Chapter 64: Heavenly Palace Cuts Off the Retreat
Cang Ming glanced back warily, but no one was following him. No one knew Wei Yang had secretly descended to the mortal world. Wei Ci leaned leisurely against the cliff, keeping watch. Cang Ming and his master hid in a fold of the stone statue's clothing.
The master said hurriedly, "Master, I can't stay down for too long. To make a long story short, the deity mentioned in the heavenly book that is your nemesis has probably appeared. I wanted to descend to the stone Buddha again, but I noticed a golden light on the Buddha. That's the protective light that only priests have!"
Cang Ming said: "Master, we have already fought with him just now, guess who he is!"
The master raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who is he? He escaped? He must have sensed the golden light I brought and was afraid of being discovered by the priests. He is really too bold to take responsibility. This giant Buddha ran so fast that it took me a long time to catch up with him!"
Cang Yi said indignantly, "That's right! That bastard is the one that all martial cultivators admire and respect, the one who claims to be able to quell the chaos in the three realms and protect peace in the human world!"
The master said bewilderedly, "Ah, there are many such martial gods. Master, which one are you referring to?"
"This..." Cang Ming and his master looked at each other in bewilderment and said hesitantly, "Master, this is the guardian deity you always told us about back then! The peerless and most powerful one!"
"So it was him?" The Grandmaster sneered, "So it was him! What a mess the world has been in! He's a very popular figure in the Heavenly Palace now. Countless priests who are more powerful than him have been suppressed by him."
Cang Ming opened his eyes and asked, "Master! Didn't you say that he was the god with the highest martial power?"
"Hey, don't believe it all." The Grandmaster waved his hand and said casually, "Wasn't that meant to encourage you back then? Besides, there aren't many records of martial gods in historical books, so I just picked one at random."
“…”
The master poked his head out to look around, then emerged from the folds of his clothes. "It's time for me to go back. I ran away secretly while on duty... Cang Ming, no matter what, I will contact the heavenly priests and expose the crimes of this thug. You better be careful and don't force yourself."
Cang Ming's eyes lit up, full of hope, but then became listless again. He shook his head and said, "Master, it would be great if we could gather our strength, but if there's even a slight mistake... Master, please do me another favor!"
The master said, "Just tell me."
Cang Ming was worried that the Guardian God might still be nearby, so he whispered in a barely audible voice, accompanied by gesticulations: "If possible, Master, could you lead the troops to guard the road back to the Heavenly Palace? I suspect the Guardian God will come looking for me again. As long as you lead the gods and soldiers to stay on the road he must take to return to the palace, he will have no way to retreat."
"Excellent! If he doesn't discover it, then we can just fall into an ambush and let the Celestial Immortals discover that he has come to the mortal world without permission, and then uncover his scandal! If he finds that his escape route is cut off, he won't be able to return to the Heavenly Palace. Over time, the Celestials will still discover something fishy." The Grandmaster replied in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Leave it to me!"
The two of them looked at each other reluctantly, and then the master flew away on a cloud and disappeared into the twilight sky.
Wei Ci came over and stuck to Cang Ming from behind, hanging on her completely. "General, are you afraid that our master will be implicated, so you don't want her to gather the priests to impeach the Protector?"
Cang Ming hooked his cheek and said, "You understand me the best, Brother Wei Ci."
Wei Ci complained half-heartedly, "When the general needs me for help, he calls me brother. When he's free, he runs around catching ghosts and leaves me alone."
Cang Ming said guiltily, "Once this big case is solved, I will take you to live in seclusion far away. Do you like that?"
Wei Ci's lips were close to her ear, and the hot breath he exhaled blew on her neck: "I like it."
"By then, I'll be with you every day," Cang Ming promised him. "We'll find any antiques you like. If you like to sit by the water and drink tea or wine, we'll be there day or night."
Wei Ci's arms wrapped around her tightly, his powerful body pushing against her, causing her to stumble forward, only to be pressed even tighter. He said, "It's a deal."
Cang Ming turned his face to the side, and his temple brushed his lips. His face was as white as a peach blossom, and his lips were slightly parted. He was about to say something when suddenly a shout came from under his feet: "Ghost Buster!"
"?"
Wei Ci reluctantly let go of his hand. Cang Ming hurriedly leaned over to look. On the steep stone steps, hanging on to the Buddha with all four legs, was none other than Wei Qiang.
"Brother Wei, it's you!" Cang Ming smiled and was about to draw out his ice blade. "Here's the sword for you. Just fly up on it!"
Wei Qiang panted and said, "This won't work. Oh, I'm almost there... Give me a hand, thank you..."
Cang Ming stretched out his hand, and Wei Ci immediately grabbed it first, but there was still a gap between his fingertips and Wei Qiang's. Someone smacked his lips and said, "Come on, grab this."
Looking up, he saw Wu Lu, who had just finished giving the signal, slipping off the Buddha's shoulder and extending the end of his crutch toward Wei Qiang. Wei Qiang grabbed the crutch and scrambled up with a somersault, his legs shaking so hard they almost made the sound of wings.
Wu Lu touched his chin and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Why do you look so weak?"
After regulating his breath, Wei Qiang grabbed the back of his head and said, "I, all my cultivation has dissipated."
Cang Ming's heart trembled, as if he had guessed what was going on. Wu Lu, however, was confused and shocked: "What? How did you lose all your cultivation? Who did it? Who dared to touch my brother? Tell me who he is! By the way, I am now the current Master of the Tongduo Sect. I will seek justice for you..."
Wei Qiang chuckled, "No one is trying to harm me. It's just that my father has been ill, and only if I, as his son, pass on my cultivation to him can I truly save his life. That's what I did when I came back this time."
