Chapter 140: Wataru Flower
He's just a paper figure!
Qiao Wan felt a jolt in her heart, and a surge of anger ignited within her. She immediately tackled the paper figure in front of her to the ground!
Just as she was about to draw her sword, she locked eyes with the lifeless face and abruptly halted.
The owner of the coffin shop had warned her not to provoke them.
Qiao Wan stood up in silence, lifted the "Meng Canglang" figure from the ground, and casually brushed off the dust.
She didn't expect these paper figures to be of much help, she just hoped they wouldn't cause more trouble.
Outside the temple gate, a dead silence fell upon everyone.
All of them were stunned, instinctively turning their gaze towards the closed boundary.
...
There was no way out.
Meng Canglang leaned against the barrier and looked up at the statue of the Buddha in the distance. He pursed his lips and couldn't quite describe the feelings in his heart.
He felt afraid.
Anyone would feel afraid in this situation, and Meng Canglang was no exception. But along with the fear, there was also a sense of relief.
At least he had kept his promise and sent everyone else away.
Despite being known as the Canglang Sword, Meng Canglang never thought of himself as a genius.
He was once an ordinary boy, growing up barefoot on a sandy beach in a small fishing village. It was only by chance that he entered the Chongde Ancient Garden and transformed from a plain-skinned, slightly dark-skinned, accented mortal into a gentle, frugal, polite young man who could deceive countless female cultivators.
Meng Canglang had put in much more effort than an ordinary person.
Chongde Ancient Garden was a high-level school for cultivation in the realm of cultivation. They adopted a strategy of letting their disciples explore and discover what they liked to do.
While the other disciples went out to have fun after class, Meng Canglang sat quietly in the classroom reading books.
He would wake up before dawn every day to practice swordsmanship.
In the aspect of not liking to sleep, he was similar to Qiao Wan.
If his talent wasn't enough, he would make up for it with hard work.
However, unlike Qiao Wan, Meng Canglang not only had talent, but also worked hard. After years of practice, he finally became a top-notch expert.
He had encountered many dangers along the way, and had even been on the brink of death.
But in those moments, he would tell himself to hold on a little longer.
The young man's voice was clear and deep: "Come!"
He held the blue giant sword again, the sword light flickered, and it aimed at the centipede Bodhisattva statue in the depths of the dimly lit room.
Next, it would be his battle alone!
In the flickering lights, the Bodhisattva held Meng Canglang's hand and spun his arms like a shooting star, sending him soaring upwards.
A splash of blood splattered!
Fang Lingqing, with a hoarse voice, exclaimed, "Senior Meng!!"
Just as he took a step forward, he was blocked by the barrier at the door. He could only widen his eyes and watch as the young man's straight figure rushed toward the deepest part of the temple without hesitation.
Qiao Wan touched the newly restored barrier.
Logic told Qiao Wan that she couldn't break it, but there must be another way.
Qiao Wan pressed her lips together.
The Three Teachings Law Meeting is a way for disciples from the three teachings to compete and learn from each other. Most of the participants are elite disciples from various sects. Lives in the cultivation world may not be valued, but it's impossible for things to be so brutal. Or rather, given Miaofa's personality, it's impossible for him to arrange such a brutal contest.
Something must have gone wrong in between.
She needed to contact her senior.
Meng Canglang is still locked up here, and Qiao Wan doesn't want to waste any more time. She immediately focuses her spiritual consciousness, trying to return to the Great Hall. However, as soon as she tries, her head starts pounding and it feels like it's about to explode. The pain is so intense that Qiao Wan coughs up blood.
Qiao Wan takes a deep breath, quickly realizing what's happening. When her spiritual consciousness tried to invade that thing in the temple, it backfired.
She can't contact the Great Hall of Light. What can she do next?
Qiao Wan closes her eyes, feeling overwhelmed and confused.
Everyone used all their strength to escape from death's clutches, gasping for breath outside the barrier.
Recalling the bloody battle just now, they couldn't help but shudder. It was too terrifying.
They... they don't want to go back in! They don't want to face that thing again.
Fang Lingqing asks in a dazed voice, "Lu Cixian, can you break it open?"
Qiao Wan remains silent, tightly pursing her lips and shaking her head. She knows her abilities well, and at this point, trying to break it open would only waste time.
Besides using spiritual awareness, is there any other way to contact the Great Hall of Light?
"The Wataru flower," Liu Xinwen weakly coughed up some blood and said, "If the condition to pass this trial is the Wataru flower, once we obtain it, the Great Hall of Light will surely contact us."
Since they can't contact the Great Hall of Light from here, let the Great Hall of Light take the initiative to contact them.
