Inside a train carriage, more than twenty monks from Nanshan Temple were seated. One elderly monk, with a beard streaked with white, suddenly stood up, reciting a Buddhist chant. He wore a kasaya robe and held a nine-ringed staff.
His disciple quickly asked, “Master, where are you going?”
“To eliminate a demon!”
With this brief response, the old monk accepted a golden alms bowl—about the size of a large bowl—from one of his disciples and strode toward another carriage. Standing at about six feet tall, despite his age, he was broad-shouldered and burly, with a large face that radiated a healthy glow of red and white.
Known by the dharma name Wubian, he was a high-ranking monk of Nanshan Temple in Zhonghai City. He and his disciples had just finished performing a religious ceremony for a wealthy local patron. On their way back, they had coincidentally boarded the same train as Shui Miao. Having just entered meditation, Wubian had sensed a demonic aura and immediately risen to deal with it.
Suddenly, a group of monks entered the carriage, drawing curious glances from the passengers.
A young male train attendant approached and asked, “Master, are you looking for the restroom?”
“Eliminating a demon.”
Wubian responded briefly and tried to walk on, but the train attendant blocked his path. “Master, don’t joke around. There’s no demon on this train. You look pretty old—why don’t you go back and rest instead of causing trouble?”
“How absurd! As a monk, it is my duty to subdue demons and eliminate evil. How can I allow a demon to wreak havoc just because of a few idle words from you?” Wubian, known for his immense strength, shoved the young attendant aside and continued forward. A group of younger monks followed, restraining the train attendant.
Arriving at the staff room, Wubian flung the door open and glared at the train attendant possessed by a black serpent demon. He immediately shouted, “Demonic fiend! How dare you commit evil here? Let me subdue you!” With a wave of his golden alms bowl, the demon could no longer resist and was sucked into the bowl.
The possessed train attendant shuddered and regained consciousness.
“That was terrifying! It was a snake demon, a snake demon!” he stammered, trembling with fear.
Wubian approached the train attendant, chanting a mantra, then placed a talisman on his forehead. Instantly, the train attendant felt much better.
Seeing this, a girl in a short skirt exclaimed, “Master, there’s another evil person outside! He was talking to something dirty just now. I called him crazy, and he started arguing with me. Then these idiots dragged me here.”
Wubian turned around, catching a glimpse of the girl’s bare thighs, and quickly closed his eyes and turned away. “Amitabha Buddha! Female benefactor, please lead the way and assist this old monk in subduing the demon.”
“Okay!”
With the testimony of the previously possessed train attendant, the other attendants had no choice but to remain silent.
Thus, the girl in the short skirt led Wubian to Shui Miao. “It’s him! He’s the evil one who was talking to the dirty thing!”
Shui Miao looked up, seeing the group of monks, and smiled. “Oh, I recited some lines from a play a few times and even attracted the master here?” Shui Miao knew this explanation was the only way to ease everyone’s suspicions.
Hearing this, the surrounding passengers, who had just suspected Shui Miao of being evil, relaxed.
Wubian looked at Shui Miao and saw nothing unusual. He shook his head and said to the girl in the short skirt, “Female benefactor, please be more careful. It’s better to avoid playing such deceptive tricks.”
“Eh!?”
The girl in the short skirt wasn’t entirely sure whether Shui Miao was truly evil, so she didn’t know how to respond.
The crowd chuckled, and a female train attendant approached to warn the girl not to cause trouble or she would be arrested.
Wubian turned back, followed by a group of young monks.
In Shui Miao’s eyes, Wubian’s abilities were quite ordinary—he couldn’t even see Bai Feng standing beside him.
Normally, Wubian could see ghosts.
However, this time, Bai Feng had used a concealment technique to hide her aura.
Shui Miao shook his head with a smile. Just as he was about to lie down, Bai Feng spoke, “The black serpent demon has been captured in the golden alms bowl. Are you really not going to save it and let it die?”
“What! Is that true?”
Shui Miao was shocked and quickly got down from the bunk bed. “Master, wait a moment! I have something to say.”
Wubian stopped and turned to look at Shui Miao. “Young benefactor, what is it?”
Shui Miao smiled and took out two hundred yuan. “Master, I’d like to make a donation.”
“Amitabha Buddha! How kind of you, benefactor. This old monk thanks you.” Wubian glanced at the younger monks, and one of them immediately held out his hand.
“No, no, no…” Shui Miao shook his head. “Master, isn’t your golden alms bowl used for alms-giving? I’ll only feel at ease putting this money into the demon-subduing bowl!”
Nowadays, monks with real abilities are rarely seen begging for alms—they are usually quite wealthy.
Moreover, Master Wubian was the abbot of Nanshan Temple and certainly wouldn’t go begging.
But today, in front of so many people, Wubian couldn’t appear too aloof. He smiled slightly and extended the golden bowl. Shui Miao raised his eyebrows, smiled, placed the two hundred yuan into the bowl, and then bowed to Wubian before turning back.
Master Wubian and the group of young monks were puzzled. They had originally thought the young man might try to tamper with the golden bowl, but nothing happened.
Bai Feng was also confused. Wasn’t Shui Miao going to rescue the black serpent demon? Why was he donating money instead?
Shui Miao approached his bunk bed, but the girl in the short skirt blocked his way by placing her foot on the step. She was clearly trying to provoke him.
Bai Feng, annoyed, blew a puff of cold air, and the girl suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She removed her foot, and Shui Miao climbed up to the upper bunk.
Just as Shui Miao lay down, Bai Feng floated up and asked, “What exactly are you planning to do? From what I know, there’s a powerful golden array inside that demon-subduing bowl. Within an hour at most, the demon will be dissolved into a pool of pus.”
“Heh, didn’t it always oppose you? Isn’t its death a good thing for you?” Shui Miao whispered with a smirk.
Bai Feng shook her head and sighed. “As you said, its nature isn’t truly evil—it’s just a bit mischievous. Sometimes it makes me so angry I could gnash my teeth, but I can’t just stand by and watch it die.”
Shui Miao suddenly smiled and changed the subject. “By the way, Bai Jie, do you think this old monk resembles Fahai from the Legend of the White Snake? Xiao Hei is like the White Snake. In the story, Fahai trapped Bai Suzhen under the Leifeng Pagoda, separating a loving couple. If such an event happened in modern times, what would you do?”
The story of the White Snake is well-known, and Shui Miao believed Bai Feng had heard of it.
Bai Feng paused but didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “I want to know—how would you handle it if you were in that situation?”
“Hehe…”
Shui Miao chuckled lightly, his fingers twitching slightly as he closed his eyes and said, “If it were me, I’d destroy Fahai’s demon-subduing bowl and expose his hypocrisy.”
“It was black qi…”
Upon hearing Shui Miao’s words, Bai Feng suddenly had an idea. She recalled that when Shui Miao had placed the money earlier, she had noticed a faint trace of an unfamiliar black aura hidden beneath one of the bills. “What exactly is that black qi?”
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