Chapter 87: The Sweeping Monk

Hiding? Xiong Lihui looked around for a long time and actually discovered a small room! Reading novels to kill boredom is super reliable at ttk. tw.

He didn't know what it was for, but the Lianlang filled with scarlet light was truly too terrifying.

Even at this moment, as the sky grew dim, the wind chimes hanging on the Lianlang began to sway gently, emitting a "ding-dang" sound.

It was as if it were declaring that some kind of "thing" was coming!

Xiong Lihui took two steps in one and immediately hid inside the small room.

Closing the door and temporarily isolating the eerie corridor outside, Xiong Lihui finally let out a sigh of relief.

He turned his head back.

Inside the Quiet Room, Zhu Dechang's expression suddenly changed, and he covered his ears!

Seeing this, Ding Mo couldn't help but say, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing... just a bit of a side effect." Zhu Dechang panted for a while, blue veins faintly bulging on his forehead.

In reality, others didn't know, but the sound in his ears at this moment had turned into a terrifying echo of "I've come to find you, I've come to find you!"

And the voice was still Xiong Lihui's!

Actually, this wasn't the first time; just a moment ago, Zhu Dechang had even heard Xiong Lihui, while speaking, pretend to "casually" ask for his name.

However, he was already used to it; this was still one of the side effects of this "Ear Stud." If he were to accidentally respond one day, he would likely disappear from this world for no reason and be taken to an unknown space.

After a while, when communication was restored, Zhu Dechang immediately heard Xiong Lihui's panicked panting!

He seemed to be running away!?

"What's going on? Xiong Lihui? Can you hear me?" Zhu Dechang knew something had gone wrong and asked three questions in a row.

At the same time, he explained to the others: "Something happened over there."

Meanwhile, Xiong Lihui was running along the Lianlang, feeling very panicked.

Just now, in that small room, there was actually a corpse with a burst-open stomach!

It was slumped at the end of the small room, facing the incoming Xiong Lihui.

The most terrifying thing was that the corpse's burst-open stomach was stuffed with wood, cloth, and even dirt, as if it had been stuffed to death by these things!

No, Xiong Lihui felt it must have been too hungry and was starved to death alive!

Just like himself right now!

Having not eaten lunch, plus the physical exertion, Xiong Lihui was already a bit hungry now.

Moreover, this corridor still had no end.

Xiong Lihui gritted his teeth and ran for a while, but in despair, he never found any other place that could serve as a shelter.

He had nowhere left to run.

At this time, the sky had completely darkened, and the heavy darkness pressed against the outside of the Lianlang; the world seemed to only consist of this narrow corridor space.

"... Xiong Lihui, how are you? What happened?"

If it weren't for the occasional sound of Zhu Dechang's voice in his ear, Xiong Lihui would have felt like he was going to collapse!

"I, I saw a corpse..." Xiong Lihui's words suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

Because, at the corner directly ahead, under a red lantern, a bald figure had appeared out of nowhere...

"What did you say, what corpse? Can you describe it in detail?" Zhu Dechang sat there and said seriously.

But the response was:

"I, I don't know, I've already left that place."

"? Then where are you now?"

"I'm still in the corridor, I just saw a monk... he seems to be sweeping the floor?"

A monk?

Xiong Lihui's words made everyone in the Quiet Room, except for Zhou Lan, look at each other.

Ding Mo thought for a moment and immediately said: "I think asking for directions is also a clue to getting out of the Lianlang."

Zhu Dechang nodded and relayed his words to Xiong Lihui.

Upon hearing this, Xiong Lihui swallowed a mouthful of saliva and slowly approached the figure in the distance.

He had wanted to go over and take a look anyway; after all, continuing like this wasn't a solution. He was just a bit scared in his heart, fearing whether what he encountered in this place was actually human.

But under the judgment of the others, he still bit the bullet and walked over.

Close up, Xiong Lihui finally saw clearly that this person had a bald head, was dressed in layman's robes, and the corners of his mouth were hooked into a charitable smile.

Standing under a vermilion pillar, lightly sweeping the ground, he looked quite amiable.

