Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin

The sudden sight of a figure in the dark woods nearly sent Su Wu's heart leaping into his throat.

The way the figure stood like a block of wood beside the stream made it all the more unnerving.

He resolved not to approach the stream and shifted his feet, intending to back away.

But just then, the figure turned around.

Her face resembled a huge peach, with two bright red patches smeared across the cheeks of her luminous white face.

That enormous face made her neck look very thin.

Like the stem on the heart symbol of a playing card.

She had neither a bridge nor a tip to her nose, only two pitch-black nostrils facing Su Wu. Her little mouth resembled a strawberry, wriggling slightly as a soft, delicate voice emerged. "Where are you going?

"Will you take me with you?"

The voice alone would have reminded anyone of the gentlest, most obedient woman they had ever met.

A soft, warm breath curled around Su Wu's neck, like a girl's arms slipping around him.

He looked down at his neck-two slender, delicate arms, so white they seemed to glow, had already wrapped around it!

A paranormal entity!

Cold sweat instantly soaked the back of Su Wu's clothes!

He remembered the sight of "Zhuo Jie's" father covered in pairs of snow-white arms and immediately realized he had encountered the same entity.

The entity that had been pursuing him had caught up the moment he let his guard down!

As he registered the danger, Su Wu instinctively tried to turn and flee-

Yet his attempt to turn resembled footage dropping frames. Even after three breaths, he still had not completed the movement.

More and more small, pale hands emerged from his cuffs and the front of his clothes, embracing him from every direction, layer upon layer!

"This... entity... can... slow... my-movements!"

"...And... my... thoughts..."

Su Wu barely managed to move his eyes and saw the entity suddenly "fly" from the stream to a treetop ahead.

She floated like a kite released into the air, almost weightless.

Only when "she" drew closer did Su Wu notice the two long, tight sleeves on either side of her thick emerald-green robe.

Both narrow cuffs were knotted, swaying in the wind-the entity's arms did not seem to be inside them.

This was the "Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin" Zhuo Jie's father had mentioned!

Now, Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin's belly bulged as though a watermelon had been stuffed inside.

Had she already swallowed Zhuo Jie's father?

Staring at Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin's belly, Su Wu's thoughts began to turn.

Whether because he was about to die or for some other reason, his mind began working normally again.

"Where are you going?"

"Will you take me with you?"

The soft, delicate voice drifted once more from Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin's little strawberry-like lips.

The snow-white hands nearest Su Wu's mouth spread their fingers, pried it open, and began trying to tear it apart in every direction-

"Aaaah!"

The corners of Su Wu's mouth felt as though they were about to split!

A cry of agony burst from his throat!

Yet his mouth did not actually tear. Instead, the little hands stretched it wider and wider until it was nearly large enough to hold a basketball!

Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin floated down from the treetop, trying to push her little head into Su Wu's basketball-sized mouth.

What the hell was this thing?!

Su Wu's eyes widened in horror. Just as Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin's head was about to enter his mouth, several loud barks suddenly rang out through the shadowy woods around him!

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

A dog?

He moved his eyes and caught sight of a hulking black dog, as sturdy as a calf, bursting out of the woods diagonally across from him and lunging straight toward him!

Only as it drew closer did Su Wu see the strips of colored cloth wrapped around the great dog's neck.

Silver bells dangled beneath every strip.

"Jingle, jingle, jingle..."

The bells rang in a rapid, scattered clamor.

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The barking was fierce and piercing!

The black shape lunged forward, leaving an afterimage in Su Wu's vision!

Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin, who had been relentlessly trying to force her way into Su Wu's mouth, suddenly shrieked and trembled as a black gust swept her away.

Far away from Su Wu!

Whew!

The dog stopped in front of Su Wu. Rather than chase Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin, who had inexplicably been blown away by that black gust, it circled him.

It showed no inclination to attack, and Su Wu breathed a sigh of relief. Still, being watched by such a large dog inevitably made him nervous.

Now that the black dog was closer, Su Wu could make out its actual appearance.

The great dog had long fur, a relatively short muzzle, a square face, and a majestic expression.

Most of its long fur was iron-black, except for its four tawny paws. This coloring was commonly called "iron-clad gold."

Just as Su Wu was quietly studying the imposing dog, a few whimpers suddenly sounded from the distant woods.

At the sound, the dog's half-drooping ears pricked up briefly. Then, before Su Wu's eyes, it turned into a black gust and merged with the murky night among the trees.

It vanished in an instant!

This dog was no ordinary canine either!

Then again, an ordinary dog could never have frightened Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin away.

Was it also something akin to a paranormal entity?

Zhuo Jie's hometown was truly mysterious. On his very first visit, Su Wu had encountered two bizarre events in a single night.

Su Wu silently congratulated himself on escaping disaster without wasting 500 Origin Jade.

But another thought immediately struck him-now that the great dog had left, would Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin seize another opportunity to catch up?

No, I had to get moving!

Head northwest and find the ritual master Zhuo Jie's father had mentioned!

Only there would I truly be safe!

A hard lesson made a man wiser.

This time, Su Wu had no intention of relaxing or letting his guard down. After identifying northwest, he bolted.

Instead of maintaining a steady pace as before, he alternated between fast and slow.

Whenever exhaustion forced him to slow down, he invariably picked up speed again as soon as he recovered a little strength!

He traveled like this for an entire night and day.

When his food and drinking water had run out completely, Su Wu finally saw the temple Zhuo Jie's father had described.

It was a small temple formed from several overlapping single-story buildings. Black prayer valances ran around the tops of their red-painted walls.

Golden characters twisted like earthworms across the valances, looking particularly mysterious in the glow of the evening clouds.

Su Wu glanced at the half-open vermilion temple gate but saw no one standing guard there.

He paused beneath the rise on which the temple stood. After surveying his surroundings, he followed the steps that stretched from the foot of the rise to the temple gate.

Far off in the sky, winds and clouds shifted, the sunset clouds unfurling and curling, making the great snow-covered mountains on the horizon alternately brighten and dim.

The walk from the foot of the rise to the temple gate was only a few dozen steps, yet amid the violent changes in wind and cloud, the sky had already darkened.

Standing before the threshold of the Little Temple, Su Wu craned his head to look inside. In the dim light, he saw thick, pitch-black felt curtains hanging over the doorways of several rooms.

The thick fabric kept out the cold wind and blocked the light.

Su Wu could not see inside the rooms at all.

After a moment's hesitation, he lifted the felt curtain over the first doorway on his left and stepped inside.