Chapter 274


    <h4>Xiyuan Temple</h4>


    Li Yundong followed the twomas until he eventually arrived at—unsurprisingly—a temple . Technically, he wasn’t inside the temple; rather, he was standing on a huge parking lot beside the temple . Some kind of ticket booth was set up at the corner of the parking lot . There was a long queue at the ticket booth, and the twomas were having a conversation with anotherma near the booth .


    When Li Yundong first arrived at the parking lot, he saw a group of tourists hanging around the booth as well . He had decided to blend in with the group, hiding in in sight while he kept a close eye on themas . The tourists were clearly waiting for someone; though if Li Yundong were to venture a guess, they were probably waiting for their tour guide who was queueing up at the booth to purchase their tickets .


    Li Yundong took a deep breath and tamped down a wave of frustration .


    The conversation between themas was taking far too long . Ten minutes and counting . His original game n was to follow the twomas around until they eventually led him to the location where this supposed demon witch was incarcerated . It did seem like a good idea at the time, since those twomas were part of whatever ritual required to exterminate the demon witch . At least that was what he understood from the conversation he’d overheard back at the noodle shop .


    s, it would appear that a change of ns was necessary .


    Damn it . He really thought that those twoma would lead him straight to Su Chan . But now they were just standing there, chatting with each other like they didn’t have a care in the world .


    What the heck happened to "it’s best if we get there as quickly as possible?"


    Weren’t those two supposed to be in a hurry?


    Li Yundong sighed . n B, then...


    This wasn’t ideal, but he would probably have to sneak into Xiyuan Temple on his own . Assuming that Su Chan was even inside the temple . From the looks of it, Xiyuan Temple was open to tourist and local visitors . Which means there would be a lot of prying eyes . Wouldn’t it be better to "exterminate" Su Chan elsewhere? How was Li Yundong even supposed to find out where Su Chan was being kept without the twomas to lead him to the ce?


    Shit .


    Five minutes, he told himself . I’ll wait for five more minu—


    Themas were leaving .


    Li Yundong pushed away from the throng of tourists and hurried after themas . The pair had just left the parking lot and was now walking towards Xiyuan temple .


    Hah! So she was inside the temple after all—


    Li Yundong’s shoulder rammed into something soft; a woman shrieked .


    "Sorry, miss! I’m sorry!" Li Yundong crouched down to check on the youngdy he’d just knocked to the ground . "Are you okay?"


    "Geez! Dude, watch where you’re going!" thedy red at him as she scrambled around to pick up the dozens of entrance tickets strewn all over the ground .


    Li Yundong looked towards the temple . Themas were gone .


    Damn it!


    Li Yundong sprang to his feet and began sprinting towards the temple .


    "I’m sorry, miss! I truly am!" he yelled over his shoulder .


    "Hey!" thedy yelled . "Where do you think you’re goin—Get back here! You’re not allowed to enter the temple without buying a ticket first!"


    Li Yundong ignored thedy and kept running .


    "Hey!!" thedy yelled again .


    "Good Lord, Lan... What on earth is the matter?" said another woman .


    Li Yundong did a quick scan of his surroundings as he ran . Damn it . Where the heck did those two go? Were they inside the temple already?


    Li Yundong stopped in front of the temple’s main entrance . A portion of his Zhenqi rose from his Vital Orb and gathered at his Shenting .


    Ningshen: Eryue!


    Thedy was still yelling . "...I swear! The guy bumped into me and then started sprinting towards the temple . And I don’t think he has a ticket . "


    "Are you sure?"


    "Just ask them!"


    The tourists voiced out their agreement .


    "She’s right, Miss Liu . I saw . "


    "Yeah, me too . He bumped into her and then just up and left . "


    "Didn’t even help her pick up our tickets . "


    "What a rude young man . "


    Li Yundong tuned out the voices and sprinted away from the entrance to distance himself from the parking lot .


    C’mon, c’mon, c’mon... Where are they?


    He’d alreadymitted themas’ voices to memory . He just have to iste them and pinpoint their location .


    Li Yundong pulled up short: Eryue had picked up something .


