A Pawn's Passage

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.

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.

Zhu Cheng lived a dull life in the temple. Since he did not know how to please his master, he was ostracized and bullied by his fellow monks. He kneeled in front of the Buddha statue countless times and begged the Lord Buddha for a better life, but there was no response. By chance, he came into contact with the Lingshan Witch Cult and joined them as a member.

With the help of the Lingshan Witch Cult, Zhu Cheng quietly killed the monks who bullied him. Then he gradually helped his master solve problems and run errands, finally gaining his master’s trust. When his master was transferred to a larger temple, his master recommended him for a promotion as the abbot of Yulan Temple.

The Daoist Qingbai Temple, the Buddhist Yulan Temple, the Major’s Office, and the wealthy Xia family were members of the Lingshan Witch Cult. Thus, the entire city of Yishan was under their control.

The five jade pendants in front of Zhu Cheng glowed with blood-red light.

Zhu Cheng murmured, “Go.”

Each of the five jade pendants flew in the respective five directions—north, east, west, southwest, and southeast of Yulan Temple—leaving five trails in the air.

The next moment, the five jade pendants exploded simultaneously, turning into a torrential blood waterfall that crashed down on Yulan Temple below.

The whole sky turned blood-red, indicating that disaster was imminent.

......

Seeing this, the few people in Yulan Temple realized that something was wrong. Zhang Yuelu and the woman in green quickly ceased fighting.

At this time, the two women were not far from the entrance gate of the temple. The woman in the green robe was the first to escape, but Zhang Yuelu hesitated as she intended to leave with Qi Xuansu. However, Qi Xuansu rushed out of the main hall and shouted, “I’ll leave from the other side. You should go now!”

Zhang Yuelu no longer hesitated and leaped out.

The entrance gate of the temple was similar to the gatehouse of a mansion. Usually, there were two majestic statues of Vajra warriors glaring at each other inside the entrance gate. The statues would hold a Vajra to frighten demons and ghosts.

The Vajra on the left side of the gatehouse would have a furious gaze and an open mouth, while the Vajra on the right had an angry face with closed lips. Thus, they were more commonly known as General Heng and General Ha. General Heng was the one with the closed mouth, while General Ha was the one with the opened mouth.

At this time, Qi Xuansu was in the main hall, which was still some distance away from the entrance gate of the temple. There was no time to meet up with Zhang Yuelu. Instead, he followed the path they used to enter Yulan Temple and left the same way, which was shorter from where he was.

Just as Qi Xuansu was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly felt a crushing pain in his back. Someone had struck him from behind.

Qi Xuansu spurted out a mouthful of blood, all his internal organs injured. He turned around with difficulty and saw that the person who struck him was none other than the monk, Yan Xiu.

At this time, Yan Xiu did not look as youthful and naive as before. He was ruthless and sinister.

“You!” Qi Xuansu was shocked, more so angry. He never thought that an experienced traveler like himself would let his guard down against this young monk, leading to this sneak attack.

Yan Xiu sneered. “I’ll let you die with some understanding. This is the divine power of the Ancient Immortal Wu Luo, who likes blood sacrifice the most. During her divine descent, she must see blood and death. Otherwise, she will not stop the rampage. Among the four of us in this temple, you have the lowest cultivation level. So, I have no choice but to sacrifice you.”

After saying that, Yan Xiu kicked Qi Xuansu to the ground and turned to leave.

Qi Xuansu fell to the ground, vomiting blood. However, at the critical moment, Qi Xuansu had a burst of strength. His right hand was still holding onto the Xuan Jade, while his left hand desperately grabbed Yan Xiu’s ankle to prevent the monk from leaving.

Even if Qi Xuansu had to die, he would drag Yan Xiu down to hell with him.

Yan Xiu turned his head with a ferocious look on his face.

......

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.