Catching Monsters

Chapter 552 Minor Spells

boom!
A tremendous roar continued to resound, and a giant spider monster emerged from the square trap.

This monster was enormous, standing a full three meters tall, with six blood-red eyes that exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression. Moreover, it roared wildly as it frantically chased after Master Lingxin, Shan Tiangang, and Xie Yifeng in the direction they had fled.

At the same time, the strange changes were not limited to this place; the monsters in more than a dozen dangerous places also changed at almost the same time.

Before this, as long as you don't enter the dangerous cave where the monsters are located, these monsters will not attack you on their own.

But now, one after another, monsters suddenly began to emerge from the cave.

Xie Yifeng, along with Master Lingxin and Shan Tiangang, ran wildly. Although they had lost their magic power, the three of them were still physically strong, which was not something ordinary people could match.

After running through the passage, the spider finally disappeared from sight for a long time.

"Huff." Dan Tiangang gasped for breath, couldn't help but raise his head and glance behind him, gritting his teeth as he said, "If our magic power hadn't been taken away by this sacred tomb, I could have killed those monsters with a single slap. Why did things have to come to this!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Yifeng frowned and slowly said, "Alright, it's already good that you escaped with your life. It's just a pity that the Golden Toad was snatched away by that bastard Jiang Yun."

"It's alright. In my opinion, the interior of this Holy Tomb is neither small nor large. If we encounter it, I will definitely kill this brat to vent my anger." Shan Tiangang paused, then added, "Even if he's lucky enough to escape inside the Holy Tomb..."

"Once he leaves the sacred tomb, can he escape?"

Listening to Shan Tiangang's complaints, Xie Yifeng slowly looked at Master Lingxin beside him and said, "Master, you should leave the Holy Tomb first. This place is too dangerous. Staying here may lead to unforeseen events."

“We are all here for the treasures in the Holy Tomb. Master, you must not have come here for these treasures.”

"There's no need to risk your life in a place like this."

What Xie Yifeng said was what he truly felt. Why was he treating Master Lingxin so well? After all, the two didn't have much interaction.

Master Lingxin was a pure-hearted person. Despite having the cultivation level of a first-grade Bodhisattva, he was willing to become an ascetic monk and walk among mortals.

They live outdoors in the wind and rain, and even when it's pouring rain, they won't take shelter under the eaves.

Ascetic monks like Master Lingxin firmly believe that the suffering in the world is predetermined, and that if they suffer more, the suffering of other sentient beings will be less.

The food they ate each day was all obtained through alms-begging.

Furthermore, Master Lingxin has always adhered to this belief, practicing what he preaches.

That's what they thought, and that's what they did.

After all, Xie Yifeng was not a member of the demonic path; he only lent a helping hand to the rebels because he had taken Wang Longzhi as his disciple.

I have the utmost respect for a great monk like Master Lingxin.

Listening to Xie Yifeng's advice, Master Lingxin clasped his hands together, feeling guilty about tricking the two into falling into a trap and stealing the golden toad.

He could only comfort himself by constantly telling himself that everything he did was to prevent the opportunity to become a sage from falling into the hands of ambitious people, so as to avoid chaos in the world.

“Amitabha, since that is the case, then this humble monk will take his leave. I hope you two benefactors will also be careful.”

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Master Lingxin put his hands together in prayer, bowed, and then quickly turned and left.

Watching Master Lingxin's figure gradually disappear into the distance, Shan Tiangang narrowed his eyes slightly, approached Xie Yifeng, and whispered, "Xie Yifeng, did you let this monk go so easily?"

"Now that I think about it carefully, I feel something is strange. We followed this monk and encountered a trap, and then Jiang Yun and the others appeared."

"Could this monk be in cahoots with Jiang Yun and the others?"

Xie Yifeng frowned and slowly said, "Master Lingxin is a highly accomplished monk. How could he collude with Jiang Yun and the others to deceive us?"

"You demonic person, don't assume everyone is as dark as you."

"Besides, didn't the master also give us a map of the Holy Tomb?"

"That's true." Shan Tiangang breathed a slight sigh of relief, then touched his body, his expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "Damn it, the map is gone."

Seeing this, Xie Yifeng quickly touched Shan Tiangang's body: "This map was perfectly fine, how could it be gone? Did Jiang Yun and the others take it?"

"Only you and Monk Lingxin have been near me. It could only be that damned monk who did it." Upon hearing this, Shan Tiangang's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth: "Are all the enlightened monks of Buddhism such two-faced scoundrels?"

Xie Yifeng's lips twitched. He took a deep breath and said with a hint of stubbornness, "Perhaps it's because the master needs a map to leave the Holy Tomb... Don't wrong an innocent person."

"Having mingled in the demonic path for so many years, I might misjudge a good person, but I'm absolutely certain I can't misjudge this wicked monk..."

