81: A Mystery Set Up in Front of the Mountain God Temple

The battle at Wild Boar Gully saw Palm Thunder scare off Corpse Old Nine, an Iron Corpse turned to ash, and the core of an evil formation destroyed. The news was like a stone thrown into a stagnant pool; though it didn't stir up massive waves, it spread rapidly through certain dark ripples.

Li Muchen meditated near the valley entrance until dawn. The morning sun struggled to pierce through the thick fog, bringing a thin warmth to this grim valley, yet it could not dispel the bone-deep aura of 'dead silence'.

He stood up and swept his Spiritual Sense across the valley, confirming that Corpse Old Nine had indeed vanished without a trace. The Walking Corpses 'parked' at the valley entrance had also been taken away or moved, leaving only messy tracks and a faint lingering stench of death in the air.

Without delay, he followed the 'Mountain God Temple' clue he had overheard from Corpse Old Nine's subordinate the previous night, heading deeper into the vast mountains once more.

Mountain God Temples in Western Hunan differed from the orderly temples of the Central Plains. Most were built in steep, remote areas, either relying on natural caves or constructed from simple wood and stone. They often enshrined local mountain gods or hunting gods, mixed with Shamanic Nuo beliefs, featuring a rugged and even somewhat ferocious appearance. Finding a specific Mountain God Temple that might be used as a secret trading point was no easy task.

Fortunately, Li Muchen was not wandering aimlessly. Combining the 'tomorrow night' appointment he had heard last night, he judged the transaction time should be tonight. Based on tracking the flow of earth qi—especially the residual sinister aura—and cautiously inquiring with the few mountain dwellers he occasionally encountered living deeper in the mountains, he narrowed down several possible directions.

Ultimately, before sunset, he discovered a semi-dilapidated Mountain God Temple behind a perilous pass flanked by two mountains.

The temple was built on a shaded gentle slope inside the pass, backed by a steep cliff, while the view in front was blocked by protruding rocks and dense forest, making it extremely well-hidden.

The temple was small, built of bluish-black stones, its roof having long since collapsed for the most part, exposing rotten rafters. The temple door was crooked, and the four characters 'Mountain God Manifests Response' were faintly visible on the lintel. In front of the temple was a relatively flat patch of gravelly open ground; at the edge of the clearing, faint carriage ruts and fresh footprints could be seen.

More importantly, Li Muchen's Spiritual Sense could clearly feel that this ruined temple and its surroundings were shrouded in a deliberately arranged sinister formation aura similar to that of Wild Boar Gully last night, only more obscure, as if it were being suppressed with great effort, waiting for a certain moment to erupt. At the same time, there was a weak fluctuation of Buddha Power inside the temple, tinged with anxiety and malice—it was Release Void!

He really was here!

Li Muchen did not approach rashly. Instead, he lay in wait within a dense forest on higher ground in the distance, his Spiritual Sense spreading out like mercury, carefully scouting the environment around the temple.

There was only one aura inside the temple, belonging to Release Void, but it felt somewhat unstable and floating, as if his mind were restless. Outside the temple, in the clearing and the surrounding woods, at least three layers of hidden early-warning and trapping formations were laid out. The methods were of the same lineage as Corpse Old Nine's but more sophisticated and vicious; they didn't just target the Life Qi of living people, but also seemed to guard against Yang forces like 'thunder' and 'fire,' clearly a lesson learned from last night's Palm Thunder.

And underground... Li Muchen's Spiritual Sense penetrated the shallow soil, and his heart chilled slightly. Within a radius of several dozen feet beneath and around the temple, the soil had been slightly disturbed. Buried underneath was something cold, violent, and faintly connected to the surface formations—likely a contingency left by Corpse Old Nine, such as buried 'Yin Thunder,' 'Corpse Explosion Talismans,' or even more wicked things.

"It seems that although Corpse Old Nine fled, the transaction with Release Void wasn't canceled. Instead, they've become more vigilant, setting an inescapable net to wait for me."

Li Muchen understood clearly. This ruined temple seemed to house only Release Void, but it was actually a carefully prepared trap. Once he stepped inside, it would trigger a chain of killing moves. Even if he could withstand them, it would inevitably cause a huge commotion, alerting everyone and creating an opportunity for Corpse Old Nine and Release Void to escape or counterattack.

