From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 168 Interview
We set out at the beginning of July and arrived here on July 7. We first preached through the Ever-Bright Lamp and went through a lot of twists and turns. Now it is the second half of the month.

It was mid-morning, so the mountains were not too hot. The scattered sunlight did cause some steam to rise.

The girl in the red cloak had already gone away, and Mingyue and Ke Qiuxian came out of the cave together.

Then a middle-aged man came out with seven warriors, escorting Master Ku Rong.

The middle-aged man had a calm but slightly tired look on his face. He was Xiao Taotao, the commander of the Demon Suppression Division.

Xiao Taotao came out of the cave, yawned, waved to a few people from the Demon Suppression Bureau, and went to ask them individually.

Meng Yuan then stepped forward, "Master Ke, Miss Mingyue."

Ke Qiuxian was holding a broken whisk, his face slightly pale. He just nodded slightly but didn't say much.

"When did you come out? Why didn't you come to find me?" Mingyue's clothes were neither dirty nor messy, and her hair was neat, which showed that nothing went wrong in the joint attack on the black-skinned rat.

But the tone seemed a little unhappy, as if he was questioning.

"Alas, I just came out yesterday." Meng Yuan sighed and said, "I almost couldn't see the girl."

Mingyue raised her head slightly and looked at Meng Yuan. Seeing that Meng Yuan had changed into new clothes and his hair was neatly combed, she knew that what he said was true.

"I saw Jie Kaiping." Meng Yuan said.

Mingyue and Ke Qiuxian looked at each other, and Mingyue raised her chin.

Arriving at the tent, Meng Yuan dismissed Zhang Jiao and the others, served tea to Mingyue and Ke Qiuxian, and then began to talk.

"After saying goodbye to the girl in the cave, I traveled with Captain Zhang Guinian, Captain Lan Raosheng, and Ning Qufei and Mo Tingyu from Lingxiao Sect. A total of five of us traveled together. Later, we met Captain Liu Dingjia, who was injured and said that he was captured alive by a woman and then escaped."

"The five of us went forward to look for him. Lan Baihu was in the front, but he accidentally got caught."

"We followed him and found that Lan Baihu was dead. He was hit by Yang Yuping's Nine Transformations to Return to the Gods method."

As soon as Meng Yuan said this, Mingyue frowned.

"Wait." Ke Qiuxian raised his hand and asked with a slightly tired look, "Are you sure it's the Nine Transformations to Return to God?"

"It was Ning Qufei from Lingxiao Sect who pointed it out, and Yang Yuping also admitted it herself." Meng Yuan explained, and then asked, "Master, do you know the origin of this method?"

"This Tianji method comes from Taoism, and it is about taking what is good and making up for what is bad." Ke Qiuxian said seriously, "But in the end, he went astray, and it is not in line with the principle of yin and yang, which has a great backlash on himself."

Seeing that Ke Qiuxian did not explain in detail, Meng Yuan looked at the bright moon again.

"Are you injured?" Mingyue looked at Meng Yuan.

"How can you not get hurt when you're out doing something?"

Meng Yuan sighed, pretending to be unconcerned, and continued, "Later, the four of us fought to the death and severely injured Jie Kaiping and Yang Yuping. Who knew that Master Jueyuan walked out of the stone chamber inside. He had been hiding in there, and only came out after we were both injured."

"I told you, there are no great monks in this world. Neither in the Western Buddhist Kingdom nor in Ping'an Prefecture." Ke Qiuxian didn't think it was outrageous, and his tone clearly showed that he looked down on the bald man.

"Then what?" Mingyue asked.

"The monk Jueyuan showed up and ordered the three of us to go into the inner stone chamber. He originally wanted to interrogate Jie Kaiping and Yang Yuping separately, but he was not careful and was controlled by Jie Kaiping, and was also sucked dry by Yang Yuping." Meng Yuan said.

"It's what he deserves." Ke Qiuxian almost cheered, "Jie Kaiping was able to perform this trick even though he was seriously injured, which shows how extraordinary his Silence Phase is."

