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Chapter 195 What Right Do You Have to Live? [Sorry, my question]

The air in front of the Fire Cloud Cave seemed to freeze. The Bull Demon King stood in front of Princess Iron Fan, his large, fan-like hands tightly gripping the banana leaf fan.

"Where did these filthy scoundrels come from, daring to run wild on my old ox's land and mess with my family? Do you think I'm made of clay? Tell me! Who are you? If you don't give me an explanation today, don't even think about stepping out of this mountain. I'll make sure you're all annihilated."

He was clearly furious. He had been thoroughly fooled recently, and his wife had almost been swindled out of her valuable possessions; he couldn't swallow this insult.

Faced with the Bull Demon King's questioning, Chen Guangrui remained calm and composed.

"King Niu, please calm your anger. I am Chen Guangrui. I have already revealed my identity to your wife. I am the deputy commander who led the troops to suppress the demons causing trouble in the mortal realm, as ordered by the Heavenly Court."

"Deputy Commander of Heaven? Bah!" The Bull Demon King's thick eyebrows shot up, his eyes filled with disbelief and mockery.

"Do you think I, Old Niu, am some ignorant country bumpkin? Everyone knows that the deputy commander in the Heavenly Court's demon-slaying operation was someone planted by Laozi from the Tushita Palace! Just because you say it's you doesn't mean it's you!"

He simply didn't believe that the scholar-looking fellow in front of him was someone recommended by the Tushita Palace; he assumed he was just a swindler using a guise to cheat people.

Just then, Princess Iron Fan, who had been standing behind the Bull Demon King, spoke up, her anger a mixture of frustration at having her fan stolen and her husband's sudden appearance.

"Why are you yelling? He did reveal his identity just now; he's from the Tushita Palace."

Princess Iron Fan paused, glanced at Chen Guangrui with a complicated expression, and then lowered her voice to say to the Bull Demon King, "He also knows that Bodhisattva Pilanpo is here. There's no mistake, he's not an imposter."

Upon hearing the words "Bodhisattva Pilanpo," the Bull Demon King's large, copper-bell-like eyes narrowed sharply, his angry expression froze, and he looked at Chen Guangrui with suspicion and uncertainty. To know such a secret connection, one truly needed a background in the Tushita Palace, and someone trusted by Laozi.

The Bull Demon King's aura had clearly weakened, but he still stubbornly refused to bow his head, his neck stiff. Although his tone was still domineering, it lacked some of the ferocity of shouting for battle, and was more like a fierce but cowardly interrogation.

"Hmph! Even if you are some kind of deputy commander, recommended by the Tushita Palace, so what?"

He waved the banana leaf fan in his hand; his voice was still loud, but it carried a hint of lack of confidence.
"This is my wife's protective treasure, her lifeblood. How could you just snatch it away like that? Don't you have any shame?"

He attempted to seize the moral high ground and portray his side as the weak and bullied.

Chen Guangrui's expression remained unchanged, and his tone remained calm and even, as if he were stating a perfectly ordinary fact.

“Your Majesty, you are mistaken. I did not steal the fan. It was your wife who weighed the pros and cons and gave it to me voluntarily.”

"Voluntary?" The Bull Demon King seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Bullshit! You treacherous villain, do you really think I didn't know about all the tricks you used?"

The Bull Demon King grew angrier the more he thought about it. "First, you impersonated me, the old bull, and stole my mount, forcing me to come here to investigate. And then..."

Just as the Bull Demon King was about to have a serious talk with Chen Guangrui, a sharper and more piercing voice suddenly erupted beside him.

"Fine, Bull Demon King!" Princess Iron Fan suddenly flew into a rage for some reason.
"So you mean that if someone hadn't stolen your broken mount, you wouldn't have come to this Fire Cloud Cave to check on your wife and son's life? So it turns out that my child and I only got to see you, Mighty Bull Demon King, because of that thief! Your family is being bullied to death, and you're still looking for that vixen. What a busy man you are!"

