Chapter 1434
2 people
Chapter 1434 The Two
Dayang Mountain.
The light was dazzling, like a waterfall or a river, and the scattered colorful light danced in the sky and earth. The sound of chanting and performing rituals resounded throughout the world. In the meditation room at the foot of the mountain, the tall and thin monk slowly opened his eyes.
Nu Yan looked around, feeling somewhat disoriented, and after confirming that he was still on Great Sheep Mountain, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
'That's truly an incredible supernatural power!'
But just as he sat down, he heard urgent urging from outside, so he had no choice but to go out. There he met the monk at the door and exclaimed with delight:
"My lord! Great news! I heard that some extraordinary person is coming to the mountains to select disciples to go with him to enjoy a life of luxury... Several officials have already gone outside the mountains to wait..."
Nu Yan, however, scoffed inwardly:
'How extraordinary could a person be? Not even half a stone from my Xuan Tian!'
He was only pleasantly surprised on the surface, and followed his companions to the mountains. There, he saw the two Mahakala he was holding come out to greet him, each standing at one end. Then he saw a group of Mahakalas surrounding a black-robed monk coming from the horizon.
As the group landed in the mountains, they heard the resounding sound of conch shells. The monks on either side came to pay their respects, their voices ringing out in unison, a sound that shook the heavens and the earth.
"Greetings, Maha! Greetings, Your Excellency!"
Jiang Toushou chuckled, then turned around and said:
"All cultivators have been brought out of the mountain, and there are few people guarding it. Please forgive any negligence, fellow cultivator..."
Liao Kong had once cultivated in the mountains, and the Great Sheep Mountain had never shown him any pity, not even a single monk had ever visited. The difference in his current treatment was like heaven and earth. He sneered inwardly, but outwardly nodded politely and said:
"It's alright."
Upon seeing this scene, Nu Yan looked at the black-clad monk in the sky and felt that his aura was quite familiar, causing his heart to sink.
'Why does he seem to have some of the aura of that Boundless Mystic Manifestation from the [Hengshi Zhendian]...'
Just from this one thought, he was suddenly startled.
'The first time I entered this Xuan Tian, I knelt trembling in the hall, and I heard the abbot call me "junior brother"... Just now, before leaving the cave, he also said that there was another great person who would take Wu Mu into the Golden Land... Could it be this one!'
He couldn't help but look up a few more times, and the more he looked, the more certain he became:
'That should be it, this is the opportunity for those with five eyes!'
The abbot's junior brother was chatting happily with the other monks up there, treating him like an honored guest. He even came to Mount Dayang to take on disciples. Nu Yan only thought about it briefly before feeling a chill run down his spine.
'The entire Seven Phases... have been so thoroughly infiltrated... it wouldn't be surprising if there were celestial beings among the Dharma bodies in that sandalwood grove!'
He was afraid his gaze would give him away, so he buried his head in his chest. No one in the sky noticed. Jiang Toushou, holding Kong's hand, gestured left and right, and laughed:
"These are all promising talents still remaining in the mountains. Fellow Daoist, take a look and see if there are any you fancy... It would be best to choose two or three..."
As a figure in the Dharma realm, Fa Chang naturally had to speak up. He clasped his hands together, smiled, and politely said:
"If you don't mind, I have someone to recommend..."
Liao Kong shook his head and said with a smile:
"I've long heard that there are three great prisons in the mountains, with powerful figures in both Chang'a and Tuolian. Why don't you let me take a look?"
These words were truly unexpected. Yuan Shan and the other man remained silent, their gazes immediately focusing on Jiang Toushou.
After all, with the two leaders, Deng and Lei, out fighting, the only one among all the cultivators qualified to open the prison is Jiang!
But the expression on the river's headman's face changed slightly:
'Why does this concern me again? If you've chosen some important person who can't be released, or if releasing them causes trouble, won't that drag me into it?'
He was about to refuse, but Yuan Shan simply looked up at him, her eyes full of warning, and said:
"The master said he can choose whatever he wants."
As a Dharma Image walking among humans, putting aside strength, Yuan Shan's nobility is higher than that of the headman. Moreover, he has just been bestowed with the Dharma Image. Having received the order, the headman could only nod expressionlessly.
Liao Kong chuckled inwardly, watching them fight like dogs. Having received permission, he immediately stepped forward to meet the five-eyed man. His gaze casually swept across the crowd, then suddenly stopped, landing squarely on Nu Yan.
'Oh...it's him...'
Nu Yan didn't dare to look up at the time, but Liao Kong saw it clearly. This guy had also been kneeling in the hall, so he was considered one of their own. Therefore, Liao Kong raised an eyebrow and smiled:
"This compassionate one...would you be willing to enter my Golden Land for cultivation?"
