Chen Baoying

Hu Mang sipped his local herbal tea while looking up at the sky.

Chen Xiaosan copied his second brother's actions, looking up at the sky in the same way.

"Second brother, what are you looking at?"

"I'm thinking."

What are you thinking about?

"Reflecting on the meaning of life."

Chen Xiaosan was filled with respect, patted his crotch, changed his posture, and began to think as well.

Within the Eye of the Tribulation Dragon, calamity clouds began to spread, seemingly enveloping not only the Palembang area but the entirety of Sumatra.

The calamity clouds were entirely black, like cotton wool soaked in ink, thick and oppressive, slowly churning as if a sleeping giant was awakening.

The last time he saw such thick tribulation clouds was in Demon-Subduing City.

Even during the Dragon Blood Tide, the concentration of the tribulation clouds was far higher than it is this time.

"So, the work that fatso has done this time is even more serious than creating an artificial dragon Dragon Vein."

"I've already tried it once, and it's still like this."

He had deliberately traversed the heart of Sumatra and ventured deep into the rainforest because he sensed the calamity unfolding there. He immediately went into seclusion to absorb the Tribulation Qi and evolve the Eye of the Tribulation Dragon. Therefore, his eyes now seemed capable of spewing forth a raging fire that could extinguish the heavens and the earth at any moment.

In addition, the ghost ship is swimming on the seabed of the Palembang, and the Ghost Dragon Vein, under the command of the Hu Mang, has secretly set up Yin-Yang Node in this place.

In other words, he basically moved all of Zheng Family Garden's belongings here.

He could have ignored it.

He didn't want to get involved; after all, this wasn't happening in Java, and if the sky fell, there were tall people to hold it up.

Unfortunately, that fatso had to die right in front of him, so now he couldn't just ignore it.

At the very least, we must thwart what the other party is trying to do.

He vaguely guessed what this fat man was up to... that Evil God worshipped by the Wanshun Sea Hall.

And then there's that Orthodox God Position that houses consciousness.

No matter how powerful a possessive consciousness is, it's never as satisfying as becoming Evil God yourself.

A moment later, Feng Haixiao brought Naimi and the other two over.

As soon as they entered the street where the Hu Mang was, their footsteps disappeared.

To outsiders, they disappeared after turning out of the alley.

Soon, the two men who had been peeking around looked around the alley, and when they couldn't see anyone, they left disappointed.

"You have two little tails following you," the Hu Mang said.

"I know, Wanshun Sea Hall somehow got hold of a bunch of secondhand detection radars from Heavenly Gate. As long as you use Golden Core level Law Power or Divine Sense, you'll definitely be detected. I went through a lot of trouble and only got these two left," Feng Haixiao said somewhat irritably.

"Sure enough, overseas forces have also learned to embrace high technology," Hu Mang muttered to himself, casually taking the information that Naimi had obtained from the Guanshan Gang.

The Guanshan Gang was a dockside force organized by Wei Kaishan himself. In name, this force had no connection with Zheng Family Garden, but everyone knew who Wei Kaishan was working for.

Previously, Hu Mang had obtained information about the fat man's anti- Jiangtou from the two concubines, but this information was incomplete. They only knew the location of these "anti- Jiangtou treasures," but not the specific locations, or even the other outposts of the Wanshun Sea Hall.

Therefore, Hu Mang needed a well-informed person to help him obtain this information. However, Feng Haixiao disagreed with the plan, believing that Old Wei had most likely already defected to the Wanshun Sea Hall, and going there would only be suicide.

However, the safe return of Naimi and the other two proved his point of view wrong.

One of the alleyway owners hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Master Mang, when we left, we saw Wanshun Sea Hall mobilizing local manpower, it seemed they were going to raid your property."

Hu Mang nodded silently.

"When we leave, let's grab Old Wei along with us; he probably won't be able to stay here much longer anyway."

"Let's go take a look at this place."

Hu Mang pointed to a location marked on the document; it was a Buddhist temple.

Buddhist temple—this is a somewhat strange term to outsiders.

Because Buddha can have temples, shrines, and halls, while ancestral halls are generally for ancestor worship; but according to local tradition, Buddha seems to be one's own ancestor.

This Buddhist temple is located in the center of the local Buddhist city of Borayan. From a distance, it appears magnificent and resplendent, like a Buddhist temple with thriving incense offerings, yet it carries an indescribable Nanyang atmosphere.

The entire ancestral hall is built on a very high platform, with layers of stone steps leading up from the street. The stone surfaces are covered with shallow indentations from generations of believers kneeling and rubbing themselves in worship.

The main hall's outline imitates the hall layout of Buddhist temples in the Central Plains, but it does not adopt the bracket sets and flying eaves of the Central Plains. The roof is a series of densely stacked eaves that taper inwards, covered with gilded foil. When the strong sunlight of the equatorial sun falls on it, the golden light shines brightly, and it can be seen from afar.

The gaps between the golden eaves are inlaid with a large number of dark blue and vermilion glass fragments, a local craft unique to the area, which shimmer and tremble in the sunlight.

Ascending the steps, instead of the Vajra protectors commonly seen in Buddhist temples, the stone piers on both sides are carved with portraits of local royal ancestors and prominent families who make offerings. Below the carvings are descriptions in both local and Chinese.

"They all have the surname Chen?"

Hu Mang quickly understood why these "protectors" all had the surname Chen. At the end of the steps, the four golden characters "Chen Clan Buddhist Shrine" almost blinded everyone.

