Pig Da Li, as the chief enforcer of the Old Ape Tavern, had, in his younger days, followed Ape Old West from one end of the street to the other, proving himself a capable fighter. However, as Ape Old West’s strength waned and his influence diminished, Pig Da Li found fewer opportunities for combat and had, instead, grown stout within the tavern’s walls. Chai A Si’s recent sword strike had truly stunned him! It was too swift, too fierce, a move aimed solely at taking a life. Could this truly be the same Chai A Si? The one who, not long ago, had endured several slaps from a drunkard without daring to retaliate? Now, this Chai A Si was trailing close behind, the broken sword still tucked into his belt!

Pig Da Li dared not turn his head, his hands held high as he led the way. “Brother Chai,” he stammered, “is there some misunderstanding between us? How about I treat you to a drink? Whatever the matter, let’s sit down and talk it over slowly. You’re still young, with a bright future ahead of you. Don’t lightly provoke the laws of Mo Yun City, ah!”

At this moment, Chai A Si’s mind was consumed by the fleeting glimpse he had caught… of Ape Xiao Qing’s tantalizing cleavage and vibrant red lips. He paid no heed to Pig Da Li’s words. This silence, however, only amplified the menacing aura of the iron bar sword. Pig Da Li, his fat quivering with tension, walked forward in a manner calculated to avoid any further misunderstanding.

In the Mirror World, the ancient god of the Jiang surname, one hand gripping the Six Desires Bodhisattva and the other manipulating the errant path, was fully focused on observing the surroundings, doing his utmost to help Chai A Si complete his crucial first act. Through the Six Desires Bodhisattva, he could sense the emotional fluctuations of this dog demon, a sensation that left him deeply speechless. The great god was half-dead with exhaustion, while the ignorant little demon’s mind was wandering among the clouds. The life-or-death crisis was far from over, yet his dog eyes were already captivated by the world of flowers. With such a character, did he truly aspire to be a protagonist? The great ancient god deeply doubted his choice! However, as matters stood, he could only silently control the Six Desires Bodhisattva, subtly influencing Chai A Si’s sense of danger…

Chai A Si, barely maintaining an air of expertise, suddenly shivered, abruptly realizing the perilous environment he was in. The amorous fantasies in his mind vanished like smoke, and he became alert once more. He surveyed the entire flower street. The Old Ape Tavern, while only of medium scale, boasted a long history and considerable fame. However, in recent years, its business had steadily declined. Clearly, with the loss of the lucrative position collecting “example money” for the substitute Hua Guo Hui, there was still significant room for further decline in the tavern’s business.

He walked through the main hall, where scattered drinkers sat, then passed through a long corridor lined with jars of aged wine, the air thick with the mingled scents of fermented spirits and tobacco. Pushing open an iron door, he saw a stone staircase leading downwards.

Chai A Si’s martial skill was not high, but relying on the ancient god mirror in his chest, his dog courage had grown. He silently followed Pig Da Li downwards. The underground stairs were not excessively deep; after two turns, he could already see a stone platform extending from the end of the stairs, terminating at a paper door. This was a paper door adorned with strange, demonic ghost patterns. White background and red shadows. Naked, muscle-bound, ferocious demon ghosts writhed in blazing flames, possessing a strange, unsettling beauty.

Every time Chai A Si had come to the Old Ape Tavern, he had honestly paid his example money, honestly drunk a cup of the most inferior wine, and honestly sat in the furthest corner. He had never been to this place before, only seeing Ape Old West from a distance. He had originally thought that the underground of the Old Ape Tavern was merely a place to hide wine. At this moment, he felt the atmosphere suddenly change… Ape Old West had a certain style!

