Names:
Tao Ying: Monk who brought Esoteric Buddhism to Xingshan Temple
The black lotus knew himself well but, did evil things amicably greet each other upon meeting these days?
Miao Miao ran towards Mu Shen. At the same time, she noticed he had slid his Demon Restraining Circlet off his wrist and held it between his fingers. Unable to help herself, with her hairs raised, she yelled, "What do you want to do?! Don't be disrespectful to Buddha..."
Before her words had fallen, the Demon Restraining Circlet raced straight for the statue's head.
Ling Miaomiao, "..." 《ﾟДﾟ》
Amitabha, the black lotus did it, so he'll take responsibility for it.
Mu Sheng's gaze was very serious. His actions were very quick and like an incoming storm. In the same moment that the Demon Restraining Circlet flew out, a stack of talisman papers spread out into a row in the air. Using the drop of blood remaining from the cut on his finger, he only had time to draw a horizontal line before the papers rapidly formed a ring encircling them. Like a fierce dog baring its fangs and a circle of sharp arrows, they attacked the statue ruthlessly.
The royal family's pitiful golden statue was surrounded by enemies from head to toe. In the blink of an eye, it was attacked endlessly and a golden light shot out, blinding their eyes.
Miaomiao instinctively used her arm to shield her eyes.
Miaomiao instinctively used her arm to shield her eyes.
"Turns out, you aren't excited to see me.."
The corners of Mu Sheng's eyes had reddened slightly. Killing intent had flared up in his eyes before slowly dying out as he tonelessly said,
"It's fear."
Miaomiao opened her eyes, the battle had ended far sooner than expected. Before her eyes, a few lines of smoke were all that was left to be seen. The main hall had settled back into absolute stillness.
Was it that the demon/monster was too weak?
Or was it that Mu Sheng was too strong?
Or maybe...
Where's the statue? Raising her eyes, she could almost feel cold sweat coming out of her pores. The "solid gold" statue was cut through right at the waist, revealing a large opening.
It turned out that the inside of the statue was hollow. She couldn't make out what was in de but there seemed to be something in there.
Miaomiao leaned forward to take a closer look.
By the faint light of the candle, she was barely able to make out a red lacquered box. It had been wrapped in a cowhide which hadn't stood the passage of time. The hide was spotted and mottled, showing signs of rotting and peeling.
Her heart fluttered. She climbed onto the altar, bent down, and brought out the box. With a puff, the thick layer of dust scattered, dancing through the air.
The two looked at each other.
Mu Sheng glanced indifferently/uninterestedly at her hands. "Open it, this is the śarīra Zhao Qinru wants."
Miaomiao shakily opened the box with her left hand. Though it did not have a lock, the hide on the clasp had been worn through and was a bit rusted. A hair-raising creak sounded when the box was opened.
On the yellow silk, lay two small black stones. Miaomiao couldn't help looking at the black lotus asking, "This is the śarīra?"
Mu Sheng looked back at her, "Why are you looking at me, I've never seen the śarīra either——"
All of a sudden, the back of her hand cooled and a dark cloud shot out of the box, landing on the ground and taking on the appearance of a human, crouching down and scrambling into the wall behind the ruined Buddha statue.
Mu Shen pulled her to the side and hurriedly said, "Don't follow me right now."
Miaomiao's vision flickered. The next thing she knew was Mu Sheng had already disappeared, chasing after that dark cloud.
On the wall behind the statue was a shimmering round hole with what seemed like a cloud of fog. Clearly, there was an illusion barrier.
"Hey..." She knocked on the wall. It was solid.
Just then, was it that the monster was too weak or was it that Mu Sheng was too strong? Or... was it just a trap to give it a taste of its own medicine?
Mu Sheng had been brash and arrogant since birth. As he never strayed from the path he set for himself, he had always fearlessly faced the dangers, never shying away from them. To him, traps and provocations were both invitations to be met.
Then, what about her? Should she chase after them or not?
