"What else do you want?"
Annoyance flickered in Ling Xu's eyes, but he couldn't turn the situation around, so he had to endure.
"Not only do you have to give me the antidote, but after this, we'll split the rewards from exploring the Xuanming Temple."
There couldn't be a more fitting proverb to describe my daredevil attitude - "eat the heart of a bear and have the guts of a leopard." A few hours ago, I wouldn't have dared to speak to Ling Xu like this, but now the situation had reversed. That's the amusing thing about the martial world - as glorious as you may be, you can't guarantee that you won't be pushed into the abyss the next second.
"Have you thought about the consequences? I might change my mind and kill you the next day."
Ling Xu looked at me, his eyes like knives. I knew he said this because he actually had that intention. The man in front of me really wanted to kill me.
"You're a fair person, and a fair person won't change their mind so easily. Time's running out, I won't waste any more time with you. Do you agree or not? If you don't agree, I'll leave now, and your life and death have nothing to do with me. I can always use your sister to get the antidote from your Ling family!"
I deliberately said the last sentence for Ling Xu to hear. Sure enough, there was a change in the face of the Martial Lord of San Mountain, and he said, "You dare to threaten me with my sister?"
"A tit for tat, this is what you taught me."
Ling Xu fell silent, this time it was because he was lost in thought. The night was very quiet, so quiet that I could almost hear my own breathing.
"Fine, you help me kill that monster and then let my sister go. I'll give you the antidote, and we'll split the treasure we obtain from the trip to Shanghai!"
With that sentence, my heart immediately settled. A person of Ling Xu's stature, and one with such principles, doesn't typically go back on their word.
"And what about the monster?"
I pulled out the beast bone dagger and looked into the temple hall.
"It was hit by my thunder spell, and after struggling with it for a while, it dragged me into the temple and then went in on its own. You can tell from the black marks on the ground, like charcoal. It's injured and shouldn't have gone far."
After listening, I nodded and walked into the temple hall. I was not unfamiliar with this temple hall, but it had changed considerably from before. The central Buddha statue was covered with black cloth, the lamp and incense on the altar were gone, and snake tracks could be seen everywhere on the ground and pillars.
I couldn't be careless, I held the dagger and a piece of realgar in my hand, and slowly walked further inside. The lighting was poor, and I could even hear some faint noises, as if there were snakes lurking in the darkness.
But I walked for a while without being attacked by snakes or seeing any trace of the monster.
They seemed to be afraid of something, certainly not afraid of me. The atmosphere among the snakes was chaotic, and some of the hesitant and fearful vibes seemed to show fear and anxiety.
"This doesn't seem right..."
With these thoughts in my head, I had already reached the back of the temple hall, and further ahead was the courtyard.
Originally, this temple was not big at all, so where could this monster be hiding? Feeling somewhat puzzled, I was musing on this, when a slow-moving black, slithering snake started coming towards me on the ground. Initially, I thought it was going to attack, but when I bent down and scattered some realgar, I realized that it wasn't attacking me, rather it was trying to escape! It bypassed the realgar, nervously sticking out its tongue, then slipped into the yard behind.
Why would the snakes in this temple run away? The situation seemed to be getting stranger and I became more cautious.
As I entered the yard, which was where Hui Zhi had fed the earth animal before, I squinted around. Suddenly, something black flashed past me, and I instinctively swiped at it a few times, but it didn't attack me, it just fell to the ground in front of me.
Focusing my gaze, I realized it was actually a snake that had been bitten in half, with its entrails left scattered on the ground, emitting a foul odor. The sight was repulsive, but as I approached, I noticed that the snake's body seemed to have been crushed by something.
Could it have been eaten by another large snake? The thought flashed into my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. Snakes don't chew their food; they swallow it whole and digest it in their stomachs. So, it couldn't have been bitten in half by another snake.
Why then had this snake been left with half its body? And why was it thrown out?
The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. I turned my head to look in the direction from which the snake's body had been thrown. It was an open door and from inside came strange sounds. It sounded like chewing, as if someone was eating?
Approaching the door cautiously, I could hear the distinct chewing sound from inside, which made me shiver. Tracking a monster in a place teeming with snakes, and now hearing such a dreadful sound, sent a chill down my spine.
