Chapter 431: Buddhist Enemy

"Plop!" went a sound.

Lin Chongtai's heart-wrenching, tear-jerking wailing came to an abrupt halt.

The Ghost Doctor looked up; the Lin Chongtai diagonally ahead had vanished without a trace, replaced by that demonic monk.

The kicking posture was withdrawn, a whip still held in hand.

The Ghost Doctor was very familiar with that whip — the Herdsman's Whip; everyone had gone into hiding to study it after obtaining it, and in the end unanimously decided to develop in secret because of the Herdsman's Whip.

Now it had fallen into the demonic monk's hands.

As for Lin Chongtai…

The Ghost Doctor looked toward the blood pool; Lin Chongtai had been kicked into the blood pool by this demonic monk.

Lin Chongtai inside the blood pool wore a terrified expression, struggling laboriously to stay afloat; every time he opened his mouth to speak, dark blood poured in, rendering him unable to utter a word.

The Ghost Doctor knew Lin Chongtai was no landlubber.

The reason Lin Chongtai struggled so hard was because this blood pool was a dead zone, a forbidden ground for all life.

Lin Chongtai's master, the founder of the Hate Heaven Gate, the Hate Heaven Divine Lord, lay in this thick blood pool whose interior could not be seen.

Every so often Lin Chongtai would toss a person into the blood pool.

He never expected that this time the one going into the blood pool would become Lin Chongtai himself.

"Should… be fine, after all it's his master inside." The Ghost Doctor thought silently.

He was younger than Lin Chongtai; he knew that back when the Hate Heaven Divine Lord was still alive, the man was already lying in the blood pool.

Lin Chongtai would bring "food" in every so often; the Ghost Doctor occasionally came along too.

Apart from "feeding" times, the blood pool was always deathly quiet.

Sometimes the Ghost Doctor even doubted whether the Hate Heaven Divine Lord was really in the blood pool.

But after he witnessed one "feeding," he no longer had such thoughts.

Lin Chongtai bobbed in the blood pool; the placid blood pool began to gradually heave.

The heaving occurred only in the small patch where Lin Chongtai was; the rest remained calm as a mirror, looking exceptionally eerie.

No matter how Lin Chongtai thrashed his limbs, he could not move himself even a fraction.

Suddenly, a pale, withered hand reached out from the surging blood water, extending from behind Lin Chongtai in a bizarre posture, clamping onto his face.

Lin Chongtai's body arched backward, seized by that hand; without the slightest resistance he was dragged into the depths of the blood pool.

The surging blood water instantly calmed, as if nothing had happened.

"The same, exactly the same as before!" The Ghost Doctor's face changed drastically.

The Hate Heaven Divine Lord in the blood pool treated his disciple Lin Chongtai the same as he treated everyone else.

Not the slightest difference — directly dragged into the depths of the blood pool.

"Oh." Tang Luo watched the now completely placid blood pool and let out an "oh."

The Ghost Doctor's body shuddered; wolves ahead, tigers behind — had he known earlier he would never have run here with Lin Chongtai.

The jianghu is so vast; there must be other places to hide.

Who would have thought the Hate Heaven Divine Lord would be so ruthless as to not spare even his own disciple?

On careful thought, a guy who has been "bobbing" in the blood pool for decades — can he still be considered human? Would he still have normal human emotions?

Footsteps came from behind; the Ghost Doctor had no choice but to leap up and assume a defensive stance.

His martial arts were actually not bad — on par with Bai Zhu and Sword Young Master; in the whole jianghu they counted as genuine first-rate masters.

Unfortunately, martial arts of this level were completely insufficient before the Fourth-Degree Demonic Monk.

The most the Ghost Doctor could do was "do his utmost and leave the rest to fate."

The Ghost Doctor, having assumed a defensive posture, merely saw the demonic monk walk past him, completely ignoring him.

Tang Luo walked before that golden Buddha statue, reached out, and grabbed and flung it through the air.

The massive Buddha statue rose from the ground and fell into the blood pool.

