Chapter 353

In Qian Chen's eyes, the Wild Market was shrouded within a massive Dharma array; this was also the reason why, even after the Wild Market was destroyed time and again, displaced populations would still gather here.

However, this Dharma array that suppressed demons and monsters had become extremely dilapidated following the several times the Wild Market had been breached. In fact, that the array patterns inscribed upon the ruins of the city foundations could still function at all already left Qian Chen quite astonished.

The power of this remaining Dharma array revealed what kind of force had once gathered here a hundred years ago, when it was a fortified city on the front lines of the Güzhu Kingdom's resistance against demons.

The Güzhu Kingdom had built the Mang City three times, and three times the city had been breached and destroyed; they certainly had not abandoned this place without sacrifice. To have been able to establish such a Dharma array was enough to show that the human race had already exhausted all its strength at that time!

The time had reached the Hour of the Bo...

The dilapidated mansions of the wealthy families were empty and desolate, with wild grass growing in the abandoned gardens and small alleys. Chan Master Master Fa Xin even saw a not-so-small temple; he gazed at the bell tower in the temple, which had collapsed by half, for a moment, his eyes distant.

"The bell of the Jetavana Vihara rings, telling of the impermanence of worldly affairs; the flowers of the twin Sala trees lose their color, the prosperous must decline, just like the vicissitudes of life!"

Chan Master Master Fa Xin sighed in a low voice. He suddenly turned back from the mountain gate of the Buddhist temple, his back to the moonlight, and stepped into the deep, secluded alley.

A group of samsara travelers followed behind him, treading on the stone-slab road where withered grass grew in the cracks, walking with their backs to the moonlight. The surrounding residences were dilapidated beyond repair, with broken tiles and crumbling walls; the collapsed buildings buried a few skeletons.

At this moment, in the silent night, a few light laughs from a woman rang out.

This made the group of samsara travelers instantly vigilant.

They turned the corner of the alley and discovered that in the middle of a ruin ahead, a perfectly intact residence had appeared, with red silk hanging at the gate. The courtyard was brightly lit, with red buildings and green tiles; amidst the cover of the silk, bursts of noisy sounds drifted over.

A demon-catcher, drinking until he was swaying, stepped out of the doorway and said in a tone filled with drunkenness: "I was wondering why there were rumors of ghosts here at night; so it turns out to be you group of female ghosts!"

His blood surged, and a red flush from the alcohol appeared on his face.

"You all really know how to play, opening a flower house in a place like this. If someone hadn't told me about such a good thing yesterday, I wouldn't have believed it!"

As he spoke, he touched the face of the woman beside him, and his alcohol-reeking mouth leaned in.

"Su Si!" someone in the courtyard laughed loudly: "Why aren't you worried that these beauties are demons or ghosts?"

"So what if they're ghosts?" the demon-catcher named Su Si said loudly: "Even if they are demons or ghosts, I, your father, will accept it. Beauties... are you fox spirits? Hahaha..."

"Disgusting..." the woman beside him seemed both coy and coquettish, and she gave him a push.

"There is a curfew in the Wild Market, which is why we opened the flower house a bit further away. Our Pure Land Pavilion! We are doing a proper business... even if there are fox spirits, aren't they here to serve you? Don't go spreading it around, okay?"

A charming woman, whose dress was slit up to her thigh and who was carrying a thin lantern handle, greeted them at the door and said with a coquettish laugh.

"So what if you're fox spirits?" the demon-catcher Su Si laughed loudly: "Ask us demon-catchers, who the hell hasn't slept with a fox or a female ghost? In these wild mountains and desolate ridges, seeing a woman is always seeing someone thin and dry; how can it be as refreshing as a fox spirit?"

"There are quite a few demon-catchers who have died under the skirts of fox spirits! Su Si." The person in the courtyard laughed loudly.

The woman saw the group of samsara travelers, her eyes lit up, and she leaned against the door with a smile: "A few guests, do you want to come in and seek some pleasure?"

Several people walked out of the dark alley. Chan Master Master Fa Xin pressed his palms together, the ring scars on the top of his head attracting the demon-catcher's attention. That Su Si laughed loudly: "There are even monks coming to a flower house? The guests you have here really have all sorts of identities!"

"Monks also come to whore?" the person in the courtyard asked in great surprise.

