Chapter 566: A Small Favor (33 Thanks to Fang Jinyuan for the Alliance Leader!)

The atmosphere in Kurong Temple became somewhat oppressive.

Ren Yidao's brows furrowed slightly; the aura radiating from his body invisibly altered the surroundings. He stared at Mingxin and said in a deep voice, "... This will not be an easy path."

"This humble monk knows."

As the recipient of this entire aura, Mingxin appeared exceptionally calm, unaffected in the slightest; his state of Heaven and Man as One completely neutralized Ren Yidao's momentum.

"Do you not regret it? Although I do not understand Buddhist teachings, I can see that you, little master, have no low talent. Paying such a great price, I fear it will ruin your entire life."

"This humble monk knows."

"You will regret it. The life-fate he carries cannot be changed so simply. Even if someone is willing, the price you must pay will absolutely not be low."

Ren Yidao coldly interrupted Mingxin's words; as an outsider, his tone was already somewhat rough and rude.

"This humble monk knows." But Mingxin revealed a smile at this moment, saying gently, "I have always known."

"You don't know!"

Ren Yidao was somewhat annoyed, frowning as he said, "Then tell me, how will you do it? How can you guarantee that you will not regret it in the future?"

Many words are simple to say, but difficult to do; the price that must be paid and the pain that must be endured are things many people cannot bear.

The grand ambitions of the past will later become shackles that imprison oneself; they will regret, they will suffer, and they will resent the version of themselves that boasted so loudly back then.

And when that time comes, emotions will become twisted, and a selfless love may even turn into bone-deep hatred.

"This question, this humble monk need not answer," Mingxin remained calm. "Because although the benefactor is asking this humble monk, in truth, you have been looking at another person."

Mingxin's words made Ren Yidao freeze, and then his eyes narrowed immediately. "What did you say..."

"Who did the benefactor think of? Who did you see? And how did that person act?" Mingxin pressed his palms together in a salute and said softly, "This humble monk need not answer, because the person in the benefactor's heart has already provided the answer."

Ren Yidao was silent.

Because everything Mingxin said was correct.

He had indeed seen another person in Mingxin just now.

Jing Yueqin.

The two were in very similar situations: both had their masters depart, leaving behind a senior disciple and a younger junior disciple.

It was just that Jing Yueqin's situation was slightly better than Mingxin's; her master had only gone missing, her own strength was not weak, her junior brother did not need as much care, and the sect's strength was formidable...

Yet all these things that Jing Yueqin had, Mingxin lacked.

His path would be more bitter and difficult than Jing Yueqin's.

Out of love for the house and its crow, Ren Yidao felt a sense of worry for Mingxin, who shared a similar plight.

Ren Yidao could not bear to see such a qualified Senior Brother end up resenting his own junior brother and master; he did not want to see such a thing happen.

Because he did not want to see a second Jing Yueqin born, he had lost his composure like this, doing something that felt unlike himself.

After calming down, Ren Yidao nodded at Mingxin. "... Ren was the one who lost his composure just now."

"No, this humble monk must thank the benefactor for worrying about me." Mingxin's smile was a few degrees more sincere than it had been at the start. "And I must thank the benefactor for making this humble monk's resolve even firmer."

He looked toward Minghui, who was looking nervous over there, smiled at him to signal that nothing was wrong, and then turned to say to Ren Yidao, "Since that benefactor could do it, then this humble monk can also do it."

"Sigh..." Ren Yidao was silent. He had not expected that he was trying to persuade him, yet he had only strengthened his conviction. In the end, he could only say helplessly, "That will be very bitter."

Mingxin smiled and saluted again, saying:

"This humble monk knows."

"I have always known."

"I knew it! *Cough, cough*... That place is strange. That guy refused to believe me and insisted on drinking that wine."

Chu Hairen coughed laboriously, sprinkled a special medicinal ointment on himself, and then his whole body began to tremble violently. He gritted his teeth to hold it in, his entire complexion turning red from the effort.

At this moment, he looked extremely wretched; half of his body was covered in wounds, and his chest had been gouged out, leaving a large hole where one could vaguely see his heart beating, with purple shadows lingering upon it.

He had been on the verge of death at that time.

If he hadn't taken advantage of the moment the Seal shattered to use a Transfer Talisman to get out, he feared he would have been drained dry by Zhongzhou.

After Ren Yidao left, Chu Hairen went through a difficult period of contemplation and, ultimately, under the constant incitement of the Barbarian Priest, decided to go and find the reincarnation of the Barbarian God he spoke of.

Regardless of whether he would have to apologize to Ren Yidao and Zhang Mang later or whatever else, he at least wanted to maintain the relationship between the two sides.

However, halfway to finding him, the three of them accidentally triggered a Killing Array and, by some twist of fate, entered a ruin.

And in that ruin, Chu Hairen encountered the greatest nightmare of his life.

In that ruin, they encountered a strange pottery jar filled with fine wine.

Both Chu Hairen and the Shaman Priest instinctively felt there was danger in it and decided to abandon the jar to find a way out.

Mangu agreed as well, but while the two were searching, he secretly picked up the jar and drank the fine wine inside.

Then, Mangu, who had been dazed along the way, went completely insane.

