Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 123 The show begins

Chen Ye was very interested in the "easy way" mentioned by the Venerable Lord, but the moment the demon opened his mouth, Chen Ye frowned.

“The simplest way is that Luoyan Town only has five wells for daily use. If you secretly add some poison now, you can kill thousands of people tomorrow. Then spread rumors of a plague, and once the town is in chaos, you can easily set a fire to make most people escape. They won't activate the formation until the Great Cold season. Once everyone has run away and there aren't enough people to refine the formation, they can activate it as they please.”

Chen Ye asked in a deep voice, "What's the difference between that and killing them directly? If you poison a thousand people and then make thousands more homeless, how many more people will die?"

The Crimson Serpent laughed, "I don't care. Chen Ye, don't forget, I'm also a demon. What I, the Crimson Serpent Buddha, need is the resentment and bitterness of all living beings. The fact that I don't actively harm people is already a sign of my high moral character. On the contrary, you, a mere rogue cultivator, why do you care about the lives of so many people?"
"You only owe me now, not these mortals. Anyway, I've already told you the way. If you're not happy, then figure it out yourself."

Just as the Crimson Serpent was about to disappear into the darkness, Chen Ye grabbed it and asked, "At least tell me detailed information about those Nirvana Sect disciples, especially those three monks at the Profound Realm."

The Crimson Serpent nodded and said, "That's no problem, but I'm warning you, don't think about becoming a hero. Even Zhang Qi, who was a hero for so long, ultimately didn't have a good ending. You'd be better off joining my Holy Sect sooner; I guarantee you'll at least reach the Void Returning Realm."

"Joining is out of the question. But please, Your Excellency, do me a favor. You were able to evade the pursuit of the five major sects, so you must have the ability to conceal the secrets of heaven. You must have also helped us conceal our arrival, Master Bu Mei. In that case, please, Your Excellency, put in a little more effort and help us conceal our presence for another three days."

The Crimson Serpent said smugly, "Don't worry, the Nirvana Sect can't figure out my plans, so naturally they can't predict what I'll do."

Chen Ye was relieved and then carefully inquired about the other party's information.

According to the Venerable One, the Nirvana Sect has sent seventeen more disciples here. Among them, three are at the Profound Realm, and the rest are at the Qi Sea Realm.

Don't worry about those little devils who are just there to help out; they're mostly just consumables anyway. The real trouble lies with these three Profound Realm experts.

The three had already disguised themselves as ordinary people and infiltrated Luoyan Town, secretly manipulating everything.

The wealthy merchant Master Zheng, the madam Qiu Shuixian, and Qiu Chengye, the leader of Luoyan Town, were all disguised by demons. Their flesh and blood were removed, leaving only a disguised shell, which was then placed on the bodies of these three demons.

Master Zheng is skilled in crafting corpse puppets. He possesses a magical artifact made from thirty-six golden corpse puppets, which can be transformed into an array to trap and kill enemies when unleashed. He is also proficient in the Asura Blade technique, which can cause people to bleed to death with just a small cut.

Qiu Shuixian is skilled in the art of seduction. Her words are eloquent and can bewitch people without them even realizing it. The supernatural power she cultivates is the "Open Mouth Zen" that Chen Ye once witnessed.

The last one, Qiu Chengye, was the most skilled among the three. He was adept at wielding a bronze hammer weighing ten thousand catties. His supernatural power was simple and direct: indestructible Vajra. This golden body was difficult to damage by magic weapons and impervious to all magic, even more solid than the golden body of the Opening Zen.

Each of the three had their own strengths, and the formation in Luoyan Town was created by Master Zheng, while the other two were just assistants.

Within three days, Chen Ye had to prevent them from activating the formation and also deal with these three Transcendent Realm cultivators to avoid them becoming enraged and taking direct action.

Cultivators have many ways to slaughter mortals. If they were to unleash their full power, the town of Luoyan, with a population of over ten thousand, could be completely destroyed in just one day.

