Chapter 480

Sha Lifei was not surprised at all by the appearance of the Maitreya Sect.

If the Ghost Sect arose from the pursuit of longevity and greed,

then the Maitreya Sect was born from injustice.

The philosophy of this sect was rooted in the Pure Land Sect, initially representing the yearning of impoverished commoners for the Pure Land world.

It represented a glimmer of hope in the dark mud.

At the very beginning, from the imperial court to the common people, many supported it, and even some famous scholars of the time joined it.

But no matter how beautiful a false hope is, it is ultimately a delusion.

When hope is shattered, resistance follows.

And this power would also be exploited by others.

The Maitreya Sect is like this.

No matter how many commoners join, when martial arts forces, heterodox sects, and even ambitious people join, it has already become a tool for accumulating wealth and power.

But likewise, as long as there is injustice in the world,

the Maitreya Sect will have the soil to exist.

So it is not surprising that it exists in the land of Sichuan.

What makes Sha Lifei curious is, listening to what these people mean, the monks know the tomb of that "Nine Heavens Buddha Lord"?

He couldn't help but steal a glance.

He saw that these old monks didn't seem afraid at all, still sitting there in meditation, not even bothering to lift their eyelids.

"Benefactors, please go back..."

The old monk in the middle said indifferently, "Let the past grievances continue to remain silent. Once it is unearthed, a catastrophe will be unavoidable. We will not speak."

The fat man leading the Maitreya Sect was now full of impatience, "Are you truly not afraid of death?"

The old monk replied with a calm expression, "Greed breeds worry, greed breeds fear. If there is no greed, what is there to worry about or fear?"

"Fine!"

The fat man who looked like a wealthy merchant shouted sternly:

"Then I will grant your wish!"

After saying that, he waved his hand fiercely.

At the order, the Maitreya Sect members scattered everywhere immediately drew their bows and nocked arrows, and lit the oilcloth wrapped around the arrowheads.

Sha Lifei pretended to be panicked, "Masters, think of a way quickly, otherwise we will all die here!"

Unfortunately, the monks just closed their eyes.

As if they were already prepared to die.

"Ouch~"

Sha Lifei slapped his forehead, full of helplessness.

Encountering these old monks who were impervious to soft or hard tactics and weren't even afraid of death, he really had no temper at all.

"San'er, do it!"

Sha Lifei's eyes flashed with fierce light as he raised his divine fire spear.

And Lu San had already leaped out of the dilapidated temple gate, holding a mace in his right hand, while his left hand formed a seal, blowing a loud whistle.

The enemy was using fire, so staying in the temple was obviously not an option.

Therefore, Lu San chose to charge immediately.

"Slaughter this brat!"

The fat merchant leader shouted angrily.

They had mobilized in advance partly because of Sha Lifei and his companion; they couldn't gauge their background and thought they had come to intercept the prize.

Since things had come to this, no matter who they were, they would kill them first.

Immediately, three people turned their arrowheads.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three flaming arrows whistled over, drawing brilliant traces in the air.

Lu San didn't dodge or evade, didn't even blink, his mace blocking left and right, deflecting all the flaming arrows.

Even his speed didn't slow down by a single bit.

"They're tough, be careful!"

When the fat merchant saw this, his pupils shrank.

He was not a sorcerer, but he was a peak expert in internal energy. He immediately tore off his sleeves, rubbed his hands together, and his palms turned crimson.

It was clearly the Zhu Sha Palm he had practiced.

And the Daoist beside him drew a peach wood sword and a soul-suppressing bell, waving the sword and ringing the bell, chanting words.

In an instant, a sinister wind blew all around.

Several white shadows danced with the wind, their faces pale, the paper burial clothes rustling—these were the paper puppets that had been spying earlier.

This place was suppressed by the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue, rendering sensing supernatural powers ineffective, so they didn't discover at all that Lu San was a sorcerer.

Seeing the flaming arrows deflected, others drew their bows and nocked arrows again.

Boom!

Just then, Sha Lifei fired his gun suddenly.

Inside the dilapidated temple, smoke scattered, and dust fell with a rustle.

What Sha Lifei was aiming at was clearly the fat leader.

Because the distance was far, and this fat man was also an expert with astonishing intuition, he instinctively dodged to the side.

But even so, he was hit.

He let out a miserable scream, his right shoulder and arm blown into blood foam.

"Big Brother!"

When the people beside him saw this, their eyes became bloodshot. Some swung swords to stop the charging Lu San, and others dragged the fat man back.

But just this moment was enough for Lu San to charge to the front.

His martial arts were second only to Li Yan and Wu Ba in the team; he knew both imitative boxing and chain flying needles, not to mention various spells and the assistance of various spirit beasts.

But facing these small fries, he couldn't be bothered to use them.

With a shake of the mace in his hand, he hooked, smashed, covered, and pounded—one move for each, and the charging lackeys either had their skulls smashed or their chests collapsed.