Princess Iron Fan spoke quickly and urgently, each word like a knife, carrying the resentment that had been accumulating for countless years and the grievances that had been completely ignited at this moment.

The Bull Demon King was speechless at this sudden question, his tall body frozen in place, and the fat on his face twitched awkwardly a few times.

Oh no, I said the wrong thing in my anger.

He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that any explanation seemed so pale and powerless at this moment.

Just moments ago, King Niu was fiercely determined to punish the "villains," but now, under his wife's fiery gaze, he stammered, his face turning red and then pale. His earlier "justice-upholding" demeanor had vanished, leaving only an embarrassed and bewildered expression.

"My lady, I...I didn't mean that..." The Bull Demon King's voice suddenly dropped eight octaves, filled with obvious panic and an eagerness to explain.

"Then what do you mean? Explain yourself!" Princess Iron Fan's voice became even sharper, relentlessly pressing for an answer.

The Bull Demon King was speechless for a moment, his face turning pale from Princess Iron Fan's barrage of questions.

He wanted to say a few kind words to ease the tension, but he felt awkward doing it in front of outsiders. Especially Chen Guangrui's calm gaze, which seemed to be mocking him.

A nameless anger suddenly surged up. The Bull Demon King tucked the banana leaf fan into his robes, straightened his back, and tried to regain his dignity as the head of the household.

He said gruffly to Princess Iron Fan, "What do you know? You're just a woman, you're losing your composure over such a small matter. Don't listen to him."

He turned his head and glared at Chen Guangrui.
"What, the combined pressure from Buddhism, Taoism, and the Heavenly Court? What a prestigious title! Don't you know that in this Xiniu Hezhou region, whether it's Buddhism or Taoism, who doesn't give me, Old Niu, some face? I've been operating in this area for many years and I have my own connections. Let them come, I'd like to see which one dares to touch a hair on my wife's head."

He patted his chest, trying his best to project an aura of dominance, as if the embarrassment of being questioned by his wife had never happened. "Pfft."

A clear laugh suddenly rang out, shattering the imposing aura that the Bull Demon King had deliberately created. Chen Guangrui shook his head slightly, a mocking smile playing on his lips, as if he had heard something utterly absurd.

The laughter was extremely grating. The Bull Demon King's face instantly turned a deep liver color, his thick eyebrows stood on end, and his copper-bell-like eyes practically spit fire. "What are you laughing at!"

Chen Guangrui's smile faded, but his eyes still held that cold, mocking glint. His tone was as calm as if stating a perfectly obvious fact.
“I laugh at you, Great Bull King…you’ve really got a lot of business going for you. With your left hand you’re taking advantage of the Daoist Ancestor’s Tushita Palace, and with the Buddhist connection through the Bodhisattva Pilanpo, and with your right hand you’re trying to use the power of the Buddha to secure a place on the journey to the West, taking over all the business on both the Buddhist and Taoist sides.”

He paused, then said, "You're two-faced in front of important people. I don't need to tell you about that, do I?"

Chen Guangrui's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck the Bull Demon King's heart like a heavy hammer. This made the Bull Demon King feel somewhat guilty.

Chen Guangrui gave him no chance to breathe, pressing on relentlessly. Her gaze swept over Princess Iron Fan, whose face had also turned grim, and finally landed on Red Boy, who was hiding behind his mother with a blank expression. She then posed the most crucial question.
"Furthermore, King Bull, your wife, Princess Iron Fan, is a demon woman, skilled in controlling the wind, while you fear fire. So, the question arises..."

His voice suddenly turned cold, as if it had been chilled to the bone.

"Your precious son Red Boy's Samadhi True Fire, his fire control technique is extremely pure, clearly from the style of the Tushita Palace. Where did he get this skill from? Could it really have been taught to him by you, Great King Bull? Don't you really have any idea?"

Upon hearing this, the muscles on the Bull Demon King's rugged face twitched involuntarily, and a complex, indescribable look flashed in his eyes. He didn't look at Princess Iron Fan's face, which had instantly turned deathly pale.

