The gates of the City of the Wrongfully Dead slowly opened.
Zen Master Wu Hai led his disciples inside, eyes downcast in a submissive manner.
Hong Ling looked at the group of skeletons, a warm smile immediately appearing on her face.
"So it is fellow senior brothers."
Hong Ling bowed slightly, her posture perfectly measured. "I am... Patrol Envoy Hong Ling, serving under the Bone God."
"The Bone God?" Hearing this title, the soul fire in Wu Hai's eyes burned even brighter. "The Founding Ancestor has actually achieved godhood? Wonderful, truly wonderful!"
He hurried to return the salute, his attitude extremely respectful. "I do not dare to be called senior brother. Since Lady Hong Ling is a close attendant of the Founding Ancestor, you are a high emissary."
"High Emissary, I wonder where the Founding Ancestor is currently? We wish to..."
"The Lord God is not in the city at the moment."
Hong Ling shook her head regretfully and stepped aside to clear the path. "Since you have traveled from afar, why not enter the city and rest first?"
"Not here?" Wu Hai felt some disappointment, but he still led his disciples into the city.
Upon entering, his eyes were opened even wider.
On the streets, he saw white bone skeletons walking by from time to time. These were Chen Zhou's bone ghost servants who, when not summoned by him, used to haul bricks in the secret realm.
Now that such labor was no longer required, they were usually responsible for helping the netherflame carry things, sweeping the ground, and repairing the city walls.
At that moment, a bone ghost servant holding a broom happened to pass by Wu Hai at a sluggish pace.
It had no flesh or blood on its body, and its bones were as translucent as crystal. Although it was only a lowest-tier summon, because it was a creation of an evil spirit and had been bathed in Chen Zhou's aura for a long time, its body carried a trace of extremely pure death qi.
Upon seeing this, Wu Hai was immediately struck with awe.
He adjusted his cassock and bowed deeply to the sweeping skeleton.
"Amitabha. Greetings, fellow senior brother."
The sweeping skeleton: "..."
Its empty eye sockets glanced at Wu Hai, completely failing to understand what this fellow of its kind was doing. Was he not working?
It turned around and continued sweeping the ground.
Clack, clack...
Seeing this, Wu Hai did not get angry. Instead, he turned to his disciples with a sigh of admiration.
"Did you see that? This is true attainment!"
"Although this senior brother's cultivation seems low, the purity of his death qi is simply terrifying!"
"Moreover, his character is noble and pure; he is a true master hiding in plain sight. He isn't sweeping the ground; he is sweeping the dust from his heart!"
"Faced with my salute, he remains unperturbed by either favor or humiliation. Such cold detachment, such style!"
"You must all learn from this! This is the true Mahayana Buddhism passed down by the Founding Ancestor!"
The disciples came to a sudden realization and bowed one after another toward the back of the sweeping skeleton, their eyes filled with fanaticism.
"We shall follow your teachings, Master!"
Hong Ling calmly led the group to the plaza and let out a purposeful sigh.
"The Lord God once said that the Bone Temple was content to stay in a corner of Gloomlight Province and would find it hard to achieve great things."
"Seeing you today, while your cultivation is acceptable, your bone structure is indeed still lacking in refinement."
If anyone else had said this, Zen Master Wu Hai would have flipped out on the spot.
But coming from Hong Ling's mouth, it was absolute gospel!
Zen Master Wu Hai's face flushed with shame, and he kowtowed repeatedly.
"The High Emissary's lecture is correct. This junior's aptitude is dull, and I have brought shame upon the Buddhist Sect!"
"I have come this time specifically to beg the Founding Ancestor for guidance, so that we may reshape our golden bodies and continue our path!"
Hong Ling nodded slightly as if accepting his apology.
She turned around, gazing toward the south with a faint sigh.
"It is rare that you have such a heart."
"Unfortunately, your timing is poor."
"The Lord God is currently not in the city."
Wu Hai was stunned and hurriedly asked, "May I ask the Holy Maiden... where did the Lord God go?"
Hong Ling turned her head, looking at Zen Master Wu Hai with a meaningful smile on her lips.
"The Southern Region, the Great Demon Assembly."
"The Great Demon Assembly?"
Wu Hai froze, and then it was as if he had realized something.
"The Lord God... has he gone to subdue those monsters?"
Hong Ling did not answer directly. She simply stroked the drooping branches of the unaging pine beside her, her tone casual.