Bracing myself, I peered inside, and through the crack in the door, I saw a snake being thrown out, seemingly having been eaten halfway! Next, a dark hand lifted a black snake from the ground, and within seconds, the snake was also bitten to death, blood flowing all over. After a few seconds, only the shrunken corpse remained, completely lifeless!
Someone was eating snakes, venomous snakes at that! And they were raw! Was it the monster? But wasn't the monster allied with the snakes before? If it was indeed the monster, wasn't it one of their own eating their own kind?
Of course, the thoughts of the monster were beyond my understanding. I shrank back a little, fearful of being discovered by whatever was inside. After a while, I gathered my courage and peered out again, gently prying open the window panel on the door, and gradually discerned what was inside the room.
The black monster was seated in the room, surrounded by snakes, both dead and alive. I couldn't see its face clearly, but from its shape, it appeared to be the same seemingly-lifeless figure I had seen before. It stretched out its hand, grabbed a black-patterned snake, bit down on it, and the bite landed directly on the snake's heart. Blood gushed out as it swiftly swallowed the snake's heart, then it flung the snake's body to a distance.
It was then that I noticed—the earlier body I had seen also had no heart. Was this black monster consuming the hearts of the snakes? But why? Was it for nourishment? My gaze shifted to its half-body, completely burnt black, presumably from a previous attack, as Lingxuan had mentioned. Now, the injuries on the monster's half-body were evident. Looking at the ground, the black trace extended here from outside.
It was definitely the monster! But the Three Mountains Lord was formidable too, the ease with which the fellow had annihilated the lesser demons was no less surprising. Unexpectedly, he and Lingxuan had fought to a draw.
Perhaps it was consuming the snake hearts for healing. Of course, that was just my conjecture.
Since the creature was wounded, I had agreed with Lingxuan to exterminate it. It was time to go all out; no risk, no reward! Holding a bone knife, I sat down and focused, trying to align the fire energy with the "Wudang Five Elements Technique" to possibly infuse the knife with fiery energy, hoping to achieve miraculous results.
Alas, my skills were lacking, and after much effort, nothing changed. My face turned red from the exertion but to no avail. I couldn't wait any longer, as who knew whether the creature would recover.
Holding a bag of realgar powder in one hand and gripping the bone knife in the other, I stood up and kicked open the wooden door, startling the snakes and the black monster at the same time.
I forcefully scattered the realgar powder, the yellow-red dust swirling in the air and descending in copious amounts. The snakes hurriedly avoided it, and then I lunged at the black monster with the bone knife, unsure whether to aim for the heart or the head. I hadn't thought much, as no one knew the creature's origins, let alone its weaknesses. My instinct led me to target the heart, and as I pounced, I pushed it onto the bed and raised the bone knife to stab the creature's heart.
However, as soon as I felt a shock in my arm and pain in my palm, I realized that in the moment of impact, the bone knife had actually broken into two pieces!
Its power is enormous. I'm an adult man, but I was lifted over my head effortlessly by it.
My neck felt about to be broken. I reached out to hit the monster's arm in front of me, but there was no response, it felt like hitting a rock, the monster didn't release its grip.
"Let... go..."
I almost shouted out, using a broken beast bone dagger to try and pull it forward, but it was useless. My life was once again in danger, my mind was anxious but my consciousness weakened due to difficulty breathing.
"Exhale..."
The black-haired monster opened its mouth, emitting green air. I felt my head swell and almost faint due to the difficult breathing, not just because of the stench but it seemed like the green air carried poison, but thinking about it, the black-haired monster feeds on poisonous snakes, so how could it not carry poison?
My situation was getting worse, no help around and I felt like I couldn't hold on much longer. At this critical moment, the only one who could save me was probably myself!
I tried to remove the ghost tiger teeth hanging around my neck, pressed it against the monster's forehead, and heard a sizzling sound, strange smoke started to rise from where the ghost tiger teeth touched. It seemed effective and I felt relieved, but the monster suddenly flung me away, my body hit the wall, and after landing, my chest felt tight, and I spat out some frothy blood.
"Damn, it hurts so much."