Since obtaining the mace, Lu San had put in no small amount of effort.

This weapon, the mace, originated from the ancient "stick head," called "Shu" in the Yin and Zhou dynasties, used as a punishment staff in the Tang Dynasty, and even used as ceremonial equipment after the Song Dynasty, commonly known as the "Golden Melon."

Nowadays, fewer and fewer people use it.

"It's a new-style firearm, run!"

Seeing Lu San so ferocious, a big monk with a fierce face finally became anxious, not even caring about his companions, and turned to run.

"Ah—!"

The fat leader, who looked like a squire, was a tough man. With a miserable roar, he broke free from the others, forcibly exerted his energy, and his left hand turned crimson, slapping toward Lu San.

Before the palm arrived, a scorching sensation hit his face.

The Zhu Sha Palm is one of the soft-work internal-strengthening yin hands, also known as the Plum Blossom Palm or Zhu Sha Palm. Its origin is untraceable, but it is widely circulated in the martial world.

This palm technique is vicious, its energy can reach the internal organs directly, and the place hit will show a cinnabar-colored handprint days later; those hit will die.

For an ordinary Zhu Sha Palm, when the energy is exerted, deep red spots appear on the palm, resembling the traditional Chinese medicine cinnabar, hence the name.

And this fat man's entire palm was blood-red, showing his profound cultivation, and he was also using the Siming Fist, which is excellent in both offense and defense.

In the martial world, he was by no means a nobody.

Unfortunately, he was seriously injured, in pain and delirious; his moves looked ferocious, but in reality, they were full of holes.

Lu San leaped close like an ape, then suddenly twisted, his body moving like a swimming snake, dodging the Zhu Sha Palm and bypassing the fat man's side.

At the same time, he used a "Overlord Carrying the Sword" move, not even looking, and smashed the mace backward.

Crack!

The back of the fat man's head collapsed, and he fell to the ground, completely dead.

At the same time, accompanied by a rustling sound, snakes and scorpions crawled out from the darkness.

Screams continued, and those people fled frantically.

They knew they had encountered a ruthless person and just wanted to escape this place.

But Sha Lifei had also rushed out.

His age and aptitude were average; after being forcibly guided by Li Yan to step into the dark energy realm, his progress was extremely slow, but his Guanzhong fast blade became increasingly ferocious.

Blade light flickered, and torches swayed.

Before long, the surroundings became quiet. As for those paper puppets, they were lured by the little white fox Chuyi, who was hiding in the dark, and torn to shreds.

Lu San shook his mace and patted the gourd at his waist, saying in a muffled voice, "Hurry up, don't always make us do the work."

They had previously taken the Yu father and son to hunt for treasures and found a poisonous bee nest, which was a heavenly treasure, and fed it all to the demon gourd.

Plus the poisonous insects swallowed earlier, the demon gourd finally reached a limit, similar to building a house, gestating poisonous bees inside.

Unfortunately, it hadn't succeeded yet.

If they had the demon gourd, they wouldn't even need to take action against these people.

Sha Lifei turned around and found a survivor, the monk who had abandoned his companions and fled earlier.

This guy had a fierce face and lecherous eyes; he was by no means a disciple of the Buddha, just using the monk's identity as a cover.

This person was unlucky, bitten by poisonous snakes several times, his body already half-swollen, and his face showing an abnormal blue-gray color.

"Speak."

Sha Lifei patted his face with his blade and said coldly, "What did you come here for?"

!.

"Speak clearly, and I'll give you a quick death."

This fake monk was poisoned by the snake, feeling uncomfortable and in pain all over, phlegm rattling in his throat, and he said vaguely, "We... we should have been tricked, deceived here by Guo Laosan... gurgle..."

Before he could finish, his throat seemed blocked, his face purple and blue, unable to breathe.

Sha Lifei saw his miserable state, knowing his throat was swollen, and that he wouldn't get anything more out of him, so he simply gave him a quick death with one blade.

"Who is Guo Laosan?"

"Don't know, let's ask those monks."

The two looked at each other and returned to the dilapidated temple.

The previous battle still had some impact.

Several flaming arrows were shot into the wooden beams; fortunately, these beams were rotten and the humidity was quite high, so the flaming arrows burned with thick smoke but didn't cause a major fire.

Sha Lifei hurriedly extinguished the fire, and when he looked at those monks again, he was suddenly furious.

He saw several old monks still sitting there, as if they were seeking death, not even getting up to extinguish the fire.

"Everyone, if you really want to die, why not just hang yourselves? Why bother with this?" Sha Lifei couldn't help but scold.

An old monk said with a calm expression, "A monk does not break the commandment against killing; killing oneself is also killing. All people in the world are Bodhisattva bodies; to slaughter them recklessly is like staining the Buddha's blood."

