From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Jiang Liu led the way, clearing the path with Hu Yuan and Hu Jue, with Lu Zhen following closely behind. Fu De and Lu Zhen brought up the rear of the caravan, just in case.

The group walked through the passage and came to a protruding cliff. Looking down, they saw a magnificent city.

The crossroads gleamed with golden light, the nine-tiered palace exuded incense and the bells tolled. The bright stars shone on the azure sky at seven o'clock, travelers from all directions laid down their burdens. From the six military camps, the faint sound of bugles had just begun; from the five drum towers, the first drips of water from the bronze kettles were heard. A lingering mist rose from all sides, and warm fog ascended from the three markets. Couples strolled along the street, as the sun rose high in the east.

"Is it really that ancient golden kingdom?"

Gazing at the city bathed in golden light, Kui Lang shouted excitedly, while the eight laborers stared in disbelief...

Chapter 1417 Seeing Huang Feng Again, Upright as Ever

Along a small path beside the cliff, the group rode horses and drove camels down the mountain toward the magnificent capital.

Just as they entered the desert, before they reached the city gate, a magnificent tiger leaped out from behind a nearby rock. It stood upright, with yellow skin, black stripes, and a flowing white beard. It wore a dark green floral jacket, a dark red belt around its waist, and carried a machete. It shouted, "Wait! Passersby, go back where you came from, or you'll lose your life!"

I am the vanguard under the command of King Huangfeng, and I am here on patrol by the King's strict orders.

There is a monster in this desert that is harming the people.

My king is about to subdue that monster, and no commoner is allowed to enter. If any fool dares to trespass and disturb my king's ritual, I cannot bear the consequences.”

"father!"

Upon seeing the fierce tiger, Hu Yuan and Hu Jue were both shocked and rushed over to greet it warmly.

When the "Tiger Vanguard" saw the two fierce tigers coming up, he was startled. When he heard them call him "father," he bared his teeth, roared, and scolded, "You are my kinsmen, how can you be so shameless as to call me father? My two children are still in their swaddling clothes, how come they are as strong as you two?!"

Don't try to curry favor, or don't blame me for being ruthless!

Upon hearing this, Hu Yuan was startled, and Hu Jue was taken aback. They turned to look at Jiang Liu and then realized that this place was the Golden Ancient Kingdom, an illusion created by a single obsession. The people living in it were not real, and their memories were stuck in the past.

This "Tiger Vanguard" was their father, but in his memory at this time, the two children were still minors and naturally did not recognize them.

"Leave now and do not enter again, or you will be used as wine for the king!"

"Tiger Vanguard" brandished his longsword, the blade swirling with power. "Otherwise, this greatsword of mine is no joke."

"You say there are monsters in this desert? We escorted the caravan from east to west, and along the way we also subdued demons and monsters." Jiang Liu dismounted and bowed, saying, "We are willing to help the people of this place get rid of those monsters."

"What abilities do you have? How dare you claim to subdue demons?"

The tiger vanguard squinted, his face cold. After speaking, he raised his sword and attacked again, saying, "Fight me for three rounds first. If you can defeat me, I will trust you and take you to see the king."

If we can't defeat them, they must be treacherous and deceitful; we'll just have them to eat with our drinks.

"We'll take you on!"

Hu Yuan and Hu Jue exchanged a glance, drew their ring knives from their backs, and, with a gust of wind around them, engaged the tiger vanguard in fierce combat.

Like father, like son; each of the three is skilled in their own way. The first one, who cultivated his power on the Crouching Tiger Rock, is as strong as metal and iron, and has shaken cudgels and rakes. The other two, blessed by the Golden Lord, exhale like the wind and can withstand wind and sand.

The three families share the same origin, and their metal and iron resonate with the wind.

The three fought for eighty rounds, and the tiger vanguard could not withstand the onslaught and was defeated.

This is a perfect example of the saying "the student surpasses the teacher."

"What a hero! You have such skill!"

Tiger Vanguard got up, his eyes full of admiration, clasped his hands in a salute and said, "You must be highly skilled people with great supernatural powers. Please forgive my boldness, but I ask you to go and assist my king."

My king is not a demon from the mortal realm, but a righteous disciple from the Western Paradise. He couldn't bear to see the people here suffer, so he stepped in to help.

However, that monster's cultivation was also quite formidable...

With the help of these wise men, we will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort and end this calamity as soon as possible.

After saying that, the tiger vanguard stepped aside and pointed to a makeshift city wall in the desert ahead, saying, "My king is over there."

"It's just that my own strength is too weak; otherwise, I would have followed the ancestral teachings and, even at the cost of my life, eliminated that insect demon to assist Your Majesty."

At this point, Tiger Vanguard paused, looked at the Hu brothers, Hu Yuan and Hu Jue, and said as if possessed, "If my two young children can be as bold and spirited as you two in the future, I will be content."

Upon hearing this, the two brothers nodded to each other and said leisurely, "We hope you can rest assured, senior, that your two children will not disappoint you."

"Haha! Thank you both for your kind words!"

Tiger Vanguard laughed heartily and suggested, "I find you two familiar. Why don't we become sworn brothers?"

Upon hearing this...

Hu Yuan felt a chill run down his spine, and Hu Jue trembled all over.

How can a son become sworn brothers with his father?

What kind of behavior is this!

Jiang Liu stepped forward and laughed, "It's still more important to eliminate that insect demon."

"Yes, it's more important to kill the monsters."

Tiger Vanguard wasn't embarrassed at all; he laughed heartily and once again pointed the way for everyone.

