The mountain was covered entirely in deadwood, not a single fresh blade of grass in sight. Though it looked somewhat daunting, it made climbing easier for their group.
"Let's look on the bright side," Fatty said, "at least we won't have a snake suddenly jump out from the grass here." Fatty detested snakes, a feeling that likely stemmed from that Fang snake that had eaten his antidote years ago.
Wu Tianzhen, with the unspoken understanding of brotherhood, immediately followed Fatty's train of thought and couldn't help but chuckle.
But soon, the chuckling Wu Tianzhen faced retribution.
"Still laughing? You're still laughing!?" Fatty retorted, bringing up old grievances. "That was the first time your 'Evil Sea King' showed its power right in front of me. Damn it, after that, you got more and more formidable every day, vividly demonstrating what superstitious nonsense is all about."
Wu Tianzhen deflated.
Zhang Qiling opened his mouth, intending to comfort young Wu, but after recalling the Fang snake content from the video, he fell silent. Instead, he tightened his grip on the Black Gold Ancient Saber.
"There really aren't many snakes here," Xie Yuchen suddenly chimed in. The dragon-patterned staff in his hand didn't look particularly threatening, but under his control, it moved as naturally as if it were an extension of his arm, as if it were born to be in his grasp.
Wu Tianzhen was about to agree with Xiao Hua, who knew nothing about the Evil Sea King, and regain some of his dignity. But just then, his sharp eyes caught Xie Yuchen's staff flicking, clearly nudging a slender object out of the pile of dead grass.
The object writhed on the staff, its numerous legs entangled like strands of hair. It was a long-legged, slender centipede, completely gray and almost blending into the dead grass!
"But there are quite a few of these," Xie Yuchen finally finished his sentence, his tone still light and playful, a stark contrast to the creature on his staff.
Wu Tianzhen let out a startled "Holy crap!" and began to shake his legs frantically, suddenly feeling that the dead grass leaves clinging to his legs were all suspicious, looking more and more like centipedes.
At that moment, the centipede on Xie Yuchen's staff struggled for a long time before finally falling from the edge. But just as it was about to return to its grassy home, it was caught between two pale fingers.
Zhang Qiling, his expression unchanged, watched the centipede writhe in his grasp. He slowly brought the centipede closer to his eyes and observed it for a moment.
The centipede, despite its agility, dared not move against the fingers that faintly exuded the aura of Qilin blood. It could only rage impotently, emitting faint hisses.
"Holy cow, cow, cow, cow!!! Xiao Ge—!"
Wu Tianzhen was almost speechless, his terror draining the color from his face. Though he knew Zhang Qiling wasn't afraid of these things, he still worried about Zhang Qiling being harmed by the centipede.
But young Zhang seemed oblivious. He meticulously examined the centipede, even giving it a squeeze, before discarding it and saying softly,
"These centipedes are not poisonous."
...Therefore, even though the grass here was teeming with centipedes, Wu Tianzhen didn't really need to be so terrified.
It was only then that Wu Tianzhen understood that Zhang Qiling's elaborate examination of the centipede's structure was entirely due to his own pathetic display.
Wu Tianzhen: ...He wanted to cry.
But clearly, Wu Tianzhen's friends had other tricks up their sleeves.
With a "click," Fatty had already captured this sacred moment of "Xiao Wu doing a tap dance out of fear of a centipede" with his optical computer and, with great efficiency, saved it to a dedicated folder.
Wu Tianzhen caught a glimpse and vaguely saw the name of the folder, which seemed to be "Tianzhen's Ugly Photos."
Wu Tianzhen: ...
He wanted to make a fuss, but Xie Yuchen smiled and continued forward. Fatty followed closely with his optical computer, and even Xiao Zhang hesitated for a moment before pulling up his hood and stepping forward.
For a moment, a sad person was left in this space.
The sad Xiao Wu did not slow down the team's climbing speed. After a few hours, they finally reached their destination.
The bronze statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva before them was carved with exquisite detail, revealing its original majestic presence. However, the prolonged erosion of the forbidden land had covered it with withered vines and weeds. The benevolent gaze, peering through the gray vines and under the shadows, now held a hint of eeriness.
Zhang Qiling stepped forward and slowly stroked the bronze statue. The gilded paint on its surface flaked off with his movement, sticking to his fingers like soulless, dead golden butterflies.
"...There are no mechanisms."
Under the touch of Faqiu Finger, all mechanisms were revealed. Xie Yuchen no longer insisted. He merely pursed his lips, his usually smiling mouth slowly flattening.
...If there were no clues here either, then where could the problem lie?
His intuition was always accurate, but he also trusted Zhang Qiling's judgment. The cliff was plunged into silence for a moment.
Just then, Fatty's exclamation rang out—
"Holy crap, it looks pretty good from here! You could set up several tourist attractions!"
He was referring to the sea of clouds visible from the cliff. From this angle, the sea of clouds shifted slowly, flowing like a waterfall of pure white, plunging down as if dragons were churning within.
"Radiant and majestic, with purple clouds surging. This is what the ancients saw as a divine spectacle, and it was this sight that led them to build this bronze statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva." Wu Tianzhen subconsciously began to explain, but his few words were like a gust of wind scattering the mist.
Xie Yuchen's expression sharpened, and he had already figured out the problem—
...If the anomaly wasn't in the bronze statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, then it must be the She Shen Cliff!
"Legend has it that She Shen Cliff is the place closest to the Buddha's light..." he murmured, his eyes now fixed on the seemingly ordinary cliff not far from the bronze statue.
In ancient Emei, She Shen Cliff was considered a place to prove a believer's sincerity, its uniqueness no less than that of the Samantabhadra Bodhisattva statue.
...They had to go down and see.