Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

After dealing with several guys who claimed to be members of the Light Eye Cult, they even boasted that their sect had the legendary Asura King as their protector.

Ren Yunzong couldn't say he didn't care about this. "Guangmu" and "Asura King" are Buddhist terms, and the White Lotus Sect did indeed originate from a branch of Buddhism, so there was nothing wrong with calling them that. The so-called "Asura King" was probably just a bluff.

After all, these people often claim to be reincarnations of mythological figures, causing all sorts of great gods to suffer, and if they are not satisfied, they will create a new one.

There's no problem with any of this, especially if he found it in a local temple, a sake cup that appears to have contained Japanese sake.

"Asura King..."

Because this matter was so important, Ren Yunzong, who originally didn't care about the trial process, took the initiative to inquire and wanted to know more about this Asura King.

As the main force in this crackdown on cults, and with the help of Old Master Zhang, he actually got some news: the White Lotus Cult had a new "Asura King" who held a very high position within the cult and had strangely capable followers. The most distinctive feature of this person was red, a bright and dazzling red.

Ren Yunzong: Oh no, it seems to be true.

After dealing with these fragile mages, Ren Yunzong temporarily put aside his search for Ling Ziling and went with Old Master Zhang to deal with the giant turtle. Judging from Old Master Zhang's words, he wanted to kill it to avenge his wife and daughter.

But this old man Zhang was just an ordinary person with a rather impatient temper. He had also suffered a sudden misfortune and lost his wife and daughter. Ren Yunzong was afraid that he would lose his temper and take the giant turtle down with him while holding gunpowder.

He traveled along the river basin and had heard about the giant beasts in the river. Some said they were giant turtles as big as small islands, some said they were giant soft-shelled turtles, and some even more outrageous ones said they were Bixi, one of the sons of the Dragon King.

Because of the chaotic nature of these rumors, Ren Yunzong dismissed them as mere hearsay and didn't take them seriously. Only after hearing about Old Master Zhang's experience did he realize that the giant beast in the river was actually a soft-shelled turtle, which had been causing trouble for several years.

The giant softshell turtles are enormous and can create waves that destroy ships and even devour humans. No one has been able to deal with them, and countless people have lost their lives because of them. The story of Old Master Zhang is just one of many tragedies.

Ren Yunzong felt that since he had encountered this monster that was causing havoc in the area, he should take care of it. Others might be afraid of it, but he was not. Killing the giant turtle would not only help others get revenge, but also bring peace to the people living by the river without the giant beast causing trouble.

Moreover, seeing how anxious Old Master Zhang was, he felt he couldn't just leave it unattended. The last person to look haggard was Wang Qihou, who was tormented by the temple ghost. Although Old Master Zhang hadn't reached that level, he was old and couldn't withstand the torment.

The giant softshell turtle is very famous, and the temple associated with it is also well-known in the area and easy to find. However, when Mr. Zhang explained his purpose, the monks were stumped.

What Master Zhang had heard was that the monks here had dealt with the giant turtle and should have a way to deal with it. But that was not the case. The monks did have a relationship with the giant turtle, but their dealings were not the conflict between them that one might imagine.

It turns out that the temple was built very close to the giant turtle's dwelling place. How close? If the turtle wanted to come, it could simply walk up the riverbank.

The giant softshell turtle was notorious for its ferocity. The monks were afraid that it would come ashore and eat people. Since they had no power to resist, they could only worship the giant softshell turtle as a deity. Every year, they would slaughter pigs and sheep and throw the turtle into the river, praying that it would not get angry and come ashore.

With people feeding them, the giant turtles are quite well-behaved here. Whenever livestock are thrown into the water, the giant turtles will leap out of the water to devour them, and leave after eating and drinking their fill. The monks don't dare to go against them at all.

In other words, the plan for Master Zhang to consult the monks on how to deal with the giant turtle failed. The monks simply did not have the power to do so, and they were even more afraid of the giant turtle's wrath.

But Old Master Zhang wouldn't let it go. He got some inspiration from the monks' actions. The giant turtle had been causing trouble in this area for a long time, and the monks had been offering sacrifices to animals for a long time.

The giant turtle always emerges from the water, swallows the food, and leaves immediately. It is clear that it has become accustomed to being fed by the monks. So, what if, just what if, this giant turtle doesn't even know what it's eating and just swallows it as soon as it smells meat?

If so...

"Sir, why don't you go and rest first?"

Seeing that Old Master Zhang was lost in thought, Ren Yunzong tentatively asked him. First Wang Qi, then Old Master Zhang, it seemed that he often encountered people who, for various reasons, had made themselves mentally unstable.

