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

Chapter 124 Successful sneak attack
Things are looking up in Luoyan Town lately.

Master Zheng suddenly reduced the rent by more than half, the soldiers started paying for their meals, and even the girls in the brothels could get a free service once a month.

No one knows why, but as long as the barbarians don't invade this winter, then it will truly be a good time.

The universally praised Master Zheng was leisurely sipping tea at home today, seemingly in a particularly good mood, not even minding when a servant accidentally broke his beloved teapot.

He held a string of golden Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, which seemed to be made of gold or blessed by Buddhist teachings. With this treasure as a backdrop, the kind-hearted Mr. Zheng looked more and more like a Buddha.

Speaking of this Buddha, it was only recently that Mr. Zheng mentioned it to others. He heard that there is an omnipotent Buddha in the world, and as long as you sincerely worship him, any wish can be fulfilled. Mr. Zheng said that he himself received blessings from the gods and Buddha, and only then did he learn the principle of being kind to others.

Hearing this, many people in Luoyan Town felt admiration for the Buddha. To be able to get Master Zheng to reduce the rent, he truly had a compassionate heart.

If life were this comfortable every day, then perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to worship Buddha. Someone boldly asked Master Zheng if it would be good to build one of those temples in Luoyan Town; everyone would be happy to help, as long as they were provided with food.

In the past, they would never have dared to make such an excessive request. When they worked for Master Zheng, they had to take care of their own meals. If they were slow, they would be beaten. How could they dare to ask Master Zheng to provide meals?
It was only after Master Zheng worshipped Buddha that people became kinder and gentler, which is why he tried asking.

But Master Zheng said with a smile, "Everyone doesn't need to exert themselves, but providing meals is fine."

Then Master Zheng hosted a grand banquet, throwing out loads of silver to treat the townspeople to a meal.

Everyone thought Master Zheng had gone mad, but he ate a full bite during the banquet.

But alas, how could such a good man like Master Zheng have met with such misfortune today? Doesn't the Buddha protect good people?
This is a question that not only the people of Luoyan Town want to ask, but also that Mr. Zheng himself wants to ask.

There's only one day left until the Great Cold. If I just endure one more day, I won't have to wear this smelly, filthy human skin anymore, and I won't have to smile at these human beings anymore.

I had been playing along for almost a year, just to get more people into Luoyan Town.

If these animals live well, they will have more children, which will attract more outsiders to settle here.

In less than a year, half of Master Zheng's fortune had been lost, which barely brought the population of Luoyan Town to over ten thousand.

It wasn't easy to gather these ten thousand souls. The harvest time is almost here, so why would someone come to cause trouble?

A disciple of the Nirvana Sect, being chased by the Qinghe Sword Sect, accidentally ended up in Luoyan Town? And he even stormed into his own home.

Where did these Nirvana Sect disciples come from?

Master Zheng didn't recognize the blind monk, but he kicked the gate down and grabbed two gatekeepers, throwing them out.

If the Qinghe Sect disciple flying in the sky hadn't stopped, these two would have been pierced through by the sword energy.

But the two of them were still thrown quite a distance and suffered broken bones.

Master Zheng was heartbroken. Those weren't ordinary servants; they were his disciples in disguise. He had even personally peeled off the human skin to put on the two of them—it was such a painstaking process to make that human skin.

As for the disciples of the Qinghe Sword Sect, there's no mistake; who wouldn't recognize that sword aura?
Given his reluctance to harm civilians and his hesitant demeanor, he must be a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect.

But when did the Nirvana School ever have such a blind monk?
While he was still wondering, the two of them had already smashed through several walls in their chase and were almost in front of him.

Master Zheng was well aware of the monk's intentions: to rush into a wealthy family's house, use the terrain to escape, and take the elderly, women, and children hostage.

This is so Nirvana Buddhism.

It's not surprising that they don't recognize him. The Nirvana Sect has very lenient standards for accepting disciples. Anyone who recites "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot" can be accepted into their sect.

Perhaps it was a disciple taken in by a fellow disciple outside the sect; such things are too common to be surprising at all.

Just as Master Zheng was thinking this, he heard the Qinghe Sword Sect disciple shout, "Demon, quickly die! Your master, Monk Ku'e, has already died under the Qinghe Sword Technique. Do you think you can escape?"

Master Zheng was deeply surprised. It turned out that this was the disciple of his junior brother Ku'e. No wonder he had never seen him before. This junior brother was quite famous in the Nirvana Sect. He was extremely skilled at hiding and was one of the few monks who had defected from Cixin Temple to the Nirvana Sect.

