I transformed into a demonic spider lily.

"Tampering with your five senses and changing your perception of reality—that's your current situation. Everything you see, hear, and even smell is false."

Kikyo explained.

"...Then what is the real one like?" Xueji asked curiously. Since neither the spider lily nor the bellflower was flustered, she wouldn't be either.

"I advise you not to ask so many questions. It's better to stay ignorant and clueless than to see what we see."

The red spider lily offered a rare, kind reminder.

"Who do you think you are? Don't imagine me to be so fragile, okay? I've seen it all. On the contrary, I don't want to accept the feeling of knowing that all my senses have been tampered with!"

Yukiji shouted in protest.

That's what she said.

Ignoring Yukiji, Higanbana said to Kikyo, "I tried to persuade her, but she wouldn't listen. I can't worry about the rest."

Having said that, Higanbana placed her hand on the table, her eyes revealing a blood-red light. Her demonic aura was like the wind that parted the clouds, revealing everything to Xueji's eyes.

The so-called superior guest room was nothing more than a dilapidated wooden hut that was even drafty. The roof creaked and groaned as if the planks might fall at any moment. A bright moon could be seen hanging in the sky, with no lights flickering and only the moonlight shining on the temple.

The autumn night was chilly, and Xuelu quickly hugged himself. He hadn't felt this way before; he'd even felt warm. Had even his sense of touch been altered? How could this be so absurd?!

Looking down, Xuelu felt as if the vegetarian food in her plate was wriggling. So, by the bright moonlight, she took a closer look and immediately felt like she was going crazy.

The plate contained a bowl of maggots that emitted a pungent odor. There were no grains, and even the original green vegetables were a pile of rotten, charred, and unidentifiable things. Xuelu picked at it with her chopsticks a couple of times and managed to pull out a finger from it. The nail fell off, but the blood-red color seeped out.

And it even moved a little.

"vomit……"

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Monster: Reverse Pillar

……

"vomit……"

Who can withstand this?

Xuelu immediately pressed her hand to her chest, feeling a surge of nausea in her stomach. Fortunately, she hadn't eaten much at noon, otherwise, it wouldn't just be dry heaving now.

"Little Snow Road~ Want to eat together?"

But what the other flower loved to do most in her life was to kick a helpless girl when she was down. She slowly walked over with a plate in her hand, finally letting Yukiji witness the terror of the monster.

"Don't come any closer!"

Yukiji was so exhausted from vomiting that she couldn't even stand up. Fortunately, she wasn't far from Kikyo, so she crawled over, hugged the latter's leg tightly, and cried out, "Kikyo-nii, save me!"

"...Hey, hey! What are you doing? Let go of my hand right now!" At this, the spider lily became anxious and quickened her pace.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh—!" As Higanbana approached with the plate, Yukiji suddenly let out a series of ghostly screams, which frightened her so much that she immediately burrowed into Kikyo's arms.

"Cough cough!"

Seeing this, Kikyo raised her hand to cover her mouth and coughed twice, pretending to be serious, and said, "Miss Yukiji, what kind of behavior is this? And Hana too, stop fooling around. Now is not the time for you to act recklessly."

"Oh~"

The red spider lily obediently sat back down, but didn't forget to give the snow road a deep, brooding gaze. She even used her chopsticks to pick through the food on her plate, finally picking up a piece of cloth that was covered in sticky, bloody flesh and crimson color. After examining it carefully...

It's time for Detective Higanbana.

New machine words, dig one more, Mohe more!

This is the body of a villager.

Seeing this, Xuelu showed a look of horror again. The ability to tamper with the five senses was truly terrifying. It could turn rotten things into delicacies and the stench into fragrance. No wonder she could smell the "meat aroma" just now.

After the initial shock, Yukiji breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she had the spider lily and the bellflower by her side this time. Otherwise, if she had actually eaten that vegetarian meal, she would probably be unconscious by now. Being unconscious was secondary; the main thing was that she didn't even want to recall what she had just seen.

When did you discover the problem?

After recovering, Xuelu asked.

"I already knew that when we were at the foot of the mountain. The demonic aura there was just as strong as mine."

The answer from the red spider lily was perfectly natural.

"Then why did you come in?!"

Yukiji was initially quite surprised, but then said with emotion, "I never thought that rumor was true. The monks of Senso-ji Temple are the most famous masters in Ueno Province, yet they were harmed by monsters."

"Actually, I don't care. The problem is that this shrine maiden wants to come in, so I'll just let her have her way."

The red spider lily shifted all the blame onto the bellflower.

"While the rumors are true, they are not entirely accurate."

Kikyo calmly corrected Yukiji's statement.

"Speaking of which, since there's something wrong with this temple, could the monk I just saw be a monster, the legendary demon monk?" Xue Lu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as she had just been in the closest contact with that monk.

"Don't overthink it. I already said that the demonic aura in this temple is not much weaker than the one on me. Not to mention that monk who can't even tell that I'm a demon, even ten or a hundred of them couldn't gather this kind of demonic aura."

The red spider lily boasted.

"The monks in the temple are perfectly fine. Although they are all dead, they are not monsters, but rather imprisoned here as earthbound spirits. Their five senses have also been altered, and they have forgotten the memories of their deaths, living in a false world. That is why I decided to come in and find out."

After saying that, Kikyo stood up and continued, "The matter that needed to be investigated has been clarified. The demonic aura in the temple was spreading from the main hall. The source of the anomaly is there."

