Chapter 29: On the 29th day of my retirement, I'll show you how to commit suicide on the spot...
Sang Qiqi wandered around the Taoist temple for a long time and found that Tongxuan had left a very clean trail when he ran away, leaving almost nothing to prove his identity.
The only thing that could not be taken away was the golden statue in the main hall because it was too large.
It only benefits Sang Qiqi.
She left Yunhe Temple and returned to the same place about ten minutes later, but this time she was carrying an unusual big thing in her hand - a cutting machine.
Such a big golden statue, with so much gold, it seems a bit of a waste to put it here.
With this thought in mind, Sang Qiqi naturally leaned the cutting machine toward the golden statue. A sizzling sound echoed through the silent night, and suddenly, strangely, streams of black liquid began to flow from under the cutting machine. The liquid emitted a slightly fishy odor. Sang Qiqi quickly jumped to the side, waiting for the liquid to drain out before the cutting machine approached again.
The crackling sound continued all night long.
The next day, the sun slowly rose from the other side of the mountain. Sang Qiqi put down the cutting machine in her hand and looked down to her right.
Six cutting machines were scrapped, but she had already dismembered the massive golden statue. It took seven or eight trips before she could barely carry all the gold pieces back to the funeral procession. When daylight finally fell, Sang Qiqi carried a statue of the Lord of Fengdu, wearing twelve tassels, from the underworld and placed it where the golden statue had been. Then, she took out a talisman and applied it to the statue's lower back. The Lord of Fengdu, whose face was obscured, became the original deity worshipped at Yunhe Temple.
This wave of stealing and replacing one thing with another achieves three goals at once!
Not only did he kill some of the remaining evil spirits in the strange golden statue, but he also flattered the big boss of the underworld.
Most importantly, she became rich.
Humming a little tune and feeling cheerful, he returned to the funeral home. As soon as he opened the glass door from the inside, he saw Jingyu, yawning lazily with his arms folded. Jingyu's pale face was slightly sleepy. He fluttered his eyelids, noticing the excitement on Sang Qiqi's fair face. He paused and asked, "Are you so happy robbing a house?"
Sang Qiqi: "Can you speak? What is burglary? I rob the rich to help the poor."
But the one who was helped was herself.
Jing Yu remained noncommittal about Sang Qiqi's statement and said, "I heard you even went to the underworld and moved the statue of the Lord of Fengdu. Where did you learn such a wicked trick?"
Sang Qiqi said innocently, "Tongxuan."
Isn’t this typical of learning and applying what you have learned?
Jingyu: "..."
Speaking of Tongxuan, Jingyu walked towards the funeral procession, pulled up a chair and sat down as if he had no bones. He asked, "What are you going to do with Tongxuan?"
Sang Qiqi took out two cartons of milk from under the cash register and generously handed one to Jingyu. As she lowered her head to remove the straw, she said, "I originally wanted to see if he had any accomplices and whether he would be reluctant to leave Yunheguan, his base of operations."
After all, he'd repeatedly saved even a worthless piece of trash like Qiao Tianyi. Yunhe Temple had brought so many pilgrims to Tongxuan, and Tongxuan had likely gained much from them, so he wasn't willing to give up his current achievements. But Yunhe Temple's remains had been discovered and excavated, and the news had spread widely, ruining Yunhe Temple's reputation. No more pilgrims would come, and neither would Tongxuan.
"Xiao Hei has followed him for five days and hasn't seen him contact anyone. Do you think he has no accomplices, or are those accomplices smart enough to hide well?" Sang Qiqi asked.
"Is that an evil spirit in that golden statue?"
"Well, to be more precise, it's an evil spirit that hasn't yet taken shape." Sang Qiqi recalled the foul-smelling liquid, a look of obvious disgust between her brows. "The aura of the evil spirit is quite unfamiliar. I feel that even if it takes shape, it won't be too powerful."
"Then I guess they really don't have any accomplices. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a complete waste of time for a group of people to spend so much time to catch a weak evil spirit?"
