Whew! Whew! Whew!!
In the middle of the night, a figure was running hurriedly on the streets of Rongye County.
He kept turning his head to look back, as if afraid that someone was following closely behind him.
Bang!
Suddenly, a muffled sound came from afar.
The figure trembled and quickly rolled to the left, hiding behind a huge garbage truck.
The foul-smelling garbage water soaked his trouser legs at his feet, but he dared not move.
Only now did he recall what his teacher had said to him earlier.
"Don't investigate any further. If this continues, something bad will happen."
"But teacher, isn't the purpose of our school to get to the bottom of things? Why do you want to give up now that we're so close to solving the mystery?" the young scholar asked, puzzled.
"Some things are destined to remain unknown." The teacher hesitated, wanting to say something but then stopped.
"But with the current Imperial Court so powerful, what force would dare to jump out and play tricks?" the scholar said solemnly.
"Martial Arts. You."
"Teacher, there's no need to say more. I'm just investigating and translating some documents; nothing will happen. Don't worry."
Besides, my Xiong family is a prominent local Great Clans. My eldest and second eldest brothers both hold important positions. Who would dare to speak out against us?
My memories end here.
The figure leaned against the cold, rough wall, tears silently streaming down their face.
Suddenly a figure walked up to him.
The man was dressed in official robes, with an official sword hanging at his waist, and the character "General" engraved on his Waist Token.
"Nephew, I told you long ago to stop investigating, why won't you listen?"
The visitor was Zhang Xingyue, the Chief Constable of Rongye County.
He gently drew his official knife.
"Hand over all your notes, destroy them, and from now on stay home obediently and never touch these things again. Wouldn't it be better to get married, have children, and live a peaceful and happy life?"
"Uncle Zhang" Xiong Wuye leaned against the garbage truck and looked up.
"Don't lie to me, how could I possibly go back now?"
Tears and snot streamed down his face. But a glimmer of hope still lingered in his eyes, wishing the other person would deny him.
"If only you had known this would happen," Zhang Xingyue shook her head. "Hand over all the notes. Stop investigating. If this continues, what will happen to your family? Your parents, your brother—you'll implicate them all."
"I... I dare not, I really dare not." Xiong Wuye slowly stood up.
"Quickly take out all the hidden notes and destroy them, then everything will be fine," Zhang Xingyue comforted her.
"Alright, I'll listen to you, Uncle Zhang. My notes are right here." Xiong Wuye was about to speak.
Suddenly, a figure rushed out from the side and blocked his way.
"Don't say anything, run!!"
It's the teacher! Xiong Wuye was shocked, recognizing the voice.
"Teacher!?"
"Run! He's trying to silence us!!"
In an instant, Zhang Xingyue drew her sword and slashed forward, and the two engaged in fierce combat.
Zhang Xingyue was clearly much stronger. As the Chief Constable of Rongye County, his strength had been proven time and again through his achievements.
"You can't escape this matter. Anyone who dares to investigate will die!" Zhang Xingyue's face was sinister, and the blade flashed faster and faster.
Thud! In an instant, he slashed the teacher's chest with a knife.
Blood splattered, splashing onto the wall and turning into specks of red plum blossoms.
"Go!!" the teacher roared as he turned around.
Tears blurred Xiong Wuye's vision, and he turned and ran.
Due to special circumstances, he had practiced some movement techniques, and now he ran with all his might, quickly disappearing into the night.
A short while later, a shrill scream drifted from behind.
He recognized it; it was the teacher's last voice.
Teacher Du Tao had no children of his own and treated him almost like his own son, but now... now!! Xiong Wuye recalled Zhang Xingyue's words.
Anyone who dares to investigate will die!
The teacher's advice from back then still echoes in my heart.
He was in a daze, not knowing where to go or where it was safe. He only knew that he had to escape the city and rush into the dark forest.
The forest, which was originally dangerous at night, now seemed to be the safest sanctuary.
Perhaps I shouldn't have investigated those Statue in the first place, shouldn't have looked up those materials.
'If I hadn't deciphered the true purpose of the Statue through ancient foreign texts, perhaps none of this... none of this would have happened.'
He could never have imagined that the Statue would malfunction the moment it was fully assembled.
Furthermore, he was assembling it in his own secret room, so how did the people outside know? He didn't know why things had turned out this way. Zhang Rongfang carried the mysterious woman out of the tomb and broke her wrist in a nearby Woodland area.
Then they found a tree hole, threw the woman in, leaving only her head sticking out.
He then unfolded the cloth and looked at it again.
Yes, I'm sure I really can't understand it.
'Looks like we can only wait for this woman to wake up.'
He rested quietly to the side, meditating and waiting.
About half an hour later, the woman slowly opened her eyes.
Strangely, she showed no fear or struggle. She simply tried to move her hands, found the pain unbearable, and realized that her hands were broken.
"Who are you?" she asked in a deep voice, looking at Zhang Rongfang, whose face was covered.
"People."
Zhang Rongfang said.
"Alright, I was stupid. I figured you wouldn't answer with your real name anyway," the woman said calmly. "My name is Dai Huanxi. I'm specifically responsible for guarding this Secret Teaching burial pit to see if any remnants of the Secret Teaching have come here."