When Chen Ye opened his eyes, the monk Bu Mei exclaimed in surprise, "Benefactor Chen, you're awake! You only slept for an hour."

"Time is of the essence. I have a general understanding of the situation in Luoyan Town. But right now, the two of us are outnumbered and outmatched, and we have to deal with a large group of demons. Master, if I may be so bold as to ask, have you mastered any demon-subduing techniques?"

"Methods for exorcising demons?"

Chen Ye carefully recounted the information he knew about the demons to the monk Bu Mei. After listening and thinking it over, the monk Bu Mei said, "If it's one-on-one, I'm confident I can defeat either of them. But if all three of them attack together, I'm afraid I'm no match for them."

Chen Ye asked, "Of course, it's impossible for you to face these three alone, but I also need to know if you have a way to quickly eliminate one of them. If I can create an opportunity for them to be separated, can you quickly kill one of them?"

The monk Bu Mei said, "Apart from the commander who led the troops, I am confident that I can suppress the other two within three moves."

Chen Ye asked in surprise, "Really?" They are all at the Tongxuan Realm, and isn't Monk Bu Mei also at the Tongxuan Realm? How come the monks of Cixin Temple are more powerful than the monks of Nirvana Sect?

The monk Bu Mei said, “Amitabha, a monk does not lie. Since my master has asked me to travel with you, benefactor, he must have made arrangements in advance. Please rest assured, benefactor Chen, this humble monk would not joke with the lives of the entire city.”

Since Monk Bumei said so, Chen Ye had no choice but to believe him.

Now he only has one helper by his side, and time is very tight, so he has no choice but to take some risks.

“Since you have confidence, Master, then let us proceed accordingly. I have some words for you to keep in mind…”

Chen Ye leaned close to the monk Bu Mei and whispered his plan.

The sound of wind and snow masked their voices. As the night passed, the two hid under the illusion, discussing their next move.

Once Master Bu Mei fully understood Chen Ye's thoughts, the two practiced together, making sure not to reveal any flaws.

Two days passed in this way, and finally, preparations were made for the arrival of the Great Cold season.

The two rode the Black Whirlwind again to the vicinity of Luoyan Town. After landing, Chen Ye asked the monk Bu Mei, "Master, are you ready?"

Monk Bumei nodded and said, "It's all ready."

"Then let's get started."

After saying this, Chen Ye put on a bamboo hat to cover his face, then rode the Black Whirlwind into the air, and shouted with all his might: "Nirvana Sect demon, where do you think you're going?!"

The sword box behind him emitted sword energy, shooting towards Monk Bu Mei.

Golden light shone from the monk Bu Mei's body, blocking the sword energy. He then clasped his hands together and loudly chanted, "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot. Benefactor, you have already broken the precept against killing. If you do not repent, you will surely suffer calamity!"

As he spoke, the monk Bumei retreated, heading towards Luoyan Town.

Even when walking on the ground, Monk Bu Mei was extremely fast. Not only was he completely unaffected by his eye disease, but it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head, allowing him to avoid all obstacles even when walking backwards.

One flew in the sky, and the other ran on the ground. Before long, they arrived at Luoyan Town.

Chen Ye roared again: "You demon, don't run away!"

The sound echoed continuously over Luoyan Town, and everyone heard it clearly.

At this moment, the monk Bu Mei had already broken through the city gate despite the countless sword energies and blended into Luoyan Town.

Mortals scrambled to avoid him, fearing they would be slashed by the celestial swordsman.

The monk Bu Mei, on the other hand, acted like a demon, grabbing two mortals with one in each hand and using them as shields, forcing Chen Ye to pursue him relentlessly without daring to unleash his sword energy.

The two continued their pursuit, rushing towards the home of Master Zheng, the wealthiest man in Luoyan Town.

(End of this chapter)