Chapter 126: The Old Monk

Tap, tap, tap...

Three steady footsteps echoed as a figure emerged from the shadows of the mourning hall. It was the Taoist priest Lizheng, wearing a smile as he accepted the directions of the elderly Madam Zhang.

"Greetings, Madam," Lizheng said, bowing respectfully.

"That is better," Madam Zhang replied, lifting her hand and making a distant, clutching gesture.

At that movement, the priest’s body slumped limply to the floor, his soul forcibly torn from his physical vessel. It seemed this Madam Zhang was truly formidable; it was one thing to effortlessly capture the soul of a cat demon, but quite another to so easily seize that of a human practitioner.

The moment his soul left his body, Lizheng rushed toward the old woman, offering his neck to her grasping hand. Green flames instantly engulfed his spirit, transforming him into a living torch. Yet, Chen Jin noticed that the priest still wore a smile, his face devoid of any trace of agony.

"Has your anger been assuaged, Madam?" the priest's limp body asked, his voice emanating from the floor.

"Not yet," Madam Zhang replied, flinging the burning soul aside. The green fire clinging to him did not extinguish, turning him into a pillar of flame that bathed the entire hall in a ghostly, verdant glow.

"Have you considered how you wish to die?" she continued.

"If you would only return the relic left by Bodhisattva Samantabhadra to the Buddhist order, I would gladly offer my head," Lizheng replied calmly, showing no sign of fear.

"The Great Emperor of Fengdu is quite fond of that relic," Madam Zhang remarked indifferently.

Silence followed. The situation had become awkward. If the relic had fallen into the hands of the Great Emperor of Fengdu, who would dare attempt to retrieve it? To offend the supreme sovereign of the underworld for the sake of a single relic was a losing proposition that few would choose to undertake.

"I am but an old woman without great power, yet I have been summoned by the Great Emperor of Fengdu. Have you not considered the implications of that?" she added.

"Madam must know that Bodhisattva Samantabhadra values that relic deeply, and he values the Zhang family as well," Lizheng countered.

"Heh," Madam Zhang let out a cold, dismissive laugh.

This sound sent a chill down Chen Jin’s spine. To mock a deity of such profound cultivation as Samantabhadra was a dangerous gamble; if the Bodhisattva were to take offense, the Zhang family line could be extinguished in an instant. However, the old woman stopped at that scoff. She was no wandering, mindless spirit; she knew the value of discretion, especially as someone whose name was known to the Great Emperor of Fengdu. Besides, the Buddhist order had behaved dishonorably, and she felt no guilt in giving the relic away to another.

"Madam, you must be aware that a high monk from Puxian Temple has descended the mountain to visit the Zhang family," Lizheng said.

"And so what?" she replied flatly.

"I implore the honorable patron to return the relic gifted by the Bodhisattva to the Buddhist faith," a deep, resonant, and aged voice echoed through the hall.

"It is in Fengdu. Go and retrieve it yourselves," Madam Zhang replied, entirely unmoved.

"It is here. The relic has always been in the Zhang household," a gray-robed monk appeared in the hall, his eyes narrowed into slits as he fixed his gaze upon Chen Jin.

It dawned on Chen Jin what this meant: the relic was either this very body he inhabited, or it had been inside him all along.

"Do you think I would joke with you using the Great Emperor of Fengdu as a ruse?" Madam Zhang asked, watching the monk with composure.

The old monk raised a hand, extinguishing the flames on the priest’s soul and forcing it back into his physical body. He then smiled at Madam Zhang. "The Great Emperor has little love for the Buddhist sect. If you can make us suffer, he would surely bear no grudge. You truly possess great wisdom, Madam."

"Wisdom? So you admit you prefer these devious schemes," she retorted, pointing her accusation directly at the monk, the implication toward his order clear.

"You have a deep misunderstanding of our faith, Madam," the monk replied, unfazed by her sharp tongue.

"Return from whence you came, old monk, before I lose my temper and drive you out. I would hate to humiliate you so thoroughly that you end up crying for your mother to seek justice," she said, flicking her sleeve. A gust of wind erupted, releasing the cat demon’s soul she had been holding.

As the soul flew forth, it transformed into a tiger of green flame.

*Roar!*

The fire-tiger pounced toward the monk.

"This creature possessed great intelligence and had cultivated successfully. Why would you strip away its consciousness and turn it into a ghost puppet?" the monk chided, neither dodging nor retreating.

As the tiger struck him, it suddenly shrank, transforming into a small, milk-white kitten that landed softly in his arms. The monk shook the kitten, extinguishing the flames, and tossed it toward the cat's body lying by his feet. The soul merged back into the feline form, but Chen Jin could feel the demon’s aura rapidly dissipating. The cat’s cultivation was fading, its eyes turning dull and lifeless as its sentience was completely erased.

"Is there any other trick you have, Madam? I would be honored to witness them all," the monk said, pressing his palms together in a respectful bow.

"Since you are so determined to be stubborn, old monk, I shall not be polite," she replied. Flames surged from her body, rising in a tempestuous torrent toward the monk.

Just as the fire coalesced into a dragon, Chen Jin heard Madam Zhang’s voice whisper in his ear: "Junbao, follow me and leave this place at once."