Patrol Captain

A gentle evening breeze blows, and the night is as still as water.

In the bamboo-lined courtyard, the bleating of sheep rose and fell, filled with urgency and shame, as one sheep tried to break free of its rope.

Just then, the green bamboo suddenly rose up like a sword, transforming into hundreds of long, emerald-green whips, their tips crackling with the sound of frost slicing through the air, and lashed fiercely at the sheep.

When the bamboo whip fell, it shattered into bamboo shavings. The next moment, a new whip would grow wildly from the depths of the bamboo forest. The cycle repeated itself, the whip shadows like a dense net, leaving bloody welts on the sheep's body. The sheep cried out in agony and was whipped to the ground.

They're all twitching!

Asuluo felt that the bamboo whip could not only injure his physical body, but also strike his primordial spirit, causing him excruciating headaches and making him feel delirious.

Just then, a voice rang in its ears, an old, loud voice, shouting and yelling.

"They're twitching, could they have killed them?"

"Wouldn't that be a waste of resources?"

"Hehe, actually hot pot with mutton is not bad either. I have never tasted the flesh and blood of the Great Demon."

Then, Asuro felt a thin stick poking him, and the spot where it poked him was... well, you know.
Humiliation and rage welled up within it, and its hazy consciousness cleared under the influence of this fury. Suddenly, a gaping hole appeared between its brows, revealing a blood-red demonic eye that abruptly turned toward the direction of the voice.

If you can't break free from the restriction yourself, you can activate your innate demonic eye to temporarily bewitch others and use external force to destroy it, and maybe you can escape alive.

The voice sounded old, so it shouldn't be that Martial Saint surnamed Chen!

Asuro's mind raced.

The moment his blood-red demonic eyes opened, what came into view was a large mouth reeking of alcohol and a bright red, bulbous nose.

"puff"

The huge mouth opened, and a strong smell of alcohol sprayed out with the liquid, spraying onto the sheep's head and its open, blood-red demonic eyes.

The magic eye's spellcasting was interrupted, and it snapped shut.

On that old face, a pair of fair, delicate hands swiftly ripped the old face apart, while a long, slender foot kicked Asuro directly in the face.

With great force, the sheep's body it was currently in did a Thomas spin, then rolled two and a half times before being kicked away. It was then pulled by the rope and fell to the ground.

"baa"

A miserable cry.

Asuro was nearly kicked to death.

The scene then shifts to the person who made the move, revealing the North Sea Dragon Girl standing with her feet back, and Old Man Dong of the Dragon-Raising Clan squatting beside her, his hair disheveled, with a smug look on his face.

The two were like a perfect pair, a golden duo, appearing in Chen Yuan's courtyard. One had an unfriendly expression, while the other had a beaming smile.

Asulu stood up groggily, his sheep hooves wobbling. He shook his head vigorously to regain some clarity. His eyes were fixed on the Dragon Girl and Old Man Dong, filled with wariness and anger. His sheep mouth bared its teeth, looking very fierce.

Old Dong let out a "yo" and chuckled, "Hehe, even after turning into a sheep, it's still quite fierce."

As he spoke, Old Dong gave the guy a thumbs up.
"I've heard about it. You're quite brave, daring to set your sights on this place. The key is that you're an Asura from the Demon Kingdom. That's interesting!"

"hehe."

Old Dong's words were hurtful, and he even laughed strangely, which seemed mocking.

This almost broke Asuro's composure. He hadn't even recovered from his sudden transformation into this grotesque state, and with Old Man Dong's provocation, he let out a long, mournful bleat.

Damn it!
Asuro's defenses were completely breached.

At this moment, Old Man Dong continued speaking, baring his teeth.

"Young man Chen, please let me take good care of you. Let me introduce myself. I am Dong Fu of the Dragon-Raising Clan. My main profession is dragon raising, and my side job is winemaking!"

As he spoke, Old Man Dong took out his magical gourd from his waist, and with a "pop," the gourd opened and waved it at Asuluo.

"Come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the yellow gourd swelled up twice in the night, becoming perfectly round like a millstone. Several black dragon-binding locks flew out of the gourd's mouth with a whooshing sound, and the blood-red runes on them lit up.

Several dragon-binding locks immediately bound Asuluo tightly, then with a whoosh, they pulled him down rapidly and sucked him into the gourd.

After subduing the demon, Old Man Dong quickly plugged the bottle, then shook the gourd near his ear. He nodded, stood up, and held his gourd with a beaming smile, his eyes shining.

"The flesh and blood of the Great Demon, if brewed into wine, would surely be a rare treasure."

"We're in for a treat!"

Seeing this, the North Sea Dragon Girl glanced at her sideways and said indifferently, "Alright, don't forget the important matter."

Old Dong's smile remained unchanged. He chanted an incantation, then made several hand seals and patted the gourd a few times before hanging it on his waist.

