Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
When the flames weakened slightly, I finally saw the Bat Demon. Have you ever seen a chicken being roasted over a fire? It looked somewhat like that, except the smell emanating from it was not appetizing but rather the pungent odor of burnt fart bugs, which was quite unbearable.
Red Boy walked over to the Bat Demon and poked it with a Fire Spear. The Bat Demon was surprisingly resilient; it still had a breath left.
Lying on the ground, it glared at me with a look of resentment, or rather, it was glaring at Lu Dongbin...
"Ha, you won," the Bat Demon said with disdain, just as it had when it first saw me. "Come on, to the victor belong the spoils; I accept my defeat."
Lu Dongbin clasped his hands behind his back. "Time is running out; what comes next is up to you."
"Alright, take care, Lu Zu."
The moment Lu Dongbin left, I felt as if my soul had been extracted. The wound that had been pierced earlier throbbed again (even though it had healed, the pain from the tearing remained). My legs went weak, and I almost knelt down. Red Boy was quick to grab me, preventing me from collapsing.
"Hong, it's your turn," I said to Red Boy.
After subduing the demon, I needed to deal with it. If it was truly heinous, there would be no need for mercy—just like Sun Wukong would strike it down with a single blow. If it hadn't yet reached the point of taking lives, generally speaking, they could be reformed. However, this Bat Demon was a special case; while it seemed quite wicked, so far it hadn't harmed anyone—just absorbed some yang energy. But judging by its previous behavior, this demon was definitely not harmless.
"This is tricky," I said weakly. "Come on, Holy Infant King who saves those in suffering."
"Don't be silly; it's the Bodhisattva who saves those in suffering," Red Boy shot me a glance. "Sigh, Buddha helps Sentient Beings; I'll give it a try today."
Red Boy pressed his palms together, and the Wonderful Sound of Buddha's Teachings swirled around him, slowly enveloping the Bat Demon.
The Bat Demon's previously violent expression gradually softened, and the wounds inflicted by my flames and during battle began to heal slowly.
"Sentient Beings' suffering is but a dream; waking or sleeping is free in my heart," Red Boy said as he pressed down on the Bat Demon's head, eyes closed and speaking softly.
"Sleep now, sleep."
In an instant, I felt an immense Buddha Nature emanating from Red Boy. It was reminiscent of how Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva helped Mr. Cui last time.
A dim golden light appeared behind Red Boy's head, and faint lotus petals seemed to undulate beneath his feet. The golden ring on his hand slowly slipped off and grew larger until it finally settled onto the Bat Demon's head.
Red Boy suddenly had tears welling up in his eyes, and before long, the tears began to slide down his cheeks.
In that moment, I felt a profound sense of the passage of time and the changes it brings through Red Boy.
"Is that so?" Red Boy whispered, "You've suffered."
The golden ring on Bat Demon's head suddenly tightened around his skull. Red Boy seemed unable to bear it; he reached out and lightly flicked the ring three times, causing it to loosen a bit.
At that moment, darkness enveloped me, and I collapsed.
It was another aftereffect of summoning the deity...
In the darkness, someone moved my body. I couldn't wake up and simply fell into a deep sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already bright. I found myself lying on my own bed, while Red Boy was still sound asleep on the upper bunk.
The injuries from yesterday's battle had mostly healed thanks to my own magical power, leaving only my hands and feet feeling weak.
I forced myself to sit up and looked inward at my Dantian. After yesterday's fierce battle, it seemed to have slightly expanded; perhaps there was some benefit from this misfortune.
The truth is, I was just too weak. If I faced someone skilled, I wouldn't stand a chance. Thankfully, Red Boy arrived just in time. Otherwise, I would have been in serious trouble. I still didn't know how Red Boy dealt with that Bat Demon.
I knocked on the bed frame of Red Boy, and he immediately woke up. He leaned down and exclaimed in surprise, " Ango , you're awake?"
I rubbed my head and replied, "Yeah, I'm awake. Thanks, Hong."
Red Boy smiled, a stark contrast to his expression during the battle yesterday. At that moment, he looked more like a child.
"Thank you for what? I should be thanking you, Ango. I've already completed one of the tasks given to me by the Bodhisattva."
Red Boy extended his hand toward me, and I noticed that the ring he had been wearing was now gone. I remembered that when Red Boy came to me, he mentioned that the Bodhisattva had sent him on a mission; he needed to remove all the rings from his body before he could return. This meant that Red Boy had already removed one ring, completing one-fifth of his task.
"How did you take it off?" I asked curiously.
"It put itself on that monster's head. Now I understand, the Bodhisattva wants me to save a few beings like myself or monsters."
Indeed, saving others is a way to reflect on oneself; the Bodhisattva has put in effort for Red Boy as well.
"What did you do with that monster?" I recalled seeing Red Boy crying at that time.
"That monster was also pitiful; it was just an ordinary Bat that was captured by an Evil Cultivator for gu cultivation."
Gu, originally a secret technique from Miaojiang, was meant for healing. At some point, gu techniques began to turn evil, and eventually, almost all Evil Cultivators started to learn how to cultivate gu. Now, gu has become synonymous with Evil Techniques.
