"Old man,"
Jian Huaishuang's voice was slightly raspy. "I want to ask, those children who were sent to the Heavenly Sword Sect... did any of them ever return?"
The atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze for a moment the instant he asked the question.
But it was only for a moment.
Old Man Li's smile grew even wider. "Return? Of course they return."
"Every New Year, the Immortal Masters bring the little ones back to visit their families."
"The children have all grown plump and fair, and they can even fly. It's truly a sight to behold."
"Is that so?" Jian Huaishuang let out a cold laugh. "They can fly now?"
"That's right, that's right. My eldest daughter brought back so many things for me the last time she visited. She wouldn't stop chirping about her life and cultivation at the Heavenly Sword Sect."
"And how well her senior brothers and sisters treat her."
An auntie next to him chimed in, her face filled with happy memories.
Chen Zhou took everything in.
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
If the Heavenly Sword Sect were like the White Jade Sword Sect—controlled by false Buddhas who devoured people without leaving even a bone—then these children would have no chance of survival.
But if it were a legitimate immortal sect, how could it coexist in the same region as an old dog like the seventh-stage demon king Moon-Swallowing Wolf for so many years without conflict?
One had to remember that Moon-Swallowing was a gu raised by the Ksitigarbha of Great Vows.
So, what role did the Buddhist Aspect of All Beings play in all this?
The Northern Region was indeed strange; Chen Zhou couldn't quite figure it out yet.
Moreover, the state of these villagers was too bizarre.
They appeared to be alive; they had heartbeats, they breathed, and they could even eat and drink.
But in Chen Zhou's evil spirit vision, the life force of every single person was fake.
It was a collection of dead ashes forcibly ignited, kept running by a foreign, golden Buddhist light.
Chen Zhou had seen this power before in the Southern Region, on the person of the Ksitigarbha of Great Vows.
It was... aspiration power.
A twisted, tampered form of aspiration power.
"Interesting."
Chen Zhou set down his teacup. The tea at the bottom had long since gone cold, covered by a thin layer of ice.
"Since tomorrow is the Heavenly Sword Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony, we outsiders would like to join in the fun. Would that be possible?"
"Of course, of course."
Old Man Li couldn't have asked for more. "You esteemed guests should stay in the village. Tonight just happens to be the night we offer sacrifices to the Great Aspiration Buddha to pray for the children to be selected tomorrow. You can all join the worship; it's very effective!"
Chen Zhou remained non-committal.
In the evening, the wind and snow subsided slightly.
Chen Zhou sent Zen Master Wu Hai, Su Xue, and Poison-Wing their separate ways.
"Wu Hai, go and scout the surroundings. See how many villages like this are on the outskirts of the Northern Region and if every village is filled with these living dead."
"Su Xue, take Poison-Wing to the offering site Old Man Li mentioned outside the village. Find out exactly what kind of offerings the Heavenly Sword Sect is collecting."
"Huaishuang, go and probe the depths of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Act carefully and do not startle the snake."
"Yes!"
The group accepted their orders and departed.
Chen Zhou remained alone in Jiuquan Village.
He had originally thought it would be the same as the Southern Region—he would pass through one demon city, flatten it, rescue some of the human-livestock being kept in pens, and finally strike at the source, sacrificing Ksitigarbha to finish the job.
But the Northern Region was truly too strange.
Not only had he not seen any demon cities, but instead, there were villages of humans everywhere, and even immortal sects stationed to fight against wolf demons.
Yet these humans all bore the shadow of the Ksitigarbha of Great Vows' Buddhist dharma.
So what was the old bald ass thinking? Was it a conflict between his left and right brain?
On one hand, he let the Moon-Swallowing Wolf farm human-livestock, but on the other, he protected the souls and life force of these humans, making them immortal so they could cultivate the Buddhist way.
What was the goal?
As the night deepened, the originally noisy village fell silent.
But no one was sleeping.
Chen Zhou concealed his presence and strolled along the small village paths, seeing oil lamps lit in every household.
Through the dilapidated window paper, he could see the villagers sitting cross-legged on their beds, hands pressed together, chanting under their breath.
They were all cultivating.
Following the villagers' chanting, wisps of golden light points flew out from the crowns of their heads, gathering toward the center of the village.
As these light points departed, the corpse spots on the villagers' bodies faded slightly. Although they were still in a state of being living dead, they at least had a bit more of a human aura.
The expressions on their faces became increasingly blissful, as if they were immersed in some sort of ultimate dream of Sukhavati.
Chen Zhou followed the destination of those golden light points to the threshing floor in the center of the village.
A simple shrine stood there.
Inside the shrine was a clay Buddha statue.
The Buddha's face was compassionate, his hands forming a mudra, and he sat atop a lotus throne made of countless human hands.
Ksitigarbha of Great Vows!
Even though it was just a crude clay statue, Chen Zhou would never mistake that unique aura.
"Since I've stumbled upon it, I might as well smash it."
Chen Zhou raised his hand, a ball of pitch-black Hatred Fire dancing in his palm.
Even though he wasn't using his full strength, this Hatred Fire was the origin of the artifact Eternal Calamity Karma-Fire; destroying a mere clay clone node like this would be more than enough.
"Go."
Chen Zhou flicked his finger.
The black flame burned fiercely in the wind and snow, lunging straight for the Buddha statue.
However, just as the flame was about to touch the statue—
Snap!
A greasy, large hand suddenly reached out from the shadows beside it, grabbing Chen Zhou's Hatred Fire with pinpoint accuracy.
Sizzle—
The Hatred Fire burned in the dark hand, making a sound like roasting meat.
But the owner of that hand didn't seem to feel any pain. He even brought his flaming fingers to his mouth, using the fire to roast a large thigh bone he was holding between his teeth.
Phew—
The man took a deep breath of the marrow inside the bone and then exhaled a plume of steam contentedly.
"Fellow Daoist, playing with fire in the middle of the night makes it easy to wet the bed."
Chen Zhou's brow furrowed slightly as he turned to look.
He saw a beggar emerge from the woodpile next to the shrine at some point.
He wore a ragged, patched cassock covered in oil stains and smelling of sourness; he was even filthier than the former Ku Chan.
His hair was disheveled, and his face was so covered in grime that his true features couldn't be seen. He was holding a half-cooked wolf leg, eating until his mouth was dripping with grease.
What was even more absurd was that he was using the offering table of the Ksitigarbha of Great Vows—which the whole village worshipped—as a cutting board for his meat. A rusty kitchen knife lay discarded on top of it.
Chen Zhou pulled back his hand and sized up the strange man who had suddenly appeared.
Although that strike had just been a casual one, for this beggar to catch Hatred Fire with his bare hand meant he was definitely no ordinary mortal.
One had to know that his Hatred Fire could ignore defenses.
Furthermore, he had concealed his presence. While it wasn't an incredibly sophisticated technique, an ordinary person definitely wouldn't be able to see him.
Unless they were like Hong Ling, born with the red trait Linglong Heart, which vastly improved perception.
This person was strange.
"Wine and meat pass through the gut, but the Buddha remains in the heart."
The mad beggar gave a cheeky grin, waving the wolf leg in his hand toward Chen Zhou. "Want a bite?"
"This is a snow wolf I just hunted. It's tender, medium-well, and quite tasty!"
Chen Zhou looked at him with interest. "Who are you?"
In Chen Zhou's eyes, this person was no different from the ordinary villagers—a complete and utter mortal.
"Me?"
The mad beggar pointed at his own nose and let out a loud burp.
"Heh, names aren't important. Just call me Wu Gou."
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