The Ascetic Monk

Foreword:

A natural fairy cave, with boundless beauty found on the perilous peak.

[Part 1: Becoming a Demon on the Spot]

"You ate it?" Wu Xiuwen asked in surprise, "You just ate it like that?"

The Wood Virtue Star Lord entered Di Jiang's stomach, and there is no record of him ever vomiting it out.

Next, the ferocious beast patted its rear end, lazily straightened up from the cloth bag, stood on two legs like the BOSS, and walked proudly to Jiang Xueming, where it began to tell the next riddle and the next difficult problem.

"The old monkey tastes good, the skin and flesh are chewy, but it gets stuck in your teeth a bit. What are you going to do next, doctor?"

Di Jiang said smugly.

"I counted over a thousand people in Black Wind Town, all of whom are related to me. They look like people, they sound like people, they are people when they are working, threshing and drying grain, they are people when they are at home washing rice, cooking and stir-frying beans, they are people when they are teaching children to speak and read, and they are just like people when they go to the market to buy cloth and weave clothes."

"But now, I can't even be a human being anymore."

Zhao Jianxiong understood: with the death of the Wood Virtue Star Lord, Black Wind Town would face extinction.

"--demon!"

The hot-blooded young man picked up a carrying pole to kill Di Jiang, but how could Di Jiang be killed by such a weak and powerless physical attack? Its body was like soft dough; the stick dented when it was hit, and the table was cracked by Zhao Jianxiong's blows, but the hairless beast was not injured. It just bounced back to its original shape after a couple of bounces.

Di Jiang sneered, "What did you call me?"

Zhao Jianxiong: "You beast! You're worse than a pig or a dog!"

Di Jiang burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! That's right!"

Seeing that Jiang Xueming didn't speak, Wu Xiuwen leaned close to his master and asked in a low voice.

"Master, do you have a plan? Otherwise, how could you be so calm?"

"Not at the moment," Jiang Xueming replied honestly.

Wu Xiuwen's expression changed slightly, from doubt to shock. "If there's no good solution, we can only watch helplessly as the people of Hefeng Town turn into demons. According to you—without the true essence of the Wood Virtue Star Lord to control the Rejuvenating Pills in their bodies, they'll eat people sooner or later."

Zhao Jianxiong cursed, "That bastard! He's always causing trouble for others!"

Di Jiang was overjoyed. "I got it right again! Ah, yes, yes, yes!"

"Don't rush, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush." Jiang Xueming rummaged through the contents of the cloth bag, which contained some dry rations. He then took out some peach shortbread he had brought from Zhuzhou and ate it.

He looks like a hamster when he's gnawing on something, his cheeks puffing out.

Xiuwen sighed for a long time, lamenting his fate, while Jianxiong was furious for a long time.

Only the master remained silent, lost in thought.

Di Jiang kept rambling on and on, knowing that Jiang Xueming couldn't do anything to it or kill it—so it decided to annoy this "immortal" and slowly corrupt the warrior from within.

Once this guy starts to get angry, loses his composure, and is about to break down, it means Chaos's opportunity has arrived.

Some people hate it, despise it, loathe it, and want it dead.

--Naturally, people will seek power, and in this process, countless obstacles will arise.

If blocked by the illusion, the chaotic beast can take advantage of the situation, burrow into the seven orifices, seize control of the body, attack the weakened heart and brain, and gain a mindless puppet.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Di Jiang asked with a grin.

"Starting to have a problem? Why not just poison the well? That way they'll all die and be done with it!"

"Perhaps you still want to keep the younger one? Oh, that makes sense!"

"After all, these kids aren't adults yet, and they don't have any elixir of immortality!"

Chaos whispered in Xue Ming's ear, his face crinkling with laughter.

"Oh my, oh my oh my."

"I ate the Wood Virtue Star Lord!"

"You're not angry, are you?"

"Gunsmith GieGie!~"

This ferocious beast can hear people's thoughts.

--The Qiongqi cat beside Brother Ye Bei also seems to possess this ability.

Speaking of this superpower of mind-reading, the BOSS doesn't have this ability. Perhaps it has been in a state of separation between its mind and body and has lost this talent.

Xue Ming stopped thinking about these miscellaneous things; she already had a good grasp of things.

The old demon Di Jiang gradually lost his mind.

It didn't understand how this little thing could remain calm, so it kept increasing the pressure.