"Fine, so we just got splashed with Buddha's blood?"

Sha Lifei was completely speechless, waving his hand, "Fine, fine, fine, do whatever you want, I just want to ask, have you heard the name Guo Laosan?"

"I have heard of him."

The leading old monk said, "Treasure hunters have an exploration lineage, and he is the leader of this lineage in Sichuan, often digging graves everywhere."

"Many years ago, they came here, killed several of our senior brothers, and broke open a Buddhist pagoda of Indian monks."

After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "This person is also looking for the Sita Forest."

Sha Lifei was shocked and hurriedly asked, "What are they looking for the Sita Forest for?"

The old monk shook his head, "I don't know."

Lu San frowned and asked, "Then may I ask, masters, where exactly is the Sita Forest?"

The old monk was silent for a long time, then looked up.

His eyes were white and clouded, unable to see clearly, but he seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, "It is right here, right in your hearts."

"I told Guo Laosan the same thing; the Sita Forest was never a secret. Whether you can find it depends on your fate..."

Right here?!

Sha Lifei and Lu San looked at each other, simultaneously thinking of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue outside.

This thing suppressed supernatural powers,

could it also be to cover up the Sita Forest?

…………

"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva..."

Li Yan looked at the secret letter in his hand, lost in thought.

This matter is indeed strange.

The two qi of gang and sha flow in the world; no matter what power it is, even the underworld soldiers of the underworld he has seen, or the Great Luo Dharma Realm divine gang, they are all related to these two qi.

The divine power of incense is the same principle.

What truly plays a role is not the incense, but the power of human hearts condensed in the incense, which induces the birth of gang qi.

The power of human hearts has great mystery, just like some evil objects, which also arise because of obsessions before death, or extreme love and hatred, inducing sha qi.

Therefore, only in those Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries with flourishing incense can the vulgar gods have enough power to suppress the supernatural powers of sorcerers.

And that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue was built less than a hundred years ago, located in the wilderness with no one around, and only a few old monks worshiped it; it obviously didn't possess such power.

Then, there are only two possibilities.

One is that something is hidden inside the Buddha statue.

Two is that there is another power supporting it from behind!

It is very likely the "Sita Forest"...

Thinking of this, Li Yan put down the secret letter and looked out the window.

Outside the window, there was a light drizzle, and the noise of carriages and horses was constant.

This is the Wufengxi Wharf near Longquanyi.

Since the Han Dynasty, this place has been an important water and land wharf on the Tuojiang River.

On the Tuojiang waterway, goods from all directions and official documents from the imperial court come and go incessantly; it is an important wharf for the distribution of goods in Chengdu.

There is a folk saying: "When a sail is raised at Wufengxi, it will load half of Chengdu's salt; when an oar is rowed at Wufengxi, it will load half of Chengdu's sugar."

He originally thought that some things were under control. But he didn't expect that while Sha Lifei had made progress, he himself was blocked here.

Just then, a shout rang out from outside.

"Young Master Li, please show yourself!"

Li Yan's face darkened, and he got up and walked to the window.

He saw that on the street below, in the drizzle like mist, a young swordsman wearing a bamboo hat, dressed in a short robe, with dark skin, was shouting at the inn.

"It's here again! It's here again!"

The commoners on the street immediately became excited.

They ignored the drizzle and stopped to watch. The street was originally narrow, and now with carriages and horses difficult to move, it immediately became crowded.

Only the area outside the inn where Li Yan was staying appeared as an empty space.

"Fight! Fight!"

"I bet three moves..."

"Three moves, I bet one move!"

The commoners were discussing heatedly, full of excitement.

Li Yan cursed inwardly, grabbed the melon seeds from the plate beside him, leaned against the window, cracked a few, and spat out the shells with a "pfft."

He couldn't be bothered to speak, his contempt undisguised.

This is the trouble he encountered.

He didn't know which bastard had widely publicized his past experiences, immediately causing a sensation in the Sichuan martial arts world.

There was no way around it; his past was too shocking.

There was no need to mention the Shanzhou affair.

Several major events that happened in Ezhou were also publicized.

Slaughtering many experts of the Ghost Sect, making this fierce sect issue a kill order at night, yet they could do nothing to him...

The Guishan martial arts competition, defeating all heroes, not yet twenty years old, yet able to fight evenly with famous Mystic Sect experts...

Even, some people attributed the killing of the flood dragon in Shennongjia to him.

Although it was true, outsiders didn't know about it.

In short, he became famous.

He became the hottest figure in the Sichuan martial arts world.

But Li Yan knew this was "killing with praise."

It wasn't the work of the Prince of Shu's estate.

Another force had appeared targeting him!

The first trouble it brought was the endless stream of challengers.

Whether they could win or not was a separate matter.

As long as they fought, it would be capital for bragging in the future.

It was purely "touching porcelain" (scamming)...

(End of chapter)