Urban Martial Saint

Chapter 2023 - 2023: Ancient Script on the Stone Tablet

After lying on the ground to rest for a while, Ye Qing gradually regained movement in his hands and feet.The little fellow had shown great control when it struck, merely making the tendons in Ye Qing's hands and feet hurt so much he couldn't move, but without injuring his muscles or bones. So once Ye Qing recovered, he was completely back to normal, without the slightest aftereffect.

It wasn't easy to get back to normal, and Ye Qing hurriedly jumped up, grabbed the little fellow off his shoulder, and shouted, "You little thing, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you trying to get me killed? Making me eat so many Devouring Demon Flowers—are you not satisfied until I burst from overeating?"

This time the little fellow didn't resist. It just gave its body a casual twist and slipped out of Ye Qing's grasp. It unhurriedly crawled onto a Devouring Demon Flower to the side and sprawled down, then stretched out a paw to point at Ye Qing's hands, then at the Devouring Demon Flower, as if explaining something to Ye Qing.

Ye Qing looked at the little fellow in surprise, fell silent for a moment, and recalled that he had previously told it about the Buddha's Relic. This little guy had probably understood what he meant, which was why it had found so many Devouring Demon Flowers for him to eat. Could it be that these Devouring Demon Flowers could change Ye Qing's current situation and drive the Buddha's Relic out of his body?

Thinking it over carefully, it did indeed seem possible. The more Devouring Demon Flowers he ate, the stronger the power of the Devouring Demon Flower in his body would become. The power of the Devouring Demon Flower and the power of the Buddha's Relic had always been in a state of mutual confrontation; once the Devouring Demon Flower's power grew strong, the Buddha's Relic would be forced into a disadvantage, gradually driven out of his body by the Devouring Demon Flower's power. That wasn't impossible.

Only, Ye Qing had another question in his heart at the same time. If he ate Devouring Demon Flowers and could drive the Buddha's Relic out of his body, that was indeed a good thing. But after the Buddha's Relic left his body, what would become of Ye Qing's body?

If the Buddha's Relic were driven out by the Devouring Demon Flower's power, then what remained in Ye Qing's body would be only the power of the Devouring Demon Flower. At that time, there would be no other force to confront the power of the Devouring Demon Flower. In that case, wouldn't Ye Qing's body be completely controlled by the Devouring Demon Flower's power? And the power of the Devouring Demon Flower was the power of the Demon Sect. In other words, once things came to that, what remained within Ye Qing's body would only be Demon Sect power, and he himself would be controlled by the Demon Sect power.

This was what Ye Qing had been worrying about. He had always harbored a kind of fear toward the Demon Sect. After all, the Demon Sect itself was not tolerated by heaven and earth. If he really became one of the Demon Sect, that would mean real trouble later, and Ye Qing truly did not wish to become a member of the Demon Sect.

Thinking of this, Ye Qing hurriedly asked the little fellow, "What will happen if I eat so many Devouring Demon Flowers? Will the Buddha's Relic in my body be driven out by the Devouring Demon Flower?"

The little fellow stared at Ye Qing for a while; it was unclear whether it understood him or not. It merely shook its little head, as if denying this matter.

"It won't be driven out?" Ye Qing said in surprise. "If the Buddha's Relic won't be driven out, what did you make me eat so many Devouring Demon Flowers for? Do you have any idea how bloated they make me feel?"

The little fellow half-understood, half-didn't, pointing at Ye Qing's hands, then at Ye Qing's belly, its two little paws gesturing nonstop. However, Ye Qing couldn't make heads or tails of these motions and naturally had no idea what it was trying to express. Watching the little fellow gesture for a while, Ye Qing was speechless and waved his hand. "Alright, alright, stop explaining. Just tell me how many more I have to eat."

The little fellow thought for a moment, then stretched out its little paw and made a three toward Ye Qing.

"Three more meals!?" Ye Qing's eyes widened.

The little fellow shook its head and waggled its little paw, as if saying Ye Qing had guessed wrong.

"Not three meals?" Ye Qing was even more shocked. Looking at the little fellow, he said, "Then… then how many meals? What does this three mean? Don't tell me it's three days?"

This time the little fellow finally nodded, as if saying Ye Qing had guessed right. But Ye Qing almost spat blood. Looking at the pile of Devouring Demon Flowers stacked to the side, his stomach couldn't help but churn. He glanced at the little fellow and said helplessly, "Can I not eat them?"

The little fellow shook its head again. It pointed at Ye Qing's hands, then along his hands pointed at Ye Qing's body. Finally, its two small paws suddenly closed together, then immediately spread apart again.

Ye Qing stared at the little fellow's paws for a long while, then suddenly opened his eyes wide. "You… you mean my body will be blown apart by this power?"

The little fellow immediately nodded, beaming at Ye Qing, as if very satisfied that Ye Qing could guess its meaning.

