American Comics: BOSS Invasion

Beneath Qingcheng Mountain, the rain poured down.

Amidst the lightning and thunder, a green and a white giant serpent writhed together in agony, enduring the intense pain of the lightning strikes as they shed their skins in the rushing water, transforming into two incredibly supple women with beautiful and alluring faces.

"Sister, we finally succeeded."

The two women lay on a large bluestone, their shed snakeskins transforming into sheer gossamer gowns that draped over them.

A thunderclap, like an exploding bomb, tore apart the dark clouds above, and a beam of brilliant light shone down, enveloping the two women.

"We succeeded! After a thousand years of cultivation, we can finally take human form!"

The woman in the white dress could not hide the excitement on her face as she rose and respectfully bowed towards the west.

"Bai Suzhen thanks the Bodhisattva Guanyin for her guidance. I will never forget this kindness. I will surely do good deeds and accumulate virtue, never taking a life, and diligently cultivate the Dao, seeking to attain enlightenment as soon as possible!"

The woman in green pouted with some displeasure, "Sister, why are you being so mystical again? It was just a dream, wasn't it?"

"Didn't the immortals often transmit methods and warnings in dreams?

To dream is to see! Since Bodhisattva Guanyin has instructed me to repay kindness and fulfill vows, to be free from the karmic entanglements of the mortal world and sever the bonds of past lives, it must be the right path! Xiaoqing, I want to go to the city!"

Xiaoqing excitedly said, "Going to the city is great! Those human gatherings have so many fun things. And there's a place called the 'wet market' where food is piled up like mountains. Last time, I specially crawled in and ate my fill, causing chaos and panic throughout the city. It was so much fun!"

Bai Suzhen gently shook her head, "We are going to the city this time to repay kindness, not to play around. Moreover, now that we have transformed into human form, we should no longer engage in such playful antics.

Scaring the common people is ultimately not good!"

"What a spoilsport! What's the big deal about eating a little something? But never mind, I heard they have a place called a 'brothel' that's especially interesting. Every night, they sing and dance, and have feasts with eating and drinking. Once we get to the city, let's go join them!"

As she spoke, Xiaoqing became happy and transformed into a ball of green light, instantly rushing into the cave.

Bai Suzhen gently shook her head.

The two had cultivated together for hundreds of years, and their sisterly bond was deep. They had become like family. Bai Suzhen had long known that Xiaoqing was lively and impulsive, but that was her nature. Experiencing the world in the city might be beneficial to her cultivation!

------

Several dozen miles outside Qiantang County, stood the Jinshan Temple.

Today was the monthly temple fair, and the square in front of the temple was bustling with activity. Traveling performers and villagers from the surrounding areas gathered in the market town on this day to do business and trade goods!

Fahai stood dazedly at the top of the mountain gate, standing ramrod straight in the strong wind, his right hand twirling a string of prayer beads rapidly, appearing somewhat agitated.

In his eyes, the temple fair before him was like a human hell. The bright daylight was stained with a layer of bright red blood, and the villagers coming and going in the summer breeze had ferocious faces and volatile tempers.

The slightest disagreement would immediately lead to a physical altercation, and if no one intervened, the surrounding people would automatically form a circle, shouting and cheering, wishing one of the parties would be beaten to death on the spot.

Not far away, a row of burly men forging weapons were holding various weapons, loudly hawking them to passersby.

Beside them, butchers slaughtering pigs and dogs continuously pinned one living creature after another to the ground.

The cleaver came down again and again, chopping off the pig's head, which was still dripping with bright red blood, and hung it on the stall with a large iron hook.

The bloody smell soared into the sky, but the surrounding pedestrians looked at the pork on the table with bright eyes.

It was truly an image of human hell.

"Amitabha!"

Fahai took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

Even if the human world is misguided, it is still the human world.

Even if people are hopeless and can't be helped, they are still human.

For Fahai, cultivating Buddhism was for punishing evil and promoting good, and for him, the human standpoint was right, and the demon's standpoint was evil.

Even two days ago, if someone had asked him what to do if he encountered a demon, he would have unhesitatingly replied that he would directly capture it, people are people, and demons are demons!

But now he was hesitant.

Recalling the spider demon who had chanted Buddhist scriptures and eaten vegetarian food for more than two hundred years in front of the Buddha, whose demonic power was pure and untainted by any bloodshed, Fahai's Buddhist heart was somewhat unstable.

She was clearly a demon who wholeheartedly sought good and had never harmed any life, yet he had captured and suppressed her against her will, beneath the pavilion of the Buddhist temple, condemning her to eternal damnation.

Was such an action right or wrong?

A village woman went up the mountain to do farm work, lost her footing and fell, and gave birth on a day of torrential rain. People were coming and going not far away, and they could clearly hear her desperate cries, but no one offered a helping hand, but a giant bat demon kept hovering over the village woman's head, spreading its wings to shield her from the wind and rain.

Was this demon good or bad?

Great Master Fahai was somewhat lost.

Therefore, every day when dusk approached, the Yihong Courtyard would be crowded with young scholars who came to observe and learn. They waved their money bags, in groups of three or five, eagerly accompanied by beauties, drinking together until dawn.

And not far from the Yihong Courtyard, across a river, was a private school. Every time they read, they could hear the sounds of laughter and joy from the brothel.

In order to concentrate and get the books into their heads, they had to read the contents of the books out loud.

This allowed the fishermen around the private school to sleep peacefully under the sound of reading.

And more fishermen meant more abundant catches, and selling the harvest to the Yihong Courtyard could fetch a higher price.

Therefore, a strange phenomenon appeared here: the better the Yihong Courtyard's business, the more people studied.

Qi Shan sat with Xiaodie in the uppermost private room. Unlike the other private rooms, this one was the quietest.

A large table of food and wine was placed in front of him, but Qi Shan had no intention of touching it. Instead, he turned his attention to the window. Across the river, there was a blind Taoist holding a banner, slowly pacing by, led by two young boys.

Qi Shan looked again at the ripples that suddenly splashed on the river surface, and felt the strange aura that suddenly appeared in the Yihong Building. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, "The actors are all here. It looks like the show is about to begin!"