Chapter 273: Rivers and Mountains Are in My Heart!

The person who came out was none other than Shi Zhenhai, who had left the garrison during the day.

He wore casual clothes, his belly slightly protruding, yet he still carried an air of authority.

Hearing Tang Luo's words, Shi Zhenhai frowned: "Absurd. You're not investigating the case—what are you doing here?"

His tone was rather impolite.

"Naturally, we came to save Patron Shi." Tang Luo said, "Patron Shi, your Yintang is darkened—you look close to death."

Though he smiled, his words were far from pleasant.

Shi Zhenhai's face darkened: "I recall seeking you for the garrison matter, did I not?"

Like Xue Baihu, he suspected Tang Luo and his companions were using the garrison's banner under the Wang family's name to scheme something.

"Indeed." Tang Luo said, "We came here precisely to resolve the garrison affair."

"What do you mean?" Shi Zhenhai furrowed his brow.

"It means your favorite concubine is a demon who has placed countless green hats upon you. The missing soldiers in the garrison were all taken by her and then eaten." Jin Gang let out a heh-heh laugh, laced with malice.

Shi Zhenhai's eyes widened as he snapped: "Nonsense! Do you even know what you're saying?"

"Patron, do you not believe the results of my investigation?" Tang Luo asked.

"Ridiculous!" Shi Zhenhai naturally did not believe it.

"No matter—I can persuade and convert you." Tang Luo said with a smile.

Shi Zhenhai suddenly sensed danger looming, instinctively trying to retreat and assume a defensive stance.

Too late—or even if he had a hundred years to prepare, the outcome would be the same, with no difference whatsoever.

Tang Luo raised his hand and made a grasping motion; Shi Zhenhai's body flew directly into the air, his head landing in Tang Luo's palm.

The old woman and the little girl were also fiercely ruthless.

Seeing Shi Zhenhai captured, they showed no hesitation, striking again without regard for his life or death.

It seemed the two were not Shi Zhenhai's men, but rather servants of the demon upstairs.

Humans and demons working together is not strange—there's an idiom for it: "helping a tiger hunt."

Only a pity: though these people are fierce, their strength is far too weak.

Tang Yuhan and Jin Gang moved simultaneously; within seconds, both lay motionless on the ground.

Shi Zhenhai was lifted by Tang Luo, his legs dangling in midair as he struggled, still roaring: "You dare lay hands on me? I am an imperial official!"

His words were exactly the same as Xue Baihu's.

This is quite normal—for Shi Zhenhai and Xue Baihu, their greatest reliance is their official status.

Just as Tang Luo and his ilk rely on their strength as demon gods walk the world.

Tang Luo's group relies on far greater power, surpassing Shi Zhenhai's reliance, so they can act without hesitation.

If not, then it would be another matter entirely.

"I know, I know—so I won't kill you." Tang Luo's tone sounded perfunctory, "I am here to save you."

He truly had no intention of physically converting Shi Zhenhai, but chose spiritual conversion instead.

Soul Conversion!

As Shi Zhenhai struggled, he felt his body sway, inexplicably light.

As if he had flown into midair, while cold surged from all directions, making him feel as if stripped naked and cast into icy snowlands.

Shi Zhenhai saw before him a monk appear, radiating a faint golden light, gazing at him—none other than the monk Xuanzang.

"What have you done to me!" Shi Zhenhai instinctively looked around.

Everything around seemed frozen, or moving at an extremely slow pace.

It was he who had become "too fast."

"The sea of suffering is boundless; turning back is shore." Tang Luo said, "I intend to ferry Patron Shi to shore."

"Do you intend to make me become a monk?" Shi Zhenhai said. The surrounding cold vanished, he froze for a moment, then saw a phantom leopard appear before him.

"Is this, a manifestation of Xuan Qi?" Shi Zhenhai froze, then laughed.

He naturally knew, as an imperial official of the Great You Dynasty, he had Xuan Qi protecting his body.

But he had never truly seen what so-called Xuan Qi actually was; now seeing it manifest as a fierce beast, his heart settled at once.

Correct—opposing him is opposing the court, opposing the entire Great You Dynasty!

"None of your business—scatter." Tang Luo glanced at the leopard formed from Xuan Qi, then spoke.

Shi Zhenhai heard the leopard before him emit a mournful cry, then dissipate on its own.

"Well then, the joyful time of conversion begins." Tang Luo stepped lightly in midair, seized Shi Zhenhai's wrist, and gave it a casual twist.

A piercing, agonized scream erupted from his mouth; Shi Zhenhai's body flickered indistinctly.

"Is this conversion?" Amidst excruciating pain to the limit, this was his only confusion and doubt.

……

"Pa-ta."

Tang Luo released his grip.

Shi Zhenhai fell to the ground, his body twitching strangely, saliva continuously flowing from his mouth, barely audible as he murmured: "I was wrong, I truly was wrong, I am guilty, I am a sinner."

"Master?" Jin Gang said, bewildered—he had never witnessed Tang Luo's Soul Conversion.

He only saw Tang Luo grab Shi Zhenhai, shudder slightly, then throw him to the ground.

"Has he gone foolish?" Tang Yuhan asked.

"No, he'll come around soon." Tang Luo said, "Now, exorcise the demon."

