Chapter 21: Bureau of Heaven Monitoring VS Mo Lin

Mo Lin felt a bit regretful.

Perhaps just now, it should not have been so decisive in killing the Secretary Bird.

Now it stood atop a high mountain, overlooking many mountain peaks, trees, and the village at the foot of the mountain.

Yet when it gazed westward, it had no idea how to search for the Earth Vein.

That was right, it had learned from the Secretary Bird’s mouth that demons could absorb Earth Veins, and with its talent, absorbing Earth Veins would only be more convenient and faster.

But it did not know how to find the Earth Vein.

The Secretary Bird that might have known something had been killed by itself, and as for other demonic beasts, it had already crawled up to the mountaintop, yet not a single demonic beast had been encountered again.

Without anyone to guide it, how was it supposed to search for the Earth Vein?

Should it continue blundering about aimlessly? Or go seek out some demonic beasts to ask?

Or perhaps, in the human world there must surely be people who specialized in Feng Shui.

Should it go down the mountain to catch a Feng Shui master?

Just as Mo Lin was weighing gains and risks, the ground suddenly trembled.

Mo Lin abruptly turned its head, and right in its eyes fell two men in Taoist robes.

Behind the two Taoists, a youth stared at it fixedly with eyes filled with hatred.

That youth was none other than Hong Wen, who had a severed-tail grudge with it!

After crossing an entire mountain, encountering some wild beasts, and arriving at a place he had never been before, upon seeing that black-scaled python, Hong Wen gnashed his teeth:

“It’s you, it really is you! Snake demon!”

“The one who had half its tail severed, who killed my father, broke into Uncle Sanjiang’s house, and devoured the Secretary Bird—all of that was you, wasn’t it?”

Mo Lin cast a slightly surprised glance at Hong Wen.

How did he know?

It had to be known, ever since it crossed over, during the past half year it had been constantly shedding and transforming.

Even it often could not distinguish what it currently looked like.

Hong Wen had not witnessed with his own eyes its intrusion into Hong Sanjiang’s house.

How was he so certain that all of this was its doing?

But Mo Lin had no need to deny it.

Between it and Hong Wen there was already an irreconcilable enmity.

Therefore, it only gave Hong Wen a cold look:

“What, you’ve come specifically to avenge your father, and that Hong Sanjiang?”

Standing in front of Hong Wen, Ding Fan and Xu Han’s faces both changed.

Speaking human words, and so fluently—this was a great demon!

Yet Hong Wen was not as sensitive as the two from the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring.

Or perhaps, in his view, since this python could grow from a little snake to its current form, what was the big deal if it could speak human words?

The only thing he cared about was:

“So it truly is you! You killed my father and Uncle Sanjiang!”

Ding Fan quickly held back Hong Wen, who nearly rushed forward with his snake fork in hand, and said sternly:

“Hong Wen, fall back. This is a great demon, not something a mere mortal like you can deal with. Leave it to us.”

Ding Fan and Xu Han exchanged a glance, put away their compass, and each drew their own magical implements, charging at Mo Lin.

Mo Lin watched the two Taoists coldly as they came at it.

At the sight of them, Mo Lin already understood.

Its descent from the mountain to eat Hong Sanjiang had been exposed.

Thus, the humans had sent two Taoists into the mountain to search for the “fierce serpent.”

This was something Mo Lin had already foreseen the moment it descended the mountain to eat humans.

If it intended to live its entire life as a mere lowly demon, then hiding east and dodging west would have been the best option.

But once it became unsatisfied with that, as a snake demon, sooner or later it would clash with this world’s true overlord—humans.

It might be able to escape once or twice by cleverness, but once it located an Earth Vein, the Earth Vein would inevitably change.

At that time, high-level Taoists and Feng Shui masters from the human world would surely come to investigate the reason behind the Earth Vein’s disturbance.

They would discover its existence sooner or later.

Therefore, when it saw the two Taoists before Hong Wen, Mo Lin was already calculating.

These two Taoists looked very young.

Even if they had some strength, they could not be too formidable.

Rather than facing some accomplished Taoist master later, why not first test out these two and see what methods humans used to capture demons? To hide constantly would only blind its own eyes and ears.

Since becoming a snake demon, Mo Lin’s mindset had indeed unknowingly changed a little—or perhaps it was simply releasing its own nature.

Mo Lin glanced at its own stats:

【Mo Lin】

【Strength: 651】

【Speed: 647】

【Agility: 691】

【Defense: 683】

【Demonic Power: 422】

【Abilities: Devour, Shedding, Poison Resistance, Snake Venom, Demon Transformation】

After eating the Secretary Bird demon + crocodile, its stats had grown again, especially in agility.

Though not comparable to what Hong Tianfeng had provided, in terms of base stats the gains were equivalent to eating Hong Sanjiang, already considerable.

Here it was again revealed how worthwhile eating humans truly was.

The gains from eating one human were actually about the same as eating one demonic beast, yet the difference in strength between the two was vast.

