Chapter 40: The Circle
The old monk Ji Fei and the fat monk Shui Jing were smiling sheepishly, both of their attires had been torn to pieces and the red undergarment of Shui Jing was especially striking in between the torn holes of his robe.
Hope Sense had been all kindly smiles towards Wen Leyang but once he saw the two rogue cultivators he immediately lost his friendly demeanor. His face turned stern, which cause his eye bags to droop further as he said, “You two should descend the mountain and the merciful Buddha will spare your lives. This old monk, Hope Sense’s orders were to guard the ancient cave, so don’t even try to come near it.”
Ji Fei and Shui Jing were shocked by the title of the old monk because in the Great Mercy Temple, which is the sacred ground of Buddhism, the seat of honor at the One Prime Deed monastery has an incomparably godlike status in the hearts of ordinary cultivators.
Ji Fei was quick to react, with the roll of an eye he swiftly smiled and said, “This is a misunderstanding, Divine Monk. We are not here for the ancient cave but…we are looking for our disciple!”
Too bad Hope Sense was bald, or else his hair would all be bristling with anger. His eyes stared fiercely as he asked, “Which one’s your disciple?” The old and nasty voice of his became fierce and stern all of a sudden, with an echo bursting in the sky like a wave.
Ji Fei’s cheeks began to shake and he gritted his teeth as he pointed at Wen Leyang, “He’s my…no, he’s Shui Jing’s disciple.”
Shui Jing was not a fool either and he waved both hands as he negated, “He’s not my disciple, he’s Ji Fei’s disciple.”
When Hope Sense heard the name ‘Shui Jing’, he looked as if he had been injected with chicken blood. His wrists twisted skillfully as he recited a Buddhist chant, yelling out, “The Buddha!” With a roar, the mountain rocks around Shui Jing all flipped over and tumbled for a moment under the shockwave of explosive strength as if it had become mud. Hope Sense yelled, “Your disciple is now mine!”
Chang Li, who had been standing quietly on the side suddenly spoke up, “Monk, where is the Great Mercy Temple?”
Stunned, Hope Sense could only ask in return, “Why are you looking for the Great Mercy Temple?”
Meanwhile, Shui Jing nodded naively, “I know where it is.”
Ji Fei shook his head instead and said, “I’m not really a monk.”
The three of them had thought Chang Li had addressed them when she asked the question earlier. Though they were standing at different places, each thought that she had been looking directly at them respectively.
Chang Li smiled and fully addressed Shui Jing, “Then that’s easy, you will lead the way.” The Great Mercy Temple was a prestigious place amongst the cultivators and therefore its location was never a secret.
Chang Li explained to Wen Leyang in a low voice, “Actually, I can find its location with
Chang Li explained to Wen Le Yang in a low voice, “Actually, I can find its location with my Divine Sense, but there’re lots of old monsters hiding in Mount Emei and that’ll probably stir them up. There’s no need to get into more trouble, tee-hee. I’ll go look for them after we’ve rescued his disciples.”
Wen Leyang was pleased to hear this as he had been dealing patiently with Hope Sense all this while in order to obtain the information on the Great Mercy Temple’s location. He never expected to be handed that information without the need to expend much effort.
Hope Sense did not expect the four youngsters to want to leave right away and treat him like a fraudulent fortune-telling monk. He also felt that these people had an ulterior motive for going to the Great Mercy Temple. In three strides, he stood in front of Wen Leyang and blocked his way with both his hands stretched out at his side. With his loose robes flying in the wind, the ancient monk looked like a scarecrow indeed.
Wen Xiaoyi hefted the big-muzzled weapon at Hope Sense, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Hope Sense took it as a joke and said, “Little girl, that thing is ineffective against me.”
Ji Fei and Shui Jing both chimed in and simpered, “Yes, yes, that thing is useless. Not even we are afraid of it, much less the old monk.”
The four of them laughed out loud.
Hope Sense had sincerely admired Wen Leyang and thought that the reason an ordinary man like him would have mistaken him to be a fraudulent monk was due to his lack of worldly exposure. He wanted to showcase his abilities and straightened his skinny chest as he said, “If you don’t believe me, just shoot me and see. If I’m unharmed, then this young lad will call me his teacher.” He stared hard at the group of them and threatened, “If all of you insist on leaving, then I’d have no choice but to detail you and hand you over to the Abbot.”
