The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 8 Demon

In the dead of night, in the desolate wilderness, a red cloth flashed eerily through the weeds.

Zhou Fengchen pursued relentlessly. He actually had a way to kill her in one blow, but after hearing Zhang Miao's story, he felt that although this woman was hateful, she also had a pitiful side. Directly beating her to the point of annihilation seemed inappropriate.

After chasing for a while, they reached a grove of trees, where the red cloth suddenly disappeared.

Zhou Fengchen knew she was nearby. He slowly walked into the woods and said coldly, "Zhang Miao, even if you suffered and toiled in your life, and now you've killed many people, and your mother-in-law and brother-in-law have been made to wish they were dead by you, your resentment should have subsided. If you continue to cause trouble like this, even if I don't punish you, sooner or later the underworld officials will come to arrest you!"

The surroundings were quiet, with a chilling aura swirling everywhere. Just then, a whooshing sound came from behind a tree branch, and a thick tuft of hair wrapped around Zhou Fengchen's entire body.

Zhou Fengchen remained motionless and said, "The difference in our cultivation levels is too great. Do you think this tattered cloth can do anything to me?"

"How will we know if we don't try?"

A sinister scream came from above, followed by ten long fingernails that pierced straight down towards Zhou Fengchen's crown.

Zhou Fengchen sneered, tensed his body, and struggled forcefully.

"Tear!"

The dense hair burst open instantly, and Zhang Miao above him groaned as he flew backward.

"You're asking for it! Stubborn and unyielding, I'll send you on your way!"

Zhou Fengchen lost his patience, took two steps back, and formed strange hand seals in an odd posture. He muttered, "Xuan Yi, Tiger's Might!"

A hazy light suddenly emanated from his body, its shape resembling the outline of a fierce tiger.

Zhang Miao stared wide-eyed in terror, while the monk Yuanzhi, who had caught up from behind, was equally dumbfounded, muttering, "Holy crap! What kind of evil magic is this?"

Roar!

Zhou Fengchen suddenly leaped up and headed straight for Zhang Miao, who was trying to escape. The hazy tiger silhouette stretched out its claws and pounced down forcefully.

"what!"

Zhang Miao was powerless to resist. His soul was shattered and fell to the ground, turning into a hazy ghost fire.

Just as Zhou Fengchen was about to stomp down, the monk Yuanzhi shouted from afar, "Brother, wait a minute!"

Zhou Fengchen looked at Monk Yuanzhi in confusion, "What are you doing?"

Monk Yuanzhi ran up to her, wiped his sweat, and said, "Heaven cherishes life. Although this female ghost did evil, her malevolence has been eliminated and her evil aura has dissipated. Taking her life would harm the harmony of Heaven and also damage your virtue, brother."

"That makes sense. So, what do you suggest we do?" Zhou Fengchen asked.

"How about this," said Monk Yuanzhi, holding his prayer beads. "I will perform a ritual to help her pass on to the afterlife."

Zhou Fengchen thought for a moment and stepped aside.

Monk Yuanzhi sat down in front of the ball of light, clasped his hands together, and silently began chanting the Rebirth Mantra. With each recitation, the ball of light faded a little, until finally, it transformed back into Zhang Miao's appearance, bowed sadly to the two of them, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

By then it was already dawn. Monk Yuanzhi stood up, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Fengchen, and said, "Amitabha, the female ghost has already gone to the underworld. I am Yuanzhi, a wandering monk. May I ask your esteemed surname, brother?"

Zhou Fengchen had never spoken to anyone like this before. He said, "My name is Zhou Fengchen, what's up?"

Monk Yuanzhi rolled his eyes and thought to himself that he was just an inexperienced young man who had never seen the world. He had really struck gold.

He often encounters big deals, but he's not skilled enough to handle them. If he were to bring Zhou Fengchen along, the money would flow in like water.

Then, with a look of admiration, he said, "Brother, your skills are truly superb! In all my years of traveling around, I've never seen anyone so amazing. I'm truly impressed!"

Zhou Fengchen was stunned. This feeling was amazing! When had he ever been praised before? His father always said he was hopeless, his sister Zhou Linglong called him an idiot, and the villagers looked down on him, calling him a scoundrel. After practicing martial arts for over ten years, he still didn't know his own limitations. He couldn't help but ask, "Really? I'm really that good?"