My whole body felt like it was being torn apart, there must be some fractures, but this was not the time to think about it. Even though the monster was wounded by the spiritual flames, it was still not something I could handle. I had planned to take down the monster and then use it to negotiate with the spiritual flames. Unfortunately, my confidence was completely shattered, with a grim face, all I could think about was how to escape.
I looked towards the large door, and I didn't know when, but several poisonous snakes were lurking at the exit, showing their sharp fangs one by one.
"Damn, I'll eat you, and you still come to attack me? What beasts, without any humanity."
I was filled with anger, but charging out now was likely to get bitten by the poisonous snakes. Yet, staying and fighting the monster wasn't a good option either, and the main thing was, I had no way to kill this monster!
With a crisis, our brains tend to work faster than usual. In my current situation, aiming to run out directly was not feasible. I had to find a way to save my own life first.
I quickly looked around, there were very few things in the meditation room that I could use, and the surrounding snakes were getting restless. I hurriedly sprinkled realgar powder around my body while pressing against the wall.
The black-haired monster took a few steps forward, but didn't come directly, it seemed to have some concerns. Seeing its hesitation, I was puzzled. Could it be because of the realgar? This monster lived with snakes, could it possibly have some resemblance to the snakes?
But I quickly dismissed my thoughts. I had realgar on me just now, but when the monster wanted to kill me, it didn't hesitate at all, which meant it wasn't afraid of the smell of realgar. So, what was making it hesitate?
I was wary and looked around, and to my surprise, I made an astonishing discovery!
A tipped-over lamp stand lay about a meter away from my feet, it was an old bronze lamp stand with an extinct lampwick curled on top. It was inconspicuous and wouldn't be noticed without careful observation. But this time, I saw it, and it seemed like I had seen this lamp stand before.
There were so many lamp stands in the old temple, all of them looked similar, so why did this lamp stand make the monster afraid?
The more thoughts I had, the more I suddenly realized. I mumbled, "Eternal lamp!"
This extinct and inconspicuous lamp stand was the eternal lamp that was previously lit in the old temple. When the eternal lamp was lit, the Buddha's light protected the temple, and poisonous snakes dared not enter. Later, the monster used the Yin wind to extinguish the eternal lamp, the Buddha's light disappeared, and it swaggered into the temple.
Even though I didn't know why the eternal lamp, which should have been placed inside the temple, ended up here, it was now my savior!
If I could light the eternal lamp, I could at least ensure my safety. However, the extinguished lamp stand was a bit far from me, and there were several snakes entwined around the stand. If I reached out directly, I might end up getting bitten.
There was still some realgar left, as if it had been arranged in advance by some higher power. I grabbed the last bit of realgar in the bag and scattered it all over the snakes. The intense and pungent smell startled the snakes, causing them to retreat and leaving a gap, which was my best and possibly last chance!
I slowly extended my fingers, with the snakes still staring intently. The monster must have sensed my intention and came charging at me. It moved incredibly fast, pouncing like a wild beast. In desperation, I cleverly threw the tiger fangs at it, a trick I had used before, and it was still effective. The monster was somewhat afraid of the warding-off power of the tiger fangs, so when it saw the fangs coming, it hastily dodged. This gave me the opportunity, and I reached out and picked up the eternal lamp from the ground!
Just a meter away, it felt like a thousand miles, but as soon as I grabbed the eternal lamp, I immediately pulled my hand back, narrowly avoiding being bitten by a large black snake.
As I held the eternal lamp in my hand, a slight smile appeared on my face. I picked up some realgar and sprinkled it on the wick. Realgar was flammable, but without oil in the wick, it would be difficult to ignite. Nevertheless, just the act of grabbing the eternal lamp gave me a bit of confidence. I just needed to light it to stay alive!
With a smile on my face, I reached for the lighter. After a moment, my face changed with astonishment. I searched through my pants pockets, my shirt pockets, and everywhere, but I couldn't find the lighter! In fact, this was because I had a bad habit. Back then, I didn't have much money in my pockets, and even though I occasionally smoked, I didn't have a big addiction. When I met a friend with cigarettes, I would ask for a few but I never bought my own. Because I didn't buy cigarettes much, I didn't have the habit of carrying a lighter. Now, I had the eternal lamp in my hand but couldn't light it, it was like having a gun without bullets!
