I can't be a demon.

Chapter 195 Tang Dynasty? Lion Camel Ridge!!
Ma Wanhu smiled bitterly, and could sense the murderous intent in Shen Lian's words.

"It's okay. The situation in the capital is very complicated. Even if the real body of the old demon Tuanxiang descends, it can't change the current situation in the city."

As Ma Wanhu spoke, he signaled the government office to deal with the aftermath.

His soul then returned to his body and he circulated his internal energy to suppress his injuries. It was obvious that due to the severe injuries he suffered during the Seven Immortals Discussion, his cultivation had begun to decline and his lifespan had been greatly reduced.

"What's going on in the capital?"

The capital was the name given to Chang'an by the people of the Tang Dynasty. As the capital for 1,300 years, the population of the capital was far beyond imagination.

According to research, the permanent population of Chang'an during the prosperous Tang Dynasty in Shen Lian's previous life should have been around one million.

The capital of this world has a population of nearly three million.

It was the center of commerce, culture, and politics of the Tang Dynasty.

"The cave power in the capital city is actually not limited to Panhuan Cave. There are 20 to 30 scattered forces, but Panhuan Cave is deep inside the imperial court."

Ma Wanhu kept coughing and trembling as he took out the medicine and swallowed it.

Shen Lian shook the wine gourd, and half a pound of aged medicinal wine fell in front of Ma Wanhu. The medicinal power contained in it was more powerful than that of ordinary magical medicines.

"Thank you."

Ma Wanhu took a sip of the medicinal wine, and his almost stagnant organs regained some vitality.

Even though the hidden injuries were irreversible, and even though the medicinal wine could only suppress them for a moment, Ma Wanhu still looked relieved that the pain had been greatly reduced.

"It can be said that the capital city Chang'an itself is a [giant cave]."

"Dongfu, how can the capital city be a cavefu..."

Shen Lian looked surprised, but not too surprised. Chang'an City with a population of three million was simply a paradise in the eyes of demons.

The court's existing means are simply unable to protect the safety of the capital.

and so……

There must be something special about the capital city.

As far as Shen Lian could remember, he had only heard rumors about the capital from Shen Hansheng, who was one of the few people who passed through Chang'an once while doing business.

According to Shen Hansheng, the capital was so prosperous that it was intimidating.

The city gate, which was forty or fifty meters long, was like the bloody mouth of a giant beast. The old man hesitated for a long time and didn't dare to go in for a stroll.

Shen Lian carefully recalled the 81 difficulties in Journey to the West, but could not find any clue.

"Why is there a cave in the capital? Is it Panhuan Cave that is causing trouble?"

"It has nothing to do with Panhuan Cave. Panhuan Cave was the capital city that was settled four hundred years ago. At that time, the capital city already had the rudiments of a cave residence, revealing indescribable... strange rules."

Shen Lian originally thought that the cave that Ma Wanhu was talking about was Panhuan Cave.

After all, the discussion of the Eight Immortals caused the White Bone Cave to briefly descend upon Cangshan Town, so there must be similar means in the Panhuan Cave.

But what surprised Shen Lian was that the disaster of the capital city becoming a cave dwelling could be traced back to a thousand years ago.

"The court had no choice but to invite the various cave dwellings to settle in the capital. Although the capital is very stable at present, no one knows when the cave dwellings hidden within will get out of control."

Nowadays, the capital is becoming more and more of a mixed crowd.

no way.

If a catastrophe were to happen, the various forces might be the only way to check the disaster.

Not right either.

Ma Wanhu glanced at Shen Lian, who was standing in front of him like a scholar. Now that the Tang Dynasty had an extra amulet, he hoped that he could become a land immortal as soon as possible.

The two sat on the top of the city wall and watched the rising sun.

"My dear Shen, do you mind treating me to a drink?"

"nature."

Ma Wanhu laughed loudly and took out two broken bowls from somewhere, "Fill them up."

"Master Ma, do you know what the cave in the capital is called?"

"I don't know. Phew, good wine."

Ma Wanhu didn't waste a drop of wine and continued, "This cave is extremely hidden. The Jinwu Guards have been investigating it for three hundred years, but there is no clue."

"That shouldn't be possible..."

Ma Wanhu heard Shen Lian muttering to himself and couldn't help asking, "What's impossible?"

“I just think it’s ridiculous.”

Shen Lian did not give any specific explanation, and Ma Wanhu did not ask any further questions.

In fact, Ma Wanhu had never told Shen Lian about the matter of the reincarnation of the immortal Buddha, and even deliberately blocked the relevant news.

Just because he felt it was not the right time.

The guardian ghost god was obviously concealing its own existence, and it might even involve the mysterious [cognitive impairment], otherwise Shen Lian would not have been unable to detect the abnormality for such a long time.

Ma Wanhu smiled without saying anything and filled a dish of medicinal wine for Shen Lian.

He is different from us.

We are just one of the countless creatures in the universe and will eventually return to the earth.

As the reincarnation of an immortal Buddha, he must have some special significance, perhaps to restore order or to rebuild heaven.

Who knows? Although I definitely won’t be able to see it, at least I am also a guide.

"Master Ma, are there any records in the court about a thousand years ago?"

"The historians have been keeping records. The piles of books are taken out and aired every year in the imperial court, so they are well preserved."

Ma Wanhu patted Shen Lian on the shoulder and said, "You want to know how the cave appeared? Perhaps you can only ask the immortals on land thousands of years ago to find out the source of the disaster."

"Well, thank you, Lord Ma, for clearing up my doubts." Shen Lian stared at the rising sun. As he uncovered part of the truth, he felt that the doubts that had been troubling him were becoming more and more intense.

Since the cave in the capital has existed for thousands of years, it means that it must be related to a rare monster with 81 kinds of difficulties.

