Day and night tour

Chapter 480 Divine Silk Guidance
"Zhou Xuan was struck by the Bodhisattva's white hair."

The gourd-shaped Taoist priest was closer to Zhou Xuan and could see more clearly. He noticed that a tuft of "white hair" was emerging from Zhou Xuan's abdomen.
The tuft of whisker that the incense-offering Taoist priest had plucked from his whisk bore a striking resemblance in shape to the countless white hairs scattered across the sky. It was understandable that the gourd-shaped Taoist priest mistook it for something else.

The Medicine Buddha, however, seemed somewhat dazed: "Was it my white hair that struck Zhou Xuan?"

She felt nothing at all.
But no matter what, now that troublesome Zhou Xuan has fallen, the rest of the people must rise up and kill him; they are determined not to let this menace live.

"White hair, hook Zhou Xuan."

The Medicine Buddha immediately guided the remaining white hairs to surround Zhou Xuan's soul.

Zhou Xuan lay on the ground, feeling as if a huge fire was burning inside his body.

The temperature inside the pond was extremely high, determined to dry every drop of moisture from his flesh and blood.

"White Hair, White Hair!"

Zhou Xuan looked down at his chest, where a tuft of white hair protruded from his skin, writhing wildly—this white hair had entered him from his back and pierced through his body.
He suddenly grabbed the white hair and pulled it hard out of his body, but the white hair seemed to have taken root inside him. As he pulled, his mind and soul became somewhat unstable.

Zhou Xuan sensed the threat of death and immediately gave up plucking the white hair. He forced his spirit to penetrate his body.

As soon as his soul returned to its place, Zhou Xuan discovered that his body was no longer under his control, stiff and unresponsive, and his feet felt like they were filled with lead, unable to move an inch.

"Someone is sabotaging us from the shadows."

Zhou Xuan thought to himself.

He had just fought against the Supreme Master of Dunjia and the Three Styles of the Buddhist Kingdom, but they didn't have the ability to nail a person's soul.

"It was that fake incense-offering Taoist priest... He made his move."

Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Xuan's mind as the countless white hairs began to swarm towards him.

He wanted to escape, but there was no way he could escape now.

He looked up at the sacred eye on the stage, and in that eye's gaze, he saw his own reflection, and also saw new life.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that his near-death experience had vanished.

"I am this stage. As long as the stage is not destroyed, I will never die."

The moment the thought arose in his mind, the white hairs descended.

Countless white hairs pierced into Zhou Xuan's flesh, causing excruciating pain.

This pain felt like tens of thousands of tiny needles piercing through one's own flesh.
Fine needles were scattered haphazardly throughout his body, making him even more unable to move. Even the slightest movement of a finger would cause the tiny muscle twitching, resulting in the needles constantly pricking him.

He gritted his teeth and didn't utter a single cry of pain.

This stubbornness actually made the Medicine Buddha somewhat concede.
"The white hair was piercing his heart, yet the master did not utter a single word of pain. This forbearance alone is enough for us to admire."

The golden statue of Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva walked up to Zhou Xuan.

"Raise your sword."

With a clear whistle, the gourd-wielding Taoist guided his flying sword, soaring towards Zhou Xuan's head.

"Sword stop."

The golden body of the Medicine Buddha suddenly swung its golden bowl, deflecting the flying sword.

"Bodhisattva, why are you blocking my way?"

The Calabash Taoist finally seized the opportunity—Zhou Xuan was unable to move, controlled by the white hair. This was the time to settle scores and avenge wrongs. He couldn't understand why the Medicine Master Bodhisattva had blocked this sword.

The Medicine Buddha glanced at the countless eyes of the audience inside the stage and said coldly, "In the eyes of these common people, the Grand Master of Mingjiang Prefecture is a bright moon, a true hero."

"If you're a hero, you should die like a hero. What kind of logic is it to be killed by your sword?"

"Bodhisattva, I think we should kill him quickly, lest things get complicated."

"Sometimes, having a dream, whether it's a pleasant dream or a nightmare, is a good thing."

When the Medicine Buddha finished speaking, he immediately let out a whistle.
The white hairs within Zhou Xuan's body immediately began to grow wildly.

At that moment, the Bodhisattva's golden body immediately turned the golden bowl upside down, and the white hairs on Zhou Xuan's body were drawn to the bowl.