He couldn't charge in blindly.

Li Muchen's gaze was calm as he calculated rapidly. The enemy was prepared, waiting at their leisure while occupying the geographical advantage and hiding murderous intent. Although he wasn't afraid, a direct assault was not the best strategy. He needed to break their strength with cleverness, disrupt their arrangements, and force them into chaos.

He observed the terrain, the formation nodes, and the distribution of those sinister objects underground, and a plan gradually took shape.

The sky finally turned completely dark. There was no moon tonight, and the mountain forest was as black as ink. Only the wailing of the mountain wind through the pass made the place seem even more eerie.

Inside the ruined temple, a faint candlelight flickered behind a broken statue. Release Void, wearing a soiled monk's robe, sat cross-legged on a tattered prayer mat, his knuckles white as he gripped a string of prayer beads tightly. His face was haggard, his eye sockets sunken, and his once somewhat upright face was now filled with anxiety, fear, and a hysterical madness.

Ever since Achan Pu had been caught, he had been like a bird startled by a bowstring, fleeing Lotus Temple in panic and eventually finding Corpse Old Nine as his last 'lifeline.' He had handed over almost all his savings and made many empty promises, all to obtain the power for revenge—those three powerful Iron Corpses.

As long as he had them, he could fight his way back to Yuntai Mountain, destroy Qingfeng Temple, and leave that Daoist Li Muchen without a grave! Even... if possible, he would make that 'traitorous' old man Huiming pay the price!

But the news from Wild Boar Gully last night made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Corpse Old Nine had actually lost! He lost to a young Daoist's terrifying 'Palm Thunder'! The Iron Corpse was destroyed, the evil formation broken, and Corpse Old Nine himself had used a secret technique to flee while heavily injured, his whereabouts unknown.

This news almost crushed Release Void's last bit of hope. Terrified, he had wanted to flee immediately, but before Corpse Old Nine escaped, he sent a brief message via a secret technique, telling him to wait here at the Mountain God Temple tonight as planned. He said there were 'other arrangements' and strictly ordered him not to leave without permission, or else he would 'bear the consequences'.

Release Void knew Corpse Old Nine's methods and didn't dare to disobey. But his heart was full of unease and suspicion. Corpse Old Nine himself had lost, so what 'arrangements' could he have? Could he be using him as bait to lure the Daoist here and then use the setup here to perish together?

Just as his mind was in a mess and he was on the verge of collapse, a very faint sound, like a dry branch snapping, suddenly came from the pitch-black woods outside the temple.

Release Void trembled all over and snapped his head up, staring fixedly toward the temple door, his heart pounding like a drum.

Is he here? Is it that Daoist? Or Corpse Old Nine?

Time passed bit by bit, but there was no further sound outside. Only the mountain wind whistling through the dilapidated window frames sounded like ghosts crying.

Just as Release Void's nerves were stretched to the limit, a sudden change occurred!

It didn't come from the temple door, nor from the ground, but from—the cliff wall at the back-side of the temple!

"Sshhh!"

A fierce fire line, crimson with a hint of pale gold, abruptly shot out from a crack in the cliff like a spirit snake, accurately striking an inconspicuous stone crevice covered in moss on the temple's back wall!

That stone crevice was a highly hidden node for the flow of Qi within the three layers of early-warning formations outside the temple!

"Boom!"

The moment the fire line struck, it didn't cause a violent explosion. Instead, it was like a spark splashing into an oil pan, triggering local turbulence and backlash in the formation's energy! A blinding red light, mixed with chaotic sinister black Qi, erupted around that stone crevice with a low hum!

Immediately after—

"Sshhh! Sshhh! Sshhh!"

Three more equally fierce fire lines shot out almost simultaneously from different directions and angles, accurately hitting three other key formation nodes around the temple!

In an instant, light and shadows flickered wildly around the temple, and a sinister wind rose abruptly! The originally obscure formation aura was completely exposed, like a poked hornet's nest, with energy surging and dissipating everywhere! The early-warning formations failed, gaps appeared in the trapping formations, and some energy even surged back uncontrollably underground, clashing with the buried sinister objects!

"What's going on?!" Release Void jumped up in terror. He could feel that the carefully arranged defenses outside the temple were rapidly disintegrating!

Before he could react, an even more soul-scattering scene occurred.