noffsinger Chapter 336 Demons are Watching
Chapter 336 Demons are Watching
The moonlight poured down the mountain path like frost. Liu Jiqian's plain crane cloak was soaked in cold light, and the scabbard was condensed with undried green demon blood.
He did not use the art of disguise this time, not because he was being careless - the evil spirit lingering around his body had already become an invisible mark, and even dead leaves became silent and dormant wherever he passed.
The remains of the phantom demon that was beheaded three days ago were still emitting a foul smell in the storage bag.
He had eliminated countless corpses and phantom demons along the way. To those guys, there was no point in disguising the evil spirit on his body. It was just a trick for mortals. Besides, he was not acting in the mortal world, so there was no need to hide it.
Secondly, it can deter those demons lurking in the dark, just like a wild beast marking its territory, giving a warning to those guys hiding so that they dare not act rashly, and also allowing mortals to breathe.
Although there is a chance of alerting the enemy, compared to the safety of mortals, this is the method with the least loss.
Liu Jiqian didn't know what other cultivators were doing, but he could not do anything like using human lives as bargaining chips.
There was a rustling sound in the darkness, and the tassel of his sword shook slightly, startling birds, which fluttered over the broken stele. In the eyes of mortals, Liu Jiqian still looked like a banished immortal, but they did not know that the lurking monsters were trembling at the spiritual sword hidden at his waist.
However, with the blessing of Liu Jiqian's appearance, the people who were asked for directions were more enthusiastic than each other, and they heard everything about the so-called "Bodhisattva" goddess at once.
Liu Jiqian calculated the time in his mind and thought that the appearance of this "Bodhisattva" was strange and coincidental. He immediately had some guesses. He used the jade mirror to pass the news back to the sect and planned to go to the "ancestral temple" of the "Bodhisattva" to take a look.
Some time ago, corpse ghosts and phantom demons seemed to have suddenly erupted, wreaking havoc on the territories of various sects. These two kinds of demons are not very lethal, and even phantom demons are only more dangerous at high levels. Ordinary cultivators can only suppress them a little.
However, these corpse ghosts and phantom demons deliberately only attacked places where mortals gathered, and there were traces of their activities even in the towns directly under the sect's jurisdiction. They were already hated by everyone, but they were still so arrogant, which immediately angered everyone.
There was no need for the major sects to call for action, as each sect organized people to resolve the issue, and the Cangsheng Alliance even issued a number of tasks.
Because Lu Wensheng's deeds were rewarded by Heaven, the cultivators became responsible for their own "Tao" and began to pay attention to the affairs of mortals. There were even some smart young disciples who began to look for ways to "refine their minds in the world" and actively went about exorcising demons.
Corpse ghosts are easy to deal with, as they look like living dead and can be accurately caught with magic weapons that search for breath. However, phantom demons are naturally good at hiding their breath and have strong imitation abilities, which are difficult to deal with. Therefore, the operation to exorcise demons has not yet spread completely.
It was just strange that some villages suffered an unexpected disaster. It was some unknown demon that came silently and without alerting the "net of heaven and earth" set up by some monks outside for timely rescue. It slaughtered all the people in a village, leaving no trace at all.
While Lu Wensheng and his disciples were still investigating the massacred village, Liu Jiqian went to the nearby area to look for clues first, but heard many stories about "the goddess's apparitions".
Also saw a lot of deeds.
These seemingly devout villagers had honey in their throats when they spoke, and their wrinkles at the corners of their eyes were filled with flattering smiles. Whenever they mentioned the rumors of "praying for a child and getting a child" and "praying for wealth and getting wealth", their cracked lips twitched unnaturally, and their fingers like dead branches grasped in the air, as if they wanted to grasp the empty blessings into their palms.
He lowered his eyes and glanced at the newly built glazed niche on the roadside. The green smoke wafting from the incense burner was actually tinged with a faint rouge red. The incense sticks inserted in the ashes burned very quickly. A faint sound similar to a woman's laughter could be heard from the crackling sparks.