"The Buddha is an enlightened grandfather, and the grandfather is the Buddha who did not attain enlightenment."

A female devotee who was worshipping Buddha was introducing her Buddha grandfather and her Bodhisattva uncle and aunt to her youngest son.

"I've seen plenty of people claiming Buddha as their ancestor, but this is truly the first time I've seen someone claim Buddha as their ancestor," Chen Xiaosan murmured.

"This is Chen's property. The head of the Chen Household family is a local Buddhist tycoon and has always been an ally of the Wanshun Sea Hall," Feng Haixiao suddenly said.

"A Buddhist... tycoon?" Chen Xiaosan asked in surprise, "His family is in the funeral industry?"

"It's not just funeral supplies, but also camphor, agarwood, benzoin, and various temple rituals. In addition, the Chen Household family controls the trade of relics, statues, and palm-leaf scriptures."

Hu Mang explained.

The closer one gets to the Saha Continent, the more Buddhist activities there are, and with more businesses, big bosses naturally emerge.

Within Zheng Family Garden's intelligence network, there is such a figure. Although he is not an outsider, he is a local bigwig. His influence and status in the area are equivalent to another Boss Zheng. Moreover, the Chen Household has already passed down to the third generation.

In other words, the Buddha statue worshipped by the Chen Household is far more powerful than the Blood Buddha statue in the Zheng Family Garden.

Hu Mang could vaguely sense the faint "Buddha's power" emanating from within the Buddhist hall.

Seemingly finding it strange that the six people were standing in the hall neither worshipping Buddha nor making donations, several monks from the Chen Household tried to approach them. However, whenever they appeared within three zhang of the six people, their expressions would froze for a moment before they came to their senses and continued doing what they were doing, completely ignoring the monks.

Feng Haixiao greatly admired the Heavenly Blood Python's methods, because along the way, they had even encountered several Golden Core, but even when they did encounter Golden Core, they quickly ignored them.

In other words, with this method, Hu Mang can leave Sumatra at any time if he wants to, but the problem is that once he leaves, he will be firmly implicated in the blame.

Under Feng Haixiao's watchful gaze, the Hu Mang sat down heavily on the ground, and a layer of "gold leaf" visibly appeared on its body. The "gold leaf" became brighter and brighter, and then suddenly with a "rip," it tore off the Hu Mang's skin and floated onto the Buddha statue opposite, merging with it. At the same time, with a dull thud, the Buddha statue slowly retreated, revealing a square underground stone cave.

"Phew~ It's finally covered up."

Hu Mang's serious expression relaxed a bit.

The "Buddha" Chen Household is three times more powerful than the Blood Buddha in the Zheng Family Garden.

The power of the Blood Buddha in Zheng Family Garden can only cover Zheng Family Garden, and within its boundaries, even Golden Core Zheng Family Garden can be easily suppressed.

However, the Buddha Chen Household possesses the power to cover every Buddhist temple. The more temples there are, the stronger the Buddha's power becomes, and the stronger the Buddha's power, the more temples it can cover.

However, this Buddha is a dead Buddha. Without someone to control it, it can't even distinguish friend from foe, let alone possess Buddhist Divine Ability. It can only guard certain things.

The Hu Mang used the "Form-Emptiness Transformation," a profound Buddhist state that did not exist in Nanyang, and easily gained control of the other party.

"Alright, let's go in and see if that fatso's anti- Jiangtou artifact is broken."

If it breaks, it means that Master Bao really was cursed to death.

But if not, it means that this fat guy really has a twisted sense of humor, and of all times, he just had to die in front of them.

A moment later, Hu Mang was playing with a Buddha relic in his hand.

Apart from Chen Xiaosan, the other people from Zheng Family Garden all turned pale.

Feng Haixiao into a tirade of curses.

"Damn that fat bastard, he even tricked us after he died! May he be reborn as Hungry Ghost Path in his next life!"

Those who are stingy and miserly in life, unwilling to give alms, or who steal food from others, will be directly reborn in the Hungry Ghost Path after death.

Ghosts who enter this path have bellies as large as mountains and throats as thin as needles. When water or food reaches their mouths, it turns into flames, pus, and blood. They suffer from hunger and thirst for a long time and have extremely long lifespans, specializing in enduring the pain of hunger.

This Curse is quite vicious.

As for Buddha relics, they are famous anti- Jiangtou items in Nanyang. As long as the relics are not broken, they can block the Curse of Jiangtou.

The only drawback is that once someone is Jiangtou or tainted by Evil Qi, the Buddha's aura will gradually fade. In short, it's a one-time use item.

However, this relic was radiant and solemn, with a rich Buddhist aura, clearly free from any trace of Evil Qi.

In particular, the surface of the relic is inscribed with the three large characters "Chen Baoying" in Buddhist script.

Few people know that Master Bao's full name is Chen Baoying, a fact that Zheng Qingbo discovered by chance.

"Since the relic wasn't broken, it means this fatso wasn't switched or ousted; he's the one who's causing trouble."

The Hu Mang muttered to itself.

So, is it this Chen Baoying who wants to unite with that Evil God?

"What do we do now?" Feng Haixiao asked, his face grim.

Since it was that fatso who arranged it, there's no need to clear your name; the blame is definitely on you, and you can't get rid of it.

Hu Mang pondered for a moment, just about to speak, when the ghost ship consciousness within his body stirred.