Monk Yuanzhi was taken aback, and quickly said, "It's more real than real gold and silver. I'd be a coward if I were lying."

"You monk have excellent taste..."

The two seemed to grow closer instantly, and started chatting idly, each saying their own thing, which was not very informative. But the more they talked, the more they clicked, and they were almost ready to burn joss paper and become sworn brothers.

Finally, Monk Yuanzhi pulled Zhou Fengchen, "Come on, let's go to the Wang family to ask for money. Three thousand yuan, we'll split it in half."

Half of three thousand? Fifteen thousand? Zhou Fengchen was excited. He came to resolve the future troubles, but he didn't expect to get a share of the money along the way.

The two returned to Hewan Village. Old Wang's family had all woken up. His wife and son were not dead, but they were in serious condition and would probably need a year or two to recover. When they saw Monk Yuanzhi and Zhou Fengchen return together, they hurriedly asked how things went.

Monk Yuanzhi swore an oath to the heavens, saying that the evil spirit had been destroyed and that the family could now rest easy. Old Wang was overjoyed and immediately arranged for someone to go to town to collect the money. Then, he insisted on hosting a banquet at noon.

Zhou Fengchen and Monk Yuanzhi each received 1,500 yuan, feeling quite satisfied, and then indulged in a hearty meal.

When leaving the Wang family in the afternoon, Monk Yuanzhi directly expressed his intentions, saying that he wanted to take Zhou Fengchen out to make a fortune together and live a life of luxury.

Zhou Fengchen was very tempted upon hearing this, but guarding the mountain was more important, so he shook his head and did not agree.

Monk Yuanzhi insisted on sending Zhou Fengchen back, thinking that he should first find out where Zhou Fengchen lived before making any further plans.

Along the way, Monk Yuanzhi, emboldened by his drunkenness, began to boast about his skills and experiences, making Zhou Fengchen admire and envy him immensely.

As he was talking, Monk Yuanzhi suddenly stopped looking in one direction, rubbed his eyes, looked again, rubbed his eyes again, and finally sat down on the ground, picked up his prayer beads, and gestured with them left and right. Cold sweat poured down his face.

Zhou Fengchen found it strange and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Such a strong demonic aura! My God!" Monk Yuanzhi's face was deathly pale, drenched in cold sweat, as he pointed in a direction and asked in a trembling voice, "What place is that?"

Zhou Fengchen looked in the direction he was pointing and saw ripples flying in all directions across the sky. Only those with certain skills could see them. He murmured, "It looks like my home."

"Your home?"

Monk Yuanzhi exclaimed in surprise, "Where did you get so many demons from? Demons! And not just one, but thousands upon thousands! Do you... even know what a demon is?"

Zhou Fengchen shook his head blankly, "I don't know much."

Monk Yuanzhi said, "To put it simply, it means... small animals, birds, and big trees can turn into people, then eat people, kill people, and that's it! You'd better run away with me!"

Zhou Fengchen's heart was pounding. That direction was towards Xiaomi Mountain, so something must have happened. He didn't care about Monk Yuanzhi anymore and ran home as fast as he could.

Monk Yuanzhi sighed regretfully, then shouted, "Until we meet again! Take care! I'm off!" With that, he took off running in the opposite direction.

Zhou Fengchen used all his strength and moved at lightning speed, heading straight for "Gejiaji". He stopped halfway there, panting heavily, and looked up at the sky above Xiaomi Mountain. There, the ripples were increasing, and finally a large mass of them appeared almost all at once, and then quickly dispersed in all directions to the distant horizon.

"Xuanwu, open your Heavenly Eye! Go!"

He formed a mudra with his hands and placed them on his temples. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the ripples. Within them were strange and unusual things: birds, foxes, snakes, wolves, and other animals, as well as jade, calligraphy and paintings, bamboo, trees, and other plants and inanimate objects.

At this moment, the ripples gradually decreased, until only a few remained. Just then, the last three ripples flew towards him and landed in the weeds not far away.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Zhou Fengchen, panting heavily, slowly approached. Just as he was about to look inside, he heard several soft laughs coming from within.

"Wow! What a handsome young man!"