Supreme Alchemist
Chapter 2487 - 2477: Returning to the Secret Passage
CHAPTER 2487: CHAPTER 2477: RETURNING TO THE SECRET PASSAGE
A few people stood at the temple’s doorway. Having agreed to take him, Tian Luo Yi slowly explained the meaning of the Heavenly Stem Jia Wood and Earthly Branch Chen Earth. In fact, these two meanings are quite simple; they mean putting the Heavenly Stem in front and the Earthly Branch behind, which together indicate a location.
The Heavenly Stem’s Jia Wood represents its literal meaning: towering trees. As for the Earthly Branch’s dust, its meaning is somewhat distorted. It has two interpretations: a pond or a reservoir.
However, since the location mentioned by the statue would naturally be inside the temple, the reservoir can be excluded. Combined with the previous Heavenly Stem, the true meaning is likely a pond beneath a towering tree.
After hearing Tian Luo Yi’s words, Long Yan pondered for a moment. He had only seen the rooms on the east and west sides before and hadn’t noticed any towering trees.
Nonetheless, this reminded Long Yan that he seemed not to have seen any Bodhi tree inside the temple. Considering the temple’s long history, how could there not be a Bodhi tree?
Whether now or before, the Bodhi tree has always held special significance for the Buddhist Sect. After all, the great Buddha in Buddhism attained enlightenment beneath a Bodhi tree, which is why the Bodhi tree’s name also implies enlightenment. Typically, there should be one in a Buddhist temple.
It seems that the thing is hidden beneath that Bodhi tree. Long Yan simply shared his thoughts, though the exact details would have to wait until they saw it.
"Are you ready?"
Long Yan glanced back at the group, then reached out to push open the tightly closed gate of the temple. Perhaps due to the lack of True Qi earlier, this time Long Yan clearly felt the spatial transformation. Then, before him was that familiar scene, with the giant square appearing just as it did when he left before.
The damaged big cauldron remained from when Long Yan and Ming Zhu fought. It seemed no one had cleaned it up. Long Yan simply uttered a word of caution and assumed a vigilant stance.
"Didn’t I tell you before? If you return, you are bound to die. Amitabha, why won’t you heed my words?"
A voice came from afar, yet its volume was no less than if it were nearby. A cold smile appeared at the corner of Long Yan’s mouth.
"How could I not seek revenge? This time, I’m here for your life."
The four people around looked at Long Yan in bewilderment as he and that voice conversed. Although they could hear the voice, they didn’t understand it, but they confirmed one thing: Long Yan wasn’t bluffing; he truly had been here.
As Long Yan’s words fell, the voice fell silent as if mute. Meanwhile, the monk inside the Great Hall whispered to himself.
"If you can kill me, that would naturally be best."
"Amitabha."
Since the other side wasn’t speaking or coming out to fight, Long Yan could only lead the group to the Western Monk’s Room, which hadn’t been explored before. After all, the last investigation began from here. This area, however, was clean and tidy. Last time, there had been layers of tangled spider silk, likely burned away by the fire Long Yan set.
Along the way, the numerous corpses nearly made the two girls huddle together. Even Tian Luo Yi and Chu Lu felt a bit uneasy, wondering how many had died inside. This path was filled with more than a hundred.
However, Long Yan seemed indifferent to this matter. There would be no need for surprise until reaching the Corpse Mountain. So many lives had been lost here over the years, it was impossible to count.
Long Yan scrutinized the surroundings because the items in Ming Zhu’s habitat had been nearly destroyed. Upon reaching the end of this house, he found a lock hanging above. Long Yan touched the iron lock on the door, thinking the key must be nearby.
Long Yan considered using brute force to wrench down the lockhead, but despite using all his strength, he couldn’t damage it at all, as it had fused with the space. Aside from finding the key, there was no other way. Forcibly using True Qi might cause the entire space to tremble.
With five pairs of eyes searching, Long Yan initially thought it wouldn’t be difficult. Yet the reality was more challenging. Judging from past experiences, that Release would hardly make it simple to get the key.
Although the Western Monk’s Room wasn’t as complex as the Eastern one, just a few simple rooms with monk’s usual items, most were stained with fresh blood, eliciting sighs from everyone.
After the fruitless search, Long Yan focused on the secret passage that almost exposed Ming Zhu’s hideout. However, the passage was originally weakly built and might have collapsed by now.
"Long Yan, come and see."
Initially, Chu Meng was somewhat scared; daughters tend to naturally fear ghosts and spirits. However, with so many corpses inside and considering her atypical nature, she had already become accustomed to the dreadful environment.
"Hmm?"
Seeing Chu Meng retrieve a Golden Bowl from beneath a pillow, although it looked like the kind monks use for alms, it was made of pure gold.
"Wow, the monks who lived here must have been wealthy before."
Chu Lu took the Golden Bowl from Chu Meng’s hand and exclaimed. Not to mention, the Golden Bowl alone was worth four taels of gold, while the Western Monk’s Room was just ordinary quarters.
"Meng Nian."
"This Dharma name doesn’t match the Golden Bowl; it should be called Wang Laowu instead."
Chu Lu flipped the Golden Bowl to see delicate characters on the bottom. They didn’t seem engraved later but branded during its making.
However, Monk Meng Nian should just be an ordinary monk in the temple. Where did he get the money for this Golden Bowl, and had he broken the monastic rules with these possessions?
Long Yan weighed the Golden Bowl in his hand; it was quite heavy. No matter where it’s placed, it would be incredibly valuable.
"The passage has been cleared."
Tian Luo Yi’s voice came from the secret passage’s entrance Long Yan had previously entered.
Upon hearing this, Long Yan led the way into the passage. The once wide passageway was now filled with countless broken stones, but the internal space was still spacious; however, the stones above had numerous crevices.
"Fortunately, the structure is relatively solid; we’re rather lucky."
Tian Luo Yi had exerted considerable effort to carve out a traversable channel. However, the passage couldn’t withstand any battle, as a fight might cause it to collapse instantly.
"Long Yan, look over there!"
With Chu Meng’s exclamation, Long Yan turned to look to his right.