As soon as Xiong Lihui approached, the Sweeping Monk raised his head to look over and took the initiative to speak.

He smiled: "Does the benefactor have any business?"

Xiong Lihui looked at the worn-out broom in his hand and said cautiously:

"I am not a benefactor; I am a Lay Disciple who just entered the Temple to observe the precepts, my name is..."

Speaking to this point, he suddenly paused, then changed his tone and said:

"The disciple has just entered the Temple and is not yet familiar with things; I came here to ask for directions, how does one leave this place?"

After all, he wasn't a newcomer and knew that some things were best left unsaid—Ding Mo and the others were also listening to Zhu Dechang's relay.

Hearing this, the Sweeping Monk smiled, his squinted eyelids squeezing his eyes into a black slit.

And Xiong Lihui, seeing that he didn't speak for a long time after being asked and only looked at him with a smile, couldn't help but feel a bit of dread in his heart.

After they stood in place for a long time, just as Xiong Lihui was about to find an excuse to get away from the Sweeping Monk, the Sweeping Monk suddenly said:

"This... Junior Brother, it is not suitable to go out so late, why don't you,

"Come over to my side and sit for a while, how about it?"

Facing his invitation, Xiong Lihui was first very vigilant, but soon he began to hesitate.

Although this guy is a bit strange, his words clearly indicate that he knows the way to leave this place.

Should the invitation be accepted?

While hesitating, Xiong Lihui asked offhandedly, "What kind of place is yours?"

"The place where I live is called the 'Ten Thousand Buddha Hall'." Unexpectedly, the sweeping monk answered this way.

However, the moment the three words "Ten Thousand Buddha Hall" were uttered, Xiong Lihui's pupils instantly constricted!

"You cannot go!" Ding Mo frowned after learning of this, saying the same.

Ten Thousand Buddha Hall... judging only from the fragments revealed in the "Precepts," this is absolutely an extremely dangerous place!

The "Precepts" repeatedly emphasized not to go near it!

To leave the Lianlang and go to such a place is no different from escaping a wolf's den only to enter a tiger's mouth!

But the message coming from over there was:

"I have agreed to his request."

Xiong Lihui followed the sweeping monk, walking along the deserted Lianlang.

The antique pillars and railings receded behind him, and light lanterns swayed at both ends.

Xiong Lihui gripped the Xiangmo Chu tightly, staring fixedly at the sweeping monk ahead who was looking back at him, while saying to the Ear Stud:

"This is my only way."

Inside the Quiet Room, everyone fell silent.

But at this moment, Zhu Dechang signaled for everyone to plug their ears.

"Next, I will activate a 'hands-free' mode similar to a telephone; it will be quite noisy, but relaying it is too troublesome, so just bear with it."

As he spoke, Zhu Dechang lightly flicked the Ear Stud.

Ding—!

A loud metallic sound rang in everyone's ears.

Everyone frowned; the immense noise made them feel somewhat uncomfortable, even though they had covered their ears to weaken it partially.

They now slightly understood the feeling Xiao Yong had experienced back then.

At this moment, Xiong Lihui's voice also appeared in everyone's ears.

After listening for a while, Ding Mo said somewhat strangely:

"Xiong Lihui... why do you keep swallowing your saliva?"

"He cannot hear you; I can only relay it," Zhu Dechang immediately relayed.

"Swallowing sal... I am just, just a little scared."

A low voice sounded in everyone's ears:

"I have discovered that that guy, for some reason, keeps looking back at me."

That guy, naturally, refers to the "sweeping monk."

"Aren't you walking? Is he not looking at the path?" Zhu Dechang relayed Qin Yifei's doubt.

"I don't know, he only looks at me... as if he is afraid I might run away!" A slightly panicked voice came through.

Everyone frowned upon hearing this; the air in the Quiet Room felt somewhat oppressive.

"I, we seem to be arriving," Xiong Lihui continued:

"It is very dark all around, but I can see the outline of the great hall!

"It seems we are really about to walk out!"

Did he succeed? Ding Mo and the others thought this, yet they felt something was not right.

Is it... really that simple?