Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 219 Yan Chixia and Xiahou
The wooden door of the monks' quarters closed behind him, and Huikong felt his legs go weak so much that he could barely stand up.

Although the eerie ever-burning lamp had disappeared, he felt as if a pair of invisible eyes were still watching him in the darkness.

"I will definitely take refuge in Buddhism in this life and will never return to secular life..."

These words were like shackles binding his soul.

Now he understood that those temple rules were essentially contracts—from the moment he was tonsured, he had already signed a contract of servitude.

Huikong ran wildly down the corridor until he bumped into Huiming, who was on patrol.

He knelt down in front of his senior brother with a thud, his forehead hitting the stone floor hard.

"Senior brother! Please tell me, what exactly are Nie Xiaoqian and Grandma?" Huikong's voice was hoarse and unlike his own. "I saw it. I saw that lamp moving! It wanted to get closer to me!"

Huiming's expression changed drastically, and he pulled him into the storage room next door.

“Junior brother, listen to me… It’s not that I don’t want to say it, but that I can’t.” Huiming’s voice was extremely low, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. “Some names, once spoken, will attract the attention of ‘them’.”

"Then what should I do?" Huikong grabbed Huiming's sleeve, the fabric trembling in his hand. "Am I going to be trapped here forever?"

Huiming was silent for a moment, then said, “Recite the Diamond Sutra well and keep the sutra with you at all times. As for the rest... coming here to be ordained was your own choice. As long as you follow the rules, there will be no problem.”

"A choice?" Huikong smiled bitterly. "I had no idea at the time—"

“Everyone comes to Lanruo Temple for their own reasons,” Huiming interrupted him. “You came because you were heartbroken, I came because I was widowed, and Brother Huizhen came because… never mind, it doesn’t matter. Remember, abide by every temple rule, and never break it. We can never escape this Lanruo Temple.”

After saying that, Huiming pushed open the door and left, leaving Huikong alone in the darkness.

The clock in the storage room pointed to 9 PM, and the temple had long since fallen asleep.

Huikong, however, was wide awake. He walked, as if possessed, toward the small house next to the kitchen—Ning Caichen's temporary residence.

Huikong knocked gently on the door, and Ning Caichen quickly opened it. His eyes behind his glasses were bloodshot from staying up all night.

"Master Huikong? Is something the matter so late?"

"I..." Huikong was speechless for a moment, suddenly unsure how to explain her visit. "May I come in and talk?"

The room was small but tidy, with reference books neatly stacked on the bedside table and several handwritten English vocabulary lists pasted on the wall.

Ning Caichen poured Huikong a cup of tea. The tea leaves were cheap and the brew was bitter.

“Benefactor Ning,” Huikong said, holding a teacup, the steam blurring his face, “what do you think of this temple?”

Ning Caichen pushed up his glasses and smiled, "I think this place is great. This peaceful Buddhist sanctuary is perfect for studying. Besides, there's no rent. Where else in Hong Kong can you find something like this?"

“I’m not joking.” Huikong put down his teacup, his voice tense. “There are some things I can’t explain, but please believe me—this temple is not normal. Or rather, it’s very dangerous!”

The smile on Ning Caichen's face gradually disappeared.

He got up and checked the doors and windows, then sat back down opposite Huikong: "Master, could you please explain in detail?"

For a moment, Huikong didn't know how to answer.

The two fell into silence.

Huikong suddenly felt utterly exhausted, and the pent-up emotions that had been building up for so long burst forth like a flood.

“My parents came here illegally.” He stared at his reflection in his teacup. “In the early 1970s, the three of us paid smugglers from the mainland to come to Hong Kong Island because we heard that as long as we entered the city center, we could become Hong Kong Island residents instead of illegal immigrants.”

Ning Caichen listened quietly without interrupting.

“The Hong Kong British government had a ‘base policy’ back then—as long as illegal immigrants successfully reached the city and found work, they could get an identity card and would not be deported.” Hui Kong smiled bitterly, “My parents and I managed to settle down.”

