Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home

Chapter 449 Fiend

Puren looked at Li Yundong and said slowly, "But... I still want to hear your reason for wanting to learn the Bafang Killing Formation."

Li Yundong knew that it was impossible for him to get Puren to teach him such an important magic circle without explaining his need clearly. It would be an idiot’s daydream. Actually, Li Yundong hadn’t really been expecting Puren to teach him such an important circle, but he thought that he could at least get him to personally arrange one in the place he wanted.

Li Yundong told him about the feud between the Fox Zen School and Yan Fang and then spoke of his plans. Finally, he said, "Master Puren, as the saying goes, there are no lies in front of Zhenren. I must catch Yan Fang, but I won’t kill her, and after thinking about it, I have decided to ask you for help. Please teach me Bafang Killing Formation so that I can trap Yan Fang. I will definitely thank you in the future."

Puren lowered his eyes, his face void of expression. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Amitabha Li, I’m aware of the issues of which you speak. However, this Bafang Killing Formation is too big of a deal. I can’t make the decision to teach it to you."

Li Yundong had been expecting this, so he was not discouraged. "Master Puren, could you please mobilize the Bafang Killing Formation to help me catch Yan Fang?" he implored.

Puren still shook his head. "Sorry, I can’t."

"Why?" Li Yundong asked with a frown.

"Yan Fang is an internal disciple of Linggong Sect, which is one of the first sects, the Zhengyi School of Taoist sects. She became famous very early, and all of the cultivators of the older generation knew her name. She was pretty much considered a celebrity of the Taoists Cultivation World. If I were to use the Bafang Killing Formation to capture her, the Zhengyi School would find an excuse to threaten me. If that happens, there will be frequent fights between the Buddhist and Taoist sects. It would be fine if it was just a fight. If the state gets involved, it will spell trouble for the Cultivation World."

Li Yundong looked disappointed. "Can we only watch Yan Fang behave recklessly then?"

Puren put his palms together and sighed. "Amitabha, I can’t help you, but you don’t have to worry. As the saying goes, there must be a road before the mountain, and the boat will go straight to the bridge. You already have the burning thumb pot. When the time comes, there will no doubt be a wonderful way to deal with Yan Fang."

Li Yundong laughed bitterly. "wonderful plans. If even one of them is missed, it will be a failure. How could I have any to deal with Yan Fang? It’s okay that this old monk doesn’t want to lend it to me, but he needn’t use such words to fob me off."

Seeing Li Yundong’s face full of disappointment and a wry smile, Puren thought for a while and finally said, "Amitabha Li, in fact, you should think about why I would lend the burning thumb pot at a time like this."

Li Yundong suddenly had an idea and asked, "Master Puren, do you want to...?"

Puren turned to look at the head of the monastery of the Jinshan Temple, Master Xincheng, and the two men smiled at the same time. Puren bowed and said, "Amitabha Li, you have a high level of comprehension. However, you want to understand the grievances of the sects, but we want to catch a fiend!"

Li Yundong asked tentatively, "Great masters, who is the fiend you want to catch?"

Puren shook his head. "Some things can’t be known by a third person! You’ll know when the time comes."

Li Yundong was a little dissatisfied, so he asked again, "When will that be?"

Puren thought for a while. "On the eighth of the next lunar month."

"The eighth?" Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, but he then thought of something and asked, "When is the Taoist assembly?"

Puren and Xincheng looked at each other again, smiled at the same time, and said in unison, "Yes, it’s also on the eighth!"

Li Yundong was shocked!

"Are these two old monks going to eliminate demons at the Taoist assembly?

"That’s not right. The people who participate in the Taoist assembly are all cultivators from various Taoist sects. What demons are these two old monks planning to catch?

"Are they going to try and capture the fox spirits who cultivate in my sect?"

Li Yundong was surprised by the direction of his own thoughts. "That can’t be right, they would have gone after them long ago. Why wait until the Taoist assembly?"

Li Yundong couldn’t help asking again, "Great masters, which fiends are you intending to catch at the Taoist assembly?"

Puren said with his eyes downcast, "We can’t say!"

Li Yundong couldn’t help but give a bitter chuckle. "Master Puren, you are so mysterious. What are you going to do?"

"As the saying goes, If the emperor speaks carelessly, he will lose the support of the minister. If the minister is not careful, he will lose his life; if the affairs in progress are not kept secret, they will be unsuccessful. Amitabha Li, don’t ask any more questions. Since you already have the burning thumb pot, you ought to be satisfied. Maybe when the time comes, we will be able to join hands to eliminate demons together!"

After he had finished speaking, he shouted the name of a Buddhist monk again and clapped his hands. After a while, a greeting bonze emerged from the end of the corridor. "Fajian," Puren said. "Take Amitabha Li to the guest room to rest. I’m a little tired."

“Alright, looks like I’m being made to leave!” Li Yundong thought to himself.

Li Yundong had no choice but to bow and say goodbye to Puren and Xincheng. At least his trip had not been in vain. Although he hadn’t received the Bafang Killing Formation, he had finally gotten his hands on the burning thumb pot. He was now a little more confident about catching Yan Fang’s Yang Spirit.

