Following the old man through the side door, the scene before Lu Qiancha caused her pupils to slightly contract.
A cluster of buildings with the silhouette of Wanghai City appeared, featuring upturned eaves, arched brackets, and intricately carved beams.
The layout was about seventy or eighty percent similar to Wanghai City, as if it were a meticulously replicated mirror city. However, it was not prosperous; instead, it exuded a sense of coldness and deathly stillness.
What shocked Lu Qiancha even more were the pedestrians on the street. There were many, but most of them were drifting and wandering in the form of evil spirits.
They were blurry, either transparent or carrying a faint grayish-black mist, like wandering souls who had lost their way, shuttling aimlessly through the archaic alleys.
Only a very few pedestrians were draped in “skins,” whether young or old.
‘It seems that skins are a scarce luxury here,’ Lu Qiancha thought.
Before she could think further, the old man led her to a temple.
The exterior of the temple was not magnificent; in fact, it looked somewhat cramped. However, the moment she stepped through the temple doors, a sense of oppression washed over her.
The reason was simple — in the center of the temple stood a Buddha statue so massive that it was completely disproportionate.
The statue occupied nearly two-thirds of the temple’s interior. It stood tall between heaven and earth, its head nearly touching the roof.
It sat cross-legged with its eyes tightly shut. Its face seemed compassionate and peaceful, but given its pitch-black color, it possessed an air of indifferent, deathly silence.
Inside the temple, faith incense swirled, and a steady stream of painted skin pilgrims arrived to offer incense.
They were either disguised as humans or remained as evil spirits, their movements respectful. Some would even stuff a few copper coins into the incense box, producing a dull clinking sound.
“This mud statue is quite sinister,” Canxin’s voice rang out directly in Lu Qiancha’s Sea of Consciousness. “Its malevolent energy is restrained, and it’s coiled with resentment. It clearly isn’t anything good.”
‘I wouldn’t expect otherwise. What kind of good thing would a group of skin-wearing monsters worship?’ Lu Qiancha responded in her heart.
“Jie jie jie…” Canxin let out a low, seductive, and wicked laugh.
“Little one, why don’t we just start a massacre here? While they’re off guard, I can use my edge to slay every evil entity in this temple.”
“If you devour these filthy souls and the evil power contained within that Buddha statue, the massive ling power generated afterward will be enough for you to reach the heavens in a single bound and leap across a great realm.”
‘No thanks,’ Lu Qiancha rolled her eyes at her in her heart. ‘If you want to die, I’m not finished living yet.’
Drawing a weapon in the nest of an enemy whose background was unknown was no different from seeking death.
Slaying a few rogue painted skins earlier was one thing, but here, heaven only knew if a Da Mo capable of crushing her was lurking inside that Buddha statue.
At that moment, it was Lu Qiancha’s turn to step forward and make an offering.
She imitated the painted skins ahead of her, lighting three sticks of incense that emitted a strange fragrance and inserting them into the incense burner.
Subsequently, she was led directly to the front of the massive Buddha.
The painted skin ahead of her, who had just finished its offering, knelt devoutly on a P futon before the Buddha.
It lifted its head, staring directly into the closed eyes of the statue. From its eye sockets, a thick, ink-like black liquid slowly seeped out.
The liquid slid silently down its stiff cheeks and dripped precisely into a wooden bowl placed beside the base of the statue.
A Temple Overseer dressed in dark red monk robes floated forward soundlessly. He reached out his fingers and carefully picked up the wooden bowl containing the black liquid.
Then, under Lu Qiancha’s gaze, the Temple Overseer applied the thick black liquid to the back of the giant Buddha statue as if he were spreading paint.
In the spot where it was applied, the dark surface of the statue seemed to ripple slightly, and the black liquid was quickly absorbed, vanishing from sight.
Once everything was done, the painted skin that had offered the black liquid slowly stood up.
The Temple Overseer wordlessly handed him five strings of copper coins tied with hemp rope. The coins were heavy, and judging by their size and number, there were about 500 coins in total.
‘It really is a monthly offering…’
Incense for money.
Lu Qiancha’s eyes twitched. She had previously thought that “monthly offering” was some kind of code word.
