Chapter 41: Shadow-Soldier Cavalry

"A higher-grade red candle can be built up using multiple white candles; following this logic, wouldn't condensing a seven-colored candle require sacrificing the living beings of an entire nation? What kind of ability would have to be born to match that?"

Jiang Yan clicked his tongue in his heart; why did this Buddha feel even more twisted than a demon?

He lit the white candle, the white flame flickering, a delicate fragrance overflowing.

His soul, originally like a dried-up pond, seemed to have a spring of water poured into it, instantly coming back to life.

Along with it, his physical state also recovered, restoring one-third of his strength.

"Although the [Soldier Master Mode] severely overdraws my self, it forcibly raised the upper limit of my soul's capacity. Once my injuries recover, my soul will be able to break through the peak of Spirit Opening; now I only lack a cultivation method."

Jiang Yan looked forward to it; once this dungeon ends, he should be able to go back and level up.

The appetizer is over; it is time for the main course.

He killed the Fly Child of the Dao Foundation realm by jumping levels; the risk and reward were directly proportional.

The Fly Child's corpse naturally wouldn't be used to convert life force; that would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, far too wasteful.

It had already been handed over to the Demon God embryo to be gestated into a new, special skill offspring.

[Special Soldier-Horse — Fly Child]

[Description: In ancient times, an Emperor secretly discussed the matter of a general amnesty with his ministers. As the Emperor put pen to paper, he saw a fly land on the tip of his brush and quietly fly away.

The next day, the news spread through every street and alley, and the common people ran to tell each other. It was finally discovered that it was the work of the Fly Child.

Can consume spiritual power and blood essence to create low-level fly swarms to scout information for oneself; can share vision; there is a very small chance of birthing Spirit Flies with special abilities.]

"This is a biological reconnaissance drone."

It just happened to make up for the lack of reconnaissance methods in Jiang Yan's arsenal.

However, he did not choose to use it himself, but instead fed this ability to the Shadow-Eating Great Snake, transforming it into a special soldier-horse named [Shadow-Wing Snake].

Hiss!

The two-headed great snake emerged beneath his feet, its shattered heads drooping, drops of pitch-black blood falling to the ground.

In the span of a breath, they transformed into more than thirty small black snakes the size of a fingernail.

They had wings on their backs and compound eyes similar to insects, floating quietly in the air, silent and still.

Dong!

Jiang Yan said softly: "Go, seek the truth of Monkey King Temple for me!"

As his voice fell, these Shadow-Wing Snakes turned into shadows, slipping through door cracks and window gaps, entering the temple.

The shadows refracted by light were their perfect camouflage.

Jiang Yan felt dozens of faint connections through the Shadow-Eating Great Snake; he chose one at random, and a scene appeared before his eyes, as if he were there in person.

Then he saw...

Bai Ying taking a bath in a tub.

The smoke was swirling; it was indeed very white.

"..."

Jiang Yan was silent, feeling that this Shadow-Wing Snake could take root in the photography industry.

It looked like their planning meeting had ended.

He adjusted the Shadow-Wing Snake's perspective, and just as he was about to leave, he heard Bai Ying say:

"Little sister, in the plan discussed with Huang Mao and the others just now, are we really not planning to bring Sima Luoshui along?"

Jiang Yan hid in a dark corner, not moving an inch.

Bai Xi sat by the bed and said indifferently: "The weak have no choice, elder sister. Do not let your sympathy overflow and do something stupid. Don't forget what our original purpose is."

"To survive."

Bai Ying replied, whispering in defense: "It's just that I read in books that the monks, Daoists, children, and women in the pugilistic world are not to be trifled with. Could a sickly ghost who became a History Walker really lack a few tricks up their sleeve?"

Bai Xi said indifferently: "No matter how many tricks they have, they are useless here; they will only become an unstable factor."

Bai Ying's expression was gloomy, and she muttered: "But perhaps there is a better way that could save everyone..."

"Enough."

Bai Xi interrupted her, saying coldly: "Elder sister, don't always put on this naive, stupid look; it only makes me feel disgusted.

If you want to blame someone, blame this cruel world. Even if we choose to linger on, in the end, we will only become food for the high-grade... If we don't fight, we die."

"I understand."

Bai Ying was silent; the room was deathly still.

Jiang Yan listened to the inexplicable conversation, his thoughts flowing as he switched to other perspectives.

He observed the others.

Huang Mao was sitting cross-legged in his room practicing; the butterfly knife in his hand was actually floating, dancing around his body.

Blade Control Art?

As for the man in the suit, he was standing at the door, communicating with a novice monk in a very soft voice.

The Shadow-Wing Snake slowly approached.

Dong!

Just at this moment, a deep, resonant bell rang out.

"Abbot Shou'e forgot to tell you all: this bell ringing signifies the arrival of the night. This little monk will take his leave first."

The novice monk's expression changed drastically; he hurriedly said goodbye and quickened his pace to leave.

The man in the suit also closed the doors and windows, staying in his room, staring blankly, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Through the perspective of the Shadow-Wing Snake, Jiang Yan had already seen the sky turn black.

The temple, which had previously had a few sounds, was as if it had been pressed on a mute button, silent and soundless.

