I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 917: Chapter Two Hundred and Eleven: Temple Festival

The excited skinny boy ran out of the door with his sister and began to kowtow loudly to the masked stranger outside.

“That’s enough, get up.”

Without turning his head, Tang Luo indifferently said towards the Krahoh temple, “Since I’ve asked you to be a guide and translator, I certainly won’t treat you unfairly. Since you’re not interested in gold bars, then how about this Iaido manual as your compensation?”

If Tang Luo were traveling across Vimazhita under his true identity, he certainly would have taken the boy back to Longxi. However, now he was using the name of Gou Chen to traverse the land, and he couldn’t risk any connection with Tang Luo, let alone bring a mixed-heritage boy back with him.

Even if he recognized the boy’s exceptional talent in the art of the sword, their fate could only last for those few short days in the city of Hyderabad. Once he used the Asura God Statue to extract the Blood Fiend from within, he would leave this place.

“Your lordship’s bestowing of the sword is a kindness as great as giving me a new life. I have nothing with which to repay you, and willingly become your servant. All I ask is to be able to follow at your side in the future to repay this debt.”

...

Dongzhi’s eyes were filled with fervor. He had planned to leave Vimazhita once his sister was chosen as the Sacred Girl to seek the legacy of the incomplete sword art. But after encountering Tang Luo, he realized the technique casually gifted by this man was far more exquisite than the fragmented manuals—why then should he seek far and wide, disregarding what was near?

“You’re quite clever,” Tang Luo glanced at Dongzhi and continued, “But do you know who I am?”

“My lord is a good man.”

“A good man? Hahaha.” The harsh laughter, like the grating of metal, caused both children’s ears to ache. The man wearing the Gou Chen Mask looked down at Dongzhi with a sinister smile. “Do you know that I am the great enemy of the god you worship? If you become my servant, you might one day raise your sword against your own god. Think about it. Your sister is about to become the Sacred Girl; if one day I were to storm into the Vitas temple, could you bring yourself to raise your blade against your sister, who has become the Sacred Girl?”

Dongzhi’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. He never imagined that the person before him was the enemy of the Divine Guardian. The realization left him feeling as though he was plunged into an icy abyss.

“Young man, do not casually promise your life away when you do not even know what you’re facing, nor can you bear such thoughtless consequences.”

The hoarse voice sounded once more as the tall, thin man in the Star Robe spoke indifferently, “If tomorrow the Krahoh temple does not open, guess what I might do? Thus, to be at my side is far from a Pure Land of bliss; a single misstep can lead to an irreversible hell. Prepare yourself, for the roles of translator and guide are no easy task.”

Dongzhi, his face still pale, nodded and went back into the house with his sister, his mind in turmoil.

“Big brother, is that lord the demon spoken of in the Buddhist scriptures?”

Dongzhi’s mind was a mess, and he could only vaguely grunt in response.

“But brother,” Sanglu tilted her head in thought, then seriously said, “That person is a good person.”noveldrama

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Dongzhi reached out and ruffled his sister’s hair, as if trying to shake the irreverent thoughts out of the young girl’s mind, and murmured, “If a demon who opposes the gods is a good person, then what does that make the protector gods?”

The little girl covered her brother’s hand and pressed it onto her head, looked into her brother’s eyes, and seriously said, “The protector gods are good people, and so are the demons; they’re just called different things. Don’t you think that’s right, brother?”

“Right,” Dongzhi, looking at his innocent and naive sister, could only smile helplessly and say, “Tomorrow is the big day for the selection of the holy woman. You should rest early tonight.”

Anxious and troubled, Dongzhi pushed his sister into the inner room while he himself knelt for the entire night in front of the altar in the outer room.

When the morning sun rose the next day, Hyderabad turned into a sea of believers, with throngs of pilgrims who had come from distant places gathered on the square below the Klara Temple, looking at the Divine Guards in spotless monk robes lined up orderly on the sides of the divine path. Several masters from inside the Klara Temple made their appearance together, and to the believers standing below the temple who saw them, it was like seeing true gods, fervently worshiping without the slightest fear of the masters’ Rakshasa-like hideous appearances.

What excited people even more were the holy women of the Klara Temple standing beside the masters—they were each beautiful beyond the manner of mortals, like legendary celestial maidens, dressed in supremely luxurious attire, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the masters, receiving the devout worship of countless followers.

On one side of the square, Dongzhi looked up at the holy women in front of the temple with a face full of fanatic pride, and he didn’t stop introducing them to Tang Luo, saying, “Sir, look, those are the holy women of Klara Temple. They all come from families of lower social status and represent the protector gods’ care for the sinners. In this life, they serve the protector gods, and in their next life, they can be reborn into a divine realm.”

“Do you see the holy woman standing shoulder to shoulder with Master Juta on the far left? She’s Daiya, selected three years ago by the Klara Temple. Because she served the protector god with such heartfelt devotion, the protector god bestowed a divine decree, specially allowing Daiya’s entire family to transcend their lowly status. In this life, they can turn from commoners into nobles, move into the heavenly palace, and receive the worship of believers! This is all thanks to the grace of the gods!”

Tang Luo followed Dongzhi’s pointing finger, and with his eyesight, he saw more than what Dongzhi was describing—beneath the exquisite and gorgeous makeup were a pair of eyes dead as ashes, perhaps this was the deity-like presence in the eyes of the faithful.

“It seems being a holy woman is quite demanding,” Tang Luo commented.

“How could it be demanding!” Dongzhi muttered, “The temple only opens once a month, and usually, the holy women just need to maintain the cleanliness of the god statues and then recite the scriptures. Although they cannot drink wine or eat meat, the treatment they receive is the same as that of the temple’s masters; they eat Spiritual Food at every meal. Also, each one of the holy women can retain their youth forever. Look at the holy woman Xiuke on the far right side; she was chosen as a holy woman twelve years ago, and it’s said her appearance has not changed at all in these twelve years. This is a holy woman who has been blessed by the protector gods!”

“Is that so?” Tang Luo glanced toward the holy woman on the far right and said indifferently, “By that reasoning, a new holy woman is selected every three years, and if they retain their youth forever, there should be at least twenty or thirty holy women in Klara Temple by now. How come there are only these few?”

“Because those who have served in the divine residence for more than ten years have all reincarnated!” Dongzhi’s eyes gleamed with fervor as he explained, “These holy women have received the grace of serving the protector god and are able to reincarnate in advance. Before they are reincarnated, they all leave behind their holy woman’s sacred mark so the temple can find them in their next life! Fifteen years ago, the holy woman Xiya of the Klara Temple reincarnated last year. She left a message when ascending, saying that she would have a petal-shaped sacred mark on the sole of her foot, and at that time, there was a male infant born in the eastern city with the petal mark on his sole!”

“This is what I have witnessed firsthand. If my little sister becomes a holy woman, she will be able to escape this evil hell and receive the care of the protector god!”