Chapter 150
Chapter 150
Liu Junyan remained seated calmly in the Main Hall, as though everything was still under his control.
After the earth-shaking tremor, the golden light vanished.
Along with it went the red glow above the prison and the roars that sounded like both an ox and a tiger.
Everything returned to tranquility.
Even the chanting from the ritual grounds seemed to have had all its vitality drained away in an instant, gradually fading into silence.
A heavenly omen would descend for mere moments.
It happened only once a year.
That was a rumor passed down throughout the town, and many people firmly believed it.
Hah. How ridiculous.
A heavenly omen that descended once a year, at almost the exact same time every year?
How could that possibly be true?
The logic was so obvious. Why did so many people still believe it?
Rather than believing in some supernatural power, what they truly had faith in was the Temple atop Niuhu Mountain — and the Ascetic Monk within that Temple.
It was a faith conditioned into them over countless years!
“Seventh Master!”
Hui Moqiong turned and strode toward Liu Junyan, rubbing his hands together and raring for action.
But I saw that Liu Junyan was gripping his Prayer Beads so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
I walked over, opened my hand, and gently wrapped it around the hand clutching the Prayer Beads.
Liu Junyan seemed to snap back to his senses and looked at me.
“It’s the Golden Scale, isn’t it?” I asked.
In truth, I had already guessed as much when Li Qingying spoke to me that evening.
At this point, aside from the ancient Ferocious Beast Evil Formation, the only things left in this world that Liu Junyan cared so deeply about were probably those few pieces of Golden Scale still scattered outside.
Only after recovering every piece of Golden Scale could he enter the Linghai Forbidden Zone and reclaim his Lifebound Artifact.
Only then could he save his mother.
And yet, I still felt there was something I had failed to understand. Liu Junyan’s anxiety didn’t make sense.
If this was only about one piece of Golden Scale hidden within Niuhu Mountain, he wouldn’t be this uneasy.
Li Qingying exclaimed in surprise, “Was that golden light just now coming from the Golden Scale? No, that can’t be right. When the light appeared, it clearly took the shape of a Dragon. There was even a Dragon’s roar…”
Her offhand remark sent a violent tremor through me.
The shape of a Dragon… A Dragon’s roar…
If it had only been one piece of Golden Scale, then even if it could unleash a powerful Light of Merit, those other phenomena shouldn’t have occurred at the same time.
Could it be…
My hand tightened abruptly. I looked at Liu Junyan again and asked in disbelief, “Is there something else beneath Niuhu Mountain?”
This time, both Hui Moqiong and Li Qingying froze.
Hui Moqiong scratched his tousled hair as his earlier excitement subsided. “That… That does seem to be the case. Otherwise, one piece of Golden Scale shouldn’t have been able to trigger such a massive chain reaction.”
“The Golden Scale was probably only the catalyst. It isn’t powerful enough to suppress the Qiongqi Evil Formation,” Liu Junyan finally said. “There must be another powerful Formation beneath Niuhu Mountain. They use the Golden Scale to briefly tear open a gap in that Formation, then draw upon whatever is sealed beneath it to suppress the Qiongqi Formation and accomplish their goal.”
Boom!
The three of us felt as if we had been struck by a thunderbolt. For a long while, none of us could recover from the shock.
Just what kind of place was Niuhu Mountain?!
Besides the Qiongqi Evil Formation, there was another, even more powerful Formation beneath it.
In that case, reclaiming the piece of Golden Scale would be harder than climbing to heaven itself.
Just then, a thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Liu Junyan’s mouth. His face had also gone pale.
“Liu Junyan, what’s wrong?”
I reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, but he leaned away from my hand.
“I’m fine.”
He lowered his head and swiftly wiped away the blood with the thumb hooked through his Prayer Beads.
When he looked up again, he smiled at me.
That smile shattered my heart.
I was beginning to understand why he had done all this.
Taking his hand, I asked cautiously, “So this is where the Heavenly Retribution comes from, isn’t it?”
Liu Junyan had never committed any sins.
He was a man blessed with Merit. I had never been able to understand why Heavenly Retribution would befall him.
But at that moment, it all became clear.
He had never been the one committing evil. He had merely taken on the karmic burden of others.
Every Golden Scale he had lost could be exploited by someone with malicious intentions, just like the one on Niuhu Mountain.
Every time Niuhu Mountain used that Golden Scale, another layer of karmic debt accumulated on Liu Junyan.
And that was only one Golden Scale, never mind the others. Used day after day, year after year, the karmic debt would eventually reach a critical point. When that happened, the Heavenly Retribution Liu Junyan faced might be the kind reserved for someone steeped in unforgivable sin!
Seen in that light, there was no time to lose. We had to recover every Golden Scale still out there.
That was the source of Liu Junyan’s earlier anxiety and unease.
Perhaps he had not understood it before either. This incident had been his test.
He had told Hui Moqiong to hold his position and wait patiently for this very moment.
His suspicions had now been confirmed.
But the answer he received was unbearably cruel.
Liu Junyan gently stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. Smiling, he said, “Before, I was stumbling blindly through the dark, with no idea what lay ahead. Now that I know the truth, it’s a good thing.”
“What part of this is good?” Hui Moqiong snapped, furiously waving his fist. “They’re treating your life like it’s theirs to waste! I’ll storm Niuhu Mountain right now and take your Golden Scale back!”
“Moqiong, don’t be rash!” Liu Junyan called out, stopping him. “The situation at Niuhu Mountain isn’t that simple.”
But Hui Moqiong was too angry to listen. “You think I’m afraid of them? First I’ll wipe out that entire Great Lama mob, then I’ll burn the Temple to the ground and skin the Fake Ascetic Monk inside alive! Let’s see who dares stand in my way!”
Liu Junyan shook his head. “If that were all there was to it, I could handle it myself. But what’s buried beneath Niuhu Mountain is most likely a Dragon-Locking Formation.”
A Dragon-Locking Formation?
The three of us were startled all over again.
Li Qingying murmured, “Is there really a Dragon beneath Niuhu Mountain?”
“No,” Liu Junyan replied. “Not a true Dragon. It may be a Dragon vein, or perhaps only a wisp of Dragon Aura. They used my Golden Scale to draw out the Dragon Aura and conceal the atrocities they committed.
“When the Bronze Bell rang just now, that was their chance to activate the Golden Scale’s power and tear open a breach in the Dragon-Locking Formation. The earth-shaking tremors that followed were caused by fluctuations in the Formation.”
Hui Moqiong was so anxious he nearly jumped in frustration. “Then what do you think we should do next? We can’t just suffer this in silence and let them get away with it, can we? I can’t stand this kind of humiliation!”
Li Qingying pinched his arm and scolded him under her breath, “Quiet down!”
“We certainly won’t let this go,” Liu Junyan said. “But every part of the Qiongqi Evil Formation on Niuhu Mountain is connected to the whole. If we move against it, we must succeed in a single strike and leave them no chance to turn things around.”
Hui Moqiong asked, “Tell me what to do, and I’ll follow your orders.”
“There’s no hurry,” Liu Junyan said. “First, we need to determine whether the Dragon-Locking Formation beneath Niuhu Mountain is restraining a Dragon vein or Dragon Aura. Using the Golden Scale to force open the Dragon-Locking Formation consumes far too much spiritual power. A single ritual ground could never replenish that loss, so they must find some other source.”
I blurted out, “You mean Guo Zhen…”