Chapter Seventeen: The Demonic Monk Konghui

Bai Zhaoju strode through the sky, bending space with her step.

Behind her, a dazzling white streak stretched across dozens of miles—the Milky Way crashed down like a rain of stars, accompanied by roaring winds and thunder.

For a moment, mountains and rivers quaked, sun and moon lost their brilliance. In the blink of an eye, the Milky Way swept past, blanketing the heavens.

A rustling sound echoed to the clouds.

Bai Zhaoju transformed into a white serpent, dominating the sky. Her maw opened wide like a whale swallowing water, and in a single breath, she devoured the endless Milky Way.

Those behind the galaxy were revealed.

Magic clashed, dispelling clouds and haze.

The evening glow vanished. Beneath the clear blue sky stood a Buddha incarnate, crowned with radiant light, wielding a staff of meditation—a staff ten thousand meters long. The Buddha subdued demons with its power.

As Xu Zhong watched, stunned, the demon and Buddha swept past him.

“Where did this monk come from?” All clouds within a hundred miles were gone; the stars, once obscured, now blazed with clarity.

There were scarcely any famous temples near Yangshuo.

“Perhaps a wandering ascetic?” You Sujue spun the blue lotus in her hand, and in an instant, a thousand rays of sunset blossomed from it. The light fell like a rain of gold and silver flowers, swirling and exploding, slicing dozens of trees into countless pieces, which scattered across the ground.

The terrifying power startled both You Sujue and Xu Zhong.

If he imagined himself caught in that rain of flowers, the outcome would be nothing but death.

He glanced at the purple jade gourd hanging at his waist.

Suppressing his unease, he refrained from activating its power.

Instead, he placed the sword named Xuan Guang inside the gourd, nurturing its aura with the energy of metal.

In the forest, several squirrels, monkeys, and a giant python, nearly sliced apart by the flower rain, hid in the thickets and caves, nervously watching Xu Zhong and You Sujue as they traversed the dense woods.

They finally returned to Chen County.

But Chen County seemed to have vanished.

Such a large city, gone without a trace.

“Could it have been drawn into Fengdu again?” Xu Zhong speculated.

“Not so!” A thunderous crash behind startled him.

He turned quickly.

It was the Night Wanderer of Fengdu.

The Night Wanderer was more than ten feet tall, Xu Zhong barely reached his ankle.

Behind him stood other deities, similar in stature.

“That is the Impermanence Envoy of Yangshuo,” the Night Wanderer introduced.

The Underworld was vast, with a bureaucracy mirroring the Yu Kingdom.

At the lowest rung were the Soul Seizers, the underworld messengers. They traversed the boundary between life and death, guiding souls. Their power was weak, rarely reaching the Five Luminaries realm.

Above them were the City Gods, presiding over regions, commanding the messengers.

Where the City God stood, there was an entrance to Fengdu.

Souls guided by the messengers entered Fengdu through the City God’s temple.

Above the City Gods were the Impermanence Envoys.

Impermanence Envoys governed counties.

This Impermanence Envoy of Yangshuo nodded to Xu Zhong, puzzled as to why the Night Wanderer would reveal himself and explain so much to a junior.

“Greetings, Lord Impermanence. Greetings, Lord Night Wanderer,” Xu Zhong hurriedly bowed.

“Fengdu did not pull Chen County into the underworld. It vanished on its own,” the Night Wanderer intoned.

“Chen County isn’t a person—how could it grow legs and walk off?” You Sujue murmured inwardly.

Xu Zhong shared the same misgivings.

Then he watched as the Night Wanderer stretched out his hand, which grew immense, eventually covering the sky, and plucked the moon as easily as picking fruit.

Xu Zhong and You Sujue rubbed their eyes.

The moon still hung in the sky, yet the one in the Night Wanderer’s hand transformed into a jade disk, flawless as a bronze mirror.

The Night Wanderer held the jade disk and shone it over where Chen County once stood.

Then You Sujue saw that the land of Chen County had indeed sprouted legs and run off.

The disk’s radiance intensified.

Within it, the City God of Chen County appeared.

Merged with his clay and gold likeness, he rode beneath a canopy, moving the entire county away.

“Do you remember what he said? He claimed to be the emperor of ancient Yue. He borrowed Chen County—could he be trying to restore his kingdom?” You Sujue blinked, sending a message.

Xu Zhong shook his head; he could not understand.

He was so powerful, able to destroy the armies of Yu with a mere gesture—why bother borrowing land to revive a country?

The Night Wanderer pulled the City God’s portrait from the disk and looked at Xu Zhong: “You carry his aura.”

Xu Zhong shivered, instinctively gripping the gourd.

“From our first meeting, I sensed his aura on you, but then, Fengdu had not discovered his escape.”

“On our second meeting, the aura was even stronger.” The Night Wanderer’s gaze locked onto Xu Zhong.

His eyes pressed down like a mountain, even weighing upon Xu Zhong’s soul.

“You have met him?”

The Impermanence Envoy summoned a Celestial Court.

That was his manifestation.

“Does the Night Wanderer intend to bully the weak?” From afar, footsteps sounded.

A young monk with a refined face appeared, a cinnabar mark between his brows, shining like a great sun, within which resided a Buddha.

He held a string of prayer beads in one hand and a begging bowl in the other.

“A monk?” The Night Wanderer was surprised.

