Hungry Ghost Path

After the monks had chanted for another half an hour, they gradually quieted as the old monk stopped.

The old monk slowly rose to his feet, then made his way out of the pagoda.

Once the monks had all filed out, Hanyu vaulted inside. Only then did he see the statues of various sizes enshrined on the ground floor.

"How strange! Why are the statues in a Buddhist temple nothing like Buddhas?"

Hanyu wondered to himself.

The statues looked ferocious, with bared fangs and claws. Some even had two arms and four eyes, while others wore savage expressions, not the least bit like the great, compassionate Buddhas.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside. Hanyu hid carefully. A gray-robed monk entered, went up to a statue with two heads and four arms, and pressed it lightly. A stone gate slowly opened in the floor, revealing a flight of steps.

The monk then made his way down the steps. Curious, Hanyu followed.

There was nothing unusual at the bottom of the stairs, only a long passageway. Hanyu crept along quietly, turned left at the end, and came upon four cells.

The monk entered one of them and fiddled with something inside. Before long, Hanyu saw him emerge, bent over as he dragged a skeleton behind him. Though, calling it a skeleton wasn't quite right.

A layer of skin still clung to the bones, making it look more like a dried corpse. Its face was frozen in terror, its mouth still gaping even in death.

It seemed to have died not long ago.

"Even dead, you're still this heavy."

The monk was drenched in sweat as he cursed.

"Need a hand?"

A voice sounded behind him. The monk looked startled and turned around, only to see a huge fist hurtling toward his face.

Thud!

One punch sent him flying into the cell. He lay there, his fate unknown.

"Are you a Mortal?"

A hurried voice came from the cell beside them.

Hanyu walked over. A square-faced, broad-shouldered man with thick brows and large eyes was locked in the fourth cell. Clearly, Hanyu's sudden arrival had startled him too.

The man looked Hanyu up and down, his expression puzzled. "Who are you?"

Hearing him say "Mortal," Hanyu knew he had to be one of Yixian's group. But why were these people all so unlucky? Whenever he ran into them, they were either captured or trapped.

Hanyu found it amusing. He raised the Command Token in his hand and said, "The one who's here to rescue you."

The man glanced at the token and understood. He gave a wry smile. "I sent a signal to call for help from another companion. I didn't expect it to bring a newcomer Yixian had found."

Hanyu punched through the cell door, but the man didn't move.

"Could you give me a hand? I've been cursed. My True Essence and even my ability to move are sealed. I can't do a thing for now."

The man looked embarrassed.

Hanyu grabbed him, hoisted him onto his back, and strode out.

"I'm Cousin from the Ziqiang Sect!"

In a situation like this, Cousin seemed terribly embarrassed to give his name.

Hanyu thought for a moment, then gave his own alias. "I'm Medicine Master."

After they left the cell, a sinister laugh echoed through the passageway. Cousin's expression changed drastically. "Are you sure you can fight your way out?"

"Looks like getting out won't be easy."

Hanyu stopped, then suddenly sighed.

An old monk stood silently in the passage, his eyes fixed on them.

Cousin's breathing grew ragged as he urged Hanyu on. "Don't fight him. This Old Bald Donkey is strange—he seems Buddhist, but not quite. His methods are sinister. Run down the passage behind us."

"Whoa! There's a heavy aura of death around him!" Little Glazed, who had been silent for a long time in Hanyu's mind, suddenly spoke.

"Be careful! This monk isn't very powerful, but there's something strange about him," Little Glazed warned.

Hanyu's heart tightened. He looked up, and the old monk's placid face suddenly twisted into a strange grin.

A chill ran down Hanyu's spine.

"You've been sneaking around like an uninvited guest for a long time. So you came to rescue someone. Why not stay here with us?"

After speaking, the old monk pressed his palms together, and the faint sound of Buddhist chanting began to drift through the air.

"Don't listen! That's how he sealed my True Essence. Run!"

Cousin shouted in alarm.

A strange look crossed Hanyu's face. Sealing True Essence?

Good thing I don't have any cultivation for him to seal. Somewhat relieved, Hanyu pushed off hard and shot forward like an arrow loosed from its string.

Seeing that the chanting had no effect, the old monk looked briefly stunned. But he quickly pressed his palms together again and resumed chanting.

