So it turns out I'm the demon!

Chapter 427 The Daoist Maiden in Her Childhood

A solitary, desolate peak, the moon high in the sky.

The girl looked up at the bright, full moon, its light as clear as frost, her clear eyes filled with a bewilderment beyond her years.

"Master—what exactly is desire?"

She asked softly.

The woman standing beside the girl was slender, with graying temples. She gently stroked the girl's soft hair and said, "Desire is human nature, and it is also human nature."

Young Mo Huaisu seemed to understand but not quite, and asked in his childish voice, "So, the asceticism that Master taught me to cultivate is actually suppressing my humanity?"

The woman smiled, a hint of melancholy in her eyes: "As the ancient sages often said, 'Preserve the principles of Heaven and extinguish human desires. Only in this way can one be called a sage.'"

When I first entered the Taoist path, someone told me that if I wanted to ascend to the Great Dao, I had to abandon my humanity, cleanse my heart, and sever the seven worldly emotions.

Only by possessing divinity can one be called a god.

She slowly squatted down, looking directly into the girl's pure and innocent eyes, and said gently, "But Master can't do it."

"The human heart is not a plant or tree; joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, separation, and reunion are things rooted in our flesh and blood. To completely eradicate them is beyond the reach of ordinary people, and there are very few people in this world who can truly do it."

"Master, if even you can't do it, then I certainly can't."

The girl frowned, her delicate eyebrows furrowing, and said somewhat dejectedly.

The woman gently shook her head: "You can do it. But what I've been forbidding you from is never the desire to survive."

The universe operates in cycles; greed for wealth is desire, coveting power is desire, and yearning for talented individuals and beautiful jade is also desire. Even for us cultivators, the pursuit of the Great Dao itself is a kind of desire—these are desires that cannot be suppressed, nor need to be suppressed.

What I'm forbidding you from is lust.

"Lust?"

Mo Huaisu tilted his head, still not quite understanding.

The woman straightened up, looked at the bright moon in the sky, her gaze shifting as if she were reminiscing about something, and said sadly, "Of all things in the world, love is the most hurtful, and the pleasures of men and women are the most addictive."

Heaven and earth embrace each other, and the instinct of living beings begins with reproduction. To put it bluntly, sometimes there is not much difference between humans and livestock, except that humans are obsessed with mating and carnal desires.

As the Taoist classics say: "Feelings arise from lust, and lust originates from the heart."

Once entangled in romantic love, no matter how exceptionally talented or powerful you are, you will sink into a moment of illusory bliss and never escape the mire of this mortal world.

She pulled the petite Mo Huaisu into her arms and whispered, "Huaisu, your constitution is different from others. You are most suited to a life of purity and few desires, and you are also most suitable for cultivating the supreme path of forgetting emotions and abandoning love."

This is your talent, but it is also your constraint.

But precisely because of this, once you truly fall into this trap, you will sink deeper and be hurt more severely than others.

Therefore, you must remember not to fall into the entanglements of any man's affections, and not to covet any worldly pleasures.

"Only you in the world can walk this path of abstinence, and only you can do it, understand?"

Mo Huaisu nodded vigorously, clenched her fists, and said in a clear voice, "Master, don't worry, Huaisu can definitely do it!"

The candlelight flickered gently in the room.

Mo Huaisu's consciousness sank into a very mysterious realm.

She seemed to be sitting in a small, flat boat, thrown into the raging ocean.

She tried her best to control the turbulent waves, but no matter how hard she tried, she was powerless against the overwhelming waves.

But Mo Huaisu's cultivation to this day has relied on an unyielding spirit.

She kept adjusting the bow of the boat and steadily stabilizing the hull.

Even when battered by the waves and losing her way, she would steer the ship again and again to avoid being swept away by the whirlpool.

Surprisingly, this stubbornness gradually yielded some results.

Although the small boat was still being tossed about by the big waves, at least she had a sense of control.

The Dao heart being refined is also being tempered little by little.

When she was exhausted and no longer able to fight back, Mo Huaisu decisively separated her consciousness and soul, returning to her original true form.

The woman stumbled back to her room, collapsed onto her bed, and gasped for breath.

His Taoist robe was already soaked with sweat.

Using another's body to cultivate one's own Daoist heart.

This was the best solution she could think of.

Although it was absurd and ridiculous, and carried a certain immoral shame, it was very effective.

Clearly, my constant tug-of-war between decadence and reason has loosened the bottlenecks on the path to enlightenment even more. This is ten or even a hundred times better than so-called secluded ascetic practice.

"Only by indulging in desire can one break through obstacles."

Mo Huaisu murmured to herself absentmindedly, her beautiful eyes flashing with a complex light.

Suddenly, her brows furrowed slightly.

The woman instinctively reached out and covered her lower abdomen.

