13: Huanghuai Village

Li Jiangchen naturally couldn't reveal the existence of the panel, so he suggested, "Perhaps there are other demons hiding. Daoist Priest, you and I should search separately."

"Alright."

The two immediately split up and entered the temple's back hall to search separately.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Jiangchen appeared in a Zen Courtyard. With a glance, he saw a hidden tunnel revealed beneath the bedding.

"Are the demons hiding here?"

After a moment of thought, Li Jiangchen stepped into it.

As soon as he entered, eerie green lights flickered around, revealing a path paved with skeletons. At the end, a skeleton clad in a kasaya appeared before him.

The skeleton held a thumb-sized golden orb in its mouth, emitting a faint Buddhist light.

"Legend has it that after an enlightened monk passes away, sarira are born within their body. Could this be it...?"

Li Jiangchen reached out and took it. As the sarira came into his hand, the skeleton instantly turned to dust.

At the same time, the surrounding dark walls rapidly peeled and flaked away, revealing a dark cave with a faint light coming from its depths.

He lit a fire starter and walked straight ahead.

The space inside was narrow at first, only wide enough for one person, but it became wider and wider as he proceeded.

A quarter of an hour later, he reached the end of the faint light, and his vision suddenly opened up.

The sky was a faint yellow, like dusk. All around grew Huanghuai Trees covered in yellow flowers. The central tree was the thickest, about a hundred zhang tall and wide enough for ten people to encircle.

Li Jiangchen felt strange in his heart. He looked back, and the cave he had just exited had rapidly disappeared.

At the same time, the True Qi within his body seemed to be confined; he couldn't mobilize even a trace of it.

"Something's not right about this place..."

Li Jiangchen frowned.

However, although his Xiantian True Qi couldn't be mobilized, his Physical Body cultivation and protective qi force still remained.

Especially the second layer of the Giant Spirit Gang Yuan Body, with its protective qi force surrounding him, he had no fear even if Dao-entering demons attacked him.

Passing through the Huanghuai forest, large expanses of farmland, ponds, and houses were visible. In the fields, many villagers in simple clothing were working with hoes, and faint barks of dogs could be heard.

"Huanghuai Village..."

Li Jiangchen arrived at the village entrance and read the village name on the tablet.

Entering the village, children chased and played beside low-lying houses, and the sound of women weaving cloth came from inside.

Men farmed and women wove; everything looked no different from an ordinary village.

At this moment, an old man with tied hair, leaning on a cane, walked over and cupped his fists, saying, "This old man, Gu Chang, is the Village Chief of Huanghuai Village.

It is a great honor to have a distinguished guest visit today. Please forgive my failure to greet you sooner."

"I am Li Jiangchen of the Demon Suppression Division," Li Jiangchen said.

"So it is Lord of the Demon Suppression Division. Please come in quickly, let this old man fulfill his duties as a host."

The two walked towards a nearby house. From Gu Chang, Li Jiangchen learned that Huanghuai Village was rarely visited by outsiders, and the entire village had moved here three hundred years ago to escape demonic unrest.

'Three hundred years ago...' Li Jiangchen followed behind him, secretly vigilant in his heart.

This Huanghuai Village was strange everywhere he looked.

But the villagers were truly hospitable. Upon hearing that an outsider had arrived, they quickly prepared wine and killed a chicken. In no time, Li Jiangchen's table was piled high with food.

Outside the door, many children and young women peered through the cracks. Li Jiangchen's gaze swept over them, and when he met the eyes of a young woman, she immediately blushed, covered her face, and ran away.

"Haha, please excuse the guest. Huanghuai Village is located in the mountains, and it has been a long time since a stranger has come. Many women in the village are still unmarried..." Village Chief Gu Chang poured a cup of wine and pushed a stack of cakes towards him.

"Guest, please try this Huanghuai Cake. In past years when harvests were poor, it was thanks to the Huanghuai Trees outside the village that many people were saved."

