Just as Mu Jinyu was about to question Sheng Rulai's confidence...

Sheng Rulai was already fingering the Buddha beads, reciting an unknown scripture.

Suddenly, the Peacock Ming King, who was firmly embedded in the mountain wall and had fainted, began to convulse, showing signs of pain on his face.

"Hmm..."

Seeing this scene, Mu Jinyu instinctively thought of the Tightening Ring Spell between Tang Seng and Sun Wukong.

"So the Buddha Head already had a plan..." Mu Jinyu looked at Sheng Rulai with deep meaning in his eyes and chuckled.

Sheng Rulai stopped his chanting, and the convulsing Peacock Ming King in the mountain wall suddenly quieted down.

Slowly opening his eyes, Sheng Rulai's smile was calm and gentle as he softly said, "When the Peacock Ming King was first subdued by me, he was still a bit rebellious, so I cast the Vajra Mantra on him, intending to grind away his demonic nature slowly, like taming a hawk, and make him truly convert to Buddhism. But later, things went awry, and I couldn't pay much attention to these matters. Even though my cultivation has waned a bit now, I won't let the Peacock Ming King retaliate."

After a pause, Sheng Rulai remembered something and explained, "Hmm, because my cultivation was sealed before, I couldn't stop the Peacock Ming King when he attacked the Dragon Master, and I hope the Dragon Master will forgive me for this."

"Hmm, I understand." Mu Jinyu nodded, his expression indifferent.

He naturally saw that Sheng Rulai used the scripture to suppress the Peacock Ming King, not just relying on his words, but also channeling the power of True Yuan and Spiritual Thought.

At that time, Sheng Rulai's cultivation was sealed. If he were to suppress the Peacock Ming King using this method to prevent him from acting rashly, he would have been unable to accomplish that. If he tried to unseal himself to target the Peacock Ming King, it's likely that instead of the Peacock Ming King collapsing from powerlessness, Sheng Rulai himself would have fallen into madness first.

"Since that's the case, I'll spare this little Peacock."

Mu Jinyu nodded slightly, extinguishing his intent to kill the Peacock Ming King.

"Buddha Head!"

"Dragon Master..."

"Are you all right..."

At this moment, those who had been knocked down after contributing their Power of Wishes following the Peacock Ming King's attack were slowly recovering, and they flew up to join Sheng Rulai and Mu Jinyu.

The crowd gathered at the mountain wall, looking at the embedded Peacock Ming King, then at the restored Sheng Rulai and Mu Jinyu, their expressions showing a trace of complexity, followed by respectful greetings.

"Dragon Master, I apologize... My actions against you earlier were not my wishes but beyond my control."

Facial features exquisite, and dressed in a monk's robe, Master Ruyi expressed regret as she apologized to Mu Jinyu.

The Arhat and the various abbots and abbesses of the Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere temples also expressed their apologies.

Mu Jinyu nodded and chuckled lightly, "Master, you don't need to be like this, I don't blame you. I understand that earlier, your actions were beyond your control."

Strictly speaking, these monks hadn't actually attacked him directly.

They were controlled by the Eighteen-foot Buddha Golden Body projected by the Peacock Ming King, unconsciously chanting Buddhist scriptures and contributing Power of Wishes.

As for Master Ruyi, the Arhat, and others, they were friends who had once come to the Dragon King Hall during dark times to help create the Gold Inlaid Jade Magical Instrument to resist the ominous crisis, an unforgettable experience that made Mu Jinyu unwilling to hold these small matters against them.

Later, Mu Jinyu chatted briefly with Master Ruyi and the others about his experiences when he left Huaxia to enter the Kunlun Ruins, then said, "All right, since you're fine now and the Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere has rid itself of the monster's control, I should go."

He had originally gained many things at Mount Tai and was preparing to return and study them, but came to Mount Song to see Sheng Rulai due to unexpectedly encountering him trapped in a closed space.

Now that Sheng Rulai has escaped from the entanglement of Demonic Qi, and the Peacock Ming King has been half killed by him, unable to find the true perpetrator behind the Demonic Qi attack, Mu Jinyu decided to leave.

There are still many places he needs to visit.

For instance, to the Dan Pavilion, to investigate the origins of the Mystical Little Tree.

And to trace the whereabouts of the Omniscient, to see if there is any nefarious plot behind the Demonic Qi that attacked Sheng Rulai and the Buddhist Bell found by the Peacock Ming King in the Folded Space of Mount Song...

Seeing that Mu Jinyu was about to leave, Sheng Rulai and others showed a mixture of expressions, opening their mouths to try to persuade him to stay, but eventually said nothing.

Meanwhile, a frail and elderly monk, resembling a candle in the wind, took a deep breath and asked, "Dragon Master, if you are to leave, could you return our Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere's treasure first..."

As soon as he finished speaking.

The whole place fell into a deathly silence.

No one expected that this old monk would ask Mu Jinyu to return the Buddhist Bell at such a moment.

Mu Jinyu halted in his steps, turning back to look at the elderly monk with a somewhat resigned expression, his face showing a slight daze, then he turned his hand to produce the Buddhist Bell, placing it in his palm, and said with a smile, "Master, are you referring to this Buddhist Bell?"

"Yes." The old monk joined his hands and nodded, saying, "Although this treasure was obtained by you after defeating the Peacock Ming King, and logically it is your trophy, but this Buddhist Bell is the treasure of our Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere and Dragon Master you cannot use it. This humble monk hopes you'd return it to us."

Mu Jinyu said: "I indeed can't use this Buddhist Bell and initially planned to return it to the Buddha Head. But after returning it, the Buddhist Bell autonomously returned to the Buddha Head's Sea of Consciousness and triggered the Demonic Qi to attack me..."

He hadn't finished his words when the monks' expressions changed dramatically, crying out in surprise: "How could this be..."

Just recently, when the Peacock Ming King was defeated, they had immediately fallen and thus didn't witness the critical danger Mu Jinyu faced.

If not, this old monk might not have made this request to Mu Jinyu.

"This is indeed so..." Sheng Rulai slightly closed his eyes, hands clasped together, and after reciting a Buddhist mantra, testified on behalf of Mu Jinyu.

Mu Jinyu remained calm, saying lightly, "To be honest, I was attacked by the Demonic Qi and narrowly escaped a dire situation. After freeing myself, my first thought was that it was a conspiracy between Sheng Rulai and the Great Peacock to harm me..."

"Amitabha..." Upon hearing this, Sheng Rulai gracefully chanted a Buddhist mantra without saying more.

The expressions of the monks were complex and tangled, their brows furrowed tightly as if locked.

Mu Jinyu continued, "But after my investigation, the loss of control of the Buddhist Bell was not their doing. So I cannot confirm whether this Buddhist Bell is a Demonic Instrument or if somebody is manipulating things behind the scenes, setting up a trap to kill me. I will continue to investigate, so for now... I can't return this Buddhist Bell to you. Please understand..."

Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, the old monk closed his eyes, uttering a few cries of "Sin," then opened his eyes, giving Mu Jinyu a complex look and saying, "I understand. Since this is the case, we have no objections, but we hope that after your investigation, if this Buddhist Bell is found to be non-demonic, you can return it to our Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere."

"Naturally." Mu Jinyu nodded.

Finally, Mu Jinyu left Mount Song with the mysterious Buddhist Bell.

...

Meanwhile, in the depths of Shennongjia.

In a secluded mountain valley.

As Sheng Rulai's Demonic Qi dissipated and regained freedom, and the Buddhist Bell was subdued by Mu Jinyu, someone sighed faintly, saying:

"So close, yet so far..."

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