nucmednet Chapter 35 Waiting for a Rabbit to Run into a Tree Stump
Chapter 35 Waiting for a Rabbit to Run into a Tree Stump
"wrong!"
"That old monster's target is Lanruo Temple, where there are people."
After resting for a while, Yan Chixia suddenly understood the situation and hurriedly got up to head to Lanruo Temple.
He kicked open the door of the main hall with a bang, and the sight that came into view made his eyebrows twitch.
The hall was spotless and clean, free of dust.
A young man dressed as a scholar sat cross-legged on the platform where a golden statue of Buddha was originally enshrined.
Two diamond statues flanked the other side, their faces covered with white cloth.
Below the Buddha, there was a purple-gold prayer mat, upon which a young girl meditated and cultivated.
The two were breathing deeply and rhythmically, clearly practicing some kind of advanced martial arts.
"Where did this scholar come from! How dare he so audacious as to sit on the Buddha's throne!"
Sheng Wansong slowly opened his eyes.
He noticed the battle outside Lanruo Temple last night, but he had important matters to attend to and did not intervene.
"If it is said that beings are born everywhere, hence the name 'sentient beings,' this is based on the cycle of rebirth in the five realms due to karma."
This verse comes from the Lotus Sutra and conveys the idea of equality for all beings.
"If the Buddha can sit on this throne, then naturally I can sit on it too."
After saying that, Sheng Wansong stretched and jumped down from the platform, feeling refreshed.
People say that female ghosts can drain people's life force, but Sheng Wansong's skills are profound. He didn't let the female ghost Xiaoqian gain any advantage even after a whole night, wasting all his efforts.
"Full of fallacies."
"I'll let it go since you cleaned the main hall so well."
Yan Chixia pursed his lips, put down the sword box on his back, sat down on the ground, and asked, "Scholar, did you encounter anything unusual while resting here last night?"
"Two female ghosts came looking for me, trying to trick me into leaving this place," Sheng Wansong said without hiding anything, recounting what happened last night.
Upon hearing this, Yan Chixia looked at him with newfound respect, "I see you are full of energy and have no deficiency. I didn't expect you to be able to resist the temptation of the seductive ghost."
"You should know that humans and ghosts are on different paths. In this world, there are not many young people with your composure."
Sheng Wansong remained noncommittal, and then woke An'an from her meditation.
After waking up, An Lan was quite self-aware and immediately began packing her luggage.
"To me, there is no difference between humans and ghosts, only between dirty and clean."
"I'm the complete opposite of you."
Yan Chixia leaned against the wall, closed his eyes to rest, and said, "The human world is murky and hard to distinguish, while humans and demons are clearly black and white. That's why I retired from the martial world and stopped caring about the human world, focusing on eliminating demons."
Sheng Wansong glanced at him in surprise.
I don't know this person well, so how did he reveal all my secrets?
Something unusual is bound to happen; this big-bearded man must have something to ask of him.
"Scholar".
"There is a great demon beside this Lanruo Temple who has harmed countless people."
Yan Chixia spoke frankly and openly, pleading, "It came for you last night. It happened so suddenly that I was unprepared and could only barely drive it away."
"Now, I hope you will stay a few more nights to lure out that monster so that I can be fully prepared to destroy it and rid the world of a great scourge."
"This act will also be a great act of merit for you."
Last night's encounter with that female ghost was so profound yet superficial, and my own dragon energy wasn't even triggered. Clearly, the manifestation of dragon energy has its own set of standards.
The Tree Demon Granny was exceptionally fierce and possessed immense magical power, surpassing even the zombies encountered at the small crossroads.
Fighting it might awaken the dragon's power.
Thinking of this, Sheng Wansong readily agreed, "Of course."
He agreed so easily, which pleased and moved Yan Chixia, but he also felt that Yan Chixia had underestimated the danger posed by the demons.
"Don't underestimate demons."
"I see that you have mastered advanced martial arts, but you should know that martial arts have limited effect on demons."
Yan Chixia advised:
"Those ghosts and vengeful spirits are formless and intangible. When weapons strike them, it's as if they're hitting thin air. If they come into contact with the flesh, they will drain your life force."
