Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

Chapter 179 Features Surpass the Original Body

When Xiao Er and Ding Zimo returned, Xing Tianshi and the others were still outside the city. Last night, they unexpectedly encountered Yan Chixia and ran into a group of monsters while trying to subdue demons. Normally, they would have already taken action, but this time was different. The monsters were not gathered to cause trouble, but were just playing cards for entertainment.

Taoists, hermits, spirit beasts, swordsmen, and monsters gathered together, neither sparring nor fighting, but simply sitting together harmoniously playing cards. From afar, it looked like a chaotic dance of demons, but up close, it was a gathering of heroes. This was the first time Yan Chixia had ever seen such a scene in all his years of life, and he would probably never forget it.

But as long as these monsters don't gather together to harm people, he won't do anything to them. Many of the little monsters have gained intelligence but no human form. Although they already have demonic energy, they are just like ordinary animals if they don't cause trouble in daily life. He has no interest in killing animals indiscriminately in the wilderness.

Moreover, there are people here who are more powerful than him. They are surrounded by little monsters and haven't said anything. It would be even more inappropriate for him, a newcomer, to make a move.

Upon seeing Yan Chixia, Xing Tianshi originally wanted to pull him to the mahjong table as well, but Yan Chixia didn't know how to play mahjong in the Bitter Realm, and he would have to be taught again if he were to sit at the table, so it was better to continue playing with the monkey.

Moreover, half of the playful little monsters around them disappeared immediately, all fearing the aura emanating from Yan Chixia, especially the small box he carried, which they mostly avoided.

Among the many inhuman creatures present, only Ye Dai was unafraid of Yan Chixia's box, and even curiously tried to touch it. When he secretly reached out, Xing Tianshi grabbed him back.

"What kind of spirit beast is this?"

Yan Chixia recognized Ye Dai as a spirit beast, but he had never seen its appearance before and couldn't tell its species. Its overall appearance was similar to the monkey on the other side of the table, but its head clearly wasn't a monkey's; it looked more like an exaggerated child's face.

Any non-human creature with a human face, whether it is a divine beast, a spirit beast, or a monster, is extremely powerful.

"I don't know. In all my years of ghost hunting, I've only encountered this one. I've never seen any of its kind."

He does have companions, but his girlfriend Tiva is a modified ghost doll, and his other friends are not of the same kind. Yedai is a unique spirit beast.

"Why are you, a swordsman who vanquishes demons, dressed like a scholar? To be bait?"

The box contained his weapons for subduing demons and monsters. The intimidating power emanating from them made the little monsters run away. He introduced himself as a "swordsman," but dressed as a scholar. Such clothes were actually not suitable for drawing a sword in an emergency.

"Many demons target young scholars, and I do have the idea of ​​confusing my enemies. I travel around, and a swordsman always makes people wary, but if I am a scholar carrying luggage, no one will be afraid of me."

The feelings of the monsters are secondary. If it arouses the monsters' vigilance, you can push them down. But if Yan Chixia were to walk into the city with weapons and dressed as a chivalrous knight, the common people would be afraid. It would also be inconvenient in crowded places.

Moreover, it is currently the time when scholars are traveling to take the imperial examinations, so his appearance on a secluded road dressed like this will not arouse suspicion.

The place with the strongest demonic energy nearby was Xing Tianshi's place, but the reason for the high level of demonic energy here was entertainment, not chaos. Yan Chixia didn't make any arrangements for the rest of the time. He was also a bit curious about the people here, so he simply stayed.

Even the next day, when Xiao Er and Ding Ziming finished discussing the marriage with the Ding family and left with the letter Ding Ziming's father wrote to Zhao Wang, the place was still lively, especially the macaque that had been playing mahjong with them. Not only did it play by itself, but it also called on its friends and brought more macaques, along with several jars of fine wine that it had somehow acquired.

After confirming that everything was alright, Xiao Er even swapped a jar with the macaques. She knew that Zhao Wang would definitely be angry when they got back, and this wine looked good, so she would take it back to appease her father.

Yan Chixia watched the young couple leave on their paper kite. He could tell that Xiao Er's magical style was very chaotic, with almost no particular school or pattern. It was all a hodgepodge of spells, with the most obvious being his ability to control paper.

"They're all unorthodox methods. Who is this girl's teacher?"

Once the kite had flown away and disappeared from sight, Yan Chixia turned to ask Xing Tianshi for directions. He noticed that Xing Tianshi seemed quite familiar with the two men and assumed they were longtime friends.

He didn't discriminate against any particular school of magic, but Xiao Er was using all sorts of crooked methods. Many spells were common to each other, and the same effect could be achieved using different casting methods. He didn't mind seeing others use them differently.