He gently stroked the whisk and said, "But it would cost a lot to unlock the screen, and it would be difficult to confine a sixth-rank warrior for a long time. I'm afraid his state of mind would be in turmoil for a few days afterwards."

"What the Taoist said is correct." Meng Yuan agreed immediately and added, "There is a rat statue in the inner stone room. Jie Kaiping took out a token from Monk Jueyuan's arms and said something like he had obtained something."

After hearing this, Mingyue and Ke Qiuxian became serious again and asked, "What is the shape of the token? What is its function?"

"I can't see clearly." Meng Yuan didn't lie, "But from what Jie Kaiping said, he also borrowed some of the power of the token to control Jue Yuan in one fell swoop."

Ke Qiuxian nodded slightly and asked no more questions.

"Yang Yuping survived, so how did you escape?" Mingyue asked.

"It was Taoist Master Mo Tingyu of Lingxiao Sect who took out a pagoda-shaped magic weapon." Meng Yuan had a look of relief at having survived a catastrophe, and said, "After a day of rest, I felt a little better, and then I desperately killed Yang Yuping, scaring Jie Kaiping away."

After hearing these casual words, Mingyue and Ke Qiuxian both looked at Meng Yuan again.

"I learned a method to burn my own flesh, blood and essence." Meng Yuan explained.

Ke Qiuxian looked at Meng Yuan carefully again.

Mingyue tilted her head slightly and stared at Meng Yuan's face.

"Martial artists have a tradition of killing enemies above their own level." Ke Qiuxian stroked his beard and smiled, "But don't use this method often."

He took out a bottle of pills and said, "Take one pill every three days, maybe it will be of some help."

"Thank you, Taoist Priest!" Meng Yuan took it and thanked him quickly.

"Tell me in detail how you killed Yang Yuping." Mingyue asked.

There was nothing to hide, and Zhang Guinian and Mo Tingyu were watching, so Meng Yuan started talking immediately.

"Miss Ying San picked a good person." Mingyue commented.

Before Meng Yuan could reply, someone came in from outside. It was Captain Wang whom he had met in the cave.

"Master Ke, Miss Mingyue, Commander Xiao asked Meng Xiaoqi to go and question him." Captain Wang was very polite.

Meng Yuan knew his identity. He belonged to the Third Miss at home and to Mingyue when he went out, so he came to see Mingyue. "Just tell me the truth." Mingyue said.

That means Xiao Taotao is one of us, not someone like Li Qianhu.

Meng Yuan currently works at the Demon Suppression Bureau. He sincerely wants to have a good relationship with his colleagues, but he encounters unreliable colleagues time and again, which is really annoying.

Now it seems that I have finally made it through, and the superiors from Beijing are still reliable.

After leaving the tent, Meng Yuan followed Captain Wang to a mountain stream not far away.

There is a blue stone beside the stream, with a few unfamiliar faces sitting on it, they should all be from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Xiao Taotao was sitting on a rock by the stream, having taken off his shoes and soaking his feet in the stream water.

There were three other monks, Xuan Zhenhe was among them.

There are also Zhang Guinian, Ning Qufei and Mo Tingyu, who should have been questioned.

Ning Qufei's face was pale, but he seemed to be fine. When he saw Meng Yuan coming, he bowed and saluted.

"I am Meng Yuan, a small flag officer of the Songhe Prefecture Guard, and I pay my respects to Commander Xiao." Meng Yuan stepped forward and bowed.

"Let's sit down and talk." Xiao Taotao took his feet out of the stream and sat down cross-legged.

Meng Yuan sat next to Zhang Guinian.

"Tell me what happened to you." Xiao Taotao said.

Meng Yuan said it immediately without lying.

"Amitabha." A monk put his hands together, looked at Meng Yuan and said, "Mr. Meng, you saved people from danger. You are respectable and admirable."

"This is Xuan Bei from Lanruo Temple, who came here with Master Jueyuan." Zhang Guinian protected his son and blinked at Meng Yuan.