Miaomiao made a decision. She put down the box and wrapped the stones with a handkerchief before placing it in her sleeve. Then she climbed back onto the altar and plunged into the round hole in the wall.
*
Liu Fuyi's energy was being drained quickly.
The fog in the woods was heavy. The cold light of the moon shone down on a forest floor full of leaves and wisps of cloud-like fog drifted through eye-catchingly.
Had it only been him and Mu Yao, things would have been easier. However, they also had Princess Duanyang, who had been affected by the aphrodisiac fragrance, to take care of...
"Brother Liu..." Duanyang's cheeks were flushed and she spoke with a crying tone in her voice. Feeling like he was being put in a bind, Liu Fuyi turned his head around halfway and asked, "What's wrong, Princess?"
Duanyang writhed on his back. Seeing this, Mu Yao's faced darkened. "I... I'm very uncomfortable..."
"Princess, please bear with me. We're almost there."
Their conditions weren't good so they'd have to make better conditions for themselves. Mu Yao was injured. In this kind of situation, they couldn't afford to consider that females and males shouldn't be too intimate. Liu Fuyi carried her on his back and fed her a green pill, kindly asking her to hold it in her mouth.
Duanyang asked with a miserable look on her face, "Where are we going?"
Liu Fuyi replied with a resolute face, "Back to the palace."
However, they didn't know what the road ahead of them was like and there was a thick fog obscuring their vision. Mu Yao caught sight of a familiar diamond-shaped marking carved into a sturdy tree trunk and sighed as she glanced back at Lui Fuyi.
They had circled right back to where they had started.
The old temple had become the base of the evil spirits long ago. Because of this, the two did not dare let their vigilance slip. Killing their way in, they finally managed to rescue Princess Duanyang who had half the life scared out of her and was affected by the aphrodisiac fragrance. But in the midst of hurrying back, they accidentally stepped into this illusion.
In an illusion, it was normal for there to be this kind of moonlit night scene. Duanyang, who was not like them, was frightened. There was no sense of the passage of time within the illusion but they knew that a day or more had already passed in the outside world.
It would take twice the amount of demon hunter talismans normally needed to be even half effective on an evil spirit. As a result, Lui Fuyi and Mu Yao's talismans were slowly used up. If they had any left, then they wouldn't leave Princess Duanyang to writhe into a fried dough twist 1.
They suddenly felt a rush of cold blow past their feet. Vigilantly, they looked down and realized it was a badger who brushed past the edges of Liu Fuyi's robe. The leaves crackled with each step it took.
Mu Yao felt her mind collapse in an instant and dizzy at having her nerves strung tight, letting down her guard at the moment. She then thought confusedly, 'There are also badgers in this illusion?'
Princess Duanyang had already buried her head in Liu Fuyi's neck like a startled bird, shrieking in fright. "What is that..."
Liu Fuyi waited for her to finish shrieking, his ears ringing and almost overcome by dizziness. He patted her arm and comforted her saying, "It's all right, it's all right, it's just an animal..."
Before he had finished speaking, the badger turned around and became a dense cloud of black smoke. It then unfolded its limbs, stood, and rushed towards Liu Fuyi.
"Fuyi——"
Mu Yao and Duanyang both screamed at the same time.
Liu Fuyi was really unlucky.
If it was only himself, with a shake of his sleeves and the light of the moon shining on his entire self, then no demons or ghosts/spirits would be able to get close to him. Unfortunately, he was carrying Princess Duanyang who was weak and would only scream. He couldn't put his skills to full use and at the same time, he was scared that that thing would seize the opportunity to snatch Princess Duanyang if he were to leap out of the way. At this point, the only thing he could do was face the shadow, grit his teeth and take the blow.
That dark cloud was a person.
A low-level monster would never accurately go for a demon hunter's weak spot. The shadow stabbed Lui Fuyi's waist and the hand protecting it, with a blade formed from the shadow.
Distressed, a burst of sparks appeared in Mu Yao's palm which blew up into an enormous wall of fire before their eyes.