The samsara traveler whispered in Chan Master Master Fa Xin's ear: "Master, there are ghosts here!"

Chan Master Master Fa Xin nodded slightly, standing one palm upright in front of his chest and saying: "Namo Wonderful Dharma Lotus! The patrons are here to visit prostitutes, this poor monk is here to make offerings to the celestial maidens of music!"

Su Si laughed loudly, and the woman also revealed a bit of coquettishness, greeting them with eyes like silk and saying: "Then I will offer my flesh to the Master..." She stretched out her straight, long leg and hooked it against Chan Master Master Fa Xin's leg.

Chan Master Master Fa Xin reached out to touch her without any avoidance, his technique so skillful that the samsara travelers all thought he was a regular guest.

Yan Shu held his sword case and followed far behind, standing on the ridge of an abandoned house. Seeing this, he gave a cold snort: "Thieving monk!"

Qian Chen tapped his toes, silently shaking a skeleton demon in the residence below to death, flew over to Yan Shu's side, and laughed: "I, however, feel that this monk is quite interesting... exposing his true colors, yet guarding his original heart with caution, not moving in the slightest."

"In Chan cultivation, body and mind are originally one."

Yan Shu said: "If the heart has great light revealed on the outside, it is the appearance of a transparent glazed light. Like him, with these two appearances of body and mind, his heart is like a secret treasury of hell, and his body is like the dissipation of the red dust. Buddha and demon are only a thin line apart, as dangerous as a pile of eggs!"

Qian Chen took a careful look before nodding and saying: "Brother Yan still has superior insight, seeing that the killing intent in this monk's heart is already extremely heavy, just like a heart of ice reflecting sword light."

"I'm afraid that in his eyes, there is no longer any distinction between a beautiful face and white bones; when he acts later, there won't be the slightest bit of hesitation."

"Although the monk is already between the thought of Buddha and demon, it doesn't detract from his interest!" Qian Chen touched his chin and laughed.

Ning Qingchen, in a light ink-colored green shirt, landed beside the two: "Do the two brothers want me to wait here with you?"

"How is that possible!" Yan Shu and Qian Chen laughed at the same time.

The figures of the two instantly disappeared, and when they appeared again, they had already landed in the flower house courtyard, appearing beside a muddle-headed female ghost. Qian Chen leaned against the couch, his hair draped behind him, dressed in a loose white robe. Yan Shu sat cross-legged beside him, using the gourd at his waist to pour wine into the cups on the table.

"Brother looks like a regular guest of the brothel!" Qian Chen toasted a cup of wine to Yan Shu and said.

Yan Shu laughed loudly, took the wine cup, and drank the illusion in the cup; the moonlight entered his throat, turning into a mouthful of wine aura.

"How can I compare to Qian Shidi's self-taught skills?"

"Come!" Qian Chen held the female ghost, his eyes clear under the moonlight, reflecting the broken skeleton in his arms.

The female ghost was muddle-headed and couldn't remember at all if these two had just been here. She was slightly dazed, vaguely remembering that she had accompanied the two for a long time. She then entered the state, picked up the wine cup, and sent it to Yan Shu's mouth.

At the same time, she laughed: "Distinguished guest, please drink!"

Ning Qingchen on the distant roof ridge spat lightly, her delicate nose wrinkled slightly. She didn't mix into the courtyard, but sat down against the roof ridge, holding Feng Shi and waiting quietly.

The samsara travelers stepped into the building. In the spacious red building, red candles were dotted, and fragrant winds blew in bursts. A group of drinkers were pushing cups and changing lamps, holding left and right, intoxicated among soft shoulders and jade arms. The leading man among the samsara travelers revealed a trace of a cold smile, looking around at both sides.

The various scenes of paper-intoxicated gold-fan reflected in his eyes were actually overgrown with wild grass, broken walls and ruins. More than a dozen demon-catchers were each holding skeletons and skulls, their souls and spirits given to the ferocious-looking female ghosts.

Underneath this bizarre and gloomy truth.

Only the landlady who led the way, in every move and action, still had a natural grace, not diminishing in the slightest.

But the samsara travelers would not just think she was a human. On the contrary, this could only show that she was even more terrifying, and ordinary Dharma eyes could not see through her illusions.

Glancing at them, the samsara traveler saw that most of the demon-catchers were already drowned in the illusions, only Qian Chen and Yan Shu were still laughing and talking, looking somewhat clear-headed.

