When he got closer, Xing Yue's gaze swept across the crowd, finally taking in the scene at the entrance of the Heart's Desire Hall.
Six towering skeletons stood motionless, flanking the doors.
That grim deathly aura, that familiar construction.
The color drained from Xing Yue's face instantly, and the words escaped his lips almost instinctively. "The Bone Temple?!"
Could it be? Was this so-called Heart's Desire Hall—this place that Jiu'er revered like a holy site—actually a stronghold for the Bone Temple he so dreaded?
Just as his mind reeled and he nearly lost control of himself to turn and flee.
With a creak, the wooden door that held the hopes of countless people slowly opened.
The originally stable crowd instantly reached a boiling point.
The monk Ku Chan adjusted his oil-stained monastic robes, a smile plastered on his face as he paced out of the room.
Like a superstar under a spotlight, his every movement tugged at the hearts of his 'fans.'
He intended to do as he did every day: find someone who looked sufficiently miserable with a moving enough story to be today's fated one whose wish would be granted.
"Great master, great master! I've offered three hundred sticks of incense to the Bone God every single day. My heart is absolutely sincere. Please, look at me!"
"Great master! My elderly mother is bedridden with a grave illness and desperately needs a divine pill to save her life! I'm willing to serve as a slave or servant. I beg for the master's mercy!"
"Beat it! You again? Can't you come up with a different excuse?"
The crowd surged with commotion. Various pleas and promises mingled together, the noise loud enough to nearly lift the roof off.
However, amidst the chaos, Shitou's eyes locked onto Xing Yue in the crowd.
Xing Yue had his face covered with a rag. Though he was tall, he was trying to hunch over and hide his frame.
Shitou's brow furrowed. How did this man look so much like that Blackwater Guard who was personally captured by Big Brother Jian Huaishuang and locked in the mines of the City of the Wrongfully Dead?
He had quite a deep impression of that stubborn fellow.
As soon as the thought occurred to him, Shitou didn't say a word. He moved, parting the crowd and grabbing Xing Yue by the collar.
Xing Yue only had a cultivation at the third-stage inner demon stage. Before Shitou, who was at the fifth-stage essence devouring stage, he had no power to resist at all.
He felt a massive force surge toward him. Like a little chick, he was hauled out of the crowd by Shitou and stumbled as he was escorted into the Heart's Desire Hall.
"Eh? He... why did he get to go in?"
"Great master! Is today's fated one decided just like that? This is too hasty! He hasn't even said his wish yet!"
"Didn't the Buddha Lord say it depends on sincerity? You must not be sincere enough."
"I've been in line for three days! Every day I bathe, burn incense, and pray to the God! Is that not sincere enough?"
Jiu'er watched as Xing Yue was 'invited' inside, his expression one of excited validation.
He felt he was truly lucky. Just by saving a random person in an alley, that person was immediately noticed by the masters of the Heart's Desire Hall.
This person was definitely today's fated one.
His mind worked quickly. Taking advantage of the distracted crowd, he cleverly pulled the other little beggars along and slipped into the Heart's Desire Hall as well, even pulling the door slightly shut behind him.
Standing at the entrance, Ku Chan faced the surging crowd. His smile didn't waver as he quickly chanted a Buddhist invocation.
"Amituofo. Benefactors, please calm yourselves.
"That man just now is an old acquaintance of Patrol Envoy Shitou, not the fated one selected by the Heart's Desire Hall for today. He does not take up today's quota."
His words were half-truths, but they temporarily pacified the restless crowd outside.
Inside the Heart's Desire Hall.
Lord Rat sat with his legs crossed, leisurely munching on a spirit fruit he had acquired from who-knows-where. When he saw Shitou hauling Xing Yue in followed by a string of little tails, a flash of realization sparked in his eyes.
"Oho?" Lord Rat tossed the fruit pit aside and clapped his hands. "Isn't this our old friend from the mine?
"What's the matter? Did your skills improve so much that you could actually sneak out of the City of the Wrongfully Dead?"
His mind was agile. He instantly guessed that it was impossible for Xing Yue to escape the Master's control on his own; this was likely some sort of arrangement by the Master.
He signaled Shitou to let go and sized up the conflicted Xing Yue, asking lazily, "Talk. Why aren't you digging in the mine? What are you doing here?"
Xing Yue kept his face tense and remained silent.
His emotions were complex to the extreme.
It was truly out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's lair, then out of the wolf's lair and back into the tiger's den.
He felt incredibly guilty toward Deputy Commander Zhao Qianjun, who had taken the risk of letting him out.
Shitou said in a low voice, "Lord Rat, I will escort him back to the City of the Wrongfully Dead immediately and let the Master deal with him."
"What's the rush? Keep him here for now."
He glanced at Shitou and said meaningfully, "You just focus on following orders. Don't overthink it."
Lord Rat was the divine messenger of the God. Shitou also quickly realized that this might be something the Master tacitly permitted.
Though Shitou was blunt, he was absolutely obedient to Chen Zhou's commands.
Hearing this, although he didn't understand, he nodded and said no more.
Lord Rat's gaze then turned toward the group of children, letting out a snort.
Jiu'er and the little beggars huddled by the door, looking somewhat cramped but also slightly excited.
"And you little sprouts, why did you follow them in?
"Do you really think my place is some charity house for the kind-hearted where you can just hang around?
"Giving you those pills last time was already a heaven-sent grace. Don't push your luck!"
Upon hearing this, Jiu'er didn't get scared; instead, his eyes grew even brighter.
He took a step forward, looking up at Lord Rat. "Lord, we came to repay your kindness. I wanted to tell you..."
"Go, go, go!" Lord Rat interrupted impatiently, waving his hand as if shooing flies.
"Beat it. Your Lord Rat is very busy. I don't have time to listen to you brats prattle!"
He wrinkled his nose, a surge of irritation crossing his face behind the mask.
He sensed that very familiar yet extremely repulsive plague scent appearing nearby again.
"Damn it, it's never-ending!"
Lord Rat cursed as he stood up. He didn't bother with the people in the hall anymore and pushed the door open to walk out.
Outside the Heart's Desire Hall, several people were lying on the ground nearby, their bodies covered in malignant sores and fallen into a deep slumber.
Their families surrounded Ku Chan, pleading bitterly with tears streaming down their faces.
The surrounding crowd stayed far away, pointing and whispering, their faces full of fear and disgust, terrified of being infected by those horrific human-face sores.
"Didn't the Lin family from the south city already ask for medicine? It wasn't cured?"
"Where are your eyes looking? I heard the one from the Lin family is almost cured. This is the Zhang family from the east city."
"What a tragedy. I don't know what's going on, but so many families in the inner city district have developed these sores in the last few days. The contagiousness is terrifying."
"It seems no one in the outer city district has been infected yet? We in the outer city are really lucky."
Lord Rat covered his nose through his mask. "As expected, it's the smell of those disgusting things again!"
He shouted at the newcomers, "Didn't your Lord Rat tell you the treatment method already? Pure lotus root, detoxifying purple bamboo, roasted with Sanyang True Fire!
"Do you not understand human speech? Why the hell are you still coming here to beg!"
Rate on N.U.
