Journey to the West: Starting with becoming an apprentice of the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Patriar

Chapter 81 What a fine place, Huangfeng Ridge!

The fighting outside is in full swing.

In a secluded courtyard, a young novice monk, around fourteen or fifteen years old, dodged the demons, trembling as he took out a key and opened an inconspicuous wooden door.

More than twenty ragged mountain people were crowded behind the door.

"Hurry up and go."

"Go down the mountain along the path behind the woodshed, don't go to the front yard."

An old man recognized him.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

The young novice monk shook his head.

"My master adopted me. I can't abandon him."

"But I also feel that what the temple is doing is wrong."

Just as he was about to lead the mountain people away, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps behind him.

Black Mane, carrying a machete, smashed open the courtyard gate. Covered in dust with brick dust still clinging to its fangs, it spotted the young novice's robes at a glance and swung its axe to chop at him.

The young novice monk turned deathly pale and closed his eyes, awaiting his fate.

One hand pressed down on the back of the axe, and the axe blade stopped three inches from his forehead.

Black Mane turned around, saw it was Lu Shanjun, and quickly withdrew his power.

"Your Majesty, this little bald monk—"

Lu Shanjun shook his head and looked at the group of mountain people.

The old man immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, it was this young monk who opened the prison door and saved us."

Black Mane paused for a moment, then reluctantly put down his axe.

Lu Shanjun looked at the demons in the courtyard, and also at the trembling mortals.

"If good and evil were judged solely by appearances, I, this tiger, should have died long ago at the foot of the mountain."

"Tonight we are destroying an evil temple, not killing all the monks."

"Anyone who dares to break my rules is no different from those people at Dazhao Temple."

The demons were startled and quickly withdrew their claws.

The young novice monk opened his eyes and stared blankly at the tiger demon in front of him.

He had been reciting scriptures for many years, but tonight he realized for the first time that some truths are not only written in scriptures.

Above the main courtyard, the Six-Armed Vajra was entangled by Meng Zhang and unable to move.

When Huiming saw that the mountain gate was broken and the monks had scattered, the compassion on his face finally disappeared.

"Lu Shanjun!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and he raised his hand to slap the ground.

The Buddha's light spread along the blue bricks, and the entire main hall shook violently. The base of the Buddha statue split open to the sides, revealing a deep, dark passage.

Huiming slipped inside.

Lu Shanjun had been watching him intently for a while when a wisp of golden wind swept across the courtyard.

Just as the secret door was about to close, Lu Shanjun had already entered the underground palace.

The underground stone passage was covered with countless fire-starting talismans. Deeper inside, there was sulfur, oil, and dozens of lightning-fire beads specifically designed to break the earth's veins.

Huiming stood before the formation and pressed his palm against the crimson seal.

"Since you demand evidence, this humble monk will bury this entire mountain of evidence, along with your demonic soldiers, underground!"

Lu Shanjun's figure appeared behind him.

"Even on his deathbed, he was thinking about destroying evidence."

Huiming suddenly turned around, and a string of prayer beads flew out from his sleeve.

"Does the language of demons and monsters even deserve to be called evidence?"

The prayer beads, carried by the wind, transformed into eighteen golden wheels the size of human heads, sealing off the front and back of the stone path.

Lu Shanjun did not stop.

He used the Golden Wind Release technique to pass through the gap in the golden wheel, his right hand forming a sword shape with his fingers pointing outwards, and lightning flashed only once at his fingertips.

Huiming's entire right arm froze instantly. Azure lightning threads flowed upwards from his palm, piercing through his shoulder and heart meridian in an instant. He staggered backward, still trying to lunge towards the center of the formation.

The Azure Python Stone Sword was delivered from the golden wind.

A sword pierces the heart.

Huiming looked down at the sword blade on his chest, his lips moving slightly.

"The Buddhist sect will not let you off the hook."

Lu Shanjun drew his stone sword.

"What a coincidence."

"Lu also had no intention of letting Dazhao Temple off the hook."

Huiming fell to the ground.