Thus, the golden bowl in the sky became a giant rock suspended in mid-air, and the wildly growing white hairs, like cold anchors, hooked onto Zhou Xuan's body, hanging him upside down.

"Grandmaster Hulu, may I borrow your flying sword?"

The Medicine Buddha reached out his hand towards the gourd-shaped Taoist.

“If the Bodhisattva needs it, then he will naturally borrow it.”

The gourd-shaped Taoist's face twitched. He didn't want to lend the sword, but he would have to rely on the Buddhists and the Medicine Buddha in the future, so he couldn't refuse.

The flying sword landed in the hands of the Medicine Buddha. She walked to Zhou Xuan, who was hanging upside down, and reached out her hand.

Her snow-white hands gently stroked Zhou Xuan's cheek as she said, "Master, you have finally submitted to the law."

"What kind of law am I submitting to?"

"The supreme Dharma of the Buddhist Kingdom."

After delivering these words with the air of a victor, the Medicine Buddha addressed the audience: "People of Mingjiang Prefecture, I know that Zhou Xuan is your faith, your unparalleled war god."
It seemed that with him around, there was nothing Mingjiang couldn't do.

"He gave you hope, and I am responsible for crushing your hope to dust."

The Medicine Buddha weighed the flying sword in his hand and said with a smile, "I will cut off your Great Master's flesh and blood one by one."

“Your master’s eyes are very bright, they can be described as discerning and insightful. My torture of cutting off flesh will begin with his eyes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Medicine Buddha, wielding his flying sword, swung it towards Zhou Xuan's right eye.
Zhou Xuan exhausted all his strength, turned his head, and this time the strike missed his eye, but left a long gash on his brow bone.
Blood seeped out.

The blood and knife marks, combined with Zhou Xuan's domineering gaze, did not highlight his miserable state at all; on the contrary, they made him appear even more domineering.

“Buddhist country people, stop right now! Otherwise, even if you kill the master and leave this stage, you will never be able to leave Mingjiang Prefecture.”

The painter's voice could be heard from the audience.

Among these spectators were ordinary people, as well as officials from the government and the Bureau of Parade of Gods.

"And who are you to dare utter such arrogant words?"

The Medicine Buddha wiped away the blood from the sword and asked a question.

“I am a painter from the Mingjiang Prefecture’s Bureau of Divine Reunion. If you kill the Master, the Mingjiang Prefecture Bureau of Divine Reunion will be your sworn enemy.”

"Oh, really? Those cats and dogs from your Mingjiang Prefecture can't kill us."

"And what about adding the wandering deities of our Pingshui Prefecture?" Zhou Lingyi's voice was filled with murderous intent.

She was no longer sure if her brother was acting, but just because of the blow from the Medicine Buddha earlier, she wanted to go on stage and fight him.

"And our Huangyuan Prefecture, with just one secret letter from me, Lu Xingzhou, the chief of the Huangyuan Prefecture's Bitter Ghosts, will personally come to Mingjiang."

The coffin maiden also helped Zhou Xuan gain prestige.

"Tsk tsk, a mere scholar like him can command the power of the Three Prefectures' Imperial Procession?"

"Wrong, it's four prefectures."

“I am Di Tong, the chief of Master Ye in Jingchuan Prefecture. If you kill Master Ye, Master Ye will send out his entire force to cut you Buddhist people into ten thousand pieces and annihilate you with five thunderbolts.”

Di Tong was also in the audience.

He's the kind of person who loves to join in the fun. He was there when they were fighting over the blue and red fish, so how could he not come tonight's Night Bright River?

"I, the Medicine Buddha, know I am no match for the wandering deities of the four prefectures. But can you, the Supreme Master of Escape Technique, defeat them?"

The Medicine Buddha asked a question.

The gourd-shaped Taoist shook his head and said, "The Wandering Gods Bureau is the sharp sword of the Well Kingdom in maintaining order in the human world. It is the highest authority in each prefecture. We four Supreme Lords may be arrogant, but how dare we provoke the Wandering Gods of the four prefectures?"

Four prefectures!

Jing Guocai had nine prefectures.

Just then, Zhao Wuyai's voice rang out. He chanted a Buddhist prayer, his words tinged with compassion, saying, "If the Great Master dies, the 'Turning Wheel Zen Sect' of Snow Mountain Prefecture will descend upon Mingjiang. May the young novice monks of the Buddhist Kingdom lay down their butcher's knives."