A strange sound came from the void. Hanyu looked back and was startled.

A Hell Painting gradually took shape in midair. Heaps of white bones writhed within it, struggling to rise as though they were about to crawl out.

"This old monk wields the Hungry Ghost Path. It's a divine ability! Don't look! Don't turn around!"

Cousin's expression changed. Though he hadn't looked back, he seemed to have guessed what was happening behind them. He quickly warned Hanyu.

Hanyu shut his eyes and sprinted down the passage.

"Jump up!"

Cousin urged him from beside his ear. Hanyu ran all the way to the end, where the passage stopped. Looking up, he could see a glimmer of light.

The passage ended beneath a well.

"Quick!"

Cousin urged him on.

With Cousin on his back, Hanyu bent his knees and leaped, using nothing but his physical strength to spring straight up.

The space above opened out before them. As soon as Hanyu landed, he was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he froze.

He had thought the well would lead directly outside. Instead, he found himself surrounded by smooth, polished stone walls. Apart from a stone bed, the place was empty, and the ceiling was made of black bricks.

"This is a tomb. Don't stop—keep running!"

To his surprise, Cousin urged him on again.

Hanyu had a bellyful of questions. One moment he'd been captured in a temple, and the next he was fleeing through a tomb.

"I'll explain once we're safe," Cousin continued to urge him.

Just then, the sound of insects chirring rang out. Before long, cold sweat broke out on Hanyu's back.

A swarm of unknown red insects rushed into the room.

"They're highly poisonous! Don't let them bite you. Turn right when you leave—there's a raised platform there. The insects can't climb onto it!" Cousin shouted, his face pale.

The first wave of insects had already reached Hanyu's feet. He didn't dare risk finding out whether his body could withstand the poison. He leaped away at once. The moment he landed, green liquid splattered across the floor beneath him, but he didn't dare stop. He ran straight out.

The raised platform Cousin had mentioned was a trapezoidal stone platform, seven feet wide on every side. A one-foot-wide artificial river ran around it. Hanyu leaped across first, and the pursuing red insects could only gather along the bank, chirring furiously.

After setting Cousin down, Hanyu collapsed from exhaustion. Panting, he said, "So, what exactly is going on?"

Cousin smiled wryly. "That's a long story."

"I stole a Tomb Mechanism Blueprint from an elder in my Household. He'd designed it for someone years ago. I wanted to come in and learn from it..."

Cousin's opening words left Hanyu looking utterly baffled. He'd only ever heard of people breaking into tombs to rob them; the idea of going in to study was certainly original.

As Cousin explained it, years ago, a Buddhist Senior from the cultivator world had approached an elder in Cousin's Household before passing away, asking him to design a tomb. Years later, Cousin had stolen the blueprint and snuck inside.

But his skills hadn't been up to par, and he'd ended up trapped in the tomb. Later, he discovered a Dry Well in one of the chambers. What he hadn't expected was that the bottom of the well was hollow.

So Cousin had climbed down on a whim, hoping to see what was there. That was how he got captured.

Cousin's expression turned grim. "The well must have been dug through from the outside after the Senior was laid to rest. The only people who could have dug straight to it are members of my family or the Senior's disciples."

"Why did the old monk capture you?" Hanyu asked curiously.

"Because I stumbled upon his cultivation. That day, I climbed down the well and made my way to the Dungeon. I saw him practicing the Hungry Ghost Path divine ability. He sucked five commoners dry, turning them into dried corpses."

"Judging by the old monk's age, he must be the disciple of that great master. He built a temple beside his master's tomb, probably so he could secretly dig a passage into the tomb and steal the cultivation method for the Hungry Ghost Path."

Hanyu stared down the passage toward the well for a long while, then said with some concern, "Could the old monk suddenly jump out at us?"

Cousin shook his head. "The Hungry Ghost Path is supposed to be nourished with one's own blood essence. That Old Bald Donkey took the crooked path and has already fallen into demonic ways. This is where a high monk passed away. He's already been here once, so he must know there's a high monk's Sarira here. After taking up the Hungry Ghost Path, he wouldn't dare come back."

Hanyu sighed. "But we don't dare go back down there either."

Unless...

Their eyes lit up, and they said in unison, "Let's take the Sarira down with us!"