Mythology

Chapter 475: The Male Lead Yang He (Combined)

The body vanished into thin air as soon as it hit the ground.

A faint scent of incense wafted through the air.

Yang He looked at the silent Chang'an, not sensing any evil aura, but the scene was like a gluttonous feast.

"Once the great calamity begins, who knows how many saints will perish."

A tremor ran through his heart, not from the fluctuations of his spiritual vision, nor from the shock of witnessing the falling flesh of Tang Sanzang, but from a sudden, unseen impulse—a sense of danger seemed to be approaching.

It has been a long time since the death of the Daoist Ran Deng.

"Whether it's the immortals or the Buddhas, they probably all have the idea of ​​killing me, especially those old cunning bastards in the Pure Land. They're all eyeing my position as one of the Seven Sages of Buddhism. It's normal for them to set a trap for me."

Clang!
As Yang He pondered how to respond, a sword-like cry suddenly emanated from Lü Dongbin's body.

Lu Dongbin was just deeply affected by the Buddha statue and only managed to break free of its constraints thanks to Yang He. As a result, his cultivation level was restored in a short while.

He was at the peak of the Hunyuan Realm in the valley, and now he has successfully reached the second stage of the Guixu Realm. The Blood and Flesh Sword Sheath has thus become a superior Yin Treasure.

Before Yang He became an immortal, he might not have made the same rapid progress as Lü Dongbin.

He can attribute everything to chance, but that seems unrealistic. Do you have a cheat code too? Otherwise, what makes you think you can?
In a short while, Lü Dongbin's newly achieved breakthrough in cultivation had been stabilized.

"This disciple thanks Senior for your help; otherwise, I would surely be dead today!"

Lu Dongbin bowed respectfully, "Senior, if I wish to save the people from suffering, will I offend the immortals and Buddhas?!"

Yang He remained unmoved and said calmly, "There's no need to be so hesitant."

"Disciple understands!!"

With a determined look, Lü Dongbin unleashed a dozen flying swords from his scabbard, strode into the rain, bypassed the main hall, and headed toward the side hall where the candles were always lit.

Yang He watched coldly from the sidelines, without revealing even the slightest hint of his presence.

With Tang Sanzang's flesh falling from the sky, not to mention ordinary people, even most Great Luo Golden Immortals might not be able to detect it. The situation in Chang'an is clearly not right, and we cannot act rashly now.

boom! !

The commotion caused by the side hall was quite significant, and the building subsequently collapsed.

The chanting of sutras continued incessantly, and the fleshy mass formed by hundreds of golden cicadas howled in agony. Facing Lü Dongbin, it did not retaliate in any way, and in no time, it was covered in wounds.

"cut!"

Lü Dongbin's sword flashed through the rainy night. The side hall collapsed with a roar, and the twisted mass of flesh exploded in the sword light, scattering fragments of flesh everywhere.

Because of the curfew, Chang'an remained eerily quiet.

Master Shangming suddenly rushed out of the rain and collapsed onto the ruins, shouting, "You wild Taoist priests, why are you ruining the merits of my Qifu Temple!"

He trembled as he picked up a piece of minced meat, repeatedly chanting "Amitabha."

Lu Dongbin pointed his sword directly at the old monk's throat, "To feed demons with human lives, is that worthy of being called merit? Speak, what is the origin of these demons?"

What do you know?

Master Shangming looked around and noticed that both the worshippers and novices deliberately avoided his gaze.

"They all volunteered! When Shuou Village suffered a severe drought last year, where was this self-righteous moralist who showed up to help the people?!"

Several people collapsed to their knees in the mud, kowtowing repeatedly at the ruins.

"Buddha, have mercy! Buddha, have mercy!!"

Lü Dongbin's sword swayed slightly. "What difference is there between them and demons?"

"Master, you are unaware!" The middle-aged man stood in front of Master Shangming, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism. "Feeding the Buddha was our own choice."

