Chapter 215 — Slaughter Beneath the Lanterns
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
The Duke of Wei caught sight of the gate and saw that Ban Gongcuo's figure was no longer there, and could not help but be taken aback. He saw a great many monks come pouring out of the Nantuo Annex in file, and at their center was Sun Nantuo; besides him were many Dharma-protectors and abbots of the Annex. A monk said swiftly, "Abbot, that barbarian slipped away just now under cover of the night market!
I have already had several brothers follow him! " "Cunning!
This barbarian laid a false trail, making us think he would stay here three days — who would have thought he would steal away the very same night! " "Our brothers are following him; they will not lose him! " Sun Nantuo's face was expressionless. He led the monks at a swift pace and said in a low voice, "We strike outside the city. " The Duke of Wei's eyes lit up.
He brought Wei Yong and followed, laughing, "That fellow Sun Nantuo puts on such a saintly air, and to think he is a wicked, cunning sort as well. Killing the barbarian in the city would surely draw censure; but to strike outside the city, destroy the corpse and erase every trace, and no one would ever know.
Let us follow and see how these monks commit murder and arson!
" Wei Yong followed him.
The old man and the youth trailed the many masters of the Nantuo Annex out of the capital. Monks kept squeezing out from the crowd to report Ban Gongcuo's whereabouts to Sun Nantuo, and gradually they left the city behind. Outside the capital there was a night market as well, brightly lit, stretching on for more than ten li, thronged with passersby and bustling beyond measure. The Duke of Wei and Wei Yong trailed behind the monks of the Nantuo Annex, going farther and farther, until before they knew it they had gone more than ten li. Here too there was a night market — and not only a night market, but a palisaded compound, with a wide wooden gate three or five zhang across, and on the gate hung a red wooden plaque.
The Duke of Wei raised his head and looked at the plaque. On it were written four characters: "The Holy Master Comes to Instruct. " The Duke of Wei's eye twitched.
He hesitated, and by then Sun Nantuo had already entered the compound.
Within, the lamplight was bright as day; iron cauldrons sat atop pillars, burning fierce lamp oil with a crackling roar. There were stalls of every kind in the compound, and butcher shops slaughtering pigs and sheep; hawkers' cries rose on the air, all very lively. It looked to be nothing but an ordinary night market. "What troubles the Duke?
" said Wei Yong, puzzled.
"The Holy Master Comes to Instruct — I have seen those words before. " The Duke of Wei's face was grave. "When Fan Xuanshu, the former Cult Master of the Nether Demon Cult, traveled abroad and came to an annex, the plaque hung before that annex's gate bore these words.
The Nether Demon Cult calls its Cult Master the Holy Master, meaning the Holy Master has descended to give instruction. .
.
This night market is the Nether Demon Cult's people.
. . " The Duke of Wei hesitated, then walked in. Suddenly an old man and an old woman stepped out before the gate and said with a smile, "Halt, Duke.
" The Duke of Wei was about to speak when of a sudden a sound like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting came. He looked in haste, and saw the vendors of the night market and the poets and beauties strolling there suddenly rise up in violence!
One by one the monks of the Nantuo Annex were stabbed by the vendors and passersby at their sides; heads flew up one after another, blood dyeing the air. Their blow struck home, and the killers withdrew in a rush, their forms flashing into the houses on either side. In the blink of an eye, all the monks around Sun Nantuo were headless trunks!