Stealing Treasure

"You bald thieves still dared to twist your tongues and deceive the Heir Apparent! This general had come under the Prince's orders to wipe out you traitors! This man—did you dare claim you did not know him?"

Zhou Mingguang held up the Prince's written order Qin Sang had given him and sharply waved his hand. His attendant took a well-preserved head from a bundle and hurled it over.

Abbot Yuanzhen's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly caught the head, and both hands suddenly trembled.

The monks behind him dropped to their knees in a rush, weeping mournfully. Some cried out for Master, while others called for Grandmaster.

Zhou Mingguang turned a blind eye and spread open a silk ordination certificate.

"Xuanji Temple, Chief Seat of the Arhat Hall, Dharma name Yuanjue! Hmph! This man held the lofty position of chief seat, yet willingly served as the False Emperor's claw and fang. He nearly ruined the Prince's great undertaking and was executed on the spot. Witnesses and material evidence were all present; the proof was ironclad. What else did you bald thieves have to say!"

"Nonsense!"

A large monk glared with bloodshot eyes and gritted his teeth. "Master was a Xiantian Master. With traitors like you, there was absolutely no way you could have been Master's match! What poisonous scheme did you use to harm Master?"

Hearing the large monk's words, Zhou Mingguang calmly glanced at Qin Sang.

"Traitors?"

Zhou Mingguang nearly laughed aloud. In a sinister tone, he said, "It seemed the False Emperor's lackeys in Xuanji Temple were far more than just Monk Yuanjue. All troops, heed my command! Enter the temple and search it! Anyone who dared resist orders would be killed without mercy!"

In an instant, gongs and drums rang in unison, while armor clattered.

The Xuanji Temple monks formed a battle formation, looking ready to resist to the bitter end.

The atmosphere suddenly froze, murderous to the extreme.

At that moment, Abbot Yuanzhen abruptly closed his eyes and let out a long sigh toward the heavens. He solemnly handed the head in his hands to a monk beside him.

"Amitabha."

Abbot Yuanzhen stepped forward. "General Zhou, Junior Brother Yuanjue left Great Sui to travel the world and has not returned for ten years. He must have only recently returned to Great Sui and did not know the truth. In a moment of confusion, he was deceived by the False Emperor. It was absolutely impossible for the monks of Xuanji Temple to serve as the False Emperor's claws and fangs. I ask General Zhou to discern the truth."

"Abbot!"

Seeing that Abbot Yuanzhen actually meant to admit guilt and accept punishment, the Xuanji Temple monks were filled with shock.

Qin Sang, however, was pleased that Abbot Yuanzhen knew how to read the situation. It would be best if they could avoid a major clash.

Zhou Mingguang's tone softened slightly. "The abbot is a man of the cloth, virtuous and highly respected. I presume he would not speak falsehoods. However, Xuanji Temple has many monks, and good and bad were inevitably mixed together. If one of the False Emperor's lackeys were hiding among them and did something that implicated Xuanji Temple, would that not be unfortunate? Abbot, there is no need to worry. This general will certainly restrain the troops. We will only seize the False Emperor's lackeys and will never indiscriminately slaughter the innocent."

Scripture Repository.

Qin Sang raised his head and gazed at the seven-story pagoda before him. He had long admired this place. Legend said that all supreme martial arts under heaven came from Shaolin, and all Shaolin supreme arts lay within the Scripture Repository. It was truly a sacred place in the hearts of everyone who had read martial arts novels.

However, Qin Sang knew that Xuanji Temple's Scripture Repository was merely a facade. There were no superior martial arts within, only volume after volume of Buddhist scriptures.

The true treasure vault was not here.

Qin Sang turned his head and glanced at Abbot Yuanzhen in the distance, sitting cross-legged on the ground and silently reciting Buddhist scriptures.

All the Xuanji Temple monks had been kept within the Mahavira Hall by Abbot Yuanzhen and surrounded by crossbowmen.

Abbot Yuanzhen watched helplessly as soldiers emptied Xuanji Temple's treasury, chest after chest of gold, silver, and treasures flowing down the mountain like water, yet he remained free of sorrow and joy. What remarkable composure.