    "...shīshū is waiting for us . "


    "Of course he is! You’re the one who got carried away just now . "


    "Sorry, shīxiōng..."


    Relief coursed through Li Yundong . Neither of themas were inside the temple yet . He followed their voices and realized that themas were moving to the side of the temple .


    Where the heck are they going? Are they leaving the temple?


    The twomas circled around the side of the temple and kept on walking . From the looks of it, they were heading towards Xiyuan Temple’s back entrance .


    Li Yundong followed themas stealthily, making sure to stay at least ten meters away from them . The back of the temple was an isted area, so he had to be even more careful lest themas notice his presence . Right now, Li Yundong and themas were the only ones around in the area .


    Themas stopped in front of arge wooden door .


    Li Yundong hid behind the trunk of arge tree and watched the pair from afar .


    Ningshen: Mingmu!


    Li Yundong zoomed in and saw one of thema reaching for the bronze door knocker .


    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!


    The wooden door creaked open five secondster . A middle-agedma stood at the door .


    "Ah, there you are . "


    Thema who knocked pressed his palms together . "Greetings, shīshū . "


    The otherma copied his gestured . "Shīshū . "


    "Come on in," said the middle-agedma . "Everyone’s waiting for you two . "


    Li Yundong’s body grew taut . That did not sound good . It definitely sounded like thosemas were about to begin some kind of ritual .


    Damn it . He had to get to Chan’er before those guys did .


    The twomas entered the temple .


    The double doors were closing . However, the doors stopped moving just before they were fully closed . A secondter, they creaked open again . Li Yundong zoomed in and saw the sharp eyes of the middle-agedma looking in his direction .


    Shit!


    The blown-up view of the tree bark shed in his mind the moment Li Yundong pull his head away from the edge of the trunk . He zoomed out, but kept his Eryue activated . He would move in after he heard the door close .


    Crap . He didn’t see me, did he?


    He waited behind the tree until he heard the unmistakable click of a lock . After that, he poked his head out again and zoomed in . The doors were closed, and there were no signs of the middle-agedma .


    But just to be safe...


    Li Yundong levitated from the ground and floated towards the top of the tree . Hended on a branch and surveyed the area from his new vantage point . He stood on the branch for about a minute, scanning the area for threats .


    The coast was clear .


    He moved quietly towards the door .


    Disappointment crept into Li Yundong as he approached the double doors . Two talismans were attached to the double doors, one on each door . He couldn’t see the talismans just now because themas’ bodies were blocking them from his view .


    Li Yundong crouched down in front of the doors and studied the talismans . The talismans appeared to be identical, and they were about the same size as his palm . The drawings on the talismans were totally different from the one that Su Chan had given him . These ones contained not Taoist symbols but Sanskrit symbols . Behind the Sanskrit symbols were the drawings of several menacing arhats .


    The symbols on the talismans started to glow when Li Yundong reached for the door . The golden glow waned the moment Li Yundong withdrew his hand slightly . He sighed and let his hand dropped to his side . He probably shouldn’t take any chances since he had no idea what those talismans were capable of .


    He straightened himself and stared at the double doors as he figured out his next move .


    Simple . Just fly over the wall .


    Li Yundong moved away from the door and took a right turn—no need to stay too close to the talismans . He kept walking until he arrived at a dimly lit corner beside the temple . The ambience was dark due to the presence of a huge tree whose foliage had blocked out most of the light from the surrounding streetmps . He stopped under the tree and nced around a few times . He didn’t need anyone to start freaking out when they saw him levitating off the ground .


    Okay . Here goes...


    s, as his body rose, his heart sank .


    Talismans were attached all over the top surface of the wall . Li Yundongnded on the ground with a loud huff .


    Hmm...


    He picked up a pebble from the ground and hurled it towards the top of the wall . The pebble sailed over the wall without encountering any resistance .


    Okay . So it wasn’t a barrier .


    Maybe it was some kind of rm, in which case it would be an even bigger pain in the ass—those guys inside the temple would know right away that there was an intruder the moment one of the rms was triggered .


