The Xie Jie Blocks the Way

Xiao Ran had just left the Netherworld, unaware that two figures had arrived at the walls of Fengdu City right behind him.

"He's already gone?"

"That kid's pretty lucky. He managed to get in with Meng Po."

"Meng Po?"

The scruffy old man beneath the bamboo hat raised his head and looked at the bald monk beside him.

The monk cradled a small golden-furred beast about the size of a Pekingese. It had a lionlike face and a pair of enormous ears, and every so often it lifted its head as if saying something to the monk.

"That kid's getting bolder and bolder. Smuggling private goods in and out of the underworld was one thing, but now he's starting a wholesale business. Are you sure you won't do anything about it?"

The monk narrowed his eyes at the old man.

The old man in the bamboo hat furrowed his brows at that, but a moment later he said, "He was personally appointed an inspector by His Majesty. What do you expect me to do? Besides, a dignified inspector doesn't even have a single soldier under his command. No one who made their own way from nothing has ever kept their hands clean. Let it go..."

The monk immediately understood. He placed one hand against his chest. "Namo Amitabha. I admire the emperor's benevolence."

With that, the monk smiled and patted the golden-furred beast in his arms. "Did you hear that?"

The beast's eyes darted around, and it understood at once. It leaped out of the monk's arms, then streaked away as a flash of golden light, heading straight for the pharmacy where the Demon Calamity was in the city.

The old man shot the monk a sidelong glare, while the monk kept smiling.

"Don't go too far. If something happens,