The monk Jueyuan brought two monks with the same name as Xuan, namely Xuan Bei and Xuan Jing. Xuan Bei followed the Buddhist path, while Xuan Jing was a martial monk, both of them were at the seventh level.

As for Xuan Zhen, he was Meng Yuan’s old lover, and they had been intimate in the past.

"I don't deserve it. It's just my duty." Meng Yuan didn't stand up, just sat and bowed.

Seeing Meng Yuan like this, Xuan Bei was not angry, but said, "Meng Xiaoqi, Zhang Baihu and others all said that my uncle Jueyuan had an affair and died at the hands of a demon. I personally think there is another twist."

"So?" Meng Yuan frowned.

"They think Jueyuan lost the people of Lanruo Temple, so they want to slander us and join forces to slander Jueyuan!" Mo Tingyu was very unconvinced, and sneered at Xuan Bei: "Do you still need to test whether we have been planted with thoughts?"

"Junior sister, please don't be rude." Ning Qufei advised in a low voice.

"I'll listen to you, Senior Brother!" Mo Tingyu's tone was high-pitched, as if he was ready to draw his sword at any time, but his tone suddenly changed and became very gentle.

"I don't deserve what you said, Daoist Brother Mo." Xuan Bei put his hands together and bowed, then looked at Meng Yuan and said, "Donor Meng, you burned the remains of my uncle's body without my permission..."

"Did you pick up someone's relics? Return them to the owner." Xiao Taotao suddenly asked.

"No relics were found." Meng Yuan said.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone on the field burst into laughter.

"Meng Xiaoqi's behavior is inappropriate after all. We should be allowed to settle down." Xuan Bei chanted the Buddha's name.

"Is it your turn, Lanruo Temple, to manage whether our Demon Suppression Bureau is doing its job properly or not?" Xiao Taotao frowned.

"Commander Xiao, we are here to eliminate demons." Xuan Bei said.

"I begged you to come to Lanruo Temple?" Xiao Taotao was very disdainful. "If you hadn't rushed here, would we really be unable to get anything done without you? You are used to being the king and the overlord in Ping'an Prefecture, and you still want to act wild outside?"

After hearing this, Xuan Bei lowered his head and said nothing. However, Xuan Jing wanted to speak, but was held down by Xuan Zhen.

"Goodbye." Xuan Bei bowed eleven times, turned around and left.

"Wait a minute." Xiao Taotao said, "My people from the Demon Suppression Bureau will cremate Monk Jueyuan. This is a great merit. Pay the money for the cremation before you leave."

Xuan Bei was stunned when he heard this. After a long while, he took out a tael of silver and handed it to Meng Yuan.

"..."Meng Yuan got the money and put it in his sleeve. He wondered if taking the money could still be considered a great deed.
After the three monks left, Xiao Taotao asked briefly about the token and then asked Meng Yuan and others to leave.

Meng Yuan did not get involved and was about to go back to find Mingyue, but was stopped by Mo Tingyu.

"My senior brother wants to talk to you." Mo Tingyu supported Ning Qufei.

"There's nothing much to say." Ning Qufei smiled, "It's just that I just woke up not long ago, and wanted to go thank Brother Meng, but Commander Xiao called me away."

"Brother Ning, we are in the same boat and share life and death. There is no need to say anything like thank you." Meng Yuan said with a smile.

"I heard from Junior Sister what happened in the stone chamber, and Brother Meng just repeated it, which made me feel even more thrilling." Ning Qufei's voice was a little hoarse, and he was out of breath. He bowed and saluted, saying, "Brother Meng is righteous, and we are not ungrateful. If you need me in the future, please send a letter to Lingxiao Sect."

Since they said so, Meng Yuan smiled and bowed in return, "Of course."

After chatting for a few more words, Meng Yuan bid farewell to the pair of senior and junior brothers and sisters and went to chat with Zhang Guinian for a few words. Then Gong Zihua came over with a Taoist priest.

"Master Li Wujiu said he wanted to see you." Gong Zihua said.

(End of this chapter)