Chapter 247: Eminent Buddhist Monk, Vajra Guardian

After the last poisoning, Jin Gang decisively chose to sever his own arm.

Now the knife was in his waist; he couldn't very well bisect himself at the waist.

He raised his hand and struck heavily near the wound; the originally not-too-large wound instantly split open into a hideous gash, and foul-smelling black blood gushed out.

The sensation of pain replaced the creeping numbness; Jin Gang squeezed near the wound, letting fresh blood continue to flow.

Most of the poison drained out with the blood, and the originally black blood returned to its normal color.

Confirming there was basically no serious problem — the current weakness was merely from excessive blood loss — Jin Gang looked toward the other battlefield.

The exchange between Jin Gang and the tattooed man was extremely brief; the moment the tattooed man's horsemen galloped past, the two engaged.

Immediately afterward, victory and defeat were decided.

Jin Gang smashed the tattooed man's head with an elbow strike; the remaining seven men also just happened to arrive before Kong Ming and the others, leaning sideways and swinging their curved sabers at their heads.

Seven men in total; because the tattooed man had ordered that Tang Luo and the other two women not be killed.

Therefore Kong Ming, who stood relatively forward, received the "attention" of several men.

The self-proclaimed swordsmanship expert didn't even draw his sword; he reached out and grabbed, and the nearest curved saber somehow ended up in his hand.

Then came a series of clanging metal sounds, and gunshots!

The horses ran past Kong Ming, but the riders all tumbled off, twitching twice on the ground before falling silent.

Zhang Xiuping, standing further back, reholstered a black pistol.

His outer coat draped over it, concealing the firearm.

Of the seven charging cavalry, five died under his gun, one was blocked by Kong Ming and then finished with a saber strike, and another had his throat pierced by Ah Fei's sword.

These men's strength differed from the tattooed leader's by more than a little.

They also lacked any condensed qi forming phantom wolves to block attacks; they died cleanly and decisively.

The others didn't attack, merely readying stances.

Some didn't even ready stances — for instance Tang Luo, Tang Yuhan, and Fu Fengxue.

"Guns can be brought in?" the other woman, He Yishan, couldn't help asking.

"It's equipment," Zhang Xiuping said with a smile.

"Oh." He Yishan realized; when Zhang Xiuping had mentioned shooting earlier, she thought he was joking.

She hadn't expected he really was skilled with a gun.

"Let's go retrieve those horses," Kong Ming spoke up.

The two followed him to round up the scattered, frightened horses, to serve as transport.

The remaining few began searching these foreigners, seeing what they could find — also known as "looting corpses."

Tang Luo walked to Jin Gang's side and waved casually; golden light fell upon him.

Jin Gang's wounds healed rapidly, and his pallor from massive blood loss immediately returned to normal.

He stood up and struck a few bodybuilding poses: "I'm healed! Master!"

"Don't do those moves next time, or this poor monk will make sure you never heal for the rest of your life," Tang Luo glanced at Jin Gang.

"Heh."

Jin Gang's burly frame shrank inward, and he gave a dry laugh.

The Master understands the beauty of power, but not the beauty of muscle — what a pity.

"Master, this man has a somewhat special power," Jin Gang grew serious, reporting his discovery to Tang Luo, "Just now I..."

"Tell Old Kong about these things; he's a wise man, he's made similar findings. Go to him for troublesome matters," Tang Luo cut off Jin Gang's words.

He couldn't care less whether these people had special powers; regardless, none could beat him.

"Oh, okay." Jin Gang nodded; he didn't like overthinking either — he'd tried thinking before, but kept making mistakes, so he gave up and never returned from the path of the brute.

Tang Luo walked to the man breathing his last, lying on the ground, and crouched down, not yet examining him.

The man suddenly lifted his head; his face covered in blood and grime, eyes wide, looking rather frightening: "I am Cao He of the Youyi Tiji! Monk! You must send word to the Capital! The Northern Plains are about to see a Great Witch arise!"

Finishing his sentence, the man's raised qi dissipated, his head drooped, and his breath grew even weaker than before.

"Benefactor, could you speak a bit more clearly?" Tang Luo said.

As the man spoke, Tang Luo directly received a "Branch Quest":

Send word to the Capital; deliver the news "A Great Witch is about to arise in the Northern Plains" to the Great You Imperial Capital, Youzhou Prefecture; ensure the Emperor receives the message; shareable.

The man raised one hand slightly, laboriously turning his face: "Please."

He was dying; he could only pin his hopes on this monk to get the message out.

Despite disliking monks, right now he was the only hope.

While lying on the ground earlier, Cao He had heard a "Buddhist invocation"; he seized this final straw.

"Better if the benefactor goes himself; this message has no beginning or end, not even a shred of identification — how is this poor monk supposed to help?" Tang Luo said.

Hearing Tang Luo's words, Cao He nearly failed to catch his breath and died on the spot.

Identification? If he really carried identification on him, he wouldn't be being dragged around for sport by those Northern Plains people right now.

"You go yourself." Before Cao He could rage himself to death, Tang Luo cast Enlightenment again.

Cao He's eyes instantly widened; the pain on his body vanished rapidly as a warm current flowed through him; he leapt up, feeling himself all over.

