Yan Qing reacted a step too slowly; "Yue Qi" had already vanished. She was somewhat puzzled.
"What exactly does this person want?"
An elderly monk cried out anxiously, "Quick, he's going to detonate the Seven Star Pagoda! Stop him!"
Then, the old monk flashed down and ran down as fast as he could.
Although Yan Qing was a superhuman, her speed was no match for the two Gold-Rank Title Monsters. She had no choice but to run downstairs on her own two legs.
Before leaving, she glanced at the Thousand-Mechanism Lock on the ground with some unease. For some reason, she had a strong urge to open the Thousand-Mechanism Lock; it might not necessarily be a bad thing for her.
"Xiao Tao—" Yan Qing tried to call out to Lingxi and Youming Jinli, but they were unable to appear under the strange pressure of the Gold Rank title. Left with no other choice, she had to forcibly awaken the sleeping Xiao Tao.
"Big sister, what are you doing here?! — This is... the Thousand-Mechanism Lock?! How is this possible?!"
As soon as Xiao Tao appeared, her expression changed drastically. She sniffed hard and said with absolute certainty,
“There are two particularly powerful and eerie things here, big sister, you must be very careful. But—” She looked at the Thousand Machine Lock with its flowing red light on the ground, her eyebrows furrowed and she actually smiled.
"So that's how it is. That person was hiding here all along."
Xiao Tao seemed to be in a very good mood. "Big sister, hurry up and go upstairs. We'll kill that woman, and then you'll be completely free! Quick, Xiao Tao will take you upstairs!"
"But—" Qianji Lock is still missing a bit of her heart's blood. How can she get up there?
Xiao Tao looked down and immediately understood. "Don't worry, big sister, this little trick is no problem for me. Watch me!"
After saying that, she took out a small knife and, without a word, cut her left index finger, the blood dripping directly onto the stagnant Thousand-Mechanism Lock. In an instant, the entire Thousand-Mechanism Lock disc began to spin rapidly.
A beam of red light suddenly appeared and struck Yan Qing and her companion directly. The next moment, the two disappeared from the spot.
At the same time, the entire Seven Star Tower suddenly shook violently a few times, and it took a full breath for it to fully recover.
The entrance to the passage leading to the fourth floor of the Seven Star Tower, on the fifth floor.
Just in time, the old monk caught up with Yue Qi.
"Ah—Amitabha! Benefactor Chu, please don't be impulsive! Once the Seven Star Pagoda explodes, not only will everyone perish, but you and I will also suffer severe injuries—this item is a Buddhist treasure, and it is extremely harmful to those with supernatural abilities."
"Yue Qi" seemed to have fallen into some kind of madness, his whole body was wrapped in black light, and he looked like a killing god who had rushed out of hell.
"Old Ghost, don't stop me! Just a little bit more, just a tiny bit more—"
"Benefactor Chu!"
The old monk suddenly shouted, unleashing his full power, "Benefactor Chu, have you considered what will happen even if the Thousand Machine Lock is opened, you still won't be able to get up there?"
Yue Qi paused, "What do you mean?"
"Amitabha—" The old monk saw that he had calmed down a bit. The matter was urgent, and there were some things he could no longer hide.
“Benefactor Chu, since you have come here, it means that you have completely regained all your memories from your past life. However, I still have to say that those memories are not actually yours, including the name Chu Jiang.”
Chu Jiang, having been exposed by his words, stopped struggling. He instantly became incredibly calm, as if he hadn't been the one who had just gone mad.
The old monk spoke again, “Amitabha, Benefactor Chu, perhaps I should call you by your real name—Benefactor Yue Qi. It has been a hundred years, have you not yet come to terms with it?”
"Hahahaha—I'm dying of laughter!" Chu Jiang suddenly grabbed the old monk by the collar, lifted him up, and spoke with extreme arrogance.
"Let it go? You actually tell me to let it go? You old ghost, more than a hundred years ago, you secretly infiltrated Cangyun Mountain and conspired with that so-called cave god. Do you really think I didn't know?"
"Ahem—Benefactor Chu, please don't act impulsively, let's talk this out!"
An elderly monk was being carried around with his feet dangling in the air, which looked rather comical.
Chu Jiang loosened his grip, and the old monk plopped down on the ground.
"Amitabha Buddha—" The old monk began by reciting the Buddha's name, and then he started to brainwash him with a smile. Oh, I mean, to communicate with him.
"The obsession in Benefactor Chujiang's heart is nothing more than that of the person who died a hundred years ago. Yes, she, and Benefactor Yan, both carry that person's blood. But, no matter what, she is already dead. Going against the will of Heaven will bring retribution!"
"As for your claim that I secretly infiltrated Cangyun Mountain, that's a misrepresentation. Back then, I went there openly and honestly. Originally, Dong Shen and I were the only two remaining Gold-Rank Title Mysteries in this world, but who knew you would suddenly appear halfway through!"
"Alas, fate is cruel. The Cave God's skills are inferior to others; he simply lacks the fortune. In the end, Cangyun Mountain still became your territory, and didn't this old monk eventually return obediently?"
The old monk was still smiling, looking completely harmless.
But Chu Jiang clearly wasn't buying it. "Old ghost, you never had good intentions from the start! I'm really puzzled. How could someone like you willingly become a ghost? It seems Buddha was quite magnanimous not to be angered to death."
The old monk wasn't angry at all; he put his hands together in prayer and chanted a Buddhist prayer again. Only then did he say...
“Benefactor Chu, we have already committed enough killings, let’s accumulate some good karma. Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems with the Thousand Machine Lock.”
————
The Seven Star Tower, seventh floor.
The moment Yan Qing appeared, she sensed something was amiss. Was she still inside the Seven Star Tower? It didn't seem like it at all.
It was pitch black all around, almost impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face. Only by sensing the temperature could she confirm that Xiao Tao had been by her side the whole time.
"Xiao Tao, why is it so dark here?"
As Yan Qing spoke, she reached out and pulled out a powerful flashlight, pushing it to the bottom in one go.
"Huh, why isn't it lit up?"
"Big sister—" Xiaotao spoke up, "The flashlight won't work here, we need to use this—"
A yellowish-white light wafted gently, and Yan Qing was finally able to see other things again.
She looked at what Xiao Tao was holding; it was a white candle with a conspicuous gold paper decoration that read "Promotion and Fortune."
"This...this is a spirit candle? For the dead?"
"Yes, big sister, don't be afraid. We're dead now."
She gently pointed to Yan Qing's feet, indicating that she should feel it for herself.
Yan Qing was terrified when she looked at it; she was so frightened that her soul almost left her body.
She was wearing mourning clothes! What she found most unacceptable was that she was barefoot, floating in mid-air like a wandering ghost.
—Even the kind that just died recently.
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