Free Web NovelChapter 129: Chapter 92: Resuming a Former Life’s Profession
The family members could only watch Xu Lei’s departing figure with reverence.
Then, Xu Lei had the Human Puppets carry him back to find Mu Yao.
Originally, Xu Lei had planned to take Mu Yao and leave quietly.
"We pay our respects to the Living Buddha!"
"Greetings, Living Buddha!"
"Thank you, Living Buddha, for helping our village get rid of the Demon!"
"Thank you, Living Buddha!"
But to his surprise, he had just returned to find the ground covered with kneeling villagers.
"Amitabha Buddha. The Buddha is merciful!"
Seeing this, Xu Lei announced, "Slaying demons and exorcising evil is simply my duty! Benefactors, please rise! This humble monk has other important matters to attend to and must take his leave!"
Xu Lei refused all the villagers’ offerings, whether it was eggs or silver taels.
"He truly is a real Living Buddha!"
"He sees wealth as nothing more than dirt!"
"He completely scorns our offerings!"
"What an eye-opener! I’ve seen a true Living Buddha!"
"So this is what a Living Buddha of legend is really like!"
"Does this mean our village is finally free of the curse of premature death?"
"Everyone, let us bow to the Living Buddha once more!"
But Xu Lei’s actions only made the villagers admire him more, their hearts filled with genuine reverence.
The village chief even led the villagers in kowtowing repeatedly toward the direction of Xu Lei’s departure.
Back in the carriage, Xu Lei immediately took out the black alms bowl, intending to refine the three Centipede Demons.
"Living Buddha, spare our lives! Spare us!"
"Living Buddha, if you spare us, we are willing to offer you a Treasure!"
He hadn’t expected them to suddenly start speaking.
None of them had taken human form, so they shouldn’t have been able to speak. That was why they had been silent during their battle with Xu Lei.
Yet now, they were speaking in a human tongue.
They were using their Demonic Power to simulate human vocal cords to produce the sound.
This kind of Dharma Gate required a relatively peaceful environment to use.
During the battle with Xu Lei, the energy fluctuations were too chaotic. With their level of Cultivation, they were unable to perform such a feat under those conditions.
"Oh? A Treasure?"
Xu Lei asked in surprise, "What Treasure? Where is it?"
Xu Lei had assumed these three Centipede Demons were just wild Spirit Monsters that didn’t even possess something like a Qiankun Cloth Bag.
Therefore, he hadn’t expected to get anything from them besides their Demon Cores.
But now that they had mentioned it, Xu Lei was naturally interested.
"Tell me!"
Xu Lei continued, "If the Treasure is valuable enough, I might consider sparing your lives!"
"Not ’consider’!"
But then, a strange, mechanical human voice came from the alms bowl: "You *must* let our family go! Only then will we present the Treasure to you!"
The sound they produced was strange because they didn’t truly possess human mouths, but were merely simulating them with Demonic Power.
The resulting voice sounded somewhat like that of an AI from Earth, though it was, of course, a bit more emotive.
"Must?"
Xu Lei frowned. If these three Demons could truly produce a valuable Treasure, he wouldn’t have minded letting them go.
But hearing that word, "must," annoyed him. ’They’re already my prisoners, and they dare to make demands of me!’
"Sorry, but there are no ’musts’ with me! Your so-called Treasure... I’m guessing it’s in your lair, isn’t it?
You’re all so large; it’s impossible you don’t leave tracks when you travel.
Hmph. If you won’t tell me, I can just find it myself!"
Xu Lei was just putting on a tough front to see how the Centipede Demons would react.
If the Centipede Demons had been defiant, insisting he could never find it on his own, Xu Lei might have changed his tune and continued negotiating.
But to Xu Lei’s surprise, the Centipede Demons didn’t seem to possess much cunning. At his words, they clearly panicked, and even the Demonic Power simulating their voices became unstable.
Seeing this, Xu Lei knew he had guessed right.
’What’s the point of negotiating, then?!’
’I’ll just go find it myself!’
With that, Xu Lei returned to the village once more.
"Amitabha Buddha."
Xu Lei said to the village chief and the other villagers, "This humble monk was about to depart, but I suddenly discovered that a remnant of evil energy still lingers in your village..."
The villagers, naturally, were terrified and fell to their knees, begging the Living Buddha to continue helping them.
"We must find the Demon’s lair!"
Xu Lei said, "This humble monk suspects that the residual evil energy is emanating from its lair! Since this Centipede Demon has been plaguing your village, its lair must be nearby.
It might even be located underground, somewhere within the village itself! For some reason, they need to live here permanently..."
The villagers quickly sprang into action.
That night, the villagers practically dug three feet deep across the entire village.
A few hours later, they discovered the Centipede Demon’s lair.
It was under a large tree at the head of the village.
"The Daoist found it!"
The village chief said, "But after the Daoist went into the lair, his whole body went stiff and cold, and his lips turned purple. Living Buddha, please take a look. Has he been afflicted by evil?"
"I beg you, Living Buddha, please save my master!"
The Little Daoist beside him also knelt and kowtowed, "Please, I’m begging you!"
"Amitabha Buddha."
Xu Lei said, "He was afflicted by Yin Qi while searching for the demon’s lair. This humble monk will naturally not stand by and do nothing."
As he spoke.
A surge of Magical Power flowed from him.
He expelled the Yin Qi from the old Daoist’s body.
By now, Xu Lei could see that the Centipede Demon’s lair was indeed a place where Yin Qi converged.
This place had likely been a secluded cultivation ground left behind by a Cultivator—and not a particularly righteous one.
He had set up this Array to gather Yin Qi, which had caused two centipedes that stumbled upon it to transform into Spirit Monsters.
The old Daoist was a mortal, so it was only natural for him to fall ill after being exposed to so much Yin Qi.