Ren Yunzong was not surprised that the monks were afraid of the giant turtle. The fact that this creature could still cause trouble in the river, despite the presence of multiple forces such as temples, cults, and the Dragon King, spoke volumes.

Those with cultivation and spiritual attainment couldn't control it, so these monks with mortal bodies naturally couldn't do anything either; they could only do their best to protect themselves.

However, the fact that the giant turtle would appear when it smelled meat gave Ren Yunzong an idea. The monks saw it every year and knew its size very well. Ren Yunzong roughly estimated that it was about the size of a small boat, big enough for three or four people to stand on.

"This giant turtle isn't very big. If I can lure it out, I can handle it."

Humans born with innate abilities can even shave off mountain peaks, so cutting down a giant turtle would be no problem at all.

The monk who heard this: ?

Taoist priest, are you awake?

"Can you handle it?"

Old Master Zhang was also brought back to his senses by these words. At this moment, he already had a rough idea of ​​a new revenge plan in mind. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Ren Yunzong say that the giant turtle could be killed.

His gaze fell on the magnificent sword behind Ren Yunzong, which seemed to be locked up. He had seen the other party fight directly in close combat or with the transparent flute of unknown material in his hand. The long sword on his back seemed more like a decoration or a ritual artifact.

Old Master Zhang thought so, and he asked so.

"Is that sword behind you a demon-slaying weapon?"

"That's not wrong. The previous owner of the Qitian Sword was skilled in Taoist magic and often used it as a magic weapon in battle. But that doesn't make it lose its original function as a sword."

Moreover, even when used in conjunction with Taoist magic, the destructive power of a magic weapon as a sharp sword is not diminished in the slightest. Physical damage is a strength of those born with innate abilities.

"is it?"

Although Ren Yunzong said so, Old Master Zhang still couldn't quite imagine it. Looking at the exquisite and complex decorations on the sword, could such a magnificent longsword really be wielded?

"But we don't know how deep the water is, so it would be best to lure it out..."

It's not that you can't fight underwater, but it will stir up the river and affect people on the surface.

"Oh, right, I have an idea too..."

Seeing that Ren Yunzong had already started discussing using beef and mutton to lure the giant turtle out, Old Master Zhang quickly voiced his idea: he planned to forge a large iron block to induce the giant turtle to swallow it. Once the iron block entered its belly, even if the giant turtle didn't die, it would suffer greatly.

This was the most likely method he could think of to accomplish this, based on his mortal status. The only drawback was that casting such a large iron block would require a huge amount of manpower and resources.

"Isn't this method too risky?"

Some monks raised objections, saying they already knew how ferocious the monster in the water was. If the giant turtle realized it had been tricked, it might go berserk on the spot, and then a low-budget version of "Flooding Jinshan Temple" would be disastrous.

"Old sir, please do as you please. If it is ineffective, I will personally execute you."

Ren Yunzong could somewhat guess what Old Master Zhang was thinking. His wife and daughter had died, and he wanted to avenge them with his own hands no matter what. Anyway, with him watching, it wouldn't hurt to let the old man try; it was a knot in his heart for him.

While they were still discussing how to deal with the giant turtle, someone else was already planning to make a move.

Are you sure you're here?

Ling Ziling stood on a rock by the water. Below the rock was a boy with half his body submerged in the water. He was the water ghost Wang Liulang who had helped her before.

Logically speaking, a water ghost should be trapped in the small area where it drowned in life, like a cage. But Wang Liulang can run around with the river's current, looking less like a water ghost and more like a water spirit.

Speaking of water spirits, Lingziling recently actually met one. It was the monk on the next boat. He wasn't human, nor was he a real monk. He was the Dragon Shepherd who guarded Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain.

Why he appeared as a monk is unknown. That night, the other party took the initiative to come to Ling Ziling and confessed his identity, and explained why he left Changbai Mountain.

There are five hundred little dragons in Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain, all under the jurisdiction of this Dragon Shepherd. The little dragons are like children, and there are always a few who want to run away. Some of them have successfully escaped, and the Dragon Shepherd comes out to catch them.

Ling Ziling, who also ran away to play, was also "caught" by someone: It's such a familiar scene, and she felt inexplicably guilty.

Seeing that Ling Ziling had some real skills these days, Mu Longjun even revealed his identity and asked Ling Ziling to be careful. If he saw any escaped little dragons, he asked her to help catch them, as those kids were quite naughty.

In return, when Ling Ziling comes out to find the giant turtle, he will help look after Mu Chan Palace and the others. Mu Longjun also disapproves of the giant turtle's actions. As a spirit born from the water, he is even more moved by the giant turtle's evil deeds.