Within Zhao Wuyai resides "Wuyai Zen," an avatar of the ancient Buddha.

Seeing that the Medicine Buddha was not moving, he addressed the Bodhisattva as "Little Novice".

"Is it the boundless Zen of the ancient Buddha's incarnations?"

"It is indeed this humble monk. I have sent a 'Letter of Appreciation,' and the Chan School of Reincarnation, upon seeing this letter, will naturally come to Mingjiang Prefecture to subdue the demons."

Zhao Wuyai's words were tantamount to placing the fate of another prefecture on Zhou Xuan's shoulders.

"Five prefectures."

The gourd-shaped Taoist priest never expected that Zhou Xuan possessed extraordinary connections, as one person's life could affect the powerful families of five major prefectures.

Snow Mountain Prefecture is known for its "Turning Wheel Zen" as its Buddhist leader.

Huangyuan Prefecture is steered by the "Bitter Ghost" shrine.

In Jingchuan Prefecture, Mr. Ye was unanimously elected as the first branch, and the second branch in Jingchuan Prefecture was "Seeking the Dragon".

They killed Yun Ziliang and Li Changxun; this search for the dragon is likely to turn into a "revenge."

"Most of the Jing Kingdom's factions have such a relationship with Zhou Xuan. Fortunately, the Buddhist people stirred up the situation today, otherwise, our Dunjia Taishang would have been dead long ago."

The gourd-shaped Taoist priest was truly shaken.
Faced with the intimidation of the various sects, even the Medicine Buddha lowered his head and fell into deep thought...

……

"Look closely, it's a doctor?"

"It was the doctor, it was the doctor. He used a magical artifact to severely injure Zhou Xuan. If Zhou Xuan dies, it's not because of the superior skill of the escape techniques or the Buddhist people, but because of that doctor's underhanded attack."

Mr. Yan said repeatedly.

"Doctor, you're provoking the heavens! You know Zhou Xuan is a pill collector that the heavens need, yet you're interfering! You deserve to die!"

Qingyang Yu was so angry that her flabby body trembled.

Mr. Yan bowed respectfully, awaiting the Palace Master's command.

“Xiao Yan, listen to me! From the heavens above, lower down divine threads and pull Zhou Xuan to the heavens.” “Palace Master, this is absolutely unacceptable! He is a patient from the Sick Village. He hasn’t cultivated to the Nine Incense Sticks stage. If we rashly pull him into the heavens, he will transmit his illness to us.”

“Bring him into this stone house. Once he has overcome this difficulty, we can put him down. His illness will not spread.”

Qingyangyu preached.

"Palace Master, isn't this against the rules?"

"Whether we agree or not can wait. The nature of the matter has changed now—the doctor from the sick village dared to intercept and kill our alchemist from the Heavenly Vault. If we don't teach him a lesson, he really won't know who he is."

"Sixteen celestial threads will be sent to guide Zhou Xuan to heaven. Seeing the celestial threads is like seeing heavenly fire! This time I want to see if that doctor dares to cut our celestial threads."

Saving Zhou Xuan wasn't Qingyang Yu's top priority. What he really wanted to do, and had to do, was to use Zhou Xuan to engage in a power struggle with the "doctor" and demonstrate who held the ultimate authority.

"Follow the palace master's orders."

……

The capital city government office and the Star Observatory

Inside the Star Gazing Tower, Di Zi, unusually, emerged from the pool and sat on Madam Kong's shoulder. In front of him was a projection.

This projection, formed from his woven dream, perfectly captured the situation inside the Mingjiang Prefecture stage.

"Excellent, truly excellent! Zhou Xuan alone has summoned the wandering gods of the Five Prefectures and the Great Buddha of the Mortal Realm! With his extraordinary abilities, how come those useless people in the Imperial Observatory couldn't deduce it?"

Di Zi said fiercely.

Madam Kong chuckled and said, "Di Zi, didn't you also fail to deduce it? That Zhou Xuan seems to be outside the Three Realms and transcends the Five Elements. There's nothing we can do about his divination techniques."

“Our Jing Kingdom will not allow such a powerful figure to appear! If Zhou Xuan dies at the hands of the Buddhist people and the Supreme Master of Escape, that will be fine. But if he survives tonight, I will issue a warrant for his arrest and have him executed!”

