Zhi Hui roared in a deep voice: "Let them go! You all think you can handle things on your own, right? Come on, come on, who among you can crack the secret of the magic box directly, stand out!"
Zhixing said in a deep voice: "Brother, what we are discussing now is not the mission, but character."
"Shut up!" Zhi Hui's eyes turned red with anger. "You don't need to discuss Mr. Wu's character, let alone question him. If you feel something is wrong, you can go back to the Elders' Council to complain. If you think I handled it inappropriately, write to the Discipline Council immediately and ask them to replace you on the spot and let you be in charge of this mission."
Zhi Hui took out his phone and threw it on the ground while speaking: "Contact the Discipline Institute immediately, hurry up!"
Zhixing's face turned pale and blue, and he reluctantly said, "Brother, you are overreacting. I will not appeal to the Council of Elders. I will follow your arrangements!"
Zhixing stepped aside after he finished speaking. Zhihui strode towards Monk Shi and untied the rope for him personally: "Mr. Shi, this poor monk..."
Monk Shi waved his hand and said, "No need to apologize. I remember your favor, and I also remember the favors of some people."
Monk Shi was obviously saying that this matter was not over yet, and after the mission was completed, he would still settle the score with Zhixing.
Zhihui sighed helplessly and stopped talking.
I stepped forward and said, "Master Zhihui, now that things have come to this, I think there is no need for me to say anything more, right? Our previous cooperation can no longer continue."
Zhihui immediately said anxiously: "Mr. Wu, calm down first, I... I..."
Zhihui talked for a long time but didn't know how to continue. I waved my hand to interrupt him: "The agreement between me and Master Zhiyuan still stands. You don't have to doubt it. However, in order to avoid some unnecessary trouble, I think we should act separately!"
I pointed to the pond and said, "From the structure of the dragon-song steles, the two dragon-song steles are equivalent to two keys. If you turn the keys, you should be able to open two entrances to a secret burial. You choose one entrance!"
Zhihui asked, "If we split up like this, won't it disperse our forces?"
I waved my hand and said, "It's better to disperse the troops than to be suspicious of each other. I don't want to go into the secret place and then turn around and fight with my companions."
Zhihui said helplessly: "Well, let's split up into two groups. Mr. Wu and I will go on one group, and the other group..."
Zhi Hui hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother Zhisheng will lead you. Please be careful along the way. Brothers, those who are willing to follow Brother Zhisheng, please stand on his side. Those who are willing to go with me, please come over here."
After Zhihui finished speaking, the rest of the monks in Prajna Temple stood still, except for Zhixing, who came over and stood behind Zhihui. Ye Jin's eyes widened immediately: "Are you fucking sick? Are you looking for a fight?"
Zhihui couldn't help but frowned: "Zhixing, you should go to Zhisheng!"
Zhixing shook his head and said, "I must follow Mr. Wu. Senior Brother, your mind is too simple. I'm afraid you will be easily fooled by some things."
While Zhihui's face darkened, Zhixing spoke up first, "Of course, if Senior Brother doesn't allow me to follow, I can go there quietly by myself."
"You..." Zhihui didn't expect the other party to be so determined, and he was so angry that his whole body was shaking.
I said calmly, "Then let him follow. Zhixing alone can't make much waves. As for the magic box, each of us should take one."
Zhi Hui said in embarrassment: "Mr. Wu, my fellow apprentices are experts in martial arts, do you think that..."
Before the other party finished speaking, I had already opened my mouth to say, "As the saying goes, you can take advantage of others. Master, you are a high-ranking Buddhist monk, but you keep pushing your luck. I'm afraid you are not a real monk, right?"
Zhihui blushed under my teasing and couldn't say a word, but Zhixing said, "Mr. Wu, you are wrong! The magic box is your task, and we are just helping you track down the source of the magic box. Why do you give the magic box to us? I want to remind Mr. Wu that in this match, we at Prajna Temple also have the authority to referee."
I smiled faintly, reached out and grabbed the backpack from Ye Jin and threw it on the ground: "The magic box is here, you can take it or not. Let's go."
After I finished speaking, I walked down the mountain with Ye Jin and Monk Shi without looking back. Zhi Hui and the others caught up with us after a while, and they didn't have the magic box with them. It seemed that the magic box had been taken away by the Prajna Temple.
I pretended not to see anything, walked all the way to the courtyard where the Songlong Stele was enshrined, circled around it a few times, and then reached out to push the stele. The Songlong Stele, which weighed hundreds of pounds, slowly turned a circle under my palm and returned to its original position, but the base under the stele did not change at all.
I frowned and thought for a long time before whispering, "Could this be a double-key lock?"
Zhixing suddenly laughed and said, "Is Mr. Wu joking?"
"As far as I know, a so-called dual-key lock is actually a lock that requires two keys to be used at the same time to open. Using only one key, no matter how you turn the lock cylinder, you cannot start the secret lock."
