At sunrise, three cockcrows were heard from the Chigou Sect’s room.
Shi Zhongyu was open and aboveboard, and explained clearly what happened last night in public. The Chi Gou Cult gained nothing, but was unusually calm. Wu Xue Po only made one request—
"Little man named Shi, show me the Buddhist beads."
As the saying goes, every profession has its own specialty. When it comes to things in the tomb, no sect is as good as Yueshui Pavilion, and Yueshui Pavilion is not as good as Chigou Sect. Shi Jingzhi presented the Buddhist beads without hesitation.
Wuxue Po did not take it immediately. Instead, she looked at Shi Jingzhi and said, "Why, you are not afraid of me anymore?"
Shi Jingzhi: "This thing must be something special to please my mother-in-law. I've offended you a lot with the jade beads. If my mother-in-law likes it, you can take it away and treat it as my apology."
He smiled slightly and bowed in front of everyone: "Junior has only one request. If there is a secret in this thing, please tell me the content."
"That kid Chen Qu always likes to stir up trouble, so just kill him. This matter will not be linked to the Kushan Sect, so Master Shi can rest assured."
Wuxue Po replied calmly, picking up the wooden bead with her sharp nails and throwing it back into Shi Jingzhi's hand: "My Chigou Divine Sect has the upper hand here, so how could we snatch something from a junior in public? This thing does have a mystery, and it doesn't hurt to tell it."
Everyone's eyes returned to the Buddhist beads.
The beads looked inconspicuous, as if they were dug out from a pile of old things, and there was nothing special about them. Wuxue Po winked at her subordinates, and the Chigou believers brought a small jar of glutinous rice wine. The old man held the jar in his hand, and in a few moments, the wine actually began to boil.
After the wine boiled for a while, Wuxue Po threw the Buddhist beads directly into it.
The next moment, the wine jar exploded, and a strangely shaped hollow wood sculpture fell out. The wood sculpture was not big, but extremely delicate, and the details were as thin as a hair.
Shi Jingzhi was surprised and said, "Map engraving."
Wuxue Po: "It's just a fragment of a carving. These beads are of the Jianchen Temple style, fourteen in a string."
She poured some cold water on the carved block, and it quickly curled up and formed into round Buddhist beads. Wuxue Po flicked the beads, and Shi Jingzhi raised his hand and caught them steadily.
"Good boy." The old lady smiled sinisterly, "If you want to play tricks on an old senior, you'd better know your own worth first. But I like you who can judge people well, so I'll spare your life this time."
Shi Jingzhi didn't seem to understand. He took back the beads and said with a smile as usual, "Thank you, grandma. I'm grateful for your advice."
After the morning meeting, each sect needed to discuss separately. Everyone agreed to set off in an hour, and the master and disciple of Kushan Sect returned to the room. Wuxue Po stood there for a while and snorted coldly: "I underestimated him."
The subordinate beside him asked in confusion: "Master, what's the matter with the last name Shi?"
"I thought Shi was a reckless person for daring to steal the jade beads of the Divine Religion. But now it seems that he is a good opponent. That kid knew that there was more than one bead, and he was sure that I could get the information, so he would not be so shameless to steal the treasure."
Wuxue Po leaned on crutches with both hands and spoke in a hoarse tone.
"He has been acting so well-behaved and harmless all along, and now he takes this opportunity to apologize. With so many eyes watching, I can only promise not to target the Kushan Sect. This kid is very cunning, very cunning."
The subordinate's blood pressure soared when he heard this: "How about we-"
"No, judging from Shi Zhongyu's attitude, he must have been sold a favor by Shi. The Taiheng faction must have been fooled by him. Besides, if he made a promise in public and then went back on his word, wouldn't that be breaking the rules set by Senior Su?"
"But if we just let him go..."
"Finally, you may not be his opponent. I used 50% of my strength to eject the bead just now." Wuxue Po rubbed her fingertips, "Just keep an eye on that boy, and don't take the initiative to provoke him."
The subordinate's expression was stern: "Yes!"
On the other side, inside the Kushan Sect’s room.
"For the next two days, we'll stay here and not go anywhere." Shi Jingyi sat down on the edge of the bed. "Each faction is planning to keep some people here, so it won't be deserted..."
"Master, aren't you going to look for the Buddhist beads?"