However, the "Hundred Ghosts Night Parade" he imagined did not appear.

Jiang Yan manipulated the many Shadow-Wing Snakes to fly, arriving first in front of the mural that had been abnormal today, wanting to find the monkey that had blinked while alive.

However, this time, after waiting for a long while, he did not see the monkey's eyes move.

Jiang Yan frowned and turned to fly toward the back mountain, the peach grove transformed from the Monkey King in the story, to look for abnormalities.

In the woods, the blood peaches seen in the afternoon had already been picked clean; other than that, there was nothing unusual.

Jiang Yan kept switching perspectives and finally gained something.

It was a Shadow-Wing Snake heading toward the Zen-Resolving Hall.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Inside the hall, Abbot Shou'e was under a green lamp, his back to the door, a censer placed in front of him, striking a wooden fish and chanting scriptures:

"Great mercy and compassion pity all living beings, great joy and giving save all sentient beings, adorn oneself with the marks of light... Take refuge in the Buddha, take refuge in the Dharma, take refuge in the Sangha; I do not seek the blessings of humans and heavens for myself..."

The Shadow-Wing Snake snuck along the shadows to the front, only to find that the mallet for the wooden fish in front of Shou'e had not been picked up.

Where was the sound coming from?

Soon, Jiang Yan found the source.

The Monkey King statue!

A heavy, deep heartbeat was coming from inside it.

The statue... was actually alive?

Jiang Yan's eyes were filled with surprise as he secretly observed. When the scripture chanting ended, Abbot Shou'e looked at the Monkey King statue in front of him and muttered:

"We will inherit your will and suppress the demons..."

Before Shou'e could finish speaking, the Monkey King, who had been sitting in the lotus position, suddenly stood up, one hand forming the Sanshan Seal, the other hand presenting a bowl shape, pointing toward himself.

The heartbeat was like a thundering drum.

Rumble!

The entire hall trembled incessantly.

No, that's not right!

According to the perspectives provided by the other Shadow-Wing Snakes, the entire temple had undergone a drastic change.

On the surface of the bronze censers placed in the hall, round, dark-gold pupils had actually grown, constantly rotating and emitting wisps of green smoke.

The wind chimes on the eaves turned into pale monkey claws, swaying gently; the bluestone floor turned into huge, intertwined meridians, with visible flesh and blood pulsing.

The peach grove on the back mountain danced wildly, the trunks twisting like ten thousand strands of hair growing on a skull.

The soil beneath the peach trees churned, and blood-colored figures crawled out from underground.

Their appearance was similar to apes, like living creatures that had been skinned, connected to the tree roots behind them, starting to approach the temple, only to be dragged back by the tree roots connected to their backs.

The once magnificent temple had turned into a nest of living demons.

Eerie and twisted.

Dong!

Soon, the bell rang, shattering all the terrifying scenes and returning the temple to its original state.

It was as if an illusion had shattered, returning to reality.

The blood-colored figures in the back mountain were also entangled by the peach tree roots, quickly shriveling up and being buried underground.

Soon, brand-new blood peaches grew on the peach trees, looking sweet and delicious.

"Amitabha."

Abbot Shou'e appeared near the bell tower at some unknown time, beside him the bronze bell engraved with reversed Sanskrit.

His eyes were full of compassion as he loudly chanted the Buddha's name:

"Amitabha, dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth; do not be obsessed. With us here, you shall not destroy the statue of the Monkey King and break the seal."

The voice echoed over the temple; although Huang Mao and the others had not left their rooms, they understood that something major had happened.

Jiang Yan looked at the temple that had returned to its original appearance, feeling somewhat regretful; he had been just a little bit away from seeing the truth.

The exploration progress of the mission, however, had increased to 10%.

At the same time,

A wandering Shadow-Winged Snake happened to pass by the mural again, but it stopped.

Just when the anomaly occurred, a large amount of fresh blood had seeped out from the roof tiles, flowing onto the wall mural, which washed away the white lime and revealed an old mural underneath.

It was not restored along with everything else.

In the painting, there were a few more plot points than in the original version.

In the story, the Monkey King was severely injured in order to suppress an evil spirit, and the rabbits and humans fashioned a golden body for him and enshrined him.

And so... this temple came to be.

The Monkey King, fashioned into a golden body, looked down upon all living beings with compassionate eyes.

Those eyes, which had originally been lowered, suddenly turned to look at the Shadow-Winged Snake in the shadows, locking gazes with it.

The gaze was profound, spanning across space, looking at Jiang Yan behind it.

This caused a cold sweat to break out on Jiang Yan's back.

"Is this guy still alive?"

Jiang Yan pondered in his heart; seeing those eyes so calm, yet with the white candle burning, he could feel a faint sense of sorrow.

The Monkey King... what was he grieving for?

Tap, tap, tap!

Soon, hurried footsteps approached, and the grey-robed monks used their repair tools to skillfully paint the wall white again.

Everything returned to its original state.

"So that's how it is."

Jiang Yan, in the room, closed his eyes to organize what he had seen and heard, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

He suddenly understood how to...

speedrun the dungeon!

(End of chapter)