A Long Grind to Daoist Monarch-Chapter 100 - 96: Lay Down the Butcher’s Knife—Will You Become a Buddha or a Demon? (Part 1)

Above the head, a vermilion lotus etched with twelve scar marks!

When Lao Dao took off that mink hat, it was as if a Great Demon Fiend shed its human skin, a fierce aura inexplicably rising around him.

With every breath he took, the intense breath he exhaled seemed as thick as rolling scarlet.

Wisp by wisp, like thick red broth boiling, long and short, retracting unpredictably, swirling and dispersing.

At first glance, it seemed as if hundreds and thousands of tiny snakes were coiling around his body, entwining his vital limbs.

"Heaven-defying Saber..."

Zhang the Fifth, with his robust, muscle-bound, and expanded physique, standing in the face of the tall elder emerging from the dark alley, was like a meek and weak lamb confronting a fierce tiger with hanging eyes.

His face was tightly strained, his legs barely holding back from trembling, and the murderous air he once possessed as a powerful Water Thief leader who had taken hundreds of lives, dissipated like a wisp of green smoke from an incense stick, blown away by the wind, completely insignificant.

"Wasn't the Heaven-defying Saber... dead?"

"Who is this Heaven-defying Saber?"

"The big boss's alias is Heaven-defying Saber!"

"Where did this old ghost pop out from?"

The Red Eyebrow Bandits, who rushed over, still didn't know what was happening. A decade had passed, and the resounding fame of the Heaven-defying Saber had long been buried at the Chaotian Sect beside the Nu Yun River.

Apart from a few elders, only a handful could still recall the majesty of the big boss.

The young new members, having recently joined and proven their worth, only knew the second, fourth, and fifth bosses as the top masters.

Nowadays, when mentioning "Heaven-defying Saber," more people thought of Zhang the Fifth, the Water Thief leader.

"Dead people... how can dead people speak! This lonely soul of mine, finally sees the light of day!"

A hint of reminiscence flashed in Lao Dao's eyes, not longing for those glorious days of banditry in Yihai, but for that great flag he personally raised.

Righteousness for Heaven... 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He still remembered, those four words were written by Lao San.

He himself hailed from Daye Town, mining ironstone with his father and uncles from the age of eight, to support the family and earn a meal for his siblings.

Even when he reached the top seat of Fulong Mountain, Lao Dao still couldn't recognize many characters, let alone write with a pen.

This was something Lao Qi often teased him about.

"Are you Red Eyebrows?"

Lao Dao's thoughts drifted for a moment before returning to the present, his gaze sweeping over the faces under the torchlight, filled with excitement and ferocity.

These people held steel knives, covered in blood beads and flesh, ears hanging from their waists, or heads wrapped in cloth that had been severed.

"Of course! We are all Red Eyebrows! This time the big flood has hit the Dragon King Temple!"

Zhang the Fifth felt both startled and doubtful, not daring to completely ascertain whether the tall old man with the red lotus above his head was the Heaven-defying Saber who had vanished for ten years.

But he couldn't risk his life on it. If the Heaven-defying Saber truly hadn't died and had hidden his name all these years, wouldn't he be sending himself to be an example?

So he had to lower his status, waiting for the other bosses to recognize him before making any other plans.

"Have you also joined the Red Eyebrows?"

Lao Dao asked again.

"Yes, yes! I'm with the fourth boss! Look, at my eyebrows, and the vermilion lotus on my chest, just as authentic as it gets!"

Zhang the Fifth pointed at his eyebrows and then pulled open his collar, chuckling:

"Big boss! Since you're not dead, why not show yourself earlier? Everyone's been thinking of you. On your death anniversary every year, the three bosses all go to your grave to cry..."

Seeing the one suspected to be the true owner of the Heaven-defying Saber name, Zhang the Fifth felt an anxious unease, because in the world of the Green Forest Dao, everyone valued a good "name."

He could only hope that the Red Eyebrow Leader would be magnanimous and let him off the hook, not bothering with him.

"So, after I left, the Red Eyebrow is filled with such folks?

The young lord was right, a nest of thieves can't raise good people. Being a bandit, eating human flesh, drinking human blood, walking the crooked path, committing... sinful deeds!"

Lao Dao closed his eyes, exhaling a hot white breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were deep and dark, devoid of any other thoughts.

Handing the mink hat to Bai Qi, whom he protected behind him, this Doorman Uncle of Tongwen Hall spread his arms wide and roared like a tiger:

"Filthy scum, also claiming to be Red Eyebrows!"

...

...

"To train muscles, skin, qi, and blood to this extent... can it still be considered human?"

Standing at the mouth of the dark alley, Bai Qi widened his eyes, seeing Uncle Dao's robe fluttering like a fierce wind blowing, stinging his face.

The large tendons on his back swelled, momentarily turning purplish-black, like thick iron chains binding a roaring wild dragon!

With the exertion of all his strength, this wild dragon instantly broke free and shot up to the sky!

Boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom——

Bai Qi's ears heard the torrent rushing like the Black Water River breaking its banks, unimaginable how human blood flow could cause such a massive commotion.

Like the tide surging in the Nu Yun River, waves dozens of feet high crashing against the shore!

Whoosh woosh! Whoosh whoosh!

Without any movement, the thick airstream within several feet was compressed and dispersed by that figure, like a giant wave blowing out the torches.

"The forceful exertion of the third practice? Strength, qi, and blood bursts forth from the marrow, from the viscera, like raging rivers, rolling thunder!"

Bai Qi, for the first time, felt the intense pressure brought by a real master!

It gave him a terrifying sense of being trapped with no escape!

"Thousand-Mile Soul Lock!"

Zhang the Fifth's hair stood on end, an immense chill emerging from the depths of his heart, as if being watched by ghosts and gods, unable to escape death even in Black River County.

"Big boss! We are part of..."