Arhats Subduing Demons: Starting with The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber

Chapter 21 Lighting a Fire and Burning Incense
Chang Kong bought a mule in Chang'an and then went to Taiyuan. Last time, he was "driving a donkey cart in a leisurely manner" and was quite nervous. This time, he was "riding a donkey backwards like Zhang Guolao" and was very relaxed.

Riding a donkey wasn't out of personal interest, but rather to avoid unnecessary trouble. In these chaotic times, horses were a necessity, and riding alone would inevitably attract attention and become the target of bandits and government troops. This was the same reason why Guo Jing took Yang Guo up Zhongnan Mountain on a donkey.

He missed his lodging and was prepared to spend the night in the forest if all else failed. But when he saw a village in the distance, he immediately spurred his mule and went into the village. Who would stay in the forest when there are houses to sleep in?

Upon entering the village, Chang Kong sensed something amiss. The village was deserted, without a single person in sight, not even the sounds of livestock, giving it an eerie atmosphere.

Although Chang Kong was highly skilled and daring, he was still somewhat uneasy. He had already transmigrated, so it was normal for there to be ghosts.

While he was pondering whether the "Arhat Subduing Demons Technique" could cure ghosts, a sudden gust of wind blew by, and he faintly smelled a fishy stench, as if it were blood mixed with something else.

Chang Kong walked towards a room, flicked his sleeve, and with a bang, the door opened wide. But his sleeve was too strong, and the door flew up and crashed into the room.

The sky was pitch black. He held a tinderbox in his hand and went inside. But as soon as he stepped inside, he stopped in his tracks with a start.

On either side of the entrance, two corpses lay on the ground, both dressed as farmers, with knife wounds on their necks and bodies. A large pool of black blood flowed on the ground, and the stench of decay was overwhelming, indicating that they had been dead for several days.

Chang Kong immediately went out of the house and looked around. Most of the doors and windows were broken and the houses were in a mess. The dead bodies were secondary; what he saw were also the corpses of children and women. The women were all naked and had obviously been raped and killed.

He used his light-footed skills to walk around the entire village, and roughly calculated that nearly a hundred people had died.

Even though Chang Kong had already experienced the bloody battle at Jinyang Escort Agency and the murder by the woman in yellow, under such circumstances, he felt a chill spreading through his bones, as if he were in a cave frozen for thousands of years. His mind kept flashing: "Is this the legendary rape and plunder? Hmm, this is a village massacre like the Japanese invading a village. But was it done by bandits or government troops?"

A gust of north wind blew by, making clothes flutter. Chang Kong felt a chill on his back and realized that his back was wet.

This coldness wasn't caused by wind or cold; it was a chill that surged up from the deepest part of my heart.

He had heard of such things in his previous life, but this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. It was like someone thinking that killing was easy, but actually doing it was a completely different matter.

Chang Kong composed himself, intending to leave, but then felt that if so many corpses were not dealt with, they would spread a virus, causing endless harm. So he prepared to burn the village down, thinking to himself, "I know that ghosts and gods exist, but you must be careful. I am not burning you to harm you. Amitabha, Amitabha! I hope you can all go to the Pure Land and never come to this world again in your next life."

As he gathered firewood, he chanted Amitabha Buddha's name, when suddenly he heard a shout.

Chang Kong immediately focused his energy and listened. Several miles away, it sounded like someone was fighting. He thought to himself, "Could it be related to the massacre of the village?"

Chang Kong had not intended to cause trouble on this trip, but witnessing such a horrific tragedy aroused his anger. He immediately moved swiftly, following the sound.

Once he unleashed his "Golden Goose Skill," he moved like a wisp of smoke, swift as lightning, disappearing with the wind. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the place where the sound had originated.

In a dense pine forest, several people were fighting. Four men in white robes were besieging a ragged beggar and a woman in black, and the fight was fierce.

A burly man in white stood by, watching the fight with his hands behind his back, looking quite relaxed.

Chang Kong's situation was unclear, so he quietly landed on a tree, concealed himself, and observed the surroundings.

Four men in white appeared, each wielding a different weapon: a sword, a knife, a whip, and a spiked club. Their movements were methodical, each strike precise and ruthless, yet they avoided direct confrontation with the beggar and woman, retreating as soon as they made contact.

The beggar's eyes were blazing with rage. He swung an iron rod and used every move he could muster, as if he were prepared to perish together with the enemy.

The woman in black had a rather exquisite swordsmanship, and her moves seemed vaguely familiar. Chang Kong thought to himself, "Hmm, this straight thrust is similar to the 'White Rainbow Piercing the Sky' move in the Quanzhen Swordplay."

Just as they were pondering this, the white-clad giant watching the battle said, "If you two lay down your weapons, kneel down and beg for mercy, and persuade my Ming Cult, I will let you go."

Chang Kong was utterly astonished, not because of the content itself, but because this person spoke casually and in a rather unremarkable voice, yet his voice carried for over ten feet through the forest, demonstrating an extremely abundant inner strength.