"However, the lock cylinders of a double-key lock cannot be too far apart, because there are also slots between the two lock cylinders of the double-key lock. Only when the lock springs between the two slots touch each other can the lock be opened."
"But you see, the two dragon-singing tablets are at least three or four kilometers apart. Unless the entire mountain is a giant lock, there is no possibility that the two lock cores are intertwined."
"Let's take a step back and say that even if this absurd speculation is true, can human power move the two lock cylinders connected to the mountain?"
Zhixing said this and suddenly changed the subject, "As the saying goes, good deeds will bring good results, and bad deeds will bring bad results. If Mr. Wu had not forced the donor Wang to death, perhaps he could have learned some legends about the Songlong Stele from him."
"Now, Donor Wang is dead and all clues have been cut off. If Mr. Wu cannot find a way to open the secret burial, the magic box mission will fail, and even the lives of the donor's four friends will be in danger. This is all caused by Mr. Wu!"
I said coldly, "Have you said enough?"
I was about to turn hostile, but I didn't expect Zhixing to go even further: "Of course not. I advise Mr. Wu that for the sake of your friend, you should give up the arena immediately and enter the Prajna Temple to practice Buddhism, save the souls of the dead, and eliminate disasters and karma for yourself. Otherwise..."
I said in a deep voice, "What else? If I don't go, are you planning to take me there?"
Zhixing smiled faintly and said, "Of course not. Whether to go or not is entirely up to the donor's wishes. I am just giving you some kind advice."
Ye Jin roared in a low voice: "We can't stand your nice words, and we don't need you to persuade us. You'd better shut up. If you piss me off, I'll smack your mouth and you won't be able to shut it even if you want to."
"Amitabha!" Zhixinggao chanted the Buddha's name and stood aside.
"You fucking bastard..." Ye Jin was so angry that he raised his hand and wanted to hit him, but I reached out to stop him: "Go to the village and see if you can find someone to get some information."
As Ye Jin reluctantly nodded, Zhi Xing spoke up, "All the villagers here have already fled, and the deceased Wang Shizhu was the last person to know about this. So I said..."
I said coldly: "You'd better not say anything!"
Zhixing was obviously deliberately provoking Ye Jin.
There was such a big commotion in the village last night, how could the villagers not be afraid? Now it is noon, but there is no smoke in the whole village. Can't I see that there is no one in the village? I asked Ye Jin to go down to find someone, just to separate him and Zhixing first, so as not to cause unnecessary disputes. I didn't expect Zhixing to ask Ye Jin at this time.
Zhi Hui was even more embarrassed now: "Zhi Xing, stop now!"
Zhixing said calmly: "I am just stating the facts."
Ye Jin suddenly laughed: "Zhi Xing Bald Donkey, I think you want to fight on purpose, right? I won't let you do that. If you want to fight, I won't accompany you."
Zhixing's face suddenly turned extremely dark, and I smiled coldly at him and turned to look at Beigou Village. If the Songlong Stele is not the keyhole, then where is the real keyhole
Could it be the Feng Shui formation that looks like an upright knife
wrong!
I immediately rejected my idea.
It is not impossible that there is a mechanism combined with Feng Shui, but that place is farther away from the Dragon Pond, and it is even less likely to be a gap in the mechanism that opens the secret realm.
I said in a deep voice: "The keyhole should be nearby..."
Ye Jin whispered, "If it doesn't work, I can get some guns and blow the hole open, right?"
"Don't give me such a bad idea!" I glared at Ye Jin, but inadvertently turned my gaze to the big tree behind the Songlong Monument.
The branch that split off was surprisingly similar to the protruding cliff on Longwang Rock, both looking like a dragon leaning downward, and the location of the Dragon Ode Stele was just under the dragon's head.
"I see!"
The real secret lock is not under the Songlong Monument, but behind the Songlong Monument.
I pulled out the Rakshasa, rushed to the tree in a few steps, raised my hand and chopped down the trunk behind the Songlong Stele. Just as a few pieces of bark were lifted up by my blade, Zhixing rushed to my side and said, "Mr. Wu, stop! Everything in the world has a spirit. This tree must have lived for hundreds of years. You are going to destroy it just because of your speculation!"
I raised the tip of the knife and pointed it at him: "Get out of my way! The keyhole is in the trunk. What on earth are you thinking of stopping me from chopping down the tree?"
Zhixing said: "I just think your judgment is wrong. Donor Wu has harmed lives just for speculation, and he will be punished."
I said coldly, "What if my judgment is correct? Who will be held responsible for our defeat in the Jiuchong Pavilion Arena?"
Zhixing smiled and said, "Since you are so sure, how about we make a bet?"
I stared at Zhixing and asked, "How do you want to bet?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you all for your support, and stay tuned for the next episode!
Thanks to Doudou, Lin Jingyuan, and Hongyan for the tips! (To be continued)