"I think so too. I'll go find him later." After finishing the milk and throwing the carton into the trash can, Sang Qiqi clapped her hands. Then she remembered something and pointed at the pile of gold flakes in the storage room. She asked Jingyu, "Is there any way to cash it in? I'll give you 10%."
"One percent?" Jing Yu raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect Sang Qiqi to be so generous. That one percent of gold pieces would be enough for him to live a lavish life in the world for the rest of his life.
After receiving a positive response, Jingyu thought for a moment and said, "All of them?"
"Keep a little for the bottom of the box, and cash out the rest."
"I'll help you think of a solution."
"OK."
—
Heng City, Yunnan Province, is a nationally famous tourist attraction. There is a mountain called Anqing Mountain which has become popular recently.
In spring, Anqing Mountain lives up to its name, blanketed in vast expanses of green and covered in wildflowers. The scenery is breathtaking, making it a perfect spot for camping and outings. At the summit of Anqing Mountain stands a Taoist temple called Lingzhen Temple. Its eight abbots, once leisurely, are now overwhelmed by Anqing Mountain's sudden popularity.
The youngest Taoist priest watched the pilgrims coming and going, swept the plastic sheets on the ground, and turned to ask the Taoist priest next to him: "Brother, I heard that our Taoist temple really recruited Taoist priests this morning?"
The senior brother patted his head and said with a half-smile, "What are you thinking about? Even if you are recruited, you are still a junior brother."
Little Taoist priest: “…”
He touched his face awkwardly and then sighed.
This is the bad thing about being young.
After sweeping the last bit of trash into the trash can, he clung to his senior brother and asked mysteriously, "Senior brother, have you been following the incident at Chengjiang Yunhe Temple in Yang Province?"
"What?"
"Oh, there was a heavy rainstorm in Chengjiang, and it washed out the bones buried in the backyard of Yunhe Temple. Didn't you check your phone? Weibo trended like crazy, and I saw a lot of people discussing it."
As soon as he finished speaking, his senior brother knocked him on the head: "You're playing with your phone again."
The young Taoist curled his lips and said confidently, "I'm still young, it's normal for me to like playing with my phone. I even saw Master Xu Jing playing games on his phone the other day."
"Did he win?"
"I lost two stars, scolded my teammates for a long time, and was finally banned."
“…”
The two stood aside and talked quietly for a long time. When they looked up, someone came out of the temple master's quiet room. The young Taoist priest stared at the person intently for a long time. The other person had an ordinary appearance, a dark complexion, and droopy eyelids, making him look a little fierce. He was different from the other kind-looking uncles and brothers in the Taoist temple.
"Shouyi, take Taoist Master Tongchen to the quiet room to rest."
The young Taoist priest immediately obeyed the order from the temple master's meditation room. He then walked over to Tongchen, bowed to him, and led him to a vacant meditation room. It was only a few steps away. Shouyi glanced at the silent Taoist priest beside him and couldn't help but ask boldly, "Master Tongchen, are you going to join our Taoist temple?"
Tong Chen lowered his eyes, a few traces of gloom flashed in his eyes, and after a moment he responded in a low voice: "Hmm."
Shouyi murmured, then asked, "Master Tongchen, which Taoist temple were you from before? Why did you come to our Lingzhen Temple?"
"It's a small Taoist temple with no reputation. It's closed." After answering concisely, Tongchen arrived at the quiet room. He made a gesture to Shouyi, then walked into the quiet room and closed the door.
Shouyi, whose nose was nearly pinched by the door, said: "..."
What? Not enthusiastic at all.
He curled his lips and returned to the main hall to complain to his senior brother: "I think this new Taoist Master Tongchen is not easy to get along with at all. He looks cold and a bit fierce."
The senior brother rubbed his head and said, "Then stay away from him and don't talk to him."
Shouyi shook his head: "That won't work. Once you join our Taoist temple, you are a part of it. We are a family, and family members should talk to each other."
He stroked his chin and thought for a long time before saying, "This Taoist Master Tongchen might be the legendary cold-faced but warm-hearted person. Once we get to know him better, he might become kind."
The young Taoist priest, having figured it out, was in a particularly good mood. He looked out at the pilgrims arriving one after another, exchanged greetings with them, and was about to go inside when he spotted what looked like a black cat on the roof of the Taoist temple. He stopped where he was and looked up again, only to find the roof was empty.
