Both start in hell: but their talents are multiplied a hundredfold.

The eighteen Arhats carried the Buddha's palanquin northward along the official road.

The reconstructed Buddha carriage felt as light as a feather, and the eighteen people walked several times faster than before.

Each step took you dozens of feet away, and the fields and villages beside the road receded like flowing water.

Just a few hours later, a drab county town appeared on the horizon.

It was nearly dusk, and the setting sun had dyed the city wall a dark red, like a congealed bloodstain.

A few lanterns hung sparsely at the city gate, their dim light casting an inscrutable glow on the faces of the soldiers guarding the city.

Shen Jue opened her half-closed eyes a crack.

Such a heavy sense of hostility.

The county town exudes an inexplicable gloom from the inside out.

The city walls were covered with withered vines, and piles of garbage that hadn't been cleaned up for who knows how long lay at the base of the walls. A cloying, rotten smell permeated the air.

The people entering and leaving the city gate all had their heads down and were walking hurriedly, like a flock of sheep being driven away, their eyes filled with numbness and fear.

Shen Jue's gaze passed over the city wall and landed on a certain place inside the city.

His intuition told him that more than one evil aura lurked in this county town.

Some came from living people, while others were not.

Amidst this murky atmosphere, there was a faint trace of pure and upright energy, like a white lotus blooming from the mud.

"Interesting." Shen Jue's lips curled up slightly.

The eighteen Arhats carried the Buddha's chariot closer to the city gate.

The enormous metal lotus platform gleamed in the setting sun, and eighteen strong monks marched in perfect unison, each carrying a priceless treasure on their shoulders.

This scene stood out starkly outside the dilapidated county town.

The soldiers guarding the city were the first to spot them.

The soldiers rubbed their eyes, then their mouths slowly opened wide, and they almost dropped their spears.

They had guarded this small county town for most of their lives, and the grandest spectacle they had ever seen was the county magistrate's sedan chair. They had never seen anything like this before.

A golden lotus platform was being carried by eighteen warrior monks, and a young monk in a white robe was lying on it.

Which deity has descended to earth?

"What are you standing there for?" the leading Arhat said in a deep voice.

"The abbot of Jinshan Temple is passing by; why won't he let us through?"

The soldiers snapped out of their daze and scrambled to the side, not daring to ask a single question.

It was quite a while after the Buddha's carriage entered the city gate that they came to their senses, looked at each other, and all had the same expression on their faces.

This county town is probably going to be in for some trouble.

The Buddhist chariot entered the main street of the county town.

The streets were narrow and dirty, and the shops on both sides had closed early, with only a few taverns still lit up.

The streets were nearly deserted, with only a few beggars occasionally glancing up from the corners of the walls. Their murky eyes lit up with greed the moment they saw the Buddha's carriage.

Although the light was faint, it did not escape Shen Jue's eyes.

He knew that those were not the eyes of a beggar; they were the eyes of a hungry wolf eyeing its prey, the eyes of spies planted on the streets by the evil forces that entrenched themselves in this county.

Sure enough, before the Buddhist carriage had even gone half a street, the news had already spread throughout the entire county.

In a private room on the second floor of a tavern, a burly, dark-faced man with a fierce expression was drinking with a trembling girl in his arms.

A skinny, monkey-like henchman scrambled in and whispered a few words in his ear.

The burly man with the dark face immediately widened his eyes, shoved the girl aside, rushed to the window in three quick steps, and lifted the bamboo curtain to look outside.

The eighteen Arhats were carrying the Buddha's palanquin as they passed by downstairs.

The lotus platform shimmered with golden light in the twilight, the golden lines along the edges of the lotus petals faintly visible, clearly a rare treasure.

The dark-faced man's breathing suddenly became heavy, and the greed in his eyes almost overflowed.

"Jinshan Temple?" He licked his lips.

"Is that the legendary, incredibly wealthy Jinshan Temple? Their abbot is here?"

"Absolutely true!" The henchman's voice trembled with excitement.

"Boss, that lotus platform looks like it's made of pure gold! If we could get our hands on it..."

"Shut up." The burly, dark-faced man slapped the henchman on the head, but his eyes never left the Buddha chariot.

"I've heard that monk at Jinshan Temple is not someone to be trifled with."

"Even if he's not someone to mess with, he's just a monk." The henchman covered his head, still unwilling to give up.

"With so many of us, are we afraid of just one guy?"

"He might not be able to kill all of us before he runs out of energy."

"Besides, we're not the only ones in this county. What will happen then..."

The burly, dark-faced man didn't reply, but a slow grin spread across his face, revealing a set of yellow teeth.

He knew the henchman was right. There were three factions in this county town.