"So, are we going to make a move?"

The red spider lily smiled and tossed her hair.

……

Upon arriving at the main hall of the temple, the gates were tightly shut, seemingly indicating that all the monks had returned to their rooms to rest. However, those who had already seen through the truth knew that the answers to all the questions surrounding this incident were hidden within this place.

Kikyo stretched out her hands and pushed open the door. A thick miasma rushed in. Higanbana waved her hand, and a demonic wind blew the evil energy inside the house out.

More than thirty figures sat before the Buddha, but each of them looked as if they had been drained of their blood, leaving only skin and bones, as if they would crumble into ashes at the slightest touch.

"He's the monk who brought us food just now!" Xue Lu even spotted a familiar corpse among the food. Was the other person really dead?

Kikyo looked around. There were thirty-seven prayer cushions in the hall, but only thirty-five corpses. The position of the presiding monk and one corner at the edge were obviously empty.

On a pillar, the red spider lily discovered a dented palm print, still containing faint magical power and the aura of a demon that had been exorcised by magic.

Could it be that the monster here has already been dealt with?

After exchanging a glance, the bellflower and the spider lily raised their voices and said, "Flower, I need to purify them so that they can be freed from the shackles of their obsessions and return to the underworld. Could you please keep an eye on our surroundings for me?"

"It's troublesome, then hurry up."

Upon hearing this, the other shore flower grumbled for a while. Although she agreed verbally, she did not take any action. Instead, she leaned against the pillar with the palm print in it, and suddenly an umbrella appeared in her hand, which she gripped tightly.

"Hey~ Lycoris radiata, where did you get your umbrella? I don't remember you bringing it with you when you came." Lycoris radiata and Kikyo relaxed their guard, and Yukiji was able to sit down and chat.

Instead of explaining, Higanbana pulled Yukiji to her other hand. Yukiji immediately covered her chest with both hands and warned, "Don't do anything reckless. Kikyo Shrine Maiden is still watching you from over there."

On the other side, Kikyo glanced at the spider lily, nodded subtly, then drew a pentagram on the floor of the palace, including the more than thirty corpses, and began to chant some obscure and difficult-to-understand prayers.

As she prayed to God, spiritual energy began to circulate along the pentagram mark, flashing with azure light and scattering onto the corpses within the formation. Dark brown smoke swirled around, which was the demonic energy that bound the monk to remain in the mortal world.

Regardless of the profession of cultivation, the rituals of array formations have always been solemn. Once started, they cannot be ended casually, otherwise, one will inevitably suffer backlash damage.

Especially if attacked while the formation is in operation, it will be even more fatal. Regardless of whether the attack is successful or not, the backlash will seriously injure the person involved.

Suddenly, the corners of Higanbana's mouth curled up. She placed her hand on Yukiji's chest, and under his astonished gaze, grabbed his collar and said, "You're here~"

What's coming?

Could you put your hand down first?

Just as Xueji was about to discuss this matter with Biyanhua, he felt the surrounding temperature drop sharply, and unfamiliar demonic energy filled the entire palace in an instant.

Three demon masks emerged from the other three pillars and headed straight for Kikyo, clearly intending to launch a sneak attack when she was off guard.

However, they were not as fast as the spider lily. With its left hand carrying the snow path, it threw the other behind the bellflower, while the spider lily held up its umbrella in its right hand to protect the bellflower.

"Haoyougen!" The other shore flower used her barrier to block the impact of two demon masks in succession. Feeling that their attacks were not strong, when the third demon mask came, she removed the barrier and kicked the demon mask into the tree outside the door with a 360° spinning side kick. The demon power was contained in her foot.

This is the number one monster in the Chinese national football team!

"My legs are quite long."

"That's what the red spider lily said rather narcissistically."

Her beautiful, shapely, and slender legs were slightly bent, showing off her perfect figure. The other shore flower looked down contemptuously at the three ghost faces, which then reattached to the pillar along the shadows on the ground.

"Idiot, do you really think I'm completely unsuspecting?"

-

[True Name: Reverse Pillar (SR)]

[Level: 24]

-

Three monsters of the same kind, all SR-rank. These monks deserved to die. There must have been a fourth one before them, but he was killed.

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Strange Tales of the Demonic Monk and the Evil Ghost Asura

……

"what--!"

When the demon masks returned to their original forms, they emitted piercing shrieks, comparable to the ultrasonic waves of a hundred demon bats, but the demonic power contained within them was dozens of times stronger.

"What is this?!"

Upon hearing this shrill sound, Yukiji felt as if her eardrums were about to burst, and her head was throbbing unbearably. She raised her hands to cover her ears, but it was to no avail. After all, the Reverse Pillar used sound as a weapon, and to truly isolate the influence, she still needed to use spiritual magic.

"This is the Buddhist scripture you praised so highly before. Don't you feel your soul trembling, as if you might ascend to the Western Paradise to meet the Buddha at any moment? Hahahaha..."

The red spider lily imbued her parasol with demonic power, then tossed it to Yukiji, whose scarlet barrier protected him from the demon's shriek.

That's right, this shriek is the "voice of reciting Buddhist scriptures." However, the difference is that the previous wailing and howling were not aggressive; they were just simple howls. But now, even the spider lily feels overwhelmed by the sharp sound.

So the spider lily called out to the bellflower, "Bellflower, stop acting!"

"……I see."