...Did I see it wrong?
I rubbed my eyes, stretched my neck and continued to stare in disbelief, but still didn't see anything.
That might be my eyes really are blurry.
I must have played with my phone for too long last night!
evening.
It’s time for retreat at Lingzhen Temple.
Shouyi and his senior brother worked together to close the temple's vermilion gate, clapped their hands, and headed for the dining hall. When they arrived, all the Taoists, including Tongchen, were present. Their master, Xuanmingzi, the temple's abbot, smiled and gestured for everyone to sit down. He then introduced Tongchen to the others. Tongchen came from Xingchao Mountain in Yang Province. There were only two Taoists in their temple. A while ago, Tongchen's senior brother, the abbot of Xingchao Mountain Taoist Temple, passed away. Tongchen was left alone in the vast temple, so he decided to close it and ended up at Lingzhen Temple.
Upon hearing that Tongchen's senior brother had passed away, Shouyi looked at Tongchen with a bit of sympathy and quickly stood up to welcome Tongchen.
So do others.
In this way, An Qingshan's Lingzhen Temple had one more Taoist priest.
For the past few days, Shouyi had been quietly observing his uncle Tongchen. He'd discovered that he was completely different from his other, more unfocused uncles. He was calm, almost strict. He'd wake up on time, worship the deities, and attend morning prayers, never losing focus for a moment. Even during breaks, he'd never relax, never playing with his phone. He'd spend the entire day kneeling on his cushion, chanting before the statue.
However, he treated the pilgrims very gently, and even his triangular eyes were not so scary anymore.
only……
Shouyi leaned over to his senior brother and whispered, "Senior brother, are there different versions of the scriptures we recite every day depending on where we live?"
Senior Brother: “?”
Raising his finger and tapping Shouyi on the head, the senior brother said with amusement, "What nonsense are you talking about? These scriptures have been passed down for generations, and we have to attend exchange meetings every year. If everyone's scriptures were different, we would have argued about it long ago."
"But," the young Taoist priest glanced at Tongchen, who was communicating with the pilgrims with his back to them, and whispered, "The scriptures that Master Tongchen recites are different from ours."
The senior brother’s smiling expression was slightly dazed, as if he hadn’t reacted.
Shouyi raised his hand and swore, "I'm serious. At worst, you can just listen carefully to the sutra recitation at night."
"OK."
In the evening, Lingzhen Temple closed its gates, and the Taoists began their evening prayers. This time, the person sitting cross-legged beside Tongchen had changed from Shouyi to his senior brother Xiyi. Xiyi sat quietly in his white Taoist robe, his eyes slightly lowered. As he recited scriptures, his ears perked up, trying to take in every sound from the person beside him.
Tongchen's voice is much deeper than that of other Taoists in the Taoist temple, so as soon as he opens his mouth, you can definitely tell it by listening carefully.
Xiyi listened like this for two hours.
After the evening class was over, he found Shouyi and knocked him on the head again. He rolled his eyes and said, "I really believed your lies, little devil. Uncle Tongchen can clearly recite the scriptures fluently. You said he read them wrong..."
He glanced thoughtfully at the young Taoist priest's face, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Could it be that you haven't memorized it well? Is it because Master hasn't checked your lessons recently that you've been slacking off?!"
Upon hearing this, Shouyi immediately took two steps back, his eyes wide open, and pointed at the other person: "You are slandering! Slander! I can recite these scriptures by heart!!"
The voice was so loud that it attracted the attention of the uncles who were about to leave. Uncle Xujing didn't know what they were arguing about, but when he heard Shouyi's words, he immediately smiled and pointed to a passage of scripture: "Come, recite it to me. If you make a mistake in a word, your phone will be fined for an hour."
Shouyi: "..."
He drooped his brows and stared at Xiyi with a blaming look. Xiyi coughed lightly and turned away, but happened to see Tongchen glance at the two of them with his triangular eyes. The look was cold and heavy, with a hint of sinisterness, which made people feel creepy when they recalled it.