Zhang San, the human trafficker in the north of the city; Zhou Bopi, the loan shark in the east of the city; himself; and Hei Jue Dao, the black-clad swordsman in the west of the city.

The three forces usually keep to themselves and refuse to yield to each other, but if they set their sights on the same piece of meat, they might temporarily join forces.

Hei Jue Dao lowered the bamboo curtain, turned to his henchmen and said, "Go, send someone to keep an eye on that monk and see where he'll stay tonight."

"Also, give Zhang San and Zhou Bopi a message."

"Just say..."

He paused, the fierce glint in his eyes flashing in the dim light.

"A big order has come knocking."

On the other hand, Shen Jue was completely unaware of all this, or rather, he was aware of it but simply couldn't be bothered to pay attention.

Several malicious thoughts buzzed around his ear like flies, but he didn't even bother to raise his hand to shoo them away.

He's only interested in that pure and upright spirit now.

"Stop," Shen Jue suddenly said.

The eighteen Arhats immediately stopped in their tracks.

The Buddhist carriage stopped at the crossroads of the main street of the county town, directly opposite a simple inn.

A crooked sign hangs at the entrance of the inn, with the four characters "Tongfu Inn" written in crooked strokes, as if written by a child.

Shen Jue sat up and looked down at the entrance of the inn.

There stood a scholar.

The scholar was about twenty years old, wearing a faded blue cloth robe, with a worn-out book box slung over his shoulder and a paper lantern in his hand.

He had a handsome face, with a scholarly air about him, and his eyes were as clear as mountain spring water, making him stand out from the gloomy county town.

Shen Jue stared at that face for a second, then her eyelids twitched.

so similar.

They are exactly the same.

That face, that expression, that bewildered look as he stood at the entrance of the dilapidated inn.

He and Ning Caichen from the classic movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" are practically identical.

Looking at this legendary ghost-controlling expert from all the worlds, Shen Jue felt a touch of wicked amusement.

This Ning Caichen was someone who sat at the same table as the legendary hero Xu Xian, who was known for his love of serpents.

The scholar seemed to notice the golden Buddhist chariot stopped in the middle of the road, turned around, and met Shen Jue's gaze.

He paused for a moment, then bowed respectfully, a shy but sincere smile on his face.

"This humble student, Ning Caichen, greets the Master."

Shen Jue nodded slightly, then suddenly smiled.

In the original plot of the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story", the scholar Ning Caichen, played by Leslie Cheung, went to Guobei County to collect debts and took shelter in the rumored Lanruo Temple due to heavy rain.

However, he was rejected by the bearded Taoist priest Yan Chixia.

So Ning Caichen secretly sneaked into the temple.

As night fell, Ning Caichen was drawn by the sound of a zither and encountered Nie Xiaoqian, a female ghost played by Joey Wong.

Nie Xiaoqian suddenly revealed her murderous intent, but fortunately Yan Chixia arrived in time to save Ning Caichen.

Later, Nie Xiaoqian was moved by Ning Caichen's integrity and kindness, and gradually developed feelings for him, but Yan Chixia stopped her.

Ning Caichen mistakenly believes Yan Chixia to be a murderer and tries to escape with Nie Xiaoqian.

The Tree Demon Granny forced Nie Xiaoqian to kill Ning Caichen, but Nie Xiaoqian refused.

The old woman then ordered her female ghosts to kill the two, but Yan Chixia appeared and saved them. He fought a great battle with the tree demon old woman and sealed her away.

Ning Caichen learns that Nie Xiaoqian is actually a ghost who was controlled by her grandmother because her remains were abandoned in the wilderness. Every night, she searches for strong men to absorb her grandmother's yang essence.

To prevent Nie Xiaoqian from being humiliated again, Ning Caichen agreed to send her remains back to the countryside for burial and reincarnation.

However, Nie Xiaoqian was abducted by the Black Mountain Demon of the Underworld to be his wife, and Yan Chixia went through many twists and turns before finally rescuing Xiaoqian.

In the original story, after being rescued by Ning Caichen and Yan Chixia, Nie Xiaoqian finally broke free from the tree demon's control and re-entered the cycle of reincarnation.

This love story, filled with demons, monsters, sword immortals, and strange heroes, was sung for a long time in Shen Jue's previous life.

Shen Jue suddenly thought of what if the frail and thin scholar Ning Caichen suddenly transformed into an incredibly strong and powerful man beyond Nie Xiaoqian's imagination.

I wonder if that female ghost who sucks people's yang energy can withstand Ning Caichen, who has abundant yang energy and is exceptionally powerful.

Now, Nie Xiaoqian probably won't be able to absorb Qian Ning Caichen's essence, right?