The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#554 - The Great Fire in the First Year of Jingyou

“Rewards are not what I care about,” Lu Jing said. “My point is, it's still daytime. There are probably many worshippers at Qingquan Temple right now. Are we just going to go in and have a big battle with that strange entity? Also, you said that strange entity is in the temple. What about those monks? Why haven't they disappeared?”

“Let me answer your first question. That thing isn't in the main hall, so if everything goes smoothly, it won't affect the worshippers in the main hall. As for the monks in the temple…”

Remember the first website domain name 𝚝 𝚠 𝚔 𝚊 𝚗 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

“Who said it didn't have an impact? The original abbot of the temple was an extraordinary doctor who saved countless lives. Even for those incurable diseases, he could prescribe the right medicine to help patients control the development of their condition.

“Now that he's disappeared, many of the prescriptions he wrote have also vanished. As a result, those who relied on his medicine to maintain their condition are now getting sicker. Besides that abbot, four other monks have disappeared from the temple, but people have simply forgotten about them,” Gong Hao said.

“Did those people die?”

“No, they're all still alive, or… most of them are still alive. And strictly speaking, they still live in the same world as us, but we can't see them, and we can't communicate with them.”

“Invisibility?”

“More or less.”

“If we solve the issue with that strange entity, can we rescue them?”

“I'm not too sure about that either,” Gong Hao said. “I've never been captured by that strange entity, so it's hard for me to say exactly what the situation is over there. Do you have any other questions?”

“No, let's start.” Lu Jing said, and took the lead in stepping over the mountain gate.

Gong Hao followed closely behind. After entering the temple, the two didn't go to the main hall to burn incense with the other worshippers, but instead bypassed the monks responsible for receiving the worshippers.

They quietly sneaked to the Arhat Pagoda at the back. Gong Hao didn't stop, leading Lu Jing deeper and deeper, passing through a row of wooden fences.

After that, Lu Jing found himself standing in a square. As far as he could see, there was a main hall that was at least twice as magnificent as the Great Buddha Hall in the center of the temple.

However, now only half of that main hall remained. The other half had already been reduced to ruins, and the remaining half also looked dilapidated. The roof leaked everywhere, and the walls and pillars were covered with traces of fire.

The Buddha statue in the main hall was lying slanted on the ground, and the Buddha's head was missing.

Moreover, the main hall was full of weeds and spider webs, making it look desolate.

Gong Hao's voice sounded again from behind Lu Jing, “This was originally the largest temple in Huizhou. The temple enshrined the relics of a holy monk, attracting believers to come here for pilgrimage.

“Until the first year of the Jingyou era, the temple caught fire for some unknown reason. It is said that the fire was raging that night, not only burning all the temples to the ground, but also killing as many as hundreds of monks.

“Because of that fire, this place was transformed from a pure Buddhist land into an ominous place. It wasn't until a hundred years later that a virtuous person reopened the mountain gate here.

“However, after such a long time, they have only managed to tidy up a small area in the front, building temples and monks' dormitories on it. As for the large area in the back, they are powerless and have no extra money to manage it.”

“Is the strange entity we're dealing with this time related to the fire in the first year of the Jingyou era?” Lu Jing asked again.

Gong Hao nodded, untied a deerskin bag from his waist, and took out fourteen glass beads from it. The colors of those beads were varied, and the sizes were also different.

Speaking of which, he had seen many arrays now, and the materials used by those array practitioners to set up arrays were also varied.

Lu Jing had seen Jing Xiang's small knife, and Ye Gongmei's animal bones. Theoretically, as long as something could be engraved with an array diagram, it seemed that it could be used to set up an array.

Glass beads were naturally no exception. Gong Hao buried those beads in each corner according to the array, and finally kept only the smallest one in his hand.

Then he said to Lu Jing, “Okay, you can cover your eyes now. Be careful, that strange entity has a very deep obsession, so remember, no matter what happens later, don't take off that black cloth, because everyone who disappeared saw what it looked like without exception.”

Lu Jing heard this and took out the black cloth to cover his eyes, tying a knot behind his head.

On the other side, Gong Hao also covered his eyes, “Just lure that strange entity here later, and leave the rest to me.”

Then Lu Jing heard Gong Hao chanting.

“Gather the profound pass, emptiness and wonderful way, pure and quiet divine breath, control the outside and nourish the inside, harmony between heaven and man, hide!”

After saying the last word, Lu Jing found that he could no longer feel Gong Hao's aura. It was as if his entire being had truly merged with the heaven and earth, no longer separate from each other.

So Lu Jing didn't delay any longer and walked towards the dilapidated main hall.

Because his eyes were covered, he didn't walk fast, and after taking a few steps, he had to stop to listen to the movements around him.

However, even after Lu Jing walked to the front of the main hall, he didn't hear any unusual sounds.

Then one of Lu Jing's feet crossed the threshold.

In the next moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a loud bell in his ear, accompanied by magnificent Sanskrit chanting.

If Lu Jing hadn't seen the dilapidated appearance of the main hall before, he would have definitely felt that he was in a solemn Buddhist kingdom based on hearing alone.

Moreover, even with his eyes covered, he could see faint golden light through the black cloth.

After a while, the Sanskrit sounds gradually subsided, and the golden light also became softer. Then a low voice sounded, “Since the benefactor has come to our temple, why not come in?”

Lu Jing heard this but still maintained the state of one foot inside and one foot outside, tentatively saying, “Why don't you come out, Master?”

“…”

That voice probably didn't expect someone to answer like this, and was speechless for a moment.

After a moment, the voice sounded again, “I wonder what the benefactor is here for?”

“Oh, nothing special. I just heard someone mention the past grandeur of your temple and came here to pay my respects.”

“The benefactor can find this place, which shows that he has a connection with my Buddha. Since this is the case, why not come inside and listen to the old monk's sermon? If what I say doesn't suit your heart, you can leave. Oh, right, are you not planning to take off the black cloth on your eyes?”

“No, no, I've had an eye disease since I was a child and can't stand the light,” Lu Jing casually made up.

“It's just a minor eye disease. As long as the benefactor is willing to do as the old monk says, the old monk can guarantee that the benefactor's eye disease can be cured without medicine.”

“It's not bad to be blind, so I don't have to see the filth of this world,” Lu Jing said while continuing to deal with the old monk, while calculating how to trick the other party out.

However, he then felt a sudden trip under his feet, and then Lu Jing found that he was already inside the hall.

???

Does that work too?!

Lu Jing didn't expect that he could stand still, and the threshold could move from in front of his feet to behind his feet.