Excessive ferocity due to caution

Upon hearing this, Huijue suddenly stood up!

boom!

His legs went weak, and he plopped back down on the ground.

He had been overworked today and last night, leaving him feeling weak all over and looking pale.

"This humble monk... is not feeling well today. Would you mind waiting for me tonight, Benefactor Zhao?"

Zhao Yidao:

"can not wait."

"After tonight, it will be difficult for us to deal with it again."

Huijue asked in surprise:

Why?

Zhao Yi and Huijue exchanged a glance:

"You don't need to know why, just do as I say."

Huijue then asked:

"What do I need to do?"

Zhao Yidao:

"After the clock strikes midnight, I will leave. About two minutes later, the sound will stop... Once the sound stops, immediately go to where the bell was rung and ring it again... Keep ringing it until I come to find you."

Huijue was taken aback, scratched his head, and was completely confused.

He wanted to ask again, but Zhao Yi said:

"If we can't stop it tonight, you will all die."

"So, if you have any questions, I'll explain them to you later, but now's not the time, understand?"

Seeing Zhao Yi's serious expression, Huijue nodded.

Midnight arrived quickly.

The resounding bell pierced through the rain, spreading to every corner of the temple and reaching the ears of Zhao Yi and his companion.

"Remember our plan."

Zhao Yi gave Huijue a few words of advice, opened his bamboo umbrella, and stepped into the rain.

You can also get to the main hall from the corridor, but that path is also the only way from the main hall to the direction of the bell ringing. Taking that path will lead to unnecessary trouble.

...

clang--

The bell needs to be struck forty-nine times.

The two monks who were ringing the bell were covered in sweat and were swinging their bell-ringing pestles with great effort.

On a dark and rainy night, the sorceress's eerie voice rushed toward the two monks through the rain.

As they drew near, the sorceress suddenly flicked her sleeve, releasing two black snakes. They slithered towards the monks and burrowed into their bodies, causing both monks to collapse to the ground...

After the monks fell to the ground, the sorceress dragged their bodies along the way they had come from...

...

main hall.

The candlelight burns ever bright.

Twelve monks sat around the spot, earnestly reciting the Rebirth Sutra, not daring to slacken in the slightest.

But suddenly, they all opened their eyes and looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

The bell, which was supposed to ring forty-nine times, only rang eighteen times tonight before stopping.

What happened?

In a daze, the steady candlelight in the hall flickered, almost going out.

Upon seeing this, the other monks panicked, remembering Huipu's death. They sat up straight and continued reciting the Rebirth Sutra.

With the blessing of the Rebirth Sutra, the candlelight in the hall immediately stabilized.

The monks felt much more at ease.

Outside the hall, Zhao Yi arrived, holding an umbrella.

Raindrops, carrying dust, splattered onto the umbrella from the eaves, shattering into countless splashes.

He stepped under the eaves and closed his umbrella.

A shudder.

Large beads and small beads fall on a jade plate.

Still on the steps, Zhao Yi wiped the water off his shoes, went outside the hall, put his umbrella aside, knocked on the door, and said:

"Stop reading it."

"It's gone."

The monks turned to look at Zhao Yi, their eyes filled with doubt and resistance.

"Benefactor Zhao, an important religious ceremony is being performed here. Please leave immediately..."

With a wave of his hand, Zhao channeled his mental energy into Taoist magic, striking the monks.

They immediately lost consciousness.

Zhao Yi was too lazy to waste his breath arguing with them. He stepped in front of the giant coffin, and a strong smell of decay hit him.

Their gaze fell upon the inside of the giant coffin.

The corpse lying inside had mold and green hair growing all over its neck, and its flesh was rotting. It looked as grotesque as could be!

The other monks held Master Hongmu in the highest esteem, so even though they could have easily seen his condition by simply taking a step forward, they chose to remain silent. In their eyes, even glancing at Master Hongmu's corpse seemed disrespectful.

Zhao lit a cigarette; the pungent smell of the burning cigarette dispelled the musty odor in the air. He lowered his head and carefully examined Hongmu's corpse. Then he took out a scalpel and made a cut on the corpse.

The redwood is completely dead.

But as Master Hongmu's body was damaged, a ghostly figure near the giant bell in the distance suddenly sensed it and quickly headed towards this direction!

call out!

A strong, eerie wind blew wildly towards the main hall!

Zhao Yi raised his eyes, and his mental power transformed into Dao power, blocking the entrance of the main hall and keeping all the Yin wind out!

With the starlight sparse, Zhao Yi could see a huge black shadow in the night outside, staring menacingly at the palace!

If someone has sharp eyes, they will recognize that the dark figure... is none other than Master Hongmu's shadow!

It was outside the hall, its eyes fixed on Zhao Yi with a terrifying murderous intent!

"You should have killed me last night."

Zhao Yi looked at the strange scene outside and said with a smile.

