Chapter 93

Side Quest One: Kill one reincarnated one from the opposing faction, reward one moral point.

Qian Chen frowned slightly, his expression grave; at this moment, Ning Qingchen had already returned to the Lanruo Temple’s main hall, and Yan Shu had slain all the uncontrolled corpses. The three exchanged glances, and Ning Qingchen, slightly embarrassed and annoyed, said: "I didn’t expect they still had someone hidden inside one of the corpses..."

Qian Chen shook his head slightly: "I kept Yan Shixiong here precisely to guard against this. When Ning Dao You returned after slaying the Gu man, the mission was already accomplished!"

"Qian Dao You , did you hear the Lunhuizhizhu ’s hint?"

Ning Qingchen did not dwell on the matter but immediately asked the crucial question.

Qian Chen nodded: "The hint said I killed an opposing faction Lunhuizhe ... Ning Dao You must have received the same. This surprises me—Main Quest One is difficult; gaining the Blood Demon’s approval is even harder than gaining the approval of the righteous storyline characters. Logically, after only one night, these people shouldn’t have joined the Blood Demon’s faction before us!"

Ning Qingchen pulled back the big yellow chicken that was trying to burrow toward Qian Chen and explained: "Storyline characters... you mean Zhiqiu Daoist and the others? That term sounds odd... but if those people completed Main Quest One, it’s not necessarily true..."

"I once saw a giant willow tree rooted in a crack on Tiansha Peak; its roots were piled with white bones, and its branches moved like limbs, hunting humans and beasts within ten li. My Feng Shi and I accidentally entered its territory and barely escaped its ambush. During that time, we recovered the remains of a fellow cultivator, and from his final writings, I learned the story of the Seven Heroes subduing demons."

"When I first saw the willow tree, I also received a hint from the reincarnation lord..."

"Could it be one of the Blood Demon’s Four Demon Generals?" Qian Chen, having heard half, smiled knowingly.

Ning Qingchen was startled: "You two also encountered other Demon Generals?"

Qian Chen nodded: "On our side, it was a wolf demon—Lang Dajiang..." He did not mention that Lang Dajiang had been accidentally killed by him during his clash with Miaokong. Qian Chen was a modest man; Lang Dajiang’s corpse had been reduced to ash by the Five Poisons and Three Corpses Demons. Without a body to prove it, speaking of it would sound like boasting—contrary to his nature.

Ning Qingchen suddenly realized: "Ah! That swordlight and demonic fire we saw earlier..."

Ning Qingchen continued: "The tree demon I encountered was another Great Demon—Liu Dajiang. Since we’ve all encountered demons under the Blood Demon’s command, then others of our kind—what you call ‘reincarnated ones’—may also have encountered other Demon Generals."

"You mean those two reincarnated ones encountered a ‘reasonable’ Demon General—not as mad as the others—and were taken into his service? That way, they’ve joined the Blood Demon’s faction. Just as we joined the righteous faction by gaining Zhiqiu’s approval, they could join the Blood Demon’s faction without his direct recognition. Likewise, they may not have completed Main Quest One."

Qian Chen murmured to himself: "If so, then these two reincarnated ones attacking us weren’t merely opportunistic dogs hoping to exploit our injuries... They’ve just joined the Blood Demon’s faction—how much freedom could they have? There must be demonic orders behind this... Lang Dajiang just died, and yet the demons dare provoke us?"

"Of course! Those corpses were a probe by the reincarnated ones—and these two reincarnated ones are the Demon’s probe!"

Yan Shu laughed heartily: "Then it’s clear they’ve learned a few things. Now that they’ve gauged our strength, they won’t wait long to strike. I’ll just wait here for them!"

Though strong enemies surrounded them, Ning Qingchen detected not a trace of fear in his voice, nor even a hint of retreat—only the bold determination to slay the demons with his sword, no matter what.

Though Qian Chen’s face was pale—due to the cold qi piercing his body—and though he had only one-tenth of his strength left, hearing that a demon more cunning and cruel than the refined-demon Lang Dajiang was secretly watching him, he still spoke calmly and smiled as if nothing were amiss. For a moment, Ning Qingchen found himself viewing the two with new respect.

Whether they were bluffing or not was unclear... but their courage was real.

Still, Ning Qingchen urged: "Qian Dao You and Zhiqiu Dao You are still severely wounded, and Yan Dao You ’s qi is also unsteady. How can you face this demon? Why not retreat for now, wait until our injuries heal, then return to deal with it?"

Qian Chen smiled: "Ning Dao You , do you believe that if we show even a hint of retreat, the demon will strike immediately—and leave us no time to prepare? If we prepare fully, we can use this to force it to attack."

Ning Qingchen’s delicate brows furrowed slightly; she realized he was right. The demon hadn’t struck yet only because Qian Chen had just killed someone, leaving the Great Demon uncertain of their true state. If they showed even a flicker of weakness, the demon would surely see through their frailty.

"Moreover, the demon’s arrival is suspicious," Qian Chen’s gaze pierced the void...

