A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 472 Lingzhen Taoist Temple
In the darkness of night, Duan Rong kidnapped the beggar and walked through the streets and alleys, sneaking through the shadows everywhere.

At the entrance of the teahouse, beggars came one after another and squeezed into the empty seats...

Duan Rong sneaked along the way, and with his spiritual sense fully open, he avoided the various people he met by chance. After all, it was not late at night, but it was not long after nightfall. Shenyun Mansion was a prosperous place. Although Duan Rong was walking through a residential area, he still met many people on the road.

Fortunately, he was alone and had only kidnapped a beggar. With his skills, it was quite easy for him to avoid the eyes and ears.

Duan Rong flashed out of an alley, where a faint light was emitting from a residential house. He leaped out like a ghost, grabbing the beggar and running into the crown of a big tree at the intersection.

Duan Rong had just jumped into the tree canopy when two people walked out from the shadows on the opposite side of the intersection. They were an old lady and a young man. As they walked, the old lady scolded the young man.

At the same time, at the entrance of the alley, there was a house with a faint light shining out of the yard. The door creaked open, and a middle-aged woman stood there leaning against the door frame, looking at the old man and the young man who walked to the entrance of the alley, and urged them: "Hurry up... We're waiting..."

"Coming, coming!" the old lady agreed and walked quickly towards the woman. The young man behind her also quickened his pace to catch up.

After the three of them entered the yard, the gate creaked and closed again. At this moment, a dark shadow jumped out from the treetops not far away, as fast as a ghost, and disappeared into the darkness...

Duan Rong took the beggar captive, crossed a high wall, avoided the eyes and ears of everyone, and came to the rockery in the backyard with ease.

There, there were two people holding lanterns, guarding there.

When they saw Duan Rong, they were both startled, then they clasped their fists and said, "Sir!"

Duan Rong hummed, then asked, "Is Zhu Cheng in there?"

One of them said, "Your Excellency, Lord Zhu is interrogating the prisoner inside."

Duan Rong nodded, took the beggar captive, and walked into the dark room.

This beggar has far more secrets than Fatty Xu. Fatty Xu is just a secret agent who was turned against the Zhu family, while this beggar should be a contact person for multiple secret lines.

There was only one thread on Fatty Xu's body, which he could dig out, but as for the beggar, Duan Rong decided to hand him over to Zhu Cheng for trial.

It’s better to leave professional matters to professionals.

Moreover, after torturing and interrogating Fatty Xu in the morning, Duan Rong felt that torture was actually more disgusting than killing.

Before Duan Rong came, he had already guessed that Zhu Cheng must be here. After capturing sixty people, there would always be some stubborn ones. These people's mouths could only be pried open slowly.

Duan Rong walked into the dark room, threw the beggar to the ground, and looked at the man guarding the corridor entrance and said, "Go and call Zhu Cheng out."

The man looked at the beggar on the ground, still in surprise. When he heard Duan Rong's order, he immediately clasped his fists and responded, and walked into the depths of the corridor. However, a few breaths later, Zhu Cheng came out with a cold and stiff face. The dark yellow light hit Zhu Cheng's face. At that moment, Zhu Cheng's face was as terrible as a corpse crawling out of a coffin.

Zhu Cheng walked out of the corridor, glanced at the beggar on the ground, clasped his fists towards Duan Rong and said, "Sir!"

Duan Rong asked, "How's the trial going?"

Zhu Cheng said: "There are still four or five stubborn ones who are unwilling to confess. I am slowly trying to persuade them."

Zhu Cheng spoke calmly, with only a slight emphasis on the word "grind". But Duan Rong could tell from Zhu Cheng's eyes how cruel and bloody what he was talking about was.

Duan Rong's eyes drooped slightly, and he glanced at the unconscious beggar on the ground and said, "You should also interrogate this man."

A hint of doubt flashed across Zhu Cheng's eyes. He didn't know why Duan Rong asked him to interrogate a beggar. The beggar was ragged and had a greasy face. He seemed to be just a common beggar on the street.

Duan Rong saw the confusion in Zhu Cheng's eyes and explained, "Before I destroyed his Dantian, this beggar was a warrior at the third level of the True Qi Realm."

"The third level of the Qi realm?" Zhu Cheng's lips moved, and a hint of astonishment flashed in his eyes. A warrior at the third level of the Qi realm obviously couldn't be an ordinary beggar.

Duan Rong then briefly recounted the origin of the incident to Zhu Cheng. After listening, Zhu Cheng immediately realized that this beggar might be a contact person for many secret lines and was far more valuable than those he was interrogating.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll leave this man to me." There was even a hint of excitement in Zhu Cheng's eyes. He grabbed the beggar on the ground by the shoulders, lifted him up like a chicken, and dragged him along the ground, walking deeper into the corridor.

Duan Rong watched Zhu Cheng's back disappear into the shadows of the corridor, and then sat on the stone chair in the dark room. He began to use this time to quietly deduce the many gains and losses and mistakes he had made recently...

