Death-Calling Sanskrit Chant, Ghost Zen Masters, Corpse Suspension Hall

Terrifying murmured chanting echoed throughout the temple!

It was like a Death-Calling Sanskrit Chant.

It reverberated endlessly above the temple!

The entire temple was shrouded in a strange, gloomy darkness. A peculiar stench permeated the air—the fragrance of sandalwood mixed with an indescribable reek of decay!

"W-what the hell is this?!"

The sight made Ma Wuji's scalp tingle.

His feet involuntarily retreated again and again.

He already regretted it—regretted coveting Golden Cicada and coming to this damned Red Lotus Temple.

Compared to curing his congenital deficiency of qi and blood and his shriveled body, he feared losing his life even more!

"Golden light shines everywhere, paradise on earth!"

"Golden light shines everywhere, paradise on earth!"

Suddenly, the terrifying murmurs seemed ready to explode.

This was not the chanting of ordinary monks, but a blend of countless voices layered together, twisted, and howling.

The pitch rose and fell unpredictably—at times shrill and piercing, at times swift as a sudden downpour, at times slow as sobbing.

Even the scriptures themselves were shattered beyond recognition!

Sanskrit, Chinese, and even utterly incomprehensible syllables mingled together, forming a horrifying chorus that made one's scalp prickle and stirred an urge to mutilate oneself.

Then, two beams of golden light lit up within the courtyard!

The golden light was cold, dazzling, and foul with rot, coating everything in an eerie layer of gold!

"Not good, this isn't golden light!"

"It's the poisonous Buddha Incense from before—it's been lit!"

Ma Wuji's face turned deathly pale. With his prior experience, he immediately saw the crux of the problem.

The Sanskrit chanting was all an illusion. The truly terrifying thing was the Buddha Incense that could make people hallucinate!

"Oh? You figured it out already?"

Zhang Chu looked at the other man, whose voice was trembling.

"Huh?" Ma Wuji turned his head.

What did this guy mean? His qi and blood were deficient and his body was shriveled, not his brain!

Could Human Ranking number ten discriminate against people like this?!

"Just kidding. Don't get worked up..."

Zhang Chu ignored the fury in the other man's eyes and instead looked toward the two figures standing behind the golden light.

They were two thin, frail monks.

They wore white kasayas, their bodies gaunt as dead wood, their skeletal outlines clearly visible.

Their faces were paper-white without a trace of blood, their skin carrying the sheen of wax figures.

What sent chills down one's spine was their expressions.

Both of them were smiling!

It was an utterly rigid smile, as though carved into their faces with knives, one that would never change. The corners of their mouths rose in identical arcs, revealing ghastly white teeth.

Yet their eyes were hollow and lifeless, their pupils cloudy and yellow like those of dead fish. The disconnect between their smiles and their eyes created an indescribable horror.

Together, they looked at Zhang Chu and Ma Wuji!

"T-this is Zen Masters Yuanjue and Yuanwu!..."

Ma Wuji felt his liver and gallbladder split apart. He rapidly retreated, staring at the two in terror.

Yuanjue and Yuanwu were the only two eminent monks remaining in Red Lotus Temple. Their strength had long since broken through to the Dark Strength Realm.

He, too, had cultivated a thread of Gang Qi. By rights, he was also considered a Dark Strength Realm expert.

But his qi and blood were deficient, and his body was shriveled.

He simply could not wield it as freely as ordinary people could.

He could only use his Gang Qi in his legs.

To put it plainly, other than having decent Lightness Skill and being fast at running away, he was no different from someone in the First-rate Realm.

If he faced two eminent monks, he might not even survive a single move. All he could do was flee with everything he had!

Otherwise, he would not have ranked only ninety-eighth on the Human Ranking, ridiculed again and again by this Little True Martial!

"Interesting. So this is the Refining Corpse Sect's highest-level method of refining living people—the Gold Corpse!"

Zhang Chu's gaze swept over the monks' necks, where dark spots could vaguely be seen covering their skin.

He had seen this sign not long ago.

On the Silver Corpses at River Island of the Boat Gang!

Jin Mu and the others had once said privately that a Gold Corpse did not refer to a golden-colored corpse. Rather, it broadly referred to an incorruptible golden body—one that would not decay after death.

He had not expected to encounter one today!

"Could it be that every monk in the vast Jinguang Temple has been turned into a living corpse? But if they did that, how could they hide it from the worshippers who came to burn incense every day?"

Zhang Chu paid no attention to Ma Wuji's panicked cries.

Instead, he watched the monks before him with curiosity.

The two so-called eminent monks were walking toward him step by step, their strides perfectly uniform, their knees barely bending, like puppets controlled by invisible threads.

They had clearly long since become Gold Corpses of the Refining Corpse Sect.

"Brother Ma, your Lightness Skill is good. Go check the temple's rear courtyard and see whether there are any monks still truly alive."

