Truth and Falsehood

Foreword:

Do you still remember the rugged road of the past? Long road, weary travelers, and the braying of a lame donkey.

--Su Shi

[Part 1: Crossing the Three Thousand Six Hundred Tribulations]

"Immortals, immortals!"

The spirit finally "remembered" and slapped its forehead, recounting the secrets of the six treasures of the Buddha Sculptor's magical artifact.

"Besides the Bodhi Peeling Tree, there's the Corpse Demon Soul Dissolving Sword, the Blood-Transforming Jade Purifying Bottle, the Ghostly Rotten God Fan, the Blood Jade Guanyin Stone, and the last item is the Buddha Sculptor's signature treasure—the Unyielding Mud Staff in his hand."

Let the spirit and the wolf-dog tell you the story.

"This Soul Dissolving Sword originally belonged to the Dharma Protector Arhat under the Blood Jade Bodhisattva. He cultivated by taking the Elixir of Rejuvenation and created an external avatar. Unfortunately, he was not subject to the discipline of the Great Buddha of Spiritual Light and harbored evil intentions towards the Blood Jade Guanyin Bodhisattva. He was subdued by the combined efforts of the Lingguang Buddha and the Buddha Sculptor, who transformed his essence, blood, bones, and flesh into a magical weapon. When the sword is drawn, it can cause demons to arise in people's hearts and conjure up ghostly flames. It is a weapon that defeats people without a fight."

"The Jade Purification Bottle contains an external avatar of the Great Buddha of Spiritual Light. By throwing in the Rejuvenating Pills and collecting thirty-three of them, one can condense a 'Human-Faced Immortal Pill' with all seven orifices and five senses. In addition, if the dew in this bottle comes into contact with any living thing, that thing will not live long. Within half an hour, it will turn into a pool of pus and blood. After another half hour, the pus and blood will gather in one place, expelling the evil poison of the pill fire, leaving only a round fleshy bead—which the Great Buddha of Spiritual Light calls the 'Spiritual Pearl.' The townspeople can divide and eat it to cultivate a precious inner core."

"The Ghostly Rotten God Fan can ignite evil fire and blow away poisonous miasma. This is how the miasma in Black Wind Ridge comes about. When this fan moves, mad butterflies emerge from the image on the fan, causing plagues wherever they go. If you use some spiritual power to manipulate this treasure, you can fan out flames. Anyone or any animal that smells this poisonous smoke will have their mouth, nose, heart, and lungs charred and rotten after just one stick of incense burning, and they will not survive."

"The Mud-Indestructible Staff is the Buddha Sculptor's natal magic weapon, a treasure wielded by his external avatar (Soul Power). Whenever the staff strikes the rocks and earth, a mountain Grandfather emerges from the ground to help him find spiritual veins and search for spiritual stones. If he encounters a ferocious monster, he can summon the deity within the staff to kill these wild creatures. If the Buddha Sculptor gets angry, the entire Black Wind Ridge will shake violently."

"Including the Bodhi Peeling Tree, these six treasures are also divine artifacts forged from the bones, flesh, essence, and blood of successive generations of presiding Arhats and Dharma protectors who attained Buddhahood in their very lives."

After the spirit finished speaking in fear and trepidation, it knelt on the ground, too afraid to move.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xueming guessed in his heart--

--This Lingguang Buddha cultivates the Primordial Creation Technique should be Judas himself.

To trace the origins of the Primordial Creation Technique, it must be traced back to the primordial essence of a chaotic beast mixed with the blood of a saint. Ultimately, the Wings of Light inherited this "divine gift"—the process of conquering the Seed of Chaos and transforming this terrifying power into their own is the cultivation technique for physical training and spiritual cultivation.

These six magical treasures, except for the treasure vase and the treasure staff, all possess the spiritual power left behind by the puppet henchmen of the Buddha Sculptor.

They either harbored thoughts of betrayal or had lost their usefulness. Even if they had achieved "enlightenment" and possessed an external manifestation of soul power, according to alchemists and Qi cultivators—when the Golden Pill gradually turns red, one can become an immortal—in the end, these people were merely tools in the eyes of the Buddha Sculptor, becoming "incarnated Buddhas."

