Chapter 191 – Swallowing the Moon

The long blade swung, cleaving through flesh, producing that pu sound of meat and blood tearing apart.

The gaunt-faced head, trailing its long-eared monk’s cap, shot straight into the air.

Lu Liangsheng, standing opposite, was momentarily stunned by this sudden change. In his gaze, that head flipping in midair bore no expression of pain at all.

“Not good!”

The copper-coin ritual sword hovering in his palm buzzed and trembled. The scholar flicked his sleeve. “Go!” With a shua, the coin sword shot straight out, nailing toward the tumbling head. In that instant, he stamped his foot, his body turning into an afterimage, like a fish gliding across lotus leaves, sweeping low past the headless corpse’s side.

He seized Zuo Zhengyang in one grab, clutching his collar. One after the other, the two of them pulled back dozens of paces. In Zuo Zhengyang’s retreating view, the rolling head dodged the ritual sword and settled steadily back onto the bare neck and shoulders.

He was still gnashing his teeth, muttering:

“Demon…”

With his back turned, the old monk slowly raised a hand and twisted it at the severed joint of head and neck. A soft ka sound rang out, as though the earlier decapitation had not affected him in the slightest. Then, he gradually blurred and vanished from where he stood.

Hm?!

Seeing this, Lu Liangsheng flung Zuo Zhengyang toward the woman’s side and turned to look at the ritual altar. The vanished figure reappeared there. The golden kasaya stirred. Pudu Cihang held a Dharma seal upright and looked this way as well.

“Amitabha, Amitabha. It seems Young Master Lu, too, is adrift in the bitter sea, unable to free yourself.”

Lu Liangsheng did not reply. With a sweep of his sleeve, he beckoned. Over there, the copper-coin ritual sword scattered apart and flew back together. The instant they fell into his palm, the fingers of his other hand formed a sword sign and swiftly inscribed the seal-script character “Yang” in midair.

No matter how greatly accomplished in cultivation, a demon ultimately belongs to Yin.

The seal-script “Yang,” infused with his spiritual power, sank into each copper coin. Lu Liangsheng thrust out a palm. The coins in his hand glowed with golden light as his hand extended from his wide sleeve. The power of the Heaven and Earth Righteous Path, mixed with the strength of the Confucian seal-script, suddenly burst forth and spread.

Pudu Cihang had no choice but to raise his seal and meet it with a palm as well.

Boom!

Golden light exploded in midair. Two currents of opposing forces collided, and a terrifying shockwave shot out in all directions. A visible great ring rippled through the air. The stone-carved railings lining both sides of the broad steps were cleanly sheared of their tops, stone fragments blasting away.

Around the old monk’s body glowed a golden, auspicious radiance. Within it, the vast outline of a Dharma form bearing an orchid-mudra sat cross-legged upon a lotus.

“The Dharma Presence of the Western Heaven is here!”

A gale pressed the ground and swept outward. Lu Liangsheng’s robes snapped and fluttered loudly. In the next instant, his figure shot into the night sky. Facing the Dharma Form on the stone steps, both palms struck out without cease. One copper coin after another glowed gold, forming spheres of light that blasted wildly from his palms.

Boom boom boom boom…

Golden light-spheres filled the sky, pouring down upon Pudu Cihang. The copper coins struck the white stone bricks and exploded one after another. Even the carved inscription painted in vermilion—Pu Du Ci Hang—was battered by the bombardment until only the last two characters remained.

Watching the rain of golden spheres, the Daoist glanced at his own palm and smacked his lips. This was precisely the Qianyang Palm he had taught Lu Liangsheng—he had never imagined it could be used in such a way…

Nearby, the group that had rescued Zuo Zhengyang stared dumbfounded. Min Yuerou stood frozen, eyes wide, the short blade clutched in her hand slipping with a ba-da and falling by her feet. This was entirely a clash of cultivators—something ordinary people like them could hardly ever encounter. Just that torrent of dharmic force pouring down from the sky was probably something even first-rate martial experts of the jianghu could not withstand; or rather, even if they did, they would end up grievously wounded beyond easy recovery.

So this is what cultivators are…

Nearly everyone present shared that inexpressible thought.

Under more than a dozen gazes, high in midair, the dense barrage of light-spheres came to a halt. Most of the Qianyang Palm strikes had sunk into that Dharma Form, yet not even the slightest ripple stirred. Lu Liangsheng descended to the ground, flicked his hand in a summoning gesture, and the scroll titled “Netherworld’s Soul-Calling Burial” that hovered in the air flew back with a shua.

Above the shattered stone steps, drifting smoke and dust rolled away, revealing the Western Heaven Dharma Presence Form. The orchid-mudra it formed suddenly transformed from flower into palm seal, stirring wind and thunder.

In everyone’s vision, golden radiance burst forth. They could not help raising their hands to shield their eyes. But for Lu Liangsheng, who faced it head-on, it was different. The scroll before him surged with yin energy and forcibly blocked the blow. The painting itself dented inward, and with a series of kua kua kua cracks, the scholar’s feet crushed the ground as he was shoved straight back a full zhang.

“Young Master Lu, do you still not understand?”

The auspicious radiance gathered back and drew in, revealing the old monk’s figure standing with a seal raised in salute. “Tonight is the full moon. This humble Venerable Master is unaffected by any Daoist arts or immortal techniques…”

As Lu Liangsheng covered his abdomen and lifted his face to look at him, Pudu Cihang’s voice carried into the distance—toward the road beyond this stretch of forest, where one tall and one short figure walked in succession.

At a certain moment, as if hearing a voice carried in the wind, the short figure walking in front lifted his toad-like face.

