Chapter 45

The Abbot Shou'e closed his eyes, savoring the afterglow of victory, waiting quietly for the corpses beneath the temple to be refined.

One hour...

Two hours...

Five hours...

A full twelve hours passed, yet the temple remained intact as before under the burning flames.

This bizarre scene completely broke him; he roared hysterically:

"What is happening!?"

The novice monks around him were terrified, kneeling on the ground and continuing to chant scriptures.

"Fools, because this temple is your tribulation!"

Jiang Yan's voice rang out.

"What!?"

Abbot Shou'e turned pale with shock, searching everywhere for Jiang Yan's location, but all he saw were the burning temple, the surrounding novice monks, and Xiao Bai lying on the ground.

"Stop looking, I am here!"

Above the burning Monkey King Temple, a lamp of ash emerged from the void; flames rose, taking human form, then shifted from illusory to solid, becoming Jiang Yan.

He sat cross-legged in mid-air, hands forming the meditation seal; flames danced within the temple like red lotuses blooming, lifting him up.

Like an ancient Buddha seated on a fire lotus.

Abbot Shou'e's gaze turned gloomy: "Are you the one causing trouble?"

"When the false becomes true, the true is also false; what is seen and heard is not real either. You said that last sentence yourself, yet you still cannot see through it."

Jiang Yan's gaze was pitying as he sighed: "Foolish child, your heart is disturbed; you cannot let go!"

"Nonsense! As long as I kill you, everything will return to normal!"

Abbot Shou'e snorted coldly and was about to strike, but the sky suddenly darkened.

A massive blood coffin appeared, blocking out the sun and moon.

A single eye appeared atop the coffin, gazing down at the earth indifferently; its aura was vast, sweeping across the land.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The coffin lid opened; thousands of blood threads fell like raindrops, piercing the bodies of Abbot Shou'e and many novice monks with crushing force.

The area was instantly cleared.

Seeing this, Jiang Yan felt neither sorrow nor joy, and sighed:

"I didn't expect I too fell into the obstacle of knowledge and view; indeed..."

"Cutting down the tiger in the mountain is easy; breaking the monkey in the heart is hard."

"Clearly the path lies beneath my feet, yet I have always remained in place. Only by letting go can one realize one's true nature and see oneself."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Before he could finish speaking, countless blood threads surged from the blood coffin, dragging him inside to be buried together.

However, Jiang Yan did not feel death approaching; only a gentle breeze brushed against him.

He slowly opened his eyes, and what met his gaze was a massive white skeleton of a six-armed, four-eared giant ape, its internal organs hollowed out.

Blood-red trees grew upon the skull like blood-red hair, bearing heavy fruits; the rotting flesh had long turned to soil, covered with waist-high weeds and gravel.

The golden body sculpted on its surface had long been weathered and eroded, spotted with rust.

Its hollow eyes gazed down upon the earth, devoid of joy or sorrow.

It is the mountain; the mountain is also it!

Jiang Yan looked up at it, feeling a chill run down his spine, sensing a vast gap in life levels.

Like an ant encountering a towering mountain ready to collapse at any moment, instinctively wanting to flee.

Hard to imagine how terrifying it must have been when it was alive?

Jiang Yan whispered softly: "Catch them!"

The two-headed Shadow-Eating Great Snake beneath his feet surged out; numerous Shadow-Winged Snakes took flight, diving into the dense weeds.

"Let me go!"

"Help!"

Accompanied by terrified cries, they returned quickly.

The Shadow-Winged Snakes brought back gray rabbits with human faces, struggling incessantly; among them was the humanoid Xiao Bai.

As for the Shadow-Eating Great Snake's mouth, it held a bluish-gray fat rabbit bearing the face of Abbot Shou'e.

It struggled constantly, roaring: "Let me go!"

"Meeting again, Abbot Shou'e, or rather..."

Jiang Yan said meaningfully: "King of the Deceitful Beasts!"

The "Classic of Divine Oddities" records: "In the desolate southwest there exists the Deceitful Beast; its form resembles a rabbit, it has a human face and can speak, often deceiving people, saying east when it means west, saying evil when it means good. Its flesh is delicious; eating it makes one unable to speak the truth."

To translate: this is a creature full of spiritual energy, resembling a rabbit, eloquent and skilled at deceiving others; eating its flesh allows one to master the power of lies and make others believe.

