The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Sequel: The Passionate Monk and the Sea of Hatred

The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is a Buddhist scripture that lays bare greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, and doubt, as all living beings drift through a sea of suffering. Xiao Feng's resolve conceals both his love for A Zhu and his anguish over his origins. Murong Fu's madness is the hatred of a restoration obsession that has burned away his reason. A Zi's devastating leap is the expression of a love for Xiao Feng so possessive it destroys her. The blood at Juxian Manor and the winds at Yanmen Pass all become one heavy sigh.

Yet after closing the book, a trace of discontent always lingers: what comes after destruction? And so this book, A Monk of Passion in a Sea of Hate, was born. It no longer tells of destruction, but seeks to write about “survival.”

The title comes from the heart-shaking line: “Love knows not where it begins, yet grows ever deeper. The living can die, and the dead can live again. If this is enlightenment, how can the sea of hate and sky of passion ever be filled?” This “sea of hate” is the martial world, old grudges, endless conflict, and the boundless waters of suffering that ensnare countless people. And this “monk of passion” is the paradox adrift in that sea: Xiao Zhufeng, burdened by his past, his inheritance, and his reputation as a hero, yet unable to extinguish his heart like a monk. His roots of love run deep, and the woman he falls for is the daughter of his enemy. Every time he gazes into her eyes, it is like walking on the edge of a blade; every sacrifice he makes for her becomes a fierce battle within himself.

Finding inner peace in a sea of hate may take even greater courage than facing death without fear.

May you, as you open these pages, catch sight amid the waves of worldly affairs and tangled emotions of a small boat, tossed but never sunk, and the faint light within it, dim but never extinguished, that belongs to what makes us human.