Qiantang Province, somewhere in the sky, the Sky-reaching Floating Pagoda transformed by the Great Transcendence Bodhisattva was heading towards Yutian County.

Atop the Floating Pagoda, noble ladies from various prominent families and Great Sects within the province, fairies, witches, Daoist female cultivators, Buddhist monks... This group of women, gathered in a circle, were either playing flutes, strumming instruments, or whispering tenderly into each other's ears, comforting a peerless beauty in their midst who bore a face of sorrow.

That Buddhist's son, if not Zhen Buchi, then who could it be?

On the other side, Tao Qian and Yunrong sat together, seemingly a perfect match, truly a couple made in heaven, evoking envy in anyone who saw them.

Poor Zhen Ci'en, the pitiful eldest Miss of the Zhen Family, was lonely and neglected.

And at angles invisible to the others, the venerable Miao Yin Bodhisattva always maintained her dignified posture.

But now, she showed a face of disdain. Though she did not speak, Tao Qian instantly understood his big sister's thoughts:

"A foolish monk who cultivates the way of emotional attachment, surrounded by foolish women."

...

Zhen Buchi currently looked so sorrowful not because he had practised the emotional monk's way and fell into demonic obsession.

Rather, half a day earlier, after leaving Qingzhu County, Tao Qian led his group directly to Jinhua County.

This county also harbored a place of evil called "Joyful Forest," which appeared last among the "Qiantang Five Strange Phenomena," and naturally had the least strength and heritage.

As long as Tao Da could enter it, he could instantly eliminate all demons and evil spirits within, and refine the whole evil land within the Yu Ding.

However, the problem was that he could not enter.

The reason was simple: Tao Da, or rather, the identity of Wu Gou Buddha Son, had grown famously loud after suppressing the Free Buddha Son Shenxiu Monk, destroying Evil Country, and setting fire to Hidden Mountain.

It was said that most Jialan protectors preferred to cultivate in their Cave Mansion, but they were not completely isolated from the news.

If it had been a Good God Jialan, it would have been fine, as they would not only have not obstructed but would have eagerly awaited Tao Qian's arrival.

The Jialan standing outside Joyful Forest, however, was from the evil kind.

After Tao Qian forcibly summoned it, no threats could make it open the "Convenient Gate," and he could not reveal his foundation by using the True Word Secret Decree or the Decree Demon Divine Power.

After contemplating, he resorted to sending spies again.

Unfortunately, Zhen Buchi was the most suitable for this.

This handsome monk was unwilling to be involved in acts of violence; he initially suggested visiting the land of evil manifestations merely to witness bizarre and unusual sights.

Little did he expect the grotesque and repulsive scenes. Fortunately, although he was a monk cultivating the way of emotional attachment, the "attachment" was not one of pity for all things, but rather that of romance.

For the rest, he could afford to be tolerant, thus preventing himself from mutating and dying explosively.

But willing or not, he had no choice, as Tao Master simply said to him, "Zhen Daoist, do not miss out on this good opportunity. Entering this forest, I fear you would indulge so deeply you wouldn't think of returning, experiencing boundless joy."

He then raised his hand, and revealed all the exotic and alluring scenes within Joyful Forest, especially the Silkworm Girl, Spider Lady, Fox Ghost, and other gorgeous devils.

"I'm going!" exclaimed Zhen Buchi, decisively.

Successfully, in the name of his direct Kongchan Arhat disciple, Bu Chi Buddha, he summoned that protector Jialan which appeared like a fat golden and silver-clad pig smothered in grease and powder, and smoothly entered the Joyful Forest.

Tao Qian and the others took this opportunity to sneak in with Zhen Buchi.

Immediately, under Zhen Buchi's eyes, which seemed to waste nature's gifts, Tao Qian struck boldly, using the technique of "Buddha Fire Heart Lamp" to cleanse the entire Joyful Forest, along with the many demon monks and evil cultivators enjoying themselves inside, burning them to nothingness.

Amidst the vast Buddha Flame and unseen by others, an exotic Buddha Treasure known as the "Six Dust Demon Mirror" fell into Tao Qian's hands.

"Having eliminated Evil Country, Hidden Mountain, and Joyful Forest, I have now acquired the Demon Buddha Evil Lotus, Infinite Life Spring, and Six Dust Demon Mirror, these three Demon Buddha Exotic Treasures."

"Now, all are being refined in the Yu Ding under the influence of Human Dao Fortune."

"Before long, all these three Exotic Treasures will transform into authentic Buddhist Treasures, which will be of great use to me."

"Master was not wrong; this indeed is an opportunity I could not afford to miss."

"I just wonder, what other treasures and horrors are hidden in Emancipation City and Corpse Mud Ridge?"

These thoughts flickered in Tao Qian's mind.

Meanwhile, Zhen Buchi was still muttering:

"They are dead, all dead, those numerous beautiful and mystical Female Demons, all burnt to ashes by a single fire. Their fine exteriors turned into black ashes."

"I didn't even get a chance to talk with them, to chat about love and romance. Missing out on such wonderful encounters, what joy is there left in living?"

This Buddhist's son was indeed too obsessed.

Having been together for so many hours, he still hadn't realized the peculiarity of Great Master Tao.

Others might have realized earlier that Wu Gou Buddha Son never treated him as a close friend.

On the contrary, he was clearly being used as a hostage and a shield.

Of course, it was also the misfortune of Kongchan Arhat that he and his disciple happened to encounter Tao Qian and his disciple Duobao.

Master deceiving master!

Disciple deceiving disciple!

Knowing the truth, Yuan Gong and Yunrong both silently mourned for this master-disciple pair for a moment. Truly, they were purely two big victims.

