Chapter Twenty-Three: Birds of a Feather

Jian Yi felt increasingly suspicious, sensing something amiss about the temple. He flew to every corner of the room, finally coming to a halt beneath a monk’s bed.

"It's right down here."

Jian Yi, transformed into a mosquito, easily passed through the floor. As he crossed the threshold, the ground rippled like water disturbed by a heavy object. Once through, he found a hidden world. Torches illuminated the cavernous space, and as he ventured deeper, he realized the tunnels were a complex, tangled maze.

Jian Yi had to rely on the intensity of sounds to navigate. Why not use his spiritual sense to scan the area? It was simple: the place was impenetrable, and his spiritual sense was utterly useless here. This only deepened his suspicion that the temple harbored a dark, unspeakable secret.

"I’m so hot... my body feels so hot," a woman’s frantic, breathless voice reached Jian Yi, accompanied by the shameless laughter of men.

"This little lady is truly beautiful. Her husband is such a pathetic weakling; to think she’d end up benefiting us brothers today." A bald, bare-chested monk licked his lips, his eyes burning with lust as he stared at the woman before him.

The delirious woman, oblivious to the monks surrounding her, could only scratch at her own body in parched desperation.

"Let me have a turn, I can't take it anymore!" A short, stout monk lunged toward the woman like a starving wolf.

Jian Yi could no longer stand it. Rage surged within him, nearly clouding his judgment as he longed to revert to his true form and hack these beasts to death. Yet, he held back. Observing the five men, he returned to his human form, rendered his body transparent, and stepped through the wall, only to be met with a scene of utter depravity.

Jian Yi raised his left hand, palm open, and exhaled a breath. Immediately, all the monks grew dizzy, swaying unsteadily before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

Jian Yi picked up a monk’s robe from the side and covered the woman. Seeing her fully concealed, he looked at the subhuman trash at his feet and drew his sword, intent on finishing them off. But a drunken shout interrupted him.

"Brothers, are you having fun? It’s my turn now!" A reeking, intoxicated monk pushed open the wooden door, grumbling.

When he saw his brothers lying senseless on the floor, he panicked. His drunkenness vanished, and he stumbled away in a desperate rush. "I have to report this to Master! Something terrible has happened—someone has broken in! It must be real!"

The drunk monk scrambled ahead, with Jian Yi silently trailing behind, his presence masked. Just as the monk turned a corner and stopped at a door, ready to knock, Jian Yi flashed behind him, clamping a hand over his mouth and nose.

The drunk monk had no defense against the sudden assault and could only watch helplessly as a sharp blow to the nape of his neck plunged him into darkness. Jian Yi tapped the monk’s forehead, erasing his recent memories, then dragged him into an empty room, tossed him inside, and shut the door. He then headed toward the Master’s quarters.

As Jian Yi passed through the wall, he caught a glimpse of a black coffin wrapped in iron chains, from which a scarlet ripple emanated.

"Junior, you have overstepped. This is no place for you."

A massive axe slowly materialized in the air, growing in size before swinging down toward Jian Yi.

"Oh no, there is a great horror here! I’m paralyzed!" Jian Yi gritted his teeth, struggling fiercely to break free. Just as the axe was about to split his skull, a jade pendant at his waist erupted with a blue light, forming a barrier that shielded him. The moment the barrier appeared, Jian Yi felt his mobility return.

When the axe struck the barrier, cracks quickly spread across it until it shattered with a loud bang. The jade pendant lost its glow and went dormant. Realizing he had saved his life, Jian Yi transformed into a wisp of smoke and fled back to the guest hall, pretending to be asleep.

Zen Master Du'e, who had been in deep meditation, suddenly felt a disturbance. "Something is wrong. My secret has been discovered. How is that possible?"

But there was no time to ponder. Du'e returned to the secret chamber and rushed to the room where the ripple had originated. He pushed open the door to find no signs of a struggle, but when he pressed his ear to the black coffin, it trembled, the lid straining against the iron chains that bound it.

"You fool! What kind of people have you been provoking? To have someone track you all the way here—you nearly ruined everything! Seal the temple at once and conduct a thorough search. I do not believe he has left."

"Yes, at once. Please rest assured, Bodhisattva Tilan; I will not let any petty intruder hinder the Master’s resurrection," Du'e replied humbly, his head bowed low.

"And those idiots you call disciples—what are they good for? If they are useless, turn them all into fertilizer."

Du'e left the room with a grim expression, quickening his pace toward his disciples' quarters. "A bunch of brainless degenerates. You’ll be the death of me yet."

When Du'e opened the door to the disciples' room, he found them all sprawled on the floor, dead to the world. Furious, he kicked each one of them squarely in the face without mercy.

"Ouch! Who—what bastard dares to strike me? I’ll hack you to pieces!" the first monk to awaken groaned, looking around with a murderous glare.

"It’s me. Do you have a problem with that?" Du'e’s eyes burned with the urge to kill.

Seeing it was Du'e, the monk rubbed his face and grinned sheepishly. "Master, you joke. How would I dare?"

"Get to the surface and search for the intruder! Don't miss a single room!"

"Master, why? It’s the middle of the night, and we have the great formation guarding us—what are we searching for?" one monk grumbled, voicing his reluctance.

"Very well." Du'e glared, and the protesting monk was instantly engulfed in flames, reduced to a pile of ash in moments. "Does anyone else have an objection? If not, put on your clothes and search carefully."

Seeing the price of defiance, the remaining monks learned their lesson. They scrambled into their robes and hurried out of the tunnel. Only one monk scratched his head awkwardly and stammered, "Master, my clothes... they are on that woman. I..."

"Must you be so indecisive now? Where is that arrogance you usually display?" Du'e mocked. "Get out of my sight!"

"Yes, Master, right away!" The monk ripped the robe off the woman.

Du'e caught a glimpse of the unconscious woman. "This girl is truly something. Could I perhaps..."

Before the thought could even finish, an invisible slap struck him across the head. A voice, cold with fury, echoed in Du'e’s mind: "Do you wish to die?"