289: Grand Worship

The sun was scorching. A monk in moon-white robes walked alone under the sunlight, his face full of compassion.

Well, in fact, Tang Ku had been walking under the scorching sun for a whole day!

It wasn't that he was unwilling to take a carriage or boat, or ride a Brick to travel the world; it was truly because he had set out this time for the sake of tempering himself!

As for what to temper, he wanted to temper his Heart-Nature, his martial path, his Buddha Power, and everything that could be tempered!

Of course, this was just what he thought in his heart; as for how exactly to temper himself, he didn't have the slightest clue.

To put it bluntly, he was just walking aimlessly like this!

After he had given all the research materials that Guanyin had brought from another world to the Si Tian Jian, he instructed his disciples at home and set out alone to cultivate.

During the dozen or so years of the pilgrimage, he could indeed be considered an itinerant monk. He had experienced the hardships that Mortals experience, and he had also experienced the hardships that Mortals could never experience in their lifetimes. It could be said that in terms of his Heart-Nature, he was basically stable enough.

However, pure Heart-Nature could not increase his combat power. In a while, they would soon set out to campaign against the Japanese in the East, and they still didn't know how many high-end combatants the enemy had under Darwin's interference. And currently, the strongest person in the Tang Dynasty, looking purely at combat power, was undoubtedly him, Tang Ku.

In other words, if they went on the expedition, following the basic structure of soldier against soldier and general against general, the probability of him facing Darwin was very high.

Besides that, he also had to guard against Guanyin and the others setting traps for him behind his back.

Therefore, he had to try his best to improve his strength within the limited time.

But now, there were not many battles to fight. Wanting to improve his Iron Fist Points through actual combat, and thereby improve his strength, was undoubtedly a difficult problem.

Therefore, he had to step out and find ways to improve his power in every aspect himself.

Starting from Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, he traveled south at a pace slightly faster than an ordinary person, walking almost aimlessly. Everywhere he went, he subdued demons, vanquished monsters, eradicated violence, brought peace, helped the endangered, and aided the needy. He had indeed done quite a few good deeds, but his Iron Fist Points hadn't increased by even a single point so far, which almost made him scratch his bald head raw.

"...Sigh, this is no way to go on. Including the remaining Iron Fist Points from before, I don't even have 3 points in total... If this continues, I'll only have to go back... And that comprehension regarding the Power Law, I still haven't the slightest clue up to now..."

His thoughts raced, but his face remained as calm as an ancient well, as if he were a high monk with the Dao.

"Forget it... Hmm, where have I arrived? Let me go into the city and take a look... If I still don't have any clues, I'll go back to Chang'an... Sigh, it seems that coming out to travel was a wrong decision; it's a waste of time and energy..."

Not far ahead was a city. He knew he was already in Henan, though he didn't know which specific region he was in. However, seeing the bustling traffic of people and carriages in the city ahead, he couldn't help but think about taking a rest... Although this level of fatigue had no effect on him now, the mental exhaustion was still quite wearing.

Looking at the large characters on the city wall, Tang Ku was slightly stunned.

"Bianzhou? Oh, this must be the later Kaifeng City. I didn't expect that I would actually arrive here..."

Tang Ku smiled involuntarily. Thinking of the film and television works he had watched in his past life, the most common stories related to Kaifeng were about Bao Zheng, Bao Qingtian, of the Great Song Dynasty. His stories were basically household names in that world. Although there were many legendary elements, whenever an incorruptible official was mentioned in history, most people would probably think of Bao Zheng first.

"It's still the Tang Dynasty now; Bao Zheng won't be born for several hundred years!"

With a self-deprecating smile, Tang Ku strode towards the city gate.

However, when he passed the entrance, the gate guards questioned and searched him. Finally, seeing that he was a monk, they let him pass. However, others were not so lucky. The merchants entering and exiting, those driving livestock or pulling carts, the wealthy riding in carriages, and even some relatives of officials were all searched from top to bottom, inside and out.

"Could it be that something major has happened in this city?"

Having entered the city, Tang Ku couldn't help but look back and muttered in a low voice.

"Clang... Clang, clang..."

The sound of a gong rang out continuously. A soldier holding a copper gong shouted on the main street, "All military and civilians of Bianzhou City, listen carefully. Recently, there have been frequent cases of missing persons in our Bianzhou. If any family has encountered this misfortune, you may all register at the prefectural government office. The Prefect will do his best to find the missing persons, allowing everyone to be reunited before the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, those reporting to the officials must report the details of the case in full, and they must not leave the jurisdiction of the prefecture within three months..."

"Frequent missing persons cases?"

His nosy heart was instantly hooked. Tang Ku was slightly stunned, then frowned, and immediately used his Void Eye to look around. However, he did not find anything unusual in the city. Although there were a few minor, insignificant demons, they had no evil karma on them and should not have harmed anyone.

"That's strange... Could it be that these people were all kidnapped by human traffickers?"

Tang Ku arrived at the prefectural government office. The officials at the entrance were slightly surprised to see a monk asking to see the magistrate. The Tang Dynasty still had a certain respect for monks, but with a strange monk, especially after so many strange things had happened in Bianzhou City, they did not dare to let Tang Ku in so easily.

Tang Ku was not angry. Instead, he took a gold medallion directly from his sleeve and threw it to the guard. This official was also literate; he didn't recognize complex characters, but he couldn't mistake the two characters for "Imperial Envoy". Moreover, the medallion was entwined with Luck. Although ordinary people couldn't feel it, the authenticity of the medallion was obvious at a glance.

The official did not dare to be negligent. He first led him to the gatehouse for tea, while he rushed inside with the medallion to report to the magistrate.

Before long, the Prefect of Bianzhou, fully dressed in his official robes, hurried out to welcome him. Seeing Tang Ku, he bowed all the way to the ground and said respectfully, "Your subordinate, Yang Fengqing, Prefect of Bianzhou, greets the Imperial Envoy!"

Tang Ku lifted his right hand slightly, and a gentle breeze held him up. He smiled warmly and said, "Prefect Yang, you are too polite. This Poor Monk's dharma name is Sanzang. I am not here on an undercover inspection. I merely learned that a major case of missing persons had occurred here, so I came to inquire out of curiosity. Please forgive me for the disturbance!"

Prefect Yang was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but say in shock, "Master Sanzang... That... that is the First Imperial Preceptor of our Great Tang, the... the very close brother of the Emperor!"

The old man was nearly sixty. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but drop to his knees with a thud, "Please accept your subordinate's grand salutation!"