The monster stared at me, analyzing and calculating, hesitating to charge immediately. I forced myself to stay calm. The opponent hadn't noticed that I couldn't light the eternal lamp. Even if it was a bluff, I would keep up the pretense for the moment.
The situation inside the Zen room had become somewhat absurd. I pretended to search for the lighter, giving an appearance of composure, while the monster didn't dare to make a move because it couldn't figure out my intentions. It was like a puppet show with both sides swaying back and forth.
But this kind of situation couldn't last long. It could be exposed at any moment. I bit my lip, constantly thinking of ways to solve the problem. Even if I racked my brain, I only came up with one method, which couldn't even be called a method.
That was using the "Wudang Five Elements Technique" to light the lamp!
This was somewhat incredible. The "Wudang Five Elements Technique" could control the five elements of the body, but to really achieve it was as difficult as reaching the sky.
Adjusting the internal energy of the body itself was a great deal of knowledge, something that many who had studied qigong would understand.
To sum up some old sayings, the practice of internal energy in the body is basically divided into five stages. The first stage is to sense the existence of internal energy in the body, which can be said to be both the most basic and the most difficult. A person can feel the wind blowing outside but cannot clearly feel the flow of blood inside the body. They can feel the flow of water, but cannot sense the vibration of their organs. It is difficult to explain "qi" itself, but it can be understood as a kind of energy produced by the vibration of the five viscera and six bowels corresponding to the five elements. However, it is elusive and mysterious, and hard to define. Sensing "qi" is not about sitting on the ground and imagining the movement of the intestines for a while. It requires a concentrated mind, combined with qigong techniques, and also depends on each person's constitution. When a person can clearly feel the internal energy in the body, it is not an ambiguous illusion, but an actual presence. The old man said he had met a few geniuses in the past who could sense their energy after sitting for just ten minutes. I, on the other hand, had average talent and only began to sense it after almost half a month of practice, and it was sometimes present, sometimes not. It could be said that I had no talent.
The second stage involved starting to sense the power of the five elements, which are linked to the five organs of the body – the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys – and understanding the vibration of the organs to produce energy, allowing it to circulate between the organs and eventually be released. The old man said that if someone could reach this step, they could be considered a grandmaster of qigong and a prominent figure in the field. This was because being able to release energy with the five elements was an unimaginable feat for most people.
The third stage was using energy to control the five senses, reaching a state of spiritual awakening, and this marked the threshold of entering the path of cultivation. Spiritual activities outside the body were achievable at this stage. He said there were some prominent characters who could reach this stage. To ordinary people, this stage was almost equivalent to the legendary immortals in myths and legends, and they were extremely rare, each one a legendary figure.
As for the fourth and fifth stages, the old man was a bit vague and seemed uncertain himself. The "Wudang Five Elements Technique" he gave me was actually still basic, at most it could train me to the threshold of the second stage, and even the old man was unsure if he had reached the third stage. Practicing qi was not the highest ability in qigong, as some elders in the Quanzhen Sect were naturally gifted and had access to several rare qigong resources, which were not passed on to outsiders. These were the real top-notch abilities.
For me to be able to light the lamp in front of me out of thin air, I at least had to reach the threshold of the second stage. However, damn it, I hadn't even grasped the first stage properly. The concept of "qi" was so mystical and elusive that I still couldn't control it, so how could I possibly light a lamp with it?
But it seemed like the situation was becoming increasingly tense. The dark-haired monster seemed to have already sensed something and I didn't have much time left.
"Damn it, no matter what, I have to give it a shot. What does the book say? Which organ is associated with fire?"
That book "Wudang Five Elements Technique" was really hard to memorize. It was already obscure and difficult to understand, and since there were many characters I didn't recognize, I hadn't bothered trying to remember it. Holding the eternal lamp, I thought for a while before I remembered – it was the heart! To ignite the heart's fire energy, spread it through the limbs, and ignite the lamp.
I gradually recalled the words from the book. Ignite the heart's fire energy? Damn it, how does one ignite it? Was I supposed to pluck out my heart? The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became. I didn't have time to sit cross-legged, and without free control over my qi, I couldn't even reach the threshold of the second stage.
In reality, with my abilities at the time, it was indeed somewhat fanciful to think of igniting the heart's fire. With average talent, moderate temperament, and an average appearance, I was delusional to think I could leap forward, as I hadn't even properly mastered the first stage, let alone reach the second stage.
