bookbashuk Chapter 37 Demonic Practices, Repeated Cycles
Chapter 37 Demonic Practices, Repeated Cycles
Zhou De'an arrived at the newly built area B, which was originally part of the Jiazi area.
From the outside, there was no sound or sign of anything unusual.
However, as he walked in, two figures suddenly appeared on the empty street directly in front of him.
A flying zombie pounced on Meng Yuanliang, its steel-hook-like nails digging fiercely into his shoulder.
Meng Yuanliang swung his spiritual shield to block, but was forced to retreat repeatedly.
Each time the flying zombie pounced, it stirred up a gust of wind, sending sand and stones flying.
The withered vines on the courtyard wall were uprooted, and the tiles fell down with a clatter.
On the ground, several corpses of rogue cultivators lay scattered about, their faces ashen, their bodies covered in black patterns, and they were long since lifeless.
"Senior Brother Zhou! Help me!" Meng Yuanliang glanced at Zhou De'an and said again.
Without hesitation, Zhou De'an formed hand seals, and a crimson light surged from his palms, transforming into a giant fiery python that pounced towards the flying zombie.
The fire python collided with the flying zombie again, suddenly tightening its coils. The flames scorched the black body, hissing and spreading a burnt smell.
Taking advantage of the moment when the flying zombie was entangled, Meng Yuanliang steadied himself, flipped his hands again, and a golden blade of light condensed from his palms and slashed down fiercely.
As the light blade fell, the flying zombie's head snapped off, and black liquid gushed from its neck.
Zhou De'an then asked, "Junior Brother Meng, how is person number 562 in Zone B doing?"
Meng Yuanliang, panting heavily, smiled bitterly again: "As always. I've tried my best to suppress it, but I still haven't been able to rid him of the demon. Senior Brother Zhou, why did the temple activate the demonic energy prematurely? Isn't that forcing them to revolt prematurely?"
Zhou De'an interrupted him, saying, "Haven't we already said it? If we don't activate them in advance, and these demons slowly recover their power within the human body before secretly joining forces, the situation will be completely different. Right now, they're fighting individually, and we can defeat them one by one. But if we wait until they become a force to be reckoned with, even if you and I combine our strength, we won't be enough to satisfy their every whim."
Meng Yuanliang said, "I understand that principle. But their premature uprising is putting us under too much pressure. If we could gather everyone together in one place, let their demonic energy merge and coalesce into a single, true demon, and then have the elders kill it with a single blow, wouldn't that solve everything?"
Zhou De'an's expression changed drastically, and he said, "Watch your words! Don't mention such a heinous matter again!"
Meng Yuanliang trembled and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "Yes, senior brother, I misspoke. I won't mention it again, I won't mention it again."
Zhou De'an softened his voice and said, "Junior Brother Meng, you must understand that Sanpan Temple is the righteous sect, not the demonic path. Uncle-Master Xuanmu quelled the change in the earth's veins with a single finger, and then ordered the four towns to be sealed off and investigated one by one overnight, all to nip the hidden dangers in the bud before the demons fully awaken. Activating the demonic energy in advance is precisely to expose them before they take shape, so that we can defeat them one by one. The elders are compassionate and do not want to use human lives as bait. And what you just said, if overheard by others and reached the elders' ears, would be a capital offense."
Meng Yuanliang lowered his head and said, "Yes, Senior Brother. I was mistaken. Thank you for your guidance."
He looked up again, gazing into the depths of Zone B. "Several courtyards in Zone B are almost bursting with demonic energy. Let's go support our fellow disciples. Before they fully materialize, let's suppress them and prevent them from running out and harming people."
Zhou De'an nodded and said, "That's exactly why I came here."
After saying that, the two walked one after the other into the depths of the Yi-character area.
……
The Sanpan Temple has four towns under its jurisdiction: Qiyuan, Taoyuan, Qingshi, and Songyuan. These towns are for cultivators at the early, middle, and late stages of Qi Refining, as well as their families. The hierarchy is clear and orderly.