...Did I see it wrong?
When I looked again, Tongchen had already turned and left.
The next morning, Shouyi and Xiyi sauntered to the main hall, yawning, for morning prayers. Shouyi, sleepy as he was, mumbled the scriptures, but the low, distinctive verses rang in his ears, jolting him awake. He turned to look at Tongchen, listened more carefully, and felt as if he had misheard. He scratched his head and sighed.
After the morning class, the gate of the Taoist temple was opened and pilgrims came in one after another.
However, Shouyi noticed that Master Tongchen, who was usually very welcoming to pilgrims, was nowhere to be seen. Curious, and since he had nothing else to do, he walked around the main hall and then ran to the quiet room in the backyard, where he saw Tongchen.
There was a person standing in front of Tongchen.
The other person was a young girl wearing a mask, but one could vaguely see her pretty features and seemed a little nervous.
It was Xiao Chen's first time to visit a Taoist temple, but she didn't have time to tour it. She followed the information given by Qiao Tianyi and found Tongchen. As soon as she told him Qiao Tianyi's last name, Taoist Master Tongchen took her to the backyard and handed her a very small iron box.
Tongchen said nothing, so Xiao Chen didn't ask anything. He just took the things and left Lingzhen Temple.
After returning to Chengjiang, she put the iron box in Qiao Tianyi's hands. Looking at the man's back as he quickly turned and left, she couldn't help but frowned, and the doubts in her heart became more and more serious.
She really thought Qiao Tianyi was weird.
He said he was not feeling well and was going to Chengjiang to see an old doctor, but in fact he deliberately left her and ran to Yunhe Temple, where he was caught by the criminal police who were investigating the case. After the interrogation was finally completed and he was released from the police station, the first thing he did was not to report to Wang Hao, but to ask her to go to the Taoist temple in Heng City, Yun Province to find a Taoist priest named Tongchen to get something.
Out of professional ethics, she did not open the iron box, but she always felt that the things in the iron box were not good.
Qiao Tianyi ignored Xiao Chen's thoughts. He returned to his hotel suite and carefully opened the iron box. A strange black aura emanated, and then a tiny figure, no bigger than a man's thumb, appeared before Qiao Tianyi. A piece of yellow paper, similar to Fu Liu's, was taped to its back. It also had a name and birth date written on it.
Staring at the word 'Yu Meng', Qiao Tianyi slowly let out a sigh of relief.
At night.
Lingzhen Temple has fallen into silence, with only the occasional rustling sounds of nocturnal creatures.
A pure black crow, cloaked in the darkness, swooped down from the sky onto the eaves of the main hall of Lingzhen Temple. It lowered its head, slowly preening its glossy black feathers with its sharp beak. After a moment, it suddenly raised its head, revealing a pair of dark red eyes.
A slender figure appeared in front of the gate of Lingzhen Temple.
Sang Qiqi nimbly passed through the wooden door and, following the instructions of Black Crow and Black Cat, made her way to the quiet room. There were ten quiet rooms lined up side by side, three of which were dimly lit. Sang Qiqi glanced over and saw a Taoist priest sitting cross-legged on a bed, cursing and playing a game. The word "failure" was clearly displayed on the screen.
Record 0-5-7.
Noob.
After muttering, she reached out and touched the wooden door of the quiet room on the right side of Caiji.
In the quiet room, Shouyi huddled in a corner, his eyes wide with terror. A strange black mist swirled around him, tightening gradually. Though untouchable, it left visible marks on his body. With his mouth and nose obscured by the mist, breathing became particularly difficult. He struggled to raise his neck, but the mist, binding him, extended into his neck, then exerted a sudden force.
Hmm—
An even more painful feeling of suffocation surged over him, and tears welled up in Shouyi's eyes.
He had no idea what was going on. He was just secretly playing with his phone under the covers, but suddenly his vision went dark, and then the covers were lifted, and the strange fog blocked his mouth.
He couldn't even cry out for help.
Is he going to die?
His consciousness was gradually stripped away, and just when Shouyi wanted to close his eyes in pain, the creaking sound of a door opening rang softly in his ears.
