Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Blood-Sated Mosquito

  "Our family values the eight virtues of loyalty, filial piety, integrity, prudence, generosity, tolerance, and forbearance. You must not lose your temper or scold others." The True Person of the Golden Degree smiled on the cloudy peak and said: "Like your junior brother Shen Hui, who often speaks lightly and gets angry easily, but our master says he still has a heart full of passion, so he hasn't been punished. Don't learn from him..."

  He had barely finished speaking when he saw Shen Hui Zhenren fall to the ground with a thud: "Huh, Brother Shen Hui has injured his true yuan!"

  Shen Hui and Xuan Kong fought fiercely, almost from the foot of Lao Mountain to the capital of the Great Song Dynasty. Along the way, they rolled and tumbled, startling countless immortals, Buddhas, demons, and monsters. The other True Lords of the Jing Ming Dao watched the commotion on the ground, seeing that neither side had made a killing move, so they were delighted to watch the show.

  They didn't arrive until the Buddha's light shone over Bianjing City, and they were worried that their junior fellow disciple would be at a disadvantage, so they hurriedly drove their clouds to catch up.

  No need to think much, two rays of light had already shot out from the side and brought down Shen Hui Zhen Ren. These were the only two junior brothers of Shen Hui Zhen Ren in Jing Ming Dao, Hong Shi Zhen Ren and Zheng Te Zhen Ren. Hong Shi Zhen Ren supported Shen Hui Zhen Ren, frowning at the giant bird Ming Wang in the sky:

  "Shen Hui Shixiong, what happened? Who did you provoke that you got hurt so badly?"

  Shen Hui Zhenren was speechless from eating Huanglian, with a bitter taste that couldn't be expressed. He had originally thought it was just for the sake of his disciples to take charge and deal with a small fox spirit that had just become a master, but unexpectedly, due to the convergence of causes and conditions, he ended up having a great battle with Xuan Kong and was even killed by the Buddha's Bright King.

  If I had known earlier, I would have brought all the secret treasures from the sect with me, and I wouldn't be in such a miserable state now.

  Zhen Tuo, being the latest to enter the Pure Bright Way and having practiced for the shortest time, was always pampered by his senior brothers who recognized his unruly nature. Seeing one of his senior brothers severely injured, he let out a cold laugh and snorted: "Who cares what kind of background he has? The twelve True Rulers of my Pure Bright Way have never feared anyone!"

  A colossal statue of Vairocana Buddha's manifestation, towering over a hundred feet high with three heads and eight arms, overseeing the scene with clarity.

  The various True Lords of the Jingming Dao each held out their dusters, separating into the Pu Hui True Person and the Wei Dao True Person who protected Xuan Kong behind them. The other True Lords occupied different positions, surrounding themselves in the middle with extremely unkind gazes. The giant statue was completely fearless, simply sitting calmly on the cloud edge, exchanging cold words.

  He is a great saint of ancient times, and not one that these later cultivators can contend with.

  Jiudu, a true man of insight, knew that Juxiao's strength far surpassed his own and others. He stepped forward to pay his respects: "Qingming Dao's junior disciple Guo Pu pays his respects to senior brother." Juxiao snorted, not responding, for he had already misspoken earlier, and if he couldn't spare the lives of those two Daoist priests...

  In the end, it ruined the Buddha's great plan, and he had to take on a great blame himself.

  Jian Du Zhen Ren Dao said: "My fellow disciples and I are under the tutelage of Shen Gong Miao Ji Zhen Jun. Shen Hui, my junior brother, is a bit reckless. If he indeed offended your esteemed self, would you please consider the face of our respected master Xu Tian Shi and spare him this once?"

  "Ha ha! You don't need to use Xu Zhengyang to intimidate me. These two little Taoists have discovered one of my secrets, and they will definitely die for it!"

  As soon as the words came out, not only was the true person of the Monitoring Degree greatly shocked, but also several other fellow disciples were secretly frightened. "I don't know what kind of secret it is, just listening to a little bit of it can take someone's life?" Just then, a voice came from the Ninth Heaven asking.

  Everyone's heart was filled with joy, knowing that the Great Master had arrived, and they all looked up at the sky.

  Indeed, he is the first of the Twelve True Sovereigns of Jingming Dao. The mighty and true person Wu Meng, also known as Daxian Zhenjun, descended from the Taiqing Heaven. He has always been by the side of Xu Tian Shi. Among all the true sovereigns of Jingming Dao, only he possesses the cultivation of a heavenly immortal and is truly a titled heavenly general in the heavenly court.

