Chapter 691: Chapter 687: Past and Present Lives Chapter 691: Chapter 687: Past and Present Lives Upon seeing this, Bai Xiaotian formed a peculiar magic spell with one hand and hummed a muffled “om”.
A ripple of golden light immediately emanated from him, a blurred golden glow materializing around him, forming a bell-shaped light shield that protected his entire body.
The countless flying green blades struck the golden bell, resounding with a deafening clang but failing to shatter it.
On the other side, Shen Luo roared, abruptly soaring upwards as if riding on a cloud of sand. He ascended into mid-air.
“Infusing the yellow sand with water then manipulating the water to shift the sand is a very efficient method, clever indeed…”
“Hua Sheng Temple's Vajra Body Protection technique, it is still in progress, but not bad at all …”
At this moment, a voice echoed from the other side. It seemed to be appraising, praising Shen Luo and Bai Xiaotian's performance.
Shen Luo descended, and Bai Xiaotian landed beside him. They stood shoulder to shoulder. When they looked around again, their surroundings were not the verdant wetland nor the yellow sand desert, but a seemingly ordinary oasis.
There were clusters of shrubs on the ground, growing rather chaotically, with patches missing here and there. It looked as if it had been chewed by a dog. A narrow stream was winding its way through the middle.
The strange black bird that previously perched on the wooden puppet indeed had not been created by illusion magic. It flapped its wings and flew past Shen Luo and Bai Xiaotian, landing on the shoulder of the mysterious figure opposite them.
“Why is it you?” Shen Luo exclaimed when he saw the figure.
Standing opposite was a man dressed in a grey long robe. He was entirely covered in fat so that his features seemed crowded together. With two strands of mustache hanging over his lips, he resembled a large rat. It was, indeed, Boss Hua.
“Friend Shen, are you two planning to demolish my hideout with your antics?” Boss Hua, with a smile on his face, shooed the bird away from his shoulder and asked while looking at the two men.
“Boss Hua, what do you mean?” Shen Luo, pointing to the black rocks behind him, asked.
Next to those rocks, a black cave entrance as tall as a person was conspicuously revealed.
Bai Xiaotian also approached Shen Luo, one hand hidden in his sleeve, fingers clutching an ancient peach wood symbol, his eyes filled with signs of guardedness.
“Enough, your reactions show me that you genuinely care about the body of Jinchanzi's reincarnation. Follow me inside, they are in there.” Seeing this, Boss Hua smiled and beckoned the two men.
Upon hearing this, neither Shen Luo nor Bai Xiaotian made a move, and their vigilance further intensified.
Seeing this, Boss Hua somewhat helplessly exclaimed, “Jinchanzi, you might as well come out yourself. Otherwise, I fear these two Daoist friends will not rest until they have my head.”
As his voice faded, the rapid sound of footsteps echoed from inside the cave, and Chan'er's figure appeared at the cave entrance.
He instantly recognized Shen Luo and Bai Xiaotian, called out to them, and promptly jogged over.
Seeing that he was unharmed, Shen Luo, whose heart had been in his throat, finally relaxed a bit but couldn't help but ask, “What on earth happened?”
“I'm not sure either. Just now in the city, I was swept up by a sandstorm along with Qi Lianmi and brought over here. When I opened my eyes, I saw this Boss Hua,” Chan'er replied.
“And Qi Lianmi?” Shen Luo hastily asked.
“He passed out when the sandstorm swept in, and now he's lying on a stone bed in the cave. Don't worry. I bear them no ill will. In fact, Chan'er and I have met before,” Boss Hua replied.
“You've met before? Do you know the previous life of Chan'er, Master Xuanzang?” Bai Xiaotian asked curiously.
“To be precise, I know each of Chan'er's previous iterations because the golden cicada and I are old acquaintances,” Boss Hua said.
“Are you a buddhist disciple of Mount Ling or a heavenly immortal?” Shen Luo asked hesitantly after a moment.
Hearing this, Boss Hua hesitated for a moment before his shape suddenly changed and he was surrounded by dense fog, quickly growing in size until he was as large as a white elephant.
However, he had bright fur, resembled a giant rat, had a long trailing tail, and was covered in patterns. It was clear he was a Flower Fox Mink.
On seeing his transformation, Chan'er was frightened by his huge size and retreated behind Shen Luo.
The Flower Fox Mink saw him trying to escape, and the dense fog around him dispersed, his body quickly shrank back, once again taking human form.
“I was originally a pet Violet Gold Flower Fox Mink, belonging to one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Celestial Court, Mo Lishou. I have been stationed here for about a century, waiting for the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada.” The Flower Fox Mink opened his mouth to speak, his gaze falling on Chan'er.
“A hundred years ago… Wasn't that when Master Xuanzang abruptly left The Giant Goose Pagoda and Chang'an City? He eventually perished in this western region. Was it related to you?” Shen Luo asked in surprise.
Upon hearing this, a look of guilt flashed across the Flower Fox Mink's face.
“This incident… indeed had something to do with me,” replied the Flower Fox Mink after a moment of silence.
“What happened back then?” Chan'er, hearing this, immediately asked.
“In those days, I and my master, along with the other Heavenly Kings, guarded this…” The Flower Fox Mink showed a difficult expression, hesitating for a long while before finally starting to tell his tale.
In his long narration, the truth of what had happened so many years ago gradually came to light before Shen Luo and the others.
It turned out that Flower Fox Mink had accompanied his master, Mo Lishou, and the other three Heavenly Kings to guard a place that was then known as “Mountain of Ash Seal”. They were responsible for guarding a vital seal there.
Below this seal was a passageway leading to the Earth Realm, linking the human and earth realms.
The Demon Clan had always wanted to open this passageway and join the human realm with the Earth Realm to prepare for Chiyou's descent. They had coveted this place for a long time. However, the sealing array weakened over time and needed to be reinforced periodically.
The reason why Master Xuanzang suddenly left Chang'an City in those days was that the seal here was rapidly weakening. He was temporarily dispatched to Mountain of Ash Seal with the Heavenly Treasure Map of Mountains and Rivers to help the Four Heavenly Kings reinforce the seal.
However, the news of the weakening of the seal had been leaked. The Demon Clan, led by the Jiuming Saint Monarch, launched a surprise attack on Mountain of Ash Seal and fought with the Four Heavenly Kings and the Heavenly Soldiers stationed there.
“I remember the bloody scene of that day's battle vividly… My master asked me to protect Jinchanzi with some people. We fought against the subordinates of Jiuming who had snuck in. But there was a traitor among the Heavenly Soldiers, leading to the massacre of our protectors, and in the end, only I survived…” The Flower Fox Mink trailed off, his plump face slightly twitching.
“What happened afterward?” Bai Xiaotian inquired further.