Chapter 21 You dare eat him? ...
The young man reacted extremely quickly; Ping Yu didn't even have time to blink before he was grabbed around the waist and lifted off the ground.
The spot they had just been in was now occupied by a monster with a rat's head and a snake's tail. Having failed in its attack, it scratched the ground with its claws, its crimson eyes now fixed on the girl and the young man.
The peddler used his voice to open the nest of insects and ants.
The evil spirits that had been feasted throughout the house rushed towards this place like children rewarded with candy.
"Are you crazy!?"
Pingyu stared at the monster and said to the peddler incredulously, "Eating me is one thing, but you dare to eat him?"
"who is he?"
The peddler countered with a question.
"He's the eldest son of the General of Qiantang Pass, and a disciple of Manjushri, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals!" Ping Yu rattled off a long list of the young man's names, like the names of dishes. Her sharp tongue even surprised Jinzha.
How could she remember it so clearly?
Jinzha's mood became strange.
After Pingyu finished speaking, she stared intently at the peddler. The Chan Sect was notoriously protective of its own, and she couldn't believe that someone would actually go to such lengths for money. Even powerful evil spirits would hesitate upon hearing the title "Twelve Golden Immortals." Sure enough! Upon hearing who Jinzha's master was, the number of demons swarming into the courtyard instantly dwindled by a third.
"Why wouldn't I dare? I doubt even one hundred and twenty Golden Immortals could do anything to me!"
Those who cultivate the Tao must not wantonly kill mortals; this is an ironclad rule.
The human's courage was greater than that of the demons and ghosts present.
Jinzha didn't seem to care much about becoming a target. He used his lightness skill to land, and the moment he landed, the young man expressionlessly unleashed the Dragon-Binding Pillar and slammed it into the ground.
Instantly, cracks spread across the stone slabs, covering the entire central hall floor with a dense "spider web." The magical artifacts, crafted with immortal magic, unleashed a fierce gust of wind, scattering the weaker demons on the outer edge.
Ping Yu looked up and met Jin Zha's eyes.
When he was angry, his eyebrows and eyes resembled those of Nezha. The usually gentle and mild-mannered young man revealed a murderous aura when he put away his smile.
"Never leave my side."
Jinzha wielded the pillar like a pen, giving Pingyu his instructions.
"What about Nezha?" The girl didn't dare tug at the young man's sleeve, afraid of becoming an even bigger burden. She stopped looking at the nearly crazed peddler and instead stared at the ever-changing wall. It kept changing size, and neither the Guhuoniao nor Nezha made a sound, a silence that was frightening. She said, "We have to go save him."
Fearing the title of the Golden Immortal of the Chan Sect, most demons and ghosts ceased their attacks. Those remaining were mostly powerful and confident in their abilities. For Jinzha, one or two were easy to deal with, but a large number became troublesome. Moreover, he had Pingyu to protect, making him even more preoccupied. Seeing the girl's anxious expression, Jinzha could only take a deep breath and try to soothe Pingyu gently, saying:
"He won't die."
However, the young man's actions were completely different from his words.
His smashing of the pillar grew increasingly violent, shaking the house violently. Whether it was partly to reassure himself or not, Jinzha said again, "Nezha must be alright, otherwise Uncle-Master would have arrived long ago."
Jinzha's uncle-master is Taiyi Zhenren.
Others could not soothe Pingyu, but upon hearing these words, she immediately calmed down.
After all, Master Taiyi was fond of divination. He could make small calculations every three steps and large ones every five. Given Nezha's favored status, if he could foresee that his beloved disciple was facing a calamity today, he would surely come to his rescue.
A thin layer of clouds hangs outside, showing no sign of immortals hurrying along.
It seems that Nezha is also unharmed.
As Jinzha had promised at the Li residence, he protected her well. As long as she stayed close to the young man, the girl wouldn't be harmed by ghosts. But Pingyu didn't want to just cower there and wait for things to end; she also wanted to do her part to help!
Thinking of this, Ping Yu let out a long sigh, and his mind started working again.
The areas that had been overlooked earlier gradually became clear as my thoughts cooled.
Thinking about it this way, it seems that from the time he started selling wine cups until now, none of the peddler's actions have been superfluous. Every choice he made was the optimal solution based on his own circumstances. Was it to bolster his courage? Or to use the clay statue to intimidate the ghosts and increase his persuasiveness? Or perhaps, the clay statue had another purpose.
That's why the peddler was so fearless and acted without restraint...
I'm going to go and find out!
Ping Yu had this idea and started to consider the props he currently had.
They are:
The evil-repelling bell left by the Taoist priest at birth, the handkerchief with Tong'er and Xiao Bei on it, the complete collection of talismans that I haven't even had time to look at yet, and the wooden summoning talisman that Jinzha just gave me.
After all, the Guhuoniao (a mythical bird) devours humans and transforms into human form, and the python demon also desires to become a dragon.
As long as the bell works on the remaining demons, she can safely reach the peddler. The Talisman Encyclopedia comes with its own buffs and can be used as a weapon; if necessary, releasing Tong'er and Xiao Bei will allow them to seek revenge against their father. Mu Zha's summoning talisman can be used as a last resort.
Good heavens! I didn't know until I looked, and I was shocked.
Ping Yu thought: I actually have so many life-saving gadgets, I'll give it my all!
She wanted to test the bell's function, so she gritted her teeth and blocked Jinzha's path.
Jinzha, who was just about to swing the pillar down: !
Something blocked the way.
"careful!"
Jinzha's shout rang in my ears, followed by the soft sound of a bell.
Zheng.
The expected pain did not occur.
Instead, the demons and ghosts in front of him were screaming in agony.