What he didn’t know was that as he beheld these demon ghost patterns, the great ancient god in the Mirror World, in a narrow divine path space, suddenly opened his red-gold eyes. Unbeknownst to Chai A Si, Ape Old West, or Pig Da Li, he abruptly unfolded a pitch-black, square room, like a prison cell. To call it a divine path space was perhaps an overstatement, but after all, a “god” existed within. In the depths of the room, a pair of blood-red eyes opened. A terrifying aura thus became palpable. Chains rattled, disheveled hair splayed, and her ferocious, ugly face became clearer, revealing a green visage, fangs, brown corpse spots, and strange blood lines. There truly was a demon ghost, raised in this quiet room, attached to the paper door!

Within the Heaven Prison World, the divine path flourished. Cultivating gods with ghosts was a commonplace, albeit not particularly noteworthy, expression of the “Red Heart Patrol Heaven”! Chapter 40: Demon Ghost! These were well-trodden paths. But the path of ghost gods also held a thousand variations. Accumulating faith was the orthodox way, while greedily devouring blood food was the evil path. Harming fortune and life was evil, while showing compassion to beings was orthodox. Incense was a grand path, while blood sacrifice was an errant path. Of course, there were also those like Zhang Lin Chuan, who walked the orthodox path of accumulating faith but employed the quick, beneficial, harmful, and evil means of hindering fortune and life.

And the demon ghost before their eyes was the reason why Ape Old West could still linger in the position of Incense Master of the Hua Guo Hui, and also the reason for his gradual weakening! The blood lines on that ugly ghost face were stained by who knew how many blood sacrifices!

“Vile!” The power manifested by this demon ghost in the divine path space suddenly strained its chains, its body rapidly expanding, and foul-smelling blood blisters bulged on its terrifying muscles…

*Peng!* A huge, colorful, flowing Buddha palm descended, pressing directly onto this ferocious demon ghost, flattening it into a pool of blood on the ground. A mere minor god of the Inner Mansion level was naturally no match for the great Chi Yun Mountain god, especially in this divine soul battlefield. The ancient god of the Jiang surname manifested his divine soul body, standing in this square divine path prison room, his palm holding a mass of blood-colored, mixed divine soul power, which he slowly refined with Samadhi true fire—waiting until the impurities were burned away before consuming it as a supplement to his divine soul tonic. This method of regulating the divine soul was far more efficient than waiting for Chai A Si to win some martial arts championship. The great ancient god looked around, for a moment lost in thought…

Everything that happened within the divine path space was utterly unknown to the demons outside. Pig Da Li walked to the strangely patterned paper door, seeming less afraid now. Still holding his hands high, he slowly turned back. “Fifth Master is inside.”

Chai A Si, remembering the teachings of the venerable ancient god, simply lifted his chin coolly, indicating that this subordinate should open the door. The paper door slid open on both sides, dividing the ferocious demon ghost patterns down the middle. Through the opening, one could see a rather spacious quiet room beyond.

Inside the quiet room sat a hunched figure, clad in a gray daoist robe, facing the wall with his back to the door. He sat peacefully. This was, of course, Ape Old West, the owner of the Old Ape Tavern and the most senior Incense Master of the Water Lotus Hall of the Hua Guo Hui. His ample form housed a myriad of thoughts, his teeth held versions of the tyrannical “Ba Dao,” and he was skilled in painting talismans and controlling female spirits. In front of him, on the wall, hung a large character. A vertical scroll bearing a single word, the strokes hinting at a hidden divine essence, undoubtedly the work of a master hand. The word was “Quiet.”

Indeed, everything here was very quiet, so quiet that the newcomer, a young demon, felt slightly uneasy. Below the word “Quiet,” against the wall, stood a wooden knife rack, upon which rested a long knife. Ape Old West sat facing the knife. Without turning his head, he asked, “Heard you have a matter to find me?”

Chai A Si had even killed Ape Yong, and thus should not fear Ape Old West, who was publicly acknowledged to be weaker than Ape Yong. Yet, a strange tension remained in his heart. “It’s about the example money,” he said, clearing his throat slightly.

“Da Li, give him sixteen Five Zhu King coins,” Ape Old West said calmly. “If he can rely on himself to walk into this place, then he deserves double the money.”