The meaning of "Buddha in this very body" is that one's flesh and blood become Buddhahood, and one's physical form becomes Buddhahood, transforming from a complete human being into an indestructible object.

If the Jianying Jianxiong brothers had joined the Buddha Sculptor and hadn't met Jiang Xueming, their abundant primordial energy and exceptional talent might have allowed them to cultivate the Hunyuan Creation Technique and eventually become a magical artifact in the hands of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Returning to the function of these treasures, Xue Ming speculated that the fan and sword were tools used to feign supernatural powers, frighten the people of Black Wind Town about disasters, and create elixirs.

The treasure vase and the treasure staff are auspicious divine powers used to suppress evil spirits, search for water and minerals, transform corpses into elixirs, and turn waste into treasure.

The power of the precious tree has already manifested; it can disguise humans and demons, creating monsters with painted skins.

The last gem is the Blood Jade Guanyin Bodhisattva herself, a huge radiant stone that can produce Immortal Honey to make spiritual medicine to relieve suffering and distress; it is an item with immense spiritual energy.

To defeat the Buddha Sculptor, one must not only go up the mountain to kill demons and cut off the heads of Hundred Eyes Great King and Goddess Zhuzhu, but also deal with these six magical treasures. Unexpectedly, such a small mountain town has gathered so many high-value targets.

Even the Wings of Light left in Eureka by the Immortals had never provided such a powerful boost to Kang Que Conqueror before. When the Nameless Ones came knocking on his door, he could only seek the power of Flash Butterfly.

This management method is also extremely brutal and bloody. According to the descriptions of the spirits and Wu Xiuwen masters, the Buddha Sculptor has been acting as an agent for more than three hundred years. During this time, there have been many Dharma Protectors and Altar Cleansing Messengers, who are considered to be highly skilled spiritual beings. In the end, they all could not escape the fate of becoming magical artifacts and attaining Buddhahood in one's own body.

The lifeline and livelihood of Black Wind Town are firmly locked in the hands of the Buddha Sculptor. Those who come later and want to attach themselves to the Lingguang Buddha cannot overcome this cold, hard barrier of power. This is the class pyramid of the feudal era.

As long as the Buddha Sculptor cannot find a way out, cannot advance, cannot become Immortals, and cannot join Judas's alliance, no one in this small Black Wind Town can overthrow him. Anyone with even a hint of rebellion, relying on the Buddha Sculptor Creation Technique cultivated with Immortal Elixir and Rejuvenating Elixir, is nothing but a small fry in front of the Buddha Sculptor's magic weapon.

Xue Ming's mind raced, and a plan came to mind.

These magical artifacts are both the strength and the fatal weakness of Buddha Sculptor.

"Summon the rat-faced doctor."

Upon hearing this, the wolf-dog trembled, feeling both relieved and surprised.

The good news is that this injustice has finally been resolved.

"Just like that? You call me over?"

To its surprise, despite the blood flowing like a river in Zhang Guiren's room, she made no attempt to clean up or cover it up; was she really going to tear off the mask of civility like this and start a huge scene?

Jiang Xueming said in a deep voice, "Go ahead and shout."

The spirit repeatedly refused, not daring to risk such misfortune. "No! No, no, no! I won't go! I dare not go, sir!"

Jiang Xueming had been waiting for those words! He felt confident now.

In the doctor's eyes, this puppy and its dead white wolf brother were probably just two small fry. As the Buddha Sculptor's agent, the doctor would never care about their lives, including their master, the Hundred Eyes Great King, who was also a kind of laborer monster who could be used and discarded at will.

He helped the monster up, and in front of Jianxiong, Jianying, and Wu Xiuwen, he took the Berloberg from the doctor's bag and stabbed it through the monster's neck, penetrating its brain and then exiting from the top of its head.

Berloberg, having finally tasted the blood of the demons and monsters of the Xiabang Continent, was extremely excited. His blade emitted a temperature of over 600 degrees Celsius, scorching the monster to a crisp—it collapsed and died without even uttering a scream, transforming back into a deformed, brown-black dog.