“Tonight’s moon is truly full…”

Behind him, the old monk performed a Buddhist salute. The Toad Daoist closed his toad eyes. The densely packed bumps across his back began to emit violet qi; a demonic aura spread out and surged up into the night sky.

Outside the ritual altar, Pudu Cihang’s voice still continued along the stone steps.

“…The people of the world are all ignorant without knowing it. That Young Master Lu could come tonight was already within this Venerable Master’s expectations…”

Behind him, an old donkey with a bald tail swishing lazily chewed grass as it ambled past. Its hind leg suddenly kicked—Pudu Cihang, still speaking, staggered and nearly pitched down the steps.

Tap, tap. Monk shoes pressed and cracked the ground as he steadied himself. Pudu Cihang turned his head. The old donkey had already flung open its hooves and gone bounding away.

“That kick—did the Venerable Master foresee it as well?”

Lu Liangsheng circulated his spiritual power, suppressing the lingering discomfort from the earlier blow. He reached out, seized the hovering scroll-treasure before him, and unfurled it.

Ahead, Pudu Cihang stood upright again, somewhat disheveled. Veins bulged on his forehead, throbbing again and again.

“Tonight is the full moon. It seems you all still do not understand. This Venerable Master can only—”

The great wind blowing around them suddenly weakened. The wildly swaying branches gradually came to a halt. Pudu Cihang, who had been speaking, abruptly stopped and looked up at the night sky.

The cold moonlight dimmed. Wisps of drifting cloud moved around the bright moon, as if an illusion. Before everyone’s eyes, they shifted shape.

Guuu—waaa—

A toad’s croak echoed between heaven and earth. The shifting clouds bulged here and sank there, forming the shape of a gigantic toad. It opened its vast mouth and swallowed half the moon.

“Devouring the Moon!!”

Below, Pudu Cihang suddenly let out a shrill cry. Opposite him, the scroll in Lu Liangsheng’s hands spread open, and a mournful sound burst forth. The air rippled. Faintly visible, hundreds upon thousands of skeletons and vicious ghosts appeared and vanished, brandishing all kinds of instruments in their hands as they surged toward the old monk—colliding with him in an instant.

Hiss…

As if from tearing pain, Pudu Cihang’s whole body crackled with chi-chi sounds, wisps of green smoke rising. Suddenly, he threw his face upward, looking at the moon shrouded by dark clouds, twisting and writhing like a madman.

“Demonic toad devouring the moon—ruining my Elixir Cauldron’s Mysterious Qi—”

“Urgh—aaah!!”

The group crouching in the distance to watch saw only that the Venerable Master’s body trembled and writhed. Then, with a thunderous boom, he burst apart into fragments right before their eyes, leaving behind nothing but a pair of monk’s shoes on the spot.

The broad stone steps also exploded into ruin in an instant.

The crowd looked at one another, for a moment not knowing what had happened, thinking he had turned out like this only because he had taken Lu Liangsheng’s strike.

“Dead?” “Only a pair of shoes is left—he should be dead.”

“Hoo… that demon monk was terrifying.”

However, at this moment, Lu Liangsheng put away the scroll and fixed his gaze on the ground. The old donkey ran to his side, tugging at his wide sleeve, braying a few times. From underground, a dense demonic aura was faintly gathering.

“He’s revealed his true form…”

The next instant, he shouted toward the others: “Leave this place—go!”

Min Yuerou and the Daoist scrambled up from the ground. Beneath their feet, they felt trembling vibrations. The guards, not understanding the cause, could not keep their footing and thump—fell sitting onto the ground.

“What’s happening?” “Is the earth-dragon turning over?!”

“Young Master Lu told us to run!” “Go!”

In the crowd’s sight, the distant ritual altar began to sway. With several booming crashes, it collapsed, the ground sinking down as cracks split open and raced toward them. Someone hoisted Zuo Zhengyang onto his back, and together with the Daoist and Min Yuerou, they turned and sprinted wildly toward the forest to escape.

In the span of one or two breaths, Lu Liangsheng leapt onto the donkey’s back, stamped with his foot, and shot toward a nearby great tree, coming to stand atop its crown. Honglian drifted out from the bookshelf.

“Young Master, it seems something underground is about to come out!”

“Mm. It’s Pudu Cihang’s true form.”

One hand bracing against the trunk, Lu Liangsheng’s body swayed. In his gaze, the ritual altar collapsed with a thunderous crash. The ground split inch by inch, flipping upward from the earth and scattering outward in all directions.

Demonic aura surged into the sky.

At this time, in Tianzhi Capital, the city gates opened. Lines of torches in men’s hands wound along the road as warhorses galloped forward. A general clad in armor with a long blade at his waist suddenly yanked the reins.

The running horses neighed uneasily. On horseback, Xiao Moke turned his head to look at the old man calming his mount.

“Lord Min, what’s going on?!”

The old man was none other than Min Changwen, who had come to the city seeking reinforcements. He halted his horse and gazed in the direction ten li away.

“This old man does not know either…”

Yet the warhorses beneath the surrounding cavalry grew more and more restless, pawing the ground in agitation, whinnying in alarm.

Inside the city—

Amid the shaking, Chen Shubao stumbled and climbed up to the highest tower in the palace. At the far end of the night, a mysterious radiance was bursting up from the earth.

“What is that?!”

In the next instant, reflected in the emperor’s eyes, an enormous black shadow shot into the sky, bathed in moonlight.

Outside the capital, at the head position of a dilapidated City God Temple, a clay statue wearing a gauze cap and long robe, with a robust bearing, flashed with golden light and trembled. Upon the spirit plaque, characters appeared: “City God Yu.”

“Quickly, assist this Commander in seizing the demon!”

Far away—and even farther still—that vast demonic aura alarmed batches of cultivators.