  As soon as he saw him, his face relaxed a little and he asked, "Are you Wu Meng?"

  The newcomer is Wu Meng, the protagonist of "Twenty-four Filial Exemplars", who was bitten by mosquitoes to feed his father. Wu Meng, a Taoist immortal of the Jin Dynasty, lost his mother at a young age and relied on his father for survival. Before he became an immortal, due to poverty, they couldn't afford mosquito nets. Every summer night, his old father often had trouble sleeping because of mosquito bites.

  At that time, Wu Meng was still young, but he already had a filial heart. In order to let his father sleep well, he could bare himself and sacrifice his own flesh and blood to the mosquitoes. He just hoped that after the mosquitoes were full of his blood, they would no longer disturb his old father.

  After his old father passed away, he mourned for three years. During the three years, he burned paper and offered sacrifices morning and evening. After the mourning period was over, he followed his master Xu Zhengyang to the mountain to learn Taoism, and finally ascended to immortality as a great cave true monarch.

  His filial piety moved heaven and earth, even the Buddha behind the giant sculpture often sighed with admiration for Wu Meng's loyalty and filial piety, respecting him extremely.

  For thousands of years, the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars have been renowned far and wide. Even ordinary people who do not worship Buddha or Bodhisattva, nor respect gods or demons, will not hesitate to give a thumbs up and praise with a "good" word when it comes to the stories of the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars, no matter how despicable they are.

  Dadong Zhenjun bowed his head and said: "It was indeed me."

  Jiuzhu Ming Wang said, "You're pretty good! Considering your face, I can let you and those disciples of yours off the hook. However, these two Taoist priests are involved in a major event affecting the three realms, so I won't be able to let them off."

  Dadong Zhenjun repeatedly said "I dare not", stretched out his hand to support the back of Xuan Kong, and inputted soft and gentle Taiqing True Qi: "Today, my two junior brothers saw nothing, heard nothing, and there will be no rumors in the Three Realms that Ming Wang is worried about."

  Jiu Yu shook his head and said, "If it were something else, I would have let it go, but this matter I will not give up on."

  The demon king Ming Wang intended to take the life of Xuan Kong and Shen Hui, but the True Person Yu Wu became enraged, saying: "We twelve true lords of the Jing Ming Dao are all gathered here; do you think that just because you say kill, you can actually kill?" The giant eagle let out a loud laugh, put away its Buddha form, drew out a golden staff from behind its head and struck at Shen Hui.

  "In heaven and on earth, those whom I, Jiao, say must die, have never yet escaped death!"

  Jing Ming Dao and the others saw the giant statue move, and they quickly waved their dusters to block its path in front of Shen Hui Zhen Ren. The giant statue, Ming Wang, coldly laughed: "Pitiful ones, after a hundred years of bitter cultivation, you will be destroyed in an instant. Hand over those two Daoists, and I'll spare your lives!"

  Jingdi Zhenren threw out a bamboo slip from his sleeve and held it in front of him, which was the "Burial Scripture" he wrote, opening the precedent for the Feng Shui school of thought in later generations.

  So this volume of scripture also gained some acquired virtues, and after being collected by the True Person of Monitoring Degree, it was refined into a magical instrument. After the sacrifice, it protected the body from all directions, making it impossible to break through. However, the golden staff in the hand of Giant Carving Ming Wang was exceptionally heavy, striking the "Burial Scripture" and smashing out countless waves of yellow light that continued to fluctuate.

  "Elder brother, deploy the Twelve Yuan Zhen Fa Array!" The eyes of Jian Du Zhen Ren and Da Dong Zhen Jun met, each understanding the other's thoughts. Da Dong Zhen Jun let out a long sigh: "The Pure and Bright One, illuminating all that is obscure, unstained by even the finest dust, both the foolish and the wise look up to it as the gate of enlightenment, the path of ascension." This was the key to the Twelve Yuan Zhen Fa Array of the Pure and Bright Way. All the True Rulers understood, but only Shen Hui Zhen Ren, who had suffered severe injuries, found it difficult to maintain his position.

  Xuan Kong let out a long whistle, and with a slap on his forehead, the Jade Dragon's primordial spirit appeared. He jumped up and stood between the two dragon horns of the Jade Dragon's primordial spirit, saying: "I am Xuan Kong from the Cangshan Sect, here to lend my assistance!" The Great Cave True Lord looked at his primordial spirit, which was lively and not at all like someone who had been seriously injured. He nodded and said: "You follow Godly Master Hui's younger brother, and together you two will guard the position of the Rooster."

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