Li Jiangchen took a palm-sized pancake, adorned with Huanghuai flowers, and a fragrant aroma wafted to his nose.

'Huanghuai...' He thought of the Huanghuai Trees he had just seen, and vaguely felt that something was amiss.

At this moment, a tattered old man suddenly burst in, knocking over the Huanghuai Cakes on the table. He then lay on the ground, drooling and giggling, "Can't eat... hehe..."

Seeing this, Gu Chang's expression changed drastically. He cupped his fists towards Li Jiangchen and said, "My younger brother injured his head when he was young, and his mind has not been clear since. He has disturbed the distinguished guest."

"It's fine." Li Jiangchen waved his hand, then found an excuse to go inspect the village.

'Huanghuai Village, a madman... This place is strange everywhere. However, the demon from Lanfo Temple should be hiding here.'

After a tour, Li Jiangchen frowned.

There was no trace of demons in the entire Huanghuai Village, not even the anticipated temple.

Gradually, the sky grew dark. Left with no choice, Li Jiangchen stayed at Village Chief Gu Chang's house.

In the dead of night, footsteps sounded outside his room.

Li Jiangchen opened his eyes and looked towards the door.

Thump-thump—

A knocking sound came from outside the door, followed by heavy breathing. The frequency of the knocking became as rapid as rain.

The door trembled, like thunder.

A quarter of an hour later, it gradually became quiet, and the heavy breathing in Li Jiangchen's ears receded.

He got up and went to the door. Peering through the crack, he saw a burly monster with grey-brown skin, sharp claws, and fangs wandering not far away.

Li Jiangchen's pupils constricted.

The monster's clothing was clearly that of Village Chief Gu Chang from earlier in the day.

Could it be that the villagers of Huanghuai Village all turn into such monsters at night?

The next moment, the monster suddenly turned its head towards Li Jiangchen's direction and charged forward.

Boom—

The door shattered.

The monster, covered in splinters, lunged at Li Jiangchen with bared fangs and claws.

"I knew it would come to a fight." Li Jiangchen activated the qi force in his body. A solid, flowing blue light covered his fist, and with a burst of 200,000 catties of strength, he punched the monster's chest, instantly sending it flying.

The monster's chest had a basin-sized hole, from which lumps of yellow earth continuously fell, with no trace of flesh or blood.

With a roar, the monster scrambled to its feet and lunged again.

Boom—

Another punch was thrown, this one hitting its head. The head instantly exploded, turning into a sky full of dust.

The monster fell straight down, its body disintegrating into fragments of yellow earth of varying sizes.

"Puppet..."

Li Jiangchen looked at the panel, and just like before, no kill notification popped up.

At this moment, another door was pushed open, revealing a figure.

It was the madman who had knocked over the food earlier in the day.

Now, his eyes gleamed, and his demeanor was composed, without a hint of madness.

"Benefactor's qi force is astonishing; you acted before this old monk."

He glanced at the yellow earth of the monster on the ground. His body actually emitted a soft Buddhist light. Under the illumination of the Buddhist light, the monster rapidly evaporated and disappeared like a water stain.

"Benefactor, don't panic. This poor monk is Huai Kong."

"Huai Kong?" Li Jiangchen remembered that the abbot of Lanfo Temple's dharma name was Huai Kong.

He still had a Buddhist sarira in his possession, which might belong to him.

"Benefactor's reaction suggests you know this dharma name. It seems that demon borrowed this poor monk's dharma name to cause harm in the world.

A misfortune for Buddhism." A hint of sorrow appeared in Huai Kong's eyes, then he said seriously, "Benefactor should still have a sarira left behind by this old monk's sitting meditation, correct?"

"Sitting meditation?" Li Jiangchen looked at the person in front of him with vigilance.

"Indeed. The villagers Benefactor saw during the day, including myself before you, all died three hundred years ago."