Before the words were even finished, suddenly, light began to flicker slowly above the dark passage.

"Hey, this is..."

The two disregarded their argument about the monk Lingxin and instead observed the unusual features of the sacred tomb.

The once pitch-black ceiling of the passage now appeared as if it were filled with countless stars; the entire ceiling of the passage was like this, with countless stars twinkling.

"What does this mean?" Shan Tiangang asked, puzzled.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yun and his group, who had just stolen the golden toad, hadn't had a chance to properly examine it.

An anomaly appeared above them. Looking up, they saw countless stars, as if it were the night sky. "An illusion?" Jiang Yun frowned, then shook his head. It shouldn't be an illusion, because the entire passage was illuminated by the light of the stars above, making it as bright as day.

The torch in his hand was no longer needed.

"It seems that the Taoist sect also knows some star-gazing techniques. Can you understand them?" Vulture asked Jiang Yun. "Such changes in this sacred tomb could not have happened without a reason. Perhaps it is related to finding the Golden Toad and opening the door of the saint's coffin."

Astrology is a rather ancient art. In ancient times, people would use the changes in the stars to predict good and bad fortune.

However, it gradually declined over time, and not many people were interested in learning this art.

Only within the Taoist community are some records of star-gazing techniques still preserved.

Jiang Yun shook her head: "I don't understand."

He had read some books on astrology, which used stars to predict good and bad fortune, but the key issue was that what he had studied were stars like the Big Dipper.

The sky in this world is completely different from the one in my previous life...

Just then, Jiang Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, looked up at the starry sky above, realized something, propped himself up on his hands, and looked up at the top.

"Star Road".

From below, nothing is visible, but upon turning the view, the twinkling stars seem to be guiding one's way to a certain location.

Jiang Yun turned over and shared her discovery.

"So, where will this star path lead us? Will there be any danger?" This was the question that Xiao Jingzhi was most concerned about.

Jiang Yun said in a deep voice, "Once it's turned upside down, the others will soon be able to discover the function of this star path. Let's go and see where the destination this star path points to is."

"kindness."

Jiang Yun's suggestion seems to be the most reliable at the moment, but Xiao Jingzhi also asked, "Should we find Master Lingxin first?"

"After all, he was traveling with Xie Yifeng and Shan Tiangang. What if they discover that he is Master Lingxin..."

Vulture said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, Master Lingxin is much stronger than us, nothing will happen to him."

"Right now, finding the end of this star path as soon as possible is the most important thing."

"That makes sense." Xiao Jingzhi nodded in agreement.

It's much more convenient now, thanks to the starlight above, the entire passage is much brighter, and there's no need to light torches anymore.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Jiang Yun suddenly smelled a strong stench of blood.

"Slow down," Jiang Yun frowned.

The vulture, with its keen sense of smell, sensed something was amiss.

Soon, the group slowly walked forward and unexpectedly discovered a pile of minced meat on the ground ahead.

Blood flowed everywhere.

Everyone rushed forward to examine the body. Vulture said in a deep voice, "Judging from the amount of flesh, there should be two or three dead. The blood is still wet, so they must have died recently."

“Everyone inside this sacred tomb has lost their magical powers. Even if someone killed them, they wouldn’t have been chopped into pieces, would they?” Xiao Jingzhi looked at the scene before him, his face pale and feeling nauseous.

After all, the pampered Crown Prince rarely gets to see such a scene.

Jiang Yun squatted in front of the pieces of flesh when suddenly, a buzzing sound, like the flapping of wings, slowly rose from ahead.

Everyone looked ahead and saw a giant praying mantis fly out of the darkness.

This praying mantis is about two meters tall, its wings flapping, and its two forelegs are like sharp sickles, gleaming with black light.

There were still many bloodstains on it, and it was obvious that the pieces of flesh in front of you were the handiwork of this praying mantis.

"This is bad." Vulture's face darkened. He slowly drew his weapon, took a deep breath, and said, "How did this thing come out of the cave?"

Tuoba Anyi's face darkened, and he took a few steps back from the back of the group, ready to turn around and run away at any moment.

If the hyena were still around, it might be able to deal with this mantis, thanks to the zombie's immortal body.

But the people in front of me, without their magical powers, even if they had high cultivation levels, were at most only much stronger than ordinary people.

Jiang Yun took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Brother Jiang, what should we do?" Sweat was already streaming down Xiao Jingzhi's forehead.

At this moment, the mantis slowly flew towards the group, exuding a strong sense of menace.

It was as if the next moment would turn them into a pile of minced meat on the ground.

Jiang Yun wasn't in a hurry. He said in a deep voice, "Our Taoist sect actually has some minor spells that can be used without relying on magic power. I just don't know if they can deal with this mantis."

(End of this chapter)