“No, Fifth Master, I’m talking about the entire flower street, specifically the control of the example money for the entire Hua Guo Hui,” Chai A Si said.

Silence fell upon the room for a moment before Ape Old West said, “Da Li, you go up first.” Pig Da Li, without a word, turned and walked upwards. When the sound of his footsteps faded, Ape Old West said, “Speak your mind.”

At this moment, Chai A Si stood outside the door, while Ape Old West sat inside the room. The empty, quiet room itself was the distance between them. Before obtaining the ancient god mirror, Chai A Si had never imagined he could cross such a distance. But now, he knew very clearly that he only needed to take one step forward. And this was not his endpoint.

He adjusted his emotions, saying angrily, “Ape Yong and his subordinates extorted money door to door. I had already paid the example money here with you, but he still wanted to collect it again. Not only did he extort money, but he also insulted me, beat me, smashed my home to pieces, and even… even smashed my grandfather’s spirit tablet!”

“So, you’ve come here today to complain to me?” Ape Old West still didn’t turn his head, only chuckled softly. “Or perhaps you want to step forward and testify, asking me to take you before the Meeting Master and give you a chance to accuse Ape Yong?”

“I killed him,” Chai A Si said.

Silence filled the room. Ape Old West slowly stood up. His figure, which had been hunched, gradually straightened as he rose. His ascent was slow, yet the moment he fully stood up, he turned with lightning speed, the long knife on the knife rack already drawn. With a *clang*, a cold light flashed, and he moved with his body, with his knife, crossing the entire quiet room in an instant, already chopping towards the front!

Chai A Si had only taken three steps forward. This was, of course, three steps forward under the guidance of the ancient god. He stepped precisely into the path of the knife’s swing, a simple side step, and the rust-speckled iron bar sword was perfectly held horizontally in front of his abdomen. The edge of the knife nearly brushed past his nose as it chopped down, cutting through empty air!

Ape Old West had two very prominent white eyebrows, which rose and swung in the air as he leaped and chopped, giving him a fierce look. At this moment, he solemnly retreated a step and stopped, his white eyebrows also falling, drooping to the corners of his eyes, giving him a look of compassion. With a backhand flick, the long knife returned to its sheath, still silent on the knife rack. As if nothing had happened.

“Fifth Master, are you not going to try again?” Chai A Si retracted the horizontal iron bar sword, his tone calm.

Ape Old West lifted his eyelids. “Fists fear the young and strong. If I try again, I fear I’ll be beaten to death by you.” He then added, “Come in and sit.”

These words naturally sounded like self-deprecation, but they also held several points of truth. He was well aware of his current physical state, having been devoured too fiercely by the demon ghost, making each knife strike weaker than the last. Unless he added the demon ghost’s attachment, he truly had no confidence in killing this young dog demon. And the price of rashly using the demon ghost’s power was not something he was willing to bear…

This quiet room was still quite spacious. To the left side of the quiet room, against the wall, in a place invisible from the outside, was a low table with a tea set. Two meditation cushions served as seats. Ape Old West led Chai A Si to sit down and then personally poured him tea. Although his hands were wrinkled, they were very steady. “I’m very curious, where did you learn your sword technique?”

Chai A Si sat upright. Although his clothes were ragged, he carried the prestige of killing Ape Yong and repelling Ape Old West, possessing a certain profound and imposing aura. “Is this very important?”

“You don’t have to say,” Ape Old West smiled faintly. “This question is merely to satisfy an old man’s curiosity and enhance understanding between partners, that’s all.”

“If you say so, I suppose I must reveal the truth,” Chai A Si said as if making a great determination, his voice low. “This is actually my family’s inherited sword method.” The venerable one above was his ancient god grandfather. Wasn’t that inherited from the family?

Ape Old West seemed to understand something. “With this strength, why did you endure so many years?”

“I am a low-key person,” Chai A Si said seriously. “If Ape Yong hadn’t destroyed my grandfather’s spirit tablet, I would have continued to endure for many more years.”