"To put it simply, I am Government Office official's guard. You'd better release me immediately, or else..."
"I understand. What is Secret Teaching?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
The woman suddenly realized that the other party had attacked her without even asking who she was, clearly not caring about her background at all.
"In official circles today, only the Bright Teaching is registered with the Assembled Sages Institute. Those not registered are all from the Secret Teaching."
"What are those Statue Fragment and metal parts?" Zhang Rongfang asked again.
Dai Huanxi was stunned for a moment.
"I don't know about the Statue Fragment, but there were many broken pieces of Secret Teaching artifacts in the burial pit. Are you referring to those?"
"How can we find the Secret Teaching?" Zhang Rongfang asked in a different phrasing.
"Have no idea."
Why did the Imperial Court suppress Secret Teaching?
"I don't know. I'm just a nobody. I don't know the answers to these questions," Dai Huanxi said frankly.
"Finally, one last question," Zhang Rongfang said calmly. "Who is your superior?"
"Wait! What do you want to do??" Dai Huanxi was clearly nervous. "I'll tell you everything I know."
She quickened her pace and said swiftly, "I am merely following orders and am under the Ling Ting Snow Rainbow Pavilion Surveillance Division! I am specifically responsible for supervising the affairs of the Secret Teaching in various regions."
"What is this piece of cloth?" Zhang Rongfang pointed at the cloth on the ground with his foot.
"You don't know?" Dai Huanxi asked in confusion. "This should be a prayer used in conjunction with Statue in Secret Teaching. It is said that using this can obtain the protection of Secret Teaching deities."
It could also be Secret Teaching Scripture, precious scrolls recording hidden knowledge; I'm not sure anyway, I haven't been in the Surveillance Division for long."
"Is there anything else?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Wait, don't kill me! I'm from the Surveillance Division. If I die, they'll definitely send people down to investigate! They might even send experts from the Snow Rainbow Pavilion!" Dai Huanxi said hurriedly, his face pale.
Zhang Rongfang, too lazy to waste words, stepped forward and kicked.
With a sharp crack, Dai Huanxi's head tilted to the side, her neck bone broken, and she could only exhale, not inhale.
He pulled his leg back, bent down and searched the other person, taking out the silver and Treasure Note from the money bag, but leaving the rest untouched, before turning and leaving.
Now that the Statue Fragment have been found, he needs to hurry back and assemble them to see what's going on with this thing.
What secret is being hidden?
On his way back, he thought about it and decided to check on the two tomb raiders from before.
While the two were still unconscious, Zhang Rongfang finished them off with a quick blow each.
Now that we've seen his face, we're determined not to let him leave alive.
When they returned to Tanyang with the fragments, it was already the next morning.
Without hesitation, Zhang Rongfang quickly went home and retrieved the Statue that he had previously set up.
Click.
The last three fragments were installed one by one.
Each broken piece of the Statue was carefully glued back together with Rice Paste.
Standing in the room, Zhang Rongfang carefully examined the Statue.
This thing looks like a metal object, no different from other Statue; it's just an ordinary handicraft.
A halo, a five-colored veil, Ruyi good fortune), Golden Bead, and a kind smile.
These are common features of many Dao Gate Statue.
Zhang Rongfang took the washed yellow cloth and placed it in front of the Statue. He suspected that the Statue and the yellow cloth were used together.
But now, he can try the Attribute Panel to see if there are any hints.
I checked all the doors and windows again and made sure they were all closed.
He then returned to the Statue.
The tooltip in the Attribute Panel has appeared.
' Intuition Warning: This is a once-broken Dao Gate Statue. Perhaps you could try to worship it. But instinctively, you sense a deep danger lurking within it.'
"Hmm??!" Zhang Rongfang's heart skipped a beat.
Previously, it was just a suggestion to worship, but now that it's fully assembled, a danger warning has appeared.
This made him suppress his initial intention to start immediately.
"Perhaps I can find someone to give it a try."
There's no way to guard against the dangers that such a completely unknown thing might encounter.
Therefore, the best solution is to find another test subject and have them try the test in your place.
Zhang Rongfang possesses special abilities, so even if he doesn't gain anything, he won't regret it.
However, if one encounters an extremely troublesome danger, then the losses outweigh the gains.
He gazed at the Statue, pondering a solution.
Time passed slowly, and two more days went by in the blink of an eye.
These past two days, he's been doing what he always does: training Wan Yanlu to lose weight. Then he practices martial arts, goes to work, and studies the Statue at home.
On the morning of the third day.
In a desolate forest outside the city.
Zhang Rongfang carried the Statue and placed it on a flat, open ground.
Then he turned to look at a thin man who was trembling with fear, but whose face was filled with deep greed.
"Are you sure you'll give me fifty taels of silver if I do as you say?"
This man is a scoundrel who sold his wife and daughter because of gambling.
He was chosen by Zhang Rongfang to be used as an experimental subject for testing the Statue.
This guy will do anything for money! "Of course." Zhang Rongfang took out a fifty-tael Treasure Note from his pocket.
"The money is right here. I'll give it to you once you've finished the job."