But he only thought that these two had just entered not long ago and had not yet been completely confused by the demons and ghosts. A trace of disdain flashed in his eyes, and the man ignored them.

Qian Chen pointed at the moonlight outside the window, reached out to lead it, and the moonlight in the cup turned into mellow wine, which he fed to the female ghost in his arms. The female ghost seemed to have forgotten who she was, drowned in her own role-playing.

Even the sisters beside her, the charming woman who led the way, and even the dozens of demons and ghosts in the courtyard, and the more than ten demon-catchers did not notice anything wrong, as if Qian Chen and Yan Shu had originally been here.

Even more decorations of the prosperous Tang Dynasty appeared beside them, and some of the clothes on their bodies turned into Tang-style clothes and Hu-style clothes for the dancing girls, and they were completely unaware.

This was not Qian Chen drowning in the illusions of demons and ghosts, but the demons and ghosts being confused by Qian Chen's illusions.

"Qian Shidi has good illusion skills!" Yan Shu clapped his hands and said: "It's just that using illusion to make wine is not what a drinker does; Qian Shidi is too slippery!"

"Moonlight is like wine, how can it not make people intoxicated?"

Qian Chen laughed: "Drinking like this with three people, only then is it not lonely!"

Qian Chen reached out and pointed, and a withered tree under the moonlight in the courtyard quietly bloomed with a tree of cherry blossoms. The red and white cherry blossoms with eight-layered petals fell, and under the moonlight, it was like a dream and an illusion.

This was no longer an illusion, because in Yan Shu's sword heart induction, that tree of cherry blossoms actually existed. This flower was formed by the heart's thought; when Qian Chen's heart's thought was there, it was no different from the real thing.

Chan Master Master Fa Xin frowned slightly and turned his head to look at the cherry blossoms.

He was puzzled in his heart: "Strange, this demon and ghost is fully revealed in my Dharma eyes, but this flower tree, why does it make this poor monk's heart move?"

But he didn't think there was anything strange about having a blooming cherry blossom tree here at this time and place.

Qian Chen leaned against the beauty's couch. Following this lean, the beauty behind him became vivid. In Yan Shu's eyes, her flesh and bones were reborn, and she had already revived from a skeleton into a strange creature, like a painting spirit.

"Master!" the charming woman offered the wine cup and said: "This is plain wine!"

Chan Master Master Fa Xin pulled her hand back, staring at her eyes. A thin and withered monk, but he smiled as warm as jade, saying: "Whether it is meat or plain, what does it matter?"

That woman in palace attire gave a cold snort: "Is this monk reliable?" She couldn't help but ask: "Could it be some kind of lecherous monk?"

The man surnamed Zhou smiled slightly: "You didn't experience the last mission. At that time, I was still in the Realm of Penetrating the Law, and I was almost wiped out by a Core Formation ghost envoy. At that time, this Chan Master Master Fa Xin had just received the precepts. Do you know what his identity was before the fall of the Great Ming?"

"What identity?"

"He was the top graduate of the last session, with literary talent and romantic style, known to the world for being romantic and suave. After the demons and monsters invaded, his romantic style dissipated in one morning. He threw away his pen and joined the army, fighting for the country, tossing and turning in the twelve cities of the human race, and was defeated several times. Finally, after the demons and monsters slaughtered the Southern Ming, his hair turned white overnight, he shaved his head to become a monk, and swore that he would not enter samsara until all the demons and monsters were killed, forever in the Avici Hell!"

The samsara traveler sighed slightly and said: "He shaved his head for twenty years before receiving the precepts. Precepts against joy, precepts against love, precepts against desire, precepts against emotion, but no precept against killing!"

Chan Master Master Fa Xin and that charming woman looked at each other deeply. He held her waist, laid her down, and leaned forward himself. The woman laughed coquettishly. A demon-catcher couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled out a long knife, pointed at Master Fa Xin and said: "You lecherous monk, the woman I, your father, have taken a fancy to, you dare to snatch her!"

The woman's eyes were filled with smoke and waves, and she laughed: "Don't pay attention to him!"

Master Fa Xin held the woman's hand and laughed: "Of course I won't pay attention to him; this is all my cultivation."

"Cultivation?"

