Black Mian and White Mian

This is the meaning of tempering.

Without a word, Meng Yuan abandoned his bow and arrows, rushed forward a few steps, leaped from the roof, held the saber in both hands, and slashed at the white goat.

The two Goat Demons had already heard the commotion and were about to turn around and flee, but seeing the steel saber descending from the sky, it was too late to escape. The white goat immediately raised its bone club to block.

Meng Yuan's strength was already great, and this strike was from top to bottom, a strike with all his might. The steel saber met the bone club, and sparks immediately flew. The bone club snapped in response, but the momentum of the steel saber in Meng Yuan's hand did not diminish, actually cutting off a section of the white goat's sturdy forearm.

"Ow—" The white goat cried out in pain, a mournful howl echoing through the dark night.

Scalding hot blood sprayed out, splashing all over Meng Yuan's face.

Meng Yuan ignored it. As soon as his feet landed, he immediately swung the saber horizontally upwards, instantly cutting a huge wound on the white goat's chest. At the same time, the momentum of the saber did not decrease, and it immediately collided with the bone club that the black goat was smashing down.

With a bang, a great force came, and Meng Yuan's arm was numb from the shock. However, he could already see that although the black goat's strength was slightly superior to his own, its agility was insufficient, and its moves were not systematic.

Just like Tie Niu during a group fight!

At this moment, the white goat was not dead, but it had already lost its fighting ability. The black goat bleated a few times and advanced, waving its bone club.

This black goat demon had a large body and ample strength. When it swung the bone club, only afterimages remained, causing gusts of wind-breaking sounds.

Meng Yuan saw clearly that if he was hit or grazed by the bone club, he would definitely not fare well.

Seeing that he couldn't finish it quickly, Meng Yuan retreated two steps and unleashed the Gale Wind Saber Technique again, wielding the steel saber so that not even water could splash in. Relying on his agile footwork, he only used fifty percent of his strength to dodge and maneuver, occasionally adding another strike to the already severely injured white goat.

The advantage of the Gale Wind Saber Technique was its speed and swiftness, like wind and lightning. Its disadvantage was that it was not as heavy and fierce as a horizontal slash or a powerful chop.

In other words, the Gale Wind Saber Technique sought to kill with one blow. If that failed, it would be like cutting meat with a dull knife, slowly inflicting more wounds on the enemy.

As expected, after fifteen minutes, the white goat demon's blood flowed all over the ground. And the black goat, not knowing how to conserve its strength, already showed signs of fatigue.

Meng Yuan immediately used all his strength and circled around the black goat, attacking.

Before long, he had added several saber wounds to the black goat. Although not fatal, they could damage the enemy's morale. If this continued, the black goat was bound to lose.

Thump!

The black goat suddenly dropped its club and knelt down, kowtowing, "Good man, spare my life!"

Meng Yuan didn't believe it at all and immediately retreated two steps, holding the saber in front of him.

As expected, the black goat was in a kneeling and kowtowing posture, but suddenly its legs exerted force, and in an instant, it burst out with immense power, charging towards Meng Yuan like a comet hitting the moon, with its two large horns leading the way.

In a flash, Meng Yuan knew he couldn't dodge, so he simply abandoned the steel saber and grabbed the goat's horns with both hands.

Feeling the immense force coming at him, Meng Yuan pressed down on the goat's horns with all his might while retreating repeatedly. After deflecting fifty to sixty percent of the force, he immediately lowered his body, sinking his strength into his waist, gritting his teeth and twisting the goat's horns with force, flipping the black goat over forcefully. Then, he knelt down firmly on the black goat's neck.

The black goat's limbs thrashed about, but it could no longer resist, only bleating incessantly, "Good man, I'm really surrendering this time!"

Meng Yuan ignored it, only increasing his strength.

"As expected of someone from a gelding background, you're good at dealing with livestock." Nie Yannian said with a smile as he jumped down from the roof, waving his hand to signal Meng Yuan to get up.

Meng Yuan didn't say a word, got up, and wiped the foul-smelling blood and sweat from his face. Seeing his clothes dirty and torn, and the inner garment Jiang Yatou had given him also stained with blood, he kicked the goat's head twice in anger.