The wind outside the window suddenly picked up, causing the oil lamp to flicker.

Huikong continued, “When I was five years old, my mother contracted tuberculosis. We didn’t have the money for treatment, and she died in the stairwell of our public housing. When I was preparing for university like you, my father was working in a textile factory. His right hand was caught in a machine, and the factory didn’t give him a penny in compensation. His wound became infected, and he jumped into the sea with a high fever.”

Ning Caichen gently placed his hand on Huikong's shoulder and noticed that the young monk was trembling violently.

“I got into university on a scholarship and had a really beautiful girlfriend. I thought I’d finally made it through.” Huikong’s voice trailed off. “I spent almost all the money I had on her, thinking we could marry each other someday… But not long ago, my girlfriend said I was ‘too gloomy, too serious and rigid, like a walking corpse,’ and broke up with me. Then, I found a flyer for Lanruo Temple…”

"So you chose to become a monk," Ning Caichen said softly. "After experiencing so much, you felt you had seen through the illusions of the world."

"feel"?
Huikong raised her head, tears glistening in her eyes: "Benefactor Ning, you mean..."

Just as Ning Caichen was about to speak, a deafening gunshot suddenly pierced the night sky!

The two jumped up at the same time.

Huikong opened the door and rushed out, with Ning Caichen following closely behind.

"Where—" Ning Caichen's words were interrupted by a second gunshot.

This time the sound came from the front yard!

They walked around the corridor and saw a group of monks standing in a circle, with a man with a large beard standing in the center.

What's terrifying is that the man was holding a hunting rifle, and smoke was still rising from the muzzle!

“Benefactor Yan!” The highly respected senior disciple Huixuan stepped forward from the crowd, “You are a guest invited by the abbot, why did you fire a gun in the quiet place of my Buddhist temple?”

The man, referred to as "Master Yan," did not answer immediately. Instead, he pointed his shotgun towards the ancient well and said, "I can sense that your temple has been 'polluted.' That's why I fired a shot just now to test it."

Huikong and Ning Caichen squeezed to the front of the crowd. Up close, the hunter's rifle was covered with strange runes, gleaming eerily in the moonlight.

“Benefactor Yan,” Huixuan said, his hands clasped together, but his tone became firm, “Lanruo Temple has its own rules for handling temple affairs, and there is no need for outsiders to interfere. Please go back to your room to rest.”

Ning Caichen also spoke up, "Sir, this is a sacred Buddhist site. Isn't it inappropriate for you to barge in with a weapon like this?"

No sooner had Ning Caichen finished speaking than a rapid clanging of wooden fish drums came from the direction of the main hall. The monks automatically parted to make way, and Master Mingxin walked slowly in, staff in hand, followed by a sword-wielding man he had never seen before!

“Yan Chixia,” the sword-wielding man spoke, his voice deep and rumbling like thunder, “you are indeed here.”

Yan Chixia—now that Huikong knew the name of the man with the hunting rifle—his face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He slowly lowered his hunting rifle, turned to face the man with the sword: "Xiahou, you really are a persistent ghost, chasing me all the way from Shanxi to Hong Kong Island?"

The man called Xiahou sneered, his severed right finger lightly stroking the hilt of his sword: "Three years ago, you won our battle, but I'm not convinced. We need to have another match."

"Nonsense!" Yan Chixia slammed his hunting rifle on the ground. "We agreed to rely on our own abilities. Whose fault is it that you're not good enough?"

"Then let's have another match now." Xiahou's sword was already three inches out of its sheath. "Let's see if your gun is faster or my sword is sharper."

It was as if invisible sparks were flying in the air.

Huikong noticed that Master Mingxin's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. The old abbot coughed lightly and said, "Esteemed benefactors, Lanruo Temple is a place of quiet cultivation and is not suitable for violence."

Yan Chixia snorted and slung his hunting rifle back over his shoulder: "The old monk is right. Xiahou, if you want to fight, go outside and fight. Don't damage the temple."

"Scared?" Xiahou mocked, but his sword was already sheathed. "Then we'll talk about it once we're out of the temple."

