Chapter 43: The Strong Poison
All the pores on Wen Leyang’s entire body contracted and relaxed as he once again shifted out of the physical world and used his unique observation method to search his surroundings. Everything felt normal in the beginning and he was puzzling over why such an important location would not be protected by any prohibition spells as even the supermarket has two security guards on patrol all the time. After a while, however, he began to sense something in the soil underneath his feet. It was as if a gigantic entity was hiding there. Unfortunately, his unique sense of observation only extended a few meters around his body and did not manage to stretch out all the way to the entity’s edges. He was only aware that this was a living creature breathing at an extremely slow pace yet he could not determine what kind of creature it was.
Ji Fei and Shui Jing were experiencing what it feels like to fly and their old faces were filled with joy. Though they were not very far off the ground, as long as they were floating above it they considered it as flying. But they had no idea that there was giant crisis concealed right underneath their feet.
Chang Li’s voice sounded in Wen Leyang’s ears, “Don’t be such a coward, it’s not such an extraordinary creature. Wait till we are done with our proper business then if you still want to enrich your experience, I’ll help you to skin it, hehe. I could do with some new clothes too.” She strolled idly through the courtyard as she spoke and in a little while all four of them reached the foot of the Great Mercy Temple…
Wen Leyang’s body lightly flew up and landed next to Chang Li on the temple’s wall. He looked at giant temple complex which was slumbering in silence. The buildings were arranged in rows with the monasteries and Buddhist halls situated next to each other. The temple complex followed the topography of the mountain and was built in layers. The place was so grand that it made one feel nervous. A pagoda soared into the sky from afar, it was so tall the only the lower half of the tower could be seen, the upper floors were concealed by the clouds.
It was impossible to see the entire extensive structure from the ground. It was only when one was on the enclosing wall could one see such a panoramic view.
Chang Li chuckled lightly, “It’s alright, you can talk now but try not to speak too loudly.”
Wen Leyang grimaced as he shook his head, he wondered in his heart why he was being treated like a foolish little boy to be reminded to speak softly, “Those…people, where are they being held captive at?”
There was a soft rustling sound as the two monks too jumped onto the wall in fear. Ji Fei was treated to the grand panoramic view of the temple as well and felt an ominous sense of foreboding as his heart missed a beat and his body swayed once. He quickly got a hold of himself and smiled foolishly, “This poor monk…is feeling slightly nervous…”
Chang Li smiled sweetly and glanced lightly at the two old fellows, “Is that so? Hehe, this business of rescuing the prisoners is entirely reliant on the two of you.”
Shui Jing answered immediately while nodding his head vigorously, “Fairy maiden, please set your mind at ease…” Ji Fei, however, turned pale with fear and rolled his eyes. But before he could have the chance to speak, a force hit his back suddenly and the two old monks were tossed into the air with their arms and legs swinging before slamming hard into the Great Mercy Temple.
The two of them hit the ground and not a second later, the entire Great Mercy Temple sounded its bells in alarm. The monks in the monasteries who had been sleeping soundly were jerked awake and the temple complex was transformed from a hibernating prehistoric beast into a ferocious dragon. A strong voice sounded against the tolling of the bells and asked, “From whence did the superiors come from, who dared to charge into the Great Mercy Temple in the middle of the night?” The voice was especially familiar to Wen Leyang and he recognized it as belonging to the seat of honor at the Ten Modes Monastery who had quarreled with Leyang Wen at Zhanyan Peak.
Jifei rolled his eyes and flipped himself upright before roaring loudly, “Hey, listen to me Great Mercy Temple! Release my friends immediately, or else…” He gestured with his hands once and a silver-colored flying sword surged upwards into the sky, shining brightly. The little sword sounded like a dragon hatchling as it released waves of long humming moans as it flew through the air.
Shui Jing turned around with the intention to run away, “That Ox’s Nose must have lost his mind!”
Ji Fei, however, was quick of eye and deft of hand. He grabbed a handful of Shui Jing’s robes and scolded, “Dumb b*stard, you have to see this in a different way. It’s obvious that the witch needs us to draw the attention of the bald donkeys and distract them. Think about it, if we offend the Great Mercy Temple the worst we’d get is probably a beating, but if we were to offend the witch…”
Shui Jing looked absolutely terrified as he thought of that and eagerly nodded his understanding. He threw out his small inverted bell, intending to send it crashing into the nearest big Buddhist hall next to him. Ji Fei was shocked almost to the point of insanity and hastily directed his flying sword to block the fat monk’s magic weapon. The two magic weapons which had fought each other countless times clashed in midair and made a huge din. “It’s enough to make some noise, let’s not offend the monks for real!”
