After Xuan Bei understood the situation, he looked at the group of "maids" and instructed: "Alright, once we arrive at Gan Han, if any of them want to stay in the Western Regions, make arrangements for them to go to Yu Hai. Those who are willing to go to Da Jin can return to Liu Sha Ji together, Uncle Shi and the others are still waiting there."

  He paused for a moment and explained, lest his disciples have a bad impression of their elders: "Since it's unclear whether you accidentally entered the Tianhaiyuan or took a detour back to Zhongyuan, we split our troops into two routes. One route waits at Liusha Village, in case we miss you, while the other route searches for you at Tanhan."

  "Disciple obediently follows master's instructions." Meng Qi replied with a pleasant mood.

  With a master by her side, she could arrange a comfortable and secure future for these poor women.

  …………

  Two days later, there were five more figures on Mount Evil Ridge.

  One of them was Yu He Duo, who had gone down the mountain to pursue Zhen Guan's trail but returned empty-handed. He decided to come back and ask Kang Zhan about his gains, only to hear from Gan Han that "Lei Dao E Monk" had flattened Evil Ridge.

  Inside the camp, broken walls and rubble were everywhere, with many places burnt to a crisp. Not a few corpses had been gnawed by wild beasts until they were incomplete, as if it were a hell on earth.

  Yu hadn't said a word yet, and walked all the way to Kang Zhi's courtyard, entering the back wing of the house, where he saw the charred remains of a body that had been burned by fire.

  "Not even sparing a child... Is he still a monk?" one of his subordinates exclaimed in shock.

  You Yu's face turned even more gloomy as he said: "It's not necessarily the monk who did it, there's also that kid from the Gu family. But at least the monk tacitly agreed to this matter."

  He took out a transparent stone with a faint green glow from his bosom, and as he stretched out his right palm, the room was suddenly filled with a black mist, accompanied by mournful wails.

  Although he didn't break through the external scene, he was given "Eighteen Grievances of a Wronged Soul", but being good at being human, he was more favored by Lao Lao Ren than An Guo Xie and passed on some auxiliary Dharma methods.

  Dark energy surged into the stone, turning it from transparent to shallow black, and occasionally highlighting a distorted face.

  "Big Brother, what are you doing?" Another one of He Lian Shan's seventy-two thieves asked in puzzlement.

  "You'd think they'd be delighted to see the true nature of a Shaolin disciple - devoid of humanity, cruel and bloodthirsty, more like an Asura than a monk."

  "Right!" The interrogator's hands clapped together, "Shaolin claims to be the orthodox school of Buddhism, with a nature that is inherently Buddhist. They will definitely not tolerate such a disciple. When the time comes, they will either abolish his martial arts and suppress him in the back mountain, or abolish his cultivation and expel him from the mountain gate!"

  You Yu nodded slightly: "Regardless of whether it was really Ding and the monk who did it, at least he participated in this matter. The first seat of Shaolin's Discipline Court, Wu Jing and the monk, hated evil as if it were an enemy, and would definitely handle it impartially. If he is abolished and expelled from the mountain gate, our opportunity will arrive. Heh, I thought there was no chance to kill him, but unexpectedly he himself revealed such a big flaw."

  "Be careful, boss, this bald donkey can summon thunder!" his subordinate reminded him.

  "What's there to fear? No matter what the reason is, as long as he can use external techniques, one thing remains unchanged - that external techniques are a huge burden on the opening period and extremely exhausting. I'd like to see how he summons heavenly thunder without any martial arts skills!"

  "Great leader is wise!" Another subordinate flattered.

  Yu picked up more stones and stood up straight, coldly saying: "Let's go, let's kill!"

  At this moment, he was no longer a farmer, but a notorious leader of the 72 bandits who had been rampant for a while, with many lives in his hands!

  Five men flipped over and mounted their horses, three riders changed mounts, and hastily chased after them. The Shaolin monk was accompanied by a group of women, so they couldn't move quickly!

  …………

  Inside the Jade Gate Pass, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui gazed at Gu Changqing's receding back, remaining silent for a long time.