Upon hearing this, silence fell over all around. A barrage of gazes swept over, filled with envy and jealousy, as if they wished they could poke hundreds of holes in the monk's body.
Nu Yan trembled, raised his head, met his gaze, and suddenly understood:
'This is the reward the abbot spoke of!'
Dangjiang was stingy by nature and didn't have anything good to offer. What he called a reward was just a reward for merit, a few empty promises, and he was just making empty promises in front of this guy. Nu Yan was very happy to hear this, but he didn't expect that as soon as he returned, the reward would be delivered to his face!
'This is truly heavenly generosity! Unlike Great Sheep Mountain, where a single reward is distributed in three installments!'
Then, with a thud, he knelt forward, and tears streamed down his face as he sobbed:
"This humble man... will certainly do his utmost in loyalty..."
Although his tears were genuine, the monks around him, unaware of the true reason, all looked down on him for his affectation. Liaokong, however, clasped his hands together, praised him, and said:
"Get up!"
Nu Yan wiped away her tears and stood behind him, but Fa Chang was not surprised—although Nu Yan's physical body was destroyed by injury back then, his foundation was still there, and everyone had that much insight…
But it was Jiang Toushou whose expression changed.
Nu Yan was originally under the Golden Lotus's tutelage, so how did he fall to his current status?
It was because Jiang Tou Shou was defending against the Qilin in Luoxia that he sent Lianmin out to test the waters. To put it bluntly, it was suicide. If Nu Yan hadn't been decisive, capable, and experienced, he would have perished there on the spot.
Once Nu Yan enters Jindi, he will become an important spy for Dayang Mountain, and his status will rise accordingly, not to mention his future achievements!
Jiang Toushou, feeling both responsible and being played, grew increasingly displeased. His gaze turned coldly towards Liao Kong, a hint of hatred already flickering in his eyes. Seeing the monk turn away, he merely chuckled twice and continued:
"What a wonderful coincidence!"
Liao Kong just laughed and said:
"please!"
Jiang Toushou moved his lips slightly, and Yuan Shan followed without expression. The three of them had no choice but to go inside. When they arrived at the cave, they went down the stone steps and came to a pool of water.
The stone steps led down into the water, and the group followed them down for quite some time before finally reaching the tightly closed stone door. Jiang Toushou approached and cautiously knocked on it.
Then an old man's voice was heard:
"Who's here again!"
Jiangtou First Road:
"He is a disciple of the [Golden Body Thunder Sound Without Leakage Dharma Form], and is known as Danmu."
The old man inside paused for a moment, then replied:
"Lei Yin Xiang recorded it here as [Mao Di Gu]".
These words resounded, and Jiang's face turned visibly red, his whole body stiffening on the ground.
The name Mao Digu was quite famous. Liao Kong knew that he was the leader of the Thunder Clan and kept it in mind. Yuan Shan, standing to the side, scoffed, stepped forward, and said:
"Tu Laotou... I am an attendant of the Dao Zhong Xiang, and I have come here on the orders of the Fa Xiang... to select a few people for this fellow Daoist."
After a moment of silence, the stone door finally opened with a rumble, revealing a gaunt monk in front of it, dressed in tattered clothes, holding a long pole that was at least six feet long and could only be laid horizontally in the narrow passage.
Even in the darkness, you could see his sharp, bright eyes, coldly staring at everyone.
Liao Kong took a step forward and saw the jailer blink, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and say:
"Please stop."
They had only walked a few steps when they came upon a prison right in front of them. It was quite spacious, neat and clean, and a monk in gray robes was sitting there with his back to the door, his hands clasped together, chanting sutras facing the wall.
Liao Kong stopped, and the jailer had no choice but to stop as well, saying calmly:
"This is the monk Tang Jing from Baohua Mountain, a disciple of Patriarch Zhu Liao."
As Tu, the jailer, spoke, he raised a long pole, reached through the gap in the cell, and forcefully poked the monk's spine, producing a dull thud. He then shouted:
"Hey!"
The monk was as still as iron, without making the slightest movement.
"laugh!"
Tu Laotou let out a contemptuous sound from his throat and said:
"Your disciples and their descendants are here! Why don't you turn around and take a look!"
The monk remained motionless.
Liao Kong frowned slightly, feeling a pang of pity. The jailer had already pulled back the long pole he was holding, gripping it with both hands and placing it in front of his lower abdomen, shaking his head as he said:
“You need people, but this one… you can’t move him. He’s someone whose Dharma form is locked here, and I can’t let him go with you.”
Liao Kong turned his head slightly and noticed that Yuan Shan had her head down and her eyes were fixed on the ground, while Fa Chang's eyes were closed and the prayer beads in his hand were spinning faster and faster, creating a silent and terrifying atmosphere.
Liao Kong had no choice but to continue forward. After taking only two steps, he came to a larger cell with a body lying inside.