...

Before long, they had arrived at Yutian County.

Outside the county, there was a stone forest composed of countless pitch-black, fierce stones which looked like the gates of the Ghost Gate had opened at night, with numerous Evil Ghosts squatting on the ground, waiting to devour fresh humans.

The first of the Qiantang Five Strange Phenomena, "Emancipation City," was situated in the forest.

The Sky-reaching Floating Pagoda concealed its aura, hanging in the sky.

Tao Qian did not take action but instead turned once again to face Zhen Buchi.

"Brother Zhen!"

Upon hearing these three words, Bu Chi Buddha shuddered.

His face showed struggle as he repeatedly waved his hands and said,

"No, no, Wu Gou, I have already harmed so many good devils before, I cannot do it again."

"Brother Zhen, do not misunderstand, this place is Emancipation City. There are no beautiful devils here, only some harmful evil spirits called Snake Ladies, who are very malicious and hideously ugly."

"The monk would willingly go down himself, but we have already destroyed three evil lands and created some merit; thus, we have gained a reputation in Qiantang Province. I have seen that the Jialan Protector of this place has also fallen into evil. If I appear, I fear they would rather die than open the Convenient Gate."

"Therefore, I still need to trouble Brother Zhen to make the trip."

During this conversation, Tao Qian raised his hand and conjured the form of a Snake Lady, a being with a human head and snake body, her breasts partially exposed, and her face wearing a sinister smile. This chapter first appeared on M|V|L^EMPYR.

Upon seeing it, Zhen Buchi immediately commented,

"What an ugly woman, those eyeballs are so murky."

"Very well, I will go again."

After saying this, Zhen Buchi descended from the Floating Pagoda and landed in the stone forest.

Although he did not know the Drive God method, he had a very esteemed presence.

You could hear Zhen Buchi proclaim loudly,

"Junior monk Zhen Buchi, disciple of Kongchan Arhat, wishes to enter Emancipation City, and earnestly request that the Jialan Protector of this place show themselves and open a Convenient Gate for this junior monk."

"Well said, well said!"

"Ku Niang did not know that it was a Demon Buddha Son coming, and failed to welcome you from afar; please forgive me."

Suddenly responding and appearing before Zhen Buchi was a female Jialan.

She was dressed in red and remarkably glamorous, enchanting and beautiful.

However, for some reason, there were two intersecting bloodstains on her face, as if some ruthless person had forcibly cut them out with scissors, instantly turning this female Jialan grotesquely fierce and ugly.

In her arms, there was a swaddle, seemingly wrapping a baby—but for unknown reasons, the baby made no sound and showed no signs of life.

Being so close, Zhen Buchi could see that the swaddle clearly contained a baby girl whose whole body was swollen and rotten, as if she had been drowned alive; taking another look at the face of the female Jialan before him, he was so frightened that he stepped back.

Seeing his reaction, "Ku Niang," the female Jialan, flashed a fierce killing intent in her eyes.

But she quickly remembered the prestigious background of this attractively polite monk and retracted it back.

Having been startled, Zhen Buchi lost all interest and thought solely of ending this matter.

Thus, he proceeded as planned and successfully tricked this Ku Niang into opening the gate.

Before stepping through the gate, Zhen Buchi said,

"Do not be angered, Daoist Ku Niang, your time of liberation is near."

Without waiting for the female Jialan to ponder the deeper meanings of these words, Bu Chi Buddha had already entered the city.

As soon as he set foot in Emancipation City, a radiant light flashed on his body, and a cloth bag flew out.

Tao Qian Yunrong appeared,

With a wave of his hand, he gathered Zhen Buchi back into the bag.

The action was quite impolite, but the latter couldn't have wished for more.

The multitude of vile, tragic events he had witnessed during these hours had gradually shaken his Buddha Heart, and if he continued to watch, he feared he would want to make trouble in Qiantang Province like those righteous heroes from the south.

At this moment, Tao Qian finally looked solemnly towards the city.

In front of the red moon stood a gray stone city.

Inside the city, countless stakes and shackles stood erect, with members of the Human Clan, both men and women, tied to each stake; all were in tattered clothes, their faces pale and emaciated, but their bellies bizarrely swollen, with their mouths forcibly torn open to reveal dark, hollow throats and abdominal cavities.

A large number of Snake Ladies, reaching several meters high, carrying chipped porcelain bowls and broken clay pots, moved among these stakes, one bowl after another, one pot after another, feeding a murky, poisonous paste to the people of the Human Clan.

Accompanied by the clattering odd sounds, everyone's swollen bellies rose even higher.

Their expressions were even more bitter than the yellow lotuses.

These things were already terrible enough.

What really made Tao Qian frown and filled him with a surge of killing intent

were besides the Snake Ladies, there were two types of evil creatures freely moving about the city:

One was the Old Corpses, cadavers of elderly people who appeared to have died from strangulation, drowning, slaughter, and other such deaths, wandering languidly around the city like zombies or walking corpses.

At the same time, they were constantly opening their mouths wide, with their decayed vocal cords emitting raspy sounds,

all calling out: "Good son (daughter)...do not kill me."

Or another phrase: "Good son (daughter)... hurry and kill me."

The other type was baby ghosts, each as weak as a small beast, looking mostly like drowned infants, crawling on hands and feet around the city; there were large and small ones, with the largest being young children and the smallest just born.

The smallest could only emit some shrill cries, while the larger ones either cried silently or were crying out loud, also with two phrases.

One cried: "Dad, Mom... don't kill me, baby wants to live."

The other shouted: "Dad, Mom, please kill me, and we can die together so we won't suffer anymore."