"It's its blood, not mine," the black goat said aggrievedly.

Meng Yuan knew he had kicked the wrong one, but he didn't change, "I'm kicking you!"

"What's your name?" Nie Yannian saw the black goat still arguing while kneeling on the ground, so he stepped on its head.

"Its name is Black Mian," the dying white goat said.

"Then you're White Mian, right?" Nie Yannian looked at the white goat.

"How did you know?" The black goat asked in confusion, its head still on the ground.

"What a ridiculous name! Where are you from?" Nie Yannian cursed with a smile.

"Peach Blossom Ridge," the black goat said honestly.

"Who killed the man and woman in the village last night?" Nie Yannian asked.

"It was Wolf One," Black Mian said.

"Why did Wolf One kill people?" Meng Yuan asked.

"Wolf One said that those who violate others' wives and daughters and commit adultery should all die," White Mian said.

"Good heavens! His character is ten thousand times better than mine!" Nie Yannian cursed with a smile, then asked, "Then why did you come to steal medicine and dogs?"

Black Mian was very docile at this moment and quickly said, "As soon as the eggs were distributed, the fellow Daoists stopped coming to listen to the lectures. The Venerable told us to get some meat and medicine to distribute before the Peach Blossom Gathering."

Well, well! Relying on distributing eggs to attract people to listen to lectures, it sounds like a pig-butchering scheme no matter how you listen!

Meng Yuan took out a piece of coarse cloth to wipe his steel saber, thinking that these demons were not entirely foolish; some of them had systematic ways of doing things.

"Peach Blossom Gathering? What is that?" Nie Yannian became interested and squatted down to ask.

"Great Tail Venerable said that the Peach Blossom Gathering is a great assembly to promote Daoism and Buddhism and save all sentient beings!" Black Mian said.

Nie Yannian stood up and stopped talking. Meng Yuan also became much more serious, and Ren Debiao's eyes widened.

Qing Kingdom had always respected Confucianism and Daoism and suppressed Buddhism. Throughout the entire kingdom, only Peaceful Prefecture had monks, and that was because they had contributed greatly during the founding of the country, allowing them to remain.

In other places, the propagation of Buddhism was strictly prohibited, the movement of Buddhist monks was strictly prohibited, and the establishment of Buddhist temples was even more forbidden.

At this moment, this Black Mian was talking about a Peach Blossom Buddhist Gathering, a Great Tail Venerable, and promoting Daoism and Buddhism. This matter was clearly not small.

"Why are bald donkeys involved again?" Nie Yannian frowned, as if recalling past events.

Meng Yuan remained silent, and Ren Debiao also lowered his head without speaking.

Nie Yannian gave a look, and Ren Debiao was still confused, but Meng Yuan kicked Black Mian.

"Come with me!" Meng Yuan grabbed the black goat's horn.

He took Black Mian into the room, leaving White Mian outside, to interrogate them separately.

After asking in detail about the Peach Blossom Buddhist Gathering and comparing their stories, it was clear that the two Goat Demons' accounts were roughly the same.

It turned out that the Peach Blossom Buddhist Gathering was held at Peach Blossom Ridge, the hometown of Black Mian and White Mian. It was in the mountains south of the medicinal herb farm, about ten li deep.

As for Great Tail Venerable, he was an old yellow-haired wolf. He had two attendants under him, also Wolf Demons, named Wolf One and Wolf Two.

The three wolves came from who knows where, but they occupied Peach Blossom Ridge, set up an altar to preach the Dao, propagated Buddhism, and even took Black Mian and White Mian as thugs.

Those who attended the lectures were mountain and wilderness spirits from the surrounding area, most of whom had developed intelligence and could understand speech.

There were quite a few spirits; fifty or sixty would come when eggs were distributed, but only thirty or forty when lectures were given. However, most of the spirits had no combat power, similar to Grandmother, and were mostly ignorant.

After consolidating the information, Meng Yuan remained silent. Whether to report this to the authorities or take another approach depended on Nie Yannian's decision.

Nie Yannian spat on the ground and said, "According to the stupid goats, if they don't return this morning, that Great Tail Venerable will become alert."

