Chapter 80: The Black Bear Was Dead

“Puchi!”

The Black Bear, still busy drafting a tactical blueprint for Mo Lin, stared in shock at the tail that had pierced straight through its chest.

It froze for a moment:

“Damn it, is Buddha just going offline like this?”

It had just been envisioning its path to invincibility, only to end up with such an ending?

The Black Bear turned its head to glance at Mo Lin’s cold eyes, which showed no intention of sparing it.

Blood seeped from the corner of its mouth as it said:

“Mo Lin, you killed Buddha, you won’t die well.”

Because the Bald Donkey and Mountain Lord would “avenge” Buddha.

“Hiss!”

Mo Lin pulled its tail free from the Black Bear’s chest, splattering blood in a spray, and said expressionlessly:

“Oh, then you too will die before me. Rest in peace. I’ll bury your corpse together with the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore, so you won’t be lonely.”

With that, Mo Lin completely strangled the Black Bear to death.

“Ding-woong~”

As if sensing its bound host’s death, the Golden Circlet unexpectedly slipped off the Black Bear’s head, crashing to the ground with a heavy echo.

Mo Lin swallowed the Black Bear into its belly, burying it together with the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore.

Mo Lin closed its eyes to feel:

“Seems the decision to devour the Black Bear was quite correct.”

Mo Lin opened its eyes.

Its body, originally several dozen meters long, suddenly began to shrink, smaller and smaller, until it was no bigger than the little Grass Snake it had been when it first crossed over.

Miniaturization!

Yes, this was the ability Mo Lin obtained after devouring the Black Bear.

Back when Mo Lin first saw the Black Bear disguised as the “Shaman,” it had always wondered how such a massive body could fit into the tiny frame of a Shaman.

Now it seemed this “Miniaturization” ability was the answer.

Mo Lin had once worried about what would happen if its body grew endlessly larger as it devoured more creatures—being too big would be inconvenient in many situations.

But now, after swallowing the Black Bear, it had solved this problem with the Miniaturization ability.

The “little Grass Snake” Mo Lin slithered to the side of the Golden Circlet and poked it with its tail, but nothing happened.

It looked no different from an ordinary piece of golden jewelry.

Mo Lin attempted to channel its Demonic Power into the Golden Circlet, only to feel a slow yet firm resistance blocking its energy from entering.

“Seems it’s just as the Black Bear said. This Golden Circlet must be an Earth-rank magic treasure that has been consecrated, otherwise it wouldn’t resist me.”

Mo Lin lifted the Golden Circlet—which was now a little bigger than its current tiny snake form—with its tail, curiosity rising:

“I wonder, can I swallow this Golden Circlet? Would it trigger any reaction?”

Just as Mo Lin pondered whether to swallow it, the Golden Circlet dangling from its tail suddenly began to tremble.

It shrank abruptly, then instantly expanded, finally returning to its original size.

The force that had resisted Mo Lin’s Demonic Power invasion suddenly surged and quickened.

Before Mo Lin could react, the Golden Circlet broke free of its tail.

Immediately, the Golden Circlet shot out of the mine, as if it had a will of its own.

Seeing this, Mo Lin instantly understood.

The instigator at the Child-Giving Temple had learned of the Black Bear’s death and was summoning back the Golden Circlet.

It was even possible that the Golden Circlet’s master was already on the way to the Purple Crystal Dragon Mine.

“Lustful Monk Wuzhen…”

Mo Lin slithered after the Golden Circlet, musing to itself.

Although the Black Bear had said it told Mo Lin the mine’s location because it truly believed Mo Lin would kill it, and that it hadn’t told Wuzhen, Mo Lin strongly doubted the truth of that claim.

Adding to that, the Golden Circlet was leaving from the direction of the Purple Crystal Dragon Mine.

That meant the monk most likely already knew the location.

In other words, if it refused to give up the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore, it was destined to clash with the monk.

And would it give up the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore?

The answer, without a doubt, was no.

