Chapter 566: Corpse Lotus

The moonlight rose, and Li Miao came stepping on blood.

The blood flowing out from the mountain gate covered the steps, and every step pulled out blood threads from the soles of his boots. The crows, accustomed to eating corpses, chattered and glided into the temple from overhead, casting cloud-like shadows on the ground.

The mountain gate was half-open.

Li Miao walked to the gate and reached out to push it open.

The fishy sweet smell rushed toward him.

Li Miao frowned.

Judging from the amount of blood outside the mountain gate, the Enryaku-ji monks should have died seven or eight out of ten, and the inside of the mountain gate should be stinking to death.

But the smell that rushed toward him was not unpleasant. Although there was a trace of rust mixed in, there was more of a fresh fragrance like lotus leaves, mixed with the sandalwood smell of the temple, which was actually quite refreshing.

Li Miao twisted his fingers and walked slowly forward.

"Where are the corpses?"

There were still blood stains left on the ground, outlining empty human shapes. Looking around, there were thousands of grey-white human shapes laid out in a scarlet expanse, but the corpses were nowhere to be seen.

Li Miao scanned left and right.

Yuan Chaoliang had been planning for a long time. If there were any means, they should have been prepared long ago. Whether he faced them early or late, it probably wouldn't have much impact. Since he couldn't use speed to beat slowness, it was important to collect information about his opponents.

At just one glance, he saw the dried blood lake left by washing the heart. The blood here dried faster than elsewhere, already hardened, accumulating into a thick patch of blood scabs.

Li Miao squatted down, twisted a piece, and smelled it at the tip of his nose.

"Lotus smell, that strange fragrance came from here. Looking at the traces of the blood scabs hardening, it should be that Yuan Chaoliang first controlled the monks, then killed everyone at the same time, and led the blood to here."

Li Miao threw away the blood scab and rubbed his chin.

"The blood gathered here and was sucked dry by something."

"And then..."

Li Miao walked sideways a few steps and stopped at one place.

"Yuan Chaoliang was killed."

"The footprints here are the only ones on the upper layer of the blood stains. The only living person at that time should be Yuan Chaoliang. The headless corpse that left traces on the blood scabs should be him."

"His head was smashed, and his hair is still in the blood."

"Heh, thought he was a character, but he died by his own means? It seems my opponent tonight is not him... Could it be Master Jianzhen? Do I have to fight the senior's corpse tonight?"

Li Miao turned and walked toward the depths of Enryaku-ji.

The enemy's position was very clear.

The further forward he went, the fainter the blood smell, and the lotus fragrance and sandalwood became more intense. Walking to the middle of Enryaku-ji, this fragrance was already so thick that it made Li Miao frown.

"So choking."

Li Miao fanned in front of him.

"Lotus is everywhere in Buddhist imagery: lotus pedestal, seeing Buddha when the flower blooms, lotus blooming from the tongue... and Guanyin sitting on the lotus."

"The lotus fragrance represents that the enemy is related to Buddhism, which is not strange. But being thick to the point of making people sick is a bit contrary to Buddhist philosophy, a bit like Buddha becoming a demon."

Enryaku-ji was not a single temple, but a group of temples almost covering the entire mountain. Its most important buildings were the "Three Pagodas and Sixteen Valleys," among which the "Fundamental Central Hall" of the East Pagoda housed the Yakushi Nyorai statue and the Eternal Dharma Lamp, which was the absolute core of Enryaku-ji.

The source of the smell also pointed directly here.

Outside the Fundamental Central Hall, the lotus fragrance suddenly weakened, replaced by a sudden rise in the blood smell, contending with the lotus fragrance.

And Li Miao finally knew where the corpses of the Enryaku-ji monks had gone.

"Tsk!"

Li Miao stopped his steps in disgust.

Ahead were the steps leading to the Fundamental Central Hall, originally carved from bluestone, but now stepping on them, it was a soft, fleshy piece of human body.

Corpse steps. ===== CHAPTER 567 =====