"Are you going to kill someone, Zhang Guiren?!"

"If you ask me, it's better to kill them all. If the big ones turn into monsters, they'll go and eat the little ones too."

"You kept the younger one, just as you said yourself—"

"Ten or twenty years from now, these kids will have grown up into young adults, trained hard and become skilled in martial arts. When you're old and sick, won't they form a group to beat you up like a boss? Can you handle that?"

"And even if I can't beat you, I can't forget or get rid of this grudge. You killed monsters, and no matter how fierce and cruel they were, they were still their parents, uncles, and aunts. In this land of Great Xia, the Divine Sword of Morality has a sharp sword technique called Filial Piety."

"Not avenging one's parents is the greatest act of filial impiety."

"I'm very curious, now that you have no more doubts, how do you plan to fight against this divine sword?"

Xue Ming didn't say it aloud; he knew what was going on.

--Since this chaotic beast can ask this question, it means that its mind-reading ability has limitations, which seems to be the opposite of Qiongqi's.

When they first met Qiongqi, this white cat liked people who told the truth. No matter who lied, it could not hide it from its nose and mouth. It could tell the truth just by sniffing and licking.

When you arrive at Di Jiang's place, you probably can't hide any of your "questions". As soon as you have doubts, think about what to eat today, where to go tonight, or where the toilet is, these questions will be exposed to Di Jiang the moment they arise.

He figured out a solution: his brain stopped thinking, frequently scheduling neural synapses, and the power consumption of the left and right hemispheres coordinating and planning decreased—his IQ returned to its low point, and Di Jiang could no longer fathom his mind.

So that means--

--Meteors seem to be its nemesis.

A Xing rarely dwells on the answers to the questions he asks; he usually just throws up a few words to brush them off.

"Xiuwen, put on my precious robe, take the Peeling Tree, and summon the elders of all the major families in the village. Tell them that the Buddha Sculptor and the Hundred Eyes Demon have been killed by the immortal—and ask them to come and pay their respects to the immortal."

Wu Xiuwen could vaguely guess the answer, but he could only guess part of it.

He dared not ask any questions in front of the ferocious beast, and after receiving the magic weapon, he headed out the door.

"Jianxiong," Jiang Xueming called to another apprentice, "Catch this knife."

Berloberg fell into Jianxiong's hands, and he immediately asked, "Master, what do you want me to do with this knife?"

"Shave my head," Jiang Xueming said, tearing off the canopy of the bed and weaving the white silk curtains into an undergarment, and cutting the black sunshade into a kasaya. Finally, he took the silk-sleeved pillow from the bed, unraveled the gold-stamped thread, and embroidered six coiled dragons on the kasaya.

After he finished doing all that, Zhao Jianxiong had just finished shaving his master's head and trimmed his sideburns and beard little by little.

Upon seeing a bald monk with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes reflected in the bronze mirror, his expression cold and unsmiling, Jianxiong exclaimed, "Master, you are quite handsome. When you arrive in the capital, I'm afraid the ladies of merchants and officials will all want to become Buddhists and buy you to preach in their homes—to become a bonded monk!"

Di Jiang burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! This kid is mocking you! He's saying you're a gigolo!"

"Otherwise what? How many female demons have died on this face?" Jiang Xueming was very self-aware, always having some idea of his own appearance. "Do you know how much sacrifice I made to kill Zhuzhu this time? Since ancient times, only beautiful women are allowed to use their beauty to lure enemies into their camps? Are men ashamed to do this? Is it wrong to do it?"

Zhao Jianxiong blushed. "It's not that I'm making fun of you, Master, it just feels a bit strange."

"You're quite handsome too. I'll teach you how to kill a succubus sometime. Don't think this is too simple." Jiang Xueming explained, "Using a honey trap is a risky move. You have to be the sheep first, then the wolf—if you don't get a chance to tear off this sheep's skin, you'll be thrown into a hot pot and boiled, with no chance of escaping."

That makes some sense.

--Zhao Jianxiong thought about it carefully. His master had entered Guanyin Cave alone, and there were two little demons guarding the cave. Goddess Zhuzhu was protected by a celestial fetus in her belly. It was unbelievable to Jianxiong that his master was able to seize the opportunity to kill these demons.