This meant they planned to raid the Peach Blossom Buddhist Gathering!

According to Black Mian and White Mian, Great Tail Venerable had displayed Buddhist divine abilities and should be following the Buddhist path. As for the two attendants, Wolf One and Wolf Two, they were Martial Warriors.

"Master Nie, should I ride back to the city quickly and gather some people?" Ren Debiao asked.

Meng Yuan didn't want to get involved in anything related to the Venerable anymore. He had already performed a meritorious service on this trip, bringing back the Jiang family grandfather and granddaughter was a sure thing, and he would also receive silver.

"The city gates only open when it's completely light. Going back and forth will be too late," Nie Yannian smiled, saying confidently, "It's just a Seventh Rank Buddhist Demon, plus two Ninth Rank Wolf Demons. As for the other spirits, they are not worth worrying about!"

He had made his decision.

Since that was the case, Meng Yuan didn't think further. Anyway, listening to a Buddhist gathering could be considered broadening his horizons.

They tied up the black and white goats and handed them over to the farm manager for safekeeping. The three of them quickly ate some hot soup and food, took a few flatbreads, and set off.

At this moment, the sky was faintly lit. They left the medicinal herb farm and headed south, entering the mountains after walking two li.

The mountain path was winding, with withered leaves underfoot. Although the trees had sprouted green, a sense of desolation and gloom arose after going in a few hundred zhang.

Those who could frequently enter and exit such places were either old herb farmers or old hunters. Ordinary people would definitely get lost upon entering.

The three of them followed the path indicated by the black and white goats, and it was quite smooth.

After an hour, they had explored about ten li, winding back and forth.

After crossing another mountain ridge, it no longer felt so cool, but had a slightly warm sensation.

Looking ahead, they saw a gentle slope below the mountain ridge, covered with many peach trees. They had sprouted buds but had not yet bloomed.

There was smoke from cooking among the peach trees, but they couldn't see the situation inside clearly.

"This is Peach Blossom Ridge. There's indeed something mysterious inside," Nie Yannian sneered. "Some people in our Qing Kingdom never see a bald monk in their entire lives. Today, you two will see something new!"

They crept forward and entered the peach tree grove, where they saw shadowy figures ahead and faintly heard voices.

Meng Yuan was very cautious and had been guarding against spirits keeping watch, but he didn't encounter a single one along the way.

It was clear that the people organizing this Buddhist gathering were also a makeshift group.

They carefully walked forward another hundred paces and saw a mountain stream by the edge of the peach tree forest ahead.

Many spirits were gathered on the other side of the mountain stream.

There were sika deer, black bears, roe deer, pheasants, wild donkeys, foxes, and so on, totaling forty or fifty. These spirits were clearly not highly cultivated and had not transformed, but they had developed intelligence.

About a zhang in front of the spirits was a bluestone platform, on which a Wolf Demon was sitting cross-legged.

The Wolf Demon was wearing a black Buddhist robe inside and a worn-out large red kasaya outside. He had Buddhist beads around his neck, held a string of bodhi beads in his hand, and a tall Zen staff was stuck beside him.

The Wolf Demon was huge, sitting cross-legged he was still six or seven feet tall. Although the kasaya covered his body shape, his muscular build was still visible.

However, looking at the fur on his exposed wolf head, it was not shiny and smooth, but dry and shedding, like a bald head.

This Great Tail Venerable, with a wolf head, dirty and torn clothes inside and out, and a hint of compassion in his eyes, actually had a bit of the demeanor of an ascetic monk.

Standing on either side of the Venerable were two tall Wolf Demons with smooth and shiny fur, who were undoubtedly Wolf One and Wolf Two.

"Silence! The Venerable is about to give a lecture!" Wolf One, beside Great Tail Venerable, spoke.

The noisy spirits quieted down, but an old ox asked in a loud voice, "Wolf One, what kind of pills are you giving out today? My son has bloating and is spitting fire 'dudu dudu', he's waiting for the medicine!"

"We'll talk about it after the lecture, it's guaranteed to cure your son's illness!" Wolf One said.

Upon hearing this, the spirits started chattering again, but they quieted down when they saw Wolf One glaring at them.