Starting with the divine power of the Great Vajra, he traversed the heavens.

Chapter 211 The Temple Fair is Brewing
"So it was Mr. Shinzai!"

The fat Taoist priest put away his smile, quickly took two steps forward, bowed deeply, and said respectfully, "This humble Taoist priest from Wudang pays his respects to the High Priest!"

Xi Yingzhen was extremely knowledgeable in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. He had extensive knowledge of Taoist arts and scriptures, alchemy and the Book of Changes, and even Buddhist classics.

It can be said that he was an extraordinary person among extraordinary people, as he practiced the arts of Yin and Yang and numerology as a Taoist priest.

Of course, most people prefer to call him Xi Yingzhen.

Xi Yingzhen looked at him and slowly asked, "Xiao Ban? What are you doing here?"

The young Taoist patted his belly and laughed heartily: "I came to investigate some matters, but I never expected to run into Elder Xi!"

Xi Yingzhen thought for a moment, then chuckled and said, "You heard that Pang Ban was injured, and you want to seek revenge on him?"

The little Taoist priest smiled somewhat reluctantly and nodded.

Xi Yingzhen sneered: "Wuxiang and the Immortal of Immortality are nothing but guard dogs. They are truly blind to waste such talent."

The young Taoist priest was quite embarrassed by his outburst and couldn't help but ask, "Master Xi, do you think there's something fishy about this?"

Xi Yingzhen sneered and turned to go back into the house: "How dare you juniors mess with Pang Ban?"

The half-Taoist said, "Even if he is truly seriously injured?"

The wooden door creaked shut, but one sentence could still be heard.

How can a pack of dogs fight against a savage tiger?

"Ha, so you're calling us dogs!" The little Taoist chuckled twice, surprisingly not angry at all.

He paused, then patted his head and muttered to himself, "But I didn't come here just for Pang Ban."

"It is said that Ren Hongxiu became Pang Ban's furnace. If we can capture her, we will make Pang Ban's demonic art, which no one in the demonic sect has ever mastered before, fail."

The young Taoist patted his belly and staggered back into the house, sighing as he went, "This is tough."
-
Winter has quietly arrived, and the temperature in Taohuadian Village has slowly dropped.

Two months ago, a blacksmith shop quietly opened in the village.

The shop owner was a one-armed young man with shoulder-length hair that draped over his shoulders, and he always had a silly smile on his face.

This made the village keeper, Ashu, very wary, feeling that his position was insecure.

At the east end of the village, several boys were pulling hard on a white donkey. The donkey was pure white, about eight feet tall and seven feet long, with its long, slender legs standing easily on the ground, and even its front legs were leisurely crossed.

With a flick of his donkey face, he threw the boys several feet away, sending them tumbling into a cloud of dust.

As soon as the white donkey was freed, it tried to run west of the village, but a red figure nimbly jumped onto its back.

The white donkey was about to kick up its paws.

Unexpectedly, a small hand gently rested on its neck, and a soft laugh came: "Stop fooling around, let's go to the city."

The white donkey was so dizzy from being pressed down by the small hand that it tried to run away with its head down. But when it suddenly heard this sound, its ears perked up and its eyes lit up.

The girl laughed, "You lazy bum, all you can think about is your little mare? Why aren't you moving?"

With a loud "thump," the white donkey immediately took off running.

The boys, their faces bruised and swollen, saw the beautiful young woman on the donkey's back and couldn't help but wave and shout, "Sister Hongxiu!"

Upon hearing this, Hongxiu turned and smiled at them before disappearing into the distance.

"Oh, Sister Hongxiu is so beautiful!"

"Yes, she's beautiful inside and out! She's been in our village for two months now, and everyone says she's wonderful."

"What a pity, my brother married a tigress like her. Otherwise, how wonderful it would be if Sister Hongxiu became my sister-in-law! I don't even dare to think about it!"

"You don't even dare to think about it? Humph! When I grow up, I'm definitely going to marry Sister Hongxiu!"

"Pah! With your pathetic appearance, you think you can get your hands on a swan?"

"Ouch! Damn it, you dare to touch my dick? I'll beat you to death!"

The boys' laughter and fighting could not affect the heart of the departing girl. She sat on the back of the white donkey, watching the villagers carrying hoes and walking away in the morning sun, their shadows shimmering with gold as they chatted and laughed.

