It wasn't long before Old Master Gao walked in with a young Taoist priest, who bore an arrogant expression.
As soon as the young Taoist priest entered the door, he saw the old Daoist priest sitting in a chair and Lin Fang standing beside him, a mocking smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he said, "Isn't this Elder Daoist Ge from Qingyun Temple? I didn't expect you to also wade into these muddy waters. Isn't it better to just stay in your rundown temple, instead of rushing here to seek death!"
The old Daoist priest's face turned very ugly in an instant, pointing at the young Taoist priest, he shouted, "Xuan Zhen, do not be too arrogant; some things are not as dazzling as you perceive them to be."
"All these years and you're still the same, always speaking such words, truly boring. But this is good news—using this opportunity, I will let you witness what true power is like, so you won't remain ignorant of the world like a frog at the bottom of a well!"
With these words, the old Daoist priest was so angered that he jumped up and down. Lin Fang, seeing this, couldn't help but snicker without any sense of public decency, as he had never seen the old Daoist priest so deflated before.
"Oh, I didn't realize that the two Taoist priests were old acquaintances. Please, for the sake of this old man, do not argue," Patriarch Gao jumped in, trying to smooth things over.
However, his words gave them both an out, and both the old Daoist priest and Xuan Zhen managed to suppress their annoyance and sit down.
"Old Sir, please elaborate on the specifics, so I can proceed with the demon exorcism," said Xuan Zhen as soon as he sat down, exhibiting extreme professionalism, which made Lin Fang feel quite astonished.
"Sigh," Patriarch Gao sighed deeply, and then he slowly began to explain the situation.
"It's a misfortune for the family, I, being of scarce fortune, was born without a son and only had three daughters. The first two were already married off to decent families, leaving only the youngest named Cui Lan. I thought of taking a son-in-law into our family who could take care of my old age.
"Later, a man came and introduced himself as a resident of Fuling Mountain, willing to marry into my family. Seeing that he was of good appearance and strong stature, I thought he could be a pillar of support for the family, and so I decided to marry off my youngest daughter to him. Little did I know, this marked the beginning of our troubles."
"At the beginning, things were alright; he worked diligently, managing the work of five or six men alone. Although he ate a lot, his work compensated for his appetite. However, after he drank too much one day, he completely transformed. His face turned into that of a pig, with a long snout and large ears—quite frightening indeed. Only then did I realize he was a monster."
"Since he was a monster, and you discovered his true form, he should have been furious. However, looking at the villagers, they all seem safe and happy. It doesn't seem like they were troubled by a monster. Could it be, Old Master Gao, that you are hiding something?" Lin Fang interjected timely.
Regarding the reason why his second martial brother could not maintain his transformation when drunk, Lin Fang actually had a guess. It was probably because the Leakless Realm was not completely solidified. The disorder of breath caused by drunkenness made it difficult to maintain the Leakless state, thus revealing his true form. From this, it could be seen that the Leakless is indeed the fundamental realm of cultivation practice, not to be neglected, which made him even more determined to refine this realm.
"It is not that I have been deceitful. Though the demon looked fierce, he was set on marrying my daughter, so he never threatened our lives. However, he kept my daughter confined in the backyard, causing endless disturbances with winds and flying dust, which troubled our neighbors and brought shame to the Gao family in Gao Lao Village, leaving us unable to lift our heads. I hope you Taoist priests can help rid us of this calamity and restore peace to our home," Patriarch Gao pleaded earnestly.
Lin Fang and the old Daoist priest looked troubled. They hadn't expected Patriarch Gao, who seemed plump and kind-faced, to be so ruthless. Although the monster was fierce, he had not harmed them. It would be acceptable to drive him away, but from his words, it seemed he actually wanted them killed.
Before Lin Fang could speak, it was the old Daoist priest who furrowed his brows and said, "Since this monster has been part of your family for a while and hasn't taken any lives, killing him might be inappropriate."
"Such womanly compassion!" Xuan Zhen said mockingly.
"Monsters are monsters, we cultivators should take it as our duty to subdue and exterminate them. And yet you speak of good monsters and bad monsters."
"You!!!" The Old Daoist Priest suddenly became agitated and seemed to want to argue, but in the end, he held back, just staring at Xuan Zhen without speaking further.
Xuan Zhen, unaffected by the Old Daoist Priest's angry gaze, smiled and asked Patriarch Gao, "May I know where the demon is lurking? I shall start the ritual immediately to avoid any complications as the night grows long."
Upon hearing this, Patriarch Gao joyfully said, "The demon is in my family's backyard, though I know not where it goes during the day; it usually arrives on the wind by evening."
"Lead me to the backyard!"
Patriarch Gao hurriedly led Xuan Zhen to the backyard, leaving Lin Fang and the other behind. Lin Fang understood well that the words of the Old Daoist Priest had displeased this seemingly kind man, for his thoughts were not of driving away but of killing Zhu Bajie completely.
For the first time, the evil nature of humanity was laid bare before Lin Fang's eyes, merely for the sake of eliminating future troubles and for one's so-called dignity. Perhaps, as Xuan Zhen had said, in their eyes, a monster was simply a monster, with no distinction between good and bad.
The Old Daoist Priest's face was as still as water, and after a long while, he sighed and said, "Alas! What has become of this world?"
That question was too profound, and Lin Fang couldn't answer him. Instead, he could only smile and comfort him, "Perhaps, this is just the reality!"
The Old Daoist Priest, feeling dispirited, got up to leave Gao Lao Village, even forsaking the bounty he had longed for, knowing that Patriarch Gao had promised a reward regardless of success or failure when he initially sought someone to capture the monster.
"Fellow Daoist, I am truly sorry for making you come all this way for nothing," the Old Daoist Priest said with some regret.
"Since you guessed the outcome, why did you make such a statement earlier?" Lin Fang asked, unconcerned, as he hadn't intended to earn this money. Instead, he was curious about the Old Daoist Priest's choices.
"Perhaps it's because there's still a bit of naive hope within me," the Old Daoist Priest murmured, and Lin Fang could detect the stories hidden within those words, assuming the Taoist had his share of interesting events in his youth.
"Since you're here, won't you watch his methods of demon exorcism? I don't think the monster before us will be so easy to handle," Lin Fang said with a bit of schadenfreude.
After all, this was Marshal Tianpeng, who had been banished to the Mortal World. Even though he was reborn in a pig, becoming a monster, he quickly grew in strength due to his intact memories. The Taoist named Xuan Zhen going up against him was akin to going on a suicide mission.
Lin Fang's words made the Old Daoist Priest hesitate, but curiosity still held his steps from leaving.
Lin Fang smiled and walked directly towards the backyard. He had surveyed his surroundings before even entering the place and knew exactly where the backyard was, heading there with practiced ease.