Open It Boldly

[Slain a String Hearing Realm creature, gained fifteen years of Dao Cultivation.]

[Slain a String Hearing Realm creature, gained ten years of Dao Cultivation.]

Two icy notification chimes rang out in her mind one after another.

Jiang Yuechu sheathed her blade and shook her head.

Human martial artists cultivated far faster than demons and monsters to begin with.

For humanity, perhaps that was a good thing.

But for her earnings, it truly was not very friendly.

The two String Hearing Realm cultivators combined had not yielded as much as a single demon.

The courtyard fell deathly silent.

Only the two headless corpses continued to gush blood.

Chen Tong and the others were completely dumbfounded.

No...

They had thought that, at most, they would give the other side a show of strength, teach them a lesson, and dampen Baosha Temple's arrogance. That would have been the end of it.

But...

But she had really fucking killed them?!

How did she dare?!

They looked at Jiang Yuechu, hoping for an explanation.

Yet Jiang Yuechu had no intention of explaining herself.

From the very beginning, there had only been two choices.

Either she took their benefits, left, and turned a blind eye.

Or she killed the two men outright.

There had never been a third option.

Could it be that if she let these two go, they would not resent her?

That Baosha Temple would not pursue this matter?

Either way, she would offend them.

Then she might as well kill them outright.

Life was short. She did not bully others, but neither would she ever allow anyone to bully her even a fraction.

Now that she possessed this strength, and had a cheat at her side, she ought to live with that very arrogance!

It was like using a cheat in a game.

Either use it boldly.

Or do not use it at all.

Hesitating and putting on an act—what the hell was the point of using a cheat?!

Without even glancing at the corpses on the ground, she walked straight over to County Magistrate Qian, who lay limp on the floor. Frowning, she raised a foot and gave his bloated body a neither-light-nor-heavy kick.

"Time to wake up."

County Magistrate Qian did not budge. A thread of drool even trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"..."

"This matter has nothing to do with the rest of you. If anyone from Baosha comes to ask, simply tell them the truth."

Seeing that he could not keep up the act any longer, County Magistrate Qian could only slowly come to.

He rose rather awkwardly, straightened his robes, and secretly glanced at the two corpses again. His eyelids twitched wildly.

Jiang Yuechu frowned and said calmly, "Where is that Black Bear now?"

"On... it is still on the mountain..."

"Still there?"

Perhaps because the people from Baosha were already dead and the burden on his shoulders had vanished, County Magistrate Qian immediately began cursing. "My lady! You do not know the whole story! Those bald donkeys arrived in Hexian County yesterday. This humble official thought the Black Bear would show some restraint, but what happened?"

"They went up the mountain, then turned around and came back down!"

"When this humble official asked them why, what did they say? They said that the bear demon was originally a mountain-guarding spirit beast of their temple, and that taking it back required setting up an altar, performing rites, fasting, and bathing. They told this humble official to wait!"

"I say they were just hoping that blind bear would eat a few more people! As though every extra day it ate, they could reap some enormous advantage!"

"..."

Jiang Yuechu understood.

If she had taken the money and left, that Black Bear would likely have remained here for quite some time, "preaching" for them.

"Which mountain?"

"North... North Mountain! It is a dozen or so miles north of the city! There was once a temple on the mountain years ago, but it has long since fallen into ruin. That blind bear has occupied the temple and made it its lair!"

Jiang Yuechu nodded and casually pointed at the two men closest to the corpses.

"You two, deal with the bodies. Everyone else, follow me up the mountain."

With that, she turned and left.

"Yes!"

No one dared hesitate in the slightest. They scrambled after her, tumbling over themselves.

Monk Bujie bent down to pick up the wine gourd that had fallen to the ground, dusted it off, and muttered softly, "Amitabha. Killing and arson bring golden belts; building bridges and paving roads leave no corpse behind... Off we go, off we go, to slay demons and eliminate evil."

Very soon, the courtyard that had just been packed with people was left with only Liu Ke still standing where he was.

A scorching shame burned his face hot.

He had always prided himself on being from a righteous and renowned sect, with chivalry in his heart.

But when truly faced with a colossal force like Baosha Temple, what had he done besides flap his lips?

"Why are you still standing there?"

A cool voice came from the courtyard gate, carrying a trace of lazy impatience.

Liu Ke shuddered violently, as if waking from a grand dream, and looked up.