The ignition seal, having lost its magical support, slowly extinguished.

The demons that followed poured into the underground palace and opened the stone doors one by one.

The first to be revealed were several land and mountain gods whose collarbones were pierced by iron chains. Their divine light was dim, and some of their divine talismans had been mostly removed.

In the second stone chamber, there were more than ten rogue cultivators with blank stares. Each of them had gray-white runes left by the Mind-Control Technique between their brows, indicating that they had been under control for many days.

Further inside, there were piles of incense contracts, fake ordination certificates, and incense sticks used to infuse blood.

Huang San casually flipped open an account book, and after reading only a few pages, his face darkened.

The book is filled with extremely detailed notes.

What year, month, village, and town was the monster released?

How many people were injured by the demon? Who did Dazhao Temple send to subdue it? How many temples were built afterward? How much land was seized? And how much incense was distributed to the demon-taming mastermind?

Some of the so-called demonic calamities were actually created by them.

Black Mane stared at the room full of account books, remaining silent for a long time. Suddenly, it felt that its fangs and black fur were not as man-eating as a few sheets of paper.

"Your Majesty."

Huang San waved to the innermost secret cabinet.

"There's one more thing here."

Inside the cabinet was a golden scroll sealed by Buddha's light.

Lu Shanjun pointed his finger, and the water mine washed away the restrictions on the scroll. The scroll unfolded on its own, with no signature or mark, only a line of light gold characters.

Huangfeng Ridge is a dangerous place for those traveling west; it must not fall into the hands of unorthodox sects.

The underground palace suddenly fell silent.

Huang San couldn't understand what the four characters "Journey to the West" meant, but he instinctively felt that what was hidden behind this secret scroll was heavier than the entire Dazhao Temple branch.

Lu Shanjun stared at it for a long time, recalling some things from his past life, and slowly rolled up the secret scroll.

As expected—

Meng Zhang also fell silent within the stone sword.

After a moment, it whispered, "Mountain Lord, this scroll is probably connected to the heavens."

Lu Shanjun put the secret scroll into his sleeve.

"Now that the line has reached Huangfeng Ridge, we will meet the person who holds it sooner or later."

He looked back outside and saw that things had gradually quieted down and the fighting had stopped.

The Buddhist banners at the Dazhao Temple branch were pulled down, and then the crudely made black tiger flag from Huangfengling was hung up instead.

Nine hundred demons escorted the prisoners, separating the mountain people from the innocent monks, and then carried out boxes of evidence from the underground palace.

Huangfengling won tonight's battle.

It wasn't about occupying a few Buddhist temples, nor about killing a large number of warrior monks.

Rather, from now on, when these nine hundred demons face the Buddha bell again, they will not feel inferior.

They finally understood that having fur and horns did not make them inferior to humans.

Even someone from the mountains and fields can abide by the rules, distinguish right from wrong, and even take up a knife to demand justice from those in high positions.

Within Lu Shanjun's sea of ​​consciousness, pale blue characters gradually appeared before his eyes.

[Annotation: Commanding nine hundred demons of Huangfeng Ridge, he breached the branch temple of Dazhao Temple. The demons obeyed orders, their ferocity was controlled, and morale was initially established. Huangfeng Ridge's reputation greatly increased.]

[Mysterious Heaven Water Thunder Technique: Minor Success 23/800.]

When Lu Shanjun looked at the four characters "the army's morale is initially high," a sense of reassurance slowly arose in his heart.

He used to have nine hundred lesser demons.

Only after tonight will we truly have nine hundred demon soldiers.

Thousands of miles away.

The main temple of Dazhao Temple was brightly lit all night long, with chanting filling the air.

In the main hall, where the seals of eminent monks from past dynasties are enshrined, an ever-burning lamp begins to flicker.

Before the monk guarding the lamp could even reach it, the wick went out with a "poof".

A wisp of black smoke rose straight up.

On the futon, Huiyuan, who had been keeping his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

He looked at the extinguished eternal lamp, his brow furrowed slightly, and murmured softly.

"What a magnificent Yellow Wind Ridge!"