"Bullshit, stop trying to stir up trouble. Red Boy is my own son, my biological son!"

After he finished speaking, he repeated, "He is my own son."

Seeing Princess Iron Fan about to speak, the Bull Demon King widened his copper bell-like eyes again, "Shut up, no one will believe your excuse."

Looking at his blustering yet cowardly appearance, Chen Guangrui couldn't help but curl her lips into a short, clear sneer. "Fine, even if he's your own son."

The Bull Demon King glared at him, as if asking, "What do you mean by 'even if'?"

Chen Guangrui asked calmly, "Then may I ask, King Niu, who taught him that incredibly pure Samadhi True Fire control technique? Did you teach him? Do you know it? Or did his wife teach him?"

The Bull Demon King's eyes gleamed. "What's so difficult about that! It was taught by the local deity of the 800-mile Flaming Mountain! That old man likes to give him pointers whenever he has free time!"

"Land?" Chen Guangrui slowly raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together. Before everyone's eyes, a wisp of blood-red flame, containing astonishing heat, suddenly ignited at his fingertip with a "poof" sound.

This tiny flame seemed to have already said something, making the Bull Demon King's eyelids twitch. Chen Guangrui continued...

"The local deity of Flaming Mountain was just a lowly Taoist priest in the alchemy room of the Tushita Palace who was in charge of tending the fire."

"His authority was granted by Laozi. He dares to teach Red Boy? Ha, if Laozi hadn't given his tacit approval, would he have dared to do that? Is he even qualified to teach him?"

The flame at his fingertips flickered gently. "This is Laozi pointing you out."

"His sending someone to teach you is a way of telling you that you've overstepped your bounds. He's giving you a warning, a reminder that you've crossed the line, and that he can kill you at any time."

The Bull Demon King opened his mouth, letting out a muffled murmur, but ultimately couldn't utter a word of rebuttal. His face turned from red to pale, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead. How could he not know these things?

Yellow Wind Demon watched from the sidelines, his thick brows furrowed. Though he was upright and disliked scheming, he understood the implications, and his gaze towards the Bull Demon King held a mixture of disdain and pity. Tang Sheng, meanwhile, peeked out from behind Chen Guangrui, his bright black eyes darting back and forth, glancing at the Bull Demon King and then at Princess Iron Fan, his face full of mischievous anticipation.

Chen Guangrui gave the Bull Demon King no chance to catch his breath, continuing to apply pressure. His voice was not loud, but it carried a heavy weight. "Bull Demon King, look at your current situation. Originally, this corner of Xiniu Hezhou was the territory of Laozi and Bodhisattva Pilanpo. Everyone knew this tacitly, and the interests had long been clearly divided."

"But what about you? What have you done? You were bewitched, wanting to eat more, and you actually secretly colluded to promise the business that originally belonged to their two families to the Buddha of the Western Paradise,"

"Think about it, if Laozi knew about this, and if the Bodhisattva Pilanpo knew about this, would they still protect you?"

The Bull Demon King's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and his knuckles, gripping the banana leaf fan, turned white.

"And then there's Tathagata," Chen Guangrui changed the subject, his tone becoming even colder.

"You've already made your promises and offered them the benefits. Now you want to snatch back the deal you've already given away? Do you think the Buddha and his benevolent bodhisattvas and arhats will let you off the hook?"

Chen Guangrui's gaze swept over the Bull Demon King's sweaty face.

"Therefore, once the pilgrims arrive and the Flaming Mountain barrier is opened, your wife, Princess Iron Fan, may be spared due to the incense offerings of the Bodhisattva Pilanpo. Red Boy is young and has the ability to control fire, so Laozi might still remember some past favors and give him a way out, or even take him under his wing."

"But you, Bull Demon King!" Chen Guangrui's voice was icy.
"You old ox who dares to try and eat from three families, both Buddhism and Taoism want you dead. The Heavenly Court will not tolerate a great demon like you who stirs up trouble. Under the combined pressure of three parties, tell me, what makes you think you can live? You are doomed!"

(End of this chapter)