But his status was what it was. The title of Dragon Shepherd sounded impressive, and the team of dragons did have some special skills, but to put it bluntly, he was just a public official guarding Changbai Mountain. It was fine for him to come out and catch the playful little dragons, but he couldn't actively interfere in the affairs of other regions.

Unable to intervene himself, yet able to sense the wails of the souls lost in the water, and with the Dragon King of the River doing nothing, Mu Longjun really wanted to slam the alms bowl in his hand onto the other's head.

As it happened, he overheard Ling Ziling's conversation with Bai Mu that night, so he came over to confront her and told Ling Ziling to just go and fight the giant turtle, and not to worry about anything else.

Dragon Lord: Go ahead and fight the giant turtle. You can even hit the Dragon King a few times if you want. I'll take responsibility for your return.

Ling Ziling: Okay!

Ding, Didi ride-hailing order has been received.

Giant turtles are hard to find underwater, so Wang Liulang took the initiative to approach him, saying that he knew where the giant turtle lived, near a temple, and that he had brought Ling Ziling with him.

At this moment, their location, along with Ren Yunzong and the others, can be understood as a small cliff overlooking the river, with the temple on the cliff and Ling Ziling and Wang Liulang on the riverbank below.

Meanwhile, the giant softshell turtle is located beneath these waters.

"This is the place. The temple that worships the giant turtle is on the mountain behind it."

At this moment, Wang Liulang had a hairpin in his hand. It wasn't a particularly ornate style, but it was still very beautiful.

"...Isn't this a girl's thing? How did it end up in your hands?"

Ling Ziling remembered that when Wang Liulang came to her and said he knew where the giant turtle was, he was holding this hairpin in his hand.

"Ah, you mean this? It comes from a poor girl. A while ago, a giant turtle went mad and destroyed a large ship. The people on board were eaten by the giant turtle. I found this hairpin in that body of water. The owner of the hairpin and her mother perished in the river. Her spirits asked me to give the hairpin to her father."

"So, that means his wife and daughter were eaten by the giant turtle..."

Another tragedy.

"But what are you doing here with a hairpin? Isn't there a temple up on the mountain?"

It's impossible that the girl's father is a monk, right?

"She said her father was a strong-willed man. When he returned and learned that they had died at the hands of a giant turtle, he was determined to avenge them. So he came to kill the giant turtle, and that's how you'll meet her. Oh, by the way, the girl's surname is Zhang, and she seems to have come from Shanxi to prepare her dowry."

The family traveled a long way to prepare the dowry, but in the end they were devoured by a giant turtle, leaving only an old father behind. Well, that seems even worse.

So Wang Liulang came on his own initiative because he had a mission: to deliver Zhang's belongings, and Ling Ziling to take care of the giant turtle for Mulongjun and catch the little dragon.

"Now the question is, how do we get the giant turtle out?"

"This giant softshell turtle likes to eat meat, and it will come out when it smells meat."

There's nowhere to buy meat around here.

The area down the road from the temple should have been a great place to form a market, and it was also close to the river, making it ideal for fishing or boating. However, due to the giant turtle's rampage, the area is now sparsely populated.

The pigs and sheep slaughtered by the monks in the temple are bought from elsewhere with great effort, as not many people live nearby.

"thump!"

"what sound?"

Something was thrown into the water. Ling Ziling, who was chatting with Wang Liulang on the rock, looked up and heard another sound on the water in the distance. It seemed that someone was throwing things into the water from somewhere unseen.

Who's throwing things?

"thump!"

They did it again, throwing very large items that splashed high into the water. Ling Ziling glanced at them and saw they were red... seemingly skinned animals.

But there's no one around. Someone has to throw something this big in, right?

"Did you see a ghost in broad daylight?"

"...But I am a ghost, aren't I?"

Wang Liulang knew he looked different from his peers, but he couldn't expel him from the list of ghosts.

"It looks like a freshly slaughtered pig. How did they throw it over here?"

Ling Ziling placed her hand horizontally in front of her eyebrows and searched her surroundings. She suspected that someone was using blind spots to throw things into the water.

"A slaughtered pig? Wait a minute, isn't that just throwing meat onto a giant turtle's head?!"

Wang Liulang was not calm. They had just been discussing using meat to lure the giant turtle out, and they hadn't even started preparing yet. How come the bait came on its own?

The once calm river surface began to churn, with waves surging and large splashes hitting the rocks on the shore. Ling Ziling was caught off guard and was drenched in seawater.

Beneath the surface of the water, a dark shadow appeared, gradually growing larger and its shape becoming clearer, while the waves on the surface rose higher and higher.

Once the meat was thrown in, the giant turtle naturally followed.