After a while, it seemed that handing them over to the Abbot had no deterrent value to them, he further threatened, “That Abbot of mine is a ruthless man…”
Wen Xiaoyi ignored him totally as she cocked her head at Chang Li and asked, “Will this kill him?” She had reloaded the gun in the cave earlier on and had also added a dash of Thunder’s Heart Sand with the idea of testing it out in the mountain originally. They had bumped into Hope Sense before she had the chance to test it out.
Chang Li scrutinized Hope Sense for a while then turned to Wen Xiaoyi, “Definitely.”
“I won’t die, fire away!” Hope Sense had no worries at all.
This time, Wen Xiaoyi had hesitated. In the previous times, she had shot at enemies during moments between life and death without thinking twice but to shoot the old monk dead now was a whole different story.
Feeling her impatience rising, Chang Li yelled, “Out of the way, little monk!”
Puzzled, Hope Sense turned around and searched for a long time; he thought that his little junior martial brother, Hope Voice, was here.
Wen Xiaoyi had figured out what to do and with her back firmly supported by Wen Leyang’s arms, she aimed the big-muzzled weapon and fired at a big rock in the distance.
There was a thunderous crashing noise and the air was filled with purple arc lights!
The rocks within the radius of the iron pellets had become scorched as if it had been struck by millions of thunderbolts. A huge hole yawned open at the mountainside, surrounded by fragments of rock which rustled like quicksand into the black hole…
The huge wave sent both Ji Fei and Shui Jing stumbling backwards and if it weren’t for the fact that they had attained a decent cultivation level, they would have fallen for sure. After getting their footing back, their faces turned pale and the looked at each other with a cry before hastily bowing to Wen Xiaoyi, “Thank you, young lady, for your mercy in sparing our lives earlier on.”
The skin on their faces had managed to repel the iron pellets previously but could never stand up against the Thunder’s Heart Sand.
Hope Sense too, was shocked but calmed down moments later and the dimness of his eyes sharpened into an intense gaze. He quickly took a few steps back while his hands moved to the Buddhist prayer beads around his neck as he asked in a deep voice, “It seems as if I’ve made a mistake. Who are you people?!”
Chang Li, on the other hand, casually walked in a circle around Hope Sense with steps as fast and light as lightning. She then smiled at him and said, “Little monk, were you planning on sending this information back to the Great Mercy Temple? It’s not working now!”
All cultivation sects, especially an elite sect like the Great Mercy Temple, would have their own unique way of transmitting information between the members and their home base. This includes transporting messages with flying swords while the more skilled ones would transmit it through notes and mantras. Hope Sense is an eminent monk, within the area of Mount Emei, he could easily use his ‘Heavenly Ear’s Wisdom’ to communicate with the other monks at the temple. However, Hope Sense was shocked to discover that his magical ability had been firmly sealed within the circle drawn by Chang Li’s footprints.
Chang Li looked at him with a smile, “I’ll concede defeat if you can get out from this circle.”
Hope Sense took a deep breath and began to recite a Buddhist hymn in a low voice. He began to break apart the string of prayer beads on his chest with a solemn and careful air.
Ji Fei and Shui Jing immediately tried to retreat towards the direction of the cave’s entrance but when Chang Li lifted her eyes, the both of them returned to their places at once.
The prayer beads fell onto the ground.
A crackling sound was heard.
Hope Sense, with a smile on his face, dropped the beads as if he were sowing seeds in a rice field. None of the beads bounced or rolled on the ground but instead sank deep into the mountain rocks under the monk’s feet. Chang Li was full of curiosity as she had never seen the magical ability of a Buddhist practitioner in the past. Back then, while she was bringing disaster to the world, the monks were still getting their visas in India.
When the last bead had embedded itself deep into the rocks, the Buddha’s Golden Light spread out and enveloped the old monk completely. The sound of a Buddhist chant could be heard in the air and Sanskrit words as well as Buddhist swastikas of all sizes appeared from thin air and merged into the golden light. The Buddha’s Golden Light was so thick and dense that it looked almost solid.
Nonetheless, not a trace of the golden light managed to leak out from the circle drawn by Chang Li.
Chang Li frowned and cupped her jaw with her hand. She blinked curiously and asked, “It’s really strange that you’ve set up a defensive formation. I’ve already told you, you’ll win if you are able to get out from the circle. I don’t plan on beating you up in there.”
Hope Sense smiled lightly as he took out a cellphone from his chest pocket and pressed a shortcut key.
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