Ape Old West looked at him with a calm expression, neither saying he believed nor disbelieved. Chai A Si then sighed, saying, “My grandfather was hit and killed by a carriage of the Mo Yun Dog family.” He said only this one sentence, stopping there and letting Ape Old West guess the rest.

Ape Old West indeed seemed to understand something, and he solemnly promised, “I will keep this secret.”

“Keeping it or not keeping it doesn’t really matter,” Chai A Si said. “After all, so many years have passed, and no one in the Mo Yun Dog family will take me seriously, and I wouldn’t dare to hate them, would I?” He added, “But Fifth Master had best not mention it outside, to avoid trouble.”

“Yes, yes,” Ape Old West said in the tone of an experienced person. “No enmity, no resentment, no disaster, no calamity, a light heart.”

“Then,” he sighed, resting his hands on his knees and looking at Chai A Si, “You came here to find me, what do you want?”

Chai A Si said, “I don’t want to be an enemy of the Hua Guo Hui, so I want to join the Hua Guo Hui. What Ape Yong could do for the Hua Guo Hui, I can do. What Ape Yong couldn’t do, I can also do… I want Ape Yong’s position.”

Ape Old West lifted his eyelids. “If I didn’t hear wrong, you’re saying… you killed an Incense Master of the Hua Guo Hui, and as compensation, you want to fill this Incense Master’s vacancy?”

“You can basically understand it like that,” Chai A Si said calmly.

“Young demon, it’s normal to have ambition,” Ape Old West smiled. “But why would you come find me? Me, such a decrepit old man.”

Chai A Si said seriously, “Among the big bosses of the Hua Guo Hui, I only know Fifth Master. Your reputation has been here for so many years. I know Fifth Master is kind-hearted, and I also believe in Fifth Master’s ability.”

“Then,” Ape Old West looked at him, “What can I get?”

“From the beginning, I already said. All the example money from the entire flower street, from now on, will be collected by you. Unlike Ape Yong, I will absolutely not compete with you,” Chai A Si raised one finger, then another. “Second, from now on, you point east and I’ll strike east, you point west and I’ll strike west. If you want to be the Hall Master of the Water Lotus Hall, or even the Meeting Master of the Hua Guo Hui, I will fully support you.” He continued, raising a third finger. “Third—”

“Enough.” Ape Old West lifted his hand and pressed down Chai A Si’s third finger. “An old man is old, and his appetite is small. Two points are enough.”

This answer showed Ape Old West’s wisdom, and it also surprised Chai A Si. “You don’t plan to hear what the third point is?”

Ape Old West shook his head. “No. These eyes of mine, they don’t misjudge demons. You are not something that will remain in a pond. This third condition will be kept as a favor. One day, when you soar into the sky, it will be enough if you can still remember this decrepit old man.”

These words resonated with Chai A Si’s heart, but he made an effort to maintain a calm and strong demeanor, his tone sincere. “I don’t know how high I can go in the future, but Fifth Master, I will not forget who paved the way for my first step.”

Ape Old West smiled slightly. “Go back first. I have one night to smooth things over. Come find me again tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you to see the Meeting Leader.”

Chai A Si took out twenty Five Zhu Emperor coins from his chest and neatly placed them on the table. “These are all my possessions. I know it’s definitely not enough to smooth things over, but please accept them.”

Ape Old West gently pushed the money back, saying softly, “Put it away. As the new Incense Master of the Water Lotus Hall of the Hua Guo Hui, you will have many places to use money.”

How to describe this feeling? It was as if Chai A Si was already seeing the future bloody storms, seeing the entire Tian Xi Wasteland changed because of him, like the rise of a generation’s hero. His eyes held a multitude of thoughts. He adopted the tone of the great ancient god, slowly saying, “Fifth Master, I believe the favor between us begins now.”

Deep space, the other shore… Second update, the expert lives on: mhssd! A grand display of the “Red Heart Patrol Heaven”! Chapter 40: Demon Ghost!