To determine if a painting is handed down from ancient times, it is not only necessary to look at the design, technique, ink, and other aspects, but more importantly, at the material of the scroll. Paintings from a hundred years ago were not all painted on paper; cloth, silk, animal hide, and stone bricks, all could have been used by a master to create their work.
The hanging painting in the meditation room seemed to be quite old, and I estimated the material was probably thick rice paper, which could burn quickly when ignited, but I wasn't sure if it would have any magical power when ignited by a lantern. If it ended up just setting the monster's hair on fire with no effect, that would be a disaster.
However, the situation at the time didn't leave me much choice! If I wanted to take a chance, I couldn't be afraid of losing!
From my standing position, it would take about ten steps to reach the scroll, which sounds very close. However, in between, there are countless poisonous snakes, and monsters lurking nearby with covetous eyes. If by any chance, the evil wind blows out my eternal lamp, then I would be truly finished!
Sometimes a man cannot hesitate when doing something. If you think too much, you will become afraid, and if you become afraid, you will become cowardly. If you are too cowardly all the time, then it's all over! Sometimes, courage can actually be equated with impulsiveness.
Let's go for it! Either it dies, or I perish!
Thinking like this in my mind, I slowly walked towards the scroll after protecting the eternal lamp. The snakes automatically avoided me, but the monster obviously knew my intentions. Its eyes were fixed on the painting and it charged forward, trying to grab the scroll before me.
Normally, I should have been nervous seeing this scene, but I felt differently. Instead, I felt a sense of pleasure. The monster running towards me to stop me showed its fear. Why was it afraid? Because my actions were definitely threatening to it. In other words, my plan to use the eternal lamp to ignite the scroll and then burn it was feasible, and it had already posed a threat to the dark-haired monster!
Time was of the essence; I had to get the scroll before it did. The distance to the scroll from both sides was almost the same. I was even a little further from the scroll, with poisonous snakes still lurking on the ground in front of me. But I realized that I absolutely could not let the monster grab it first. Since I had to go all out, I decided to pick up the pace and charge straight towards the scroll in front of me.
Ten paces away, just a few seconds, yet it became a terrifying race!
I could feel my feet stepping on snakes, but I didn't have time to worry about that. I just ran desperately forward!
Stretching out my hand, feeling somewhat excited like an athlete sprinting for the finish line, the monster's hand also reached out from the other side. In my desperation, I simply flung the eternal lamp at it. The dark-haired monster was immediately startled and quickly backed away to avoid the lamp. This gave me the opportunity; I yanked the painting off the wall and, after securing the scroll, I lit it on the eternal lamp without any hesitation. The flame quickly ignited the edge of the scroll, and dense black smoke soon rose. The monster seemed somewhat terrified, growled low, and spewed green poisonous gas from its mouth, but its body was retreating.
"Haha, it's been thirty years, I was pushed around by you before, now I'm here to collect the debt!"
Seeing the monster retreat out of fear, I couldn't help but shout triumphantly.
Swinging the burning scroll, I walked briskly forward. I forced the monster into a corner, leaving it with nowhere to retreat. I must have looked like a typical gangster from the 80s, but it felt so good. Let it chase after me! Let it unleash snakes to bite me! Now, I'm in charge!
"Run, why don't you run, damn it!"
I taunted it, and the monster snarled at me, then suddenly turned and began pounding the wall. This guy was really strong; with a few punches, the wall made a "rumbling" sound, and the entire wall shook, causing a large amount of dust to fall from the central pillar.
"Wow!"
Like a tiger, the monster roared and delivered another series of heavy blows to the wall, shattering the already existing crack in the wall. The cold wind blew in from outside - it was trying to escape through the wall!
"Easy, you're really strong!"
I cursed at it, but in my mind, I was clear. If I let the monster escape through the wall, it would be like letting the tiger return to the mountains. Once it's healed, it would surely come back to seek revenge on me. This grudge had to be settled here!
Waving the burning scroll in my hand, I lunged at the monster and displayed the spirit of the hero Huang Jiguang from the past. I had to take down this demon!
Feeling the intense heat behind it, the monster turned around to face me, bearing its terrifying fangs. I pressed the scroll onto the monster's body. The flames erupted frantically, enveloping its head, clothes, and exposed body.
"Ah..."
The roar quickly turned into a haunting scream. The sound that was stuck in its throat tore into a dreadful wail. I hastily backed away with the eternal lamp; the monster's entire body was now engulfed in flames. I had to keep my distance, fearing that it might go berserk at the last moment. The best thing to do was to keep some distance.
The snake group around us had long since hidden in fear. The flames quickly ignited the shrine; the wooden and stone structure of the shrine was highly flammable. The fire climbed up the windows and door frames, and thick smoke billowed out.
I quickly covered my nose and mouth with my clothes and gradually retreated. After leaving the building and standing at the doorway, the fire had already reached the roof and spread to the other surrounding buildings. My actions might have doomed this ancient temple, but at least the monster would no longer be able to cause harm.
Standing in the courtyard, the flames illuminated the surrounding woods. The thick smoke made me cough, and the heat that hit me made my face feel scorched. The walls and wooden doors began to crackle, and suddenly the charred wooden door was forced open, and the fully engulfed monster rushed out. It was like a madman coming at me. I quickly backed away, knowing that the monster was now like a rabid dog. My only option was to run and let the flames kill it!
The monster kept howling, its hair completely burned, revealing a terrifying face - half black, half white, probably due to being struck by a lightning spell. Its face was full of wrinkles, with a pair of protruding white fangs, and its green eyes' pupils were dilated, giving it a resemblance to the zombies in horror movies, especially with those teeth.
I had suspected it might be a zombie before, and now I was even more certain.
"Aoo...aoo..."
Amidst the chilling screams mixed with terrifying growls, the longer it burned, the weaker it became, its speed slowing significantly, until it stumbled and collapsed in front of me.
The creature lying on the ground was panting, its body completely burnt and broken, both legs severed, only the upper half remaining intact.
I hesitated to approach, as it slowly turned its head to look at me with a strange gaze, a mix of sadness and perhaps a hint of satisfaction, like a marathon runner finally reaching the finish line, experiencing relief.
Its breathing gradually stopped, and eventually, with eyes still open, it fell silent. I still hesitated to approach, not knowing what tricks the creature might pull. At that moment, I heard footsteps behind me.
"You've been watching all the time?"
Even without looking back, I knew who was approaching from behind - apart from me, there was no one else in the temple but Lingxuan. With such commotion, why wouldn't he appear?
"I didn't expect you to actually finish it off."
Lingxuan expressed surprise.
"Just lucky."
I casually replied, but my eyes were fixed on the monster. Despite the flames still burning, I tried to find some treasures on the creature - a powerful entity like this surely had something valuable on it, maybe I could make a fortune out of it.
However, I found no treasure, but instead, I saw a strange mark imprinted on the back of the creature's neck, resembling the Chinese character "中" but concave on both sides. This mark wasn't new to me - I had seen it on the white-faced monster in Xuanming Temple before.
It couldn't be a coincidence! Both creatures had a similar mark, there must be some kind of connection. Though I saw it, I didn't mention it outright, nor was it the right time to share this information with Lingxuan.
"Stop searching, it's not worth anything in this state."
He spoke up.
Feeling a bit annoyed, I stood up, having risked my life for nothing. I turned back and asked, "What kind of creature is this? A zombie?"
In response, Lingxuan coldly chuckled before replying, "This is a person who has consumed zombie flesh."