"Your warrant for capture will not be valid for Zhou Xuan."

"Why?" Di Zi asked, puzzled.

The arrest warrant he issued could eliminate anyone, so how could it not kill Zhou Xuan?

Madam Kong pointed to the red thread in the projection and said, "Look at that, what is it?"

Upon hearing this, Di Zi took a closer look and immediately changed his expression: "That is—the Celestial Divine Silk?"

"The heavens are sending someone to protect Zhou Xuan... Do you still care about the life and death of someone the Heavenly Fire Clan has their eye on?"

Madam Kong looked at the ground.

Di Zi was very angry. He jumped off Madam Kong's shoulder and said, "I'm hungry. Summon a few disciples who can burn eight incense sticks each. I need to fill my stomach."

"That Zhou Xuan?"

"We'll have to think this through, but sooner or later, we'll have to kill him. Jingguo, that is, Jingguo of the capital prefecture."
"The capital city is the prefectural capital of my territory."

Di Zi said indignantly.

……

"The people of the Sky Dome are actually here to protect Zhou Xuan?"

The Taoist priest on the stage, with his exceptional eyesight, peered through the clouds and spotted the fluttering red silk threads.

He never expected that the people from the Sky Dome would interfere at this crucial moment.

"Cut these threads?"

The incense-burning Taoist priest immediately thought of it, and his body was somewhat tempted, but he ultimately suppressed the impulse.

"If I make another move and the people of the Sky Realm find out my identity, even if Zhou Xuan dies, I will not be able to return to the Realm of Time."

He ultimately dared not offend the "Skyfire Clan".

As the divine silk descended further,
The audience in the Mingjiang Prefecture theater also saw the sixteen divine threads.

“A divine thread descended from the sky to guide the Great Master to the heavenly kingdom.”

"The old man is saved."

"In the end, the heavens were still unwilling to see the great master perish."

Among the audience, the members of the Yushin-ji organization became excited one after another upon seeing the divine silk.

Upon seeing the divine silk, the Eternal Life Cult Leader and the Crippled Monk were immediately at their wits' end, both displaying bitter expressions.

"Wan Liao, Sect Master, the Palace Master is protecting Zhou Xuan, even going so far as to lower divine threads to guide him, while the two of us stand idly by. If the Palace Master is angered by us..."

"Then we'll have endless suffering."

The leader of the Longevity Cult was ashen-faced.

Little did he expect that the sky, which had been wailing and trying to kill Zhou Xuan not long ago, would turn around and use divine silk to protect him.

"Damn it, those bastards in the Sky Realm are really hard to guess what they're thinking."

The leader of the Longevity Cult dared not speak out against Tianqiong's behavior, at most he could only complain about it in private.

Soon, the sixteen divine threads had already penetrated into the stage and were reaching towards Zhou Xuan.

"The Heavenly Vault is going to protect Zhou Xuan?"

The gourd-shaped Taoist priest gazed at the symbol in the sky; he truly longed to command his flying sword to sever these divine threads.

But he dared not kill!
The sky is the sky of the Skyfire Clan.

Back then, Young Master Linming was nothing more than a good-for-nothing young master in the Tianhuo Clan. Didn't he offer his daughter-in-law and grandson as gifts?

Now, the person behind this divine silk is far more significant than a minor figure like Young Master Linming.

Where did he get the courage to sever the divine thread?

“The heavenly beings have come to take me away. Medicine Buddha, you still cannot kill me, Zhou Xuan.”

The blood dripping from the knife scars on Zhou Xuan's brows added to his bandit-like air.

The Medicine Buddha opened his eyes at this moment, and the flying sword in his hand flashed with a cold light, severing all sixteen divine threads.
Thunder rumbled down from the sky, the heavens expressing their anger with the thunder's roar.

The Medicine Buddha calmly said, "I was just struggling with whether to release Zhou Xuan and let us find our own way to survive, and report what we have seen and heard to the Buddha Kingdom, or what?"

But now, I'm not conflicted anymore.
This Zhou Xuan is very important. It's one thing for the wandering gods of the Five Offices to protect him, but even the heavens are protecting him, which shows how extremely important he is to the Jing Kingdom.

