Senior Brother Rulai

As soldiers guarding the city gates, they encounter some strange and unusual people every year.

Among those disliked by the soldiers, Daoist priests, monks, and bandits from the Xiong State were almost at the top of the list.

It's difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake people, their strength is unclear, and most of them lack integrity, making it hard to ascertain their identities.

Regardless of whether they come from the West, the North, or the South, no one knows what kind of people they are or whether they will do evil.

It's easy to simply ask for people to leave, but the accountability that follows when problems arise is a major headache for the soldiers guarding the city.

Some soldiers were penalized with pay cuts for this, while others were determined to skim off the top, and as long as they skimmed enough, they didn't care about the penalties.

But when soldiers are seeking personal gain, they never expect to hear a few words of "May Buddha bless you." Only real money can get these risky individuals with no integrity through.

Zhang Xuezhou was stuck outside Yanmen Pass. Before long, Wu Chao and the tall, strong monk were also stuck outside Yanmen Pass and unable to enter.

"Buddha... sigh, I actually get a headache just looking at this checkpoint in the East!"

"Why does Senior Brother have a headache?"

"Getting hit will definitely give you a headache!"

The tall, burly monk touched his head, clearly recalling unpleasant memories.

"It seems you were beaten quite badly back then!"

"To be honest, I overestimated myself back then, but you don't know, I ran in the same direction as that guy, and as a result, he beat me all the way back!"

"The whole way? The same road we've traveled for almost half a year?"

"Right!"

The tall, strong monk agreed, which brought a touch of sympathy to Wu Chao's eyes.

"So your greatest strength right now is taking a beating?" Wu Chao asked.

"Whatever is lacking, it needs to be remedied. Being unable to withstand blows is clearly my deficiency. I practice the Diamond Sutra, the Marrow Cleansing Sutra, the Prajna Sutra, the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, the Surangama Sutra, and the Avatamsaka Sutra to address this deficiency. If you, my fellow disciple, also wish to strengthen your physical body, you can practice these scriptures with me as well," the tall and strong monk replied.

"Then forget it. I love what I do, and I just enjoy practicing the Yin-Yang School's tradition. I'm also willing to bring the Yin-Yang School's tradition into my sect!"

Wu Chao waved his hand, indicating that he could not change his cultivation path.

His refusal made the tall, strong monk sigh. Unable to persuade his junior brother, he could only try to convince the city gate guards.

It wasn't difficult to force their way through checkpoints, nor was it difficult to sneak into the Han Dynasty's territory from a poorly guarded place. The real difficulty lay in the lack of a "gate" like Yanmen Pass as an entrance. They had to break through or sneak into every place, and they couldn't openly enter or leave the cities. If they were discovered, it could trigger a city-wide manhunt.

This will make them hesitant and timid in their actions.

To solve the problem, they clearly need to overcome the first hurdle, rather than leaving the trouble unresolved and seeking solutions elsewhere.

While the tall, strong monk was explaining Buddhist rituals to the gatekeeper, Zhang Xuezhou kept glancing around.

The city gate was clearly not a good place for a reunion, and since he hadn't washed off his disguise, he would also face the trouble of entering the city.

Zhang Xuezhou felt that he would have even more headaches in the future if he got involved with anything Western Sect.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a monk before? Believe me or not, I'll shave your head and gouge your eyes out!"

After being scrutinized by Zhang Xuezhou, Wu Chao's eyes narrowed sharply, and he couldn't help but shout and curse.

This gave the tall and strong monk a real headache.

"Guard, don't let my junior brother's eccentric temperament fool you. He's quick to shout for violence, but Buddhism guides people towards good. He's already reformed under Buddhist guidance; it's just talk!"

"Hey-hey!"

The guard at Yanmen Pass gave a cold, indifferent laugh.

Their premonition proved accurate: there weren't many good people involved among the Daoist priests, monks, and Xiong State.

If you were to line up these people and kill them one by one, at least five out of ten would not be innocent.

The two monks in front of them were not only of questionable origin, but also of extremely bad character. If it weren't for the fact that this tall, strong monk looked somewhat honest and simple, these people would have been thrown out.

"Brother Tathagata, didn't you know some kind of control technique? Control them to death!" Wu Chao shouted, "Make them kneel and beg us to let us pass!"

"Stop fooling around!" Brother Buddha scolded. "You're so unruly, don't blame me for activating the golden headband bestowed upon me by the Master!"

"You're just jealous of me and trying to persecute me. I was just talking, and you want my life!" Wu Chao cried out indignantly. "You definitely want to kill me, the Fifth Buddha's Son, and then inherit the mantle of the sect leader."

"Junior brother, you're overthinking it. How could I possibly kill you? I'm too busy helping you to even think about it," said Senior Brother Tathagata, with a headache.

"You definitely want to kill me, or at least make me a human shield for Vishnu, Brahma, and his gang," Wu Chao cried.

"I'm already pretty tough, I'm not going to let you get beaten up!"

Brother Buddha looked troubled, and then he whispered Buddhist scriptures to the guards, trying to persuade them to let them pass through.

"Heh... heh heh, you... you wicked... holy monks coming to our Eastern Land is a blessing for our Eastern Land, we warmly welcome you..."

The guards' gazes were wary and somewhat hostile, but as Brother Tathagata chanted, their expressions softened, and they even began to greet him warmly.

Only when the army galloped in the distance and the city gate guard captain led a rider did the guards regain some semblance of normalcy, unwilling to let Brother Tathagata and Wu Chao pass.

"General Zhang, it's that man named Du Gou who got lost and separated from you after leaving Shanggu County. He says he knows you!"

The city gate guard captain pointed in a direction, which left Zhang Qian somewhat confused.

"General Zhang, hurry, hurry, do you remember the last time you invited me to stay at an inn in Chang'an City? We almost slept on the streets, and later we even went to jail together, and were then sent to Lingnan!"

Zhang Xuezhou said the first part was just polite talk, but when he got to the second part, it instantly reminded Zhang Qian of the hardships he had endured over the past three years, and he recognized the person in front of him.

What happened to you?

Zhang Qian looked at Zhang Xuezhou and felt that he had had a miserable time since his trip to Lingnan. He had been constantly harassed and suppressed by his superiors.

Zhang Qian had hoped to make a name for himself, but he never expected that he would end up as a junior officer at Yanmen Pass, spending three years after three years thereafter.

The Northern Border Military Region was frequently embroiled in war, while the Western Border remained peaceful. He failed to achieve any merit, but the good thing was that he did not lose his life in the chaos of war.

Days passed like flowing water, Zhang Qian would occasionally think about the past and the people he had known.

If he wasn't doing well, Zhang Qian figured the others probably weren't doing too well either.

After all, he managed to survive his trip to Lingnan, which was relatively fortunate.

When Zhang Qian saw Zhang Xuezhou again, looking at his aged face and gray hair, he felt that Zhang Xuezhou's life was too tragic.

"Are the consequences of being used as a medium to perform magic so severe?" Zhang Qian asked incredulously.

Ah~

Zhang Xuezhou nodded vaguely.

His current predicament is indeed due to being used as a medium, and he almost couldn't escape back to Yanmen Pass; the consequences are indeed very serious.

This response made Zhang Qian instantly regret his actions.

Clearly, he believed that few people who had gone on the trip to Lingnan a few years ago had a good ending.

That group of people either caused trouble or died.

This involved not only him and Zhang Xuezhou, but Zhang Qian also felt that it involved Emperor Jing, the Crown Prince, and others.

Emperor Jing passed away and the Crown Prince ascended the throne. Recent news alerted Zhang Qian to the situation.