Why is the Demon Venerable Like That? - Chapter 23

Ling Chuandu stood frozen in place.

He saw the disappointment hidden within Lu Yuan’s surging anger.

That face, nearly identical to the one he knew, was as cold as frost and mist, while the hand resting on his body felt vaguely intimate yet devoid of any true emotion.

“Or are you saying you want me to enter your inner chamber and probe your spirit core?” Lu Yuan guided Ling Chuandu’s hand further downward, a violent, evil aura rising between his brows.

His low, hoarse voice carried a tone of mockery. “Is that how they taught you in Jiucang City?”

Words spoken in the same tone as his senior brother fell upon Ling Chuandu’s ears, leaving him flustered and unable to breathe.

He wanted to say something, but his throat felt as if it had been tightly blocked.

Boiling water seemed to pour over his heart again and again; as soon as he opened his mouth, the scorching heat would sear him into a thousand fragments.

It felt… just like having his hidden, shameful feelings discovered by his senior brother.

Ling Chuandu blinked erratically, his gaze unfocused and lost.

Clearly, he was in the gloomy, terrifying Jizhao Temple, yet he felt as if he had returned to the snow-drifting Jiucang City.

He craved that sliver of similar warmth, yet feared that the slightest movement would wake him from the dream.

The owl-men on the roof did not let this strange, clinging atmosphere in the hall last long.

The dense scratching sounds reached a crescendo, and the roof, which the workers had spent a long time covering with thatch, immediately broke open, revealing several large holes.

Ling Chuandu’s unfocused pupils turned toward the source of the sound; shattered tiles and dust rained down in a swirling mess.

They made a series of cracking and snapping noises.

This is…

This is not Jiucang City.

Ling Chuandu’s gaze finally settled. Flushed with anger and shame, he shoved Lu Yuan away with a palm strike.

He had actually been intimidated by this brat!

He held nothing back, and Lu Yuan was sent flying several feet away.

The two separated instantly, and the bizarre, lingering atmosphere dissipated at once.

Lu Yuan raised his hands, a spiritual protective barrier appearing to shield Abbot Liaowu, who sat in the center. The owl-men’s sharp claws struck the barrier, producing muffled thudding sounds.

“The entrance!” Lu Yuan shouted. Before his voice had even faded, Ling Chuandu was already guarding the door. Several owl-men charged forward, their beaks wide open, letting out howls that reeked of blood.

Ling Chuandu reached out and grabbed at the empty air; the heads of several monsters instantly turned into lumps of bloody sludge, scattering as they fell.

The Partridge Dream rippled like a water curtain, the surfaces around them emitting refracted light, and then Lu Yuan heard that familiar sound of tearing for the second time.

“Sect Master Ling, can you not… be more restrained?” Lu Yuan spun his sword. He caught a heavy bronze lamp stand, roughly the thickness of a wrist, and channeled his spiritual energy into the fragile bronze vessel to reinforce it.

Ling Chuandu remained silent for a moment. His gaze swept over the weapon Lu Yuan had just pulled from the chest of an owl-man, and he said expressionlessly, “You clearly used spiritual power, too.”

Hot, foul-smelling blood slid down the surface of the bronze stand. Lu Yuan replied coolly, “But I am only at the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Ling Chuandu had already reached the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending period, only half a step away from ascending. Even though he controlled his spiritual power with extreme precision, the Partridge Dream still sensed the presence of an entity that did not belong in this world.

“Then you had better pray that your basic spells are solid.” Ling Chuandu was expressionless, but he radiated an aura of anger.

He stepped back several feet, light as a boneless paper kite.

Lu Yuan did not understand what Ling Chuandu meant at first, until he saw him rip off the altar cloth.

The bright yellow fabric lashed out like a dragon emerging from water, splitting into several strips that tangled the owl-men. Ling Chuandu gave a sharp tug, and since the monsters could not stop their momentum, he forced them to change their trajectory, causing them to collide with one another.

For a time, the sound of skulls crashing filled the room for three days, even thudding against the defensive barrier Lu Yuan had set up.

Lu Yuan: …

Now he understood why Ling Chuandu had said those words; having a group of spinning tops flying wildly in a confined space was indeed a recipe for collateral damage.

In the end, these dizzy monsters were tied securely and piled in the center of the room.

“With so many feathers, they should burn easily.” Ling Chuandu was still nursing his anger, and he casually knocked over the eternal lamp used for offerings.

The kerosene from the lamp snaked its way toward the monsters’ feet. Seeing that Ling Chuandu really intended to burn them, Lu Yuan gestured for him to wait.

“Wait.”

Ling Chuandu frowned as he watched Lu Yuan approach the pile of owl-men. He personally reached out and plucked a feather from one of them.

Beneath the feather was a perfectly round hole, its edges filled with savage, outward-turning flesh.

Lu Yuan paused for a moment, then lifted his fingers. The feathers on the face of one monster were completely removed.

Other than a few parts of the face that still retained skin, the cheeks, cheekbones, and jaw were covered in bloody holes, from which filthy blood was still oozing.

It was identical to the sores that appeared on patients who had died during the plague years ago.

“Is this the source… of the plague?” Lu Yuan’s hand tightened and then loosened. “The residents of Tiandu City caught this strange disease, but fearing they would be mistaken for evil spirits, they could only endure the pain of pulling out these feathers. If they were seen, they had to use the illness as an excuse.”

Ling Chuandu felt only disgust for such gory things. He frowned and asked, “What exactly did Abbot Liaowu ask you to do?”