Ye Qing's expression, however, changed. He hadn't expected that the Buddha's Relic inside his body would ultimately cause his body to explode. Yet right now Ye Qing could clearly feel that although the Buddha's Relic was in his body, its power still couldn't break through the Devouring Demon Flower's power, and there was simply no way it could blow his body apart. Was the little fellow just fearmongering with that gesture?

"It can't be that bad, right?" Ye Qing looked at the little fellow and said, "The power of the Devouring Demon Flower is already enough to resist the power of the Buddha's Relic. How could it possibly make my body burst? You're not mistaken?"

The little fellow shook its head, indicating it hadn't made a mistake. Then it reached out a paw to grab Ye Qing's hand, and with the other paw it made a circle and slowly pressed it against Ye Qing's hand. After repeatedly gesturing like this, Ye Qing watched for a while and frowned. "What do you mean? You're saying there will be other Buddha's Relics entering my body?"

The little fellow immediately nodded, which made Ye Qing's expression change at once. He drew in a sharp breath and said, "Impossible, right? I only obtained these two Buddha's Relics by sheer coincidence. How could I possibly obtain more Buddha's Relics, let alone have them enter my body?"

The little fellow still shook its head and kept gesturing like that, as if telling Ye Qing that in the future there absolutely would be more Buddha's Relics entering his body, and there was simply no way he could avoid it. Watching the little fellow's gestures, Ye Qing couldn't help feeling extremely depressed. Since this little guy was the Great Demon King's demon pet, it might well be a divine creature that had lived for several thousand or even over ten thousand years. Its knowledge might even surpass the legendary Great Sage Guiguzi. Since it had expressed this meaning, it probably wasn't wrong, right?

But how was that possible?

A single Buddha's Relic was enough to drive the whole world mad. Getting the second one was already sheer coincidence. What's more, of Shakyamuni's Buddha's Relics, only these two had appeared up to now. Leaving aside whether any others would appear in the future, how could they just happen to fall into Ye Qing's hands, and even enter his body?

Ye Qing looked at the little fellow in confusion, feeling that this little guy was somewhat unreliable. But the little fellow ignored Ye Qing's gaze, lazily leaned against Ye Qing's shoulder, and actually started snoring away. Ye Qing still had other questions he wanted to ask it, but seeing it like this, there was no way to ask anymore.

Taking advantage of the little fellow being asleep, Ye Qing carried it and continued exploring the next three Caves. These three Caves were the ones Patriarch Bodhidharma, Ancestor Chen Tuan, and the Corpse Ghost Dragon had entered. Ye Qing had gone in before; in the Cave Patriarch Bodhidharma had entered, he had obtained the Secret Technique Bodhidharma left behind, that move called the Power of Dragon Elephant. And in the Cave Ancestor Chen Tuan had entered, Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun had obtained the Carefree Movement that Ancestor Chen Tuan had left behind.

Ye Qing had already made a thorough circuit of the Caves entered by Patriarch Bodhidharma and Ancestor Chen Tuan and was naturally familiar with their situations. Moreover, the Secret Techniques left by these two had all been written in Buddhist Texts and Taoist Incantations, which Ye Qing couldn't read. So he didn't linger much when passing through those two Caves. It was the Cave where the Corpse Ghost Dragon had previously hidden that, although Ye Qing had entered before, he had not carefully examined. Now that he had the chance, he naturally had to go in and take a good look.

Walking into this Cave, Ye Qing could still see traces left from their battle here earlier. However, these traces were not very obvious. Just like the other Caves, this Cave's walls were also covered in Devouring Demon Flowers. If it had been in the past, Ye Qing would certainly have felt uneasy entering this place; after all, Devouring Demon Flowers were terrifying. But this time, Ye Qing wasn't so worried, since he no longer had to fear these Devouring Demon Flowers.

Following the Cave to its end, he saw that the three Devouring Demon Flowers on the Stone Platform at the end were still there. However, all three had been heavily damaged, cut apart by Famed Instruments shot from the Sun Shooting Bow by Huangfu Ziyu. Some Fragments of those Famed Instruments still remained on the ground; quite a few Famed Instruments had been sacrificed to break these Devouring Demon Flowers.

Last time he came, Ye Qing hadn't paid attention to the condition of the Stone Platform. This time, he pushed aside the three Devouring Demon Flowers, wanting to see whether the Corpse Ghost Dragon had left any marks on the Stone Platform.

These Devouring Demon Flowers no longer attacked Ye Qing at all, so he easily pushed the three flowers aside. Wiping away the dust on the Stone Platform, Ye Qing discovered that there were also carved characters on it. However, these characters were written in an extremely ancient script; even Ye Qing could only recognize a few of them. Among the top four large characters, he recognized only two: "not" and "demon," which inevitably set his mind associating.

Judging from how ancient these characters were, Ye Qing could be certain they were far from modern times, likely left behind several thousand years ago. And linking this with the two characters he recognized, the first thing Ye Qing thought of was the Demon Sect's Indestructible Demon Body. Could it be that what was carved on this Stone Platform was precisely the Secret Technique of the Indestructible Demon Body?