Wu Xiuwen felt a chill run down his spine—if one day Zhang Guiren also despised him and said he was useless, would that knife pierce his Wu Xiuwen?

"Go and call the doctor." Jiang Xueming drew his short knife, wiped away the sticky, smelly blood, and said to Wu Xiuwen, "You're clever, do you know what to say?"

Wu Xiuwen was still not quite recovered and asked in a daze.

"You swore an oath! You wouldn't kill anyone! Zhang Congfeng! You swore an oath!"

The claim of having sworn an oath came when Wu Xiuwen inquired about the previous agreement; he needed some reassurance. He was merely a guide, and since Zhang Guiren insisted on following the rules, he would do his best to help—yet this wolf-dog spirit, even speaking the truth, still couldn't escape death. Was this Zhang Guiren's rule?

"It's not human." Jiang Xueming put on gloves, pinched Xiuwen's cheeks, and kneaded them like dough, trying to bring Xiuwen to his senses. "How can it be considered human? You are the human!"

Wu Xiuwen was still apprehensive, repeatedly muttering, "Yes, yes, yes. I want to be a good person, I want to be a good person."

"Do you know what to say?" Jiang Xueming led Xiuwen to the end of the corridor. They were about to enter the stage, and after walking another fifty feet or so, they would reach the hall to see the doctor.

Wu Xiuwen nodded immediately, his mind clearing. "I understand!"

Jiang Xueming felt completely relieved and stopped resorting to threats and intimidation.

The whip was no longer useful to Wu Xiuwen. He was no longer a beast or an animal; he needed courage, friendship and love, hope and ideals.

"Go ahead and do it, go ahead and say it!" Jiang Xueming patted Xiuwen on the shoulder. "You shouldn't be afraid of demons, demons should be afraid of you!"

"Yes! It should be afraid of me! They should be afraid of me!" Wu Xiuwen's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his courage surged from his dantian. In a moment of rage, the blood in his body rushed to the top of his head, and he saw several soft yet resilient spiritual threads emerge from his hair.

[Part ②: Even the finest gold fears the test of fire]

Jianying and Jianxiong leaned against the porch, still looking worried.

They were reprimanded by Wu Xiuwen and scolded by their benefactor, and they all looked ashamed. They had never expected that the nobleman would kill the monster so directly. They were still in a state of shock and disbelief.

A few minutes passed, just a few short minutes.

Hearing the doctor apologize repeatedly, Wu Xiuwen didn't know what he had said to the doctor.

The steward who brought the beautiful woman bowed and greeted Zhang Guiren, saying flattering things to her.

Zhao Jianying and Zhao Jianxiong couldn't understand it.

What's going on?

"Disaster! Disaster!" The doctor, both laughing and crying, sighed repeatedly, "My old eyes are failing me; I've made a complete mess of this otherwise wonderful thing."

Wu Xiuwen, his face flushed with rage, roared, "You rat spirit, what are you pretending for! Where did you hide all the Mu family's daughters?! It was agreed that ten daughters would come to marry into the family, but how come they all turned into men at the nobleman's bedside? And two dogs too?!"

The doctor lowered his head and looked down, so it couldn't very well argue back.

The idea came from the Buddha Sculptor, and he was responsible for carrying it out; if he didn't do it well, he would be scolded by both sides.

If she were to become enraged and start arguing with Zhang Guiren about these ten lives, what would happen to Goddess Zhuzhu's safe pregnancy?

If he didn't smooth things over and discussed the ten lives with the Buddha Sculptor, would he still be able to continue as a doctor?

If the leader gives an order, it must be done. If it can't be done, it's never the leader's fault, it's the doctor's fault.

Who would have thought that Zhang Guiren had such talented and extraordinary people by her side?

According to Wu Xiuwen, the two Zhao Brothers were exceptionally gifted.

The elder brother, Jianying, possesses keen eyesight and is knowledgeable in yin and yang, as well as destiny and divination. He can see through the disguise of the Bodhi Peeling Tree.

The younger brother, Jianxiong, possesses superhuman strength, making it easy for him to kill Black Bear, wolves, and dogs, and deal with Guling and Jingguai.