But who is this peerless demon?
According to the setting of the original Journey to the West, the demons were all entrenched outside the Tang Dynasty.

The closer you get to the West, the more numerous and ferocious the demons are. When you reach the foot of Mount Lingshan, the only thing you can describe is the corpses strewn across the ground.

Especially the Lion Camel Ridge, the original work describes it this way.

[Skulls are like mountains, bones are like forests. Human hair is like felt, human skin and flesh are like dust. Human tendons are tangled in trees, dry and shiny like silver.]

The scene at Lion Camel Ridge scared even Sun Wukong.

"How can there be a cave in Chang'an?"

“And…from the few caves I’ve come across, the locations of the caves seem to be all messed up. What on earth happened a thousand years ago?”

A terrifying thought popped up in Shen Lian's mind.

etc! ! ! ! !

Could it be that in the world I live in, the journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures is done in reverse?

Why do the clues in the cave hint that the journey to the West has ended, such as Zhu Bajie's occupation as a "Jingtan Shami" and the fact that the Queen of the Kingdom of Women recognized Tang Monk?

If you read Journey to the West backwards, everything makes sense.

Tang Monk did not disappear at the beginning of his journey to the West, but walked all the way from Lingshan to the Tang Dynasty, so he went through 81 tribulations.

"Damn it, why is the journey to the West turned upside down?"

Shen Lian was having a headache. Did the Buddha need Monk Tang to go to the Tang Dynasty to help him solve his doubts?

"It is highly unlikely that the Journey to the West is reversed. I have too few clues so far, and it is difficult to figure it out with just a few words."

Ma Wanhu suddenly remembered something and said hesitantly: "I haven't read the history books, but there is a Wanhu [Guan Ping] in the Jinwu Guard who often explores the history of thousands of years ago. According to her..."

"In the history books of the Tang Dynasty, one year is inexplicably missing."

"which year?"

"In the 27th year of Zhenguan, I heard that the history books were eaten by rats."

After Shen Lian repeated it in his mind several times, he realized that it was not as simple as a mouse eating the book. In the original work, Tang Monk returned to the Tang Dynasty after obtaining the scriptures in the 27th year of Zhenguan. The emperor at that time should have been Li Shimin.

"If the journey to the West was reversed, the 27th year of Zhenguan would most likely be the source of the collapse of the Journey to the West world."

"After all...that day, a golden cicada from Lingshan came to the Tang Dynasty."

Ma Wanhu was already a little tipsy and burped.

"Shen Lian, if you have a chance to come to the capital, you can talk to Guan Ping. She seems to be very concerned about the 27th year of Zhenguan and has sorted out a lot of relevant records on weekdays."

"Okay, thank you, Master Ma."

Shen Lian asked hesitantly, "By the way, Master Ma, what is the specific abnormality of the unknown cave in the capital?"

"There are many anomalies, and there have been almost no duplicates over the past thousands of years. Sometimes people die, but most of the time it just causes confusion among the people."

"But there is only one thing you need to pay attention to, Shen Lian."

When Ma Wanhu talked about the capital, most of the drunkenness in his body dissipated.

"When you first step into the capital, no matter how deep your cultivation is, you will have a strange dream. Remember to forget it immediately after waking up."

"Doesn't it mean that even you, Master Ma, don't know the content of the dream?"

"I haven't completely forgotten it. Whenever I'm in the outside world, I can recall a few things. But whenever I go to the capital, I will erase it in advance."

Dream?

Shen Lian had a lot of thoughts in his mind, thinking about some extraordinary demon from Journey to the West.

Ma Wanhu whispered solemnly, "In the dream, there was a corpse of a white elephant with yellow teeth, hanging upside down in the deep and endless darkness."

His face turned pale and he retched uncontrollably.

Shen Lian was even more horrified.

[The Yellow-Toothed Old Elephant] is clearly the second of the three monsters in Lion Camel Ridge. As the mount of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, his Taoism is extremely profound.

I just mentioned Lion Camel Ridge, and now it’s here? ! !
Shen Lian's eyelids twitched wildly. The hidden cave in the capital turned out to be Lion Camel Ridge? How did Lion Camel Ridge live in peace with three million mortals for a thousand years?
"Don't worry. In fact, the unknown caves bring more benefits than disadvantages to the capital. Towns are rarely attacked by demons, and the forces from the various caves are unlikely to completely control the Tang Dynasty."

Ma Wanhu knew too well the current situation of the Tang Dynasty.

Like a shaky single-plank bridge, it has lasted for a thousand years.

As a result, after Shen Lian, the reincarnated immortal Buddha, came into the sight of the Tang Dynasty, he was instead treated coldly by the court, with some even showing some resistance.

Even if he stands on the side of the Tang Dynasty, no one can guarantee that once Shen Lian breaks the status quo, the Tang Dynasty will be reborn or destroyed.

"Master Ma, help me hand over the magic weapon to Wang Xin and Zhu Yihong."

"I'll take the first step."

Shen Lian did not plan to stay any longer, the right thing to do was to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

God knows when the Tang Dynasty will collapse.

"Okay, don't pay too much attention to the Panhuan Cave incident. I will help you suppress it. Sancan is just an ordinary outer sect disciple."

"understood."

Shen Lian nodded slightly and continued to communicate with the statue thousands of miles away.

The sixth-grade flesh and blood lotus pedestal was exposed, and the strange vision was blooming with brilliant light. There were also mountain people in the city calling out the name of the Great Ape Subduing Demon Heavenly Venerable.

Ma Wanhu had a complicated expression as he watched Shen Lian escape into thin air with lotus steps. In the blink of an eye, his aura had already covered an area of ​​two to three thousand miles.

"I don't know whether it's good or bad, I hope I can live a few more years."

(End of this chapter)