Therefore, to gain the upper hand in the coming battle, it had to cut off one of the monk’s arms from the very beginning!

It had to stop the Golden Circlet from reuniting with its master!

Mo Lin swiftly darted out of the mine, its body expanding again.

The pair of wings shaped like snake scales on its back suddenly spread open.

With a powerful flap, its massive figure vanished from its spot, chasing after the Golden Circlet in the distance!

……

While Mo Lin was devouring inside the Purple Crystal Dragon Mine, Jingchen and Wuzhen had just returned to the Child-Giving Temple.

It was daytime.

Several female worshippers were sincerely praying to the Bodhisattva inside the temple.

When they saw the handsome Wuzhen, with earlobes hanging to his shoulders, they immediately recognized him as the renowned abbot of the Child-Giving Temple—

If one could hear Wuzhen chant sutras a few times, one would have a greater chance of receiving the Bodhisattva’s blessing and fulfilling the wish of conceiving a child!

Moreover, Abbot Wuzhen was upright and virtuous, open and aboveboard, never hiding his chanting from others.

His reputation was excellent.

So even though he was a monk of the opposite sex, the female worshippers deeply trusted him.

“The Abbot has returned!”

“Abbot!”

“Abbot, you must be weary from travel, are you well?”

Several worshippers surrounded Wuzhen, gazing at him with eager eyes.

Most of them only wished to conceive so they could hold their heads high in their households.

But a small number of them looked at him with eyes a little too fiery, brazenly sizing up Wuzhen’s face and figure.

After all, aside from being a monk, Wuzhen’s looks and build were exceptional among men.

Even the scarred tonsure marks on his head and his long earlobes did not mar his bearing, but instead gave him a sense of ascetic allure.

If Wuzhen showed even the slightest hint of wavering, some more unrestrained worshippers would not have minded staying overnight at the temple for a fleeting romance—

Even if they ended up pregnant, they could always claim it was the Bodhisattva’s blessing.

Unfortunately for them, faced with all the flirtatious glances, Wuzhen merely clasped his hands with righteous dignity:

“Thank you all for your concern. This poor monk only went to fetch my master, who will stay in the temple for a few days.”

Only then did the worshippers notice the older monk behind Wuzhen, who also radiated Buddhist aura—Jingchen.

He smiled kindly and nodded to them.

Wuzhen then asked:

“During my days away, has my Black Bear properly entertained you all?”

At the mention of the Black Bear at the temple, the worshippers immediately praised it:

“Abbot’s methods are truly remarkable, to have converted such a wild Black Bear Demon to Buddhism.”

“Yes, even though I didn’t see the Abbot these past days, I saw the Black Bear chanting scriptures many times. Truly astonishing.”

Wuzhen nodded with a smile.

Just then, one worshipper said casually:

“Strange though, I don’t think I saw the Black Bear today. Where could it have gone?”

Her casual remark drew agreement from the others:

“That’s right, that’s right. Now that you mention it, we really haven’t seen the Black Bear today. Abbot, do you know where it went?”

At this, the smile on Wuzhen’s face remained unchanged, but his right hand behind his back moved slightly, forming a subtle mudra.

He frowned faintly.

No one knew a disciple better than his master.

Jingchen stepped forward between Wuzhen and the worshippers, interjecting:

“Ladies, both Wuzhen and I are weary from travel. Could you let us rest for a while? I imagine the Black Bear must be tired from chanting and has gone to rest somewhere.”

“After we’ve had some rest, we will come out again to host you. Would that be alright?”

The worshippers immediately parted to let the monks pass:

“Of course, of course. Sisters, let the Abbot rest well.”

After thanking them and entering the inner chamber, Jingchen and Wuzhen’s warm expressions instantly vanished.

Wuzhen looked at Jingchen:

“The Black Bear is dead.”

Jingchen’s pupils contracted.

“The Golden Circlet? Where is it?”

Expressionless, Wuzhen said:

“It is in this mountain, at the Purple Crystal Dragon Mine.”