Strangely, even after returning to my physical body, I still felt a burning sensation in my lower abdomen.

Mo Huaisu took off his Taoist robe and looked down at his flat, snow-white abdomen, which was completely bare.

Fortunately, the heat subsided quickly.

"Perhaps it's due to an excess of pure yang energy."

Mo Huaisu didn't take it to heart. He put his clothes back on, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to breathe in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The next day, the Demon Slayer Division suddenly received a report.

Early in the morning, Hu Family Village and Zhao Family Village were suddenly shrouded in two mysterious clouds of mist.

Based on the on-site investigation, the sources of these two unusual demonic auras are powerful demons with a cultivation level of at least the seventh rank.

Upon hearing about the case, Jiang Mu immediately recalled the note delivered by the crow yesterday.

It seems this is the trap the Demon Slayer Society set for him.

In the vast city of Yunzhou, the only experts who can openly suppress seventh-tier demons are him and Shui Miaozheng.

The fact that the other side attacked two villages at once clearly indicated that they wanted to separate him from Shui Miaozheng.

"How did two powerful demons suddenly appear?"

Shui Miaozheng was unaware of the existence of the note, and naturally did not know that it was a trap set by the Demon Slayer Association specifically for Jiang Mu.

The beautiful woman was very puzzled.

After all, Yunzhou City is now teeming with experts, and the appearance of these demons at this critical juncture is undoubtedly very risky.

"There's always some idiotic monster causing trouble."

Jiang Mu smiled dismissively, "Let's split up. I'll go check out Hu Family Village."

Since the other party had already lured him into a trap, he naturally had no reason not to attend the banquet.

This is a perfect opportunity to wipe out all the remnants of the Demon-Slaying Society in Yunzhou City, eradicating them completely.

Shui Miaozheng, however, was somewhat uneasy and said worriedly, "Xiao Jiang, something is definitely amiss when things are going strange. I have a feeling that something is wrong."

"Why don't you ask Sect Leader Mo for help, or I'll go find Hai Baichuan. He's an official of the imperial court after all; these kinds of demons only bring trouble, there's no reason for him to stand idly by."

Jiang Mu chuckled and shook his head, gently squeezing the woman's slightly cool, soft hand: "Why bother asking Sect Leader Mo for such a small matter? It's not good to owe too many favors. Besides, Hai Baichuan might not even help."

There's already a conflict between the Imperial Guards and the Demon Slayer Division, and I even killed one of their men last time. Hoping for his help is like hoping pigs will fly. Don't worry, the two of us are enough to handle this case.”

Shui Miaozheng knew her husband's temperament and didn't want to persuade him any further. She gently instructed him, "Then let's split up. I'll go and check out Zhao Family Village. Be careful, and don't take any risks if anything seems amiss."

"understood."

Jiang Mu responded and headed to Hu Family Village alone.

Hujia Village is not far from Guanjia Village, separated only by a small hill.

When Jiang Mu arrived, he saw a cloud of black mist, like a giant inverted black bowl, sealing off the villages within a radius of several miles. Even if one extended their divine sense, they would be repelled.

The Demon Slayer Division has already set up a cordon around the perimeter to prevent outsiders from accidentally entering.

"grown ups."

Upon seeing Jiang Mu descend from the sky, Zhang Daxiao, the team leader, hurriedly went to greet him and reported, "There are a total of sixty-one households in this village. I once sent several brothers from Dingxu to infiltrate and investigate. However, they only went in for about ten steps into the black fog before they seemed to be lost in a maze, wandering around and coming out again."

Jiang Mu surveyed the black mist and instructed, "Go back to the yamen first and bring over all the people from the Demon Slayer Division. Remember, all of them! Including those from Zhao Family Village. Set up an ambush here. No matter who comes out, kill them all without exception. Even if they are villagers, arrest them first."

"yes!"

Zhang Daxiao's heart skipped a beat, and he clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

After making the arrangements, Jiang Mu did not hesitate any longer and entered the black mist directly.

Meanwhile, inside a mud-brick farmhouse at the eastern end of Hujia Village.

A burly monster with a lizard's head paced back and forth irritably.

Outside the courtyard, there were more than twenty members of the Demon Slayer Society guarding the area.

Besides it, there were two other people in the room.

One of them was a middle-aged man with a mustache, who was none other than Dong Guo Lao San, the double agent who had previously secretly made noodles with Hai Baichuan.

The other was an ordinary-looking middle-aged woman.

She was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, and her face bore the marks of wind and sun, making her look like a country peasant woman at first glance.

However, she was a protector of the Demon-Slaying Association.

He is also the highest-ranking person in charge of the Yunzhou City branch.

"Guardian Wang, give this demon a sneak peek."

The lizard demon stopped in its tracks, annoyed, and said to the woman, "Can we actually take down Jiang Mu? You know, in the eyes of our demon race, Jiang Mu is no different from a jinx."

