Recall that Master Huiming had been no match for fierce beasts and ghost entities and had fled down the mountain. If the evil cultivators behind the scenes had struck, Master Huiming would likely have already perished.
Why would the opposing party let Master Huiming escape?
One had to know that Master Huiming's escape would draw more practitioners, or even the Demon Suppression Division. Weren't those two evil cultivators afraid of that?
Lin Chen looked at the silent Master Yi Jie and the other, then smiled indifferently. "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Once we find the person behind the scenes, everything will naturally become clear!"
"Benefactor Lin is right." Master Yi Jie and the other nodded slightly.
After eating and drinking their fill, the group of three drove up the mountain. After a drive of nearly two hours, they finally arrived outside Frost Rock Village.
"This is Frost Rock Village. It got its name because of the smooth boulder at the village entrance, which becomes covered in frost crystals every late autumn." Master Huiming looked at the smooth boulder at the entrance, speaking to introduce it to Lin Chen and Master Yi Jie.
Lin Chen nodded slightly, his gaze turning to the mountain village where smoke curled from chimneys. His expression grew stern, however. Even before truly entering the village, he could sense that there was considerable ghost qi within it.
One had to remember that it was currently noon, yet such obvious ghost qi was present—this was simply too abnormal.
Even in Tumen Village previously, ghost entities could only manifest during the day by utilizing a thick fog. This Frost Rock Village was likely even more bizarre than Tumen Village.
"Benefactor Lin, did you notice something?" Master Yi Jie looked at Lin Chen.
Lin Chen's expression tightened, and he said slowly, "There is ghost qi!"
"To have ghost qi at this time of day, this is also the strangeness of Frost Rock Village!" Master Huiming said with a solemn face.
"Cares how bizarre it is, just exterminating it will do!" Lin Chen smiled coldly, then walked straight toward the village.
Upon seeing this, Master Huiming couldn't help glancing at Master Yi Jie beside him, thinking to himself that Lin Chen was this fierce?
"Benefactor Lin possesses powerful strength, and his methods are somewhat vigorous!" Master Yi Jie spoke to explain.
Hearing this, Master Huiming said nothing more. Buddhism also possessed wrathful vajras who subdued demons and eradicated ghosts. As long as one had sufficient strength, having a slightly hot temper was nothing.
Immediately, Master Yi Jie and Master Huiming quickly followed Lin Chen into Frost Rock Village. The moment they entered, they saw three monks wandering along the road.
"Master Huiming, are you certain your junior and senior brothers came ahead to investigate the situation?" Lin Chen looked at the Master Huiming beside him. The three monks at this moment looked every bit like village idlers, bearing not the slightest resemblance to eminent monks.
Hearing this, Master Huiming's face flushed slightly. He had never expected that the three junior brothers who had come ahead to investigate would be so leisurely.
"Junior Brother Huitong!" Master Huiming called out in a clear voice.
"Senior Brother Huiming!"
Hearing Master Huiming's voice, the three monks turned around and hurried over to the three men.
"Benefactor Lin, let me introduce them. This is Huitong, this is Hui Chen, and that is San Jie." Master Yi Jie spoke up to introduce them to Lin Chen.
Seeing this, Huitong and the other two pressed their palms together. "Greetings, Benefactor Lin!"
"What is going on with the three of you? Weren't you told to come and investigate the situation? Why are you wandering idly at the village entrance?" Huitong said with an ugly expression.
"Senior Brother Huiming, you don't understand." Master Huitong gave a wry smile, then said in a deep voice, "After arriving in Frost Rock Village, we immediately wanted to begin our investigation from the villagers, but we never expected..."
Following Master Huitong's description, the expressions of Lin Chen and the other two grew solemn. It wasn't that Huitong and his companions hadn't investigated, nor that they didn't want to; rather, the villagers were extremely repellent of them, making it impossible for them to find an entry point.
Since they couldn't get started with the villagers, they had intended to approach from other directions. However, when they went to investigate certain areas dense with ghost qi, the villagers blocked them and refused to let them enter at all.
The three of them were practitioners as well as monastics, and they couldn't strike out at ordinary people. Thus, the investigation fell into a deadlock, leaving them with no choice but to wander the village looking for clues until the arrival of Lin Chen's group.
Master Huiming raised a brow, saying in a deep voice, "Why would the villagers here be so repellent of outsiders? They won't even let us investigate?"
"Could the strangeness of Frost Rock Village be related to the village itself?" Master Yi Jie frowned.
Judging from Master Huitong's words, the villagers of Frost Rock Village weren't just repellent of them anymore; it felt more like they didn't want anyone investigating the bizarre aspects of the village. It was hard not to suspect that these villagers were aware of the village's anomalies, or perhaps even connected to them!
"They won't let you investigate, so you just stop? What kind of investigation yields results like that?" Lin Chen shot a sideways glance at the group, then headed straight toward the place dense with ghost qi.
"Follow him. Since we've come, are we just going to return empty-handed? Are we supposed to watch these villagers die unjustly?" Master Huiming saw this and couldn't help looking at Huitong and the other two.
The group of five didn't hesitate and immediately followed Lin Chen, quickly arriving at the location thick with ghost qi, which turned out to be an ancient well.
"Such dense ghost qi!"
Sensing the ghost qi within the ancient well, Lin Chen's brow raised slightly as he prepared to step forward to inspect it. At that exact moment, an elderly man suddenly hurried forward.
"Outsiders, that is an ancient well passed down through generations in our Frost Rock Village! Outsiders are not allowed to approach!" The old man said in an icy tone.
Lin Chen looked at the old man with a look of utter disdain. "Old timer, you tell me not to approach, so Young Master here just obeys? Then where would my face be!"
"As a monastic, how dare you utter such wild words?" The old man was furious.
Lin Chen's face darkened, and he said in an indifferent tone, "Hey~ With which eye did you see that Young Master is a monastic? Young Master clearly has hair, I'm no bald donkey, alright!"
Bald donkey?
The corners of Master Yi Jie and the other five twitched. We're teammates, you know. Is it really okay for you to inflict friendly fire like this?
Looking at the thick, pitch-black hair on Lin Chen's head, the old man was clearly stunned for a moment before he raised his voice and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I don't care if you're a monastic or not! Everyone come quickly, someone is trying to ruin our feng shui well!"
As the old man's cry spread, five or six more old folks rushed over and threw themselves straight onto the ground in front of Lin Chen.
"I can't go on living!"
"There's no justice left! They're snatching our feng shui well and trying to kill people!"
"If you've got the guts, beat us to death!"
Looking at the old folks on the ground kicking up a fuss, crying, making a scene, and hanging... wait, rolling around, the corners of Lin Chen's mouth twitched. In this instant, he finally understood why Huitong and his companions had returned empty-handed before.
These damned old folks with maxed-out magic defense were even harder to deal with than punk youths!
"Stop!"
Lin Chen let out a booming shout that startled the crying and wailing old folks into abrupt silence. "Do you know what Young Master excels at most? Physical Salvation!"
"Come on, come on, save me, right here!" An old man strode right up to Lin Chen, thrust his head toward Lin Chen's hand, and pointed at his own skull while shouting defiantly.
Seeing this, Master Huitong couldn't help shaking his head. "Benefactor Lin doing this will only intensify the conflict!"
They didn't dare lay a hand on the old folks; once an accident occurred, not only would they suffer, but the reputation of Vajra Temple would also be ruined! Powerful though Lin Chen might be, he was ultimately far too young. Meeting this kind of situation with sheer rigidity would only produce counterproductive results!
Before you continue