These brothers possessed the ability to slay demons and monsters, which allowed them to escape with their lives from Zhao Family Village in Taiguang County.

These ten "beautiful daughters" could fool Zhang Guiren on the stage, but when Zhao Jianying was exhausted and slumped in a chair to rest for a while, and then went to Zhang Guiren's bedroom, these painted beauties could not withstand close scrutiny. In Jianying's eyes, they all turned back to their original forms.

The doctor originally thought that Wu Xiuwen was fully aware of the matter of the Peeling Tree and would take the side of the Buddha Sculptor to say nice things.

But then it thought, since Wu Xiuwen didn't have the ability to understand Yin and Yang or distinguish between ghosts and gods, it was reasonable that he was bewitched by the skin-changing magic.

Just now, Wu Xiuwen pointed at its nose and berated it, pressing it for details about the whereabouts of the ten daughters of the Mu family, repeatedly insisting on arranging a marriage for Zhang Guiren, and using the matter of Goddess Zhuzhu's safe pregnancy as a pretext to pressure it. The creature had no way to express its grievances.

--At Black Wind Ridge, the Lingguang Buddha embodies the two words "morality".

Providing a safe pregnancy for Goddess Zhuzhu is an act of immense moral virtue.

Since Zhang Guiren can do this good deed, then what comes out of Wu Xiuwen's mouth is that he borrowed the moral sword of the Great Buddha of Lingguang to kill the doctor. Such a fierce weapon struck him, leaving him unable to ridicule or deal with it, and he could only bow his head and accept the scolding.

Xue Ming was right, and Xiuwen was right too. They shouldn't be afraid of demons; demons should be afraid of them.

Seeing Zhang Congfeng's innocent and naive face, the doctor felt no resentment whatsoever. He could only discern a hint of astonishment and regret in the noblewoman's expression—it seemed that the Zhang Guiren was truly in love and genuinely wanted to marry into the Mu family and forge a good relationship with Black Wind Ridge.

Thinking of this, the black rat felt a pang of shame, realizing that it had unknowingly incurred Zhang Congfeng's favor.

The doctor immediately asked, "Zhang Guiren, are you alright? Don't blame me for being cynical—this was all the Buddha Sculptor's idea. If those ten blind scoundrels had offended you or frightened you, I would have gone to find the Mu family's daughter again."

Jiang Xueming immediately interrupted, staring in disbelief, and asked, "Ten more?"

"No, no, no! No!" the doctor exclaimed repeatedly, "They are all women, pure gold that fears no fire! I would never dare! I would never dare!"

Wu Xiuwen, standing to the side, sarcastically shouted, "Ten more? You're going to scare my master to death?"

There was something off about calling him "Master" that time.

Jiang Xueming turned around and casually replied, "Do I have the ability to be your master?"

Wu Xiuwen ignored everything and, with his shameless and audacious nature, continued talking to the doctor as if nothing had happened.

"This high-ranking official is going to teach me to read medical books and take me to the Nine Realms! My father entrusted me to him—he's my second father! If you're going to arrange a marriage for Zhang Guiren, I'll avoid suspicion and call him 'Master'! Is that not allowed?"

The doctor didn't ask, so how could he respond to that? He didn't know who he was talking to either, and just gave a blank "Ah."

The mouse couldn't understand it. First it looked at Zhang Congfeng, then it looked at Wu Xiuwen.

Finally, he glanced at the Zhao Brothers Zhao Brothers, but they avoided his gaze, not wanting to meet the demon's eyes.

Jiang Xueming: "Alright, doctor, tell me again what exactly happened?"

"No matter what! If I had known that Brother Zhao had the ability to see ghosts, I wouldn't have dared to use that Peeling Tree to trick Zhang Guiren!" The rat spirit gritted its teeth and admitted its mistake.

Zhao Jianying asked in surprise, "Me?"

Wu Xiuwen clasped his hands and shouted, "Master Zhao is mighty!"

The rat spirit continued, "These two dogs had worked for the Buddha Sculptor; they were quite skilled at serving people and could even use tricks and magic to bewitch—but I never expected that Zhao's second brother would stab them to death with a single blow."