At the gate, the young woman who had left and returned leaned against the doorframe, watching him at her leisure.

"Still standing there like a door god?" She raised a brow. "Your face keeps turning red, then white. Are you planning to put on an opera for me?"

"I..."

The young woman clicked her tongue impatiently.

"So fussy."

"Hurry up and follow."

Liu Ke took a deep breath, his chest heaving hard several times.

In the end, he slowly lowered that proud head.

"Yes."

North Mountain, ruined temple.

In the open ground before the temple, more than a hundred people knelt in a dark mass.

Above them, an enormous Black Bear sat upright like a man. It even wore a tattered cassock stripped from who knew where, its palms pressed together, its expression solemn and dignified.

"What is suffering?"

"Hunger in the belly is suffering! Having no clothes on one's body is suffering! Seeking yet failing to obtain is suffering piled upon suffering!"

The Black Bear spoke human words, its voice booming like a great bell and echoing through the mountains.

"But do you know where this suffering comes from?"

Everyone below shook their heads in bewilderment.

"Foolish children! Foolish children indeed!"

Master Black Bear shook his head in heartbroken sorrow. "This suffering comes from your greed, anger, and delusion! You crave the rice and meat of this mortal world, rage at the wealth and fortune of others, and obsess over the illusory pleasures of worldly life!"

"Let go! You must let go!"

"As long as you cast aside worldly possessions, devote yourselves to me, and make offerings every day, this seat... this humble monk shall naturally deliver you, letting you be reborn in the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss and enjoy peace and health forever!"

The speech was muddled and nonsensical, utter bullshit from start to finish.

Yet those foolish men and women below listened as though intoxicated and entranced, knocking their heads against the ground like pounding garlic.

"Master speaks the truth!"

"I understand! I understand!"

Seeing the scene below, the Black Bear grew increasingly pleased with itself. After putting on a profound air and spouting a few more lines, it waved a paw.

"That will be all for today. Disperse. Remember to come early tomorrow; do not delay your cultivation."

The crowd gave profuse thanks and dispersed, looking back every three steps.

Only after everyone had gone did the Black Bear slowly rise. It tore off the bothersome tattered cassock and swaggered into the temple's rear hall.

Inside the rear hall, a meditation room had been tidied spotlessly clean.

It dropped its huge body onto the soft bed and let out a comfortable breath.

"Fuck, Big Brother really knows how to use his brain."

It grabbed a chunk of meat from the table—meat from some creature it was impossible to identify—and stuffed it into its mouth, mumbling indistinctly.

Back when it had been a demon in the mountains, its life had been utterly miserable.

Not only did it have to fight other demons and monsters over territory and blood food, it also had to stay on edge every day, terrified that one day the mad dogs of the Demon Suppression Office would come sniffing up the mountain.

How could that compare to now?

All it had to do was wear a cassock, raise Baosha Temple's banner, flap its lips here, and spout a few nonsense lines, and endless offerings would deliver themselves to its door.

Even when it ate people, those bald donkeys from Baosha Temple would wipe its ass afterward.

Not even immortals could make it trade these days away!

"Mm... I'll stay another seven or eight days, squeeze all the fat and oil out of this area, then return to Baosha Temple. I've eaten so much this time; it should be enough to digest for a while."

The Black Bear gnawed on meat as it calculated.

Just then.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone lightly knocked on the door.

"Master."

"Come in."

A skinny old man pushed open the door and entered. He was the very one who had knocked his head most loudly among the crowd earlier.

"Master, today's lesson..."

"Oh."

As if only just remembering, the Black Bear casually said, "Have Wang Mazi's newlywed young wife come."

The so-called lesson was for it to personally enlighten human women, awaken their worldly bodies, then devour their flesh and blood.

"This..." A trace of difficulty appeared on the old man's face. "Master, Wang Mazi's wife... yesterday, you already... opened her light..."

"Mm?"

The Black Bear frowned.

The old man trembled in fright and hastily changed his words. "But! But do not worry, Master! That woman has a younger sister, and she is even more delicate and lovely than her elder sister! This old man will go have him send her over at once!"

"Go."

The Black Bear waved a paw impatiently.

As though granted a great pardon, the old man scrambled and crawled out.

Only the Black Bear remained in the meditation room.

It extended its scarlet tongue and licked the grease from the corner of its mouth, its eyes brimming with lewd desire.