Hongxiu waved to them and greeted them: "Grandpa Liu, Uncle Li, Brother Zhang, you're going to the fields so early?"

"Haha, good morning, Hongxiu!" Grandpa Liu, an old man with a full head of silver hair, grinned and said, "Haven't you heard? You should have your own son, and you should plow the fields in winter."

"That's right, winter plowing is for a good harvest next year!"

"Yes, it can also dig out pests, which is great!"

Hongxiu exclaimed in surprise, nodded to show that she had learned something, chatted with them for a few minutes, and then rode her donkey to continue towards the west entrance of the village.

Along the way, she met various young women and wives, and Hongxiu chatted and laughed with them. These women also liked Hongxiu very much. Knowing that she was greedy, they stuffed some mountain produce into her arms.

Hongxiu took a look and saw that it was dried bamboo shoots made from last year's winter bamboo shoots from the mountain.

One of the women advised, "You should stew the bamboo shoot skins with fatty pork together, make a rich, dark sauce, and it'll be so fragrant!"

"Great!" Hongxiu's mouth watered, and she bowed repeatedly to the women, "Thank you, Grandma Li, Sixth Aunt, Sister Zhang!"

Many of the women laughed and waved goodbye to her.

Hongxiu continued riding her donkey and caught another crucian carp from Uncle Zhang, the fisherman; most of a block of tofu from Uncle Wu in the south of the village; and a small piece of cured meat from Aunt Li in the west of the village.

With his arms almost overflowing with food, he finally arrived home.

Ren Shaoyang stood in the middle of the road, wearing a dark blue robe and a turban, looking like a down-on-his-luck scholar.

Seeing the little beggar return carrying a large pile of food, he greeted her with a smile and helped her carry the load.

“We don’t need to go out and set up a stall anymore.” Ren Shaoyang said with a smile, carrying cured meat and dried bamboo shoots. “You can patrol the area every day, and we’ll have enough to eat and drink.”

"That won't do!" Hongxiu shook her head repeatedly. "We can't just sit around and do nothing. There's no treasure from the Emei Underground Palace here!"

At this moment, the wind is gentle and the clouds are light, and the sun lazily moves behind the clouds, rarely showing its face.

Ren Shaoyang placed the food inside the house, clapped his hands, and said, "If we don't have the Emei Underground Palace, we can try the Yuan Emperor's treasure." "A treasure?"

Hongxiu's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Not sure." Ren Shaoyang shook his head and said in a low voice, "Once we capture that 'transvestite' Li Chimei, we can interrogate her properly. Who knows, we might get some unexpected surprises."

"Great, great!" Hongxiu was overjoyed. She rolled up her sleeves, raised her little fist, and shouted, "I've disliked him for a long time! How dare he hurt you! I have to bleed him out of his gold coins!"

Ren Shaoyang smiled gently and said, "I'm almost fully recovered. The Divine Illumination Scripture from Ding'an is indeed remarkably effective."

"That's good!" Hongxiu said with a smile. "By the way, the temple fair in Wuchang Prefecture is about to start, let's hurry up and go."

Ren Shaoyang laughed and said, "Old Xi and Uncle Fatty went there a long time ago, and they saved us good spots." As he spoke, he pulled a white cloth out of his sleeve.

The little beggar peeked out and saw the five big characters "Divine Image Mud Bodhisattva" written on it. He couldn't help but scratch his head with joy: "Haha, that's thoughtful! The Mud Bodhisattva has returned to the world!"

Ren Shaoyang said, "Ding'an's calligraphy has become more elegant than before."

Hongxiu nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes!"

Ren Shaoyang smiled indulgently, "Let's go, don't get up early only to arrive late."

"What about his severed hand? Isn't he going?"

"He took Han Bai's order, saying he wanted to make a twisted steel knife, so he didn't go."

"Alright! Let's bring him some good food. I heard there will be a lot of out-of-town merchants and medicine vendors at this temple fair."

"Hmm, it seems like it's worth a visit!"

The two, dressed in plain clothes and wearing bamboo hats, led a donkey and walked out of Taohuadian Village one after the other, heading towards Wuchang Prefecture.
-
Ren Shaoyang and Hongxiu traveled very fast. When they arrived at Wuchang Prefecture, the white donkey went to find Han Bai (the mare).

