Excessive ferocity due to caution

With his evil eyes, Zhao Yi saw a strand of black hair he had eaten from the food drift into a corner of the room.

He picked up a strand of hair and examined it carefully by the candlelight.

A strand of hair is half a meter long.

The power of the rules above shielded Zhao Yi's evil gaze from observation.

In fact, many parts of the Redwood Temple are protected by the power of rules, which are like the methods used by the secret realm to interfere with Zhao Yi's vision.

With a gentle tug, Zhao Yi broke off his hair.

One half of it was placed over a candle flame and burned to ashes instantly, seemingly without any apparent abnormality.

"Is there something wrong with my hair...? Or am I just overthinking it?"

Zhao Yi frowned slightly as he looked at the charred and curled hair beside the table.

...

Heavy rain swept across the forest.

The hurricane brought a torrential downpour, leaving the Redwood Temple in complete disarray.

In the main hall, the monks sat around the room, lighting three hundred candles that illuminated the hall brightly. Despite the strong winds blowing in from outside, they could not extinguish a single candle inside.

The flame is stable.

Twelve monks sat around a coffin, their hands clasped together, chanting the Rebirth Sutra with solemn expressions.

"Abbot Huifa..."

The newly appointed abbot entered the main hall, where he was greeted by several senior monks. Abbot Huifa addressed the other monks, saying:

"Everyone, there's no need to be too nervous. I have consulted the secret documents left by the previous abbot, Master Hongmu. The evil spirit within him has been perfectly sealed. As long as you ensure that you continue reciting the Rebirth Sutra and ring the bell forty-nine times every night at midnight to dispel evil, the evil spirit within Master Hongmu will not resurface. Once Master Nanga arrives, the problems within Hongmu Temple can be completely resolved."

The monks agreed.

Abbot Huifa inspected the main hall, gave some instructions to everyone, and then left.

The chanting of sutras continued endlessly inside the main hall, blending seamlessly with the sounds of the wind and rain outside.

The monks continuously chanted scriptures, which possessed a mysterious power that seeped into Master Hongmu's body, subtly influencing him.

Master Hongmu, who had been dead for several days, had a body that was not decomposed, but was unnaturally pale.

Everything is as usual, no different from the past few days.

As night deepened, the chanting of the monks around the coffin subsided and turned into silent prayer. One of the monks suddenly felt sleepy and couldn't help but yawn.

"It's really... There are so many people in the temple, yet they always make us monks from the meditation hall recite the Rebirth Sutra for Master Hongmu's corpse..."

He complained inwardly that the number of people in the meditation hall was limited, so their time was quite tight. This monk was called Huipu, Huijue's senior brother. He had just spent the night keeping vigil for Master Hongmu's body a day ago, and today he was keeping vigil here again.

Because he hadn't gotten enough rest and nutrition, he was indeed struggling to keep up.

Yawning repeatedly, Huipu looked at the redwood master lying in the coffin. The man had a peaceful face and no trace of evil aura.

"It seems Master Hongmu has suppressed the evil spirits within him very well... Even if one less person is chanting, it shouldn't be a big problem, right?"

Huipu was so sleepy that his eyelids were drooping and he could barely keep them open, but he still couldn't stop thinking about this matter.

"Furthermore, midnight is the most yin and evil time. At that time, a solemn bell will wake me up, and it shouldn't be too late for me to recite the Rebirth Sutra then..."

"Let's take a short rest first..."

Thinking of this, Huipu slowly drifted off to sleep...

After he fell asleep, the damp, cold wind from outside blew into the hall, one wisp, two wisps, three wisps, four wisps...

The faint cold wind initially only caused the candlelight near the door to flicker, but soon after, due to the heavy humidity in the air, one of the candles went out as the flame flickered and swayed.

The first candle went out, but soon a second, a third...

In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the candles in the hall had gone out!

The eerie wind grew increasingly violent, lashing against Huipu's back. Huipu, who had been fast asleep, suddenly awoke, a cold sweat breaking out on his back!

"What time is it...?"

Huipu regained his senses and immediately noticed that most of the candles in the main hall had gone out, and his fellow disciples around him hadn't noticed at all!

"Senior brother, wake up!"

"Something terrible has happened!!"

Huipu suddenly stood up and shook the shoulder of the senior brother next to him, but the moment he touched him, his fingertips were filled with a bone-chilling cold!

That's a temperature that no living person could have!

Huipu glared, took a few steps back, and then shook the other monks. However, apart from him, all the other monks who were responsible for chanting the sutras had become as cold as ice!

Huipu screamed in horror and stumbled backward to the ground!

"How could this be... how could this happen?!"

"Senior brothers, you..."

He was terrified and hurriedly stood up, ignoring the heavy rain outside, and tried to run out of the palace!

However, as soon as Huipu turned around, he suddenly realized that the temple door was gone!

What should have been the palace gate has now become a thick white wall.

"The door, where's the door?!"

Huipu fumbled along the wall in terror, seemingly unwilling to believe what was happening before his eyes.

sough--

The sound of hands rubbing against the wall seemed so weak.

But Huipu still tried its best to explore.

It wasn't because he thought there was some kind of mechanism in the wall, but because Huipu wanted to use this sound to cover up another sound he heard.

The voice... came from behind him.

"Junior Brother Huipu..."

"The abbot instructed us to chant sutras over Master Hongmu's golden statue all night long..."

"Where do you want to go...?"

The voice carried an intense chill, as if it came from the deepest hell, causing Huipu's joints to stiffen. He clung to the wall like a catfish, his face contorted with tears, and shouted with his eyes closed:

"No...don't come any closer!!"

However, the sounds grew louder and louder, swirling around his ears, carrying an eeriness and chill as they reached Huipu's ears and burrowed into his brain.

"Please...please don't..."

Huipu was so frightened that his body went limp. At the critical moment, a majestic yet peaceful voice dispelled the chill beside him:

"Huipu...don't be afraid."

Upon hearing this, HP was startled!

That voice... it's Master Redwood!

Feeling the chill beside him dissipate, Huipu was overjoyed and abruptly turned around to look at the coffin...

It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't turned around, but as soon as he did, Huipu was so frightened that three of his seven souls were gone!

Inside the cold, dark hall, Huipu was shocked to see his senior brother, who was sitting cross-legged next to the coffin, with his neck twisted into an odd angle, staring at him with a venomous and cold smile!

Inside the coffin, Master Hongmu, who should have been lying down, actually sat up!

His eyeballs had vanished, turning into two eerie black holes, with fine cracks covering his eye sockets, making his once serene face appear extremely eerie...

"Huipu...come to my arms..."

"Huipu..."

"Come……"

PS: First update.

Keep pushing!