It Has Been Over Forty Years

As Ning Xiu moved, several giant palms reached out to grab him.

The surface of each giant palm had rock-like textures, appearing incredibly hard just by looking at them. If he were to be struck, his fate wouldn't be pleasant.

Especially the eyes growing on the palms, which always gave Ning Xiu a strange feeling. These eyes definitely hid something fishy.

Without hesitation, as Ning Xiu got closer to one of the giant palms, he immediately swung his arms, hammer in hand, and smashed down hard.

Internal Energy attached itself to the surface of the Startling Thunder Hammer, transforming into a wave of heat that surged outward the moment Ning Xiu swung it.

Before the Startling Thunder Hammer could even hit the giant palm, Ning Xiu's scorching externalized Internal Energy had already struck the palm's surface, engulfing it in flames.

Although these flames were not real fire, but rather a manifestation of the Burning Sun Grand Radiance Scripture, they possessed a lethality more terrifying than real fire to malevolent spirits.

The giant palm began to struggle within the flames, but no matter how it thrashed, it couldn't extinguish the fire consuming it.

With no other option, it had to retract back into the ground, attempting to put out the continuing flames that way.

However, Ning Xiu clearly wouldn't give it such an opportunity. Before the giant palm could retreat underground, Ning Xiu smashed his hammer into the eyeball on its surface.

Bang!

Instantly, ichor splattered, and pus burst forth.

The giant palm had no mouth to express its pain through wails, so it could only convulse on the ground, trembling and struggling. The destruction of this eyeball was clearly a significant injury to it.

In less than a breath, the giant palm completely ceased moving, lying stiffly on the ground and beginning to shrivel. In a short while, it turned into dried flesh.

[Killed Malevolent Spirit, gained Universal Proficiency +500]

The moment the giant palm died, Ning Xiu received a notification from his panel. Judging by the amount of proficiency gained, this giant palm malevolent spirit was around the Eighth or Ninth Rank, not particularly strong.

However, it was more than enough to deal with ordinary citizens who had stumbled into this place.

This also indicated that these giant palms were not the true form of Jinzhao Temple.

The death of one giant palm did not cause the remaining ones to panic. Instead, it seemed to ignite the ferocity of these malevolent spirits.

Two giant palms swiftly lunged at Ning Xiu from his left and right sides, their momentum suggesting they were preparing to pincer him. Just as the two giant palms were about to strike Ning Xiu.

Buzz!

A deep bell chime suddenly rang out, and a brilliant golden bell materialized around Ning Xiu, completely enveloping him.

Divine Ability: Golden Bell Body Protection!

Boom!

The two giant palms slammed forcefully against the surface of the golden bell, but to their surprise, the bell didn't budge. Ning Xiu, inside the bell, was completely unaffected.

Instead, the two giant palms had their eyeballs burst from the recoil force, dying on the spot.

[Killed Malevolent Spirit, gained Universal Proficiency +500]

[Killed Malevolent Spirit, gained Universal Proficiency +500]

Ning Xiu looked at the scene and chuckled, "I didn't expect the Golden Bell Shield not only to block enemy attacks but also to reflect the received force back. This saves me a lot of trouble."

With Ning Xiu now at the Martial Dao Fifth Rank, these low-level malevolent spirits could no longer pose any threat to him. Easily eliminating three malevolent spirits, Ning Xiu looked at the remaining giant palm malevolent spirits and unceremoniously charged forward with his hammer.

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Kill.

By the time Ning Xiu had annihilated all the giant palm malevolent spirits, the crows that had spat out eyeballs had long since flown away to who knows where.

From the current situation, it seemed that this Fierce God of Jinzhao Temple possessed the ability to draw people who entered the temple into other locations. Ning Xiu just didn't know if the place he was currently in was an inner realm of Jinzhao Temple or a Sumeru world.

Shouldering his hammer, Ning Xiu climbed onto the withered trees where the crows had perched, using the height to survey his surroundings.

Unfortunately, the further he looked, the darker everything became, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

To the north, however, a dense fog obscured everything, preventing him from seeing what lay within.

"Ren Qianxing and Monk Zhengwu that I saw in the murals before were in a vast expanse of white, unlike the people in other murals in Jinzhao Temple who had various landscapes behind them. Could the expanse of white refer to this dense fog?"

Ning Xiu pondered silently. If that were the case, he might actually be able to find the two of them.

Immediately, Ning Xiu jumped down from the treetop and quickly ran towards the direction of the northern fog.

"Lord Ning!" Standing inside the Mahavira Hall, Xia Yunsi looked at the wall mural with disbelief.

Originally, it only depicted Ren Qianxing and Zhengwu. Now, not far from them, a new mural had appeared out of nowhere.

In this mural, Ning Xiu, carrying the Startling Thunder Hammer, stood on a desolate, ruined black land. Beside him, a large number of crows perched on several crooked trees, creating a rather eerie scene.