"The demonic aura in the southern part of Gloomlight Province is too heavy; it is a bit noisy."
"The Lord God prefers peace and quiet, so he thought he would go clean things up."
"Along the way, he wanted to see if there were any decent materials in the Southern Region that he could bring back to repair this City of the Wrongfully Dead."
Hiss—
Zen Master Wu Hai sucked in another breath of cold air.
Domineering!
Too domineering!
What kind of place was the Great Demon Assembly?
It was the gathering of all the top demon kings in the southern part of Gloomlight Province. The Thousand-Eyed Toad Saint, the Poison-Wing Eagle King—which one of them wasn't a fierce character with a terrifying reputation?
His own Ancestor actually said he was just going to 'clean things up'?
And he even said he was going to use them as materials?
This was the style of a truly great power!
Wu Hai felt the blood in his body boiling.
His lifelong dream had been to make the Bone Temple surpass the Aspect of All Beings and Sukhavati to become the number one power in Gloomlight Province, so they could welcome the legendary descent of the Golden Buddha.
Now, the Founding Ancestor had appeared out of nowhere and was going to wipe out the demon race of the Southern Region as soon as he acted!
Once this succeeded, the Bone Temple's unification of Gloomlight Province would be just around the corner!
"High Emissary!"
Zen Master Wu Hai stood up abruptly, ignoring the exhaustion from his long journey, and shouted loudly.
"The Founding Ancestor has gone alone into the dragon's pool and tiger's den. How can he not have people to serve him?"
"Although those demons are nothing to fear, if they were to dirty the Ancestor's hands, would that not be the sin of us juniors?"
Hong Ling's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Oh? And what do you mean?"
Zen Master Wu Hai thumped his chest hard.
"Though I am untalented, I still have a sixth-stage cultivation!"
"I am willing to lead all my disciples and head to the Southern Region immediately to cheer the Founding Ancestor on and charge into battle for him!"
"Those crude tasks of slaughtering pigs and sheep—just leave them to us!"
The calculations in his heart were clicking away.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show off.
If he could show his face before the Ancestor at the Great Demon Assembly and help the Ancestor kill a few demon kings...
When the Ancestor was pleased and gave him some random bone secret technique as a reward, wouldn't he soar to new heights?
Furthermore, if the banner of the Bone Temple was raised at the Great Demon Assembly, who in Gloomlight Province would ever dare to look down on them again?
Hong Ling looked at the fanatical Zen Master Wu Hai and laughed inwardly.
This old monk was quite easy to fool.
It just so happened that although the Lord God possessed world-shaking divine might in the Southern Region, he was still fighting on enemy ground. Having a group of fearless cannon fodder to go and stir up trouble was a good thing.
Moreover, this would further solidify the Lord God's identity as the Bone Temple Master, making it even harder for the outside world to figure out the true nature of the City of the Wrongfully Dead.
"Since you have such filial piety, the Lord God will surely be gratified if he knows."
Hong Ling nodded and pulled a bone token carved with the mark of the City of the Wrongfully Dead from her sleeve, tossing it to Zen Master Wu Hai.
"In that case, go."
"Hold this command and go to the Southern Region. Do not bring shame to the Lord God's prestige."
Zen Master Wu Hai treated it like a priceless treasure, holding the ordinary bone token in both hands, his whole body shaking with excitement.
"Yes! This junior will surely do my utmost to kill all those monsters and liven things up for the Founding Ancestor!"
"Disciples! Let's go!"
With a wave of his wide sleeves, Zen Master Wu Hai turned to leave.
"Master, we... we just arrived. We haven't even had a drop of water..." a young novice monk said with a bitter face.
They had sprinted thousands of miles, and their skeletal frames were about to fall apart. They hadn't even entered the city to rest, and now they had to run to the Southern Region?
"What water? Why are those on the Path of the Bone drinking water!"
Zen Master Wu Hai slapped the young novice's skull and barked:
"This is a great opportunity to show our faces before the Founding Ancestor! If we're late, we won't even get any soup!"
"All of you, start running!"
"Use every ounce of your strength! Destination: Southern Region! Full speed ahead!"
Amidst Zen Master Wu Hai's roars, this group of Bone Temple disciples, who had been at the City of the Wrongfully Dead for less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and hadn't even sat down to rest, charged back out like a pack of rabid dogs. They kicked up clouds of dust as they rumbled toward the south.
Rate on N.U.
