Chapter 56

Heicong, the monk, was dragged before the Bodhisattva statue by several men. Staring at the bloody corpse of the child, Heicong's eyes filled with despair. The scarred-faced monk pressed Heicong's bald head with a blood-soaked hand, forcing him to kowtow to the ground, shouting like a madman, "Quickly, worship the Bodhisattva! Heicong, junior brother, your demonic heart is too strong; you must accumulate more merit!"

Heicong's head slammed heavily against the ground, blood already seeping from his forehead. This alarmed Huiqing, who tugged at Fatty's sleeve, her voice trembling with anxiety, "Wang shizhu, you... what are you waiting for? Quickly, rush in and save him! Any later, and Heicong shixiong will be beaten to death!"

Fatty was indeed worried about Heicong, but not to the point of losing his mind. There were at least 30 monks inside; if they really fought, they wouldn't stand a chance. They could only wait for an opportunity.

"Huiqing, little master, be quiet," Song Tianming warned her with a glance, and Huiqing finally released his sleeve.

At this moment, Jiang Cheng's attention shifted away from the pitiful Heicong. He slowly scanned the entire merit hall, feeling that something was missing.

After a while, Jiang Cheng finally realized what it was: people. Tonight, many people were missing from the merit hall.

Besides the leader, Monk Huide, who hadn't come, there were at least a dozen other monks missing.

Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but become vigilant. Where had these monks gone? Could they have gone to the Abbot's Sutra Repository, or were they hiding somewhere nearby, waiting to ambush them?

Before Jiang Cheng could inform Song Tianming of this discovery, the heavy footsteps sounded again, and then the door of the merit hall was kicked open, the thick door panel flying outwards, directly crushing a monk beneath it.

The miserable wail lasted less than five seconds before Guan Erye's ghost, his boots as large as small boats, strode over, crushing the person under the door panel into a pulp with one foot.

Even though they were prepared, the sight of Guan Erye's ghost dragging his blade still sent a jolt of horror through them. The rotten, blackened face seemed to melt, with pus constantly dripping down.

In an instant, the lewd atmosphere in the merit hall was swept away. Guan Erye's ghost wielded his broadsword like the wind, and wherever it went, monks were either cut in half at the waist or split vertically. In his killing frenzy, he didn't even spare the Bodhisattva statue on the Sumeru pedestal.

For a time, screams, wails, women's shrieks, and the sounds of tables, chairs, wine bowls overturning and shattering all blended together.

While Guan Erye's ghost was slaughtering everything in sight, Jiang Cheng noticed a detail. Guan Erye's ghost seemed more ferocious than before. On the previous two nights, he had killed with a single blow, but tonight, he repeatedly and deliberately only severed the monks' limbs, then left them to die in agony.

Moreover, the degree of decay of Guan Erye's ghost's body was also much more severe than before. At this distance, they could clearly smell the rotting flesh, which gave them a headache.

At least so far, everything the Abbot had said had come true. Huiqing had been awakened, and the condition of Guan Erye's ghost, who existed as a seal, was also deteriorating rapidly. It seemed that it wouldn't be long before the seal was broken.

In the chaos, Jiang Cheng suddenly thought of Monk Heicong. But looking around, the merit hall was a mess, the chaos continued, and several monks took the opportunity to smash through the windows and flee.

"Where's Monk Heicong?" Jiang Cheng anxiously stood up, no longer caring about exposing himself. He stared at the secret door behind the bookshelf, worried that Monk Heicong might have panicked and fled inside.

But the next moment, he heard Fatty's voice, "There!"

Jiang Cheng turned around abruptly and saw a familiar figure among the monks who had rushed out. The group immediately gave chase.

At this moment, Ye Qiutang and the others, who had been hiding not far away, also arrived to join them.

"Huiqing, the number of monks who came tonight doesn't add up. Where did Monk Huide and the others go?" Jiang Cheng asked directly.

"Shixiong Huide..." Huiqing panted, shaking her head. "I don't know. I didn't see him just now either."

"They're there! Catch them!"

An angry shout sounded not far behind them. Jiang Cheng didn't even need to turn around to know that it must be Monk Huiming and his group.

However, Huide and the others were also in a bad situation. The rampaging Guan Erye's ghost was closely pursuing them, slicing off the arm of the scarred-faced monk who was running at the back. After the scarred-faced monk fell, he followed up with another blow, severing both legs at the knees.

The scarred-faced monk's screams echoed in the night, unspeakably eerie.

"Thud."

"Thud."

"Thud."

...

With each step of Guan Erye's ghost's boots, the ground shook violently, and the pressure felt like a mountain pressing down on them. For a time, the scene became utterly chaotic.

"Running like this won't work. We'll lure the pursuers and Guan Laoye away!" Song Tianyang suddenly pushed Ye Qiutang towards Jiang Cheng. "Miss is in your care. You go take care of the important business!"

Then, at the next fork in the road, Jiang Cheng and the others left first. Huiqing, who wanted to follow Jiang Cheng, Fatty, and Ye Qiutang, was stopped by Song Tianming, who pretended to be anxious and said, "Huiqing, little master, you must stay. We're unfamiliar with this place, and we need your help to escape!"

Huiqing stared at the backs of Jiang Cheng and the others as they left, then turned to Song Tianming and nodded solemnly, "Shizhu, stay close to me. I know a place where we can hide temporarily."

"Okay," Song Tianming agreed.

As soon as the pursuers behind them showed their faces, Huiqing led Song Tianming and the others in another direction.

Led by Fatty, Jiang Cheng and the others quickly passed through the Lost Forest and arrived at the Sutra Repository.

The Sutra Repository was still the same as last night, dilapidated and desolate. After sensing that there was no movement nearby, Jiang Cheng found the door from last night, pushed it open, and the three quickly hid inside.

The Sutra Repository was very dark, almost pitch black. Ye Qiutang made a movement, as if taking something out of her clothes, "I brought candles and a fire starter with me," she said in a very low voice.

But as soon as she finished speaking, an old voice came from the darkness, "Don't move."

Ye Qiutang was startled by the voice, and the candle in her hand almost fell to the ground.

Having experienced it once already, Jiang Cheng immediately comforted Ye Qiutang, pressing her hand to stop her from moving, while pulling on Fatty with his other hand. The three of them stood silently in the darkness, each able to hear the other's heartbeat.

After a moment, hurried footsteps came from outside the Sutra Repository, along with the flickering of firelight. "Search! Search carefully! The numbers of those guys didn't add up. Three of them are missing. Those three might have run here!"

The footsteps quickly came to the outside of the Sutra Repository, and they were about to break in.