Zhao Jianxiong, taken aback, exclaimed, "Me?"

Wu Xiuwen then changed direction, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and shouted, "Second Master Zhao is truly magnificent!"

The rat spirit bowed deeply and apologized repeatedly.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry, Zhang Guiren. If you wish to see a genuine daughter of the Mu family, I will go and find her immediately, and you can choose any one you like!"

At this moment, Jiang Xueming finally spoke up and made his request.

"Bring me that Bodhi Peeling Tree, let me take a look."

The doctor became alert--

"--Honored one, would you like to see the Bodhisattva's ritual implements?"

Jiang Xueming chuckled, "I was also captivated by these beauties. Back in Xiantai Prefecture, a master once told me that the journey from Sendai to Shangjing would involve 3,600 tribulations—without these brothers, how could a worthless foreigner like me have ever reached Zhuzhou?"

"I also have emotions and desires, I have restless minds, I crave pleasure, and I desire a life of wealth and luxury. When I saw this treasure of yours, I just wanted to look at it and touch it. If I had it, why would I need a daughter of the Mu family?"

"I married a haggard wife, and now I have to serve her at home, living at her mercy every day, watching her mood, and seeing her getting worse day by day, year by year."

"If I could marry someone who never ages or dies, I'd be perfectly content. If I could marry someone who changes every day, never repeating herself, someone with endless charm..."

At this point, Jiang Xueming changed his tone and whispered something in the rat spirit's ear.

"What kind of heavenly life is that?"

"So that's how it is! So that's how it is!" The doctor understood immediately. He no longer denied or doubted, and took a large, blood-red branch from the herb basket. It was the Bodhi Peeling Tree.

"Is it really that miraculous?" Jiang Xueming frowned, a lewd smirk playing on his lips.

At this moment, Wu Xiuwen pointed at Zhao Jianxiong: "I don't believe it! Doctor! You turned him into a monster!"

Before Jianxiong could finish speaking, he yelled, "You motherfucker!"

"Baby, baby! Transform for me!" The rat demon, who loved watching the drama unfold, swung a vine and lashed out.

After being whipped like that, Jianxiong's skin was immediately torn open and his back was bleeding. His body was deformed, and a series of strange cracking sounds came. In just a few breaths, he transformed into the human form of the wolf-dog demon by weaving blood and flesh and changing tendons and bones, just like the face of the demon sister.

"Is it really that powerful?!" Jiang Xueming exclaimed in surprise. "Was that a spell you just recited? Immortal Master, your supernatural powers are truly amazing!"

Upon hearing the words "Immortal Master," the rat spirit, lost in the praise, mistakenly believed that the magic weapon in its hand was its genuine ability—in plain terms, this tool used to do others' work actually thought it had real skills.

"Hahahaha! You flatter me! You flatter me! There's no need for any incantations! It's just a matter of activating my true energy and having my wishes fulfilled! It's all thanks to the treasure! The treasure is truly amazing!"

Jiang Xueming then pointed to the corpse in the bedroom and pressed on, asking, "Can living things transform? Can dead things transform too?"

"Transform! Transform! It's just human skin! Behold my supernatural powers!" The rat demon lashed out with its whip again, and the originally bloody corpse began to be stitched up, transforming into a lifelike beauty with red lips, white teeth, and a peaceful expression, "sleeping" by the bedside.

Jiang Xueming Wu Xiuwen to Wu Xiuwen, Wu Xiuwen then winked at Jianying.

Apart from the panicked "Jianxiong's Sister," the three of them completely surrounded the doctor.

The hissing and squeaking of rats came from the courtyard, and soon the stench of blood filled the air.

After a while, the shifty-eyed "doctor" came out dragging out several corpses and put the basket back on his back.

After he finished applying the plaster to his face, he saw two "beautiful women" walking awkwardly and swaying, pointing at each other and laughing and cursing as they squeezed out of the room.

"Sister! That's not how you walk!" Jianxiong cried out in a sigh.

Jianying transformed into the form of Gu Ling, and angrily scolded—

"I've seen more women than you! You think you can teach me?!"