"Although zombie spirits have physical forms, they are impervious to swords and spears, and they do not have any vital meridians or acupoints, making it difficult to harm them with martial arts techniques."
"Only by opening up the Ren and Du meridians and becoming one of the top masters in the martial arts world can one subdue the two types of demons mentioned above with powerful internal energy."
"But the tree demon outside Lanruo Temple is different. It has devoured countless people and its demonic power is overwhelming. Even martial arts masters such as the leaders of Shaolin and Wudang can only barely protect themselves in front of it."
The relationship of restraint among martial artists, demons, and cultivators in this world is like rock-paper-scissors.
When their cultivation levels are roughly equal, martial artists struggle to fight off demons, but can kill cultivators with a single strike. Cultivators, on the other hand, are often physically weak, yet can easily subdue all sorts of demons and monsters.
Take the Tree Spirit Granny as an example. Yan Chixia's martial arts are only three points stronger than Mo Xuan, the eldest disciple of Wudang. If he were to face a grandmaster of the sect leader level, he would be defeated in three moves. However, when the sect leaders encountered the Tree Spirit Granny, with whom they had fought fiercely all night, they could only barely defend themselves and could not win.
Yan Chixia cultivates both Taoism and martial arts, much like the Quanzhen Sect cultivators mentioned by the old Taoist Mingyuan, and is able to flexibly deal with various different enemies.
Of course, martial artists have different internal and external skills, as well as secret techniques and so on. Cultivators also have many different schools such as Buddhism, Taoism, and heresy. They cannot be generalized.
"Please stop calling me 'scholar,' I am Chu Xiangcheng Sheng Wansong."
"This is my page, Anlan."
After Sheng Wansong introduced himself, Yan Chixia treated him with the courtesy due to a chivalrous knight-errant, saying, "Yan Chixia was once a famous constable of the Six Doors."
"If you are a martial arts practitioner, Brother Sheng, you may have heard of my name."
These old guys are always so confident.
He's been retired from the entertainment industry for years, yet he still expects Xiao Deng to know him.
Xiao Deng, who came from a proper martial arts background, might actually know, but Sheng Wansong was his own person and never truly entered the martial arts world; instead, he looked down upon it.
Although Sheng Wansong did not answer, Yan Chixia could tell from his expression that he had not heard, which made him somewhat embarrassed.
The Six Doors, you know.
"Since Master Yan is a renowned constable of the Six Doors, do you know the reason for the dramatic changes within the Six Doors?"
Yan Chixia exclaimed in surprise, "Has something drastic happened within the Six Doors?!"
Forget about the reason, he lived in seclusion and didn't even know about the major changes that had taken place in the Six Doors.
Seeing that he clearly cared but seemed unwilling to concern himself with worldly affairs, Sheng Wansong offered a brief explanation.
"The three famous constables left the Six Doors and established the Divine Constables Bureau, taking a large number of constables with them."
"Now, only the Divine Constable and the Iron-Handed Divine Constable remain in charge of the Six Doors."
"Such a thing has happened."
Yan Chixia found it hard to believe. After a moment of contemplation, he shook his head, showing no intention of leaving the mountain to inquire about it.
"Now that I've distanced myself from the martial world, matters of the martial world and officialdom are naturally none of my concern."
He sat and rested for a while, then stood up again, took out a brush, and used specially made cinnabar to set up magic arrays in various places on the doors, windows, and floor.
Time passed gradually.
Until dusk deepened.
"Ding~"
After a crisp sound, the melody began to play, subtly conveying an invitation.
The three people in the hall opened their eyes at the same time.
Sheng Wansong stood up and followed the sound of the zither.
The music came from a pavilion in the lake outside the temple, which was connected to the shore by only a wooden walkway about half a meter wide.
Stepping onto the wooden walkway, a creaking sound echoed beneath my feet. Inside the pavilion, a stunningly beautiful female ghost, draped in white gauze, was playing music.
Nie Xiaoqian, this woman's life was forever frozen at its most touching moment.