"I'm merely a late-stage seventh-tier demon. Normally, I'd run away from him like the plague. But you insist on using me as bait to lure this ferocious god. If anything goes wrong, my life will be over."

The woman held her teacup, slowly blew on the steam, and said with a faint smile, "What's the rush? If I wasn't absolutely sure, why would I drag you into this?"

You can rest assured that the magic weapon I'm using to deal with Jiang Mu is the most treasured artifact of the Western Regions Esoteric Sect, the [Great Brahma Vajra Subduing Evil and Slaughtering the Slaughter].

This item is specifically designed to counter his celestial position.

Whether he goes to Zhao Family Village or Hu Family Village, once he steps into the formation, the magic weapon will be activated, and his star power will be completely imprisoned.

"At that time, whether he's a peerless genius of the Eighth Realm or a killing god among mortals, he'll be nothing more than fish on a chopping board before me, at my mercy."

The lizard demon was still somewhat uneasy: "What if this magic weapon fails?"

"Absolutely impossible."

Protector Wang chuckled confidently, "As long as Jiang Mu's star position is still the [Kang Jinlong] Yangmen star position, it will definitely work."

"I'm making this clear today: if Jiang Mu isn't captured alive by our Demon-Slaying Society, I will commit suicide on this very day."

Hearing such harsh words from the other party, the lizard demon relaxed slightly, a savage and bloodthirsty glint appearing in its eyes. It chuckled, "If I capture Jiang Mu, I can show off my power in front of the other demons. Let them see that the so-called god of death is nothing but an ant before me, the lizard demon! Hahahaha—"

The lizard demon burst into laughter at the thought of that scene.

Dongguo Laosan stroked his mustache and said in a low voice, "Guardian, if we capture Jiang Mu, should we kill him directly or...?"

"Kill him? That would be such a waste."

The woman put down her teacup, shook her head, and said, "This person is exceptionally talented, a once-in-a-century talent. If we could have him serve my Demon-Slaying Society, it would be a great help to us."

"At that point, even the Red Umbrella Cult will be no threat to us. We might even be able to use them to recruit more Demon Slayer cultivators."

The black fog was vast and silent.

Jiang Mu walked through the empty and desolate village, his divine sense spreading out inch by inch like a spider web.

There wasn't a soul in the village, not even a sound of chickens or dogs. Only black mist in the air flowed slowly in one direction like a trickle.

Jiang Mu searched carefully but couldn't find any villagers, so he followed the direction of the flowing black mist.

Before long, he arrived at an open space.

There, a solitary stone statue stood.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a statue of a fierce Vajra warrior with wide-open, angry eyes.

The strongman held a vajra and stepped on a demon, looking majestic and imposing, exuding a wild and fierce aura.

"Playing tricks."

Jiang Mu sneered inwardly and stepped forward calmly.

Just as he walked up to the stone statue, a sudden rumbling sound came from all around.

Amidst the flying debris and dirt, three identical diamond statues, each several meters tall, emerged from the ground in the three directions to the east, west, and north of Jiang Mu's side.

The four stone statues stood in four directions, trapping Jiang Mu in the formation.

They formed a square killing formation.

The next moment, the four Vajra statues opened their mouths in unison, spewing out four dazzling golden beams of light.

Golden light intertwined and coiled in mid-air, transforming into golden chains inscribed with the Tantric mantra for subduing demons, binding Jiang Mu.

In an instant, Jiang Mu's mind was shaken.

He felt a mysterious force pressing down on his star position, as if it were locked up, locking away both his blood and energy, and preventing him from activating even a fraction of it.

Wonderful.

Jiang Mu was secretly amazed.

He had initially been somewhat skeptical and didn't take the so-called nemesis artifact very seriously. But now, truly experiencing the artifact's immense power, he couldn't help but be shocked.

These amazing things in the world are truly eye-opening.

If I weren't a cheat code with multiple star positions, I probably would have been completely crushed by the other party.

However, Jiang Mu did not rush to change his star position. Instead, he pretended to be exhausted, staggered and half-kneeling on the ground, with fine sweat dripping from his forehead. He tried to struggle, and his face showed an expression of despair and fear.

Sure enough, a faint voice drifted over.

"Lord Jiang dared to venture in alone to rescue the villagers; he truly has great courage and spirit."

Jiang Mu looked up.

A woman dressed in coarse cloth, with her hands behind her back, walked leisurely out of the black mist, looking at him with a mocking gaze.

"What kind of sorcery did you use?"

Jiang Mu's tone was one of shock and anger. She struggled to get up, but couldn't move.

The woman laughed: "When you're about to die, why does Lord Jiang need to ask so many questions?"

"Lord Jiang destroyed my Demon-Slaying Society's branch altar a few days ago, how impressive! How come you're in such a sorry state after only a few days?"