Outside Shenyun Mansion, more than thirty miles west of the city...

In the dark night, suddenly, two black rays flashed across the sky, like meteorites...

Where the black light passed, only two black dots were seen, and in the gloomy night, they suddenly landed on a mountain top somewhere.

At the top of the solitary peak, the night wind howled, blowing the clothes and hair of the two people.

Chu Qiushan's burly figure was as steady and powerful as a mountain in the night. He said slowly, "Old Zhu, why did you bring me here?"

Zhu He clasped his fists and said, "Master, I brought you here to watch a big show."

Chu Qiushan's eyes were gloomy. This place was a solitary peak with a cliff. The night was bleak and there was no one around. Only on the mountainside, there was a faint light, which was faintly flowing among the trees. Chu Qiushan's spiritual sense swept over and found that there was a Taoist temple deep in the mountains.

Chu Qiushan sneered and said, "It's just a dream, a play of flies and dogs. I'm tired of watching this worldly drama."

Zhu He said: "Master, this play is extraordinary."

Chu Qiushan glanced at Zhu He. In the darkness, Zhu He's face looked serious, without any trace of joking.

Chu Qiushan sighed softly. He was devoted to the practice of Taoism and had long been disgusted with worldly affairs. Fifty years ago, he was willing to take over the position of the sect leader because he had been trapped in the middle stage of the Cave and Dark Realm for many years and could not break through. He wanted to use the trivialities of the world to temper his mind and character in the hope of finding another way to break through the obstacles.

However, fifty years have passed, and he still has not been able to break through this layer of paper from the middle to late stage of the Cave Netherworld.

The bitterness in Chu Qiushan's heart over the years is something Zhu He could never understand.

Zhu He said: "Master, please use your concealment technique to hide our figures."

Chu Qiushan's eyes moved slightly.

The fact that he needed to use the method of hiding meant that a strong man from the Dongming Realm would appear nearby. It seemed that Zhu He did not lure him here for no reason. This matter was probably a little unusual.

In the darkness, Chu Qiushan raised his right hand, grabbing nothing in the void. Then a faint spatial ripple appeared, centered on Chu Qiushan's raised right hand. Like a ripple, it slowly spread out, enveloped the top of the mountain, and merged into the darkness...

The figures of the two disappeared into the darkness as the ripples passed by...

After the two men hid their tracks, not long after, another black light was seen coming from the sky, flashing by, and landing on the mountainside where a faint light emerged.

In order to avoid alerting the enemy, neither of them used their spiritual sense to scan the black light that fell on the mountainside. However, with such a speed, it was obviously a strong man in the Cave Netherworld Realm. Judging from its direction, it seemed to be coming from Changliu Mountain.

Chu Qiushan glanced at Zhu He beside him, his eyes flickering uncertainly...

Inside the Shenyun Mansion, in the backyard of Zhu Cheng’s mansion, in the dark room of the rockery.

Duan Rong held a piece of white paper, on which, like winter plum blossoms, there were spots of blood. On the white paper, there were seven names written, and Fatty Xu's name was among them, ranking third.

The first person on the list is a man named Liang Xuesong. Behind his name is his realm, the fourth level of perfection in the Qi realm.

This is already the highest realm that a warrior in the secular world can reach.

"The master of Lingzhen Taoist Temple." Duan Rong's eyes flickered as he looked at Liang Xuesong's identity behind his realm.

Liang Xuesong is the beggar's superior. After the beggar gets the news every day, he will sneak out of the city in the second half of the night and hand the news to Liang Xuesong in the Taoist temple on the outskirts of the city.

Duan Rong scanned the other names on the white paper, then handed it to Zhu Cheng who was standing beside him, and said calmly: "I'll leave the rest to you. As for Liang Xuesong, I'll go myself."

After all, Liang Xuesong has already reached the great perfection of the Qi realm, and in terms of realm, he is even superior to Zhu Cheng.

"Yes, sir." Zhu Cheng clasped his fists.

Duan Rong stood up, looked at Zhu Cheng and said, "There are two or three people involved in this, and they are quite involved. You should decide the right measure yourself."

Zhu Cheng said: "Don't worry, sir. I know the importance of this matter."

Duan Rong nodded and walked out of the dark room slowly. One of them was a secret agent of the mansion owner Wang Maochun, and the other was a secret agent of Chen Shanmeng's mansion, Zhu Cheng's immediate superior. However, Duan Rong believed that Zhu Cheng would be able to handle it.

Duan Rong jumped out of Zhu Cheng's mansion from the high wall in the backyard, and in the dark night, he moved westward like a ghost.

Lingzhen Taoist Temple was in Shenyun Mansion, thirty miles away from the western suburbs. Duan Rong wanted to go to the Taoist temple at night to meet Liang Xuesong.

At this time, it was already midnight, and the gate of Lingzhen Taoist Temple was already closed. The incense burner in the square in front of the temple was already cold. However, the eternal lamp on the altar of the shrine was still lit...