“He said.” Lu Yuan looked at Abbot Liaowu, whose face was already as rugged and rough as the bark of an old tree. The veins and vessels in his neck had turned into thin branches, yet his expression remained as kind and loving as ever.

He said: I did not expect that after we parted, we would only meet again today. I heard you died at the hands of Sect Master Ling; I did not expect that to be a false rumor.

Lu Yuan reached out, wanting to channel some spiritual energy to the old monk. He said with a wry smile: Master, I did indeed die; I have only just returned to my body.

Liaowu’s eyes could no longer turn; he could only stare fixedly at Lu Yuan. He said, “Sect Master Lu, your habit of joking is exactly as it was.”

Lu Yuan was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His current body’s cultivation was lacking, and the spiritual energy he input into Liaowu was like a stone tossed into the ocean.

Liaowu thanked him, “I have troubled you, Sect Master, but my Bodhi body cannot be reversed, so there is no need for such trouble. There is one thing I hope you can help with.”

Lu Yuan lowered his eyes to look at Liaowu’s petrified lower body and nodded.

“Years ago, when I met with Sect Master Lu at the tea shop, I once said that you were unable to let go of your responsibilities. I did not expect that now, I too am using this to coerce you.” Liaowu emitted a dry, hoarse laugh. “My spiritual power is almost exhausted, but the temple has been occupied by an evil Buddha. He can assume any form in this world.”

“He disguises himself as me for convenience while sealing me in this side hall. The Sutra Pavilion is protected by the Sarira of past abbots, so the evil spirit dares not act rashly there. Outside of this place, he goes wherever he pleases.”

“Sect Master Lu.” The wood grain had grown to Liaowu’s lower lip; he struggled to move his mouth. “I have no other choice. I can only delay it one day at a time.”

Liaowu was like an old object, emitting the final sound of wood rubbing against wood, “Find the Dual-Faced Buddha and eliminate him.”

The little novice, who had been silenced by a spell, heard nothing. He only saw Lu Yuan sitting on the floor for a long time, and finally, he could not help but ask, “Sect Master Lu, I must tell my master. What is going on?”

He turned his head to look at Abbot Liaowu and muttered to himself: “And who is this?”

Lu Yuan stared at the little novice and suddenly felt very tired. He wiped his face and said, “This is Abbot Liaowu.”

The little novice thought Lu Yuan had gone mad. “How is that possible? Although I have not seen the Abbot himself, my master goes to listen to Abbot Liaowu lecture on sutras during the morning lessons every day.”

Outside, the owl cries became continuous, as if celebrating someone’s impending doom.

The little novice shrank his head, “Why are there so many earth owls recently?”

Lu Yuan stood up with a gloomy expression and started to leave. The little novice hugged his arms and chased after him, “Benefactor, where are you going?”

“To burn the Sutra Pavilion.” Lu Yuan said coldly.

The little novice: !

“You absolutely must not!”

He picked up his short legs and chased after him.

“So you lured everyone to the Sutra Pavilion?” Ling Chuandu’s expression was one of realization.

“I thought you were going to ask me why I wanted to burn the Sutra Pavilion.”

Lu Yuan only intended to feign lighting the Sutra Pavilion to attract the ordinary people staying there to put out the fire.

Ling Chuandu said impatiently, “I am not lacking in wits, and you have not lost your mind. I can figure that out just by thinking.”

“I was worried they would be sleeping too soundly at night, so I specifically waited until daytime.” Lu Yuan said indifferently, “Most of the people came, and the evil Buddha was a bit slow, but he realized something was wrong. Seeing the people he kept as livestock all running out made him anxious, and then you saw what happened.”

Other than the Sutra Pavilion, the eaves, windows, and roofs of Jizhao Temple were covered in these converted monsters.

“How did you convince that little monk?” Ling Chuandu asked after hesitating for a moment.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Lu Yuan’s face, “I did not verbally convince him.”

The implication was that he had used some kind of illusion or trick to deceive the little monk into ringing the bell for him.

“That bronze bell is one of the two safest places right now.” Lu Yuan rubbed his nose guiltriddenly.

If he were in the Haotian Alliance, his act of using magic on ordinary people would have resulted in another formal complaint submitted against him.

“Where is the Dual-Faced Buddha himself?” The roof of the side hall had already been ripped open by the owl-men earlier. Ling Chuandu looked up at the night sky, feeling that something was wrong, “You have been causing chaos here all day, and he has only released these small toys?”

Lu Yuan looked at the small toys lying helter-skelter on the ground. If the little monk had not rung the ritual implement for him, he did not know if he would have been able to hold out until daylight.

“Move!” Lu Yuan felt a shift in his heart and shouted sharply.

He finally knew what was wrong with the night sky.

Pitch black and devoid of stars, that was not the sky at all!

A massive, heaven-covering bronze Buddha statue descended from above.

The Buddha had two faces: one kind and gentle, the other a demonic ghost face.

The energy within Lu Yuan’s body felt the danger and reflexively surged into his palms.

Suddenly, the wind stirred, and Lu Yuan’s black and red robes fluttered.

A violent aura centered on him, seemingly intent on strangling everything in the vicinity. The shattered bronze fragments of the Buddha statue became murderous hidden weapons, thousands of them rushing toward everything around at extreme speed.

A massive phantom of the Dharma statue sat suspended above Jizhao Temple, emitting a humming laugh.

Every sound was like gold and jade striking, like lightning and thunder.

“I wish to lead you all away from the suffering of the Three Evil Paths.”

The phantom leaned down, and the air instantly stagnated. He smiled and said, “I have come to ferry you both to the other shore.”