Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

The woman showed some signs of happiness and later hesitated as she said, “I don’t mean to hide this from you, celestial teacher. Before this, there were two other celestial teachers that came here but did not live to leave.”

After saying this, she then added another sentence, “Those two celestial teachers could mount the clouds and ride the mist.”

Even though she could see that Shen Lian was a celestial teacher, but he was young and had delicate features, so he may not have much mana. The people were simple and honest, even though when her own child was about to be sacrificed to the demon, but the woman still could not bear to see Shen Lian being so ignorant and simply give his life away.

Shen Lian thought to himself, “This is a rather good person.” He smiled simply and he asked, “How about you bring me to meet with your tribe leader?” The leader definitely had a hand in the idea for the children in the tribe to be food for the demon. Furthermore, for the demon to not cause calamities after eating the child, someone was definitely needed to communicate with the demon and perhaps, there was a collusion within this.

Sometimes, for a demon to cause harm was not as scary as a person harming another person. Unfortunately, not many people understood this principle.

The woman stopped her weeping, agreed and was prepared to bring Shen Lian to meet the tribe leader. Suddenly, she felt there was something soft beneath her feet. It turned out that she was being transported by a ball of white cloud. She then heard Shen Lian’s light chuckle as he pointed downwards to the tribe area that was laid out like a vegetable field. He asked, “Where is the tribe leader?”

The woman was shocked and ecstatic. Shen Lian’s abilities were much more brilliant than the celestial teachers that came previously. After all, not only could Shen Lian ride the mists, he could also transport her on it. That was one thing that those two celestial teachers could not do.

The eyes of the daughter within her embrace turned round and round. She curiously looked at Shen Lian and then to her surroundings, she was filled with novelty.

Shen Lian had gotten the woman to point. With a wave of his flocket, the woman only felt a rapid descending force. Afterward, she had her feet on the ground.

All of this naturally startled the people within the tribe. One by one, they all came out and saw the celestial teacher who descended from the sky that was Shen Lian.

The person in the front, his body was rickety and his skin shriveled. But his pair of eyes were filled with spirit and it stood out amongst the rest. Shen Lian took a look at him and asked him, “You are the leader of Wuzhong tribe?”

The person replied, “I am Binghu and I am the leader of the Wuzhong tribe. Whatever does this have anything to do with you, Celestial Teacher?”

After saying this, Big Hu looked at the woman, his gaze fleeting.

The woman saw that and hid behind Shen Lian.

People began gesticulating. They were probably saying that, could it be that the woman did not want to offer up her daughter that she went and found Shen Lian as her reinforcement. At the same time, Shen Lian’s divine thoughts swept through the crowd and did not discover that there was the woman’s husband within the crowd.

Shen Lian smiled, “Is the Wuzhong tribe a ghost tribe? You all actually allowed a Changgui ¹ to be your leader.”

Binghu’s expression did not change as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re not a living person.” Shen Lian simply answered.

Binghu pointed towards the woman and said, “Ah Lian, it’s alright if you do not wish to give out your child. Why do you need to look for this celestial teacher to frame? Ever since your husband passed away, did we ever skim out on your food and clothing?

The woman called Ah Lian stammered, “I just knew this celestial teacher.”

Binghu sighed, “It is a waste for you to be in the Wuzhong tribe with your beauty. Since the celestial teacher has his eyes for you, you two should go. As for the child, with the celestial teacher calling the shots, we could not make you stay either.”

The surrounding tribesmen were becoming unkind as they looked at the woman. And after being accused by Binghu, she did not know how to rebut and she could only shed tears.

Shen Lian smiled as he clasped his arms behind his back, “Such a great capability of turning things upside down. Unfortunately, you may be hiding it from the people around you but you cannot hide it from me.”

Binghu said with a serious expression, “I know you are formidable, celestial teacher, and you have the capabilities to transform me into the Changgui that you speak of. However, I am indeed the tribal leader of the Wuzhong tribe and my heart has always been for everyone.”

Shen Lian said, “You said your heart is for every, is that why you send young children every once in a while to the demon in the mountain to devour?”

Binghu replied, “That is a helpless act. As long as we could fight, I would not bear to do so. You can ask my tribesmen, I have also sent my child to the demon king in the mountains.”

The surrounding tribesmen all nodded. They surrounded Shen Lian and the woman one after another, and their looks were becoming hostile as they looked at Shen Lian and the woman. In succession, the lifted the weapons in their hands and there were some who used their witchcraft. There were miraculous lights emerging.

Shen Lian shook his head, “It is too troublesome to explain to you all. No wonder Buddha said that the masses were benighted.” The Wuzhong tribesmen only saw Shen Lian’s finger wrong a word in midair. They could not recognize it but it was the ‘ding’ character of the runes.

Shen Lian then completed after a little while. Following that, the rune gave out a white light and the surrounding Wuzhong tribesmen were anchored in place by the white light from the rune. They could only blink.

However, Ah Lian and her daughter could move.

The tribe leader, Binghu, was also anchored. And then, Shen Lian patted the body of Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei had gotten the order from his master. It went up and took a bite at Binghu’s neck. Immediately, it was as though his entire being was deflating and there was a roll of human skin left on the ground. Black smoke emerges and within it was a little person. It looked exactly like Binghu. It gave Shen Lian a hateful look and it flew to the mountain head where the demon was entrenched.

Ah Lian was shocked to the point of being speechless. With her shallow understanding of Dao techniques, she could not tell whether Shen Lian’s technique turned the tribe leader into human skin to fool her, or was the tribe leader actually a monster.

Xiao Hei leaped back. This moment, Ah Lian then noticed that how the black donkey’s head was now a tiger’s head. Xiao Hei then transformed into a complete tiger. Fawningly, it said to Shen Lian, “Master, I lost control and transformed to my original form.”

Shen Lian said with slight anger and mirth, “That’s fine.”

Xiao Hei’s opened its mouth and laughed.

After that, Shen Lian then said, “It seemed that the demon might be a relative of yours.”

Changgui was a demonic beast of the tiger species. They could imprison the ghost that they had killed, and summon them as their own slaves. Changgui had served as an inspiration to establish the Five Ghosts Transport Technique ² in Daoism.

As for some formidable figures in Heaven Courtyard or Mahasattva, the ghostly spirits they controlled were the protectors of heaven, Liu Ding Liu Jia Deities, the Protectors of the Five Regions, the Four Duty Gods, and those who were similar to all these. In legends, the ancient Dipamkara Buddha had twenty-four protectors of heaven, each of their mana were at the level of Taiyi. That was why he was amongst the famous ones within the other Buddhas and he stayed above the Four Great Sattva.

Xiao Hei smiled apologetically, “I do not have the habit of devouring people.”

Shen Lian then turned to the woman and asked, “Did it scare you?”

The woman nodded and then quickly shook her head.

The little girl, however, was being tightly hugged by the woman. She was only two years old. She seemed like she had gone through the affairs of life without even understanding what just happened around her.

Shen Lian replied, “Do not be afraid. We will now go see the demon in the mountaintop. By then, the truth will be revealed. If you do not trust me, you can also choose to stay here.”

The woman saw her own tribesmen. They were all vehemently glaring at her. Like a mosquito, she softly answered, “I will follow you, celestial teacher.”

She was a weak and soft woman so she lacked her own opinions. But at least, Shen Lian seemed much friendlier compared to her own tribesmen. She dared not imagine how both her and her daughter would end up if her own tribesmen could move again after Shen Lian left.