"Li Da'er is a Buddhist monk, which is why his eldest son passed the imperial examination last year!"

“Yes!” another person chimed in, “My uncle’s youngest son was seriously ill, but not only did he recover, he also became exceptionally intelligent.”

Lü Dongbin staggered backward, and no matter how many times he checked, no one noticed anything unusual.

"Immortal Master, I was forced!"

The woman who had previously been selling tea stepped forward and said, "Master Shangming must be trying to kill me because I embarrassed him in public. Master Shangming is no human being!"

Master Shangming stared intently at the woman and said, word by word, "Female benefactor, why don't you ask your husband if he knows?"

The woman's face was deathly pale, and she opened her mouth several times but no sound came out.

The middle-aged man remained silent, clasping his hands together and muttering "Amitabha."

Master Shangming staggered to his feet and approached Lü Dongbin step by step, saying, "If it were truly a case of killing someone to feed the Buddha, then the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha would have already taken form. This old monk has always been compassionate!"

Lü Dongbin felt a rush of blood to his head, and a deep sense of powerlessness washed over him.

His helplessness stemmed not from the temple feeding mortals to Buddhas, but from the fact that mortals felt it was only natural for them to become food for immortals and Buddhas, a thought that filled him with utter despair.

Lu Dongbin looked back at the west wing, but Yang He had already disappeared without a trace.

The flying sword is sheathed.

The rain had stopped, and the sun was rising in the sky.

"get out!"

With a single sword stroke, Lü Dongbin severed Master Shangming's head, kicked aside the wailing crowd, and turned to disappear into the empty city of Chang'an.

He only wanted to find the body as soon as possible, repay Yang He, and then find out the situation in Chang'an.

Yang He witnessed Lü Dongbin's loss of moral balance from the shadows, but did not stop him.

Since arriving in Chang'an, Lü Dongbin's condition has been off. Now, it seems that his Dao heart has been affected, but his cultivation is showing signs of a breakthrough.

These repeated breakthroughs are extraordinary, whether they were achieved through cheating or not.

Yang He had encountered many protagonist archetypes, such as Nezha, Yang Jian, and Sun Wukong, and easily surpassed his fellow cultivators who had spent hundreds of years in arduous training.

But to be honest, all three of them are exceptionally talented.

On the other hand, there are always sages betting on them.

Nezha and Yang Jian gained the attention of Yuanshi Tianzun during the Investiture of the Gods, Sun Wukong goes without saying, and Shakyamuni certainly had his own thoughts.

Lü Dongbin, however, always seemed to have a somewhat abrupt change in fortune.

Yang He glanced at the Medicine Buddha statue but did not rush to intervene. The frightened mortals had already knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly under the altar.

"In the original Journey to the West, the closer you get to Mount Ling, the more demons and monsters roam. But in my opinion, Chang'an is no better place for humans."

He walked out of Qifu Temple. The morning light was just beginning to break, and Chang'an City was gradually waking up.

Before they had gone far, the noise from Qifu Temple abruptly stopped. Looking back, they saw a dozen or so ordinary people walking out of the temple with normal expressions, as if nothing had happened the night before.

The monks were clearing away the ruins; the bodies had disappeared.

Everyone was beaming with smiles.

Yang He felt unwell, even though the morning sun had already bathed Chang'an in its light, the temperature between heaven and earth was gradually rising, and the curfew had quietly ended.

He took a deep breath, the earthy smell of last night's rain still lingering in his nostrils.

And the lingering smell of incense.

Yang He didn't rush to find the mastermind. He strolled around openly and noticed that there were temples in almost every street and alley.

However, no offerings were made to the local earth god, indicating that the earth god is gradually being replaced.

Yang He's gaze lingered on the various strange and wonderful Buddha statues. Unlike the newly built Qifu Temple, the Buddha statues inside had been in place for more than half a year, making them almost fully formed.