Zhou Mingguang strode over, swept his gaze around, and pointed to an inconspicuous path behind the Scripture Repository. "There's another path here! Someone, take a squad over there and search carefully! If you let even one traitor slip through, I'll have your heads!"

Abbot Yuanzhen's expression shifted slightly. In a flash, he blocked the way. "General Zhou, you must not. Ahead is where this temple's patriarchs had secluded themselves for cultivation. They absolutely must not be disturbed!"

Zhou Mingguang snorted coldly. "Bullshit patriarchs! Without a thorough search, who knew what sort of people were really inside? The abbot was acting so guilty—could it be that those inside could not bear the light of day?"

"You!"

The veins bulged on Abbot Yuanzhen's hand as he clenched his prayer beads, and a stream of wood chips fell through his fingers.

"Fine! Fine! Fine! Then I ask General Zhou to search thoroughly and clear this temple's name! However, this old monk has one request. There truly are patriarchs of this temple cultivating in seclusion within the cliff carvings. I ask the general to make an exception and allow this old monk to invite the patriarchs out first, lest their cultivation be disrupted and a grave mistake result."

Zhou Mingguang secretly let out a breath. He had nearly driven Abbot Yuanzhen into a rage just now; cold sweat had almost soaked his back. He repeatedly waved his hand. "Please proceed, Abbot."

Abbot Yuanzhen led the way, with Zhou Mingguang and the soldiers following behind. Before long, they rounded a forest of stone pillars and saw a cliff.

Countless inscriptions covered the cliff face, bearing the signatures of once-prominent figures, eminent monks of great virtue, renowned martial artists, and masters of literature. At the foot of the mountain, a row of stone steps led upward to a stone path that ran across the cliff. Rows of Buddhist statues along the path were exquisitely beautiful.

The cliff had eastern and southern faces. The eastern face faced the rising sun, fitting the meaning of Buddhism, and was where Xuanji Temple's patriarchs cultivated in seclusion.

Zhou Mingguang waited with the soldiers below the stone steps as the old monk went up to invite the patriarchs down one by one. Most were gaunt old monks; among them were top experts as well as eminent monks of great virtue who knew no Martial Arts.

Abbot Yuanzhen comforted them one by one, making for quite an arduous task. Zhou Mingguang had the soldiers conduct a perfunctory inspection while silently calculating the time in his heart.

According to their agreement, he had to buy Qin Sang at least a quarter of an hour.

By then, Qin Sang had changed into ordinary clothes and quietly climbed to the cliff top. He lay there watching. When he finally saw Xuanji Temple's Xiantian patriarch being invited down the mountain, he immediately climbed silently down along the cliff face.

He had originally prepared a rope, but the cliff carvings were uneven, and with his lightness skill, he could climb them with ease. There was no need for it.

At the end of the stone path was a flight of stairs extending downward. Qin Sang lightly landed on the path, his footsteps soundless, and followed the stairs down.

The stairs descended deep below, incomparably quiet.

There were several caves on either side. Xuanji Temple patriarchs had originally been cultivating in seclusion within them, but they had now been invited down.

If Zhou Mingguang had not made trouble without reason and forced them out, Qin Sang would never have been able to sneak in without being discovered.

At last, he reached the bottom of the stairs. In one corner was an inconspicuous, narrow crack in the stone, its depths dark and deep.

The stone crack was narrow outside and broad within. Dangerous mechanisms lay inside, but Qin Sang already knew of them all. He stepped carefully, avoiding every mechanism. The crack split into several side passages, and these were where Xuanji Temple kept its rare treasures.

Qin Sang headed straight for the place where the bell was stored. The other side passages also held treasures worth cities and kingdoms, but in Qin Sang's eyes, they were no different from dust, and time did not permit it either.

The small stone grotto had been artificially carved into a square. A Luminous Pearl embedded in the ceiling shone brilliantly.

A stone platform stood in the middle of the grotto. On it rested a purple bell, a Jade Slip, and a sheet of Talisman Paper, all covered by a glazed glass hood.

There was one final mechanism on the stone platform. Qin Sang felt around until he found the poisoned arrows, destroyed the mechanism, and lifted the glass hood.

Time was pressing. Qin Sang suppressed the excitement in his heart, swiftly put away the three items, and quietly withdrew from the stone grotto.