you… afraid… of… the… sun…" Heiji found it difficult even to speak, while Ono, who had eaten more eagerly and quickly than him, was already speechless.
"I don't do evil deeds. With my Buddha's protection, why should I fear the sun?" The Balding Boss smiled, then swiftly cleared the bowls and chopsticks from the table.
Then he picked up both of them, placed them on his shoulders, and walked into the kitchen.
"Speaking of which, my ability is quite special, perhaps it's the Buddha's blessing. Other demons cannot appear in the sunlight, but I move freely, hahahaha~~" Since it was just dawn, and the recent disappearances had caused some panic, the Balding Boss carried Heiji into the house without a second person seeing him.
In the kitchen, the Balding Boss smiled, stripped Heiji of all his clothes, threw his nichirin blade and scrolls into the stove, and then prayed to a Buddha statue.
After reciting a sutra, the Balding Boss picked up a blade. With a swift cut, Ono's head rolled to the ground. With another swing, he was cut into several large pieces.
He turned to look at Heiji. By now, Heiji was unable to speak, only sweating profusely from fear.
"You see, I've finished praying to the Buddha, and the Buddha still hasn't spoken to forgive you. So you are also a sinner. My compassionate Buddha, let me send you to hell to atone for your sins!"
The Balding Boss, with a benevolent expression, raised the butcher knife in his hand, ready to strike at Heiji's head.
At the crucial moment, a voice called from outside, "Boss, is anyone there? One bowl of ramen, please."
"Yes, yes, coming! Guest, please wait a moment, I'll be right there."
The Balding Boss beamed, showing no trace of his previous high monk demeanor. He casually dropped the butcher knife, aiming directly between Heiji's legs.
Pfft!!
Heiji's eyes widened, bloodshot, the pain distorting his face, as a pool of blood slowly flowed from between his legs—
The Balding Boss, with a white towel draped around his neck, looking exceptionally clean, walked out of the kitchen with a benevolent smile and approached the stove outside.
The Balding Boss smiled and said, "Guest, you're quite early. Which kind of ramen would you like? My ramen here is absolutely exquisite, a skill honed over decades."
"Hehe, any bowl will do. Char siu ramen, please~"
"Alright, guest, please wait a moment, I'll make it for you right away."
The Balding Boss was very quick and efficient. In no time, he had prepared a bowl of char siu ramen and presented it to the impossibly handsome young man before him.
Uchiha Nagi picked up a piece of char siu, then suddenly smiled and asked, "Boss, your char siu, it's not made from R-meat, is it…"