In the middle of the night, Zhou Yi was awakened by the sound of chanting. He immediately got up, Han Guang in hand, and looked toward the Three Talents Formation.
The room was pitch-black, with only the runes on the Talisman Paper giving off a faint red glow.
Seeing that the Talisman Paper had not ignited on its own, Zhou Yi turned to search for the source of the sound. Yet after searching for a long while, he still could not tell where it was coming from.
The chanting continued to ring in his ears, leaving Zhou Yi unable to sleep. He simply held Han Guang and sat quietly on the stool, watching the Talisman Array vigilantly. At the slightest disturbance, he would strike at once.
As the chanting in his ears grew louder and louder, Zhou Yi could not help feeling puzzled.
With such a loud sound, how could the people staying at the inn feel nothing at all?
With that thought, Zhou Yi prepared to go outside with Han Guang and take a look. When he pushed open the door, he discovered that the room next door was open, and at the same time, a sound of chewing reached his ears.
Keeping his guard up, Zhou Yi gripped Han Guang and activated his movement technique, his footsteps light as he approached the neighboring room.
He saw a creature covered in black fur, shaped like a monkey, crouching beside the bed. Its body rose and fell as it did something.
Zhou Yi slowly walked behind the monster. Only when he drew close did he realize that it was tearing into the person on the bed.
The bed was already covered in blood. The man had been split into two at the abdomen, while the monster bit and tore at the mangled remains, mouthful after mouthful.
Standing behind the monster, Zhou Yi drew Han Guang. Hearing the sound, the monster tried to turn its head, but as a flash of white light streaked past, it lost consciousness.
Zhou Yi kicked the monster's severed head lying on the floor and murmured, "So it was a Mountain Imp."
Mountain Imps resembled monkeys, with human faces and long arms, their entire bodies covered in black fur. They loved to eat people. Strictly speaking, Mountain Imps did not count as the uncanny.
Thus, after Zhou Yi killed the Mountain Imp, he did not hear the panel's voice.
Zhou Yi looked around the room. The burly man lying on the bed had also set up a Three Talents Formation in his room, just like Zhou Yi. Unfortunately, he had encountered a Mountain Imp.
Zhou Yi returned to his own room. Just as he was about to sit down, he saw the Three Powers Talisman by the window ignite on its own.
Not a moment of peace. Zhou Yi picked up Han Guang and drew an Evil Warding Talisman from his talisman pouch. The Evil Warding Talisman had not ignited, but it grew faintly hot in his hand.
It seemed to be only a Soul Grade uncanny. A gust of wind sounded at the window, and in the blink of an eye, an uncanny appeared in Zhou Yi's room. Zhou Yi struck instantly, Vital Energy dyeing Han Guang faintly red. When it cut into the uncanny's body, it felt like a hot knife slicing through butter.
With one slash, Zhou Yi cleaved the uncanny in two. Its body fell to the ground, still twitching faintly.
Seeing that the uncanny was still struggling, Zhou Yi stepped forward and stomped hard on its head.
"Yin Energy +30"
"So weak!" Zhou Yi curled his lip. It had likely been drawn by the bloody stench from the room next door. He did not know whether it would attract a Crimson Grade uncanny. With that in mind, Zhou Yi packed up his belongings, carried Han Guang, and moved into another empty room on the second floor.
After being tossed about for half the night, Zhou Yi set up another Three Talents Formation in the room before lying back down to sleep.
At dawn, the room brightened even though he had not opened the window. Zhou Yi got up. Worried that he might encounter monsters like the Mountain Imp, he had not slept too deeply. As soon as daylight came, his internal clock woke him.
After getting up and tidying himself, Zhou Yi headed downstairs. The moment he stepped outside, he saw the old man who watched over the inn cleaning up the room where the incident had happened last night. As the old man worked, he muttered, "What rotten luck! I'll have to clean up for another whole day."
Clearly, the old man was no stranger to such things. When he saw Zhou Yi emerge from his room, he gave him a slight nod, then wondered in confusion, Wasn't this man staying next door last night? Why had he moved to another room? Still, the old man buried his doubts and did not ask.
In these times, talking too much was not a good habit.
Zhou Yi did not explain either. He merely said to the old man, "I'm checking out."
The old man nodded and pointed toward the stables. "Your horse is in the stable. Go lead it out yourself."
After leading the horse out of the stable and patting its back lightly, Zhou Yi mounted it, took the reins, and rode toward the official road.
Winter had already arrived. The cold wind brought by the gallop blew against Zhou Yi's cheeks. After riding some distance, snow began to fall from the sky, and more white mist streamed from the horse's nostrils. To keep warm, Zhou Yi secretly stirred up his own Vital Energy.
"Hyah, hyah, hyah~"
Finally, at noon, the warmth brought by the sun slightly drove away the cold. At that moment, that faint, almost imperceptible chanting reached Zhou Yi's ears again.
This time, it rang directly within Zhou Yi's mind.
Zhou Yi froze and pulled on the reins. A temple had somehow appeared beside the official road ahead.
The temple looked as though it had fallen into disrepair long ago. Moss crawled across the surrounding walls, the red paint at their base faded until it was nearly invisible. The pillars beside the entrance were pitted and scarred, while the doors stood wide open.
The chanting in his mind became increasingly clear, as though it were bewitching Zhou Yi into entering.
Faced with such a strange scene, Zhou Yi heightened his vigilance. He did not dismount to investigate, but instead pulled the reins again, cracked the whip, and urged his horse onward.
Yet after the horse had run for nearly half an hour, that eerie temple appeared before Zhou Yi once more.
Zhou Yi's pupils contracted slightly. It seemed he had no choice but to enter today.
Leading his horse to the temple entrance, Zhou Yi looked up. A plaque hung high above, bearing the words Snake Buddha Temple. What did not fit with the rest of the temple was that the plaque looked as if it had just been hung, without a speck of dust on it.
Zhou Yi tied the horse nearby and entered alone. Beyond the entrance was a small courtyard. In its center stood an incense burner, and behind it was the temple's only building—the Middle Snake Buddha Hall.
Zhou Yi went around the incense burner and walked straight into the Middle Snake Buddha Hall. Inside stood a massive Buddha statue, its expression kind and benevolent. One hand was posed as though pinching a flower, while the other gripped a giant snake. The snake opened its blood basin of a mouth, as if it were about to bite the Buddha statue.
Three prayer cushions lay beneath the statue. An old monk, his back bent and hunched, seemed to be praying to the Buddha.
Zhou Yi walked forward, wanting to see the monk's face clearly. But when he drew close, he found that it was a skeleton, its head hanging low and its hands raised before its chest.
At that moment, the chanting in Zhou Yi's mind stopped abruptly.
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