He then turned around, looked at the quiet inner room under the night sky, and said, "That kid Chen called the two of us to protect him, but he's been wandering off into his own world. I wonder what he's doing there. He's being so cautious."

"It must be related to the Asura of this Demon Kingdom!"

"How did these guys suddenly get involved with Chen?"

Old Dong explained to himself why they were there.

It was Chen Yuan who sent a telepathic message, instructing the two of them to come and help protect him, while he himself was about to separate his soul from his body.

The Dragon Girl of the North Sea didn't say anything, but simply floated lightly to the lotus leaves in the pond and sat down cross-legged.

Seeing this, Old Man Dong also found a spot and flew directly to a corner of the pavilion to sit down and meditate.

Eight thousand miles away, clouds and moon hang in the sky. In Chengdu, the night is dark and the wind is high. The majestic city is shrouded in darkness and turns into shadow.

To the west of the city, near the city center, lies an ancient temple nestled among low hills.

At this moment, the night watchman in the streets and alleys at the foot of the mountain had already struck the clapper three times.

"Bang bang bang"

Ci'en Temple, the name of this ancient temple, was not well-known in earlier years. Against the backdrop of the decline of Buddhism in Chengdu, it seemed desolate. However, about a month ago, a holy monk from the west came here. His Buddhist teachings were boundless. He stayed at Ci'en Temple and opened a Dharma platform to preach the scriptures, attracting thousands of people to the temple.

Legend has it that when this holy monk began his sermon, the Buddha statues in the temple, which had been covered in dust for many years, emitted boundless Buddha light. As the dust was cleared away, the light shone forth, and there was also a natural chanting of Buddhist hymns that harmonized with the sutras, creating a wondrous spectacle that quickly became the talk of the town of Chengdu.

As a result, this ancient temple has become famous, transforming from a desolate place into a bustling hub with a constant stream of worshippers!
Under the cover of night, in Ci'en Temple, the incense that burned so brightly during the day left a layer of white mist that lingered in the ancient temple in the mountains for a long time.

Under the pitch-black night, the ancient temple was silent, with only a few scattered lights. The faint sound of wooden fish drums and the soft chanting of sutras could be heard through the mist.

Inside the temple, in the main hall, candlelight cast flickering shadows on the windows, and the Buddha's gilded hand was half-submerged in the shadows, the curve of his thumb flashing in the firelight as if he were secretly calculating something.

On the left and right sides, the clay sculptures of the eighteen Arhats gleamed coldly in the darkness. Some had frighteningly protruding brow bones, while others had their mouths twisted into ferocious arcs. When the candlelight swept across them, their glass-like eyes seemed to move with the light.

In the middle of the two rows of lights, on a prayer mat, a figure sits cross-legged facing the golden Buddha statue, holding prayer beads in one hand and tapping a wooden fish with the other, his mouth moving slightly up and down.

"Boom, boom, boom"

In the Heavenly King Hall opposite, Weituo held a vajra, and fragments of candlelight were hidden in the folds of his armor. His dark, lacquered eyes seemed to be looking at the Mahavira Hall opposite, which shone eerily brightly in the darkness.

In the darkness of the night, a swallow with a scissor-tailed tail and feathers like dark silk swept over the low hills, flew out from the forest, and disappeared into the ancient temple.

As the swallow flew into the white mist, a golden light, like ripples on water, swept across the foot-long swallow. The swallow seemed to encounter no obstacles, passing through the eaves and around the pillars, arriving at the temple's backyard.

That was where the monks rested in the temple. The swallow flapped its wings and came to a room in the east wing of the backyard. It pecked at the door with its beak, then at two rooms in the west wing, as if someone was knocking on the door.

However, after the doorbell rang, there was no movement behind the door.

But after a dozen or so breaths, in a dark room in the east wing.

Several rustling sounds slowly emerged from the darkness and gradually grew louder.

"Night Marquis, was that the signal you sent?"

"No."

"It's you?"

"No, who called the three of us together? This is the secret code we four agreed on for private meetings. Who else could it be? It's Asuro."

Before the voice could finish speaking, the sound of flapping wings came from inside the room, and then, under the watchful eyes of three pairs of eyes that gleamed in the darkness...
A swallow flew in, and then, under the watchful eyes of three pairs of eyes, the feathers on the swallow's body scattered like flowers from a celestial maiden.

Then, a child slowly descended from inside.

The boy had an unusual appearance, his face was like a full moon reflected in glass, exuding a compassionate Buddha-like aura, but there was a vertical eye between his eyebrows, with a blood-red pupil.

She wore a double bun on her head, a light blue robe with light gold lotus patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs, and wooden clogs on her bare feet.

"Asuro!"

"It's you!"

"Hmph, you're back, so why all the secrecy?"