The monster finally made a move. Realizing that I couldn't light the eternal lamp, it had been observing me all along and was indeed quite intelligent, finally pouncing at me.
Realgar can't save me, and the tiger teeth I threw away a long time ago. All I have left now is a broken animal bone dagger and the charm bell that Han gave me. But this is my last trump card for survival. I don't think this charm bell, used to deal with ordinary demons and earthbound beasts, will be useful against the creature in front of me!
"Ignite the fire of the heart, ignite the fire of the heart..." I desperately muttered in my mouth. The monster was getting closer to me. I felt anxious, like an ant on a hot pot, and sweat began to trickle down my forehead. I had never experienced such an extreme life-or-death situation at such close range.
"Hurry!"
I roared in my heart. The monster had already rushed to me, grabbing the lantern in my hand. It was clever, not attacking me directly, but trying to injure the hand holding the lantern first, ensuring that the lantern would be out of my reach and I wouldn't be able to use it against it.
The monster growled, exhaling toxic green gas from its throat, with writhing snakes all around, and my hand, which was almost being crushed.
Time seemed to come to a standstill, slow enough that even the pain in my hand stretched infinitely. The beating of my heart, the beads of sweat on my forehead, everything seemed to stop.
Later, someone told me that at the moment when miracles happened, time would suddenly slow down. Even if the person involved had no memory of the miracle afterward, the event that happened in that instance would be unforgettable for a lifetime.
And at the most dangerous moment, the lantern in my hand suddenly lit up!
The small flame illuminated my eyes, as if there was a mysterious power that could dispel all the cold and fear in an instant. I didn't know whether it was because of the fire in my heart that the lantern lit up, or if there was some invisible mysterious force in the temple protecting me. But in any case, the lantern was lit!
The weak flame caused the monster to hastily retreat, emitting a low growl of fear, and the surrounding snakes also continued to shrink back, as I switched hands and slowly sat down, legs crossed. I was so scared during that moment that my feet went numb. It was only then that I realized that the whole of my back was soaked and the hand that the monster had gripped was turning purple with pain.
"Almost died. Thank you, blessed ancestors, thank you, thank you..."
I mumbled incoherently, the light of the lantern was very dim, and its illuminating range was small, but at least, within this circle of light, I was absolutely safe.
If I were to walk out holding the lantern, I would have at least a sixty to seventy percent chance of safely getting away. But just walking away like that seemed too unfulfilling. I've always been quite ambitious, it's a bad habit. I always think of how to escape on one hand, and on the other, I immediately think of turning the tables as soon as I'm safe. Later, my brothers scolded me for this defect many times, but my stubborn nature never changed. I always want to take big risks. Of course, even though my luck in gambling is particularly bad, my luck in risking my life is particularly good!
If the flame of the lantern can be larger, igniting the head or clothes of the monster, it might be possible to set it on fire and burn it to death. But it was a risky move, and I wasn't sure if I could get close enough to the monster's body.
The monster remained crouched in the corner of the room, obviously afraid of the light from the lantern. It took a few deep breaths and then exhaled a puff of green gas, not towards me, but outside the door. Just as I was wondering what it was up to, a strong wind suddenly blew in from outside. It was exactly the same method as before when a strong wind blew inside the temple, extinguishing the lantern.
"Damn, trying the same trick again!"
I quickly turned my back, shielding the lantern with my body, but the chilly wind was strong, causing the flame on the lantern to keep flickering.
"Don't go out!"
I kept praying for divine intervention, the wind blew fiercely for about ten seconds before gradually calming down. When I turned back to look, I saw the monster leaning against the wall, looking somewhat strained, and its breathing had become much more difficult. It was obvious that it had suffered quite a bit from its earlier battle with the spirit fire, and now, after about ten seconds of being blown by the chill wind, it had reached its limit. "A dying struggle" was the phrase that came to mind to describe the monster at this moment.
"It's on!"
I thought to myself, this guy was obviously very tired, and its injuries weren't completely healed. Maybe I could take a desperate gamble, but I would have to use the fire from the lantern to burn it. I looked around the meditation room and suddenly my eyes fell on a painting on the wall!