At this moment, above Pan City, Li Zhengyuan and Zhang Yuanqi were looking down at this land—in their eyes, the differences between the four towns were more distinct than usual, and streaks of black mist were shrouding the sky above each town.
Songyuan Town is the lightest.
The black mist was so thin it was almost invisible; only a few wisps of faint gray fog floated above the rooftops.
Qingshi Town is next, with black mist as thin as gauze, visible to the naked eye.
Afterwards, dark clouds, like thick clouds, pressed heavily in the sky, obscuring most of the moonlight.
The most severely affected area is Qiyuan Town.
Black energy, like pillars of ink, spread in all directions from the root of the exploding ley line, shrouding the entire town in thick darkness.
In the deepest part of this inky blackness, the black energy of Zone B has solidified into a tangible form, like a pitch-black wall, isolating that area from the outside world.
The sounds of clashing swords, roars, and screams could be faintly heard from within the walls, but they were firmly locked in place by the black walls, and not a single sound could escape.
Li Zhengyuan gazed in the direction of District B, his eyes seemingly piercing through the newly built houses, landing on Zhou De'an and Meng Yuanliang, who were fighting the flying zombies.
After a moment, he suddenly uttered a sentence: "When the heart is attached to something, the actions will follow. If you keep thinking about it, even the false will become the true."
Zhang Yuanqi glanced at him and said, "Do you need to talk such nonsense? When a cultivator pursues the Dao, if he has any attachments in his heart, he will give rise to demonic behavior."
"If you don't let go of your obsessions, they will keep coming back to you endlessly. When others' impressions are applied to me, I will be haunted by these thoughts."
"Once the demonic thoughts arise, they deepen with each passing thought; greed, anger, and delusion give rise to the suffering caused by the demonic thoughts."
"Once the demon of desire is formed, one cannot distinguish between truth and falsehood, and cannot discern illusion from reality, thus giving rise to the demon of lust."
"One thing leads to another; demons arise from the mind, and the mind is disturbed by demons. Who in the Three Plates Temple who has spent a few years studying in the Sutra Repository doesn't know this principle?"
Li Zhengyuan said, "You remember it very well. Demonic actions, demonic thoughts, demonic desires, demonic lust, each link connected to the next, you explained it very logically."
"But you forgot the most crucial link—discerning the demon. If you keep thinking about it, the false will become the true, and the transformation of the false into the true depends entirely on the word 'discernment'."
"If you don't slay the demons of consciousness, even if you cut them off a thousand times, they're just like weeds that can't be burned out and will grow back in the spring breeze."
Zhang Yuanqi said, "It's not that I forgot. But to kill all living beings with a single sword strike is not the way of the righteous path."
Lee Jung-won said, "When did I say I was going to do that?"
Zhang Yuanqi said, "Every word you've said is the same. 'If you don't sever the demon of consciousness, you can't eradicate it completely'—isn't that what you mean? But to sever the demon of consciousness is to sever all attachments, all impressions, and all perceptions. At that point, will a person still be a person? What difference is there between them and a walking corpse?"
Li Zhengyuan said, "After the earth veins exploded, under the orders of Uncle Xuanmu, the four initial towns remained unchanged. The formless and shapeless consciousness demons were drawn out of the void and brought into the towns. The four towns were then sealed off. Using the 'Delusion-Breaking Talisman' as a guide, the consciousness demons were forced to divert their minds and give birth to those weaker action demons, thought demons, feeling demons, and lust demons."
Zhang Yuanqi said, "The common people are not limited to those in the Four Towns. Beyond the Four Towns, there is the edge of the Great Wilderness, and beyond the Great Wilderness, there are countless other living beings. If the Demonic Consciousness grows stronger and spreads, it will be more than just those in the Four Towns who will die. Uncle-Master Xuanmu is concerned about the common people, and he must be right."
Li Zhengyuan said, "Those four towns are far from being a place of great suffering for the common people? Uncle Xuanmu's correctness is not the same as yours."