Three childish voices, yet with an air of premature wisdom, rang out one after another.

In the darkness, three children dressed similarly, each with a different face, surrounded them, along with two girls.

These were the remaining three golden boys and jade maidens who followed the holy monk from the Western Land.

Don't be fooled by their cute appearances; they are actually incredibly fierce and are the transformed forms of three of the eight great demons of the Demon Kingdom.

When "Asura" appeared and saw the three, a strange light flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and said in a low voice:

"I came back secretly."

"What do you mean?" A jade maiden, transformed from a Gandharva, frowned, her voice as clear as a celestial wind chime.

"Asura, didn't you go to report to the Venerable One?" another Yaksha asked in surprise.

"Why should you go? Do you want to stay by this bald monk's side, become his mount, and be branded on the pillar of shame by your own people?" 'Asura' whispered in the ears of the great demons, his voice sharp and menacing.

"Asura, you think you can escape? You can't. That person has marked us." The last child, who was a dragon in disguise, suddenly spoke in a sharp voice.

Another female demon, a maiden transformed from a Gandharva, was also staring intently.

Asura sneered, "Why run away? That bald monk has gone too far. I've found a way to get rid of him openly and honestly."

"Are you so kind?"

"What approach?"

"Stop beating around the bush."

The three great demons spoke in different tones, but all were eager to ask Asura what he had said.

Asura then began to speak:
"Wasn't I sent by that bald monk to track down the Martial Saint of the Ninth Mountain? When those human troops left the city, I followed them around, secretly absorbing some of their troops and thus plundering their memories."

"We've discovered an interesting clue,"

"This Martial Saint surnamed Chen once killed a golden Gu Eagle, which was a great demon."

"Guess who this guy is? Have you seen him before?"

Asura revealed a strange smile, which startled the three young men and women before they realized what he meant.

"The Great Demon Gu Diao?"

"I know, it's a disciple brought back from outside by the Garuda King, the Golden-Winged Roc King of the Garuda clan, named Moro!"

The Great Demons are already few in number, and being from the Gu Diao clan, their name is not hard to recognize.

"That's right, it's him!"

"Have you considered that if we take this information back and inform that Peng King, with his strength and status in the Pure Land, plus being one of the Eight Legions, as long as we can persuade him, we can break free from that bald monk's confinement and gain our freedom?" Asura transmitted his voice in a sinister tone.

The other three demons looked thoughtful, then some looked puzzled, and some frowned.

"Strange, since you know this news, why don't you do it yourself? There must be something fishy going on." One of the demons sensed something was wrong, his eyes scanning Asuro up and down, not believing the other party was so kind, his gaze wary.

The other two demons also found it strange.

"Because I am not sure if I can accomplish this task. If that bald monk finds out, we will have missed this opportunity. There is an old saying among humans: many hands make light work. If we each use our own methods to send out this message, the success rate will be higher. Given our current situation, it would not be of any benefit to me to stay out of trouble."

Asuro's gaze shone faintly in the darkness.

This seemed reasonable, and the other three demons' suspicions subsided somewhat. Mainly, it seemed that doing this didn't require taking any risks; it was just about sending a message.

But just then, a Buddhist chant suddenly rang out in the dark room.

"Amitabha!"

"You lot, wake up!"

Then, with a shout, golden light suddenly burst forth in the dark space, dispelling the darkness and illuminating a shadowy mountain forest.

They were in a room in the backyard, and before they knew it, they had arrived in the mountains outside the temple.

The three demons' eyes widened, and they immediately realized something was wrong, and they tried to retreat.

But then Asura's blood-red demonic eye suddenly turned into a golden light. The three demons were too close to escape and were frozen in place by the golden light.

Then, a loud laugh rang out, and "Asura" flicked his sleeve, transforming into a dark shadow that blotted out the sky, heading straight for the three demons.

But at that moment, one of the three demons suddenly radiated a bright Buddhist light, and its frozen body turned into a wisp of smoke and dissipated.

The sleeves covered only the remaining two demons, and with a flick, the two demons disappeared.

The jade maiden who had just vanished, transformed from a Gandharva, reappeared at the spot where the golden light had flashed. Seeing the two demons disappear, she was terrified and immediately knelt before the Western holy monk who had appeared standing on a golden lotus.
"Thank you for your blessing, Venerable One!"

"It is your own wisdom and good fortune that you noticed something was wrong and informed me, so that I could come. Otherwise, you would have been kidnapped."

The young holy monk, with eyes like stars and the moon, looked at "Asura," as if trying to see the true form beneath the skin.

"Amitabha! Why don't you reveal your true form to the world? Chen Wusheng!"

Chen Yuan frowned and looked at the jade maiden. It turned out that some of these demons had already pledged allegiance to this holy monk.

This resulted in his plan only achieving half its goal! (End of Chapter)