A young monk came strolling over, carrying a lantern.
He came up to Hou Niao, planted the lantern in the ground, and studied him carefully, looking somewhat vexed.
"This humble monk came for nothing!"
Hou Niao smiled. "Not at all. This humble scholar still needs your protection, Master!"
The young monk sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and said nothing, clearly unwilling to speak to this fellow from the Quanzhen Sect. He had come to save someone, only to discover that the man had abilities of his own and had no need of his boundless compassion.
The Shan Kingdom did not bar cultivators of other traditions from entering. On the Brocade Continent, cultivators came and went freely. Thus, even in a place like Yinling, there were plenty of ox-nosed Daoists slaying demons and defending the Way, compassionate monks, and cultivators who came to gather yin souls for their cultivation methods.
This was also why ordinary people could generally survive here even though the Quanzhen Sect had stationed little strength in the area.
Coming to Yinling was itself a form of cultivation.
Seeing that the young monk plainly did not want to talk, Hou Niao, bored out of his mind, asked, "Monk, since you're already here, why not subdue demons and defend the Way?"
The young monk did not even open his eyes. "All lives are lives, and all suffering is suffering. Peaceful coexistence is enough. They will disperse at dawn, so why press them so aggressively?"
"And leave them to prey on defenseless mortals again? The Buddhist Sect's compassion really knows no bounds!"
As Hou Niao spoke, he hurled his torch at the Soul Ghosts nearby. That throw instantly overturned the hornets' nest.
The young monk's lantern had a certain power to cow Soul Ghosts and demon creatures, stemming from