Chapter 137: Darkness

Suddenly, Wang Yunting's body came to an abrupt halt and was yanked backward by an invisible force. It was as if someone behind him were dragging him back!

With a sudden motion, he drew the sharp dagger from within his robes, ready to stab behind him. But in the very next moment, he realized that he had no strength left. He could only let himself be pulled back bit by bit helplessly, as though he were sinking into an endless abyss of darkness and slowly being devoured.

When Wang Yunting regained consciousness again, he discovered he couldn’t move at all. His entire body was bound by some kind of invisible force, and not only his limbs, even his face was paralyzed. His mouth was shut tight, so much so that he couldn’t open it nor utter a sound. He couldn’t even blink!

After a while, he began to hear hurried voices and footsteps.

“What happened!?”

“Where did Wang Yunting go!?”

“What in the world is going on!?”

“How could a living person vanish right under our noses?!”

These voices were all familiar to him; they were from the people who had just disappeared, Master Shenshan and the others!

At this time, fear surged wildly in Wang Yunting’s heart.

“What is going on here?! Weren’t

they

the ones who vanished?! Why are

they

looking for

me

now?!”

It felt as though he had fallen into pitch-black nothingness, and his mind was a chaotic mess of thoughts.

Then, he saw a solemn and dignified old monk approaching while holding a gold alms bowl. It was none other than Master Shenshan of Jing’an Temple.

“Master, I’m right here! Master!” Wang Yunting desperately tried to call out, but it was completely useless.

Master Shenshan walked right past him, then came Granny Chang, then Bai Hongtu. Everyone looked anxious as they searched frantically, and a tense atmosphere filled the air.

“I’m right here! Help me! Please, save me!” Wang Yunting cried out silently. A deep, suffocating sense of helplessness engulfed him.

Just moments earlier, when everyone had turned back to search for the missing Master Huizhen, everyone had been nervously watching their surroundings. But suddenly, a noise came from the southeast corner of the tomb chamber, and it sounded like something was moving.

In the dead silence of the tomb, the sound instantly drew everyone’s attention. They rushed toward it, but by the time they got there, the disturbance had completely vanished. There was no trace of the source of the noise.

Just as disappointment began to set in, someone suddenly noticed that Wang Yunting was gone. Another member of their group had disappeared!

“You feign an attack in the east while attacking in the west[1]. It’s the evil lurking in the tomb, it’s trying to divide us!” Master Shenshan’s voice rang out as a trace of sorrow crept into his heart.

If only my junior brother were here...

Master Shenshan’s junior brother was the elder monk who had cultivated the Heavenly Eye, a spiritual vision that could perceive evil spirits with uncanny accuracy, and he far surpassed ordinary cultivators in detecting the traces of malevolent forces.

At this time, Master Shenshan stepped forward and said, “Daoist Master Yanchu, I must ask you to use your Qi Sight to seek out whatever evil is hiding in this tomb chamber. I will protect you while you do.”

This grand tomb was riddled with danger and saturated with yin qi. To recklessly use the Qi Sight could easily attract something truly terrifying, or even trigger a backlash on the practitioner. That was why Master Shenshan offered to stand guard for Li Yanchu.

In response, Li Yanchu gave a slight nod. Without delay, he began to perform the Qi Sight recorded in the

Yellow Court Classics

, and a gentle radiance gathered beneath his eyes. In an instant, the aura within the tomb came into view.

Master Shenshan raised the gold alms bowl slightly, chanting the Buddhist

Heart Sutra

[2].

As he began to speak, glowing golden scripture characters emerged one after another, which danced in the air before gently descending onto Li Yanchu’s body and forming a golden protective barrier. The soft yet vast power of Buddhist dharma enveloped Li Yanchu, shielding him from external evil interference.

In Li Yanchu’s eyes, the vast tomb chamber began to transform. The rows of lifeless, solemn terracotta warriors no longer appeared as just cold statues; instead, streams of aura began to emerge.

Then, his gaze swept across the chamber. The Daoist Qi Sight could detect imperial qi, which was invisible to ordinary cultivators.

Only through this technique could one see a person’s qi, and naturally, the yin qi of evil spirits could not hide from it either.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

However, this time, Li Yanchu saw nothing. Although the tomb chamber was indeed filled with yin qi, there was no trace of evil qi to be found.

