Chapter 96: Dead Daoist Priest

Chapter 96: Dead Daoist Priest

Qi Xuansu used his hands to sweep away the rubble and finally saw a touch of green underneath. It looked similar to the knife money of ancient times, shaped like a crescent moon. The Xuan Jade was green and translucent, with many thin red lines inside that resembled veins.

However, compared with the Xuan Jade he found in Fengtai County, this piece of Xuan Jade had more blood-like veins inside, so it was reddish overall.

Qi Xuansu grasped the Xuan Jade, feeling excited.

......

At the same time, two people were looking at Yulan Temple from the top of Yishan City.

Of these two people, one had a clean-shaven head and was wearing a Kasaya—a typical appearance of Buddhist monks. He was the abbot of the Yishan City Temple. His Buddhist name was Zhu Cheng. At this moment, he did not kneel in front of the six-armed statue but came to the top of the mountain.

The other person had a square face and big ears. He was dressed as a member of the gentry from a wealthy family. If Luo Xiao were here, he would recognize this gentleman as Xia Chang. That was because Xia Chang had a well-known father who was a major landlord in the city. Unlike the infamous Jiao Dayan—the man who was decapitated by the bandits—Xia Chang’s father was charitable and well-known in the city as a great philanthropist.

The monk and the gentleman were both members of the Lingshan Witch Cult. At this point, all seven members of the Lingshan Witch Cult had surfaced.

The monk Zhu Cheng held four jade pendants. Aside from his own, the other three jade pendants belonged to the injured female Shaman, Lin Zhenyuan, and the scholar. They were the same pendants as the ones found on Bai Yongguan and He Nian.

Xia Chang also held his jade pendant in hand, saying regretfully, “The Cult Leader gave us seven jade pendants, one for each of the seven of us. Unfortunately, Bai Yongguan’s and He Nian’s pendants fell into the hands of the Daoist priests. I’m afraid that our power will be reduced.”

Zhu Cheng smiled and said, “Even if it’s reduced, there won’t be much difference. After all, the opponent is not a Heavenly Being.”

Xia Chang nodded and handed his jade pendant to Zhu Cheng.

This was their last resort to suppress this matter. The situation had also developed in the direction they expected.

After Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu discovered the anomaly in Yishan City, they tracked down the cultists and found the Buddhist temple. That was how Zhu Cheng and Xia Chang took advantage of the situation to turn the Yulan Temple into a trap, intending to bury the troublemakers.

As for the Xuan Jade, Zhu Cheng accidentally obtained it from a Buddhist cave. He originally thought it was some kind of treasure, but after studying it for a long time, he still could not figure it out. Later, he discovered that this strange piece of jade could make the Buddha statues come alive. Thus, he buried the Xuan Jade in the Buddha statue located in the main hall of Yulan Temple. As such, all the Buddha statues in the temple came to life.

This was a lucky strike because the Xuan Jade had to be activated by divine power, which was transformed from incense power. The Buddha statue in the main hall was where all the incense power converged. Therefore, that Xuan Jade was partially activated.

Zhu Cheng simply used this as bait to lure the Daoist priests into the Buddhist temple to investigate. After all, anyone would be able to tell that there was something wrong with Yulan Temple. Thus, the Daoist priests would assume that Yulan Temple was their stronghold.

However, Zhu Cheng had neglected two people. He did not expect that Yan Xiu would enter the Yulan Temple before Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu, nor did he expect that the woman in the green robe would arrive shortly after.

Zhu Cheng was expecting Zhang Yuelu to be fighting fiercely with the Buddha statue at this time to distract her. However, since Yan Xiu had already destroyed the Buddha statue, Zhang Yuelu and the others could come and go from the temple without hindrance.

The monk spread out his hands, and the five jade pendants floated into the air, arranging themselves according to the Five Elements Formation.

Meanwhile, Xia Chang turned around and left the vicinity. UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

Zhu Cheng cut a slit in his wrist, allowing his blood to gush out of the wound and fly toward the jade pendant. This would stimulate the divine power contained in the five jade pendants. A blood-colored mist suddenly filled the air around him.

The abbot of Yulan Temple was born in poverty, but he had no major ups and downs in life. When he was two years old, his parents sent him to the mountains to be a Samanera so that he would not starve to death.

......

After Zhang Yuelu escaped from the Yulan Temple, she looked back and saw five blood waterfalls pouring down from the sky, completely submerging the temple.

If she was in the temple, she would probably die there, even if she was a Banished Immortal in the Guizhen stage. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little scared. Then, she was worried for Qi Xuansu, unsure if he had escaped. If he was still inside, he would definitely be dead.

The woman in the green robe stopped not far from Zhang Yuelu, with a complicated look on her face.

At this time, the woman in green came back to her senses, realizing that she had failed her mission.

The two women gazed at each other from a distance.

Zhang Yuelu said coldly, “I’m Zhang Yuelu, a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master from the Daoist Order. I will find you in the future and continue where we left off.”

The woman in the green robe replied calmly, “I’m Xie Qiuniang from the Qingping Society. I will gladly accept your challenge at any time.”

Zhang Yuelu was startled for a moment because she realized that the woman in the green robe had not reported a real name but a name in a famous poem at the time called Recalling Jiangnan.

Xie Qiuniang took a deep look at Zhang Yuelu, held the soft sword in her hand, and backed away slowly.

Since Zhang Yuelu was worried about Qi Xuansu’s safety, she did not pursue the woman.

Many of the Green Phoenix Guards who were surrounding the mountain also saw this strange phenomenon and dared not approach.

However, the blood waterfalls did not spill over from the boundaries of the Yulan Temple and were only limited to the temple walls.

The inside and outside of the temple walls were like two separate worlds. It was bright outside the wall, but everything inside had been dyed blood-red, including the sky and the earth.

In the other direction of the Yulan Temple, a figure quickly leaped out of the temple walls. If he were any slower, he would have drowned in the pool of blood.

The person who managed to escape was Yan Xiu. After landing on the ground, he rolled down the mountain due to the momentum and only stopped after hitting a big tree.

Yan Xiu slowly stood up, using the tree trunk as support. He looked up at the Yulan Temple, which was already engulfed in blood, with conflicting expressions on his face.

What he told Qi Xuansu was true. He had planned to stay over at this temple, but he discovered something wrong with it and barged in to slay the demons. Even so, this did not stop him from killing a Daoist priest.

The Daoist Order had four levels of merit: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang. The Qingping Society also had a merit point system, which the Buddhist Sect also implemented.

One should not hesitate to slay demons and accumulate merit. Yan Xiu, the Buddhaputra, thought it would be insulting to die in this place. Qi Xuansu was the perfect sacrifice because he was just a low-level Daoist priest.

Thinking of this, Yan Xiu slowly lowered his head and saw a hand still clutching his ankle.

The hand was completely cut off from the wrist. Its five fingers gripped Yan Xiu’s ankle so tightly that they pierced into his flesh. At this time, the hand still refused to let go.

Yan Xiu sneered and bent over to pry open the fingers from his ankles one by one. Then he strode away.