However, unorthodox magic often has more dangerous side effects. For example, for the same magic array, some people only need to draw a few runes, while others need to place other treasures. Some people only need cinnabar to draw the runes, while others have to use human blood.

Xiao Er's situation is even more special. She learned all sorts of unorthodox and crooked methods, and because of the short learning time, she didn't even have a solid foundation in the basics. Her extraordinary talent is undoubtedly the reason why she is so powerful now.

Such skill made Yan Chixia's eyelids twitch, fearing that if the girl didn't handle things well, something bad might happen to him; it looked very dangerous.

If a master produces such a disciple, it cannot be said that he is simply irresponsible; he is clearly misleading his students!

"She's from the White Lotus sect, but she doesn't have a proper master."

While tidying up various mahjong props, Xing Tianshi answered Yan Chixia's questions. Since Xing Tianshi and his companions had just arrived, they were completely unaware of the White Lotus Sect's reputation among the common people and had no idea how shocking these words were.

"The White Lotus Sect?!"

If one learned their magic within the White Lotus Sect, it's understandable that their skills would be a mess. The White Lotus Sect has too many branches, and most of its members practice unorthodox and heretical methods. Learning a mix of these methods easily leads to a chaotic understanding, as there's no proper path to cultivation within the sect.

But if the other party is from the White Lotus Sect, then this is a big problem. The little girl just now seemed harmless and quite intelligent. How could she be from the White Lotus Sect, a den of thieves? And wasn't the person with him called "Scholar"? How did a perfectly good scholar become a member of the White Lotus Sect?

Neither Xiao Er nor Ding Zimo seemed like cult bandits, but Xing Tianshi had no reason to lie to himself, and Chen Jiu wouldn't call Ding Zimo "Scholar Ding" for no reason. The environment of the White Lotus Sect would indeed produce magic styles like Xiao Er's. Could these two young people have been bewitched by the White Lotus Sect?

"Could they have been misled? A demon king has suddenly appeared within the White Lotus Sect, wreaking havoc everywhere and bewitching many who have blindly joined them..."

"It's alright, it's alright. The sect that little girl belonged to no longer exists. She's back this time to propose marriage."

Xing Tianshi patted Yan Chixia on the shoulder, signaling him to calm down. The other man looked like he was about to take up his sword and go to the White Lotus Sect to rescue the bewitched young people.

"Oh right, who exactly is the Asura King?"

"It is a unique constellation."

Seeing Xing Tianshi's expression, Tianji knew that he hadn't taken seriously what Xiao Er had said yesterday. As someone in the know, Xiao Er had mentioned the matter of collecting Wan Jie when he was chatting with them.

"Woo...Woo..."

"The Dao Emperor's closed-door disciple? We're separated from him by dozens of dramas, how could I possibly remember him so clearly?"

Although they are all theoretically Daoist innate beings, their active periods are different. They stand with Shou Wanjie, their clothing styles are different, and their styles are even more distinct. How could he possibly remember them?

Besides, what good would it do for him, the Executioner? Would it help him catch ghosts?

"Anyway, don't worry about that White Lotus Cult thing, the Asura King is long gone. Oh, by the way, what did he look like?"

"Waaah...woo..."

Also, he pointed to Tianji, who was wearing a hood.

"...What is my relationship with King Asura?"

Yesterday, Xiao Er and the others were frightened by Tian Ji's ears. They were just standing nearby picking wildflowers and heard what he said. His meaning was very clear: he was talking about how Asura King Chang Tian Ji was.

However, apart from his rather eye-catching long pointed ears and his tragic past, Tianji believed that he had nothing in common with Shou Wanjie.

And what's wrong with his ears? There are plenty of people with long ears in the Bitter Realm, and he's covering them with his hat. Can't you just leave him alone?

Originally, Tianji, dressed in all black, stood out from the side and was not very noticeable. Even though Yan Chixia saw him first when he first arrived, Tianji was mostly silent and taciturn. On the other side, Xing Tianshi had a booming voice and was very talkative, as well as lively and lovable. Compared to them, Tianji's presence was weaker.

As a result, this single finger gesture immediately drew Yan Chixia's attention. He was clearly curious about how Tianji could resemble the Asura King.

According to the rumors Yan Chixia had heard, the two most distinctive features of the Asura King of the White Lotus Sect were his extremely bright red attire and his long, pointed ears, which were not found in ordinary people. He had never actually seen him before, and at most had only caught a glimpse of him from afar.

Turning to look at Tianji, he was dressed all in black and wearing a hood, with no matching features.