I heard a while ago that he had bad luck and encountered Su Chunyi of the Qinghe Sword Sect. No matter how well he practiced his Zen meditation, he couldn't stop the Qinghe sword energy.

Then it's reasonable that he doesn't recognize this blind monk; perhaps he's a young monk who was abducted from Cixin Temple and didn't have time to return to his sect to register.

But fellow disciples can't ruin their plans. There's only one day left. What if the Qinghe Sword Sect finds out?
Master Zheng really wanted to throw out the prayer beads in his hand and refine the two of them together.

But he dared not, not because he dared not kill his fellow disciples, but because he dared not kill any disciples of the Qinghe Sword Sect. The Qinghe Sword Sect was sparsely populated, and every disciple who received the inheritance was a treasure. Killing even one would mean being hunted down to the ends of the earth.

For a thousand years, no demon has ever survived more than a year after killing a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect.

It's no use being unconvinced; the Qinghe Sword Sect is the best in the world.

This person cannot be killed, nor can his identity be revealed. Let this blind monk die; what does it matter to sacrifice an unregistered disciple for the sake of the Nirvana Sect's grand plan?

Given the Qinghe Sword Sect's style of doing things, they won't linger among mortals for long after they've finished their demon-slaying mission. It'll be fine once they leave.

In just one day, Luoyan Town will be gone, and I will be able to successfully establish my merits and return to the sect.

Master Zheng pretended to be flustered as he walked out, looking at the two pursuers, and kept shouting in his heart: "Kill them quickly! Kill them quickly! Why is your sword energy so inaccurate?"

Just as Master Zheng was preparing to secretly ambush the blind monk and kill him with the sword energy of Qinghe, he discovered that the blind monk had already rushed towards him, looking as if he wanted to take him hostage.

Master Zheng sneered inwardly. Perfect, he also wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of this blind monk and quickly send away this plague god of the Qinghe Sword Sect.

Master Zheng feigned panic, but secretly condensed a blood-red light in his palm.

This is the Asura Blade, a divine power he has cultivated. It can drain someone's blood with just a small cut. But this technique also has another use: injecting blood-red light into someone's body to manipulate their blood.

Once hit by one of his attacks, the blind monk will be dizzy and unable to resist.

Master Zheng didn't want to expose himself; he only wanted the blind monk to die under the sword's energy.

Just as Master Zheng had predicted, the blind monk grabbed him by the throat, pulled him in front of him as a human shield, and loudly threatened, "Don't keep pressuring me, or I'll kill him!"

Although Master Zheng's throat was being squeezed, he didn't care. At this moment, all he had to do was pretend to struggle and imprint the bloody light from his palm onto the blind monk's body, and he would be done.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Master Zheng didn't even dare to use magic to protect himself. In any case, the disciples of the Qinghe Sword Sect wouldn't dare to kill innocent people indiscriminately, and since this blind monk was going to use him as a human shield, he wouldn't immediately kill him.

Just a moment, just a single instant.

Master Zheng reached out and grabbed the monk behind him, but just as he was about to touch him, he suddenly felt pain all over his body.

By the time he realized what was happening, his entire body had been pierced by the sword light.

"How can it be……"

Master Zheng had been focused on the monks, and never expected that the Qinghe Sword Sect would actually harm the hostages.

Did his sword energy miss its mark?
Even with more than a dozen bloody holes in his body, the old demon in the Tongxuan Realm would not die easily, but his injuries were definitely not light, and behind him was the monk Bumei from Cixin Temple.

With a loud bang, Master Zheng felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him, and he couldn't even move a finger.

The human skin he was wearing was torn, revealing a bloodied, bald monk underneath.

"Amitabha Buddha, please forgive my sins, benefactor."

The monk Bu Mei opened his tightly closed eyes, and endless golden flames shot out from them, igniting Master Zheng's body.

Before he could even let out a scream, the demon of the Nirvana Sect had already turned to ashes.

The instant his physical body was consumed by fire and his soul left his body, Chen Ye had already covered him with the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

"It's time to enter the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, devil!"

With his physical body burned to ashes and his soul captured, the first demon of the Nirvana Sect was thus dealt with.

But neither of them relaxed in the slightest.

This method can only be used once. The remaining two demons must have already been alerted. According to the demonic sect's style, they would rather wait a little longer and regroup before coming to ensure their own safety.

(End of this chapter)