Chapter 273
Chapter 273
“Heavenly soldiers and divine generals?”
So the Great Lama’s ambitions went that far.
What was laughable was that Hui Cong had been foolish enough to actually believe him.
That alone proved Hui Cong was not someone capable of shouldering great responsibilities.
No wonder Old Madam Hui had no respect for him.
Old Madam Hui might be old, but she was far from senile.
She had devoted her entire life to protecting the vast Gray Immortal Hall. If she had truly handed it over to Hui Cong, that would have marked the beginning of the end for Gray Immortal Hall.
Old Madam Hui was also remarkably decisive. When it mattered, she was willing to risk everything and make the right choice.
Now that Hui Xiaotiao was back, Hui Cong had completely lost his will to fight. With Old Madam Hui and Hui Yumo supporting him, Hui Xiaotiao was certain to come into his own in the shortest possible time.
At that moment, I was glad I had accepted Old Madam Hui’s case. My gamble had paid off.
Hui Xiaotiao’s growth and the stability of Gray Immortal Hall would both become our greatest sources of support.
After explaining everything, Hui Yumo said worriedly, “Our greatest challenge now is the Ancient Battlefield Hui Cong mentioned. It doesn’t just contain a Corpse Fiend, but also entire ranks of Ghost Soldiers. Those are real, disciplined, battle-hardened troops!”
“The most terrifying part is that this Ancient Battlefield has existed since at least the Early Tang Period,” I said, pointing out the crux of the matter. “The Corpse Fiend’s armor and the Golden Mace he wielded both date back to the Early Tang Period. He died in battle there, so what exactly caused his death?
“Did he also encounter Ghost Soldiers from an even earlier era? Was that why he joined the ranks of the Ghost Soldiers after his death?
“This Ancient Battlefield dates back to the Early Tang Period, yet battles were still being fought there during the Republic of China era, just over a century ago. How many other battles took place there throughout all the intervening years? How many soldiers died there, and how many became new Ghost Soldiers?”
The fact that the Great Lama had chosen the remote mountains of Chang City and lingered there for so long was proof enough that this Ancient Battlefield was worth all the time and effort he had poured into it.
No wonder he had come here to hide after fleeing Niuhu Mountain.
Another thought suddenly struck me, and I instinctively looked at Liu Junyan.
Sure enough, Liu Junyan’s brows were tightly furrowed. The moment our eyes met, I knew we had arrived at the same conclusion.
Back then, a large number of corpses had been raised beneath the Temple on Niuhu Mountain.
Those corpses had come from the prison down the mountain. Research later revealed that there was something abnormal about the Birth Date and Time of every death-row inmate.
At the time, we couldn’t understand why the Great Lama, who had been masquerading as an Ascetic Monk, was raising so many corpses inside the Temple.
Those corpses had already become capable of arranging themselves into battle formations on their own.
Yet even then, the Tibetan Region was far too distant from Niuhu Mountain for the Great Lama to lead an entire Corpse Formation back there by himself.
Besides, if we hadn’t intervened so suddenly, the Great Lama would never have stopped.
He had intended to remain stationed there for the long term.
What had baffled us then suddenly became clear.
The Great Lama’s goal had never been to transport the Corpse Formation back to the Tibetan Region. His true target was the Ancient Battlefield in Chang City.
Compared to the Tibetan Region, Chang City was practically next door to Niuhu Mountain.
By making detours, sticking to secluded rural areas, and transporting the corpses in batches, those lamas could keep at it year after year. There was no telling how many Corpse Formation units they had already sent into the Ancient Battlefield in Chang City.
The more I thought about it, the more terrifying it became. My entire scalp prickled.
Perhaps Liu Junyan and I had both gone grim at the same time, making the atmosphere too oppressive. Hui Yumo also grew nervous. She looked at me and cautiously asked, “Sis… is something wrong?”
I shook my head. “Yumo, you’ve been busy all night. Go back and get some rest. While you’re there, tell Granny Hui to hold her position for now. As for the Ancient Battlefield, we need to think everything through before deciding our next move.”
The moment Hui Yumo heard that, she realized something was wrong. “Sis, this is going to be difficult, isn’t it?”
I murmured my assent.
Hui Yumo didn’t ask any more questions. “All right, I’ll tell her. You two should get some rest too. If you need anything, just come find me.”
After seeing Hui Yumo off, I turned to Liu Junyan. “Ah Yan, you thought of the Corpse Formation on Niuhu Mountain too, didn’t you?”
Liu Junyan nodded. He took out the piece of Golden Scale he had recovered from the Three-Eyed Toad and toyed with it thoughtfully. “It’s not just the Corpse Formation. The piece of Golden Scale from Niuhu Mountain and the one here in Chang City both came from the same person.”
Of course.
How had I overlooked it? Both pieces of Golden Scale must have come from the Great Lama who had posed as the Ascetic Monk!
My God!
“What I’m wondering now,” Liu Junyan continued, “is whether he still has more of them.”
He paused, then raised his eyes to mine. “Or rather, is there someone else behind him? Whether it was Niuhu Mountain or Chang City, he was merely the one responsible for setting up and guarding the formations.”
The more Liu Junyan said, the more alarmed I became.
I knew there was a deeper implication he hadn’t voiced outright, but I understood it all the same.
Because of who the person setting up and guarding those formations was.
He was a Great Lama from the Tibetan Region, masquerading as the Ascetic Monk.
An eminent monk who had left a temple in the Tibetan Region to undertake a Worldly Pilgrimage…
But what if his Worldly Pilgrimage had been a conspiracy from the very beginning?
What if he hadn’t done all this because he’d left his temple for the mortal world, succumbed to its temptations, and strayed down the wrong path?
What if someone had been directing him from the start? What if he’d set out with two or more pieces of Golden Scale in his possession, setting up formations wherever he went, all to fulfill some mission?
He belonged to Buddhism.
And Liu Xingyi had also been a man of Buddhism.
I suddenly seized Liu Junyan’s hand and held on tightly.
Only now did I truly understand why Abbot Kongji had hesitated to say more.
Only now did I grasp the full weight of the words “Worldly Pilgrimage”!
Perhaps Liu Xingyi had met with disaster all those years ago while living out those very words.
And Liu Junyan… would eventually walk the same road.
I opened my mouth, but my throat felt parched. I wanted to say something, yet no words would come.
A haze of tears blurred my vision until I could no longer make out Liu Junyan’s face clearly.
I turned away and desperately tried to force the tears back, but I couldn’t.
Lowering my head, I discreetly wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. I did my best to compose myself, but when I looked at Liu Junyan again, I finally asked the question.
My voice was hoarse and trembling.
I heard myself ask, “Ah Yan, are you about to leave?”
Had the Fated Tribulation Abbot Kongji spoke of arrived so quietly, without any warning?
At least ten years…
Before this, I had thought of the Worldly Pilgrimage only in terms of how long it would last.
All I knew was that once he left, he would be gone for a very, very long time.
But I’d told myself, ten years? I’d only be thirty by then.
We would still have many, many more decades ahead of us.
But… reality was always crueler than I imagined.
Only now did I understand that this Worldly Pilgrimage might cost Liu Junyan his life!
Just like Liu Xingyi back then.
Just like the Copper-Coin Figure.
They had been walking this road for so very long, retracing it time and time again.
Yet they had never reached its end.
They had been stranded in that tall tower in Mount Song Gorge; confined beneath a Seal in the West Room of Wufu Town Pawnshop; they had been…