Was this not enticing it to eat humans?

Regardless, Mo Lin thought to itself that since it could single-handedly kill the Secretary Bird, even if it could not win against two Taoists, at least it could protect itself without worry.

Of course, beyond that, there was something even more important: Mo Lin noticed that inside one Taoist’s cloth bag, square shapes seemed to be a few books.

Mo Lin might not understand Feng Shui and geomancy, nor know where to seek Earth Veins, but Taoists might!

Thus, facing the two Taoists’ assault, Mo Lin did not retreat but instead advanced.

Ding Fan had not expected Mo Lin to be so bold, but rather than being alarmed, he was delighted:

“Good, come!”

Without stopping his steps, he flung out a handful of yellow talismans toward Mo Lin.

The Bureau of Heaven Monitoring relied on three things to subdue demons—Dharma Body, Magical Implements, and Spells.

These yellow talismans were low-grade, single-use magical implements.

Though they seemed light and fluttering, they were unaffected by the wind and stuck directly onto Mo Lin’s scales.

“Szz szz!”

Mo Lin immediately felt as if the parts of its body stuck with talismans were clamped by red-hot pincers.

Even its scales could not block the burning sensation.

It quickly lashed its tail, knocking the talismans off its body.

Xu Han gripped a wooden sword in his hand—undoubtedly also a magical implement.

He twirled the sword, thrusting at Mo Lin’s serpent eye, and said coldly:

“Snake demon, how will you counter this move!”

After devouring the Secretary Bird, Mo Lin’s body had already grown to six meters long.

It raised its tail upright, like a thick great sword, and blocked Xu Han’s wooden sword.

A tremendous force surged through the sword into Xu Han’s palm, his face changing drastically:

“Such heavy strength!”

As said earlier, the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring captured demons by relying on magical power to drive Dharma Body, Magical Implements, and Spells.

But since Ding Fan and Xu Han were still young, they could not yet master all three, specializing only in magical implements and knowing a little of spells.

Their Dharma Bodies were only slightly stronger than ordinary mortals, thus they could not compare with Mo Lin in strength.

Xu Han’s wooden sword instantly flew out of his grasp.

But Mo Lin did not escape without cost.

Back then, Hong Sanjiang had used all his strength yet could only sever half of its tail.

After consuming the Secretary Bird and crocodile, it had advanced further.

Yet Xu Han’s wooden sword still managed to leave a deep bloody mark on its tail.

Mo Lin estimated—very painful, but the wound was manageable.

Thus, it continued to wield its tail as a sword, thrusting straight at Xu Han’s face!

“Watch out!”

Ding Fan shoved his junior brother aside and slapped a talisman onto Mo Lin’s body.

“Shhh!”

This time, Mo Lin was in unbearable pain.

Because in its attack on Xu Han, its belly had been left wide open, and Ding Fan had stuck the talisman directly onto the unscaled part of its abdomen.

In furious rage, Mo Lin lashed its tail and wrapped Ding Fan tightly in its coils.

Although Ding Fan’s talismans could hurt Mo Lin, his Dharma Body was not strong enough, only slightly better than an ordinary person.

Faced with Mo Lin’s constriction, his bones immediately began creaking under the pressure.

“Xu Han… save me…”

“Senior brother!”

Seeing this, Xu Han immediately raised his sword and fought again.

But Mo Lin’s coils constricting Ding Fan were only the upper half of its six-meter-long body.

It still used its tail flexibly to fend off Xu Han’s sword.

Though many scales on its tail were cut off by Xu Han, he still failed to break through Mo Lin’s defenses.

Ding Fan’s expression grew uglier and his face was turning purple from suffocation:

“In the bag… realgar…”

Just as Xu Han was drenched in sweat with anxiety, and Ding Fan was on the verge of being strangled to death, a cloth pouch flew at Mo Lin’s face.

It was thrown by none other than Hong Wen, who had been hiding at the side!

From the beginning of the battle, Ding Fan had already entrusted his pouch to Hong Wen, so that he could intervene at the critical moment!

From the very start, this had been a one-versus-three battle!

Looking at the pouch flung at its face, Mo Lin had no time to react before Xu Han thrust his wooden sword into it.

A pungent smell leaked out from the hole pierced in the pouch.

Mo Lin immediately felt unbearably uncomfortable, shaking its head.

Ordinary realgar wine, with its pungent odor, could hinder snakes’ movements—just like no one was willing to linger in an unclean latrine.

But if a snake was determined, such odor could not truly harm it.

For a python demon like Mo Lin, even less so.

Therefore, what Ding Fan had Hong Wen throw was actually a specially prepared magical implement targeting snakes, merely given a realistic name.

The moment this “realgar wine” spread, Mo Lin’s eyes stung so badly they nearly teared up.

Xu Han’s figure before it turned blurry, and its body weakened.

Taking this chance, Ding Fan immediately slipped free from Mo Lin’s constriction.

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