Chapter 43 Mission Accomplished

Meng Fan rubbed his numb shoulder and, before the white elephant could get up, gathered his focus and steadied his breath, raising two fingers on his right hand.

Employing the beast-master's technique of controlling creatures, he leaped forward and pressed his two fingers directly onto the white elephant's forehead.

The beast-master's art was fundamentally rooted in the interactive communication between humans and living beings. Yet, when the Innate Breath infused with Meng Fan's spiritual essence entered the white elephant's mind, he detected only a strange kind of energy. Upon contact, this energy unexpectedly emanated faint, rhythmic Buddhist chants.

Beneath the deepest layers of these chanting echoes lay a scene of overwhelming killing intent, vast as a sea of blood, terrifying like a malevolent demon!

"Such immense malice!"

"There is something wrong with these chants as well. Although sacred, they are intertwined with all sorts of desires, churning together with anger and murderous intent. This white elephant has completely lost its mind!"

Meng Fan found the situation tricky and troublesome. He had originally thought that the methods of a beast-master alone would be enough to subdue the creature, but he had not expected the white elephant's spiritual platform to be so complex.

Outside.

Meng Fan abruptly opened his eyes. At that very moment, the white elephant let out a trumpeting cry, swinging its dragon-like trunk directly toward him.

Meng Fan ducked backward to dodge it while secretly channeling his divine strength internally: "Looks like I'll have to reveal a bit of real skill. I need to knock it out cold."

"Ha—"

Meng Fan arched his body slightly, his muscles completely relaxed while his right hand formed the shape of a tiger's claw. It appeared exceptionally soft and powerless, yet was simultaneously taut and tense.

"Tiger Palm—Mountain Crushing!"

A sharp glint flashed in Meng Fan's eyes. The muscles across his entire body suddenly tightened, the spirit of the tiger and his Innate Breath condensing in his hand simultaneously. The Innate Breath enveloped his right hand, forming the massive shape of a tiger's claw.

At the same time, thousands of layers of force surged up from his entire body, converging into one.

Meng Fan's figure vanished from the spot. When he reappeared, his tiger claw was already pressed against the white elephant's forehead, and instantly, thousands of layers of force erupted outward.

The shockwaves riounded back and forth deep within the white elephant's massive skull, yet the skull bones and even the thick hide showed not the slightest trace of damage. Truly, this was a display of master-level control.

After rolling backward for dozens of meters, the white elephant's mountain-like body collapsed directly to the ground, kicking up a billow of dust and smoke.

The essence of this palm strike was similar to short-range explosive force, but it was also learned from felines—though, of course, tigers were technically a type of large feline.

A cat possessed over five hundred muscles throughout its body, comparable to a human, but with immense contractile strength, strong bones, powerful muscles, and tremendous explosive power.

This palm strike drew its power from the entire body, propelled layer by layer under the action of the Innate Breath, and concentrated all of that force into a single strike, which was why it possessed such massive explosive force.

Meng Fan exhaled to conclude his technique and nodded toward Chen Du: "Du'du, plant the sleeping Gu on it. Use a large dose so it doesn't wake up halfway."

"We need to leave this place as soon as possible!" Meng Fan said with a furrowed brow.

While planting the Gu into the white elephant, Chen Du asked, "Why?"

Meng Fan did not answer. He merely squatted down and glanced sideways at the bullet wounds on the white elephant's body.

Only after calling in other employees from the Company to load the white elephant onto a transport vehicle did Meng Fan finally heave a long sigh of relief.

On the way back, Meng Fan accompanied Chen Du to a shopping mall, where she bought many local souvenirs. It could be said that this was Chen Du's very first time experiencing the outside world.

—————

Upon returning to the stronghold.

The first thing greeting Meng Fan was not praise, but a torrent of scolding from Liao Zhong right off the bat.

"You brat, who gave you two permission to go shopping?"

Meng Fan crossed his arms over his chest and said indifferently, "What? Uncle Liao, you finish a mission and people aren't even allowed to rest properly?"

Liao Zhong pulled Meng Fan aside and said angrily, "You little punk, you know very well—what if something had actually gone wrong..."

"What could possibly go wrong?"

Meng Fan frowned and said, "Since I dared to guarantee it, that means under my control, nothing could possibly go wrong. Everything is completely within my grasp!"

"Besides, didn't we already test it beforehand? Even if Du'du's Gu poison were to truly leak out, Zeng Shou would still be able to absorb every single drop right back without missing a bit."

"You..."

Liao Zhong pointed a trembling finger at Meng Fan, speechless.

At that moment, Chen Du's voice sounded: "Uncle Liao, don't blame him. I was the one who wanted to go take a look. Look, I even bought a gift for you."

With that, Chen Du pulled a jade peace buckle from her pocket and handed it to Liao Zhong.

Upon seeing this, Liao Zhong hurriedly took it, transforming instantly into an indulgent father figure as he smiled and said, "It's still my Chen Du who is well-behaved, unlike this brat who gives me no peace from morning till night."

"Tch!"

"Hypocrite!"

Meng Fan scoffed in mockery. In truth, he and Liao Zhong were already accustomed to bantering back and forth. Liao Zhong naturally knew that Meng Fan had a clear sense of measure in his heart, so his earlier reprimand was merely a warning and carried no real intention of scolding him.

"I'm going to go check on that white elephant. You two chat first!"

Meng Fan was extremely curious about this white elephant. What exactly were those strange energies within its spiritual platform? That required Meng Fan to investigate carefully.

After several days of pacification and soothing, the white elephant's condition finally stabilized.

Meng Fan also learned the origin of this white elephant.

Its parents were both ordinary elephants domesticated by humans to attract tourists. After it was born, because of its unique skin color, it was regarded as an auspicious omen, and so the family was sent to be venerated at a local temple in Annam.

That temple had grown increasingly famous due to the white elephant's presence, and many people came there specifically to worship it.

However, the white elephant also attracted the covetous desires of certain individuals.

A gang of poachers broke into the temple and killed the white elephant's parents. In a state of extreme fury, the white elephant stimulated its own potential and transformed into a spiritual entity.

That was why it harbored such intense hostility toward humans.

However, the white elephant's transformation into a spirit was somewhat mystical. During the process of becoming a spirit, it seemed to have absorbed some of the incense and devotional energy belonging to the Six-Tusked White Elephant beneath the lotus throne of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, which in turn stirred up the incense wishes generated when ordinary people had worshiped it in the past.

With the combination of the two, a creature akin to a half-spirit, half-sacred entity was forged in the white elephant.

Buddhism had four great bodhisattvas: Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and Ksitigarbha. Each of the four bodhisattvas had their own mount: the Azure Lion breaks vexations, the White Elephant moves in tranquility, the Valiant Golden-Haired Roarer, and the All-Hearing Di Ting.

This white elephant was somewhat similar to the House-Protecting Immortals found in the Northeast.

The House-Protecting Immortals were a folk deity title; serving as the dedicated protective deities for a specific family or household, they were called "House-Protecting Immortals."

A "House-Protecting Immortal" was a semi-independent belief system that was both encompassed within and drifted on the fringes of shamanistic medium worship.

This white elephant was likewise venerated by humans, sharing more than a few similarities with that tradition.

Meng Fan reported these findings to Liao Zhong, and Liao Zhong submitted the report upward. Within just a few days, he received a notice from higher authorities.

"What?"

"They want to transport this white elephant to the Northeast?"

"No, on what grounds? We captured it in the South China Region, and we can't even keep it in our own hands?" Liao Zhong said with burning indignation.