Pingyu cautiously opened his eyes and saw the mantis demon curled up, clutching its pincers. Wisps of steam rose from its exoskeleton, making it look cooked. Jinzha's eyes widened. He kicked the insect demon away and looked at the girl and the bell, saying, "You...?"
"Young Master."
Pingyu, who had already successfully tested the bell and caused it to explode and die, was quite satisfied with the result. She called out to Jinzha, who saw that the girl remained calm. In a tone as if she were going out to find someone to play with, she pointed at the peddler and said, "I'm going out for a short trip, I'll be back in a bit."
With the bell's blessing, the girl had no trouble traveling.
She quickly stood in front of the desk.
The peddler stood on his platform, looking down at the tiny child before him. The man hadn't expected Pingyu to stay hidden behind Jinzha. She had used some kind of magic to make all the ghosts flee. And so, with an air of nonchalance, she stepped before him.
The peddler calmly picked out the sharpest piece of clay and asked, "Aren't you afraid?"
"I have another question for you."
Pingyu watched his every move, took out a handkerchief from her bosom and held it in her hand. She twisted the handkerchief, her nervousness a mixture of genuine and feigned. The girl asked him warily.
"What?"
The peddler didn't understand.
"Aren't you afraid of working with demons?"
She explained, “I know people can’t stop pursuing wealth. But is it really worth it for you to know this much? It’s better to deal with a tiger for its skin. If you are eaten by a bird of prey, at least you’ll have some bones and flesh left to be buried in peace. But to seek profit with a demon is to live in turmoil and die in turmoil. You might even end up with a lose-lose situation.”
Pingyu was only speaking to buy time. She used the veil covering her face to hide her gaze, which fell on the shards in the man's arms.
If this is only used to flaunt the identity of the Ubume, then he should have thrown this pile of junk away after he dispatched the hundred demons.
But the peddler didn't have any.
He even neatly stacked the fragments, grouping those of similar size together, and held them tightly in his arms.
There's definitely something wrong with these clay sculpture fragments.
Ping Yu subtly shifted her feet, adjusting her position and angle, waiting for her opportunity. Meanwhile, to distract her, the girl continued her incessant chatter: "And now, you even dare to lay a hand on the General's son. Are you planning to live in another place? Not to mention the difficulty of obtaining residency, the dangers along the way are as numerous as weeds. If you can't even go home, what use is all your wealth?"
Clearly, Tong'er and her siblings, along with their mother, thought the same way.
The girl asked this question precisely because she couldn't understand it.
What kind of mentality would drive someone to such audacity through greed?
His audacity was almost as high as the sky.
"I remember you were the girl who bought wine with the troublemaker from the Li family, right?"
"yes."
Ping Yu nodded.
The man gripped the mud slab tighter, frowning as he said, "Since reincarnation is a shortcut, then so is cooperating with monsters. You can all take shortcuts, so can I! Besides..."
The peddler suddenly changed the subject and showed the fragments.
He had been watching Ping Yu's bell for a long time. This thing only worked against demons, and was useless against humans. Apart from the cultivator's own strength, the abilities of their magical artifacts were almost ineffective against mortals, even powerful talismans.
The fewer people there are, the less of a threat there is.
He silently mocked the child for being mentally challenged, never considering that humans are far more dangerous than ghosts.
"One of the Li family's children has already died; a second one won't make a difference."
He was used to killing, and any sharp object he held was like a knife.
The man's aim at the person's neck was precise and swift, like preparing to slaughter an animal in a kitchen.
"Either you stay or you die. No one will trace this back to me. After all, when you came here, you were just three lowly people."
The mud shards even gleamed with a cold light, and without Nezha and Jinzha's cover, the girl's slender neck was as fragile as a flower branch. This stirred an exciting impulse in the peddler, as if he were harvesting wheat straw for brewing wine in a field. But Pingyu quickly raised her handkerchief and shouted, "Tong'er, Xiao Bei!"
Upon hearing these two names, the peddler paused in his actions.
Nezha's previous threats resurfaced at this moment.
Your children know more about business than you do; they're the ones who brought me here.
This is what the boy said.
In other words, Tong'er and Xiao Bei not only didn't die... but were brought here!
The peddler knew better than anyone what kind of vengeful ghosts his children, whom he had dismembered himself, would become. He immediately turned the mud shard in his hand and was about to stuff it into his mouth.
Pingyu was so startled by the man's actions that he forgot what he was going to say next.
Do you have pica or pica?
Why are mud slabs used for eating?
Having finally found a moment of respite, Jinzha turned to check on Pingyu's safety, only to be met with this unexpected sight. He was initially stunned, but upon realizing that the man was eating fragments of a divine statue, his pupils constricted sharply.
This is to...
"Can't!"
He understood the peddler's plan and immediately spoke, shouting anxiously at the girl:
"Demons are formless, and statues are soulless. If you want it to completely integrate into the human world, you have to fill it with rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans to contain its filth. Humans are made from the five grains and are perfect containers. He wanted to take advantage of the Heavenly Maiden's withdrawal to refine her body and eat her true form, so that the demon's soul could only descend into his body."
"To seize demonic power for one's own use!"
A note from the author:
Actually, "cleaning" a statue is what people call "consecration"! When you first buy a statue, it's empty inside, like a furnished but empty house—anyone can live in it. If you don't cleanse it promptly, the statue might be occupied by wandering spirits who want to enjoy incense offerings. Cleaning it in time is like registering it with the owner; once you've cleaned it, the gods and Buddhas know where the "room" you've prepared for them is! They will then allocate a wisp of divine power to move in.
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I've decided to let Nezha show off his skills in the next chapter! By the way, this chapter will be available for purchase on the 28th—I'll be releasing a 10,000-word update! I'll try my best to type, so please don't let me overwrite the chapter! [pleading]
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