The shadow seemed to fear fire, its hair seemed to raise and it backed up a few steps before turning back into smoke and reappearing a place not too far away.
At the same time, the edge of Mu Yao's skirt swirled up like white snow, coming up before Liu Fuyi. She shot four to five talismans towards it with her palm.
"Brother Liu! Brother Liu!" The princess screamed herself hoarse.
Liu Fuyi had been seriously injured. His white clothes were soaked in blood and he looked close to falling over. With bloodless lips, he braced himself and placed her on the ground in the span of a breath. "It's all right, Your Highness. Don't be scared."
Duanyang held him in her arms, her tears falling even faster.
Mu Yao was momentarily thrown into confusion upon hearing Duanyang's sharp cry. The moment she turned her head, the dark cloud behind her extended a thorn as if it had been waiting for her to drop her vigilance.
"Bang——"
At that critical moment, a spark—— no, it couldn't be called a spark, a fireball exploded in an instant. Both eye-catching and had great destructive power, its core was a cold blue with streaks of orange on the outside.
The fireball exploded upon contact with the dark cloud, letting out an earth-shattering roar. At the end of which, contained the sound of a man's cry.
This was Tao Ying's 2 resentful spirit.
The corner of Mu Sheng's robe flew up and the sky was filled with leaves. The dry fallen leaves which had been swept into the air, formed a vortex. The force of the wind was too much for the leaves and they turned into powder.
Had he been one step late, the consequences would have been disastrous.
In this situation, Mu Sheng's pale-as-snow face looked even gloomier than usual. He looked out at the floating dark cloud, a harsh look in his eyes. "Just keep running."
The shadow wouldn't be able to take form for a while. Like a person whose appearance had been destroyed and was crying, it glared at him fiercely for a long while. With a loud noise, it disappeared in the air.
"Sister, are you okay?"
All signs of hostility had been erased by the time Mu Sheng turned around and he became a well-behaved gentleman. He ran over with red eyes and held Mu Yao's hands. Seeing a few minor scratches, he shouted, "You got hurt?"
On the side, Liu Fuyi continued to bleed heavily. "...( ●__●)"
Mu Yao stared at her younger brother in a daze. She even forgot to pull her hand back.
His appearance was abrupt and shocking. The power which had come out of him was one she had never seen nor would have imagined coming from him. And his aura could no longer be described as a strong demonic aura.
Was it because there was demon blood on him? Or was it...
What are you all still doing, standing there in a daze!" A loud shout interrupted her thoughts. Princess Duanyang was holding tightly onto the unconscious Liu Fuyi. "Brother Liu is about to die and you two are just standing there chatting?!"
The color left her face. Mu Yao rushed over to check on Liu Fuyi's wound but her hand was knocked away by an angry Duanyang. "It's all your fault!" She then turned to Mu Sheng, "And yours!"
Mu Yao forced herself to keep her grievances to herself and replied in a kind voice, "Let me take care of his wound."
She took out her last hemostatic talisman and stuck it on Liu Fuyi's wound.
Fortunately, it was just an ordinary wound. There was no demonic power or poison but the blood loss would still cause some problems which wouldn't be a big deal after taking a few days of rest.
Mu Yao softly let go of the breath she had been holding and unconsciously reached out to put her hand on Liu Fuyi's pale face. Her tone was very gentle as if coaxing him to sleep. "Fuyi, it's okay now. Ah Sheng is here."
Lui Fuyi somehow woke up from his half-unconscious state and opened his eyes. Their eyes met and he smiled slightly. "Yes, I'm fine." After this one sentence, he fell back into unconsciousness. As if he had held on until now just to give her that comforting smile.
*
Ling Miaomiao came through the hole behind the Buddha statue only to be met with this heartwarming scene which was like that of an old couple.
She had imagined the scene of their reunion with the protagonists countless times, imagining traveling alone and the difficulties they'd face. But she had never, in a million years, expected she would be reunited with the protagonist group as soon as she entered the illusion barrier.
...This really was a botched book transmigration.