He spoke in a strange, venomous tone:

"When did you discover it?"

Zhao Yidao:

"From Huipu's death."

"If you weren't so quick to express your emotions, I might not have noticed."

As he spoke, he slowly walked to the entrance of the main hall, facing off against the dark figure, just a step away.

"At the time, I was very confused... why did you try to kill Huipu after he released you..."

"Later, I did some reverse reasoning."

Zhao Yi's smile was eerie:

"What would have happened if Hepburn hadn't died?"

"If he hadn't died... he wouldn't have attracted so many people that night. He would have continued to doze off, and there would have been one less person to recite the Rebirth Sutra, making it impossible to cover Master Hongmu's entire body..."

"In such a humid environment, Master Hongmu's body, which has already been corroded by your power for many years, will soon rot due to the lack of protection from the Rebirth Sutra."

"In fact, in just the short time that Huipu dozed off, Master Hongmu's body had already deteriorated considerably."

"From this perspective, your killing of Huipu and the subsequent gathering of people was because you didn't want Master Hongmu's body to rot."

"To take another bold guess... you're afraid Master Redwood's body will rot, am I right?"

The shadowy figure chuckled coldly, a hint of panic already in his voice:

"Fully riddled with flaws!"

"nonsense!"

Zhao Yi continued:

"You're afraid his body will rot, so his life must be intertwined with Master Hongmu's."

"Master Hongmu sealed you inside his body, but you lived as his shadow. If his body rots, the shadow will rot along with it. When he completely rots away, your life will come to an end."

"Therefore, your purpose in killing one person every day is not for revenge, but to imply to those bald men that you may resurrect at any time. In order to stop you, they will inevitably recite scriptures wholeheartedly and do every step carefully to prevent Master Hongmu's body from decaying..."

With a flick of his finger towards the sky, a large number of malevolent forces gathered, flying in from all corners of the suburban mountains and continuously condensing in the sky, forming a demonic cloud that exuded terror and an eerie aura!

It stared at Zhao Yi menacingly and said:

"Even if you're right about everything... so what?"

"You can't stop me, you'll still die!"

"Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me!"

Zhao Yi lightly flicked off his cigarette ash and said:

"You can't enter the main hall. It's brightly lit, and neither I nor Master Hongmu have any shadows inside."

"As a shadow, you can only appear where there are shadows."

"Are you trying to use other ominous and malevolent forces to break through my mental barrier, extinguish some of the candles in the hall, and create shadows?"

A strange aura rippled slightly.

Zhao Yi smiled slightly:

"Don't be surprised, I was the first to figure out your behavior patterns."

"That's why I deliberately took the candles from Huijue's room when you came to kill him tonight."

"After all, without light... there is naturally no shadow."

"I need that bald guy, so I can't let you kill him."

"Last night you chose to kill Qiu Yu's boyfriend because the woman was wearing a blindfold and couldn't see you, right?"

Zhao Yiyue said that the more bizarre the situation became, the more terrified he felt.

"Also, you must have some questions."

"What would I need that bald guy for...?"

At this point, Zhao Yi threw away his cigarette butt, pointed to the gathering of evil spirits in the sky, and grinned:

"I sent him to ring the bell."

clang--

He had barely finished speaking when the bell rang again, just as he had been waiting.

The timing was perfect.

The magnificent sound of the bell almost instantly dispersed the evil spirits gathered in the sky!

They screamed and flew away into the distance, never looking back!

These evil spirits are no match for the strange and powerful bell before them; they cannot withstand the temple's resounding bell at all!

"Clearly... you are no longer a threat to me."

Zhao Yi shrugged.

With a strange, desperate, and shocked look in his eyes, he took a candle and approached the mahogany coffin.

"Oh, right..."

Zhao Yi suddenly looked up at the strange scene outside and asked:

"There's one more thing I'd like to confirm with you..."

"When Hongmu wrote the letter to Nanjia... he must have already died, right?"

Did you write that letter?

"Do you think the redwood corpse will rot sooner or later, and you want to replace it with a parasite that can withstand the corrosive power of yours?"

Knowing he was powerless to change the situation, Guijue simply stared coldly at Zhao Yi without uttering a word!

Zhao Yi recalled the puppet-like white-robed monk before he entered the dungeon, and suddenly laughed:

"If Nan Jia discovers this is a conspiracy, he will definitely choose to perish together with you."

"You're still going to die."

He paused for a moment, then widened his eyes and said:

"Absolutely impossible!"

"These bald monks are all cowards who cling to life; they won't die with me!"

"He doesn't have the guts!!"

Zhao Yi said earnestly:

"He has it."

After he finished speaking, the candle slipped from his fingers and fell into the coffin.

Outside the palace, thunder and rain raged.

Inside the hall, flames burned continuously.

P.S.: There's still some cleanup to do, I'll write about it tomorrow.

Goodnight, my darlings!!