"This Lanruo Temple... must be strange indeed!"

Ning Qingchen was puzzled: "Under Tiansha Peak, this is the only large temple. Of course it’s strange. When I saw the willow demon, it was rooted over a demonic fissure deep within Tiansha Peak, its roots buried under countless corpses—it clearly hides clues."

Zhiqiu also nodded: "I tracked the wolf demon here—it’s close to his lair. If that wolf demon is one of the Blood Demon’s Four Generals, then setting his lair here suggests he’s guarding something."

"And this place was still a ruin just a few days ago," Zhiqiu whispered.

Seeing them so serious, Qian Chen couldn’t just say, "Actually, I rebuilt this Lanruo Temple—it was all ruins before!" But after thinking carefully, he realized something odd: the ruins of Lanruo Temple clearly predated the nearby village destroyed by the wolf demon’s attack, which was why he hadn’t suspected anything at first.

But from another angle: with Buddhist architectural skill, even if abandoned for centuries, Lanruo Temple shouldn’t have decayed to this state.

When Qian Chen arrived, not a single intact building remained—even the pagoda grove in the back courtyard had been leveled.

This made it look suspiciously like an attempt to hide something.

Moreover, the wolf demon attacked too quickly. Lang Dajiang didn’t hesitate to sacrifice many of his kin and directly used the Blood River Great Art. Wolves are cunning; when facing a temporarily overwhelming foe, they usually retreat temporarily. Why didn’t Lang Dajiang wait for the other three Demon Generals? Unless they disturbed something the demon forbade.

Qian Chen looked up and said in unison with Zhiqiu: "The Demon-Suppressing Sword Casket!"

Zhiqiu exclaimed: "It must be the Demon-Suppressing Sword Casket! After the Seven Heroes subdued the Blood Demon, Bi Ling True Person and Da Fang Sanren were too severely wounded—they passed away and achieved corporeal dissolution! Their personal demon-subduing treasures—the Silver Ring of Binding Demons and the Jade Vase of Transforming Demons—must not have wandered far. They should be hidden near Tiansha Peak."

"And the Monk’s Bag’s Demon-Suppressing Golden Needle; the Crimson Dragon True Person’s Demon-Suppressing Sword Casket; Qing Shi Gong’s Demon-Stabilizing Treasure Mirror; the Red-Haired Elder’s True Fire of Demon Transformation; and the Supreme of the Seven Heroes, Yin Feng True Person’s Xuantian Demon-Slaying Sword—all vanished after the Seven Heroes achieved corporeal dissolution and ascended. If the Seven Heroes foresaw the Blood Demon’s eventual escape, they must have left behind methods to subdue him."

Ning Qingchen scanned the newly rebuilt main hall, searching for possible clues.

But the hall was entirely Qian Chen’s new construction; though it held many items, all were placed there by his own hand.

So when Ning Qingchen joyfully pulled a spirit talisman from behind the Buddha statue’s hidden scripture bricks, Qian Chen had no choice but to explain: "I hid it there myself, just in case." Ning Qingchen suddenly remembered Qian Chen telling her to climb the rafters and retrieve the Spirit-Light Treasure Mirror—and her spirits sank.

"Didn’t those elders leave any words at all when they achieved corporeal dissolution and ascended?" Ning Qingchen asked, unwilling to give up.

Zhiqiu shook his head: "The Blood Demon’s disaster ended two thousand years ago. Now the past is legend, with truth and falsehood indistinguishable. Even if the elder left instructions, only the Sect Master’s master would know."

"And the Blood Demon himself certainly knows too..." Yan Shu said: "So the location of the Seven Demon-Suppressing Treasures is most likely known best by the Blood Demon himself. That makes it even more likely he sent demons to guard them. Our encounter with the wolf demon happened because we got too close to the treasures he ordered his minions to protect!"

Yan Shu recalled Qian Chen’s endless ambushes during his deadly duel with Miaokong and pointed at him with a laugh: "If anyone knows where to hide things here, it’s clearly Qian Shidi!"

Qian Chen nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and realized he’d already considered every possible hiding spot: the main hall, the surrounding monks’ quarters, every corner—even the lotus pond in the merit pool, and even the moon in the sky—he’d hidden swords and golden cores there before.

"If there’s any place left suitable for hiding magical artifacts, it’s only the pagoda grove in the back courtyard!" Qian Chen whispered: "Every other place was rebuilt by me. Only the back courtyard’s pagoda grove—I feared offending the relics of past masters’ relics, so I didn’t disturb them."

"Buddhist pagodas often have underground crypts..." Zhiqiu suggested: "For the sake of subduing the demon now, a little disturbance won’t be impolite."

Without further words, they rose and headed to the back courtyard’s pagoda grove. Broken statues and steles lay scattered among wild grass; the pagodas had collapsed, their bricks and tiles littering the ground, barely covering the foundations. Clearly, when Lanruo was intact, the grove had held eight pagodas, rising and falling across a vast courtyard.