By this time, the sky was bright, and the city was bustling with carriages and horses, and the number of pedestrians gradually increased.

In those days, there weren't many gatherings, so for this temple fair, many poor villagers from outside the city carried heavy loads and baskets on their backs, gradually walking from various country lanes, flowing into the city like rivers converging.

As we entered the city, the bustling streets, the hawking vendors, the noisy singing and dancing in the brothels, and the drunken revelers in the restaurants—everything seemed to go from extreme stillness to extreme activity.

It's like a still image coming to life.

Hongxiu looked around and laughed, "Crippled man, does it feel like you're strolling through a market at Dripping Cliff?"

As they walked, Ren Shaoyang helped her tie her long, beautiful hair into a bun on top of her head, carefully tying the loose strands with tassels so they could drape loosely over her chest.

Ren Jianshen laughed and said, "If a clay Bodhisattva doesn't make a scene, wouldn't it be boring?"

"Hahaha!" Hongxiu burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Well said!"

The two strolled around, experiencing the bustling Wuchang city, which was more lively than usual, especially as they approached Changchun Temple.

Ren Shaoyang and Hongxiu watched as many people occupied positions and set up stalls in various streets and alleys, and surprisingly, most of them spoke with accents from other places.

They traveled north and finally found the stalls of Old Man Xi and the fat Taoist.

Ren Shaoyang cupped his hands and smiled, "Oh, thank you so much for saving us seats!"

Xi Yingzhen remained expressionless and waved her hand slightly.

The Taoist priest, beaming with pride, patted his belly and laughed, "Miss Ren actually has the ability to read faces; this has truly broadened my horizons!"

Hongxiu glanced at him and laughed, "Fat Taoist, have you gained weight again lately?"

The little Taoist chuckled, raised his small teapot, and took a sip: "Not fat, not fat, just the right amount of richness."

"Hmph!" Xi Yingzhen sneered, "You lazy bum, can't you understand what I'm saying? You're always secretly drinking and eating meat, and you've gotten so fat you're like a ball."

The little Taoist shook his head repeatedly, then said with a grin, "Old Master Xi has also eaten quite a bit of the dishes made by Miss Hongxiu!"

"Good lad." Xi Yingzhen's eyes darted around, and he chuckled, "When I see Chunyangzi, I'll definitely tell on you!"

The little Taoist was stunned. He put his hands together, put on an innocent and pitiful look, and pleaded, "Elder Xi! Please, please don't tell my master. If he finds out, he'll break both my legs."

Everyone burst into laughter upon seeing this.

In the past two months, Xi Yingzhen and Xiaoban Daoren have been bickering frequently, which has brought a lot of joy to everyone.

They chatted for a few more minutes, and as more and more people gathered, the street became crowded and packed with people, like a suddenly turbulent river.

So they all went into the stalls and set up their stalls to prepare.

On this side, there were fortune-telling stalls everywhere, with monks, nuns, Taoist priests, men, women, young and old, all carrying banners with slogans like "Divine Fortune Teller in Plain Clothes" and "Iron-Mouthed Predictions."

It is quite a sight to behold.
-
At the ferry crossing outside Wuchang City, Han Bai was taking a nap, while Hui'er and the white donkey were chasing and playing.

Just then, a group of martial arts heroes carrying knives and swords came swaggering in from afar, causing passersby to scatter in their wake.

The leader was a short, stout man in his fifties with a grinning face. He wore a brocade robe, but the chest was embroidered with a pattern of "double dragons and cloud pillars".

If a seasoned veteran of the underworld were to see this man, he would immediately recognize his name – Shang Liang, the "Smiling Dagger".

This person always greets others with a smile, but in reality, he is ruthless and kills without hesitation, leaving no room for negotiation. He is a well-known figure in the martial arts world.

Of course, he also has an even more impressive identity.

One of the four guardians of the Evil Sect!

Shang Liang glanced casually at Han Bai, who was lying on the ground taking a nap, and then looked at the white donkey.

Suddenly, he exclaimed "Huh?", rubbed his eyes, and glanced at the donkey a few more times.

His expression suddenly changed drastically!

Shang Liang made a gesture without making a sound, and the others quickly took their positions, each drawing their swords.

He strode towards Han Bai.

(End of this chapter)