Indeed, the flesh of Tang Sanzang inside the Buddha statue is almost fully formed. The Buddha statue itself was formed from countless corpses, and under the pressure of a long time, it was molded like a mold, transforming into the Buddha and Bodhisattva.

They are indistinguishable in appearance, so lifelike that they seem to be the true forms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Only the features of Jin Chanzi could be vaguely seen on his face.

Yang He looked puzzled. All the Buddha statues looked like pupae, or rather, like cicadas about to transform into adults.

As time passed, Chang'an City became lively once again.

"Freshly baked sesame cakes, come and have a look!!"

The cries of street vendors echoed through Chang'an City. A middle-aged man lifted the lid of a steamer, and white steam rose up, carrying the aroma of wheat.

Pedestrians are in a hurry.

A peddler carrying a load, an official on horseback, and a noblewoman fanning herself.

Teahouses and taverns set up their signs, silk shop assistants were busy wiping the storefronts, and several children chased and played as they ran past Yang He, leaving behind a string of silvery laughter.

"As expected of the Tang Dynasty's golden age, Chang'an City had at least four million inhabitants."

Yang He used his Fiery Eyes of Truth, and with the blessing of his spiritual vision, he witnessed an astonishing scene: the auras of numerous immortals and Buddhas were faintly visible.

The woman carrying a vegetable basket on the street corner was surrounded by a seven-colored halo in the spiritual vision.

Her rough fingers twirled the greens, each leaf glistening with dewdrops, and no one noticed the faint medicinal fragrance wafting through the air.

The woman was clearly Guanyin Bodhisattva, who was also an incarnation of Cihang Daoren.

Yang He shifted his gaze slightly, landing on the hunchbacked old man washing up in the morning sun under the old locust tree. The old man's hair and beard were all white, and his forehead was unusually swollen.

Unsurprisingly, he is the incarnation of the God of Longevity.

Yang He's pupils contracted sharply. At the stall in front of the teahouse, a storyteller was striking a gavel, his loud voice attracting a crowd of onlookers.

"I met another senior master, Manjushri, the Heavenly Venerable of Vast Dharma, who is now more appropriately called Manjushri Bodhisattva."

There are countless similar incarnations, more than 70% of which are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The proportion of immortals and gods is not large, but their origins are all extraordinary.

Yang He remained calm and observed for a long time before drawing a conclusion.

The incarnations are unaware that they are immortals or Buddhas. They live according to the daily routines of mortals, experiencing joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, birth, aging, sickness, and death.

"Are the immortals and Buddhas simply being cautious, or... are they acting for some other purpose?"

Yang He further concealed his aura, knowing that during the five hundred years he had been in seclusion to break through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, the immortals and Buddhas must have made many arrangements.

The Great Tribulation of Journey to the West is more like a carnival surrounded by immortals and Buddhas in the mortal world.

Although Yang He was excluded, he didn't mind being a troublemaker.

suddenly.

The Dharma seal began to move slightly.

Lü Dongbin found Yang He's body very easily in Huasheng Temple, one of the largest temples in Chang'an, which reportedly had as many as 7,500 Buddha statues.

Yang He immediately went to Huasheng Temple, where the incense was so strong that the smoke and dust obscured his vision within a hundred meters.

The incense at Huasheng Temple was so thick it was almost overwhelming, but as long as one didn't pay attention to the Buddha statues, there was almost nothing unusual in the temple. The yang energy was extremely strong, making it impossible for evil spirits to breed within a hundred miles.

Yang He emerged from the swirling smoke, the road covered with a thick layer of incense ash.

The various palaces resembled crouching giant beasts, and the eaves were not adorned with roof ornaments, but rather with miniature Arhat statues.

A quick glance revealed that Huasheng Temple had tens of thousands of worshippers as soon as it opened.

Yang He was not skilled in divination, but the Tang Dynasty did not seem like a newly established country at all; it had the air of an old man on his deathbed resorting to evil tricks.