Master Mingxin clasped his hands together and said, "Excellent, excellent. Huixuan, take the two benefactors to the east wing for accommodation."

He turned to the monks and said, “Disperse, morning prayers will proceed as usual tomorrow.”

The crowd gradually dispersed, and Huikong and Ning Caichen also left.

Just then, the shadows in the corner of the courtyard suddenly twisted, and then a figure appeared out of thin air!
He was a young man in his late twenties, dressed in a black tactical uniform that seemed out of place in the modern era.

He held a yellow talisman that was spontaneously combusting in his hand, its ashes gleaming with an eerie black light as they fell.

"What were Jiang Jin and Yu Tianlun from the Nirvana team doing just now?" the man in black muttered to himself. "Role-playing mode? Or did their memories get wiped by the reincarnation system?"

After thinking for a while, he muttered to himself, "Ah Long's fate is unknown now, I'd better leave here as soon as possible..."

Then, the man in black took out another talisman and slapped it on his body, his figure twisting and disappearing like ripples on water once again.

Only a few unburnt black flames on the ground proved that what happened just now was not an illusion.

At that moment, Ning Caichen and Huikong emerged from behind a nearby corridor.

"Did you see it?" Ning Caichen asked in a low voice.

Huikong nodded stiffly, his throat too dry to speak. The black-clad man's mention of the "Nirvana Team" and "Reincarnation System" reminded him of the "Reincarnator" he had overheard in the meditation room earlier.
Back at Ning Caichen's cottage, Huikong was still in shock.

"That person who suddenly appeared and then disappeared..." Ning Caichen poured Huikong a cup of tea, "Did you understand what he said?"

Huikong shook his head, deciding not to mention the strange conversation he overheard in the meditation room: "I don't understand at all. But that Yan Chixia seems to be a person with real skills? However, that Xiahou swordsman doesn't seem to be someone to be trifled with either."

“They clearly have a past grudge,” Ning Caichen said, taking a sip of tea. “And that person who appeared out of nowhere is also very strange…”

The two fell into silence.

Huikong smiled wryly: "Benefactor Ning, aren't you planning to leave yet? Why insist on staying in this eerie temple to study?"

Ning Caichen's gaze drifted out the window: "I don't know why, but this temple has a strange attraction for me..."

Immediately afterward, Ning Caichen suddenly lowered his voice: "Master Huikong, did you see that red, hairless dog that looked really scary at Yan Chixia's feet just now?"

"What?" Huikong's hand trembled, and the teacup almost fell to the ground. "I...I didn't see it."

Ning Caichen's face turned extremely ugly: "It was squatting to Yan Chixia's left, hairless, and completely blood red, like it had been skinned alive... You really didn't see it?"

Huikong felt a chill creep up his spine.

“Benefactor Ning…” Huikong swallowed hard. “I think you really should consider leaving this place.”

Suddenly, the two of them saw at the same time a blurry figure reflected in the window paper!

"Who?" Ning Caichen shouted sharply.

There was no answer. The figure remained still for a few seconds, then slowly moved to the side and disappeared from sight.

Huikong and Ning Caichen exchanged a glance and rushed toward the door at the same time.

The corridor was deserted, with only faint chanting coming from afar, though it was impossible to tell which direction it was coming from.

“Look…” Ning Caichen suddenly grabbed Huikong’s arm and pointed to the end of the corridor.

A figure in a black monk's robe flashed by and disappeared around the corner.

Huikong's blood froze instantly—the fifth rule of the temple clearly surfaced in his mind: "If you encounter a monk wearing black robes, do not make eye contact with him. If he bows to you first, kneel down immediately and claim that you are dead."

“Let’s…let’s go back.” Huikong’s voice trembled. “Let’s pretend we didn’t see anything.”

The two then began to retreat, fleeing without looking back.

"Um, Master Huikong, how about I stay in your room tonight?"

"That's possible... but Benefactor Ning, are you really not leaving?"

Ning Caichen nodded.

“I always feel like I have to stay in this temple…”

(End of this chapter)