The voice seemed to bring him back to his senses. He tried to open his eyes, but he only saw a thin shadow through his tears.
...Who is that?
Sang Qiqi narrowed her eyes. Seeing the scene before her, she reached out without hesitation to grab the black mist that had realized something was amiss and was about to flee. With a curled corner of her mouth, Sang Qiqi sneered, "Run away, you uncle."
With a crackling sound.
The black mist was easily peeled off, and kept changing its shape between Sang Qiqi's white fingers. It struggled frantically, and shrill screams came from it, almost shaking the entire Taoist temple.
In the quiet room at the end of the path.
Tongchen, dressed in a lacquered robe, was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, a strange, palm-sized golden statue before him. He had his eyes tightly closed, his hands resting on his knees in strange hand gestures, his lips moving as he silently recited a distinctive scripture.
Suddenly, a golden statue with an extremely long face, seven eyes and a strange smile fell to the ground with a bang.
The face facing Tongchen began to become extremely distorted, and its seven eyes opened at once, stained with blood. Its mouth was open, and a silent scream seemed to burst out from it, and cracks appeared on its golden body.
At this moment, a shrill scream suddenly rang out.
Tongchen's face changed and he suddenly stood up from the mat.
Without any extra time to think, he bent down, picked up the golden statue that was about to break into pieces, pushed open the door, and rushed out.
However.
In his sight, under the dim night light, Sang Qiqi stood in front of the door and raised her eyebrows at him nonchalantly.
In her hand was a ball of black mist that was tied into a knot. The black mist was still struggling, and the golden statue in Tongchen's hand began to drop fragments.
"you……"
Tongxuan's heart was beating extremely fast, and his eyes were full of vigilance when he looked at Sang Qiqi.
He didn't understand why Sang Qiqi was still able to find this place even though he had been careful enough.
After Qiao Tianyi informed him of Sang Qiqi's uniqueness, Tongxuan began planning his departure from Yunhe Temple. He took everything related to the temple with him, with the exception of the golden statue due to its sheer size. Afterward, he left Chengjiang and chose a remote but not deserted Taoist temple, as he needed pilgrims to continue worshipping the golden statue.
He has been behaving well these past few days, and he used a special method of passing messages to contact Qiao Tianyi. He was worried that Qiao Tianyi was being watched by Sang Qiqi, so he specifically told Qiao Tianyi not to come in person.
He even changed his appearance!
But why can Sang Qiqi still chase here!
Tong Xuan couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried, so he gritted his teeth and couldn't help asking, "How did you get here?"
Sang Qiqi shook her finger at him and said with a smile, "It's a big taboo to talk nonsense before a fight. If you have any questions, we can talk about it after the fight."
The moment the words fell, Sang Qiqi was like a gust of wind, closing the distance between her and Tongxuan in the blink of an eye, and punched towards Tongxuan's face at an unexpected speed.
The finger bone hit Tongxuan's forehead, immediately making Tongxuan dizzy.
But he reacted incredibly quickly, gripping the yellow talisman paper between two fingers and throwing it forward. Flames rained down from Sang Qiqi's head like meteors. Sang Qiqi raised her hand and waved it, extinguishing all the flames near her. The others that fell to the ground exploded as if doused in gasoline, trapping Sang Qiqi within.
Tong Xuan took two steps back, holding his forehead, his eyes gloomy: "Give me what you have in your hand, and I might let you go."
"Let me go?" Sang Qiqi almost laughed out loud. "If you were really that confident, you wouldn't have run away without even meeting me."
Sang Qiqi's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot, revealing Tong Xuan's forced composure, and reappeared on the rooftop a few meters away. She looked down at Tong Xuan with a smile on her lips.
The next moment, Sang Qiqi's body seemed to have lost all its strength, and she suddenly fell limply to the ground.
At the same time, a gust of cold wind hit Tongxuan with a strong attitude, as if something was squeezing into his body.
Bang.
Sang Qiqi kicked Tongxuan's soul out of his body. She took control of Tongxuan's body and put her fingers around his neck. In his horrified eyes, she smiled maliciously: "How about I show you a suicide on the spot?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