As Tang Luo spoke, a sound came from the upper floor—a black shadow burst from another broken window, moving at extreme speed.

But as the shadow appeared, the Heavenly Hound Wolf-Head suddenly materialized on its escape path, silent, without opening its mouth or roaring.

Only a pair of scarlet eyes, like leaping flames of blood-red fire.

The black shadow reacted quickly, letting out a startled cry, twisting its body in midair, and landing on the ground.

It landed right in the small courtyard, before Tang Luo and the others.

"Oh, it really is a female demoness," Jin Gang said.

What appeared before their eyes was a woman wearing thin clothing, with a face full of charm and allure, enchanting to the bone.

Every movement she made exuded a unique allure.

It made people unable to help but want to explore further.

However, this woman had reptilian eyes, and the exposed parts of her body faintly revealed a hint of scales.

"A snake demon?" Tang Luo said. "How did you manage to fully transform?"

This demon's current appearance is not fully human.

But in daily life, one cannot appear in such a form; it must be a complete transformation.

Most demons capable of full transformation are called "demon fairies," meaning they possess at least the strength of Golden Core cultivators.

The cultivation system in this world follows the same lineage as the Journey to the West world and should not differ greatly.

Snake demons are not like fox demons, which are exceptionally talented in transformation. A snake demon capable of appearing fully human should, by all accounts, possess the strength of a Bei Yuan wizard or a Da You Foundation Establishment cultivator, or be of exceptional caliber.

But this one...

Is not weak merely in Tang Luo's estimation—it is genuinely weak.

The snake demon looked at Tang Luo, blinked, shrank slightly, and appeared pitiful: "Master."

"If you dodge the question, the poor monk will convert you," Tang Luo said.

A flame seemed to flash in his eyes.

The snake demon's body instantly stiffened, its legs turning into a black serpent's body—an instinctive reaction to danger.

"Exactly," Tang Luo nodded. "This is the true strength of your little demon self—what it should be."

This kind of transformation, retaining more or less demonic features, belongs to the lesser demon level.

"I am the demon of Hei Shan Jian... you cannot kill me," the snake demon said, twisting her body, voice filled with panic.

"Hei Shan Jian?" Tang Luo shook his head. "Never heard of it."

"The Hei Shan Demon King—this is his territory! I am under the Demon King's protection," the snake demon said, though inwardly she cried out in alarm.

To have encountered a cultivator who doesn't know of Hei Shan Jian or the Hei Shan Demon King?

"Since you are under protection, stay there obediently," Tang Luo said. "Why come out seeking death? Isn't living better? Tell me—where is Hei Shan Jian? When I have time, I will pay a visit."

Hei Shan Jian sounds like a place of great merit.

The snake demon froze, then burst into a shrill, hysterical laugh, laced with venom: "Monk, you really dare to step into Hei Shan Jian? Then you have only a dead end."

She clearly realized she had no hope of survival and, rather than resist, chose to use provocation to send this "enemy who killed me" to die alongside her.

"If you so wish for the poor monk's death, then tell him where Hei Shan Jian is," Tang Luo said, walking straight into the trap with no caution whatsoever.

Well, at least that's how the snake demon saw it.

Those who feel they have cultivated successfully, descend the mountain to subdue demons and eliminate evil, or claim to do so outwardly while actually harming demons (or monsters) for personal gain, and who recklessly intrude into Hei Shan Jian.

The corpses in Hei Shan Jian are enough to pile into a small mountain.

Not long from now, there will be even more—just bones left, that kind.

————

Using Liuli Flame, Tang Luo burned the snake demon and the two corpses of those who served as tigers' wolves into ash, then turned his gaze toward the gradually recovering Shi Zhenhai.

Swept by Tang Luo's gaze, Shi Zhenhai's body trembled, shifting from a prone position to a full prostration, his head pounding the ground fiercely, drawing blood in just a few strikes.

But Shi Zhenhai dared not stop, kowtowing with loud, resonant thuds.

This caused Jin Gang and Tang Yu Han to change expression slightly—what exactly was that grasp about?

The effect of laying down the butcher's knife and instantly becoming Buddha, of the boundless sea of suffering turning back to shore, was too good—it didn't feel like a Buddhist method, but more like a demonic sect's brainwashing divine art.

"Do you know your mistake?" Tang Luo asked.

"Master, I know I was wrong," Shi Zhenhai said, weeping bitterly, his remorse coming from the heart.

"Then do you know what you should do from now on, and what to do?" Tang Luo asked.

Shi Zhenhai nodded repeatedly.

From now on, I will be a good official—honest and upright, petitioning for the people, dedicating everything I have to the prosperity and flourishing of Da You.

I will pour my limited life into the infinite great struggle.

From now on, there will be no more Commander Shi Zhenhai—only one who has just assumed the post of Commander, a dedicator.

Rivers and mountains, the state—are in my heart!

Shi Zhenhai dared not entertain any other extraneous or inappropriate thoughts.

That hellish experience and torment—just recalling it brings a wave of heart-rending, soul-splitting pain surging like a tide.

It drives Shi Zhenhai to be a good person, not daring to pause even slightly.

So-called sincerity, of course, is not true sincerity—it is sincerity forced out by compulsion.

Spiritual conversion has never been about release or liberation; it is nearly a lifelong painful brand, a mark of fear.

In contrast, physical conversion is truly a clean break.