It was less a person and more a dismembered corpse. Its head was deathly white, staring blankly at the sky. Tu, the jailer, picked up the long pole again and lightly tapped the corpse's face a few times, casually saying:
"This is the junior disciple of that guy from earlier, called Headless Beast. He's very skilled in magical combat and has a lot of guts. Back then, he dared to pluck feathers from a peacock's head. Now, he has to cut off its head every day. You can't move it away."
Fa Chang's face turned grim. He clasped his hands together, took a step forward, and whispered:
"My lord! My lord! There's no need to look at those people from the past... just walk inside..."
"Oh…"
Tu, the jailer, chuckled twice, strode forward, and rhythmically tapped the stone wall beside him with his long pole, saying:
"I won't look at it, I won't talk about it... I won't look at it, I won't talk about it..."
Liao Kong glanced around briefly. There weren't many living people in the prison; most of the cells were filled with skeletons. He didn't look closely and just walked silently until he finally saw Maha.
Namo had committed some crime, and was being forced to have his flesh cut off. Liaokong raised an eyebrow and saw that his strength was indeed lacking.
'That's true... Leaving aside the previous few, aside from most of the demon disciples and those who have been released from their predicaments, anyone with either skill or background would have been sent away long ago. Those left here are simply those who have neither skill nor background.'
They walked through twenty or thirty cells, until they reached the left and right, where Maha frowned slightly. Then they noticed flames flickering in the cells. Liaokong raised an eyebrow and looked:
Wow! What a huge pot of oil!
The jailer stepped forward, raised his long pole, and forcefully poked it into the bottom of the oil pot. A yellowish mass floated to the surface. The jailer laughed:
"This is Wu Mu. He's famous both inside and outside the prison. Everyone calls him Old Slick."
The group of Mahasattvas on either side laughed, only Fachang sighed repeatedly, and Liaokong's lips twitched. He took a deep breath and smiled:
"It's him!"
The laughter in the cell stopped abruptly. Upon hearing this, the jailer muttered something, raised his hand, and gently tapped the edge of the oil pot with his long pole. The head immediately flew up, spun around, and landed back on the kneeling corpse beside him.
In an instant, the skin and flesh split open, and the face of the five-eyed man reappeared. Decades of life in the oil fryer were suddenly over. Even though he had been prepared, he was still in a daze. He knelt down with a thud and wept:
"grown ups!"
The shout echoed in the cell, causing a commotion among those around them. They all begged for mercy and tried to curry favor, hoping to be taken out when they had a chance. Tu, the jailer, picked up a long pole and banged it on the wall, silencing everyone around him.
But all eyes were still fixed on the empty space.
Liao Kong, however, had prepared the excuse on the way here. Now, unhurried, he smiled and said:
"It's quite interesting, really. My Golden Land has a bit of a hellish atmosphere, with molten lava erupting and billowing black smoke. This guy has been fried and boiled in oil for so long, and since he's a well-known old hand, he's already acquired that kind of aura..."
He was quite eloquent; after he said that, everyone around him seemed to understand, but Jiang's expression froze on his face once again.
The five people who were punished back then were thrown into the boiling oil by him. The years they've spent in prison are also thanks to Jiang, the head of the gang!
If the previous savage flames weren't obvious enough, the current five eyes were like a slap in the face. Maha's face turned ashen, and those around him noticed and immediately looked at him with strange eyes.
Liao Kong seemed completely unaware, continuing to smooth his sleeves, blatantly lying through his teeth, and laughing:
"Furthermore, Qin Ling and Ming Yang are destined to be together. Both of them fell into trouble because of Ming Yang, and now they have been saved by me, Qin Ling, and are fighting against Ming Yang again. This is cause and effect. Only with this cause and effect can one achieve great things."
With this statement finalized, both sides nodded in approval, further solidifying his logic. Jiang's expression softened slightly, while Bei Chuan's expression turned slightly grim.
'It seems he's been keeping a close eye on major events in the Central Plains, and now that he's soared to great heights, he can gather them all together! He's not simple...'
Yuan Shan praised:
"Impressive cultivation!"
Liao Kong laughed and pulled the monk out of the cell. Wu Mu touched his face as if he were in another world, his lowered eyes filled with hatred. But no one cared about him; all eyes were on the black-clad monk.
"Now that my left and right protectors are complete, I will return to the temple to cultivate."
Liao Kong looked around, clasped his hands together, his gaze somewhat peculiar, and smiled:
"However, the Qilin's arrogance is overwhelming. Since I have stepped forward, I am doing my best for the Buddhist path. Without the strong support of all my fellow Daoists, I cannot easily succeed in Mingyang's matter..."
He emphasized the words "golden assistance," and those around him, not understanding his meaning, nodded and clasped their hands in unison, saying:
"That's natural!"