Liu Xinwen's expression became complex, "I believe that Taoist Friend Meng will definitely hold on until he reaches the Great Hall of Light to help us."
That's what they say, but Liu Xinwen is actually uncertain if Meng Canglang can really hold on.
Looking at the sky, Liu Xinwen coughed up another mouthful of blood and said, "It's almost time, the Wataru flower is about to bloom."
"Then let's split up," Qiao Wan said, "One team will go find the Wataru flower, and the other team will return the same way we came and see if they can contact the Great Hall of Light."
After going through a moment of fright in the temple, many people were unwilling to continue forward.
However, at the moment they were about to leave, Qiao Wan and a few others suddenly encountered a problem.
They didn't have enough incense!
They had been so focused on how to escape the temple that they hadn't paid any attention to incense or religious rituals before.
When they gathered the incense from everyone, they counted and found that they only had three left, excluding the ones they left in the temple and the ones that were broken in half.
"Damn," someone muttered through clenched teeth.
Looking at the broken incense in front of them, they felt a sense of sadness and absurdity.
Did they risk their lives for this thing?
And now they only had three left! It wouldn't be enough for them to go to Denghuo Village.
Especially Qiao Wan, she hadn't even had a chance to get one, and the one in the temple had already started moving its arm to slaughter an animal. She didn't have any on her.
Fang Lingqing's face changed slightly.
With just a few incense sticks, he didn't believe anyone would willingly give them up.
"Let's break them in half."
Suddenly, a hoarse male voice emerged from the crowd.
Qiao Wan looked up and saw a boy she didn't know. His face was covered in blood and body parts.
The boy looked down at the three blood-stained incense sticks in front of him and whispered, "Let's split them in half. Maybe there's still a chance. We've all worked so hard to escape, so we should share these incense sticks together."
"Taoist Friend Meng is still waiting, we can't delay," Qiao Wan said.
There was a moment of silence in the crowd, and then gradually some people started to agree.
"Let's split them."
"Yes, Taoist Friend Meng is waiting."
Qiao Wan looked around at the tired faces of the people in front of her. Each person had pieces of flesh and blood on them.
Without hesitation, she split the three incense sticks into eight pieces.
That should be enough.
Wang Ruyi waved her hand and said, "I don't need this."
She had been dead for a hundred and eight years, and these incense sticks were for the living, not for her.
Besides Taoist Friend Meng, this was the first time she had been so close to these cultivators.
Wang Ruyi looked at everything in front of her with curiosity.
She and her family had no magical powers.
Every day, she lived in the beautiful backyard. She would wake up early to greet her mother, and together they would despise her father's new wife. Then, she would play the piano and do embroidery. Although the backyard was beautiful with artificial mountains and a lake, it could also feel lonely after seeing it every day.
She often climbed onto the stone boat in the backyard pond and imagined herself sailing on the sea one day.
She heard that in a distant place, there were magical boats that could fly in the sky.
If everything went as expected, she would spend her whole life traveling between the stone boat in her family's backyard and the stone boat in her future husband's backyard. However, she guessed the beginning but not the ending. In her life, she actually ended up in a crack in the wall.
All along, Wang Ruyi had always held some unclear and mysterious thoughts about cultivators. But now, upon seeing them, she thought to herself, "So this is what cultivators are like. They can also be afraid of death."
Just then, a sudden cry came from the crowd.
"Taoist Friend Lu, what's on your wrist?!"
Qiao Wan immediately looked down and saw a small hand pattern on her wrist, as if it belonged to a baby. The hand was small, round, and slender like a lotus root.
Fang Lingqing silently rolled up his sleeves and looked at his own wrist.
He had it too.
Liu Xinwen had it too.
Everyone present, except for Wang Ruyi, had a slender, small, and eerie extra hand on their wrists.
A deathly silence spread through the hearts of the people once more.
"Is this... is this a symbol to differentiate between beasts and humans?" a young boy with bloodshot eyes asked anxiously, "Are we still in danger?"
None of them had escaped.
They immediately saw the strange bodhisattva-like figure lying on the ground, smiling at them from the corners of its mouth.
"It" would come again.
Qiao Wan rolled up her sleeves with a blank expression and said, "Let's go to Denghuo Village and find the Wataru flower to seek help from the Great Hall of Light."
After burning a stick of incense for fifteen minutes, they realized that time had unexpectedly been cut in half, leaving them with only seven minutes.
However, everyone present silently acknowledged this fact and quickly set off towards Denghuo Village, leaving the incense behind.