“At least these two fellows still have some sense in them!” Chang Li commented before closing her eyes for a moment. She then grabbed a handful of Wen Leyang’s tank top and said, “I’ve found them!” She then snuck off to the corner of the wall and vanished like a streak of vapor, rapidly dashing to the depths of the temple. Under the cover of the commotion caused by Shui Jing and Ji Fei as they fell to the ground, she had stretched out her mind sense and skimmed over the entire temple in the time of a quick attack. Every corner of the Great Mercy Temple was revealed entirely to her innermost heart.
Outside the temple, the hibernating beast made a muffled roar when it noticed that someone was using their mind sense to pry around in the temple. However, this sensation was gone in a flash and it snorted twice falling back into its slumber.
The Great Mercy Temple has been renowned for thousands of years. Naturally, there were hidden expert cultivators who had withdrawn from society in the temple. It’s the middle of the night and it was also the time for the old monks to meditate. Even if Chang Li had exceptional abilities, it would have been impossible for her to avoid them while using her mind sense. With the noise that the two clowns Ji Fei and Shui Jing had stirred up, almost every eminent monk was startled and lost their concentration momentarily as a result. Chang Li’s mind seized the opportunity to scan the entire temple and upon finding the correct location, she brought along Wen Leyang and moved stealthily at a high speed.
Wen Leyang was only conscious of one sensation: they were moving at great speed.
There was a whistling sound in his ears from the air whizzing past them and the scene before his eyes swept past in a blur.
The fact that there were intruders who had unexpectedly outsmarted the divine beast guarding the mountain and had jumped into the temple to cause a scene was an unprecedented occurrence in the Great Mercy Temple. All the monks, both young and old, rushed to the scene with a protective layer of Buddha’s light wrapped around their bodies. The strong voice spoke once again, “All monks stay where you are. In order to prevent the enemies from seizing the opportunity to infiltrate the premises, all the disciples from the Ten Modes Monastery will follow me to vanquish these demons and monsters!”
Multiple majestic voices answered in unison as a gentle glow bloomed within the temple. In the blink of an eye, the huge temple complex was as bright as day. However, not a single monk noticed a shadow whizzing back and forth within the temple, it moved so quickly that it had almost melted into the air.
Wen Leyang has always been frank and honest ever since he was a child, but he couldn’t help but feel an unpleasant sensation in his heart. Though he was aware that Chang Li was obviously a super-powered person from his ancestor’s time, he had felt dejected and ashamed that he needed her help to rescue his family members from the temple.
Chang Li’s voice suddenly sounded in his ears and her tone of speaking was light, “There’s nothing to be dejected about; you can only depend on yourself to fight your own battles. When I was your age, I was still on the mountain…” She spoke halfway before the diverted the topic of the conversation, “Your ancestor’s exceedingly high level of cultivation and extreme methods were created after enduring countless years of hard work.”
Wen Leyang did not pay much attention to what she was saying, he asked in astonishment, “How did you know…”
“Your body feels slightly heavier.” Chang Li smiled before stopping abruptly. She pulled Wen Leyang and hid in the shadows as she pointed out a huge courtyard a short distance away. “There are many ordinary beings here, they should be his disciples and their descendant’s disciples.
Wen Leyang took a careful survey of his surroundings. It had only taken a moment for Chang Li to pull him almost halfway through the Great Mercy temple. The pagoda, which was originally rising at a distance in front of them, was now a long way off behind them.
They could no longer hear the distant uproar and shouts from the courtyard of the big hall, there was only a tranquility within the night here.
Compared with the main hall at the front, the buildings here appeared dilapidated and desolate. Wen Leyang took a deep breath before quietly releasing his senses to feel around carefully in his surroundings. However, he could only sense a stretch of gray mist, whatever his eyes could not see he was unable to detect anything further using his senses either.
Chang Li knew what he was doing and smiled gently, “There is the presence of a camouflage spell here. It’s harmless so go ahead and save your people, I’ll be waiting here. There’s no need to worry for if someone were to notice us, the worst case scenario is that I’ll bring all of you along as we tear this damaged temple apart and kill all the baldies!”
These few phrases, said in a light tone of voice, revealed the witch’s true qualities. Chang Li completely disregarded the fact that this was a world famous temple at all.
Wen Leyang looked at her once gratefully and squatted down. All the pores on his entire body contracted abruptly, he felt a heavy sensation all over before he somersaulted over the courtyard’s wall. The moment his feet touched the ground he immediately lowered his body all the way onto the ground. Like a lizard hunting its prey, he began to creep forward slowly.
He moved stealthily, his hands and legs need not exert any strength. Instead, the strength was generated from his joints. He slowly moved the hundreds of muscles on his entire body and crept slowly on the ground without making a sound. This technique would be useful for ambushing enemies and it was also a remarkable strategy in moving stealthily.
Wen Leyang had only crept forward a short distance before he suddenly stuck his face tightly into the ground. He then laughed silently – the courtyard was laden with a strong poison which was familiar and immediately recognizable.
A smile had only just bloomed on his face when his expression changed drastically!
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