Chapter 447

Chapter 447: Tricky Situation

Li Hui rushed to Zhuque Temple, finding everyone inside bustling with activity.

Hundreds of great monks surrounded the Altar, chanting scriptures. Li Hui stumbled through a few lines, but the monk in charge of selecting candidates shook his head and scolded him, “You can’t even recite the scripture properly and you dare call yourself a monk? Go to the kitchen and chop wood, fetch water, and prepare meals. The masters will be chanting until noon tomorrow, and we need to get the vegetarian dishes ready for the night.”

Li Hui took a spin and headed to the kitchen to slack off, thinking, “The cleanup of the ghosts by Dragon Gate and Zhuque Temple is a huge blessing for An Yun City. However, judging by the scale of the Altar and the layers in the chanting team, these monks are bullies; they are not planning to deal with the ghost king.”

As he lay on a pile of wood, nearly falling asleep, he suddenly heard an excited shout, “Junior Sister Qianyun is coming! I have longed for Qianyun; if she wishes, I will return to layman status immediately.”

“What are you thinking? You dare call her Qianyun? It’s Junior Sister Yiqing you should be calling! Thanks to Abbess Cunxin for bringing her to An Yun City. The moment I laid eyes on her, I decided to return to layman status.”

The noise swelled, and under the eager gazes of a group of bald monks, two nuns entered the kitchen, clasping their hands in greeting, “Master Cunxin sent us to check if the vegetarian dishes are ready.”

“Ah! Is Junior Sister Qianyun not here?”

“Go, go, go! Call Junior Sister Yiqing to hurry things up.” A dozen chef monks waved impatiently, annoying the nun on the left, who pointed at them and scolded, “A toad wishing to eat phoenix meat! Our Junior Sister Yiqing is of high status; how can you even think of her? Ever since she visited the kitchen, you’ve all acted like you’re possessed, lacking the demeanor of a monk.”

“Pssh, that’s called having a special affection, a deep love,” the young chef monk grinned widely, showing his white teeth. “Before I became a monk, I was a handsome scholar.”

“Hmph! What’s a scholar? I was once a jinshi, just entered the Buddhist realm to escape the chaos of the world. Once the turmoil passes, I will return to marry and have children.” Just then, a figure walked into the kitchen, and a gust of wind blew, revealing a graceful silhouette.

The chef monk who had claimed to be a scholar had sharp eyes and called out, “Junior Sister Yiqing, the food is ready! Why should you come to this smoky place yourself? Just send a word, and I’ll deliver the food.”

“Indeed! Junior Sister, you are so filial. I heard Master Cunxin was injured while exorcising ghosts, and we were all worried, eager to take care of her.”

The newcomer was Mu Qianyun, who softly replied, “Thank you all for your kindness. Yiqing is here to return the food box and to help my master prepare medicine. Her health has been a bit weak lately.”

“Wonderful! We will do our utmost to assist you in brewing the medicine.” The chef monks were overly enthusiastic, angering the two nuns further. The monks, in front of Yiqing, remained unfazed, but someone was exceeding them by a mile.

“What a beautiful nun! Too beautiful! Why not we return to layman status and find a place to live together? I have some wealth; I will definitely not let Junior Sister suffer.” The plump monk ambled over, leaning into the crowd, extending his hand to quickly grab the delicate jade hand he had longed for incessantly.

“Ah! My goodness! Fat monk, how dare you act so brazenly toward a lady? No, how dare you be so indecent! Hit him, hit him!”

“Beat him to death! Come on, where’s my convenient linked shovel?”

The kitchen erupted into chaos, and Mu Qianyun backed away with the two nuns, looking back at her hand in disbelief. When the fat monk reached for her, she had been dazed and failed to dodge. As the nuns temporarily took refuge at Zhuque Temple, they had barely escaped the ghosts’ chase and spent all their belongings, depending on others and having to compromise.

“You two stay and help brew medicine for Master.”

“Yes, Senior Sister.”

The plump monk was severely beaten, finally collapsing on the wood pile to nurse his injuries. No one spoke to him, and he muttered to himself like a madman.

Li Hui sighed, “Qianyun’s three souls and seven spirits are incomplete, and her demeanor is so natural. This indicates that the missing souls are nearby, not exceeding the limits of An Yun City. Judging by the aura, there must be a ghost king or similar ghost by her side, constantly on guard. This indeed seems to be a trap set for me, but is it just this? Too simple.”

“Wait, Qianyun has been possessed by a ghost, so her every move carries a hint of allure. This is troublesome; I couldn’t detect the opponent, suggesting they are hiding very deep, which means removing this anomaly will be extremely tricky.”

“Ah! Meeting Qianyun at Zhuque Temple indicates they know I like to disguise as a monk, so they had her waiting in the temple for me. They indeed made sure to catch me; knowing she’s here means I’ve already fallen into their trap no matter how I choose. This is a maneuver against me, and as soon as I show any signs of movement, this Zhuque Temple could instantly turn into a ghostly trap.”

Li Hui took a deep breath, reminding himself quietly, “Be cautious; I must prepare before taking any action. For now, I need to delay. Tomorrow, Dragon Gate and Zhuque Temple cannot hold rituals; I must at least delay for ten days.”

With his plan set, he began poisoning. No, not poisoning, but he began using cow poison beans.

This cow poison came from the Mysterious Pearl, having accidentally grown with the help of the Celestial Tree. It had no visible toxicity, needing two or three hours to brew and ferment, but it possessed a terrifying cleansing effect on the intestines.

“The toilets at Zhuque Temple are worrying! Dragon Gate disciples are also here; I need to address that and cannot treat them differently.”

Alright! The great monks are using cow poison beans, and it’s powerful. I don’t know how many merits that will cost me. But that doesn’t matter; I am acting righteously to save lives.

The night passed without incident. By morning, Zhuque Temple was bustling, with over a hundred monks lined up outside the toilet. Some monks covered their noses as they burrowed into bushes; as soon as the bushes were filled, they hurried to the temple for the toilet.

The noise continued until noon. They wanted to hold a ritual? Even if the abbot and host were powerful and didn’t mind this kind of effect, the disciples on the ground already collapsed, too weak to even speak. How could they hold a ritual? The Altar smelled foul; this was absurd!

“Investigate, find out!”

A quick investigation led straight to the kitchen, where they discovered half a pound of cow poison. While the temple was very careful with meals, cow poison isn’t toxic, and the responsible Buddhist cultivators couldn’t detect any poison in the food. As a result, every single one of them was affected, including those chef monks.

“It was that fat monk named Jieyin! We beat him up, and he harbored resentment, harming us!”

“Ouch! I need to use the toilet again.”

Looking for the fat monk? He was long gone, riding the nine-colored deer over a hundred thousand miles away, crossing states and close to the mountain gate of the Haotu Sect in no time.

He hid the divine deer and transformed into the recently appointed elder Li Yingjun of the Mirror Lake faction, dodging all surveillance and returning to the sect.

Guang Jin reminded, “Master, we are making quite the noise at Haotu Sect; Cheng Yuyan and the hidden enemies will surely know we’ve returned.”

“Indeed, let’s make it even louder to attract everyone’s attention,” Li Hui asserted. “We need to be ready to enter the Yin Moon Dynasty within ten days, and we must find a way to suppress An Yun City. We will begin by reclaiming the Ancient City of Yin Ruins today; time waits for no one…”