"It had its mind opened by gu, but the Evil Cultivator who raised it ended up poisoning himself. So from then on, it began to wander. Due to the influence of gu, it had to absorb human vitality. However, it still harbored good intentions and didn't actually kill anyone. But because it was refined by humans using gu, it harbored hatred towards those who practiced Evil Techniques and inadvertently carried that hatred towards Cultivators as well."
"What does that have to do with us?"
"It hates Cultivators for not cleaning up the Evil Cultivators."
"Is that even possible?" I said in disbelief.
It's not that we don't clean up; it's just that the cultivation of Evil Techniques progresses much faster than ours. Sometimes we are powerless despite our intentions. Look, even this monster refined by gu is something I can't defeat after over a decade of cultivation.
"And then?"
"I saw its suffering and took on its sins. Fortunately, its crimes weren't too deep, and I managed to dispel the gu from its body, so now it has taken me as its master."
This Bat Demon has made a significant leap; Red Boy can also be considered a disciple of Guanyin Bodhisattva. By taking Red Boy as its master, it is also part of the Bodhisattva's lineage.
"Will it obey you? Aren't you still unable to defeat it?"
"Taking on a disciple doesn't necessarily mean you have to be able to defeat them. Look at Tang Seng; he couldn't defeat Sandy Monk even if there were ten of him! Yet even Sun Wukong obediently calls him master. Besides, I'm teaching it Buddhist teachings. Also, if I could use True Fire, maybe I could defeat it?"
Indeed, after Red Boy came down, he no longer had the powerful move True Fire, and his combat ability could be said to have dropped sharply.
"Hong, let's practice together when you have time in the future." I felt that my combat experience was really too lacking.
"Sure!" Red Boy readily agreed.
"By the way, where is Bat Demon now?"
"I sent it alone to Luojia Mountain."
"To find the Bodhisattva?"
"To find Black Bear Monster."
"…"
Red Boy and I started getting up and dressing. It was already close to 11 o'clock. Since coming down the mountain, I had been practicing less and less in the mornings.
As I stood up, I realized that my whole body felt limp, almost devoid of strength, and I had to lean on Red Boy to walk. This was the aftereffect of summoning a deity; this time it was Lu Dongbin, a great immortal. Although Lu Zu hardly used any Spell, my physical condition was still a bit too poor.
I decided to take Red Boy to “Red Bean Affection” for noodles. I had already informed Boss Lady Ah Wan. From now on, Red Boy and I would treat this place like a cafeteria and have work meals with Qu and the others… One is a fox, and the other is a cat; why are they both vegetarian?
When we arrived at Red Bean Affection, the noodle shop hadn't gotten busy yet; only a few scattered people were sitting around eating noodles. As soon as Red Boy entered the shop, he started chatting with Qu. I sat there bored until I noticed Landlady waving at me.
I hurried over, feeling strangely familiar with her despite not knowing her before. It wasn't the kind of familiarity one feels with a beautiful woman; it felt more like she was a relative of similar age but from a different generation.
With a mischievous smile, Landlady asked me, "What do you think of Qu and Hong as a couple?"
That was tough. Setting aside that Red Boy was from a Buddhism background, even in terms of family background, it was complicated. Red Boy was a typical **; his father was a prominent figure in the demon world, the formidable Bull Demon King, who was once renowned as Pingtai Sheng. Even Sun Wukong regarded him as an elder brother—he still calls him Big Brother Bull Demon King. The Iron Fan Princess wasn't an ordinary person either; she was a princess of the Rakshasa Kingdom. And Qu? She was merely a pet given to one of Bull Demon King's concubines back then, without any notable background or cultivation, barely transformed into human form. Writing them together would be like a story about a domineering CEO falling in love with an ordinary girl.
However, nowadays, social status didn't seem to matter as much. I thought that as long as the Bodhisattva didn't oppose it, there might still be quite a possibility.
"Not good." I was crouched over the counter with Boss Lady Ah Wan, peeking at Qu and Red Boy.
"Landlady, business," Luan gently reminded us as a couple walked in.
"Alright." Boss Lady Ah Wan tied on her apron and headed to the kitchen to cook noodles.
"Yin Zheng'an, come serve the noodles." Qu and Red Boy were deep in conversation, and it was my turn to take on the waitstaff's task.
It was a bowl of Red Bean Noodles, but different from the one Red Boy and Lin Miaomiao had; this bowl had particularly larger and redder beans.
"What is this?"
"Special Red Bean Noodles, meant for couples," Landlady said with a mischievous smile.
I had seen A-Wan, who was probably the most beautiful woman I had ever encountered, but her smile always seemed like she was eavesdropping on gossip, giving off a sneaky vibe. It felt quite mismatched with her overall demeanor; of course, she looked better when she wasn't smiling...
"An aphrodisiac? Landlady, we can't engage in illegal business."
"Go on, stop being ridiculous." Landlady put away her smile and shot me a glare.
In that moment, it felt like a warm spring breeze...
Comment 0 Comment Count