The Lingzhen Taoist Temple is very popular and is considered a very effective Taoist temple.

Liang Xuesong is the only person living in the Taoist temple. If there is a religious ceremony, people from nearby mountains will come to the temple as volunteers and help for a few days. Liang Xuesong will also give them grain as donations.

There were also some people who came to the temple and followed Liang Xuesong to serve the gods, but they often could not endure the hardship in the mountains. Liang Xuesong insisted on being a vegetarian all year round, so after a while, many of them lost interest and left secretly.

In the mountains in late autumn, the sounds of birds and insects had ceased, and the surroundings were dead silent. Only a black shadow suddenly flashed out from the dense forest and landed lightly beside the incense burner in the square of Lingzhen Taoist Temple. It was Duan Rong who had rushed all the way here.

Duan Rong looked at the faint light coming out of the crack of the Taoist temple, his eyes flickering. He raised his eyes slightly and took a look at the dark night and dense forest behind the Taoist temple. He sighed in his heart: "It would be easy to raise some pigeons and falcons to deliver messages behind this ancient temple in the mountains and forests."

That night, in the dense forest, Zhu He told him that he could find out the whereabouts of Ruyi's brother from Fatty Xu's upstream line, and Liang Xuesong from Lingzhen Taoist Temple was obviously the last person on this secret line.

All the information will be summarized here by him, and then passed on to the sect by him.

Duan Rong walked slowly forward to the gate of the temple and knocked on the door three times.

"Tuk, Tuk, Tuk."

Three clear sounds were heard on the thick door panel, and the sound echoed in the quiet mountain forest.

As soon as the knock on the door sounded, a voice like a broken gong shouted from inside the temple.

"Who?"

"I am a pilgrim living in a nearby mountain villager's home. I have to leave early tomorrow morning. I want to burn a stick of incense to the gods in the temple before leaving." Duan Rong thought for a moment and then lied.

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, the door of the temple creaked and opened a crack. A thin and gloomy head with a goatee stretched out, looked at Duan Rong, then opened half of the door and said, "Come in."

Duan Rong was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that his lie would lead to the gate of the Taoist temple.

Duan Rong's eyes moved and he stepped into the door.

On the altar under the shrine, there was a row of eternally burning lamps filled with oil in bowls. As the door of the temple opened, the mountain wind rushed in, and the flames flickered.

After Duan Rong walked in, the door of the temple closed again behind him.

Duan Rong took a look at the man in front of him. He saw that he was wearing a loose and patched Taoist robe, so he asked, "Master Taoist, how long have you been serving the gods here?"

The man smiled and said, "I can't remember. It's been a while."

"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll give you some incense." The man said as he walked to the box in the corner of the hall, took out a pack of incense, took out three sticks, came back and handed them to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong took it, took out a silver note and handed it to the man, who took it and thanked him.

Duan Rong's spiritual consciousness has already passed through this person's dantian. He knows that the person in front of him is Liang Xuesong. He has not taken action yet, but he just feels a little strange.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly. He took the three incense sticks in his hand and walked to the altar. He lit the three incense sticks on the flame of the eternal lamp and then inserted them into the incense burner on the altar. As the smoke rose, Duan Rong suddenly turned around, looked at the person behind him, and asked, "Master, don't you think it's strange that I'm visiting you so late at night?"

The man's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "Coming here late at night shows your sincerity."

"Really?" Duan Rong looked at the man, curiosity flashing in his eyes.

Duan Rong felt that the person in front of him was waiting for him, so he made up a lie and the man opened the door of the temple and welcomed him in.

Duan Rong smiled slightly and said, "Isn't it possible that the Taoist priest has been waiting for me?"

The man's face changed when he heard that, but he remained calm and said, "The gate of the temple faces south to welcome believers from all directions. I am waiting for more than just you, sir."

Seeing that the man was still playing dumb with him, Duan Rong frowned slightly and was ready to take action. At this moment, a curtain on the side of the shrine in the main hall was suddenly lifted, and a figure walked out.

Duan Rong was shocked. He had just scanned the area with his consciousness, and found that it was empty, with no one there. At this moment, in Duan Rong's consciousness, this person walked out of nothingness.

"Xue Song, there's no need to chat with this kid anymore!"

The person who walked out from behind the door curtain was a burly man with slightly gray hair on his temples.

Duan Rong knew this man. He was the elder of Taiyi Sect and the director of Tongzhengshisi, Ge Rushong.

He had seen this man when he became a disciple in the Dragon Fish Hall, and Ge Rushong naturally knew Duan Rong as well.

The moment Ge Rushong walked out, the man in Taoist robes walked behind Ge Rushong and looked at Duan Rong with gloomy eyes.

Duan Rong looked at the unfriendly eyes of the two people in front of him. He felt no fear in his heart, only a disgust that made him feel sick.

"Damn it, have we been fooled by that old man Zhu He again!?"

(End of this chapter)