"It would be worth it to exchange the lives of the three of us brothers for Zhou Xuan's life."

In the eyes of the Medicine Buddha, only the fates of the three types of Buddhas in the Buddhist Kingdom are considered fates. As for the Supreme Master of Dunjia... let her die wherever she wants, what does it have to do with her?
“Bodhisattva, those are the divine threads of the heavens.”

The Calabash Taoist reminded him.

"That is the sky of your Jing Kingdom people, not our Buddhist Kingdom people."

The Medicine Buddha said loudly, "Therefore, we are determined to take Zhou Xuan's life, and we will also be at your disposal later. I have no fear of the Five Palaces Wandering Gods or the Heavenly Vault of the Well Kingdom."

"Pharmacist, if you kill my brother, I will tear you to pieces once you leave the stage."

Zhou Lingyi was eager to protect her brother, but she couldn't get into the theater.

"I've already said, you can do whatever you want with me, that's for later. Right now, I'll dismember Zhou Xuan first."

The Medicine Buddha immediately swung his sword again towards Zhou Xuan's right eye.
Having just gained a brief respite, Zhou Xuan mustered all his strength and swung violently.

He swung aside, and the sword missed his right eye; instead, it struck his right wrist.

Zhou Xuan's wrist fell to the ground, the cut surface smooth as a mirror, but—no blood spilled out.

"Why is there no blood?"

The Medicine Buddha paused for a moment, looked at the severed hand on the ground, and said.

“Pharmacist, let me tell you, all the parts of my body are my own, but this hand belongs to both me and… Nuo God.”

"Xu."

Zhou Xuan whistled out of thin air, and the severed hand flew up on its own, reaching for the Medicine Buddha's chest.
"Pharmacist, be careful."

The fastest of them all, "Guiding Heavenly King," stood in front of Medicine Master Pusa, waving the moon wheel in his hand to block Zhou Xuan's "Nuo God's Right Hand."
But those hands seemed to vanish into nothingness, becoming a beam of light that passed through the moon and grasped into the body of the Heavenly King of Guidance.

Immediately afterwards, the Heavenly King of Guidance threw away the moon wheel, curled up on the ground, and showed an extremely painful appearance.

"Hahaha, Pharmacist, my right hand can slip into the secret realm of a disciple and break his incense offerings."
Now, my right hand is inside your junior brother's heart. Guess what I'm going to do?

After Zhou Xuan finished roaring, he closed his eyes, connected his mind with his right hand, and manipulated his right hand to find the "natal Buddha statue" of the Heavenly King of Guidance.

"Zhou Xuan, pull your right hand out of my junior brother's body, pull it out!"

The Medicine Buddha was incredibly frenzied, his flying swords relentlessly stabbing at Zhou Xuan's body, attempting to force him to submit through torture.

But Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain in his body, and directed his right hand to churn inside the belly of the Heavenly King of Guidance.

When Zhou Xuan was covered in countless wounds and his Taoist robe was stained red with blood, he suddenly opened his eyes and stared ferociously at the Medicine Buddha.

"Pharmacist, I've pulled my hand out."

Upon hearing this, the pharmacist immediately turned his head to look, and saw that Zhou Xuan's right hand, the Nuo deity, was holding a small Buddha statue.

The little Buddha is an infant, wearing a kasaya. This baby Buddha is the natal Buddha image of the Heavenly King of Guidance.

"However, I can't control this hand."

Zhou Xuan's lips curved into a smile, his eyes were tightly closed, and his right hand suddenly exerted force.

"boom!"

The baby Buddha was crushed to pieces by the Nuo God's right hand, and the body of the Heavenly King of Reception also shattered along with his natal Buddha statue, stiffening into lifeless stone in a few moments.

Even while bound, Zhou Xuan took advantage of the Buddhist people's lack of understanding of his abilities and their carelessness to once again slay the Heavenly King of Reception.

"Brother Jieyin!" Medicine Buddha cried out in anguish.

"Pharmacist, you'd better kill me now... otherwise... even though I, Zhou Xuan, am bound, I still have ways to kill you all."

Zhou Xuan's ferocious appearance nearly terrified the Calabash Taoist. Covered in ashes, he cried out to the Pharmacist, "Pharmacist, kill Zhou Xuan quickly, lest things get complicated... lest things get complicated..."

(End of this chapter)