"Speaking of this, there's another very strange rule I need to tell you." Jiang Xueming held up the bronze mirror, carefully grooming his face and adjusting his expression, trying his best to appear compassionate and kind, fully embodying the spirit of a monk before he was satisfied. "People must have a sense of shame. This rule, I think, is wrong, completely wrong."

Zhao Jianxiong asked in confusion, "What's wrong with it? My parents and older brother all taught me to know shame before striving for improvement, and not to be a shameless person. When we encounter shameless scoundrels, we should all curse them for being shameless."

"In the eyes of us cultivators, shame is the most useless, the lowest level of emotion, the most garbage energy." Jiang Xueming would twitch the corners of his mouth, pinch his nose, and rub the skin at the corners of his eyes, posing with a natural, slightly smiling expression.

"Does this 'knowing shame before acting bravely' mean that if one doesn't know where their shame lies, they can't be brave?"

"Since shamelessness can gain an advantage and bring benefits, then under the same competitive conditions, continuing to uphold one's noble character and conduct will put one at a disadvantage and subject one to the sword of morality—which, for those who uphold morality, is a form of harm, or even murder."

"In everything, one should first acknowledge one's own faults and constantly remember one's shame—fundamentally negating one's appearance, upbringing, studies, and martial arts skills. Over time, this will lead to a perverted state."

"Whenever the topic of men and women comes up, you feel ashamed, thinking it's dirty yet sacred. If someone uses it to attack you, how will you fight back?"

"You know that excrement is filthy, poisonous, and foul-smelling. You avoid it like the plague, feeling ashamed even from a tiny bit of it. But if you encounter an enemy hiding in a latrine or a women's toilet—wouldn't you chase after them? Would you hesitate?"

"Jianxiong, the moment of life-or-death battle has arrived. If you hesitate, you're not far from death."

"Shame is meaningless to us. Anyone who tries to deceive you with it is trying to make you follow their rules, using their moral sword to cut you and bleed you dry."

"The farmhand was insulted by the old landlord—who said he was shameless, doing so little work every day, it was truly disgraceful, it was like cutting off his own flesh and bleeding him dry."

"Parents beating and scolding their children at home—saying they are shameless, useless, and only good for producing excrement—is like cutting off their own flesh and blood, draining their parents' lifeblood."

"The emperor speaks of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher—anyone who doesn't follow these rules is considered a traitor, becoming a shameless and immoral person. There will be no place for shameless people in the world. The emperor will naturally live in peace and tranquility."

"But listen carefully, who dares to call the Emperor shameless? It seems that the sword of morality has always been free to do whatever it wants with its wielder; who is right and who is wrong is determined by the one who wields the sword."

At this point, Xue Ming finally finished fixing her hair.

He clasped his hands together and put on the kasaya.

"Amitabha."

[Part②·Monk]

For a moment, Zhao Jianxiong was somewhat dazed and found it difficult to comprehend this logic.

He had never been to the Nine Realms. Although he had broken through the illusion, he had not crossed the gap of several hundred years. What his master said to him was considered heresy in Xia Bang.

But if he were to actually say that his master was a demonic monk, perhaps his master wouldn't care at all.

Given his temperament, the master might just laugh it off and readily admit it.

Perhaps in his master's eyes, Xiabang was a desolate wilderness teeming with demons and devoid of morality.

"Walk."

Jiang Xueming changed into a new pair of shoes. His priest's robes were worn out, and the soles of his shoes were worn flat. Now, only a few dead farmers in the alcove had left him some inheritance, including a few pairs of cloth shoes.

Zhao Jianxiong asked, "Where to?"

Xue Ming embraced the old demon Di Jiang, tucking him into the wide sleeves of his cassock. "Let's go to the hearth."

Zhao Jianxiong was a little taken aback. "Master, you've become less talkative."

Jiang Xueming replied with a forced smile.

"--Monks don't lie, they speak less, so naturally they deceive fewer people. They should give Buddha some face, after all."

Zhao Jianxiong was amused by Zhang Guiren's strange expression.

He never expected his master to have this side to him.

--Just like when Meteor saw the cheerful Xue Ming back then.

The happiest and most at ease time for Jiang Xueming was after he had slaughtered the monster.

"Which one is Zhang Guiren? Which one?"

The hearth was surrounded by people, all following Wu Xiuwen.

Last night, they watched helplessly as the Buddha Sculptor was blasted to death by a terrifying "heavenly fire." They scattered like birds and beasts, and then this white-robed immortal, who looked like a martial god, came to clean up the battlefield.