He first tore at his own body with force, ripped off his arm, stuffed it into his mouth and ate it, and then, when the Shaman Priest went to stop him, he grabbed the Shaman Priest and stuffed him into his mouth, swallowing him whole.

It was simply madness.

Then, the Shaman Priest's head grew out of his shoulder, and they became that neither-human-nor-ghost monster.

With only two people left, Mangu naturally had no reason to let him go and launched an attack on him.

Fortunately, Chu Hairen had already discovered the mechanism for leaving and succeeded in escaping from there at the very last second.

After escaping, he didn't even dare to treat his wounds, running wildly until now, when he finally had time to start dealing with them.

"Thankfully, he didn't catch up. I wonder if he is trapped in there forever." Whenever Chu Hairen thought of that monster, he still felt lingering fear; he hoped that the monster's crazed brain could not comprehend the meaning of the mechanism.

However, he also knew that was impossible, because just a few breaths after Mangu attacked him, that head of the Shaman Priest had also opened its eyes.

"Damn it, I don't know where the Hu Family ancestor has run off to now. It would be good if he caught up; it would be even better if they got together and perished together!"

He did not know that Hu Yiyi had already been dealt with by Ren Yidao, and he was still thinking of letting the two monsters fight it out.

"Forget it, I don't even know if that monster will grow a third head after winning."

"What on earth was that cup of wine!?"

Chu Hairen pondered for a good while, finally waiting for the ointment to take effect; his injuries were suppressed, and even the toxin on his heart was effectively controlled.

After his injuries improved, he did not linger, but instead proceeded to use a Transfer Talisman.

The previous teleportation had already worsened his injuries, making him unable to bear the burden of another, and only now did he finally have some certainty.

"However, that guy kept muttering about some Barbarian God; if I go there, will I run into him?"

But the moment Chu Hairen thought this, as he was about to teleport away from the spot, he turned his head back on a whim and his eyes widened instantly.

He vaguely saw the figure of a burly ape-man in the distance, sprinting wildly toward him.

"What the hell!? Ape... no, it's that monster!"

"He's still alive! And still in the Eastern Wasteland!?"

Chu Hairen had no time to think; his figure vanished from the spot, failing to notice that several figures were actually following behind that monster.

"Don't let that monster get away!!!"

"This monster who ran out of Zhongzhou is extremely powerful; he must have obtained a great opportunity inside!"

……

……

After the argument that day, Ren Yidao left Kurong Temple.

Mingxin did not think much of it and took his Junior Brother to chant sutras for their master.

But he did not expect that by the third day, when they had finished cremating their master and were collecting the sarira, Ren Yidao had returned.

And this time, he did not return alone, but brought quite a few people with him.

"Benefactor Ren, who are these people?" Mingxin looked at Ren Yidao and the group beside him with some confusion.

Even with his temperament, he was momentarily dazed upon seeing those four beautiful women; although he recovered quickly, it was still astonishing.

"These two are my Junior Sisters Li Lingling and Yu Yu, this is my disciple Zhang Mang and my house cat Ahuang, this is my guard Cang Lan, and..." Ren Yidao paused here and said indifferently: "You don't need to mind this person."

"Hey! I'll get angry if you do that again!" Yaoyue, wearing a veil, rolled her eyes indignantly, but she did not reveal her identity as a master, as she had intended to keep it hidden and not expose herself easily.

"I am..."

Her eyes darted around, and she suddenly smiled slyly, grabbed Ren Yidao's arm, and said with a grin: "I am Ren Lang's fiancée!"

Everyone:?

The two Junior Sisters, in particular, looked as if their eyes were about to pop out; they had not expected their master to be in such a state and felt a huge shock.

This, this isn't right, is it?

Cang Lan's mouth twitched; she wanted to make a snide remark but felt this was somehow not surprising at all.

It was truly unexpected, yet reasonable.

Ren Yidao, however, had a calm expression; he did not pull away, just let her hold him, and said calmly: "Let's just say that's how it is."

"Hey! I'm really going to get angry!"

"Then let go of me."

"Hmph, I won't!"

Heh, women.

Ren Yidao sneered inwardly; he had guessed this possibility the moment Yaoyue's eyes darted around.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but you two, master and disciple, really have zero creativity.

"..." Minghui was a bit frightened upon seeing so many strangers; he looked at the only boy in the crowd who was similar in age to him.

Zhang Mang noticed his gaze, turned his head, was stunned for a moment, and then nodded at him, revealing a friendly smile.

The two little ones seemed to have established a strange friendship in that very moment.

And on the other side, Ren Yidao was still explaining to Mingxin:

"Since Master Mingxin intends to go to other temples, why don't we travel together? We are unfamiliar with the area, and having you with us will save us some trouble; we can look after each other on the road."

"What does Master Mingxin think? Are you willing to do this small favor for me?"

"..." Mingxin's mouth twitched, and then he smiled bitterly: "Benefactor Ren, you have truly given this humble monk a difficult problem."

Mingxin was a monk, but he was no fool; he understood Ren Yidao's meaning very well.

"Just tell me if you're willing to help or not?" Ren Yidao asked with a grin: "If you don't help, then I'll just follow behind you."

"Willing, how could I not be." Mingxin bowed deeply to Ren Yidao. "Many thanks, Benefactor Ren."

"Likewise, hehe."