It was normal for ordinary people to pray to gods and Buddhas, and even monks would not inquire too much about it. However, the believers of this "Goddess" were really fanatical. Although they were as sincere as ordinary believers, Liu Jiqian felt that their reverence and piety were mixed with hidden desires.
He was all too familiar with this - it was greed for profit and for ulterior motives.
Liu Jiqian twisted the incense ash remaining on his fingertips, and suddenly remembered the dark red flickering in the cloudy eyes of those fanatics. He sighed softly - this was not the piety of worshiping gods, but the greed of gamblers who risked their entire fortune.
If a foreign demon wants to enter the mortal world, it will naturally alarm them, but...what if the demon is already in the mortal world?
When asked about the name of the "Goddess", it was neither the Three Pure Ones nor the Buddha, and she couldn't explain it. Liu Jiqian understood it in his heart, and out of rigor, he made a special trip to the "ancestral temple".
What catches your eye is a golden statue of two meters tall sitting on a lotus pedestal, gilded all over and with a solemn appearance.
He wears a lotus crown, the agate inlaid on it is crystal clear, reflecting the colorful Buddha light, and there is a dot of cinnabar between his eyebrows, which looks like blood but not blood, like jade but not jade. His eyes are slightly closed, his eyelids drooping, and his compassion reveals a bit of sorrow for all living beings.
Wearing a brocade cassock, the lotus patterns embroidered with gold thread are so lifelike that you can almost smell the faint sandalwood scent.
The wide sleeves fell, revealing a pair of hands that looked like they were carved from white jade. The fingers were in the mudra of making wishes, and the fingertips were round. Around the wrists was a string of crystal clear Buddhist beads, and each bead emitted a warm luster.
Under the lotus platform, pilgrims kneel devoutly.
I saw the Bodhisattva with a slightly raised mouth, a gentle smile, a faint blush on his cheeks, and he looked as lively as a living person. The golden rings hanging on his earlobes swayed gently, reflecting soft golden light. The necklaces around his neck hung down, and each of the Buddhist beads was round and full, exuding a faint sandalwood scent.
As the candlelight flickered, a hazy halo shrouded the Bodhisattva's body, the gold threads on the cassock flickered in the firelight, and the lotus patterns seemed to come alive, rising with the smoke of incense.
The half-closed eyes occasionally trembled, as if they were about to open in the next moment, but they always maintained a compassionate look.
Liu Jiqian lowered his eyes and glanced at the desk, his pupils shrank slightly.
The fresh fruits that are expected in ordinary shrines were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were blood-stained money bags and women's bellybands piled up. The most striking thing was a silk handkerchief embroidered with "Offering Wife to Pray for Wealth". The believers pushed and shoved and knocked over the copper incense burner, revealing half of a baby's finger bone in the incense ashes.
He waved his wide sleeves lightly, and the pure air from the sky swept away the filth. The villagers who had been arguing just now suddenly fell to the ground in unison, their foreheads banging on the bluestone slabs, spurting out blood. The sounds of wishes rising one after another, wrapped in the smell of blood, rose into the sky.
The roars for windfall mixed with the whimpers for a higher position, the degree of madness was three times worse than the bewitching magic.
This is not Shinto incense at all, it is clearly the evil miasma brought about by desire.
The turbid air transformed from the greed, anger, and ignorance of mortals swirled above the village, condensing into a blood-red vortex that was invisible to the naked eye, and was slowly eating away at the entire earth vein.
He pinched his fingers and tapped his brows lightly, and saw wisps of black air emerging from the souls of those pilgrims who were praying "sincerely", like thousands of hungry poisonous snakes, competing to bite the chaotic shadow under the feet of the statue.
Even Liu Jiqian, who was usually good-tempered, was so angry that he laughed. This demon was so bold that he didn't even bother to hide.
Although I don’t know why no one reported this strange incident, we can no longer sit idly by and watch it happen.