Sound of Wind, Sound of Rain

Shaolin Temple, inside Daxiong Baodian.

"Abbot, how are your injuries?" After Meng Qi and the others departed, the white-browed old monk asked with concern.

A flush suddenly surfaced on Xin Ji's sallow face. Opening his mouth, he sprayed out a mouthful of blood that fell like rain, staining the cassock across his chest red.

"Abbot!"

"Master!"

...The monks cried out in alarm. In an instant, they understood that the Abbot had merely forced down his injuries before, unwilling to expose his weakness before that group of uncertain origin.

Xin Ji waved his hand and, after catching his breath, said, "It is nothing. This old monk is safe for the moment; it is only that I cannot wield even half my strength."

All the monks fell silent. The Abbot was already old and frail, and was most likely no match for Great General Du'er Cha to begin with. Now that he had only half his strength left, their hopes were even slimmer. As for other innate experts, there were only two in the entire temple, and both had merely just entered the innate realm. Forget Great General Du'er Cha—even his subordinates, White-Browed Evil Wolf and Palm of the Universe, might be beyond their ability to defeat.

The white-browed old monk let out a long sigh. "Abbot, since things have come to this, preserving this temple's sacred flame should take priority."

"Junior Brother Xin Chan, this old monk understands what you mean." Xin Ji nodded faintly and turned back, his weathered gaze resting on the golden Buddha statue. "The Barbarians have gained the favor of the times; this is their day when flowers bloom in brocade splendor. Setting aside their so-called Imperial Advisor and Wolf Lord, Great General Du'er Cha alone is one of the foremost experts under heaven. Throughout his life, he has ridden roughshod in every direction and rarely met defeat. Moreover, he commands three hundred Iron Wolf Soldiers, unstoppable wherever they go."

"If Shaolin were to perish together with them like jade smashed against stone, we might yet be able to hold Du'er Cha back. But we could only hold him for a time—and from the look of things now, I fear we cannot even hold him for a time."

"What this old monk said before was not because I did not wish to preserve our sacred flame. Rather, I was willing to use this old, feeble body to hold Du'er Cha back and create a chance for the monks of the entire temple to flee. After all, if this old monk does not die, Du'er Cha will surely pursue us at our heels and never give up. That would only hinder you all and delay the transfer of the scriptures, secret manuals, and Sarira."

Du'er Cha had three hundred Iron Wolf Soldiers under his command. It was said they were trained by a secret method, every one of them possessing immense strength, feeling no pain, and fearing no death.

The white-browed old monk and the others fell silent again. They all knew that Du'er Cha regarded the Abbot as a thorn in his eye and flesh in his teeth. This encirclement was most likely meant to eliminate a Peak Expert. If that goal was not achieved, then even if their sect abandoned its ancestral holdings, the ruthless pursuit would not cease. But if the Abbot entered nirvana, the pursuit they faced would slacken considerably. At the very least, Great General Du'er Cha, that Peak Expert, would not personally take the field. Then, if they scattered into smaller groups and hid separately, the sacred flame could surely endure.

"Master, this disciple will remain behind at Shaolin with you." A middle-aged monk with grief on his face knelt before Xin Ji.

Xin Ji sighed. "Why be so stubborn?"

He did not grant his disciple's plea. Instead, he swept his gaze around the hall and said, "This temple has a Secret Passage, known only to the Abbots of each generation. All of you should quickly arrange for the disciples to gather the secret manuals and wait until deep night. As for the ordinary disciples, leave them a note when you depart and let them go down the mountain on their own."

"What about the benefactors at the foot of the mountain? Should we inform them?" asked another monk, smiling like Maitreya Buddha.

The white-browed old monk, Xin Chan, said grimly, "Inform them? Who knows how many Barbarian spies are hidden among them, like that Shapeshifting Scholar just now? If Du'er Cha receives word and arrives ahead of time, Shaolin will be in mortal peril!"

"Once the ordinary disciples descend the mountain, those people will naturally learn of it and disperse." Xin Ji was unwilling to risk the news leaking out.

