Chapter 285
Chapter 285
We moved stealthily along the side of the mountain. Just as we were about to reach the Riverside, Hui Moqiong appeared and blocked our path.
Numerous corpses lay along the Riverside. The ground beneath our feet was wet and sticky, and the air was thick with an unmistakable stench of blood.
Clearly, a battle had already taken place here, and it had been fierce.
I didn’t see Liu Junyan, so I hurriedly asked Hui Moqiong, “Where’s Ah Yan?”
“Xiao Jiu’er, don’t panic. Take a deep breath first.”
He kept his voice low, his eyes fixed on me. I could see the gravity in his gaze.
I steadied myself and said, “Just tell me what happened. I won’t panic.”
Hui Moqiong pointed in the direction of the Buddha Head. “Those bastards are all hiding like turtles in their shells. They sent out several squads of soldiers who were neither properly yin nor properly Buddhist. After we took them all down, they actually blockaded the exit to Xiaoyingkou. They’re planning to trap us here until we die.”
That was exactly what I had expected.
After all, this was the Great Lama’s home ground. If he couldn’t beat us, he could always retreat into hiding.
What I feared most was that he would hide like a coward and refuse to come out.
We couldn’t afford to wait.
Once tonight passed and the Three-Eyed Toad managed to Undergo a Tribulation, it would all be too late.
If we couldn’t force our way in, our only option was to lure the enemy out.
For Hui Moqiong to look this worried, Liu Junyan must have used his second trump card…
My entire body tensed in an instant. I stood rooted to the spot, my mind expanding in widening circles like a kaleidoscope spinning open. For a moment, I felt completely dazed.
“Xiao Jiu’er, snap out of it!”
Hui Moqiong waved a hand in front of my face. When my eyes finally regained their focus, he asked, “Xiao Jiu’er, have you figured something out?”
I nodded and said only two words: “Evil Monk.”
I had guessed it from the very beginning.
Only the identity of the Evil Monk could interest the Great Lama enough to make him willing to take the risk.
That was Liu Junyan’s second trump card.
Hui Moqiong was left speechless. “Xiao Jiu’er, you’re too clever. There’s really nothing anyone can hide from you.”
It wasn’t because I was clever. It was because I knew Liu Junyan well enough.
I asked, “Where is Ah Yan now?”
Hui Moqiong opened his mouth, then suddenly turned to look southeast. Hui Yumo also let out a hushed cry.
I slowly turned and looked in that direction.
The curtain of rain in the darkness glowed hazily beneath the Buddha Head’s golden light.
Amid that curtain of rain, Liu Junyan walked steadily forward along the riverbank, one step at a time.
With every step he took, one golden Copper Coin after another rapidly climbed from the soles of his feet along the Red Thread.
He continuously turned the Prayer Beads in his hand, his lips moving as he recited scriptures and incantations.
My eyes instantly filled with tears, blurring my vision until I could barely make out Liu Junyan’s figure.
All I could see was that golden stream climbing ever higher, from his feet to his calves, and then to his waist…
The next moment, I started to run toward Liu Junyan.
No! He couldn’t go!
What had happened to the Evil Monk back then that led to him being trapped under a Seal in the Pawnshop’s West Room?
If the Evil Monk couldn’t accomplish it back then, what made Liu Junyan think he could?
All the Great Lama had to do was open the barrier and let the Evil Monk enter the Xiaoyingkou Ancient Battlefield. Once that happened, Liu Junyan would have only the slimmest chance of surviving.
Hui Yumo grabbed me and held me tight, pleading, “Sis, you have to hold on at a time like this. Everyone is watching you. The Seventh Master is putting himself in danger, so you’re the one everyone has to rely on now.”
Her words struck me like a basin of ice water poured over my head, instantly calming me down.
I wiped the tears and rain from my face, then looked around.
Although the light was dim and everyone was concealed in the shadows, I could still see them.