The flesh of Tang Sanzang at Huasheng Temple is exactly the same as the Buddha statue itself.

He arrived at the temple where the corpse was located, the 'Ksitigarbha Pavilion,' without any hindrance. Just by looking at the plaque, one could tell that after he possessed Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the other Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas had probably been searching for him all along.

Squeak.

Yang He swaggered open the door, no longer bothering to conceal his presence.

It seems that since the five hundred years of seclusion, they have been plotting step by step, and it is unrealistic to break the deadlock by simply concealing their presence.

He was certain that the other side was not just Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's group.

It's estimated that they already know exactly which foot to step out with first when entering the Ksitigarbha Pavilion.

"senior."

Lu Dongbin bowed deeply. In just one night, his face became much more haggard, but his cultivation progressed even faster. Yin energy constantly surged into his body, and he advanced rapidly to the Returning to the Void Realm.

The Dizang Pavilion contains only Lü Dongbin, and in the center is a corpse painted with gold lacquer, which is the body that was lost five hundred years ago.

Yang He grinned; the Dizang Pavilion was clearly prepared for him.

"Damn it, you're playing dirty tricks, aren't you?"

Seeing Yang He's uncertain expression, Lü Dongbin took the initiative to speak, "Senior, your body is undamaged. As a local earth god, you have traveled to many places, making it difficult to trace your whereabouts."

"It has changed its name many times over the years, and now it should be called..."

Lü Dongbin wiped the wooden plaque in front of the corpse with his sleeve. "Han Zhongli, the origin of the name is unknown, it sounds quite ordinary."

"Han Zhongli".

Yang He repeated it several times: Han Zhongli was one of the Eight Immortals.

In the original work, Lü Dongbin's entry into Taoism was guided by Han Zhongli, so it can be said that Han Zhongli was the most talented among the Eight Immortals.

Yang He had already realized that the newcomers were up to no good, and their experiences were becoming increasingly similar to those of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.

He did not pass on the Daoist tradition to Lü Dongbin, but many of Lü Dongbin's supernatural abilities were comprehended through visualizing corpses, so there was indeed a master-disciple relationship between them.

If their meeting was not a coincidence, then the corpse was given the name Han Zhongli.

"script?"

"It must be some kind of supernatural power influencing me. The Journey to the West: Great Calamity version is full of cunning old foxes. It's not as satisfying as the previous version where every punch felt real."

Yang He looked displeased, but he did not abandon the corpse.

Five hundred years of accumulation have allowed the Nirvana Treasure Light of the Corpse Cultivation to reach the Profound Immortal Realm. To give up now would be tantamount to giving up the Five-Colored Divine Light.

Lu Dongbin heard Yang He muttering madly, "It's okay, it's okay, I can handle this."

He was somewhat startled and hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Senior, I am somewhat... unusual now."

"The Yin energy flows like the sea. Even though I try my best to control the speed of the Great Circulation, my cultivation progress far exceeds my expectations."

"That's great, becoming an immortal is just around the corner."

"Senior, please don't joke with your disciple." Lü Dongbin said helplessly, "At most three days, I will reach the Integration Realm. My flesh and bones cannot withstand the speed of the circulation."

"Within ten days, one can easily break through to the Tribulation Realm."

"In one month, this disciple... will become an immortal."

Lü Dongbin added incredulously, "I am getting closer and closer to going into demonic possession. In a month, I will have completed the results of a thousand years of cultivation. The moment I become an immortal, I will turn into a pile of mud."

Yang He looked directly at Lü Dongbin and said, "You won't end up as a complete mess. If you go astray in your cultivation, you'll be transformed into a demon and won't be able to become an immortal."

He is now certain that Lü Dongbin was a victim of the scheme orchestrated by the mastermind behind the scenes.

Lü Dongbin was just Jiang Qi, the barefoot doctor, and had absolutely no connection with the Pure Yang Sword Immortal, yet he was chosen as a supporting character in the script.

(End of this chapter)