Unexpectedly, a random encounter with a member of the Ming Cult revealed such a master. Upon closer inspection, Chang Kong noticed that each of these white-clad figures had a flame symbol on their sleeve.

The woman shouted, "Bah! You treacherous demons of the Emei Sect! We are sworn enemies of you!"

The beggar laughed heartily: "Senior Sister Emei is right. A true man would rather die standing than live on his knees. You want us to kneel and beg for mercy? Dream on!"

Upon hearing this, Chang Kong's cheeks flushed.

Chang Kong was aware of the feud between the Emei Sect, the Beggars' Sect, and the Demonic Cult. The Demonic Cult's sacred artifact, the Sacred Flame Token, had been stolen by the Beggars' Sect, leading to their loss and centuries of conflict. As for Gu Hongzi of the Emei Sect, he was the beloved of Abbess Miejue, but was defeated by Yang Xiao and died of grief; his own brother was also killed by Xie Xun. Therefore, the two sides fought at the first sight. Seeing these two men's unwavering resolve, Chang Kong felt a mixture of shame and admiration. He realized that if he were in their shoes, facing a life-threatening situation, he wouldn't even dare to think about fighting them.

Regardless of his stance, Chang Kong respected the tough guy and realized that neither side should be involved in the massacre of the village.

At this moment, the man who had been standing with his hands behind his back had a faint red glow in his palms, which was quite frightening in the moonlight, as if he had practiced a poisonous palm technique. He thought to himself, "Once this guy makes a move, these two will definitely suffer from his poisonous hands."

Chang Kong broke off a branch from the tree and flicked it with his five fingers, shooting it at each of the five people.

Although these slender branches were light and airy, Chang Kong's internal energy and martial arts skills had reached a superb level. Under the stimulation of his internal energy, these five branches were moving extremely fast.

With a series of clangs, the four attackers' hands jerked, while the bystander struck out with his palm, and with a whoosh, the tree branch turned to dust.

Chang Kong thought to himself, "This person's martial arts are impressive! I wonder who he is in the Ming Cult."

The white-robed leader made a gesture, and the others immediately retreated several steps, ceasing their attack. The beggar and the Emei disciple were panting heavily, knowing that an extremely powerful expert had arrived.

The leader called out loudly into the air, "The Ming Cult is burning incense and fire; please, my unrelated friend, let me pass through."

Chang Kong knew this was a Jianghu slang term, meaning that if the Ming Cult did things without interfering, they were good friends, which carried a strong sense of threat.

Chang Kong didn't want to get involved in their disputes, but he couldn't stand the Ming Cult's method of bullying the weak with numbers, which was why he secretly intervened. Upon hearing this, he simply said, "The Ming Cult prides itself on being heroes, yet they engage in such underhanded tactics. It's truly disgusting. They should leave now!"

The man chuckled and said, "Don't get the wrong idea, sir. Trying to undermine my Ming Cult is no laughing matter."

Chang Kong laughed heartily, his laughter clear and melodious.

Everyone was startled; the laughter was so loud that it shook all the trees and the wind rustled through the forest.

Several people were so stunned by his laughter that they swayed and some even had to lean against a tree to steady themselves. Large beads of sweat trickled down their foreheads.

The white-robed leader was both shocked and furious, completely unable to believe that he had encountered such a powerful expert here.

Seeing that this person possessed profound inner strength and stood still, Chang Kong wanted to encourage the laughter again, but seeing that the Emei disciple and the beggar's faces were pale, he was afraid of hurting the two of them, so he immediately stopped laughing.

The man in white let out a long breath, clasped his hands in a fist and said in a deep voice, "Your skill is excellent. Since you are so knowledgeable, how could I dare not comply!"

He paused, his gaze piercing the beggar and the woman, before adding, "No wonder the Emei Sect and the Beggar Clan are so domineering; they've planted such formidable allies!"

With a wave of his hand, he and his four subordinates turned and left together.

After walking ten paces, the man in white stopped and turned back, saying, "Your internal strength is truly exceptional. But you should at least leave your name so that I won't be impolite if we meet again in the martial world!"

Chang Kong smiled faintly: "If you can withstand my smile, your martial arts are not bad. Who are you in the Ming Cult?"

The man in white laughed heartily: "Thank you for the compliment. I am but a nobody from the Ming Cult, my name is not worth mentioning."

Chang Kong simply said, "Oh, you nobody. What right do you have to ask me my name? Get lost!"

The man in white raised an eyebrow, seemingly wanting to challenge Chang Kong to a duel, but he restrained himself, gave a cold laugh, and strode away.

Chang Kong watched his retreating figure disappear, feeling rather strange.

Was the fight really that easy to end?
Although it's true that whoever is stronger is right, he found it somewhat strange.

Suddenly, it was heard: "Wang Xiaotian and Zhao Lingzhu greet the young hero."

Chang Kong looked down and saw that the two had already reached the tree. He smiled and said, "You two are too kind. It is the duty of martial artists to help those in need when they see injustice. Why should we use the word 'chivalrous'?" With that, he vanished into the night.

(End of this chapter)