Chapter 49: Zen Master Yinke

"You wish to see the Abbot? I'm afraid the Abbot has no time for that," the tall, thin monk said, looking troubled.

"A monk should be at..." Guo Ming recited the times when monks were supposed to perform their daily duties.

Having traveled to many famous mountains and ancient temples, how could he possibly not know these things?

"The Abbot is busy with other matters," the tall, thin monk hurriedly tried to patch things up.

This made Guo Ming's expression even uglier; if you're going to fool someone, you should at least find a better excuse.

The mountain had already been sealed off; what could there possibly be to keep him so busy?

"You bald donkey, you have no sense of what's good for you," Chu Danqing said with a laugh and a curse, pulling out a small ingot of silver and tossing it to him. "I am grateful for your temple's hospitality and wish to offer some incense money."

"And have the Abbot transcribe two copies of scripture for us to take back. You're dawdling over such a small matter."

After catching the small silver ingot and hearing that there was more money to be had, greed appeared in the tall, thin monk's eyes.

But then, remembering what their "Abbot" truly was, a shiver ran through his heart.

"I... I will go and ask the Abbot," the tall, thin monk gritted his teeth. He would be a fool to turn away money.

Moreover, he was confident he could persuade their "Abbot" to see these two.

With that said, the tall, thin monk turned and left.

Seeing this, Chu Danqing and Guo Ming exchanged a glance, both revealing smiles.

The two of them were playing the roles of the good cop and the bad cop, then breaking through by exploiting the other party's greed.

After about ten minutes, the tall, thin monk came to invite them, saying the Abbot would see them.

Guided by the other party, they soon arrived at a room where a stove was burning, making it extremely warm.

They saw a man who looked like an old Zen master, his face full of benevolence, twisting his prayer beads as if silently chanting scriptures.

"This is our Abbot, Zen Master Yinke," the tall, thin monk introduced.

Chu Danqing and Guo Ming sat directly in front of him, while Dabao stood behind Chu Danqing, ready to act at any moment.

"I hear you two patrons seek two hand-copied scriptures. I have been inconvenienced recently and can only offer scriptures from the Sutra Library as gifts," Zen Master Yinke said slowly, opening his eyes.

"We are deeply grateful for such a generous gift from the Zen Master," Chu Danqing replied.

As he spoke, the Zen master's head seemed to grow a size larger, appearing extremely strange.

The two of them acted as if they didn't see it and continued chatting with Zen Master Yinke.

At first, the topics were superficial and Zen Master Yinke could handle them, but as the conversation deepened, Zen Master Yinke began to struggle.

Finally, he could only say: "I am tired today; let us speak again in a few days."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Dabao.

Chu Danqing and Guo Ming posed no threat to him, but Dabao was different and required caution.

"Then we shall take our leave," Chu Danqing said, rising and taking the opportunity to use Scouting Art on Zen Master Yinke.

In an instant, Zen Master Yinke's gaze turned fierce, and the corners of his mouth split open, revealing sharp fangs.

Fortunately, he restrained himself very quickly.

"Forgive me, I caught a cold earlier, and my face is a bit stiff," Zen Master Yinke hurriedly tried to cover it up.

Chu Danqing's expression remained unchanged as he immediately said, "The Abbot should take better care of his health."

After speaking, the three of them left the room. Guo Ming wiped cold sweat from his forehead: "That was close, it scared the life out of me."

He thought Zen Master Yinke was about to attack when he changed earlier; luckily, the other party wasn't hungry, which is why he didn't strike immediately.

None of the three stopped on the road, and after returning to their quarters, Chu Danqing finally had time to check the digitized data of the other party.

【Zen Master Yinke】

【Attributes】

【HP: 10%】

【Mana: None】

【Strength: 1】

【Agility: 1】

【Constitution: 1】

【Spirit: 5】

【Perception: 5】

Chu Danqing looked at the attributes and felt something was wrong; could this be the data of a Stumbling Tiger?

The name was wrong, the attributes were low, and it didn't even have any talents or skills.

"This Stumbling Tiger has truly become a spirit; not only can it drive ghost servants, but now it can even wear skin to become human. It's just that it isn't proficient in this art, which is why it's full of flaws," Guo Ming said after gulping down tea to calm his nerves.

Chu Danqing didn't dwell on how Guo Ming knew this, but instead asked, "Does this skin-wearing transformation reduce the Stumbling Tiger's strength?"

"Naturally, it does not."

"However, this human skin is extremely fragile to a tiger; if it's not careful, it will tear, so it must be very cautious."

Guo Ming added, "The peeled skin is also no ordinary object."

"If worn by a vicious tiger for a long time, it will also become a ghostly object; it might even become a Painted Skin Ghost Servant."

Now Chu Danqing understood; the attributes he scouted were correct, but they weren't the Stumbling Tiger's, but those of the human skin.

The Stumbling Tiger's sudden agitation earlier wasn't because of Chu Danqing's Scouting Art, but because when Chu Danqing scouted Zen Master Yinke's human skin, the skin mutated, and the Stumbling Tiger thought it was rebelling, so it warned the skin.

Zen Master Yinke and the Stumbling Tiger were not the same individual.

"It's a pity we are trapped in the temple. These ghost servants are most greedy for sour things; if we could find some fresh plums, dried plums, or other sour items, it would be enough to lure the ghost servants away from the temple," Guo Ming couldn't help but say.

Upon hearing this, Chu Danqing said silently, "This... I have."

As he spoke, Chu Danqing took out a bottle of vinegar and asked, "Is this enough?"

Guo Ming was slightly surprised: "Universe in the Sleeve? It doesn't look like it. To have such an art, Brother Chu's inheritance is not low."

"Just some wild fox Zen, nothing compared to you," Chu Danqing replied.

"There are only three or five ghost servants; this bottle of vinegar is enough, but unfortunately..." Guo Ming meant it wasn't enough.

Chu Danqing said, then brought out a crate of apple cider vinegar drinks and quite a few sour fruits.

"Brother Chu carries these foods when going out?" Guo Ming's worldview was slightly refreshed.

"There was more, but Dabao ate quite a bit," Chu Danqing said honestly.

Guo Ming looked at Dabao's size and felt it was very reasonable.

"In that case, let's act tonight!" Guo Ming suddenly became confident: "Eliminating the ghost servants in the temple is not difficult."

"The only thing is this Stumbling Tiger..." Speaking of this, Guo Ming paused as a plan formed in his mind: "I remember there is a dry well in the Stumbling Tiger's courtyard."

"You and I can work together to trick this Stumbling Tiger and push it into the well, then have Dabao seal it with a large stone."

"Delaying it for a while will be enough."

Chu Danqing didn't quite understand: "Can't we just lure the ghost servants away and kill the Stumbling Tiger directly? There's no need to kill the ghost servants first, right?"

"Brother Chu, you don't know, these ghost servants are the tiger's strength; killing them is weakening it."

"Once the ghost servants are all dead, the Stumbling Tiger will lose at least thirty or forty percent of its power, cutting off the possibility of it recovering by devouring ghost servants," Guo Ming explained to Chu Danqing why.

"So that's how it is." Chu Danqing suddenly realized, then said meaningfully: "Brother Guo comes from an extraordinary background; you truly have a deep family heritage."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 50 =====