Blood water splashed in all directions, spilling onto the ground and slowly flowing away.

It looked no different from ordinary blood.

Most of the Buddha statue sank into the blood water, a portion remaining outside, as if it had already hit bottom.

"Who…"

An incomparably hoarse voice came from the blood pool.

It reverberated in the great hall; with this voice the calm pool surface rippled.

The ripples spread outward.

Bubbles kept appearing on the pool surface, as if boiling.

Amid such boiling, blood-colored mist rose up, gradually enveloping the entire great hall, obscuring vision.

Tang Luo waved a hand; a blast of air erupted with him at the center, forming a gale that dispersed the blood-colored mist.

The Ghost Doctor's eyes bulged; his heart felt as if gripped by an invisible hand, twitching wildly.

He saw a head slowly emerge in the steadily descending blood pool.

This person's long hair hung loose, eyes closed, yellow flying eyebrows reaching the temples, extremely conspicuous.

His face, divided left and right by the nose in the middle, one half full, one half withered.

The withered half had only eyebrows and hair that still looked fairly normal; the hollow eye sockets held not a trace of "ghost fire."

Downward, the neck and chest were the same.

The blood water receded, leaving not a trace of blood on the Hate Heaven Divine Lord's hair or head.

But at the lower neck area it eerily clung to the Hate Heaven Divine Lord's body.

Soon the blood water turned into a blood-colored robe.

It enveloped his half-withered, bizarre body, faintly revealing most of his chest.

The posture of an open chest was extremely similar to the tall Buddha statue beside him.

The blood water vanished completely; in the blood pool, only one person and one Buddha statue remained, the statue stained with a large amount of blood traces.

Evil qi ran rampant.

Besides that, there was nothing else — no large quantity of grim white bones, nor any dried corpses.

Including Lin Chongtai, who had just sunk into the blood pool, who also ceased to exist.

Extremely clean, clean to the point of making one's heart tremble and gallbladder turn cold.

"Heh."

The Ghost Doctor heard the Fourth-Degree Demon Monk's light laugh.

"I wondered who it was. So it's you, Ah Huang." Tang Luo looked at the Hate-Heaven Divine Lord in the blood pool and said.

With those words, the Hate-Heaven Divine Lord, eyes closed, abruptly opened them — only one eye; the other rippled with an eerie, ghostly light.

Truly awake.

He stared at Tang Luo, enunciating each word: "Tang! Xuan! Zang!"

The Ghost Doctor's body swayed, and he violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, collapsing onto the ground.

That sky-soaring hatred almost materialized into tangible force and impact.

And the Ghost Doctor just happened to be standing right between the two — fortunately he didn't block the line of sight, otherwise this blow might have sent him to meet his maker.

The Ghost Doctor, fallen on the ground, did not struggle; instead, like a tiny insect, he wriggled bit by bit, retreating.

Praying in his heart not to be noticed by the two.

Tang Luo and the Hate-Heaven Divine Lord also had no intention of paying attention to the Ghost Doctor.

The half of the Hate-Heaven Divine Lord's face that could show expression was ferocious and twisted, his rage plain to see.

Tang Luo, on the other hand, wore a faint smile, even a trace of the joy of "meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land."

Hate-Heaven Divine Lord, Yellow Flying Eyebrows.

His true identity was, in Journey to the West, the master of Little Thunderclap Temple, the Yellow-Browed Monster who impersonated the Buddha, also known as Yellow-Browed Great King, Yellow-Browed Old Ancestor.

Originally Maitreya's attendant boy, he stole Maitreya's dharma treasures and descended to the mortal realm, forming one of the tribulations in Journey to the West.

"How did you end up like this?" Tang Luo looked at the Yellow-Browed Monster and asked, "Where's Maitreya? Didn't he protect this attendant boy of his?"

"Maitreya?" The Yellow-Browed Monster seemed to have heard the funniest joke under heaven, and laughed wildly, resentfully and maniacally.

"Wait."