“What exactly are these demons doing? What kind of thing are they nurturing?” Lu Qiancha frowned and asked Canxin.
Canxin was silent for a moment before she spoke in a heavy voice, “I have traveled across the vast lands, slaying countless bald donkeys and exterminating evil monks.”
“I have seen the manifestations of ten thousand Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajras, but this one…”
She paused before continuing, “I have never seen anything like it. It looks like neither a Buddha nor a demon. It seems more like some kind of vessel that was forcibly shaped.”
‘A vessel?’
Hearing Canxin’s words, Lu Qiancha became pensive. If it really was as Canxin said, then what exactly was the liquid filling this vessel?
“Next,” the Temple Overseer said.
Lu Qiancha almost panicked. She didn’t have any of that liquid. ‘Should I… use a Wither Potion as a disguise?’
In any case, it was black, so it should look similar.
As for the black tears on her face, she could simply use the Shen Ying Jue to create a disguise.
As she thought about it, Lu Qiancha took action. She used the Shen Ying Jue to slowly turn her face black, simulating tear stains.
Then, she hid the Wither Potion in her sleeve and used her ling power to guide it out, placing it into the wooden bowl.
“Hmm?”
The Temple Overseer took the wooden bowl, his cloudy eyes rolling slightly as they swept over the liquid.
It was thicker and darker in color than the usual offerings. The corners of his mouth curled into an appreciative arc. “This is quite a generous amount.”
He spoke hoarsely, “It seems you’ve consumed a lot of fresh flesh recently? Well done.”
The Temple Overseer took out an extra string of copper coins and handed it over along with the other five.
“This extra string is a reward for you. Keep working hard. Once Father has established a new shelter for us and we leave this gloomy city, there will surely be a place for you.”
‘Father?’
Lu Qiancha instantly became alert upon hearing this new term.
She suppressed her roiling emotions, and her face squeezed out an expression of terrified humility as if she were overwhelmed by the favor.
She bowed repeatedly, her voice “trembling” with excitement. “Thank you for the reward, Lord. I will certainly do my best.”
She grabbed the six heavy strings of copper coins and, not daring to stay a moment longer, immediately turned and walked out of the temple at a very high speed.
“Heh, leaving so quickly? It seems my words of encouragement were quite effective,” the Temple Overseer muttered to himself. He withdrew his gaze and looked back down at the offering in his hand.
In his eyes, the pitch-black liquid emitting a faint, pungent odor was proof of Old Zhang’s loyalty and diligence.
The Temple Overseer extended his index finger and slowly dipped it into the bowl, preparing to apply it to the statue as usual…
*Sizzle—!*
The moment his fingertip touched the surface of the liquid.
An extreme, scorching pain mixed with a corrosive sensation stabbed into his skin like ten thousand red-hot steel needles.
“Ah! My skin!”
A shrill scream echoed from within the temple. Lu Qiancha felt a pang of guilt in her heart and accelerated her pace, wanting to leave this den of trouble as quickly as possible.
“Seize him! Catch that traitor!”
The Temple Overseer, whose arm was being rapidly corroded by the Wither Potion, chased her out. He pointed at Lu Qiancha’s retreating figure with gritted teeth.
Instantly, the surrounding painted skins and evil spirits focused their burning gazes on Lu Qiancha, making her skin crawl.
She decisively took out the demon cube and transformed it into a Destruction Mushroom, leaving a big surprise on the spot. Then, she took out an Ender Pearl and flickered toward the path she had come from.
A flash of purple light flickered, and Lu Qiancha vanished from the spot.
“Where is Old Zhang? How did he disappear?”
Only the group of painted skins remained, staring at each other in confusion.
“I don’t know… By the way, what is this mushroom sprite thing? It looks aggressive, it doesn’t seem like anything good.”
“I don’t know either—”
Before the words could finish, the Destruction Mushroom glanced at them and then slowly began to expand—
*Boom!*
Lu Qiancha turned her head to look, only to see a dark purple mushroom cloud slowly rising.
“These guys are quite tough. Even after being blown up by a Destruction Mushroom, they didn’t even make a sound,” Lu Qiancha muttered before quickly leaving the Secret Realm.
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