Shi Jingzhi took off the Nuo mask and smiled: "We just got one. It would be foolish to look for another one. Taiheng and Chigou don't have any."
Yin Ci asked knowingly, "This is just one. Didn't grandma say there were fourteen beads?"
"Don't forget, Yan Budu deliberately led us to find these beads. He hoped that we would find that there were fourteen beads and have a desire to fight for them. After all, everyone can see the treasures in the tomb and roughly know their value. In this way, everyone has their own calculations and can barely cooperate. But these wooden beads..."
"No one knows what is hidden in the Buddha Pearl Picture, so it's hard to give up directly." Yin Ci took over the conversation.
"That's right." Shi Jingzhi stretched. "So, this layer of Buddhist beads is a free gift, there are only one or two more at most. The rest of the beads will only be hidden deeper and guarded more strictly."
At this point, he glanced at Yin Ci coldly: "You won't be able to escape by just relying on 'good luck'. Take good care of your injuries in the next two days, do you hear me?"
Yin Ci agreed with a wry smile.
Everything went smoothly. He saw the secret of the beads at a glance and was just thinking about how to get them, when Shi Jingzhi took the initiative to pick the beads. Then Wuxue Po revealed the secret in public, and he didn't need to bother hinting.
As for the other function of the Buddhist beads, it won’t be long before Jianchen Temple will reveal it to him.
If I had to find a flaw, it would be that Shi Jingzhi was always sticking around and Yin Ci was unable to confirm the identity of the person who was following him last night.
Yin Ci raised his eyes with interest, observing his master who was about to go back to sleep.
Shi Jingzhi is by no means just a "martial arts genius".
First there was the smell of blood, then there was the golden hairpin. Yin Ci hadn't experienced this wonderful feeling of oppression for a long time. It would be a pity if this person died before he got tired of the new stimulation.
"Master Shi?" There was a sudden knock on the door.
Shi Jingzhi got out of the quilt and put on the Nuo mask: "Yes, yes, yes, who is this?"
"Yan Qing."
"Come in quickly. Ah Ci, do you have any rice cakes left? Bring them out to serve the guests—"
Blind Yan Qing walked in cautiously: "I'm here to apologize to you two."
"ah?"
Yan Qing pursed her lips and said, "I deliberately bumped into Brother Yin that day... I didn't want to go to the tomb, so I twisted my ankle. I'm really sorry for causing trouble to you two."
"I thought it was nothing. I don't care at all. Ah Ci, look—"
"It doesn't matter." Yin Ci shook his head.
Yan Qing breathed a sigh of relief. He seemed to have made up his mind and took out two strings of money: "Can you help take a look at Jin Lan's injury? Jin Lan's status is not high in the sect, so he can't see a good doctor. The headmaster Shi can cure the disease with medicine, but this little money may not be enough, I..."
Shi Jingzhi cleared his throat: "Jin Lan is your friend? He is not very polite to you."
"We are not friends." Yan Qing denied immediately, "When I was young, I tried to become Tai Heng's servant. Jin Lan didn't mind me being blind and let me in. Although he has a bit of a temper, he is not a bad person by nature, and..."
His face looked a little grim. "Yesterday, when I said I heard a strange noise, he was the only one who believed me and was willing to help me report it to Senior Shi. I was the one who dragged him into this."
Shi Jingzhi readily agreed: "I see. All right, this money is enough. After I finish this cake, I'll go and help him."
Jin Lan's talent was average, but her meridians were not leaking, which helped Shi Jingzhi regain some confidence. During the rest of the time, Shi Jingzhi kept trying different methods to cure Yin Ci's "heart failure symptoms".
Two days later, the agreed meeting date arrived.
The Chi Gou Sect found a new Buddhist bead, and the others also got a lot of treasures. With their wounds and spoils, they set out on the road they came from. Yin Ci took advantage of the wounded to move away, pulled out the short hairpin on his heart, and threw it into the blood-stained waste cloth.
The meeting point was at a fork in the road, and the other group also arrived on time - the situations of the two groups were similar, with sporadic casualties, but no major damage to their vitality.
Jin Lan whispered, "No one from the Ling Sect is missing. Yan Budu must have opened a backdoor for them."
After the treatment, Jin Lan and the master and apprentice became closer. Yan Qing followed behind silently as usual.