Now that Wu Xiuwen is wearing his precious armor and standing among the townspeople, they regard him as their new mountain king. Hearing that the new king has a master, they naturally respect this "immortal sect" even more and want to start a new worship—since there is no Buddha Sculptor or Lingguang Buddha, they have to find something to protect ordinary people's homes.

A fair-skinned monk wearing a black kasaya with a dragon motif walked in from the southwest of the hearth; it was Jiang Xueming.

He walked briskly and steadily, with long strides, nimbly stepping over the low stools— Di Jiang in his arms began to get restless and impatient.

The old demon seemed to have guessed what this guy was up to, but it had no way to resist. It was held tightly in Fragrant Dream's arms and couldn't make a sound.

"Amitabha."

Jiang Xueming found the Priest Elder in the town who used to deal with the Buddha Sculptor. The family was also the largest in the town, with the loudest slogans and the most offerings.

No one dared to ask a question, so they pushed forward one of the Priest Elder as a representative.

"What's your name?" Jiang Xueming narrowed his eyes, looking like a smiling tiger.

Wu Xiuwen immediately roared, "I'm asking you a question!"

Xue Ming thought Xiuwen was incredibly clever.

--Without needing to be told, the student immediately understood what to do.

"Liu Changgeng! Liu Changgeng! Head of the Liu family! Me! Me!"

The newcomer stammered; his body, already white-bearded and enjoying his twilight years, hunched over, not daring to look the immortal in the eye. He offered the traditional fist-and-palm salute of a martial arts practitioner, but then, feeling it wasn't enough, he tried to kneel down.

Jiang Xueming said, "Get up."

Wu Xiuwen, looking fierce and menacing, tried to imitate his master's kicking technique, hoping to straighten the old man's body, but unfortunately, he couldn't quite get it right.

The Priest Elder, despite being kicked and punched by Wu Xiuwen, didn't lose his balance, even though the Blood-giving Monster's physical abilities far surpassed Xiuwen's. It was rather strange; why did this Martial God General still enjoy fooling around and playing these kinds of jokes?

However, the old man obeyed the order, stood up straight, and dared not kneel—he knew in his heart that the new king did not like kneeling.

Jiang Xueming asked, "What do you do?"

"Master asks you what your profession is and what you do?" Wu Xiuwen shouted.

Liu Changgeng immediately replied, "We have forty mu of paddy fields and eighty mu of dry land. We can just play with our children and grandchildren in the yard, talk about raising pigs and farming, and follow the ancestral methods. Our children and grandchildren won't have to worry about food and drink. I'm old and don't have much to do."

"You won't be able to eat grains anymore." Jiang Xueming spoke the most terrifying thing in the gentlest words, "The Bodhisattva only allows you to eat human flesh, do you have any complaints?"

"Huh?" Liu Changgeng panicked.

This fear quickly spread, becoming a contagious disease among the prominent local gentry.

"Shut up! Anyone who dares to insult the Bodhisattva will be killed! I'll skin them alive and hang them on the gate tower! I'll feed them to the hawks for three days and three nights!" Wu Xiuwen took out half a tattered fire fan from his bag and used a chicken feather as an imperial edict—this time he thoroughly enjoyed being a county magistrate.

"This... this... this..." Liu Changgeng was so terrified that he almost fainted. His wives scooped up the old man and carried the clan leader to the monk, crying, "No! Your Majesty! No!"

Jiang Xueming smiled and asked, "What did you call me?"

"Arhat! Arhat! Guardian Arhat! This won't do!" Liu Changgeng immediately changed his tune, explaining in detail, "Our Hefeng Town just saw off the Hundred Eyes Demon, how can we eat human flesh? Not to mention the imperial soldiers bringing Celestial Masters to suppress bandits and kill demons—the people in our town are all good citizens, and they absolutely do not want to become monsters!"

The poor priests and clan leaders of Black Wind Town are unaware that they have become Blood-giving Monster.

They always believed that the Elixir of Immortality was a good thing, a miraculous medicine to increase strength, and a savior of good fortune, longevity, and health.

Xue Ming didn't want to expose this lie, so he told another one—this chaotic world is a vast web woven from countless lies.

Bound in its web, the spider draws blood, sucks flesh, and dissolves organs, while the prey believes it has transformed from a cocoon into a butterfly.