  "Big Brother Shifu, why doesn't Gu Da Ge follow us to Shaolin first and then you can accompany him to Shen Du?" Zhen Hui thought that Big Brother Shifu would definitely be able to get through the Copper Man Alley.

  Meng Qi sighed: "He has avenged his great hatred, and there is no other attachment. It's hard to avoid some regretful feelings. He was helping me, but he implicated his family members, so more or less, he may not be too willing to get along with us. I hope that as time passes, it will resolve his knot."

  Gu Zhangqing is the first friend I've made outside of my fellow disciples and junior brothers in the Wheel of Rebirth. If we were to part ways and forget about each other, it would be quite disheartening. However, after I descend the mountain, if there's nothing else going on, I can always go find him in Shen Du.

  I'm just an optimistic person!

  "Let's go back and help deal with those girls, can't leave it all to Master." Meng Qi composed himself and called out to Zhen Hui to return to the inn.

  The rescued women, some of whom had already parted ways in their greed for wealth, were originally from the Western Regions and could not help but feel fearful of being far away from home. Therefore, they followed the merchant caravans near Shaolin, with some going to Yihai, others heading north to the Snow Mountain Sect's oasis under its protection, and so on, each with their own destination.

  The remaining women, mostly from the Central Plains or with no relatives left in the Western Regions, decided to change their environment and forget their past, so they followed Kongjian, Wujing, Xuanguang and others back east. After entering the Jade Gate Pass, people with different destinations naturally bid farewell, and Shaolin's rescue mission is to save them thoroughly, so they will find a reliable merchant group or escort agency to help bring them along.

  Back at the inn, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui saw their master seeing off a bodyguard, with several familiar women following behind him.

  "Both masters, we must pray for you every day." These women were so excited to see Meng Qi and Zhen Hui that they burst into tears.

  The bodyguard was instructed by the old master of Shaolin at the peak of the outdoor scene, and he suddenly felt light all over his body, almost forgetting where he was.

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, Meng Qi and Zhen Hui couldn't bear the enthusiasm and hid upstairs.

  "Those who went north and south have all left, only a few of us are continuing eastward." Xuan Bei walked upstairs, not getting annoyed despite the complexity of things, being able to help others made him feel rich and at peace in his heart.

  "Xuan Bei, Zhen Ding, Zhen Hui, come to my quarters for a moment." Kong Jian's white beard hung down to his chest, and beside him stood Pi Jing, with skin like ancient bronze and sharp features. The two men had serious expressions on their faces, giving Meng Qi an ominous feeling.

  Xuan Bei led two disciples into the guest room, and with a wave of his sleeve, a bright, crystal clear light burst forth everywhere, enveloping the entire room.

  "Is there anything you're hiding about the matter of Xie Ling?" As the head of the Precepts Courtyard, Jingyuan's words were always direct and to the point.

  During the gathering of the Shaolin monks, Xuan Bei downplayed Meng Qi and Zhen Hui's help in avenging Gu Changqing, instead emphasizing that they had rescued a group of women in distress. According to the "Renying Youqing Jie", killing under such circumstances would not be punishable - Renying Youqing Jie refers to Buddhist monks who follow the Bodhisattva path and must save all living beings. Therefore, the Shaolin precepts state that killing evil people to save the good is not considered a breach of the precept against killing.

  Of course, the tone is still toned down, but he still mentioned revenge. Xuan Mengqi and Zhen Hui were watching Gu Changqing, not letting him be blinded by hatred and commit a killing offense against the two without being in a self-defense situation, and no punishment was mentioned.

  "No." Meng Qi hesitated for a moment before choosing to answer this way, and he really hadn't thought of anywhere to hide. Gu Changqing's revenge was clearly stated, only without mentioning the specifics of how to take revenge.

  "Amitabha, sinful, sinful. A donor entrusted this to me." Kongjian murmured a Buddhist mantra, took out a dark grey stone with flowing water, and emitted countless crystal lights from his palm into it.

  Dark air rises, vengeful spirits appear, reenacting a scene from that time.