Qiao Wan looked up and asked Wang Ruyi, "Ruyi, how do we get to Denghuo Village?"
Wang Ruyi patted her chest and confidently replied, "Don't worry, I know the way. I'll lead you there."
...
The ghost market at midnight was even more lively than before.
The lanterns illuminated the long street, with luxurious carriages, the scent of perfume, and elegantly dressed porcelain dolls walking hand in hand. The lights from the hairpins twinkled, while people rode tall, pale paper horses through the streets.
Just as they took a few steps forward, a smiling paper face suddenly appeared in front of them.
The three disciples, who were feeling extremely tense, took a step back.
"What's wrong?"
"What's happening?!"
The paper person is very well-made, with detailed features like cheekbones and even eyelids. The cheeks are covered in thick blush, and there are two dark paper strips in the place of eyebrows. It almost brought its whole face right in front of Qiao Wan.
Having had previous experiences, Qiao Wan steadied her breath and looked at the person in front of her without any expression on her face, locking eyes with it.
After a second, or maybe two...
The paper person retracted its body, rode on a white horse, and clippity-clopped away.
Leaving everyone standing there in shock, with cold sweat running down their backs, they didn't dare to waste any more time and quickly continued forward.
This was Qiao Wan's first time walking among a group of ghosts, looking around and not appearing any different from the living, Xiaoxiao said.
The crowd was bustling, and you could only notice slight differences when brushing past them.
According to Wang Ruyi, Denghuo Village is located deep in the ghost market, on a cliff. The Wataru flower grows inside coffins. As Qiao Wan climbed up the mountain path, she could see a few dark shadows on the mountain.
On the steep cliffs, there were coffins hanging or embedded in the wall. On both sides of the mountain path, there were rows of neglected graves.
Fang Lingqing was startled, "Inside the coffins?"
Wang Ruyi pointed to the pile of graves in front of them, "To be precise, they are growing on dead bodies."
"Are you going to dig them up?"
At the thought of digging graves, everyone's faces became stiff, but saving lives was important, so they had no choice but to start.
They removed the top layer of soil, revealing the soft, damp mud underneath. The deeper they dug, the darker the color of the mud became.
Qiao Wan looked down at her fingers and realized they were already soaked with blood without her even noticing.
Liu Xinwen said in a deep voice, "This is blood."
Qiao Wan furrowed her brow slightly, "Keep going."
After a short while, they dug up a large and heavy coffin.
The coffin lay silently on the mountain path, and surprisingly, they couldn't even drag it.
Liu Xinwen used his hands to remove the loose soil from the coffin. He took a deep breath, and his face turned slightly pale.
He had never done such a thing as digging up a grave in all his life!
With a squeaky sound that made one's teeth ache, the coffin lid was finally pushed open, revealing what was inside the coffin.
"How is it? Is it there?"
With the past experience of the temple's warning, everyone present shivered, preparing themselves for a potential confrontation.
In the pitch-black night, Liu Xinwen's startled voice came, "No."
"How could there be nothing?"
Nothing?
Qiao Wan immediately leaned over to take a look.
The coffin was empty.
This was an empty coffin!
"Wait." Deng Changqing bent down, reaching into the coffin and wiping something with his fingertip.
His fingertip was stained with a bright red color.
"This is blood."
Blood slowly seeped out from under the coffin.
Deng Changqing murmured, "If it's an empty coffin, how could there be blood?"
Before he could finish speaking, the partially pushed-open coffin lid suddenly shook violently.
Qiao Wan shouted, "This is not good!!"
Swiftly, the sword unleashed its deadly strike!
But the sword light was one step too slow.
The coffin lid was pushed up as if by something, making a loud noise as it closed again!
Bending over.who had half his body inside the coffin was instantly cut in half by the lid.
There was a dull thud.
A gust of mountain wind carried a strong smell of blood along the mountain path.
It felt like a breeze brushed past my ear.
"There's something behind us!!"
Qiao Wan shouted and unleashed a beam of light from her sword!
The sword's light illuminated the darkness, revealing a pair of bloody eyes staring directly at her.
"It" had been lurking in the darkness for who knows how long, silently watching Qiao Wan and the others.
Without hesitation, Qiao Wan stabbed her sword backwards.
With a splat, a wave of blood and a stench of blood rushed towards her.
As they saw their companions falling one by one, a disciple of Zhanyun Peak in the darkness sobbed with red eyes and a broken voice.
"Dear taoist friends, I can't take it anymore. What... what kind of place is this?"
But this wasn't over yet.
The soul fragrance struggled in the night breeze for a few more seconds, and then the faint deep red glow suddenly went out one by one.