Yu Kingdom revered Daoism, monks were rare, especially powerful ones.

This monk had forged his soul, established his manifestation. Though not the equal of the Night Wanderer, his presence evoked the earlier Buddha who had subdued demons with a staff.

“He is Konghui from Bodhi Temple.” Konghui uttered a blessing, then spoke calmly: “The Buddha said, saving a life surpasses building seven-tiered pagodas. Lord Night Wanderer, I ask you to spare this benefactor, or I must invite you to meet the Buddha himself.”

The Impermanence Envoy and Night Wanderer regarded Konghui oddly. You Sujue, nestled in Xu Zhong’s arms, whispered, “This monk doesn’t seem very proper.”

“Impudent!” The Impermanence Envoy roared, preparing to strike.

Konghui raised his bowl, which expanded in the wind until it was five or six yards wide, crashing down and shattering the ground beneath. The Impermanence Envoy was trapped beneath it.

Sounds echoed from within, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, constantly changing, the bowl extraordinarily sturdy.

Eight naga serpents engraved on its surface spat out eight Buddha statues, which transformed into golden bodies, their mouths blooming golden lotus, Sanskrit glowing. Konghui intended to forcibly deliver salvation to the Impermanence Envoy.

The Night Wanderer rushed to intervene.

As he moved, Konghui tossed the prayer beads.

The eighteen beads were eighteen relics, transforming into eighteen suns, from which emerged eighteen golden Buddhas, each wielding a meditation staff, fierce-faced and wrathful. They swung their staffs at the Night Wanderer.

Surrounded, the Night Wanderer struck out.

His attacks were swift as storm winds, countless golden palms forming a shimmering cloud, blotting out the sky’s light.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Each palm sent a Buddha flying, which reverted to a relic.

“Infinite Buddha!” Konghui smiled, his body swelling, muscles bulging and tearing his robes.

Tattooed upon him were eight roaring celestial dragons.

These dragons seemed to come alive, winding around his arms, extending outward to form a meditation staff.

Konghui gripped the staff and swung it at the Night Wanderer.

“Interesting!” The Night Wanderer smiled.

The staff locked onto his aura, sealing the space.

No matter where he moved or how he dodged, the staff would appear overhead, poised to smash his skull open.

The Night Wanderer stood still, an Immovable King.

The staff struck him.

In an instant, a thunderous crash shook the ground, which split into a deep fissure, stretching for dozens of miles.

The Night Wanderer stood immobile.

His flesh vanished, leaving only a golden body.

The staff scraped away but a layer of gold leaf.

Konghui was shaken, his palms split, golden blood dripping onto the earth. The seeds in the barren soil felt the surge of vitality and sprouted.

The staff in Konghui’s hands reverted to eight celestial dragons, circling the air and chattering as if complaining.

Konghui gently soothed the dragons, reattaching them to his body.

“Amitabha. This benefactor is a tough one. I fear I cannot save you. Let us part here.”

He gathered his beads and bowl, and under Xu Zhong’s incredulous gaze, gradually faded away.

The Impermanence Envoy, trapped beneath the bowl, was in disarray.

His aura was worn, Buddhist light subdued. Had Konghui been given more time, the envoy might have been converted.

“Lord…” The Impermanence Envoy looked at the Night Wanderer, at a loss; to be so easily subdued and nearly transformed by a demon monk, he had failed as a subordinate.

“No matter. He hails from Bodhi Temple; it is normal you cannot match him.”

The Night Wanderer reached out to purge the Buddhist light from the envoy, condensing it into a pearl, which he swallowed.

He then turned to Xu Zhong: “Are you afraid?”

“He’s not afraid!” You Sujue leapt out: “You are a deity of the underworld, responsible for Fengdu. He is a cultivator of the mortal realm, governed by the court and the Daoist alliance. While he lives, he is not under your jurisdiction.”

“If you harm him, treasures will descend to destroy you.”

She turned back: “Do not worry.”

The Night Wanderer laughed, reaching out.

You Sujue’s fur bristled; she spat out a blue lotus and a rattle, trying to wield both treasures at once.

But in the next moment, she was suppressed, unable to move.

The Night Wanderer touched Xu Zhong’s brow.

A shadow appeared in his palm.

You Sujue felt sorrow: “Little Zhong, rest assured, I will choose the finest coffin for you, the grandest funeral, and burn two beauties for you…”

She had arranged everything in her mind, only to find Xu Zhong was not dead.

In the Night Wanderer’s palm was not his soul, but a flickering shadow like a candle flame.

This shadow was intertwined, composed of two overlapping figures.

One was the corpse demon Shi Yao.

The other, the City God of Chen County.

The Night Wanderer separated the shadow into two.

He handed Shi Yao to the Impermanence Envoy, keeping the City God’s shadow for himself.

He blew upon the image, and it stretched, awakening as if from a dream, and ran off into the distance.

“This is the art of tracing origins.” To capture a lingering aura and trace its source—that is the tracing art.

The Night Wanderer and Impermanence Envoy went their separate ways, leaving Xu Zhong and You Sujue behind.

Before departing, the Night Wanderer repaired the fissure in the earth.

“Little Zhong, are you all right?” You Sujue’s black eyes spun with concern.

Xu Zhong was about to answer, when, though night had only just fallen, the sky suddenly brightened.