Chapter 17 An Unexpected Savior

"This matter is of great importance, allow me a moment to prepare."

Though he said this, Jiang Cheng slowly retreated, returning to Ye Qiutang's side and taking her hand, gently squeezing the hand holding the candle.

Ye Qiutang instantly understood, quietly stepping back half a step, hiding behind Jiang Cheng's large frame. She took out her fire starter, intending to light the candle.

Almost simultaneously, hurried footsteps echoed from outside the Sutra Depository, accompanied by flickering firelight. Monks carrying torches were rushing towards them.

"Benefactor, don't move!" The abbot's voice held a note of urgency. "Those illusory thoughts have taken notice of you! Benefactor Jiang, hurry! It will be too late!"

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng understood that the abbot was extremely suspicious, this Sutra Depository was a trap!

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that every time they tried to light the candle, the monks outside would rush over?

Someone was clearly informing them—no, directing them! The abbot and those evil monks outside were in league!

Hui Cong was the only good person in the entire Chastity Monastery!

As for the kowtowing and shouting that the abbot wanted Jiang Cheng to do, Jiang Cheng had heard similar stories. In remote mountain villages of the Northeast, there was a saying about Huang Pizi (Weasels) seeking a title. It was said that weasels who obtained a chance would dig up the graves of the dead, dress up in the likeness of the corpses, and even wear the clothes of the dead.

They would slowly learn to speak human language, learn to stand upright, and walk on only two legs. After cultivating to a certain level, they would hide by remote roadsides late at night, waiting for people to appear, then suddenly ask what they looked like.

If someone was bewitched and kowtowed to it, saying it looked like a human, the weasel's cultivation would increase greatly, and it would gain a human form.

But if someone's will was firm, saying it was just a weasel, or even hitting it with the sole of a shoe, the weasel's cultivation would be ruined, and it wouldn't survive for more than a few days even if it escaped.

After understanding this, Jiang Cheng had an idea. The footsteps outside were getting closer, and the abbot's urging became more frantic. "Benefactor, what are you hesitating for! Hurry!"

Jiang Cheng pushed Fatty away and, with a "thump," knelt on the ground, performing the kowtow ritual in the direction of the abbot's voice. Jiang Cheng's head hit the ground solidly with a "bang."

"Amitabha, well done, well done!" The abbot's voice was filled with gratification.

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Cheng rose and shouted, "Monster! Die!"

"Ah!

Benefactor, what are you doing..."

"Bang!"

"Monster, die!"

"Bang!"

"Monster, die!"

Accompanying Jiang Cheng's increasingly fierce shouts, the abbot let out an ear-piercing scream. Fatty and Ye Qiutang had to cover their ears. Even so, Ye Qiutang seemed to have been greatly stimulated. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her whole body was twisted in pain as she knelt on the ground.

At the same time, the footsteps and flickering firelight outside dissipated, fleeing as if they were escaping.

A moment later, just as Jiang Cheng was dragging Ye Qiutang, intending to leave with Fatty, a voice filled with righteousness rang out from behind them.

"Immeasurable… Heavenly Lord!

"

As soon as this voice spoke, it dispersed the turbid air within the Sutra Depository like a sweeping wind. This change caused Jiang Cheng to pause.

"Hoo--" Someone exhaled deeply in the darkness. Soon, a slightly weathered voice sounded, "Greetings, everyone. This poor Taoist is Ling Xiaozhi, and I thank you, young friend Jiang, for your assistance."

"Ling… Ling Xiaozhi?" Fatty turned around and stared into the darkness, momentarily confused. They had just dealt with the abbot, and now a Taoist priest had appeared.

"Who are you?" Jiang Cheng instinctively became vigilant.

"Young friend Jiang, don't panic. This poor Taoist is Ling Xiaozhi, the master of Qingfeng Temple, and I thank you again, young friend Jiang, for your assistance."

This time, Jiang Cheng was too lazy to play riddles. He directly snatched the candle and fire starter from Ye Qiutang, intending to light it. He wanted to see what exactly was going on in this ghostly place.

"Young friend Jiang, hold on!" The Taoist who called himself Ling Xiaozhi interrupted.

"What? Do you want to deceive us too?"

Since they had already shown their hand, Jiang Cheng's movements not only didn't stop but became even faster. He was still worried about the situation outside. After all, if the abbot was fake, then Hui Qing's betrayal was also likely fake. Song Tianming and the others' situation was conceivable.

"Young friend has misunderstood. This poor Taoist has no malicious intentions, but I just want to remind you that everything is real at night and false in the daytime. And now, this poor Taoist's appearance is miserable, and I'm afraid I'll frighten you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the candle in Jiang Cheng's hand lit up. As the light gradually dispelled the darkness, the scene before them made Ye Qiutang feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

They saw a large wooden bed ten meters away, and on the bed lay a huge, extremely fat monk. The monk's face was covered in festering sores, his facial features were blurred, and his eyes were squeezed into slits. The flesh all over his body was sagging downward, piled up like a rotting mountain of flesh.

More than a dozen swords were stuck all over the monk's body, and countless Taoist talismans were pasted on the flesh.

This wasn't the most terrifying thing. Half a body was growing out diagonally from the rotting flesh drooping beneath the monk's belly. The upper body exposed was wearing a yellow dharma robe and a purple-gold crown on its head. Its hands were forming a dharma seal. Although it was stained with blood, it was not difficult to see that it was a figure of immortal demeanor.

"Everyone, don't be afraid. Not long ago, young friend Jiang broke the dharma body of this evil creature. Temporarily... temporarily, it won't wake up," Ling Xiaozhi comforted.

At this moment, Jiang Cheng and the others noticed that behind the mountain of flesh and the devoured Ling Xiaozhi was a huge statue of Yuanshi Tianzun (The Primeval Lord of Heaven).

Jiang Cheng and the others couldn't understand. Looking at this arrangement, it wasn't the Sutra Depository of a temple at all but a Taoist temple!

"You're all thinking correctly. This is not the Chastity Monastery at all. This is this poor Taoist's Qingfeng Temple. Everything you saw before was an illusion created by this evil creature! You have all been deceived by it!"

Through Ling Xiaozhi's explanation, Jiang Cheng and the others roughly understood the whole story. It turned out that not long ago, Ling Xiaozhi, who was in Qingfeng Temple, received a request for help from the Buddhist sect, saying that his old acquaintance, Master Fu Ji, was disturbed by evil thoughts during his seclusion and had shown signs of being possessed.

After the unconscious Master Fu Ji was sent to Qingfeng Temple, Ling Xiaozhi realized that this matter was extraordinary. He immediately gathered people, burned incense, and chose an auspicious day to hold a Demon Sealing Ceremony in the Three Purities Hall.

But no one expected that this evil creature had already become a force to be reckoned with. It suddenly erupted during the Demon Sealing Ceremony, not only seizing Master Fu Ji's body but also using evil magic to try to devour everyone present.

Eight eminent monks of the Fu generation from the Buddhist sect and 26 people from the Xuan sect were present. Except for one of Ling Xiaozhi's personal disciples, who was lucky enough to escape because he had a Demon Suppressing Diagram tattooed on his back, all the others perished in the Three Purities Hall.