No one can escape it, no one can run away from it.

"You don't believe me? Then get some grains and eat them." Jiang Xueming said.

Liu Changgeng was just about to do that, to test the monk's true abilities.

--But a message came from the clan early in the morning that the textile merchant and the bricklayer in town were sick. After eating rice soup and glutinous rice balls for breakfast, they were not as energetic as usual and hid indoors, afraid to see the sunlight.

When the work bell rang, several families went out of their homes and immediately went mad. Hair grew from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, making it almost impossible for them to breathe. The hair was initially white, but gradually hardened and turned black. Several bumps also appeared on their heads, as if new eyes were growing, making them look more and more like the Goddess Zhuzhu —turning into a three-headed, six-eyed man-eating zombie, a black-skinned, black-haired monster.

"No! No!" Liu Changgeng hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day, thinking there was a problem with the water source in the village. He never expected that the Bodhisattva wouldn't help them anymore and would even force them to eat human flesh.

"Has someone already gone insane?" Xue Ming asked.

"It is true, it's a case of madness caused by eating grains!" Liu Changgeng waved his hand, and immediately a man carried over a copper cage. This cage was previously used to imprison the beast-like patients in Black Wind Town.

The blood-giving process is always fraught with uncertainty. The townspeople who receive the blessing of the elixir may turn into beastly spider monsters. Whenever this happens, the Buddha Sculptor uses this cage to lock them up and slowly starve them to death, cursing these victims as demons, for not offering enough, for lacking compassion, and for being morally deficient.

They can either say that the spider hybrid is disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust; after all Buddha Sculptor has the final say.

"If you ask me, I have a way to save him." Jiang Xueming took out his magic weapon and deliberately hid it in his sleeve.

Upon hearing this, Liu Changgeng immediately knelt down, leading his clansmen to kneel as well.

Wu Xiuwen cursed fiercely, "You old fool! My master wants you to be his disciple! You think you're worthy?!"

Liu Changgeng immediately stood up, and the clansmen followed suit.

"Definitely! Definitely! This man is the village veterinarian, and in the eyes of the neighbors, he is a reliable and hardworking good man—when any family's cattle or horses are sick or have tumors, they all ask him to come. He gets up before sunrise and doesn't rest until sunset, 365 days a year."

"He has a young son who works alongside him, shoveling cow dung, handling breeding, treating swine and chicken diseases, making veterinary medicine, and caring for the guard dogs—he does it all by himself! He takes care of everything! The work is so demanding that no one is willing to become his apprentice! This young son is supposed to take over his mantle, but without him to teach him, what are we going to do?"

"Besides this little brat, he has two daughters at home. He's the pillar of his family! If the Arhat saves him, the merit will be immeasurable! Immeasurable merit! He will definitely save us! I don't want to be a monster! I don't want to be a monster!"

Jiang Xueming retrieved the Immortal Honey from the Blood Jade Guanyin Bodhisattva. In front of everyone, he found the veterinarian's two daughters, cut their fingers, and let out no more than fifteen milliliters of blood. This was the "human content" standard for White Lady's products and condiments, which were suitable for hybrids of disaster beasts— Shasha could use and eat them, and the child liked them very much.

Since the veterinarian has completely turned into a beast and can never turn back into a human, this is the only way.

The Buddha Sculptor had always instructed that this Immortal Honey was for external application only and never to be ingested. It was mixed with many wild mountain spirits and herbs, also to counteract the medicinal properties of White Lady's products.

Otherwise, if the townspeople disobey and insist on drinking it, it will become poison. The townspeople will go mad and die after drinking it, and even Mu De's true essence magic will not be able to save them.

When Blood-giving Monster consume the same kind of Universal Elixir -like essence as the White Lady, if there are no Homo sapiens genes to repair their DNA and they cannot eat humans, they will suffer from severe bestiality.

Seeing this, Liu Changgeng dared not speak out in opposition. He then saw the veterinarian, who had been lifeless in the copper cage, regain his breath and was about to go berserk again.

The spider-like monster spread its arms, its toes and limbs protruding outwards from its shoulders and armpits, but upon encountering the demonic monk's spiritual pressure, it immediately became docile and quiet.

After feeding them the Immortal Honey, Xue Ming took out the Peeling Tree, held his two daughters' hands, and used the magic weapon to whip their father, forcing them to recognize him.

--The monster slowly turned back into a human.