"Master, since Du'er Cha arranged for Shapeshifting Scholar to launch a sneak attack, I think he must be nearby. Time waits for no one—we cannot delay until deep night." The kneeling middle-aged monk rose to his feet. "As for the benefactors below the mountain, if they see Du'er Cha's Iron Wolf Soldiers attacking while the Mountain Gate remains shut, they will not fight to the death. They will leave on their own."

Xin Ji nodded solemnly. "That makes sense."

An inn at the foot of the mountain.

"Xiao Sang... Xiao Sang is here..." Xiao Zi's nightmare-like muttering, as though she had encountered a vicious ghost, inexplicably sent chills down the spines of Wei Wuji and the other watching martial heroes, making their hairs stand on end.

Who was Xiao Sang? She sounded terrifying!

Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan looked up in astonishment at Xiao Zi and spoke in unison. "Xiao Sang? Gu Xiaosang?"

Who was she... Meng Qi had heard Xiao Zi mention Gu Xiaosang before, but he had never expected that name to be so famous. Even Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan looked as though they had long heard of her.

"Yes, Gu Xiaosang. She's here. She wants to kill me, sob, sob..." Xiao Zi cried, seeming on the verge of collapse.

Seeing Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan both turn grave, Meng Qi secretly guessed, Is Gu Xiaosang a renowned figure in the main world? Otherwise, why would they have heard of her?

But weren't there only a few Reincarnators in this mission?

Could she be a Reincarnator from the opposing camp?

But that does not seem right either. Lord of Six Paths Samsara gave no prompt!

Several people looked at each other. Just as Jiang Zhiwei was about to use Sound Transmission to tell Meng Qi who Gu Xiaosang was, a horn suddenly sounded outside, startling them all.

Woooo!

The long horn call was bleak and distant, yet carried a fierce intensity. Then came the thunder of hooves, like crashing waves striking the shore, swiftly drawing near from afar.

"Iron Wolf Soldiers! Iron Wolf Soldiers!" Wei Wuji's expression changed dramatically, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably. The arrival of the Iron Wolf Soldiers meant Great General Du'er Cha was nearby!

He shouted aloud, "Fellow true men and martial heroes, the Iron Wolf Soldiers are attacking! Quickly retreat into Shaolin and defend the mountain road passes!"

The terrain at the foot of the mountain was wide and open; he knew he could not withstand so many Iron Wolf Soldiers.

"Great Hero Wei is right!"

"Quickly, to the Mountain Gate!"

Seeing dust billowing up in the distance in a vast haze, the martial heroes and righteous men remembered the Iron Wolf Soldiers' fearsome reputation. A trace of fear rose in them for no reason, and they surged toward the Mountain Gate.

Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and the others also looked into the distance through the inn window. They saw iron cavalry dragging a sky full of dust behind them as they came in a mighty torrent, every rider clad in jet-black full-body armor with only a pair of eyes exposed.

"Kneel on the ground, and you will not be killed!" From amid the iron cavalry came a voice of imposing depth, cold as iron. Even across the great distance, everyone at the foot of the mountain heard it clearly.

"Du'er Cha! Great General Du'er Cha!" Wei Wuji's face turned deathly pale in an instant. He cried out in panic to De Guang, who was guarding the Mountain Gate, "Open the gate! Great General Du'er Cha has arrived!"

De Guang was equally pale. "Benefactor Wei, without the Abbot's order, this humble monk cannot open the gate."

"Repaying kindness with enmity! Repaying kindness with enmity! We came to aid you at the risk of our lives, yet you stand by and watch us live or die!" Wei Wuji's face reddened with fury.

The martial heroes around them immediately erupted in clamor, and the scene descended into utter chaos.

"Hmph. Bold in internal strife, cowardly in battle against outsiders—the people of the Central Plains are born lowly." Du'er Cha's voice was like thunder sounding one peal after another.

His figure appeared before the iron cavalry: massive and imposing, a One-Legged Bronze Man in hand. Though he was not on horseback, he stood taller than the other Iron Wolf Soldiers.

He stepped forward, using Ground Shrinking, and crossed the long distance in just a few breaths.

As he drew nearer, the sky suddenly darkened. Wild winds rose, Dark Clouds gathered, and muffled thunder rumbled faintly.