"I'm healed?" After a long moment, Cao He asked dazedly.

"Yes, you're healed." Jin Gang walked over and patted Cao He's shoulder.

Cao He looked at the tall, sturdy Jin Gang, then at Tang Luo, and sudden realization dawned in his heart.

An eminent Buddhist monk and his attendant Vajra Guardian?

"Many thanks, Master, for the grace of saving my life." Cao He bowed respectfully.

"Think nothing of it; this poor monk found like-minded companions and left the mountain precisely to restore a bright and clear world to all under heaven, and protect the Great You's hundred years of national fortune." Golden light seemed to radiate from behind Tang Luo's head.

The gods and demons watching the commotion from a short distance away exchanged glances with one another.

That was very "enlightened high monk," and it instantly resolved their identity issue.

Outsiders entering the world to save the nation — very spiritual; the question of what was special about them was also readily solved.

With the life-saving grace, Cao He had no choice but to believe.

"The Master has great compassion." Cao He's expression grew even more respectful.

"This poor monk has just come down the mountain and knows little of the outside world; please, Benefactor, enlighten us a thing or two," Tang Luo said. "This one is this poor monk's close friend Kong Xuan, who knows astronomy above and geography below, possesses civil strategy and military tactics, and is a capable minister for governing the world."

He praised Kong Ming to the heavens.

"Cough." Kong Ming had to cough once, signaling Tang Luo not to be so exaggerated.

He was indeed of Zhuge Liang's life-fate, but he wasn't the real Zhuge Liang, nor the one from *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* whose wisdom bordered on the demonic.

If the boast burst, how would he clean up the mess?

"Mister Kong Xuan." Cao He cupped his fists.

Next, Tang Luo introduced the identities of the rest — all outsiders who had entered the world to save the nation, righteous and awe-inspiring.

Cao He didn't care about the details; he first thanked and flattered them a round before anything else.

Regardless of whether he harbored doubts about Tang Luo and the others' identities deep down, none of it showed on the surface.

Through Cao He's mouth, everyone also learned the current situation of Great You.

In summary, there were several major problems:

One, the various tribes of the Northern Plains were gradually growing stronger, frequently raiding south to plunder and harass; Cao He even confirmed that "the Great Shaman is about to emerge," fearing the possibility of uniting the many Northern Plains tribes and truly invading Great You, sparking war.

Two, yaomo guiguai appeared throughout Great You, long since more fierce than wild beasts descending the mountains; there were even "ghost cities" appearing.

Three, treacherous villains held sway in the court, deceiving superiors and oppressing subordinates, lining their own pockets, leaving the people unable to survive.

Great You was like a big man with external wounds and internal illness, with a vicious wolf eyeing him covetously from behind.

The so-called Youyi Tiqi were an institution in Great You similar to the "Embroidered Uniform Guard," but their function of supervising officials had already greatly weakened; the "Youyi Guard" in the capital still adhered to their original duties.

The Youyi Tiqi now active across Great You were more like constables, but what they apprehended were mostly not people, but various yaomo guiguai — cooperating with the current state religion, the Longya Dao Gate.

As for Cao He, he was one of the few "Hidden Riders" among the Youyi Tiqi, who did not reveal their identities publicly.

Responsible for gathering all kinds of intelligence.

If he weren't near death, he wouldn't have revealed his identity and had this Monk Xuanzang carry a message to the capital.

Cao He was covered in blood and filth, his clothes tattered; he simply found a corpse of similar build, dragged it aside, and went to change clothes.

In this freezing cold, it was impossible to keep enduring like this.

Tang Luo and the others gathered together, conversing in low voices.

"Wonder how much of Cao He's words are credible..." Kong Ming, as usual, overthought.

Tang Luo repeated his mission: "This mission can be shared; will you accept it?"

"If we accept the branch mission and ultimately fail to complete it, it'll probably count as a failure count," Kong Ming reminded.

Since branch mission completion ultimately factors into the reward settlement, affecting reward quality, the likelihood of it counting as a failure count is also very high.

"How about we wait until we're almost there, then share the mission with us?" That Wei Cheng'en rolled his eyes and said with a smile.

The appearance of a branch mission is not something Shenmo Xingzou can decide to accept or not.

When events occur and a mission generates, there is no choice; but whether someone who takes it on shares it — that has choice.

Wei Cheng'en's idea was clearly to be clever, to exploit a loophole. This method, regardless of whether the final "settlement" counts him as having jointly completed the mission, definitely won't lose out.

If it doesn't count, "so be it"; if it does, it's a guaranteed sweet profit.

"Tch." Jin Gang snorted disdainfully, clearly looking down on Wei Cheng'en's freeloading behavior. "Master, I'll complete it with you."

Wei Cheng'en's face darkened slightly, then he smiled again: "Heh, I'm thick-skinned; I'll just take a little advantage of Master Xuanzang. Surely an enlightened high monk like Master wouldn't mind."

Face, in front of profit, can completely be set aside.

Be a little more shameless — getting real benefit is what's true.

"This poor monk doesn't mind either, but I'm afraid it can't be as Benefactor Wei wishes." Tang Luo glanced at Wei Cheng'en, tone indifferent, yet a clear refusal.

Now, Wei Cheng'en's face wasn't just slightly ugly anymore.