"I’ve been told by the little demons that the Buddhist stupa built by the Human Clan is a magnificent sight," said Little Fox excitedly to Lin Fang. "Shall we go and have a look together?"
Lin Fang shook his head slightly and replied, "I’d rather not."
"Why not?"
"Because I’m not keen on being captured by the Demon King to toil away," Lin Fang said, glancing at the excessively excited Little Fox.
"What?"
"What ’what’? In these desolate mountains, why would any monk go out of his way to build a stupa? It’s obviously an illusion conjured by the Demon King to lure unsuspecting travelers into his trap, to slowly savor them," Lin Fang said irritably.
Little Fox suddenly realized and felt that the monsters nowadays were indeed too crafty.
Lin Fang, however, thought to himself that Kui Wood Wolf was a Star Lord of the Heavenly realm who was accustod to seeing deceit and intrigue. To him, such simple traps were effortless to overco. But he had no intention of eting with the Demon King; there was no benefit in it for him. He decided to first visit the Baoxiang Kingdom. Since his arrival in this world, he had never set foot in a city of the Human Clan, and the thought actually excited him a bit.
Ignoring the stupa that seed close enough to touch, Lin Fang continued on his way with Little Fox. But as the saying goes, ’the trees may prefer calm, but the wind will not subside.’ Just as they were about to leave, two little monsters sprang out from the forest. One was an upright toad wielding a steel fork, which looked as though it had been stolen from a farr.
The other was a centipede spirit, holding an axe and looking shabby, obviously not an elite little demon.
"Big brother, looks like there’s at delivered right to our doorstep, no wait, why is it a Fox Spirit?" The toad seed rather disappointed upon noticing the fluffy ears atop Little Fox’s head.
"Who cares? If it’s human, we eat it. If it’s not, we rob it. We can’t go back empty-handed," said the centipede spirit.
"Why’s that?"
"You fool, haven’t you heard that thieves must never leave empty-handed?" scolded the centipede spirit, hitting the toad on the head, his frustration hinting at his disappointnt.
Lin Fang couldn’t help but laugh at this, drawing the furious glare of the two little monsters.
"Who’s this Taoist, so fair and tender-looking, daring to mock , the great king?" boasted the centipede spirit, raising its body proudly. The toad spirit stood behind him, bolstering his nacing presence.
"It’s nothing. I just wanted to say that what you’re doing is called robbery, not related to the saying ’thieves must never leave empty-handed,’ which is about thieves," Lin Fang explained.
"See, big brother, you got it wrong," the toad spirit imdiately shouted loudly.
The centipede spirit angrily struck him on the head, shouting back, "You idiot! He’s mocking our stupidity. Can’t you hear it? Besides, thieves and robbers are all the sa."
The toad spirit, holding his head, glared at Lin Fang and said, "It’s all because of you, despicable Taoist; you’re the reason I got hit. I’m going to eat you."
Yet Lin Fang’s face showed no fear, only a smile as he asked, "Why do you want to eat people? Don’t you think it’s cruel?"
"It’s only natural for monsters to eat humans. Our king says it helps increase our practice of cultivation. Wait, why am I telling you this?" said the centipede spirit, sowhat annoyed.
Gazing at the two foolish little demons, Lin Fang’s mood turned exceedingly cheerful, and a happy smile appeared on his face.
This kind of smile, to the two little monsters, seed like a huge mockery, imdiately igniting the fury in their hearts as they rushed to kill Lin Fang.
In just a short while, the two little monsters returned to Boyue Cave with their heads covered in large bumps and dark eye circles, kneeling before the Yellow-robed Monster to explain the whole affair from start to finish.
"That’s what happened, he beat us up." The swollen half of their faces made it difficult for them to enunciate properly.
However, the Yellow-robed Monster simply waved them away with a gesture, pondering for a mont before murmuring to himself, "Strange Taoist, but it seems he is not a lackey of the Heavenly Court."
But whenever he thought of the omnipresent spies of the Heavenly Court, the Demon King couldn’t help but frown, looking upward at the layers of the Heavenly realm that made him feel breathless.
anwhile, behind the depths of the Cave Mansion, Bai Huaxiu was clutching her handkerchief tightly, full of regret. If only that Taoist could co to this Cave Mansion, perhaps she could send a ssage through him.
Of course, Lin Fang was blissfully unaware that his actions had soured the mood of both the Yellow-robed Monster and his wife. At the mont, he was cheerfully heading out to Baoxiang Kingdom with Little Fox, thinking to himself that people indeed need to relieve stress. After beating up two dumb monsters, he felt much better.
Soon they left the Black Pine Forest, and the fortifications of Baoxiang Kingdom ca into view. The sturdy and tall city walls imdiately caught Little Fox’s attention.
"Is this the city wall? It’s amazing, like a big mountain," Little Fox exclaid admiringly.
Lin Fang, on the other hand, couldn’t help but purse his lips inwardly, thinking to himself that Little Fox hadn’t seen the ancient cities on Earth, which were much more impressive.
To tell the truth, the scale of Baoxiang Kingdom was a bit disappointing to Lin Fang. It was really quite small, and the fact that such a small city was the capital was shocking to him.
Walking with an excited Little Fox towards the city gate, what they first noticed was Bai Huaxiu’s missing person notice. Lin Fang didn’t expect that Bai Huaxiu was so cherished by her father that the search was still ongoing after all these years.
"Esteed Taoist Priest, might you know the person in the painting?" asked the City gate official excitedly.
"I don’t know them, just curious, that’s all."
The City gate official imdiately changed his tone, saying, "If you don’t know them, don’t look. A Taoist should renounce secular attachnts; if you can’t, better to return to lay life sooner. If you want to enter the city, bring out the silver first."
Lin Fang looked at this chaleon-like City gate official and mused that no matter how tis change, so people’s ability to flip-flop is always preserved.
With a slight gesture to Little Fox, who quickly dug out a handful of shattered silver to hand over to Lin Fang, the City gate official’s eyes lit up upon seeing this, eagerly rubbing his hands together in anticipation of his ’tip’.
Lin Fang, of course, generously handed over the silver to him, since it was all just stones transford by Little Fox’s illusion anyway.
Once Lin Fang and Little Fox passed through, the City gate official watched in the direction they left, greed flashing across his face. He quietly called over a subordinate, instructing him to follow Lin Fang and find out where they were staying.
"How long does your illusion technique last?"
"Don’t worry, they’ll only notice by evening," Little Fox said with full confidence.
"Don’t use that illusion technique recklessly. I’ve got plenty of money on ; we’ll get so shattered silver later," Lin Fang warned Little Fox after giving it so thought, because using the illusionary silver to buy things would be cheating people—hard-working folk at that—and there was no need since he wasn’t short on real silver.
However, he quickly realized soone was following them, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he said to Little Fox, "It seems soone’s bringing us silver."
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