Chapter 41: Shadow Soldiers

"A higher-grade red candle can be stacked from multiple white candles; by extension, wouldn't condensing a seven-colored candle require sacrificing an entire nation's living beings? What kind of ability would have to be born to match that?"

Jiang Yan clicked his tongue in his heart; this Buddha felt even more twisted than a demonic fiend.

He lit the white candle; the white flame glowed faintly, and a fresh fragrance spread everywhere.

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

Along with it, the body's condition also recovered, restoring one-third of his strength.

"Although the 【Soldier Lord Mode】 severely overdrafts the self, it forcibly raises the soul's capacity limit. Once my injuries recover, the soul can break through the peak of Spirit Awakening; now, only the Practice Method is missing."

Jiang Yan felt expectation in his heart; this dungeon should end soon, allowing him to return and upgrade.

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

He killed a Foundation Realm Fly Child across levels; the risk and reward were proportional.

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

It has already been entrusted to the Demon God Embryo to nurture into a new, special skill offspring.

【Special Soldier - Fly Child】

【Description: In ancient times, an Emperor secretly deliberated with his ministers on a general amnesty for the realm. As the Emperor dipped his brush to write, he saw a fly land on the brush tip and quietly fly away.

The next day, the news spread through every street and alley; the common people ran to tell one another. It was later discovered that the Fly Child was responsible.

It can consume spiritual power and blood qi to create low-level fly swarms to scout information for oneself, sharing the viewpoint, with a tiny chance of a special-ability spirit fly being born.】

"This is a biological reconnaissance drone."

It perfectly made up for Jiang Yan's lack of reconnaissance means.

However, he did not choose to use it himself; instead, he fed this ability to the Shadow-Eating Great Serpent, transforming it into a special soldier named 【Shadow-Winged Snake】.

Hiss! Hiss!

The two-headed great serpent manifested beneath his feet; its shattered head hung down, with drops of pitch-black blood falling to the ground.

In a single breath, it transformed into more than thirty black snakes the size of fingernails.

They bore double wings on their backs and possessed compound eyes similar to insects, floating silently in the air, quiet and soundless.

Thump!

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

As the words fell, these Shadow-Winged Snakes turned into shadows, slipping away through door cracks and window gaps, entering the temple.

Refracted light and shadows were their perfect camouflage.

Jiang Yan, through the Shadow-Eating Great Serpent, felt dozens of faint connections; he casually selected one, and an image appeared before his eyes, as if he were there in person.

Then he saw...

Little White bathing in a tub.

Mist swirled; indeed, she was very white.

"..."

Jiang Yan fell silent, feeling this Shadow-Winged Snake could take root in the photography industry.

It seems they have finished discussing their plan.

He adjusted the Shadow-Winged Snake's viewpoint, and just as he prepared to leave, he heard Little White say:

"Sister, in the plan just discussed with Huang Mao and the others, are we really not planning to take Sima Sima Luoshui along?"

Jiang Yan hid in a dark corner, motionless.

Little Black sat by the bed and spoke indifferently: "The weak have no chance of choice. Sister, do not let your sympathy overflow and do something foolish. Do not forget what our original goal was."

"To survive."

Little White answered, explaining in a low voice: "I just read in a book that monks, Taoists, children, and women in the Jianghu are not to be trifled with. Can a History Walker who has become a consumptive ghost possess no means at all?"

Little Black said indifferently: "No matter how many means one has, they are useless here; they only become unstable factors."

Little White's expression grew gloomy as she murmured, "But perhaps there is a better way to save everyone..."

"Enough."

Little Black interrupted her, speaking coldly: "Sister, do not always put on that naive, foolish look; it only makes me feel disgusted.

Blame the cruelty of this world. Even if we choose to drag out our existence, in the end, we will only become food for the high-level... If you do not fight, you die."

"I understand."

Little White fell silent; the room was deathly quiet.

Jiang Yan listened to the incomprehensible dialogue, his thoughts swirling, and switched to other viewpoints.

He observed the others.

Huang Mao sat cross-legged in the room practicing; the butterfly knife in his hand actually floated up, circling and dancing around his body.

Sword-Controlling Art?

As for the man in the suit, he stood at the door, exchanging words with the novice monk, his voice very low.

The Shadow-Winged Snake slowly approached.

Thump!

Just at that moment, a deep, heavy bell sound rang out.

"Abbot Shou Yi forgot to tell you; this bell sound signifies the entry into the Night Hour. This humble monk will take his leave first."

The novice monk's face changed suddenly; he hurriedly took his leave and quickened his steps to depart.

The man in the suit also closed the doors and windows, stayed in the room, and stared blankly into space, not knowing what he was thinking.