Aside from the aura of Master Shenshan and the others around him, he couldn’t detect any other aura. The auras of Master Huizhen and Wang Yunting were completely gone.

At this time, Li Yanchu’s heart instantly sank. In the end, he withdrew the Qi Sight.

“I couldn’t find any sign of Master Huizhen or Wang Yunting,” Li Yanchu said while shaking his head.

The Qi Sight had its limits, and certain special powers or magical artifacts could block its detection entirely.

Master Shenshan gave a slight nod and inwardly let out a soft sigh.

“Master,” Li Yanchu said, “I have another method. If we want to continue searching for Master Huizhen and Wang Yunting, we could try it.”

Even if the others chose to retreat, he would remain. He wasn’t necessarily going to trade his life for theirs, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to simply turn back and walk away like this.

Master Shenshan, a high monk of the Buddhist path, clearly had no intention of abandoning their two missing companions either.

“Daoist Master Yanchu, feel free to speak your mind. It was I who initiated this Exorcism Assembly into the tomb and called on all of you to join in. Now only a handful remain. If I cannot bring you all out safely, I would rather die here myself.”

Master Shenshan was different from those sanctimonious hypocrites who wore the robes of righteousness but harbored wickedness in their hearts. This old monk gave people a sense of trust, and he was truly upright and genuine.

Li Yanchu said, “If we continue the search, there’s a high chance others might go missing as well. Please tear off a piece of your clothing and give it to me.”

He didn’t mention anything like hair, as that sort of thing was taboo. Many sinister and harmful spells relied on a person’s hair or birth date to cast curses or plant evil charms.

Besides, Master Shenshan didn’t have any hair anyway...

“You’re planning to use a tracking spell?” Daoist Master Yuanyi suddenly spoke up.

Li Yanchu replied, “Yes. If anyone else disappears, I’ll try to track them. I can’t promise results, but I’ll do what I can.”

Yuanyi nodded, and a subtle glint flashed in his eyes. Then he suddenly asked, “Who is your master?”

Hearing this, Li Yanchu froze for a moment, as he hadn’t expected this Daoist master to suddenly ask about his lineage. “My master’s Daoist title is Xuancheng. He is of the Zhengyi Daoism, and he is from Qingyun Temple.”

Suddenly, Daoist Master Yuanyi fixed his gaze on Li Yanchu’s face without saying a word. After a moment, he finally let out a relieved smile and said, “So you’re Xuancheng’s disciple. No wonder.”

Li Yanchu being from Qingyun Temple in Wei City was something many people already knew. In fact, due to the clean and efficient way he and Bai Hongtu handled enemies, such as killing and disposing of bodies without a trace, some had even questioned whether Qingyun Temple was a proper Daoist sect at all.

In truth, Qingyun Temple was a legitimate branch of the Zhengyi Daoism, with a formal and traceable lineage. However, in a world where many sought fame and reputation without substance, names like “Qingyun Temple” were actually quite common. Thus, Yuanyi hadn’t thought much of it when he first heard it.

“Daoist Master Yuanyi, you know my master?” Li Yanchu was somewhat surprised.

Yuanyi’s reaction had indeed caught him off guard.

1. The "Feign an attack in the east while attacking in the west" stratagem is a tactic involving swift, deceptive maneuvers: striking here, then there; attacking briefly, then withdrawing. This is all to create false appearances and mislead the enemy into making incorrect judgments. It is the sixth strategy of the classic

Thirty-Six Stratagems 三十六计

.

To throw the enemy’s command into disarray, one must adopt a flexible and mobile approach. For instance, though one has no intention of attacking Location A, one pretends to do so; meanwhile, the actual target is Location B, but no signs of aggression are shown there. By appearing to act where one will not, and concealing true intentions where one will, the enemy is left unable to discern one’s real objective. Misled by the illusion, they are prone to error, providing the perfect chance to strike decisively. ☜

2. The Heart Sutra, also known as the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya Sūtra, is a concise yet profound Mahayana Buddhist text that encapsulates the core teachings of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) literature. It's widely chanted and recited in Buddhist temples and by practitioners to deepen their understanding of reality, particularly the concept of emptiness (sunyata). ☜