Jiang Yan said: "No wonder you had the other Deceitful Beasts disguise themselves as History Walkers, infiltrating the crowds; your purpose was to use lies to shape your own strength, thereby fabricating power.

Pity that lies are ultimately lies.

Once exposed, they revert to their original forms; moreover, due to the special nature of your abilities, your true forms are far more fragile than demons of the same realm."

Speaking thus, he sized up the fat rabbit from head to toe; Zhao Zhao Yinman's notes seemed to mention that they tasted delicious and were very good to eat.

But having a human face...

Truly disgusting!

Jiang Yan said calmly, "I only understood at the very end that the figure and the rabbit in the mural are not two different creatures at all, but the process of you stealing the power of the Heart Ape, shaping a golden body, and transforming from a rabbit into a human."

Shou E, knowing the tide had turned against him, said coldly, "Isn't there only that dead monkey in the mural? Where did the rabbit come from?"

"But I have guessed it; that monkey must have been hiding in the shadows to help you, right? A move once made cannot be taken back; I am willing to accept my loss in this gamble."

"You truly lack spiritual roots; you still do not understand even now."

Jiang Yan cut it off and said softly, "The Monkey King died long ago. It is only because you feared its power, feared it would rise from the dead, that your heart re-nurtured it, transforming it into the Heart Ape—which is that very temple suppressing the Monkey King."

Upon hearing this, Shou E trembled all over, his hair standing on end, and roared, "You are lying! How can the Heart Ape be a temple?"

Jiang Yan shook his head and sighed, "Who said the Heart Ape must be in human form? All things in the world are merely appearances; it is your heart that gives them meaning."

"Just like you: though you live in the Hall of Unbinding Zen, you only borrowed the notion of slander, becoming the Hall of Borrowed Slander. Your six senses are unclean, and desires run rampant."

"If you wish to break it, your method is simpler than anyone else's; no sacrificial ritual is needed. You need only walk out, and the Heart Ape will dissolve on its own."

"Unfortunately, you thought the temple suppressed the Monkey King, not realizing that it has instead trapped you."

Speaking of this, Jiang Yan could not help but sigh.

Who could have imagined that the solution to clearing the Sick Domain instance was hidden right at the very beginning?

The mission information given by the River of History had already provided a hint: it was the abbot who explained the rules, not the rules of the Sick Domain itself.

Mission One was even more of a reminder: after staying one night, do not lose yourself within it and become infected by the disease.

This is because sleep blurs one's concept of time, causing one to believe this place is real and fall into the obstacle of perception and knowledge.

Relying on the Lamp of Ashes for early warning, and discovering that the Three Corpses Worms could manifest out of thin air and be slain, Jiang Yan realized this realm might be false.

Those blood-colored figures beneath the peach trees were not the resentment of the Monkey King, but rather...

... the obsessions of the Deceit Beasts.

They wanted to approach the temple and awaken themselves.

Yet they could never reach it, forced to turn into blood peaches and be devoured by their own selves.

An eternal cycle of reincarnation.

From the very beginning,

Jiang Yan had entered a false Sick Domain that shifted from illusion to reality under the dual influence of the Heart Ape's remains and the Deceit Beast King deceiving itself.

Therefore, even if Shou E were killed a hundred times within the Monkey King Temple, it would be useless.

Similarly, as long as Jiang Yan firmly believed he had not died, he would not die.

Even the Two-Headed Shadow-Eating Serpent was repaired only because of his firm belief.

The only victim was the Coffin Spirit.

Not only did it not get a single bite, but it also dug in vain for half a day.

As compensation, Jiang Yan let the Coffin Spirit instantly kill the opponent at the very end.

However, the inner layer of the Sick Domain was merely illusory and meaningless.

The method to break it was also very simple.

That was to not enter the temple, and then commit suicide.

Only by letting go can one see one's true self,

and glimpse the true Sick Domain.

"It sounds simple, but aligning knowledge with action is the hardest part."

If Jiang Yan had not possessed the Lamp of Ashes and the ability of the White Candle to perceive emotions after burning, he would not have been able to find himself within the illusion.

Indeed, he almost lost himself within it because his heart was not firm enough.

This journey through the Sick Domain indeed brought him much gain.

In his gaze, historical dust gathered, quickly forming a mission panel.

【Turbid Flow Grade A — Monkey King Temple】

【Main Mission One: Completed】

【Main Mission Two: Exploration Progress 95%】

【Evaluation: Grade A+】

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(End of Chapter)