Terrifying Temple Middle

Mount Taiyin.

It was a small mountain located dozens of miles away from Cloud City.

The mountain was no more than a hundred zhang tall, with an ancient temple built on its peak.

For years, at specific times, devotees from the surrounding villages would bring offerings like chickens and ducks to the mountain along the small path to worship the Buddha.

All they asked for was peace of mind.

Such days had continued for about ten years, and the villagers had gradually grown accustomed to it.

However, about half a month ago, the monks on Mount Taiyin suddenly announced that they would close the temple gates and no longer accept villagers who came to offer sacrifices.

Because the incident happened so suddenly, several devout villagers went up the mountain that day to inquire about the reason, but they were never seen descending the mountain again.

It wasn't until three days later that their bodies were discovered in a ditch at the foot of the mountain.

The scene was said to be horrific; not only were the internal organs of the bodies completely devoured by wild dogs, but their heads were also missing.

If it weren't for the clothes, it would have been impossible for anyone to recognize their original identities.

This gruesome sight incited widespread anger.

In this world, people's customs were already fierce.

Under the assembly of the families of the murdered villagers, a mighty crowd of over a hundred people charged into the temple.

However, when they broke down the temple doors, they discovered that there wasn't a single person inside. The monks had vanished as if into thin air.

Seeing this, the enraged villagers could only vent their anger by causing extensive damage within the temple before returning dejectedly.

Yet, on the very same night, all the villagers heard chanting emanating from the temple on the mountaintop once again.

But when they bravely went up the mountain again at noon the next day, they were terrified to find it still empty. Moreover, the items that had been damaged yesterday had all been restored.

This terrified everyone. Then, someone shouted, "Ghosts!" and everyone immediately fled down the mountain, dropping hoes, sickles, and other tools along the way.

From then on, rumors began to spread in the surrounding villages that the ancient temple had been occupied by an Evil Spirit, and that all the monks had been eaten by it.

These rumors grew more intense, causing the villagers below the mountain to flee in panic and scatter.

It wasn't until a large number of refugees fled to the vicinity of Cloud City that the Demon Suppression Division finally took notice.

However, at first, the Demon Suppression Division didn't pay much attention, thinking it was just a small, ordinary Evil Spirit incident.

In the end, they only dispatched a few Eight-Star Demon Subduers to resolve it.

But to their surprise, after several days, the dispatched Demon Subduers had not sent back any news.

Therefore, to investigate the situation, they sent another Seven-Star Demon Suppression Envoy to lead a team for support. The outcome was predictable: the entire team disappeared without a trace.

This finally managed to attract the attention of the Demon Suppression Division.

The mission, after going through various hands, eventually fell to Qin Wei.

This led to the current operation.

At this moment, more than a dozen lights suddenly appeared at the foot of the otherwise pitch-black Mount Taiyin.

The lights dispelled the darkness, revealing the figures of Ling Yun and his entourage.

After departing from Cloud City, the group had sprinted dozens of miles and finally arrived here at this moment.

Ling Yun stood in the middle of the group and looked up at the mountaintop.

At this time, Mount Taiyin's peak was shrouded in a mysterious fog.

Only a massive dark shadow could be vaguely seen within it, which was presumably the location of the temple.

Looking at the dark shadow in the fog, Ling Yun's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.

"Rest here for fifteen minutes!"

At this point, Qin Wei surveyed his surroundings and decided to rest on the spot.

The Demon Subduers with weaker strength were greatly relieved and immediately sat down cross-legged, closing their eyes to breathe.

Before long, a peculiar fluctuation began to emanate from within them.

Ling Yun watched with curiosity, finding it somewhat novel.

Unlike the Bloodline Power generated by warriors themselves, the power of Demon Subduers mainly came from the air, something they called Spiritual Energy.

Although Spiritual Energy was almost omnipresent, it could be scarce or abundant.

Therefore, the Demon Suppression Division usually established its locations in areas where Spiritual Energy was most abundant.

As for the superiority of Bloodline Power versus Spiritual Energy, the debate had been ongoing since their emergence, but no conclusion had been reached to this day.

However, based on short-term benefits alone, Spiritual Energy was clearly far superior to Bloodline Power.

After all, compared to warriors who had to painstakingly train their bodies to condense even a trace of Bloodline Power, Demon Subduers only needed to sit comfortably and easily absorb large amounts of Spiritual Energy from the air.

Setting aside their power, in terms of efficiency, the two were clearly not on the same level.

Just then, several Demon Subduers looked solemn and whispered something into Qin Wei's ear. His expression immediately turned grim.

After a moment of hesitation, he walked towards Ling Yun's position.

Seeing his unpleasant expression, Ling Yun didn't even need to ask to know that something must have happened.

"Things have gotten troublesome. The team I arranged to keep watch nearby has all gone incommunicado!"

As expected, the moment he spoke, it was bad news.

"What do you plan to do now?" Ling Yun fell silent for a moment before tossing the question back.

Qin Wei, living up to his reputation as the "reckless brute" among the Demon Suppression Envoys, had killing intent raging in his eyes as he coldly uttered a single word.

"Kill!"

Ling Yun felt helpless, having never expected this guy to come up with any good plans.

The night was hazy.

An eerie wind whistled.

Ling Yun, positioned in the middle of the group, subconsciously looked up.

Under the dim moonlight, the temple hidden within the mist resembled a ferocious giant beast, waiting for them to walk right into its trap.

They moved swiftly.

In less than half an hour, the group had arrived at the mountaintop.

The first thing that greeted their eyes was an ancient temple.

In front of the temple was a vast platform.

As if it hadn't been cleaned for a long time, the platform was covered in dead branches and weeds, sinking half a foot deep with every step.

Around them, various nameless Buddhist statues were toppled and also buried beneath the dead branches, only revealing a pair of hollow eyes, as if quietly watching them.

However, the weakest among them were Eight-Star Demon Subduers, so they naturally weren't frightened by the scene.

Qin Wei crossed his arms and looked at the temple's tightly shut vermilion gate. He snorted through his nose and strode forward.

Behind him, everyone looked at each other before quickly following suit.

However, just as Qin Wei was about to blast the temple doors open with a punch, accompanied by a creaking sound, the entire heavy door slowly swung open from the inside!

A young, bald novice monk emerged from behind the door carrying a lantern, only to be met by more than a dozen pairs of blood-red eyes at the entrance.

"Ah!!!!"