Wu Lu sighed and groaned. Cang Ming patted Wei Qiang's arm and said comfortingly, "I think Zou Chaoxian's family affairs touched you. I think you did the right thing! Even if you cultivate immortality for a hundred years, isn't a peaceful and peaceful life what you seek?"
"Yes, now I understand. Being in your arms is where I feel at peace." Wei Qiang didn't want to talk about himself anymore, and instead warned, "Don't tell Zou Chaoxian in detail that I dispersed my cultivation because she touched me. Otherwise, her father has passed away, and she might feel sorry for her own kind. She might also feel guilty for affecting others."
Wu Lu said: "You really don't understand her. She doesn't care about these things."
"..." Wei Qiang suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, my sect saw the signal, and my father ordered me to lead all the disciples to come and help. So it was the signal from the Music Fairy? What happened?"
Wu Lu immediately looked down: "Where are the other disciples? Where are they?" Cang Ming asked: "Where exactly is the Lao Can sect stationed? This time when I returned to the outer border, there was no one living anywhere."
Wei Qiang answered them one by one: "My fellow disciples are still halfway up the Buddha statue. Although I have lost my spiritual power and cannot make medicine, I still have some martial arts skills, so I can climb faster than them. My sect is hidden deep in the mountains, far away from the world, and it is not easy to find them."
Soon, some red-robed disciples climbed up one after another. When everyone gathered, Cang Ming led them back to the Buddha's Palm and explained the whole story in detail. Wei Ci occasionally whispered a few words to her, and even Xi Sheng and Wu Lu listened attentively.
The believers in the temple were already getting anxious because they had been unable to escape. When they heard that the group of people in red were there to escort them down the mountain, they immediately started scrambling for food, fearing that they would not get a share of the savior.
Wei Qiang and several of his senior sisters and brothers discussed the matter for a moment, deciding to select the most skilled disciples to each lead a follower down the mountain. With no other option but to slowly descend the stone steps, Wu Lu suggested they form pairs and tie their belts together.
Upon hearing this, the believers refused to descend, saying the stone steps were merely grooves. Standing so high, even a glance down made their legs weak, and there was no way they could place their feet. Xisheng opened his eyes and glared at them sharply, "When you come to pay your respects to the gods, why don't you consider that you may never return?" The shouting crowd immediately fell silent, not daring to speak any louder.
Cang Ming said, "There is no time to lose, it's time to take action." Wei Ci stood beside her with his arms folded, and Wu Lu said, "Yes, General!" The believer became even more timid after hearing this, and only suspected that he was going to be silenced.
The red-robed disciples grabbed the believers around them, making them tremble with fear. Cang Ming said, "Those coming down the mountain, be very careful. There's no law for the sound of the voice. We need to search the Buddha statue again. The guardian deity will return, and he might be hiding nearby."
After hearing this, Wei Qiang took out a large red talisman paper from his sleeve, flicked it twice, and threw it out with a whoosh sound: "The evil spirit will appear!" The talisman paper fell somewhere in the distance, and nothing appeared.
Xisheng said, hands behind his back, "Your talisman skills are regressing instead of improving. It seems that you have lost all your skills. You should start learning talismans from scratch."
"Yes, Zou Chaoxian!" Wei Qiang answered loudly, "I will start over again!"
Xisheng nodded slightly without saying anything.
The first pair of red-robed disciples and their followers were already preparing to set off, about to risk climbing down the stone steps. The follower, though young and strong, looked as if he were about to pass out.
Cang Ming was just about to have Wu Lu summon the golden chariot for the others to ride in to inspect the guardian deity's whereabouts when he suddenly noticed something strange about the snow in the distance. Although there was a layer of snow on the Buddha statue, the bumpy ride had shaken off a lot of it, leaving only a thin layer.
The snow on the stone sleeve in the distance seemed to be a thick protrusion. That position was definitely not the folds of a sleeve carved into the stone.
Concentrating his spiritual power and looking intently, he saw that large piece of snow actually moved. Cang Ming suddenly recognized that it was not snow, but Tianxin Shu.
Wei Ci also whispered, "It's her."
The tall snow sculpture approached them in a flash, and its feet were no longer wearing blood-red embroidered shoes, but a pair of white boots it had found from somewhere.
Tian Xinshu stopped in front of Cang Ming, staring at her with his snow-white eyes without pupils, making her feel like someone was rolling her eyes.
Wu Lu was the first to speak: "Hey, Snow Sculpture King, your father was stolen by your senior sister and given away. It has nothing to do with us. We were also tricked by your senior sister."
Tian Xin said hoarsely, "She is no longer my senior sister. I sent people to search for her for a long time before finally finding her here. I am here to negotiate with you."
Cang Ming asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"
Tian Xinshu said, "I'm going to kill the man who made the embroidered shoes. Do you want to kill him too? Let's do it together."
Cang Ming understood that Tian Xinshu was venting his anger and joining forces with others to seek revenge. Knowing the feeling of carrying hatred, she felt a surge of sympathy. "I understand. The one who made the embroidered shoes is the guardian deity of the Heavenly Palace. This Buddha hand is his temple, which we have destroyed. We need to send everyone down first, and then we can make further plans."
Tian Xinshu glanced at the dojo and said, "This hexagonal snowflake formation is yours. It shouldn't be a problem protecting these bastards, right?"
"……good."
Tian Xinshu sneered and suddenly leaped onto the Buddha statue's head, summoning the white snow on the northern plains to form a giant skeleton formation. The skeletons opened their hollow mouths and slammed into the stone Buddha.
At the same time, tens of thousands of demon soldiers came galloping from the horizon, and under the leadership of the deputy general, they rushed towards the stone Buddha together with the skeleton.
With a loud bang, the stone Buddha carrying countless people, immortals, and demons fell to the ground.
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