Chapter 75: Cidu Temple

Tok... tok... tok...

A burst of tranquil sandalwood fragrance entered his nose.

Ding Mo was sizing up the unfamiliar environment around him.

Green lamps and ancient Buddhas, woven mats and green bricks, vermilion wooden pillars—everything pointed to the nature of this Buddhist Temple.

Inside the towering "Daxiong Treasure Hall,"

three mountain-like ancient Buddha statues sat solemnly on the dais, majestic and sacred.

Inside the great hall, over a dozen figures were sitting on meditation cushions, chanting scriptures under the lead of an old monk.

Tok, tok, tok...

The sound of a wooden fish being struck echoed in his ears.

Ding Mo focused his attention on his retina, and sure enough, a line of information appeared:

【Task Background: "Cidu Temple" has a long history and covers a vast area; legend has it that it was built by an ancient high monk to deliver the souls of those who died on the battlefield.】

【Task: As a Lay Disciple of Cidu Temple, enter the temple with your cousin to pray and observe the Precepts for seven days, until the sun rises the day after the Double Ninth Festival.】

【Advice: Compassion delivers souls, Cidu Temple; delivering people, delivering not, delivering not delivering.】

【Threshold: 161%】

At this moment, among the others, some had also woken up one after another after the "Curtain" disappeared and began to size up their surroundings.

Compared to the other monks, they were clearly very different.

First of all, they did not shave their heads, and their clothing was not uniform; compared to monks, they clearly looked more like pilgrims.

These were the "Lay Disciples" here.

Ding Mo was one of them, and the "Lay Disciple" closest to him was a woman with an excellent figure.

"￥&... %%... &" Up front, the old monk beneath the spiritual dais was chanting with intense focus.

The three ancient, majestic Buddha statues stood silently on the dais, seemingly listening to everyone's piety.

Taking advantage of this time, Ding Mo recalled the experience of the "teleportation" just now.

At first, just like when he tested it in the study before, when he himself was being erased, the "Curtain" would shake violently!

It was as if it were trying to "shake off" something.

However, compared to Ding Mo's own shaking, the "Typewriter's" shaking was clearly faster, with a much higher frequency!

That frequency was so high it had reached an extremely subtle level that was hard to perceive; this intensity of frequency seemed to have completely disrupted the light waves falling on the transparent Curtain,

and the result was that Ding Mo was "detached" from the original world entirely!

When the light waves were completely chaotic, he felt as if he had lost his "foothold" and fell abruptly!

It was just like trash thrown out of a car window, swept away by a gale from outside the world.

Because this process was so fast and so chaotic, Ding Mo could not yet sort it out clearly.

He estimated... he would have to see it one more time to have a chance to master it!

"Ding... Mo?"

Just as Ding Mo was brainstorming, trying hard to recall the "teleportation" experience from just now, a voice came from beside him.

Ding Mo turned his head to look, and it was the woman who had been sitting beside him who had already woken up?

According to the Typewriter's paper report before entering, she was Ding Mo's cousin—Jiang Liuxue.

"Uh... Cousin, what's wrong?" Ding Mo called out somewhat awkwardly.

He had not expected the "Typewriter" to arrange a living cousin for him as well.

"Hmm." Jiang Liuxue only responded faintly.

She seemed to only want to strike up a conversation with Ding Mo, her 'younger cousin,' to get familiar with the situation, but she did not have much interest in talking.

Moreover, at this time, not only them, but the others were also whispering, which drew the old monk's attention.

He turned his head, revealing a single, murky eye, and looked toward the crowd.

The great hall went quiet in an instant.

But a moment later, the old monk was heard shaking his head and sighing:

"People these days... Very well, since it is your first day reporting and you are not yet accustomed to things, we shall stop here for today.

"You may move about freely in the vicinity of this hall, or return to your quarters, but remember!" At this, the old monk became extremely serious,

"You must not violate the temple's Precepts! The Handbook I just gave you must be studied carefully!

"If anyone violates them within these seven days, do not blame me for showing no mercy!!"

As he spoke, he swept his murky, single eye over the crowd and then stood up to leave.

Watching him walk away, the crowd began to chatter again.

"Let's get to know each other, who are you?" A young man wearing a suit and a platinum Ear Stud began to actively introduce himself to the others.

And some people set their sights on the ordained disciples who had shaved their heads.

"Greetings, Senior Brother, may I ask if there is anything in Cidu Temple that one needs to be careful about?" a middle-aged man asked with a fawning smile.

They looked like they were very familiar with this place, so asking them was never wrong!

The ordained disciple heard this, glanced at him, and seemed somewhat speechless:

"Can you read the Handbook the Master gave you before asking me?"

"Ah... ah! Okay, okay!" The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then agreed repeatedly.

Besides these two, there was also one woman and two men; although they remained silent, they were also familiarizing themselves with the environment, and even took the Handbook the old monk mentioned out of their pockets and began to read it.

Their psychological resilience was extremely high.

"No newcomers?" Ding Mo's heart sank slightly when he saw this.

This was also a rule everyone had summarized in the Isolation Zone—in a single Task, if there were no newcomers, it meant the average difficulty would increase by at least one level.

On the other side, seeing Ding Mo's appearance, Jiang Liuxue could not help but ask in a low voice:

"You, how many Tasks have you survived? You seem very calm."

She lowered her voice, not letting the monks nearby hear. Otherwise, their Threshold would be deducted.

However, once these words were out, her Threshold still dropped a little; after all, this conversation did not fit their Identity as siblings.

But this was basic information, and it would not be good not to understand it.

"I have survived 2 Tasks." Ding Mo nodded to her, and he also had some Threshold deducted.

Jiang Liuxue nodded, and looking at her expression, she seemed indifferent to this.

"I have also survived 2."

At this moment, the rest of the monks had also left the main hall, as if they had something to do.

Only a group of so-called "lay disciples" remained.

Just as well, everyone got to know each other.

After going around the circle, the enthusiastic man in the suit wearing an Ear Stud was named "Zhu Dechang," and he had survived 4 Typewriter Tasks.

The middle-aged man who had questioned the monk was named "Xiao Yong," and he was said to be a surgeon.

Jiang Liuxue he already knew, and as for the remaining one woman and two men, they were Zhou Lan, Qin Yifei, and Xiong Lihui.

However, names and such were just forms of address. The most critical thing was,

Everyone present claimed to have survived at least 2 Tasks; there was not even one person who had only survived 1 Task!

If that was the case, the difficulty... would likely have to be raised by another level!

Everyone clearly knew this conclusion, and the main hall suddenly fell silent.

"... Haha, everyone be a bit more cheerful," at this moment, the young man in the suit named Zhu Dechang spoke up:

"We only need to stay for seven days, and we can go back; the time is not long at all."

"Besides, I have often come here to pray before. If you all trust me, just stay with me, and I will guide you."

Often come here to pray?

This was clearly a lie; there was a hidden meaning in his words, which should have been "I have survived 4 Tasks, you can rely on me."

As for why he did not say it directly, it was likely because he was afraid of losing too much "Threshold."