"Yes!" Master Fa Xin touched her leg and said: "If you can disturb my concentration, it means my cultivation is not enough!"

"Haha!" The woman laughed and drew a circle on his chest, seductively saying: "Okay, Master, let me try... but my concentration is not enough, I'm afraid you won't be disturbed, but I will be disturbed first!"

"Are you not listening to me!"

The demon-catcher was furious, pulled out his knife and slashed at Master Fa Xin. Master Fa Xin didn't look back, threw out a string of prayer beads, and tied the demon-catcher's hands.

The woman's whole body was stuck to Master Fa Xin, leaned into his ear and said: "Now, is your heart disturbed?"

Master Fa Xin was slightly melancholy and said: "This poor monk's heart has never been quiet for a moment. Every moment, I cannot forget those things... It seems that my concentration is not enough. Even with all kinds of external appearances, it is difficult to make my heart feel compassion!"

At this time, the prayer beads in Master Fa Xin's hand were suddenly taken off by him and tied the woman's hands. He shouted: "Mohuraga!" A Dharma-protecting god like a giant python circled up from behind him. Following Master Fa Xin's palm, it hit the woman's heart.

The woman spat out a mouthful of black blood, roared to the sky, and two fangs were exposed in her mouth. Her face suddenly became ferocious, her hair flew, and she bound toward Master Fa Xin.

The nails of her ten fingers pierced out several inches, her double claws turned over, and she tore the Buddhist beads to pieces.

"Stinking monk, you ambushed me!"

"How can a monk's business be called an ambush? It's you who can't suppress my killing intent. Your cultivation is not enough, you deserve this calamity, die!" Master Fa Xin waved his palm and hit the broken Buddhist beads. Each Buddhist bead shone brightly, like thunder beads containing Buddhist light, hitting the female ghost's vital points.

Qian Chen watched this scene, actually feeling a bit dumbfounded. Yan Shu also shook his head and said: "This monk... really doesn't have a precept against lying!"

The samsara travelers had also rushed up.

The samsara traveler surnamed Zhou stabbed a Dharma sword toward the female ghost's back heart. The white-haired old Daoist sprinkled dozens of talismans. Following his finger, they turned into ice blades and fireballs. Thunder and golden light hit. Those Dharma talismans seemed to have grown eyes, bypassed Master Fa Xin, and hit the female ghost.

Following the female ghost's sharp scream, the demon-catchers beside her were all controlled, using their bodies to block several Dharma talismans. Their bodies were covered with frost and scorch marks, but they still frantically rushed toward the few people.

The women under her also changed their bodies, turning into white-faced, eyeless fierce ghosts, frantically rushing toward the samsara travelers. They moved nimbly, jumping several feet, their four limbs on the ground like demon beasts, wanting to tear the samsara travelers to pieces.

But the woman in palace attire's sword light rose, and what was slashed and broken were only themselves.

Those female ghosts were slashed down by flying swords in mid-air, their bodies torn apart, or their heads slipped from their necks, or their arms fell from their shoulders. The fishy ghost blood of black blood spilled, and in an instant, their souls were killed.

In a large red building, except for the position of Qian Chen and Yan Shu, other places had returned to their original appearance. In the abandoned residence, the floor had rotted into mud.

The skeletons and female ghosts were all turned into white-faced demon ghosts, slashed and killed by the samsara travelers like cutting melons and vegetables.

Master Fa Xin's angry fist was like holding the sun, blooming with golden light, smashing toward the female ghost. Each punch was as heavy as a mountain, smashing open the woman's parry and hitting the female ghost's face.

The female ghost was smashed dizzy by those punches. She raised her head and was smashed down, raised her head and was smashed down. Her entire lower jaw bone fell off, dragging a foot-long tongue that slipped out, opening her ten fingers like razor-sharp claws and saying: "Stinking monk, you are looking for death!"

Master Fa Xin's fist paused slightly, then smashed down ten times harder: "Mohuraga! Eight Divisions Dharma Protectors! Ten Thousand Buddhas Blessing! Subdue Demons and Eliminate Monsters!"

Qian Chen put down the wine cup and nodded: "This monk, has a future!"

Yan Shu stroked the sword case and said: "Qian Shidi, my sword aura is ringing in the case, wanting to eat meat!"

Qian Chen laughed: "No rush, these people have good cultivation. These few demons and ghosts still can't do anything to them!"