    No . He had to find another way in .


    There had to be some ce around this huge temple that wasn’t sealed off with a bunch of talismans . He just had to find it .


    Another thought hit him, and he froze .


    Why not just enter from the temple’s main entrance? He quickly dismissed the idea; it was too illogical . This ce was clearly a restricted area . It was probably inessible from anywhere inside the temple that was open to the public . What if some random tourist wandered into the ce while "looking for the bathroom?"


    Fine . Not the main entrance then .


    What if he infiltrated from the sky? Maybe hover in the sky, and then stealthily lower himself into the middle of thepound . He pondered that idea for a moment . Would that work? Would there be traps in the sky?


    Most likely .


    Zi Yuan had mentioned something simr in her letter summoning him to the Fox Zen School .


    Li Yundong ran a hand through his hair and sighed .


    Don’t give up . Just keep on looking .


    After fumbling around for a few more minutes, he ended up standing in front of those double doors again . Nothing had changed . The symbols on the talismans still glowed whenever his hands neared the door’s surface and dimmed whenever he pulled away . What did those things detect anyway? Physical proximity?


    If that’s the case, then...


    Li Yundong turned around and looked towards therge tree he’d been hiding behind when he was spying on the twomas earlier . Argh, whatever . Might as well give it a try .


    He flew towards the tree and stood on the branch again .


    God, he really hoped that there weren’t any security cameras around here . He hadn’t seen any so far, so there was that . Then again, who needs security cams when you have these awesome talismans lying around to keep intruders away?


    Talismans, he might add, that he was about to disarm .


    Li Yundong crouched down on the branch and raised his hand, aiming his palm at the double doors .


    Qi Kinesis!


    His Zhenqi shot out from his palm and began stretching towards the double doors . If the talismans worked by detecting someone’s physical presence, then he might be able to disarm them from afar . He was hoping that he could literally peel the talismans off the door using Qi Kinesis .


    Which, apparently, was too much to ask for .


    Thanks a lot, Universe .


    Li Yundong groaned and withdrew his Zhenqi from the talismans when they started glowing again .


    Great . Now what?


    Voices drifted to his ears .


    "...the right ce, Lan? I don’t even see him!"


    "Just keep looking . " A pause . "I’m positive that he came this way . "


    The second voice belonged to thedy he ran into earlier .


    Crap, crap, crap...


    The voices sounded rather faint, so he knew that the two women weren’t close-by . Not yet anyway . But still, the fact that they were both looking for him set off a dozen of rm bells in his head .


    Li Yundong cursed under his breath and flew towards the doors again . He just had onest thing to try . And if this didn’t work, he would try sneaking in from the temple’s main entrance—who knows he might be able to ess the restricted area by breaking few walls .


    He hadn’t tried to use this mudra because he wasn’t certain about the effects it would have on the talismans . Would the talismans burst into mes like the wall inside the Fox Zen School’s secret vault? Well, it would be okay if one or two talismans caught fire . But what if all of them (he didn’t even know how many there were hidden all over the temple) burst into mes simultaneously? Wouldn’t that alert themas inside the temple?


    Or maybe nothing would happen .


    The True mes of Samadhi can remove any obstacle from the path of truth .


    Would rescuing a girlfriend count as "the path of truth?"


    Guess he was about to find out .


    Li Yundong formed atha’s 5th Mudra, the Mouth of Samadhi and bridged his Three Gates .


    May the Mouth of Samadhi breathes the True mes of Samadhi...


    "Namah sarva tathagatebhyah sarva mukhebhyah, sarvatha trat canda maha rosana kham khahi khahi sarva vighnam hum trat ham mam..."


    Colorful mes engulfed the two talismans on the double doors . In just a matter of seconds, the talismans were reduced to ashes .


    Li Yundong stopped chanting and held his breath . There would no doubt be some kind ofmotion or uproar inside the temple if he was discovered .


    There was only silence .


    Note to self: Next time, don’t be afraid to follow my instincts .


    He sighed, released the mudra, and then stared at the double doors .


    Hang on, Chan’er...