Meng Qi caught the stench of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, as though boundless terror were weighing upon his heart.

"Half-step Outer Scenery, Half-step Outer Scenery." Zhang Yuanshan drew his sword and flicked it with a finger. Its cry rang out like a dragon's roar, jolting Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan awake from the mental influence. The mountains of corpses and seas of blood before their eyes immediately vanished.

Jiang Zhiwei said with barely concealed eagerness, "Du'er Cha truly seems stronger than Master Xinji. Not only has he opened all Nine Apertures, he has also begun to touch upon the Outer World. He only lacks the final step of bringing the inner and outer worlds together. Even if I use 'Sword Comes Without Self,' I fear I would be unable to do anything to him."

"Half-step Outer Scenery?" Meng Qi, ignorant as he was, asked instinctively.

Jiang Zhiwei lifted her delicate chin slightly. "When the inner and outer worlds converge, every gesture can stir the changes of heaven and earth—this is the Outer Scenery realm. In the Outer Scenery realm, every move and stance possesses boundless power and hides profound mysteries; destroying peaks and wiping out cities is nothing difficult. Du'er Cha can already alter the weather to some extent, which shows that he is only half a step away."

"This enemy is far too strong..." Merely from Jiang Zhiwei's description, Meng Qi knew that Du'er Cha was countless times stronger than the Hidden Emperor Fortress Lord from before. Not to mention the uncanny signs of roiling wind and clouds, thunder and rain before them. "He has completely exceeded the limits of what our strength can handle!"

Meng Qi guessed that Jiang Zhiwei, who had already opened Four Apertures—two each for the eyes and ears—could kill experts with seven or eight apertures if she risked everything with "Sword Comes Without Self," and might even have a chance of injuring one with Nine Apertures. But against a formidable opponent who had already begun to touch the mysteries of heaven and earth, one could not defeat the enemy through a supreme move alone. The difficulty of this mission clearly surpassed all imagination!

"Not necessarily. If Master Xinji is unharmed, then with Junior Sister Jiang working alongside him, there should be a chance to kill Du'er Cha," Zhang Yuanshan said helplessly.

He had opened only the Eye Apertures. Against Du'er Cha, he feared he could only block a few moves; he almost did not even have the chance to fight shoulder to shoulder with the others—though he too possessed a trump card, the gap in realms was simply too vast.

After thinking it over, Meng Qi said, "In any case, our mission this time is to hold Shaolin until the very last moment. We may not need to confront Du'er Cha head-on."

Boom!

A massive thunderclap exploded beside their ears. The mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and endless evil ghosts seemed to grow ever clearer.

Influenced by the changes in heaven and earth Du'er Cha had caused, as well as the mental pressure, these martial artists immediately broke down. Some fled in all directions, while others shouted, "These bald donkeys are vicious-hearted! Everyone, kill our way in!"

Rumble!

De Guang and the others guarding the Mountain Gate were jolted by the thunder, their bodies seeming to go numb. They wanted to use the advantage of the terrain to hold back that group of crazed people, yet they lacked the strength even to strike. They could only watch helplessly as the mob breached the Mountain Gate and rushed inside, serving as demons' vanguard.

"Wei—" De Guang saw Wei Wuji's face twisted in a savage expression as he split a palm down upon his head.

Crash... At last, the heavy rain fell, and the ground became a sheet of bloody water.

Du'er Cha stopped before the Mountain Gate, turned his head, and looked coldly toward the nearby inn. In an even tone, he instructed the Iron Wolf Soldiers who had arrived behind him, "Fifty remain here. Leave neither chickens nor dogs alive. The rest, follow me up the mountain."

His face was crisscrossed with wounds, making his original features utterly unrecognizable.

Fifty Iron Wolf Soldiers split off and rushed toward both sides. Their bodies were entirely covered in iron armor, with only a pair of blood-red eyes exposed.

Enter the Mountain Gate within the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, or Main Quest Two will fail.

"We have to follow them into the temple, or the Main Quest will fail," Meng Qi said through gritted teeth upon seeing the Lord of Six Paths Samsara's prompt.

At a time like this, they still had to trail behind and enter the temple. They truly were models of righteous loyalty and chivalrous courage.