A monk came over from the opposite side and spread out his palm: "Have you ever seen this thing?"
There was a Buddhist bead lying in his palm.
"That's Monk Juehui." Jin Lan explained enthusiastically, "He's the head monk of Jianchen Temple. He's very powerful."
Monk Juehui was about 40 years old, with a simple and miserable face, just like an old farmer who had been oppressed. He walked unsteadily, but his voice was unusually steady: "This Buddhist bead has been cast with the nightmare-breaking magic of my temple, but the magic circle is only one-third. I think there are three Buddhist beads on this layer, and only after finding all of them can the magic be activated and a way out be found."
Wuxue Pojian laughed and said, "As expected of the bastard leader of Lingjiao, he actually used the Buddhist beads as a key and didn't allow anyone to hide it... So, you guarded the Nightmare Breaking Method so strictly, but Yan Budu actually learned it?"
Juehui didn't answer. Wuxue Po snorted coldly and threw out the Buddhist beads: "Forget it, hold it well."
Monk Juehui clasped his hands together, bowed, and turned to the Taiheng Sect.
Everyone from the Taiheng Sect looked at each other in bewilderment: “…” Sorry, we really don’t have it.
Shi Jingzhi coughed twice and said, "Master, the third one is here with me."
The three Buddhist beads were gathered together, and Jue Hui placed them in an iron bowl, and knocked the edge of the bowl with a copper hammer. The annoying bass swirled up, licking everyone like a tongue. The fork in the road slowly separated, and a new road split in the middle.
The new street was decorated with lights and was bustling with activity. Paper figures on the street turned their backs to the crowd and faced the same direction. The quiet atmosphere disappeared, and music and opera singing could be heard from all around.
On the other side, there was still silence near the tomb entrance, with no food or water supplies, let alone any backup.
The nightmare-breaking method was accomplished, and Monk Juehui returned the Buddhist beads and chanted a Buddhist name in a low voice.
"I will leave some people to deal with the tomb door." Wuxue Po broke the silence, "Why not keep the groups and keep moving forward. Taiheng boys, do you want to go?"
Shi Zhongyu nodded calmly.
Shi Jingzhi shook his head to the sky.
Yin Ci was already used to his master's constant shaking. He held Shi Jingzhi's wrist and said, "Master, don't worry. I'll go with you."
"Suddenly a gust of cold wind blew, and I just felt a little cold." Shi Jingzhi said stubbornly, "Now that we have the Buddhist beads, we must continue."
Everyone had similar thoughts. Each sect placed the wounded and spoils of war at the tomb door and went into battle lightly.
"The Jinyu Gang has measured the periphery. The ghost tomb is an inverted triangle with three layers. This is the first layer. The space gets smaller as you go down. Even if there are only four days of food left, it will be enough if you eat sparingly."
Jin Lan put his hands behind his back seriously.
"Elder Sister said before that she would only protect you on the first floor. Now that we are friends who have risked our lives together, we can go to the second floor together."
Yin Ci was not surprised at all - Shi Zhongyu was a bit stubborn, but he was not stupid. Shi Jingzhi was strong and knew when to advance and retreat, so he was an excellent helper. The Kushan Sect would not refuse the protection of a big sect, which was a perfect mutual benefit.
In this way, last night's display of skill might have been part of Shi Jingzhi's plan. Thinking more deeply, maybe he had already discovered Frustration, and in order to learn the Green Lady Sword Technique, he spoke only after entering the inn.
My trembling master can always come up with new surprises.
At this moment, Shi Jingzhi suddenly grabbed Yin Ci's hand and said, "Ah Ci, if I really die here, you have to watch it to the end."
"How could that be?" Yin Ci said with a smile, "Didn't Master say that if I survived a disaster, we would share the happiness in the future."
Shi Jingzhi did not answer, but just looked towards the end of the street.
The singing was sad and graceful, and the firelight illuminated the colorful silk. Everyone swayed slightly as they moved forward, carefully avoiding the paper figures. Since they were all facing the same direction, it was difficult to distinguish between the living people and the paper figures from the back.
There is a building at the end of the street. People step into the door one by one, as if being swallowed by the door.
There was a plaque hanging on the door - the three characters "Dengxian Palace" were vigorous and powerful, as bright as blood.