  Meng Qi's scalp felt numb, and under the intense hatred, Chang Qing had indeed gone a bit overboard. Moreover, Kang Zhi's vengeful spirit had even transformed into a scene of himself dragging Zhen Hui out the door.

  I should have let Little Shidi use the Ghost-Beheading Beads to help the restless spirits earlier... Meng Qi only thought of this now, without any monk's self-awareness.

  Xuan was shocked and looked at Meng Qi and Zhen Hui, he had no idea that such a thing would happen.

  "Allowing others to slaughter the innocent, this is mistake one. Denying it with a straight face and making excuses, this is mistake two. These two mistakes show that you have a deep-seated murderous nature, are cruel and cold-blooded, without any compassion or conscience, and do not know how to repent!" Wu Jing said solemnly, earlier he and Kong Xian had already investigated, the vengeful spirits were not lying.

  Meng Qi didn't know how to respond because it was indeed true, but he wasn't the first one to say that!

  Xuan Bei's face turned pale and he stood up abruptly, bowing deeply in grief:

  "The disciple is guilty, it's because the disciple has seen the truth and already has a repentant heart that I let him off with a lie and conceal this matter."

  Meng Qi looked at his master with a bit of confusion, he was helping himself again...

  At this time, Xuan Bei secretly hinted to Meng Qi to quickly admit his mistake, and there was still a glimmer of hope.

  Meng Qi was about to speak and take the blame, but Jun Jing sternly said: "The mistake has already been made and cannot be undone. Zhen Hui's intentions were good, but her strength was too weak and she couldn't stop it, so she was dragged away by Zhen Ding. This time there is no fault, but afterwards helping to cover it up and disregarding the temple rules is unforgivable. As punishment, return to the temple and face the wall for two years."

  As the head of the Vinaya Hall, he has the right to make punishment decisions accompanied by an elder and report to the abbot afterwards.

  "Xuan Bei, as a master, you did not teach by example, but instead incited your disciple to lie and escape punishment. You will be punished with facing the wall for one year." Wu Jing stopped Xuan Bei from speaking, then looked at Meng Qi, "Zhen Ding, your crimes are heinous, cruel and ruthless. Your martial arts must be abolished, you will be expelled from the mountain gate, and you must take an oath of the primordial spirit to never privately transmit the ultimate skills!"

  Xuan Bei's face changed drastically, and he hastily begged for mercy: "Master Shu, considering that Zhen Ding saved so many people in distress, please be lenient with the punishment."

  "Good and evil do not cancel each other out, saving people is a blessing for oneself. And sending the vengeful spirit stone must be a plot by the Cry Old Man's clan, they might be lurking nearby, so the reward would be to send Zhen Ding to another city to avoid them." Wu Jing Tie Mian said impartially.

  Meng Qi's mind was buzzing with confusion, a complete mess... How did things end up like this?

  Xuan Bei's face turned gloomy, and he suddenly knelt down to the ground, knocking his head and saying: "The disciple has the opportunity to practice on the upper layer of the Sharira Pagoda, and is willing to use this to reduce the punishment for true determination."

  After reaching the peak of external scenes, he had the opportunity to enter the upper layer of Sharira, cultivate among the relics of high-ranking monks in past dynasties, and enlighten himself, laying a foundation for his future half-step Mahayana.

  Meng Qi was shocked and moved inexplicably, his eyes slightly blurry as he looked at Xuan Bei, his heart stirred up a stormy wave. Such a good opportunity, would Master also be willing to give it up?

  No way, I won't let Master pay such a huge price!

  Even if I'm expelled from the sect, there's still a chance for rebirth. My martial arts skills can be restored as long as I can make it to the True Martial Sect or the Washing Sword Pavilion and seek refuge with Zhang Yanshan or Jiang Zimei. What's there to fear about then?

  As for the hardships and dangers on the road, consider them as repaying Master's kindness!

  He gritted his teeth, lifted his head and stubbornly stared at Wu Jing:

  "The first seat, the disciples are blameless!"