But when Li Yundong followed the bonze back, he was still troubled. "Judging from the situation just now, it is obvious that Jinshan Temple and Xiyuan Temple have been working together to catch the fiend. But what kind of fiend could it be?

"Judging from the fact that I broke into Xiyuan Temple before and found that they had released two big golden snakes, it seems that these monks could not accommodate the outsiders? Otherwise, why would they have been refining these two big golden snakes?

"What did those two snake monsters have to do with them? Why would these great monks have had to deal with a couple of snakes?

"If snake demons can’t be allowed to exist in this world, what about a fox spirit like Su Chan? Is she also forbidden?

"Judging from the events of the past five thousand years, fox spirits can be even more harmful to the world than snake demons!

"However, based on my contact with Master Puren of Xiyuan Temple, he does not seem to have any opposition to Su Chan and the others. He seems to have persuaded himself to be kind.

"Besides, what kind of monster is Su Chan?

"Still, if these monks really want to go after her, what can I do?"

Having thought of this, Li Yundong stopped, and his expression was strangely solemn.

The greeting bonze looked back in confusion and asked, "Amitabha Li, what’s the matter?"

Li Yundong had a cold expression, his eyebrows were full of malice, and he said in a cold voice, "Nothing. You go first. I’ll look at the surrounding scenery alone."

Seeing that Li Yundong was looking ominous, the bonze wanted to ask him a few questions. However, it was put off by Li Yundong’s evil spirit and did not dare to speak even though he was worried that something would happen to Li Yundong, so he simply nodded and hurried towards the backyard, going to report to the head of the monastery.

Li Yundong didn’t know what the greeting bonze was thinking, he just stood there alone, his eyes strangely grim.

When the question from before surfaced in his mind, Li Yundong realized that he would not hesitate to help Su Chan. In his opinion, no matter who wanted to hurt his favorite person in the world, whether it was Buddha or Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva, he would only be able to say one thing: "Let’s fight!"

"But the question is... who are they trying to capture? Who is this fiend? Obviously, it’s not Yan Fang!

"If it’s someone else from the Fox Zen School, what should I do? If they really want to catch Su Chan, what could their reason be?"

These questions rushed into Li Yundong’s mind one after another, sinking him into a depressed fugue for a while. Although the surroundings were of antique temples and the scenery was beautiful and elegant, Li Yundong was not in the mood to appreciate them at all.

While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the voices of two women talking not far away, and the content of the conversation immediately caught Li Yundong’s attention.

"Hey, Xiaxia, why are the groups led by you made up of so many weird people this time? I’ve seen odd Japanese people before, but never like this. They didn’t take pictures of any of the scenery, just of the talismans in these trees, and then they took photos of the monks in the Mahavira Hall. Don’t you think that’s strange?"

"Lanlan, you haven’t seen anything yet! Did you see those Japanese pointing and talking about the Sutra Depository of Xiyuan Temple?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what they were talking about?"

"I’m not as good as you at Japanese, and my listening is pretty bad. Xiaxia, tell me what you heard."

"Well, those Japanese people were pointing the Buddhist scripture pavilion out to the little girls with them, and they said,’Tachibana Wakako, you see, this is the best preserved Sutra Depository in any of the Buddhist temples in South China. The fact that it’s so rich and complete makes it famous throughout Asia.’ Then do you know what the little girls said?"

"I don’t know, just tell me quickly. Don’t always make me guess what it is!"

"The little girl asked, ’But why do other temples that are much older than Xiyuan Temple not have as many scriptures as Xiyuan Temple?’"

"Yes, her question was very interesting! Although Xiyuan Temple is not exactly young, there are other temples much older than this in our country!"

"Listen to me! The old man told her, ’Tachibana wakako, there was a terrible catastrophe in this country forty years ago. This catastrophe was no less than burning books and burying scholars of the Qin dynasty. During this catastrophe, many temples and Taoist temples were destroyed, and many scriptures were burned. At the time, the head of the monastery of Xiyuan Temple, Master Mingkai, led the monks to fight back and guard the temple gate day and night so that they could protect the Buddhist scriptures of Xiyuan Temple.’"

"Wow, the Japanese know a lot about our country’s history! I didn’t even know this stuff."

"Yes, I often lead groups around Xiyuan Temple, but even I don’t know that. The Japanese seemed to know everything about it. Don’t you think it’s weird? And there is even more weird stuff!"

"Like what?"

"Well, that old man also said, ’After a while, the famous Taoist assembly will begin. At that time, we will have to go and recognize the cultivation masters of the Taoists. Lanlan, who do you think these Japanese are? I saw that some of them were wearing monks’ robes in their residences."

"What is the Taoist assembly? They weren’t just crazy, right?"

The more Li Yundong listened, the more strange and shocked he felt, especially when he heard them mention the Taoist assembly. He finally couldn’t help himself and walk behind the two women whispering to each other, asking in a deep voice, "Excuse me..."

Hearing him cut in, the two women were shocked. They turned their heads at the same time, and the three of them all stared at each other, all surprised. Li Yundong and the two women blurted at the same time, "It’s you?!"