The group bid farewell to Tiger Vanguard and headed along the sand path toward the makeshift city wall. Guided by soldiers from the Golden Kingdom, they climbed the watchtower and saw that familiar figure.

Yellow Wind Monster!

Upon seeing his enemy again, Hu Yuan and Hu Jue's eyes were hostile, but they knew it was an illusion of obsession and not real, so they temporarily suppressed their urge to attack.

The Yellow Wind Monster, or rather, the Yellow Wind Great Sage, also noticed the brothers' animosity towards him. He was puzzled but didn't take it to heart. He went straight to the point and said to Jiang Liu, "This insect demon is extremely cunning. It doesn't usually come out, only when the drum is beaten."

Why does it only appear when the drum is beaten?

This is because the ancient golden kingdom was located at the westernmost point of the world, the land of sunset. The people were able to live in peace by using the sound of the drums bestowed by Buddha to counteract the sound of the boiling sea.

Therefore, all the people of the Flowing Sand Kingdom believed in Buddhism.

However, the king felt that his prestige had been damaged, disliked Buddhism, destroyed mountains and temples, expelled those who practiced in temples, and changed the name of the country to Sharri.

From then on, every evening at dusk, whenever the people of the country beat the drum, the insect demon would appear and attack the capital, causing unrest among the city's inhabitants.

This can be seen.

The immortals and Buddhas of this primordial world are more like businessmen, and they even reveal a petty and calculating nature.

In Journey to the West, Buddha would at most complain that "the scriptures were sold too cheaply," but he would not actually retaliate against the Zhao family of Shravasti. He would still ensure the safety of the living and the liberation of the dead.

But this Buddha of the primordial world was someone who was unwilling to suffer any loss, completely lacking the virtues of a Buddha. Seeing that the Kingdom of Flowing Sand did not believe in him but still used the benefits he bestowed, he ordered people to "teach them a lesson"... This is not even a businessman, but clearly a slave owner.

In Jiang Liu's view, the immortals and Buddhas of this primordial world, due to the flaws in the Heavenly Dao, could not cultivate true immortality. Therefore, they had to do business and earn the innate Qi and the faith and vows of all living beings as offerings.

Then let's just make things clear.

Doing business is doing business, there's nothing shameful about it, and the efficiency might even be hundreds or even thousands of times higher than the current model.

Yet they couldn't let go of the noble image of being "immortals and Buddhas".

Or perhaps it's an inability to let go of the pride that comes with possessing power, a feeling of superiority over the weak, ordinary mortals...

These immortals and Buddhas are not even as good as their adoptive father, Ghost Hand King. They are all demons whose primordial spirits are dominated by the Three Corpses, Six Thieves, and Nine Insects, and who have stolen the positions of immortals, Buddhas, and saints.

Just like the Yellow Wind Monster in front of us—

In the past, although he had the body of a demon, he had the heart of a human. Even if he did not become an immortal or a Buddha, he was still an upright and chivalrous person who eliminated evil and protected the innocent.

But he was already dead...

With a clouded mind, one harms life and commits evil deeds, losing all compassion and beginning to scheme and plot, committing numerous sins that can never be reversed.

Pitiful!

Sigh!

Chapter 1418 The Great Sage Huang Feng's Heroic Deeds

The Great Sage Huangfeng explained the general situation of the insect demon Fubu and devised a series of strategies—

First, beat the drum to lure out the pufferfish.

They then lured him in and trapped him inside the city walls.

After arriving in the Kingdom of Sihali, Huangfeng Dasheng requested permission from the King of Sha to build an arc-shaped city wall based on the city gate, so as to surround the Fubu and prevent it from escaping.

"Brother Monkey, I'll go beat the drum, and you go to the desert to fight it. Lure it inside the city walls, and we'll join forces to trap and kill it. What do you say?"

"I need to protect the caravan, so I can't take action."

Jiang Liu shook his head and pushed out Hu Yuan and Hu Jue, saying, "They are my junior brothers, and they also have some courage and can lend you a hand."

"it is good!"

In fact, Huang Feng was somewhat judging people by their appearance and thought that the two tiger brothers with strong physiques were the ones with real abilities.

Lookout tower.

The yellow wind blows, and the drums beat loudly!

The Great Sage Huangfeng took the drumsticks handed to him by the soldiers of the Sihali Kingdom and struck the war drum. The drum resounded loudly, like the wrath of the Thunder God, echoing throughout the mountains and shaking the heavens. It caused the sand sea outside the wall to rise and fall like waves in the sea, making people tremble with fear.

Shala!

Yellow sand filled the sky, whipping up sand waves tens of feet high.

A giant beetle, with four limbs that could be vaguely seen, emerged from the sea of ​​sand. It was about three zhang tall, with a Buddha head on its back, and it looked majestic and proud.

It is:

Its armor is strong and its horns are sharp; it burrows and devours people, causing endless trouble.

The Buddha's head is actually an ominous object, with one side resembling a bodhisattva and the other a worm.

Upon seeing the Buddha head behind the bubbly, Baihua exclaimed in surprise, "That Buddha head is exactly the same as the one in the monster's hand, except that the one had a kind and benevolent face, while this one has a fierce and glaring face."

"Have you met Bodhisattva Lingji?"

The Great Sage Huang Feng was slightly surprised, "That Bodhisattva Lingji has two heads."

"How to say?"

Liang Lu was truly curious, "How can a Bodhisattva have two heads?"

“There are strange creatures in the world, born with two heads, or two-headed snakes, or two-faced turtles, or even two-headed humans.”

The Great Sage Huang Feng explained, “I have heard that before the Bodhisattva Lingji entered Mount Ling, he was a rare person with two heads, one of which was always angry and the other had a kind face.”