I saw Hui Xiaotiao. I saw Hui Moqiong’s subordinates. I saw several of Elder Fang’s fellow disciples, each a Senior Brother or Senior Sister… And finally, I saw the silhouette of a woman I had never met before, yet whose identity I could guess at a glance.
The moment I saw her, Liu Junyan had just walked past her, only a short distance ahead.
By then, golden Copper Coin discs had already blanketed Liu Junyan’s face and were racing toward the crown of his head.
He had become a Copper-Coin Figure from head to toe!
The woman stood nearby on the opposite side, dressed all in white. Her long hair streamed behind her, and a white veil concealed her face.
She was even more distraught than I was, straining forward with her entire body.
She was crying. Shouting.
Bai Jingmo held her back with all his strength, trying to calm her down.
Through her hysterical sobs, I heard her cry the same name over and over again.
“Xingyi… Xingyi…”
Dazed, I murmured, “That’s Bai Songlan, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Hui Moqiong replied with difficulty. “We didn’t know she would come. She and Bai Jingmo took part in the battle just now too.”
After a pause, Hui Moqiong sighed. “Back then, he was just like this. He walked toward us one step at a time… and walked into our hearts…”
Bai Songlan had an inner demon.
Her inner demon was the Copper-Coin Figure.
Before coming to Chang City, Liu Junyan and I had discussed inviting Bai Songlan into the Pawnshop’s West Room once everything here was settled, so she could see the Copper-Coin Figure with her own eyes.
At the time, I had hoped it might help her sever her inner demon once and for all.
Liu Junyan had also said that as long as she overcame it, if she still wished to return to the ranks of the Five Blessing Immortals, we would give her another chance.
But fate had other plans. She had followed us all the way to Chang City.
And here, with her own eyes, she had witnessed Liu Junyan transform into a Copper-Coin Figure and become an Evil Monk.
That sight had dug the man buried deep within Bai Songlan’s heart back out and given him form once more… It had brought her inner demon… back to life…
Bai Songlan would likely have an exceedingly difficult time overcoming this Centennial Soul-Piercing Calamity.
The sight of Bai Songlan, however, calmed me completely.
“Fifth Master Hui, Yumo, take stock of our forces immediately and be ready for battle at any moment.”
Hui Moqiong and Hui Yumo promptly acknowledged the order and went to carry it out.
“Xiao Tiao!”
Hui Xiaotiao had been standing nearby in human form all this time.
Now, however, he transformed into a Giant Rat and hunkered down, ready to dart into the river.
I knew he wanted to secretly trail Liu Junyan into Xiaoyingkou.
When I called his name, Hui Xiaotiao turned and squeaked at me twice.
I said, “Xiao Tiao, go back and guard the Townsfolk and villagers. Tonight, I want you to make sure that not a single person who emerges from Xiaoyingkou gets past you! Not a single corpse! Not a single Spirit Creature!”
Hui Xiaotiao immediately returned to human form, clasped his hands solemnly, and declared, “Xiao Tiao accepts the order!”
After Hui Xiaotiao left, one of Fang Chuanzong’s Senior Sisters approached me.
“Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, we caught Mao Jingxuan while he was fleeing. We gave him a brutal beating and forced him to hand over the Antidote for the pill toxin. Everyone from the major sects has already been cured. My junior brother asked me to tell you not to worry about the rear line. We can hold it. As for Mao Jingxuan, once this is all over, the major sects will demand an explanation from Maoshan.”
Mao Jingxuan had actually been captured already.
His sole purpose for coming here had been the Three-Eyed Toad.
Now that he had been captured…
I gave her one more instruction. “Keep a close watch on Mao Jingxuan. Don’t let him kill himself to evade punishment.”
Maoshan was a great sect that had always conducted itself openly and honorably. It would not ordinarily resort to anything so underhanded and despicable.
But every large organization had its bad apples. Everything Mao Jingxuan had done today was likely driven by his own selfish desires.
Now that his crimes had been exposed, he no longer had the face to return to Maoshan.
But we still needed a reasonable explanation for what had happened, so Mao Jingxuan could not be allowed to die yet!