Chen Xu and his three disciples continued their journey south.
After passing a small village, they saw a large city appearing in the distance before they had traveled much further.
A long queue had formed in front of the city gates, consisting of servants entering the city to perform hard labor for the lords. The city guards stopped them one by one to verify their permits.
Above the city gate, the two characters for Liuqing were hung high, gleaming somewhat piercingly under the sunlight.
"Number Three."
"Present."
"I see this horse is tired. Unload this benefactor and tie him up with the reins."
"Yes."
Upon receiving the order, Bone Guard Three acted immediately. He reached out with his massive hand, grabbed the one-eyed man by the head, and hoisted him up. With his other hand, he grabbed the reins and wound them loosely around the man's neck.
"Good. Let us go and enter the city."
The four people and two horses walked toward the city gate.
"Boss! Look over there."
A city guard spotted Chen Xu's group. This strange combination immediately caught his attention.
The captain on duty looked up, squinting his eyes as he peered toward Chen Xu. After a quick glance, he hurriedly turned his head and retracted his gaze, calling over several nearby guards at the same time.
"Listen up. When those four people and two horses from the north come over, all of you are to act as if you see nothing. Do you hear me!"
"Yes! But Boss, they clearly look suspicious. If we don't stop them, won't we be blamed later?"
Hearing his subordinate's question, the guard captain slapped him across the face and said fiercely, "Do exactly as I say!"
The struck subordinate did not dare to talk back and could only lower his head with a quiet response. The others followed suit, dispersing and returning to their posts.
The guard captain then quietly walked to a corner to hide.
In that brief glance earlier, he had seen everything clearly. He didn't know which temple the monk hailed from, but the horse dragging the man belonged to the Wa family, and the person being dragged across the ground was also wearing Wa family attire.
Having served as a guard captain for many years, he knew very well that these people were not coming with good intentions.
He had no desire to block a disaster meant for the Wa family. Although the Wa family was the largest on the surface in Liuqing City, the actual power was held by the Ba family. The city lord's influence was the influence of the Ba aristocratic clan.
Chen Xu and his group ignored the long queue outside the gate and walked straight inside.
The guards, having been warned, acted as if they saw nothing and remained silent. Seeing the guards in such a state, Chen Xu did not intend to make things difficult for them.
Upon entering the city, Chen Xu's gaze was drawn to a temple nearby. To be precise, it was a mud statue in front of the temple.
The mud statue was about half a meter tall, crudely made with blurred features, making it almost impossible to tell which Buddha or Bodhisattva it was meant to represent.
In contrast, the temple gate beside it was decorated with gold patterns and featured thick mahogany doors.
It was not even comparable to the large, square jade stones on the ground.
This was likely the Doorway Buddha that Hou Er had mentioned.
Looking at the blurred face of the mud statue, a thought occurred to Chen Xu.
These mud statues used by the South Realm temples to deceive the servants were quite convenient for him.
He turned to Xuan Chu and gave him instructions, telling him to find out how many temples were in Liuqing City and how many Doorway Buddhas there were.
Xuan Chu nodded and turned to leave.
It was said that the Buddha had no fixed form, but how could a formless Buddha allow the faithful to gaze upon it? Since the temples of the South Realm refused to give these Doorway Buddhas a defined appearance, Chen Xu would gladly accept them.
"Horse, you and I have no grievances or enmity. Unfortunately, I am a stranger in a strange land, so I must trouble you to lead the way."
After saying this, Chen Xu signaled Bone Guard Three to act.
Bone Guard Three extended a finger and poked the horse's rump.
The horse let out a high-pitched neigh of pain. It stomped its hooves violently and then bolted away, dragging the one-eyed man behind it.
"Let's go. We'll follow it." Chen Xu, his two companions, and the horse followed closely behind.
The horse truly did know the way. After twisting and turning through several intersections, it led the group to a large manor.
The guards at the manor entrance saw a horse galloping toward them and raised their guns, chambering rounds and aiming.
"Wait, that looks like our horse."
One of them looked through his scope and recognized the decorations on the horse, speaking up to warn the others.
"The one being dragged behind is the captain of the ninth squad!"
"The ninth squad? Didn't they just take a mission this morning to prepare the main ingredients for the flesh banquet tomorrow night for the Voodoo Cult and the Ba family?"