Zhang Yuanqi said, "What you're saying is simply that you don't trust your martial uncle. How could your martial uncle, who plans the whole situation, have overlooked even a small part?"
Just as the two were arguing, a small figure flew up from the center of the market.
The newcomer was only about ten years old; he was Junior Brother Ye. He said, "Senior Brothers, the Vice Abbot's Crimson Token has been successfully deduced. We can now send the talisman cultivators from the three towns to participate."
……
Fang Shi could neither see Zhou De'an and Meng Yuanliang's situation in the Yi-character area nor hear any sound.
But since the Sanpan Temple has sealed off that area until now, and not a single rogue cultivator assigned to Zone B has shown their face, he knew that it must be extremely dangerous there.
Qi Xueyi, who was beside him, had a high level of cultivation and might be fine, but he was just a lowly rogue cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining. Going in would be suicide.
Even more terrifying was the omnipresent twisting force—even a disciple of the Three Plates Temple like Zhou De'an was affected. If he were to enter, he probably wouldn't even be able to tell who he was.
Fang swore, "No."
Qi Xueyi blinked, didn't ask any further questions, just gave a soft "hmm," and followed him back the way they came.
The two returned to the Jiazi district.
Then a sharp curse came from a gray tent.
"You heartless wretch! I raised you with such difficulty, do you know how hard it was? All the energy I have is wasted on you! Do you know how rare the opportunity to access a spiritual vein is? Others would kill for it, and you? You went in and couldn't even sense any energy! How could you do this to me? If I had known this would happen, I would have gone in myself!"
The voice was sharp and piercing; without needing to distinguish it, Fang Shi knew it belonged to the woman who was throwing a tantrum.
This outburst was like the opening gong, and the surrounding shouts of cursing and beatings followed in quick succession.
"Your meridians are exhausted! Is exhausting your meridians an excuse? Your father worked all day, and his meridians are much more exhausted than yours. If you don't work harder at cultivation, I'll throw you into the wilderness and make you fight with those monsters for food! I've raised you all this time, and you can't even reach the first level of Qi Refining. What use are you?"
"You still have the nerve to cry? When I was your age, I was already earning money to buy my own elixirs! What do you do? All you know is eat, play, and waste spiritual veins! If you continue like this, you won't even pass the spring exam at Songyuan Academy. Your life is over, you know that?"
"If I'd had this opportunity back then, I would have reached the third level of Qi Refining long ago! And you, you went in and didn't improve a single bit! You good-for-nothing!"
Soon, the cursing spread like a plague, and from afar, and even further away, the sounds of beatings, cursing, and wailing could be heard.
Fang Shi ignored him, and Qi Xueyi didn't care at all, simply following quietly beside him.
Back in front of the tent, Zhao Hu was squatting at the entrance, looking impatient.
Seeing Fang Shi return, he stood up, gestured towards the direction from which the cursing was coming, and said, "Brother Fang, listen, it's starting again. Are these people crazy? They beat their children just because they can't get into Songyuan Academy? Do they think beating them will make them pass?"
Fang Shi asked, "Is that all?"
Zhao Hu paused for a moment, then said, "However... what those parents said makes sense. Those little kids can't sense qi or cultivate magic, so it's a waste for them to occupy the spiritual vein's slots. Rather than letting them sit there doing nothing, it's better for me to soak in it a little longer. Maybe I can recover from the fatigue in my meridians and refine more magic power."
Fang Shidao said, "Have you noticed that there are more people scolding children lately?"
Zhao Hu said, "Really? Hasn't it always been like this? Which child doesn't get scolded? I was scolded by my dad when I was little, but after he scolded me, I would eat and sleep as usual, and I still grew up, didn't I?"
Fang Shi said, "No, in the past everyone gave each other face and wouldn't make such a fuss. Even if someone needed to discipline someone, they would close the tent door and say a few words quietly. Unlike now, the whole camp is like this."