Zhang Chu felt that they probably would not kill every monk. That would only expose them.

"What?! You want me to go alone?!" Ma Wuji gasped sharply upon hearing this.

He never wanted to come to this eerie place again for the rest of his life, yet Zhang Chu was actually telling him to investigate it alone.

"Relax. I'll be right there."

"And don't you want Golden Cicada?"

The moment Ma Wuji recognized Golden Cicada, Zhang Chu had already guessed what the fellow was after.

With his congenital deficiency of qi and blood, coupled with Golden Cicada's special effects, he had clearly come for the precious medicine.

"Y-you're still trying to tempt me!"

"No, impossible! I, Ma Wuji, Flying Immortal on Land—even if I have to run or jump out of here today, I absolutely won't take a single look in the rear courtyard! I'd rather die than go!"

Ma Wuji thrust out his neck, assuming an unyielding stance. He would never accept another person's temptation.

"Is that so?" Zhang Chu smiled.

"Then let Golden Cicada be moved away ahead of time. In that case, it'll be impossible to find for the rest of your life."

Hearing Zhang Chu's muttering, Ma Wuji was nearly driven mad with rage. Demon Daoist—he was a Demon Daoist!

What Little True Martial? This Daoist who looked about his age was a Demon Daoist!

"Fine! You win, I'll go!"

Golden Cicada concerned whether he could cure himself. Ma Wuji could never let such a good opportunity slip away.

Ma Wuji gritted his teeth. No longer hesitating, he turned and flew toward the temple's rear courtyard, vanishing into the darkness.

Just as Ma Wuji disappeared, the two monks had already arrived before Zhang Chu, their smiles still fixed upon their faces.

"Then let me see just how much the Refining Corpse Sect's top treasure, the Gold Corpse, is worth!"

Zhang Chu smiled faintly, then struck out with a palm!

Ma Wuji arrived in the rear courtyard. Before him was a narrow corridor. The terrifying chanting behind him was cut off, becoming muffled and distant, yet somehow even more ominous.

He raced down the corridor, his heart hammering.

The doors to the monks' quarters on either side were tightly shut, but he did not dare push them open. He only ran desperately toward the depths of the temple.

The rear courtyard was completely different from the front hall.

At the center of the courtyard stood a massive Buddha statue, five men tall. Its right hand held a golden Buddhist staff, and it wore a kasaya. Its ears hung down to its shoulders, while its lowered brows and kindly eyes conveyed compassion.

Yet against such an eerie and horrifying backdrop, this solemn Dharma image showed no mercy at all. Instead, it gave off an abandoned, sinister strangeness.

The Buddha statue's face was blurred beyond recognition. Those downcast eyes seemed to be coldly looking down upon the intruder.

"Damn Zhang Chu, always picking on me!"

"Is this eerie place somewhere humans can stay..."

Ma Wuji forced himself to look away. Meditation chambers and storehouses lined both sides, most of their doors and windows broken.

Directly opposite the Buddha statue stood a lonely, strange building that did not look like any proper hall.

He drew a deep breath and walked toward it.

Only when he drew near did he see clearly.

This strange building was actually a Corpse Suspension Hall!

Candlelight flickered inside the hall, illuminating a huge, black coffin resting within!

The coffin was not closed. Its lid rested crookedly against the coffin body, and inside lay an old monk dressed in white!

In an instant, a chilling wind laden with a heavy stench of decay drifted out from the strange building, brushing across Ma Wuji's face and making him shudder.

Quite a few monks sat in a circle inside the hall.

They continuously chanted the Buddhist Sect's scripture of rebirth.

"When the Buddha appears before one at the moment of death, upon hearing the Dharma of suffering, emptiness, and impermanence, one shall attain rebirth. When the flower blooms, one shall immediately realize the path of the Arhat..."

Ma Wuji hesitated, unsure whether he should enter.

When he looked back, the path he had come by had already been swallowed by dusk and wild grass. Ahead lay only this strange hall.

Just as Ma Wuji swallowed and decided to enter, a sound suddenly came from behind him!

Ma Wuji instinctively turned around.

The sight behind him nearly frightened him into falling over!

Zhang Chu was standing behind him at some unknown time, carrying two foul-smelling objects in his hands!

"Y-you got here so quickly?!"

"Where are those two Ghost Zen Masters, Yuanjue and Yuanwu?"

Ma Wuji stared at Zhang Chu in horror, inwardly shocked. How could this man's Lightness Skill make no sound at all?

"Here!" Zhang Chu shook the objects in his hands.

Only then did Ma Wuji see clearly. Those two foul-smelling objects were actually human heads!

"Gasp!!" Ma Wuji sucked in a sharp breath.

How long had he been gone? Probably only a few breaths, and how fast was he himself?

Yet in that blink of an eye, Zhang Chu had already taken down two Ghost Zen Masters of the Dark Strength Realm!

And had already arrived before him!

Just what level of strength did he possess?