Upon hearing the Black Bear Spirit's praise, Yuan Ya bared his teeth in a grin. He turned to look at Xiao Hua in the distance—well, perhaps Changling instead—then stepped aside.
"Who dares be so bold?!" After a moment, three to five soldiers in armor ran out, roaring as they came. But when they saw the vicious-looking Black Bear Spirit and Yuan Ya standing coldly beside him, they shrank their necks and hurriedly ran back inside.
Not long after, a group of bald monks in plain monk's robes rushed out from within, weapons in hand.
"Oh?" Xiao Hua was somewhat stunned. Other than their shaved heads and monk's robes, where did these men resemble monks? Every one of them wore a ferocious expression, with savage glints in their eyes. Their muscles were thick and solid, and several even bared their chests, looking exceedingly fierce.
"Are these... monk soldiers?" Xiao Hua suddenly came to a realization and turned to ask Xiao Jian.
Xiao Jian hurriedly replied, "Reporting to Master, that is indeed the case. The Gaza Kingdom was founded upon the Buddhist sect, so the strength of its Buddhist sect naturally lies in monk soldiers! These monk soldiers are similar to Daoist soldiers. They do not study Buddhist scriptures, only Buddhist sect supernatural abilities, and they do not abstain from meat or alcohol."
"Alas, how can this... be the doctrine of the Buddhist sect?" Xiao Hua sighed. "For power, for profit, they have cast away their very foundation!" By now, he understood that these monk soldiers likely followed the path of Protectors, but their cultivation was simply incomparable to that of Buddhist Protectors!
"You there, brat!" A broad-shouldered, thick-waisted monk soldier at the front pointed with one hand, a staff held in the other. "Why did you destroy the stone gate of