Tang Luo thought for a moment, "This place's strange suppressive power — looks like it really is the Demon-Subduing Pagoda. After Maitreya took you back, you were locked in the Demon-Subduing Pagoda? Or was it later, when heaven and earth underwent a cataclysm, that you were thrown in?"

The Yellow-Browed Monster's resentful laughter stopped: "Right, I was locked in. When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked. You monks, on the surface kind-eyed and benevolent, behind the scenes, are all evil demons!"

Back then, with Maitreya's hint and tacit approval, he took the Golden Cymbals and the Postnatal Human-Race Bag to go make trouble for Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

Later, Maitreya took him away and directly threw him into the Demon-Subduing Pagoda.

Is the Demon-Subduing Pagoda a place for people to stay?

Not to mention, the Yellow-Browed Monster was originally a monk, Maitreya's attendant boy.

If it were a symbolic punishment to protect the Yellow-Browed Monster, he would at most have been imprisoned on the first floor for a period of time.

Just to silence everyone's tongues.

But the Yellow-Browed Monster styled himself Old Ancestor, committing a great taboo, and was directly abandoned by Maitreya.

Thrown into the depths of the Demon-Subduing Pagoda, suffering endless torture.

He worked for his master, yet the final outcome was this fate — no wonder the Yellow-Browed Monster's resentment soared to the heavens.

The subsequent events can also be inferred.

Heaven and earth underwent a cataclysm; the Demon-Subduing Pagoda also became a complete world of its own. Part of the suppressive power remained, but at least it was no longer like before, a forbidden land solely for punishment.

The Demon-Subduing Pagoda world, after the initial turmoil, developed just like that.

The Yellow-Browed Monster also got a breather, eventually becoming the Hate-Heaven Divine Lord, carrying a strand of hatred, beginning to slaughter the Buddhist sect.

He was no longer Maitreya's attendant boy; he was a Buddhist enemy!

After venting, the Yellow-Browed Monster entered the blood pool to slumber, devouring others every so often, slowly recovering from his injuries.

Whether the Demon-Subduing Pagoda's years or the later cataclysm, he suffered not light injuries.

But also a "blessing in disguise" — his whole body of Buddhist divine abilities transformed into demonic arts; when unleashed, their destructive power surpassed the past.

"You only realize this now? I've always felt those big monks, every single one, don't look like good people; behind the scenes they're all kinds of schemes." Tang Luo nodded, agreeing.

Only still too young, awakened too late.

Unlike the wisdom-filled Tang Luo, who from the start felt "none are good people," especially that Maitreya, like a haha-er.

"???"

The Yellow-Browed Monster's twisted expression froze, feeling something was off.

You're agreeing my ass! What gives you the right to agree!

You're the Tathagata's disciple Golden Cicada reincarnated, later the Victorious Fighting Buddha, walking sideways on Spirit Mountain and in Great Thunderclap Temple.

You're a Buddha, yet you can't even figure out your own stance?

"You think just by saying that, I'll let you go?" the Yellow-Browed Monster said.

He could tell that Tang Luo's head of white hair was the sequela of damaged foundation and severe injuries.

The other party's injuries were probably even more severe than his own horrifically described self.

"Let go?" Tang Luo laughed, "Ah Huang, what are you saying? We're both injured, six of one, half a dozen of the other. Why must we fight and kill? Why not sit down and chat — for instance, chat about my second disciple, do you know his whereabouts?"

"Hahahaha!" The Yellow-Browed Monster laughed wildly, "You're really badly injured, Tang Sanzang."

From his understanding of the monk before him, if not for severe injuries, he would have attacked long ago.

Still going to waste words with him?

"Looks like he doesn't know." Tang Luo said, originally planning to add an extra layer of insurance, but since the Yellow-Eyebrow Monster doesn't know, it's no longer necessary.

"Don't worry, I'll find him and then send him to see you!" The Yellow-Eyebrow Monster took the initiative, striking out with a palm aimed at Tang Luo.

Wailing and shrieking, yin energy swirling, forming a mournful, twisted face.

Nine Nether Palm!