Just moments ago, Xia Yunsi couldn't quite explain what had happened.

She only felt a sticky sensation all around her, and the only thing she could see were colorful bubbles. When her vision returned to normal, Ning Xiu, who should have been standing beside her, had vanished.

Also gone were the two Black Winds, one Black Tiger, and one Iron Eater Beast that were in the hall.

Stepping into the white fog, the visible range instantly decreased. Ning Xiu could only see the ground clearly up to five steps ahead. Moving further, each step contained unknown dangers.

No one knew what the situation was within this fog, whether there were malevolent spirits, or how many there were.

With the Golden Bell Body Protection, Ning Xiu felt somewhat reassured. Unless he encountered a truly powerful malevolent spirit, it would be impossible to break through his Golden Bell Body Protection.

Drip, drip, drip!

After venturing several hundred steps into the fog, Ning Xiu suddenly heard the sound of lively gongs and drums in his ears.

There was even the high-pitched sound of suona, filled with celebration and joy.

When Ning Xiu was in Chaotian Capital, he had heard this kind of fanfare; it was what people did when they were getting married.

In this eerie, yin-filled place, could someone be getting married?

Ning Xiu immediately headed in the direction of the sound. Being trapped in this place and waiting would only lead to death.

Only by finding the Fierce God of Jinzhao Temple and eliminating it could he have a chance to escape.

And the malevolent spirits living in this area might just know the answer Ning Xiu was looking for.

Through the thick fog, after walking for a full hundred steps, Ning Xiu's vision suddenly cleared. Following the sound of the wedding music, he had actually walked out of the misty area.

Below him was a hillside, and at the foot of the hill, a wedding procession of several dozen people was walking on the road. Looking at the musicians in their procession, banging gongs and drums with joyous expressions, they seemed no different from ordinary people.

Everyone in the wedding procession was wearing bright red clothing, and the groom, sitting atop a majestic horse, looked proud and pleased, his expression full of contentment.

"Huh? How could this be..." Ning Xiu's expression suddenly became extremely surprised. He had used the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique to check, and these people had not a trace of evil qi on them. They were completely normal people.

In a place like this, ordinary people? A wedding procession?

The entire situation was filled with strangeness and incredulity.

To resolve his doubts, Ning Xiu immediately rushed down the hillside, directly to the front of the wedding procession, blocking their path.

"Whoa!"

Seeing someone rush down from the hillside to block their way, the groom quickly pulled on the horse's reins, bringing it to a halt.

When he saw that the person blocking them was a Demon Subduing Captain dressed in Mysterious Silver Lock Armor, he immediately dismounted and said with a smile, "This humble student greets you, sir. May I ask why you have blocked our path?"

"Where are you all going?" Ning Xiu asked.

"Reporting to you, sir, this humble student is from Jingzhou and is on my way to Nanjiang City for a wedding to pick up my bride-to-be," the groom replied truthfully.

Nanjiang City, the prefectural capital of Yunze Prefecture, was correct.

However, the problem was that these people were not in Yunze Prefecture. No matter how they walked, it would be futile. They could not possibly reach Nanjiang City. Did they not know their current situation?

Looking at the groom in his brand new attire, and the wedding attendants behind him with confused expressions, Ning Xiu suddenly realized something and asked, "Have you stayed at Jinzhao Temple along the way?"

The groom smiled and said, "We did indeed stay there. How did you know, sir? A few days ago, it rained heavily on the road, so we took shelter in Jinzhao Temple to escape the rain. We left only after the weather cleared up. But that was several days ago. Sir, you are truly a divine person."

These people actually believed they had left Jinzhao Temple and were on their way to Nanjiang City, unaware that they had been trapped within Jinzhao Temple from the very beginning and had never moved an inch.

Ning Xiu figured that among the many murals on the walls of Jinzhao Temple, one of them must depict this wedding procession.

They were trapped within the murals, unknowingly repeating the actions of a wedding procession, yet they were unable to perceive this repetitive behavior.

Such terrifying divine ability made Ning Xiu feel a chill down his spine.

So, were these people considered dead or alive? Or were they eternally imprisoned within the murals in this neither-human-nor-ghost state?

Ning Xiu suddenly said, "Let me ask you, what year is it now?"

The groom answered without hesitation, "Year 42 of Taiwu. Is there something wrong, sir?"

Ning Xiu's expression was incredibly complex. He looked at the wedding procession, unable to speak for a moment.

These common people were from over forty years ago.

They had been trapped in the murals of this Jinzhao Temple for a full forty years.

Looking at the groom's joyful expression, Ning Xiu felt a complex and indescribable emotion.

He was unaware that over forty years had passed in the outside world, and the woman he held in his heart, whom he longed to marry, had long since married and had children and grandchildren.

Perhaps she had long forgotten his name and appearance.