After running for two hours, I finally saw a village.

I carried my master on my back and wanted to find a household to ask for water to drink.

But strangely enough, the village was full of ruins. I walked around for a long time and didn't see a single person.

I heard rustling behind me, so I turned around and saw a thin person running with his hands raised, shouting excitedly:

"I did it! I did it!"

Both my master and I felt strange. As we approached, we were shocked.

Was this still a human being?

His limbs were as thin as dry twigs, his bare upper body revealed visible ribs, his cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like a skeleton wearing human skin.

"Young man, are you trying to lose weight?" my master said. "Dieting to lose weight is easy to rebound."

The person ignored us and suddenly knelt down with his hands together, saying, "I wholeheartedly devote myself to Buddhism. I have successfully severed the seven emotions and six desires, renounced greed, anger, and ignorance, and I beg the Buddha to take me to the Pure Land early!"

With that, he smashed his head against the wall, and brain matter mixed with blood spilled all over the ground.

My master was also stunned and only spoke after a while, "I've said it before, exercise your brain before exercising your body."

On the other side of the village, we saw a temple.

With a golden gate and jade stairs, it stood out from the surrounding buildings.

As soon as we stepped through the gate, we heard the noisy chanting inside.

There were about two hundred people kneeling on cushions, chanting. In front of them stood a huge golden Buddha statue, and below the statue were two monks with sly and cunning eyes.

"Stop chanting!" my master waved his hand. "You're like a bunch of flies."

The faces of the two monks immediately turned green.

"Which temple do you belong to?" the fat monk asked.

"This one," my master pointed to the top of his head and then took off his hat. He wasn't bald; a circle of short green hair had grown on top. "I'm in disguise. Li Shimin won't let me leave Chang'an. What a nuisance!"

My master turned to me again and asked, "Pigsy, how's my hairstyle? Does the crew cut look handsome?"

I thought to myself, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have saved him.

The bell rang.

The crowd suddenly quieted down.

More than two hundred pairs of eyes looked over with fanaticism.

"Begin the baptism—" the skinny monk shouted.

The crowd automatically parted to form a path.

A few people in black robes walked forward one by one, cradling a crying baby in their arms.

The fat monk took the child and held it above his head.

"Sever the seven emotions!"

He shouted loudly, and the people below followed suit, shouting, "Sever the seven emotions!"

"Renounce the six desires!"

"Renounce the six desires!"

"Follow our Buddha and ascend to the Pure Land early!"

"Follow our Buddha and ascend to the Pure Land early!"

The crowd bowed in unison, shouting, "Follow our Buddha and ascend to the Pure Land early! Follow our Buddha and ascend to the Pure Land early!"

Then, the fat monk held the child's neck and pushed it into a water tank.

He was actually going to drown the child!

My master rushed out like a gust of wind, pushed the fat monk away, and took the child.

Unexpectedly, a huge tentacle emerged from the water tank and wrapped around my master.

"Pigsy!"

I swung my rake and hit the tentacle, causing it to release my master in pain.

"It stinks!" My master pinched his nose and exclaimed.

"You're audacious!" The fat monk got up from the ground, and the villagers, seeing him angry, began to approach us slowly.

"Monkey?"

I turned my head to look for reinforcements and realized that Monkey hadn't come in at all.

He was squatting ona tree branch, munching on a juicy peach. He seemed completely oblivious to the chaos happening below.

"Monkey! Get down here and help us!" my master shouted.

Monkey lazily dropped the peach pit and leaped down from the tree branch, landing gracefully in front of us.

"What's the problem?" Monkey asked, scratching his head.

"These monks are trying to drown babies in the water tank!" my master exclaimed, holding the crying child tightly.

"That's not very monk-like behavior," Monkey remarked with a smirk.

The fat monk, now accompanied by the skinny monk, approached us with a stern expression.

"How dare you interfere with our sacred rituals!" the skinny monk shouted.

"Sacred rituals? Drowning innocent children is a sacred ritual?" Monkey retorted, his eyes narrowed.

The villagers surrounding us started murmuring among themselves, unsure of whose side to take.

Monkey cracked his knuckles and took a step forward.

"If you want to continue your 'ritual,' you'll have to go through me first," Monkey declared, his voice filled with determination.

The fat monk hesitated for a moment, exchanging glances with the skinny monk.

"Fine, we don't need interference from outsiders," the fat monk finally said. "Let's go, brothers."

The two monks turned around and walked back towards the temple, followed by the murmuring crowd.

Monkey, my master, and I watched as they disappeared inside.

"That was close," my master sighed in relief, still holding the child protectively.

"Indeed," Monkey agreed. "We should make sure those monks don't cause any more harm."

With that, Monkey leaped onto the roof of the temple and disappeared inside.

My master and I followed suit, finding ourselves in a large hall filled with statues and incense.

At the end of the hall, we spotted the two monks talking to a figure dressed in elaborate robes.

"Who's that?" I whispered to my master.

"Probably their leader," my master replied. "Let's listen."

We quietly approached, careful not to alert them of our presence.

"The plan must proceed as scheduled," the robed figure said, his voice commanding. "We cannot afford any more setbacks."

"But the interference from those outsiders..." the fat monk started.

"Silence!" the robed figure interrupted. "We have come too far to let anything stop us now. The time is near, and we must ensure the success of the ritual."

My master and I exchanged worried glances, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"What should we do?" I asked my master.

He thought for a moment and then whispered, "We need to find out more about their plans and stop them from harming any more children. Let's gather information and formulate a plan."

We retreated from the hall, making our way back outside the temple.

As we sat down under a tree to discuss our next steps, Monkey joined us, his face filled with determination.

"I've learned a lot," Monkey said. "These monks are part of a cult that aims to summon a powerful demon using the sacrificed infants. They believe it will grant them immortality and unstoppable power."

"We can't let that happen," my master said firmly. "We have to put an end to their twisted plans."

And so, we devised a plan to expose the cult's activities, gather evidence, and inform the local authorities. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but with Monkey's agility, my strength, and my master's intellect, we were determined to stop the cult and protect the innocent.