Zhao Hu said, "Perhaps everyone is crammed into this tent area, and with all these upsetting things like the ley line explosion and collapsed houses, they're in a bad mood and getting irritable. It's only human nature."
[Minor Concealment Technique Proficiency -1]
Fang Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself: Is it another twisted twist?
He said, "Brother Zhao, do you think it's perfectly acceptable to beat and scold children regardless of the occasion?"
Zhao Hu said, "What's wrong with that? Although I find it noisy, children need to be disciplined. 'Spare the rod and spoil the child,' that's an old saying passed down from the older generation, and it can't be wrong."
Fang Shi remained silent, turned around, lifted the tent flap, and went inside.
Qi Xueyi followed behind, but unlike usual, she didn't naturally stick close to him. Instead, she hesitated outside the curtain for a moment before quietly slipping in and sitting down beside him.
The tent was dark, with only a sliver of white light from the talisman filtering through the curtain, casting her profile in intermittent light and shadow.
She lowered her head, twisting the hem of her dress with her fingers, and after a long while, she spoke hesitantly, "Husband..."
Fang Shi asked, "What is it?"
Qi Xueyi's voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum. She said, "My husband was just watching those videos of people beating and scolding children, and he asked Zhao Hu those questions... Is it... is it that you want a child?"
Fang Shi remained silent.
Qi Xueyi assumed he had tacitly agreed, and her ears gradually turned red. Her voice lowered even further: "If my husband wants it... I... I can do it too..."
Fang Shi finally spoke, saying, "I don't want to."
Qi Xueyi was startled and looked up at him.
Fang Shi thought for a moment, then added, "This place is cramped, and people's voices are in the ear; it's not suitable."
Qi Xueyi blinked, then suddenly whispered, "I know a silencing spell."
Fang Shi remained expressionless and said, "It's not because of the sound. The disaster is not yet over, the demonic energy is not yet quelled, and our lives are still in danger. How can we have time to discuss such matters?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Xueyi lowered her head, uttered an "Oh," and slumped her shoulders slightly, her expression unreadable—whether it was disappointment, relief, or a combination of both.
……
The next day, as dawn broke, the tent area was already bustling with activity.
The independent cultivators emerged from their tents in twos and threes, rubbing their eyes and yawning, and headed towards the construction site.
Fang Shi also got up. Qi Xueyi had woken up earlier than him and had already cooked porridge by the stove outside. When she saw him come out, she ladled out a bowl and handed it to him without saying a word, just smiling at him.
Fang Shi took the bowl, drank it in a few gulps, returned the bowl to her, and walked towards the construction site.
Qi Xue followed behind him as usual.
The construction site was noisy, with the scattered cultivators gathered together, waiting for the young Taoist to assign them tasks.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded in the distance.
Everyone looked up and saw Zhou De'an walking at the front, followed by about twenty cultivators, each with a calm demeanor and a faint spiritual light flowing around them—all of them were at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.
Zhou De'an stood in the center of the construction site, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and said, "Everyone, the talisman cultivators from Taoyuan Town have arrived. They are all at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and they have come to assist us in suppressing the turbid energy and purifying the calamity. From today onwards, those of you who can draw talismans no longer need to repair houses; come and assist the talisman cultivators in making talismans. Those who cannot, continue with your work as usual."
The young Taoist priest, standing to the side, chimed in, "Did you all hear that clearly? Those who can draw talismans, come over here and line up to register!"
The independent cultivators stirred, some with delight, seeing this as an opportunity to shine.
Some disagreed, feeling that it was just a change of name but not substance, and that it was all the same work.
Fang Shi stood at the back of the crowd, his gaze passing over the throng of heads and landing on the talisman cultivators.
Suddenly, he stopped.
In the crowd, he saw Han Laoliu, with Zhao Xuan standing next to him, the two chatting idly.
Suddenly, Han Laoliu seemed to realize something, turned his head, and his gaze fell on Fang Shi.
Han Laoliu grinned.