"Something's wrong. Xiao Liu, go report to the butler. Tell him something happened to the ninth squad, and only the captain and a horse made it back."
"Yes, Captain."
Xiao Liu lowered his rifle and ran quickly toward the side gate at the other end of the manor.
The main gate was only for the lords of the aristocratic clans or those who had received recognition. Guards like them could only enter and exit through the side gate at the other end.
Xiao Liu was very fast. He ran to the corner, made a left turn, followed by a roll through the low side gate. He stood up, brushed off the dust, and hurried inside.
On the other side, the injured horse had already dragged the one-eyed man to the main gate.
The guards stepped forward and grabbed the reins, wanting to release the one-eyed man. However, the horse had been suppressed and startled the entire way. At this moment, it only wanted to return to the stables quickly, so it thrashed about and resisted.
The guard captain glanced at the blood and the hole in the horse's rump. He drew a long blade from his waist, cut the reins, and then opened the gate to let the horse run inside on its own.
The current head of the Wa family was extremely fond of horses. There were five horse pastures in the manor alone. Horses could enter through the main gate, but the guards could not.
After dealing with the horse, he turned to look at the one-eyed man on the ground.
"Old One-Eye, can you still talk? How did you end up like this? Your arm is gone. What about the other brothers? Don't tell me they're all gone too."
The one-eyed man heard the familiar voice and opened his eyes. He looked at the guard captain, his lips moving slightly. "Watch out for the monk."
"Monk? What monk?"
"Amitabha. This poor monk is Sanzang, and I have come to demand an explanation from the Wa family!"
Chen Xu's voice came from the distance. He used his mental strength to simulate the use of internal qi to broadcast his voice.
The sound was like thunder, echoing for miles.
Inside the Wa family manor, a man with a bare chest and loose hair was lying on a wooden chair.
Hearing Chen Xu's thunderous words, he opened his eyes.
"Sanzang? Pu Tu, is there a monk named Sanzang in Liuqing City?"
"Master, Pu Tu has never heard of one."
"Then he must be a monk from elsewhere. To dare cause trouble at my Wa family manor, which temple does he belong to?"
"Master, I heard that conflicts between the Voodoo Cult and the Buddhist sects have been frequent lately. Could it be that those monks heard you were hosting a flesh banquet for the Voodoo Cult tomorrow and came specifically to cause trouble?"
"Hmph! Am I, Wa Long, so easy to provoke?" Wa Long stood up from his chair. "Do they think the South Realm is the same as it was a hundred years ago? Monks? Buddhist sects? Heh. Pu Tu, take some men and dispose of this monk."
"As it happens, we are still missing a main ingredient for tomorrow's flesh banquet."
"Yes."
Pu Tu complied and turned to leave.
"By the way, take Xiao Si with you. He is already six years old. It is time he saw some blood."
"Yes."
...
"Which temple do you crazy monks come from? This is the Wa family manor. If you want to go mad, do it elsewhere. Otherwise, even your temple won't be able to protect you."
Chen Xu's noise-making behavior immediately made the guard captain bristle.
This monk had caused such a huge commotion as soon as he arrived. If the master inside the manor was disturbed, he, as the guard captain, would not escape punishment.
Chen Xu ignored him and continued to shout loudly.
"This poor monk will only wait for three seconds!"
"Three."
"Two."
"Where did this stinking monk come from, daring to cause trouble at my Wa family manor!" a child's voice came from behind the gate.
The gates opened, and the Wa family guards swarmed out, surrounding Chen Xu's group.
The last to step out was a child less than a meter tall. He was small, but his presence was significant. He held his head high, his eyes bright as he looked at Chen Xu.
He extended a finger and pointed at his own shoes.
"Consider yourself lucky. I am in a good mood today. Come over here and lick my shoes clean, then cut out your own tongue and knock out your teeth. If you do that, I will let you leave!"
Hearing this, Chen Xu laughed.
"Hahaha! Interesting! This is too interesting!"
Since Chen Xu had started using his cheats, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Ever since he was specially recruited into the Dragon Seed Program, he had held the reputation of being the top person there. Those in the same year feared him, and his seniors valued him. His development had been smooth and steady. Although it was fast, it was also somewhat boring.
Finally, today, in this South Realm, he could truly show off!
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