But judging from what these people are saying, it's as if they know the Asura King, or even are quite familiar with him.

"Speaking of which, I still don't know which sect or school the Celestial Masters belong to?"

Yan Chixia removed the hand from his shoulder, because when he arrived, Xing Tianshi and the others were engrossed in playing cards and hadn't bothered with introductions. Yan Chixia knew their names and titles from their conversation.

The beggar named Chen Jiu was a reclusive master, so I won't comment much. Xing Tianshi, a righteous Taoist priest who specialized in exorcising ghosts and had even subdued a strange spirit beast, should be very famous. But before this, he had never heard of any fellow Taoist with the surname "Xing" who could be compared to him.

"Oh, so you haven't said that yet!"

Xing Tianshi slapped his forehead. After all this commotion, they hadn't even properly introduced themselves.

"We are the Righteous One Heavenly Dao..."

"Zhengyi..."

He had barely uttered a sentence when Yan Chixia was stunned again. He knew about the Zhengyi Sect, but where did the Zhengyi Heavenly Dao come from? He had never heard of such a branch within the Zhengyi Sect.

If the other party is truly from the Zhengyi sect, then something is even more amiss. The Zhengyi sect is a major Taoist sect; if it had truly produced a master like Xing Tianshi, they would have been famous throughout the land long ago.

Moreover, he knew people in the White Lotus Sect, although it was a collapsed sect, yet he was still connected to the Asura King. It was a truly strange network of relationships.

To be honest, with all this information mixed together, he was a little unsure whether these people were good or bad.

"So, what exactly is the relationship between this gentleman and the Asura King?"

Upon hearing Xing Tianshi's translation of the phrase "the stupidity of the demonic sword wind," Yan Chixia sensed that the conversation might go astray and quickly steered the topic back on track.

So where exactly do they look alike, and why are you referring to him?

"Oh, it's an ear!"

After listening for a while, Chen Jiu suddenly realized that he wasn't there when Xiao Er Ding Zi Mo was startled by his ears yesterday. When he saw Xing Tian Shi and his group, he noticed the extraordinary nature of the two people and the beast. In addition, he got along well with Xing Tian Shi and didn't notice that Tian Ji's ears were different from others.

In fact, there are only two types of people who pay attention to the ears of the Heavenly Taboo: one type has seen the Heavenly Taboo's ears and is deeply impressed by the visual impact; the other type has never seen it but has heard too many rumors and is curious but can only imagine it based on a few features.

As for someone like Chen Jiu, who could easily recognize that Xing Tianshi and others were extraordinary, he didn't treat them as ordinary people from the beginning, so he naturally wouldn't pay attention to them, unless the other party really didn't look like a human at all.

"ear?"

"...Aren't there any people with long ears here?"

Tianji was speechless. Why was everyone so focused on ears? There were so many monsters here, and strange and supernatural things were happening all the time. Was there really no one with a special appearance?

Feeling that this topic about ears would go on forever if things continued like this, Tianji took off his hood again to show Yan Chixia the so-called "similarity" in order to end this torment as soon as possible.

In the Bitter Realm, let alone strangely shaped ears, many people have bizarre overall appearances. Tianji's is quite common; if you were to search for people in the Bitter Realm based on this characteristic, you could find villains and heroes, the strong and the weak, and even people who aren't human. However, these long, pointed ears with an inhuman feel are indeed rare in this world, even rarer than multicolored hair.

Because here, everyone yearns for the most normal and standard "human appearance". A demon's transformation may not be a handsome man or a beautiful woman, but it absolutely cannot be unlike a human. The simplest way to prove the success of your transformation cultivation is to see if people will notice anything amiss when you transform into human form, and whether they will suspect you when you interact with ordinary people.

However, after seeing Tianji's ears, Yan Chixia suddenly realized something. Most people's thinking is limited by rumors. They think that long, pointed ears and a red body represent the Asura King of the White Lotus Sect, which is not easy for ordinary people to imitate. But what about demons? For some demons with high cultivation, it's just a matter of changing clothes and making a special-shaped ear.

Because the image circulating online is so unique, it is difficult to fake. However, once someone deliberately dresses up like that, others will subconsciously believe it and will not doubt its authenticity.

"Does the Celestial Master know about the Asura King, or when the White Lotus Sect, which followed him, collapsed?"

"About a month, which was exactly the time when Ding Xiucai ran away from home."

Chen Jiu answered first, saying that Zhao Wang's family had joined the White Lotus Sect, which followed the Asura King. Ding Ziming had run away after hearing the news and had returned by now, which was about a month ago.

“It was gone a month ago… Then where did that Asura King come from when I saw it from afar ten days ago?”