Through the Shadow-Winged Snake's viewpoint, Jiang Yan had already seen the sky turn dark.

The temple, which had previously had some sounds, seemed to have had its mute button pressed, becoming silent and soundless.

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

Jiang Yan commanded numerous Shadow-Winged Serpents to fly, arriving first before today's anomalous mural, seeking the monkey within that blinked and lived.

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

Jiang Yan frowned, then flew toward the back mountain, the peach grove transformed from the Monkey King in the story, searching for anomalies.

In the forest, the blood peaches seen in the afternoon had been picked clean; apart from that, there was nothing unusual.

Jiang Yan constantly switched perspectives and finally made a discovery.

It was a Shadow-Winged Serpent heading toward the Jiechan Hall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Inside the hall, Abbot Shou'e sat before a green lamp, back to the main door, with an incense burner before him, striking a wooden fish and chanting scriptures:

"Great compassion and great mercy pity all sentient beings; great joy and great giving save all conscious beings; beauty and radiance adorn oneself... Taking refuge in the Buddha, taking refuge in the Dharma, taking refuge in the Sangha, I do not seek heavenly blessings for myself..."

The Shadow-Winged Serpent slipped along the shadow to the front, only to find that the mallet for the wooden fish before Shou'e had not been picked up.

Where was the sound coming from?

Soon, Jiang Yan found the source.

The Monkey King statue!

From within came the heavy, deep sound of a heartbeat.

The statue... was it actually alive?

Jiang Yan's eyes widened in surprise; he observed secretly. After one round of scripture chanting ended, Abbot Shou'e looked at the Monkey King statue before him and murmured:

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

Before Shou'e could finish speaking, the Monkey King, originally seated in the lotus position, suddenly rose, one hand forming the Sanshan Seal, the other hand shaped like a bowl held aloft, pointing at himself.

The heartbeat thundered like drums shaking the sky.

Boom-boom-boom!

The entire great hall trembled without ceasing.

No, that's wrong!

According to the perspectives provided by the other Shadow-Winged Serpents, the whole temple underwent a violent transformation.

On the surfaces of the bronze incense burners originally placed inside the hall, round, dark-golden pupils actually grew, turning constantly and emitting wisps of green smoke.

The wind chimes at the eaves turned into pale monkey claws, swaying gently; the bluestone ground became massive, interwoven meridians, with flesh and blood visibly pulsing.

The peach grove on the back mountain danced wildly; tree trunks twisted as if they were thousands of hairs growing on a skull.

Beneath the peach trees, the soil churned; blood-colored figures drilled out from underground.

Their forms resembled apes and monkeys, like skinned living creatures, with tree roots connected behind them; they began to approach the temple but were held back by the tree roots linked behind them.

The originally magnificent temple had clearly become a living nest of demons.

Eerie, distorted.

Boom!

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

As if the Illusory Realm had shattered, returning to reality.

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

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

"Amitabha."

Abbot Shou'e, at some unknown moment, suddenly appeared near the bell tower, beside a bronze bell carved with inverted Sanskrit mantras.

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

"Amitabha! Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth. Do not remain deluded. With us here, you shall not destroy the statue of Lord Monkey King and break the seal."

His words echoed above the temple; although Huang Mao and others had not left their rooms, they understood that something major had happened.

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

The mission's exploration degree, however, had risen to 10%.

At the same time,

a wandering Shadow-Winged Serpent happened to pass the mural again but stopped.

Just as the anomaly occurred, large amounts of fresh blood seeped from the roof tiles, flowing onto the wall mural, washing away the white lime and revealing an old mural beneath.

It had not been restored as everything else returned to normal.

In the painting, there were some additional plot details compared to the original version.

In the story, the Monkey King, severely injured while suppressing evil demons, had a golden body sculpted for him by rabbits and humans, and was enshrined.

Thus... this temple came into being.

The Monkey King, with his golden body formed, looked down upon all sentient beings, his gaze compassionate.

Those eyes, originally lowered, suddenly turned, looking at the Shadow-Winged Serpent in the shadows, locking gazes with it.

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

Causing Jiang Yan to break out in a cold sweat on his back.

"Is this fellow still alive?"

Jiang Yan pondered in his heart; seeing that the pupil was calm, yet as the white candle burned, he could feel a faint emotion of sorrow.

The Monkey King... why the sorrow?

Tap-tap-tap!

Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps approached; gray-robed monks, holding repair tools, skillfully whitewashed the wall.

Everything returned to normal.

"So that's how it is."

Jiang Yan closed his eyes in the room, sorting through what he had seen and heard, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth.

Suddenly he understood how to...

Speedrun the dungeon!

(End of this chapter)