Chapter 27

The cold wind whistled through the cliffs like a sharp steel blade. Even with his thick monk's robe and undergarments, Meng Qi shivered uncontrollably and had to activate the Shaolin Heart Method, allowing his internal energy to flow slowly within him to dispel the chill.

The path to the back mountain was guarded every three steps and every five steps, even the cliff edges that seemed impassable had martial monks on watch. Meng Qi, along with Zhenhui and Zhending, were stationed at the front of a narrow path leading directly to the back mountain, with cliffs on both sides and dense, dark forests ahead.

"Senior Brother, are there White Bone Spirits and Spider Spirits in the back mountain?" Zhenhui, who had yet to open his dantian and whose internal cultivation progressed slowly, jumped lightly in place from the cold, his eyes fixed on the darkness at the end of the narrow path, which belonged to the back mountain.

"White Bone Spirits? Spider Spirits?" Zhenyong was taken aback for a moment, then turned his gaze to Meng Qi, with the look of "What strange stories have you been telling the little junior brother?"

Meng Qi laughed heartily. While diligently practicing martial arts to cope with the life-and-death pressures of the cycle world, this was one of his few pleasures: "If Senior Brother Zhenmiao says there are demons and spirits, then there must be spirits."

In this regard, he was not very knowledgeable, so he deliberately asked to see if Zhenyong could provide some answers.

Zhenyong also gazed at the end of the narrow path, almost to himself: "True demons and spirits... how many have actually seen them? Since the era of 'demons ravaging the land' passed, the demon race has disappeared, and we ordinary people rarely see them. There are only occasional stories of scholars encountering fox spirits or high-level practitioners subduing snake spirits. Haha, I've never seen one."

Meng Qi nodded, not asking further, as Zhenyong seemed to know very little.

The long night was cold, and the north wind grew even colder. Zhenhui had already found a rock to sit and meditate, while Zhenyong walked back and forth to keep warm.

Due to the silence and the presence of high monks from the Dharma and Bodhi halls behind them, Meng Qi gradually focused on contemplating the final step of the Divine Eight Steps. Suddenly, a bone-chilling wind blew past, making Meng Qi shiver and clear his mind. A flash of inspiration came, and he understood all the key points.

After comprehending the crucial aspects of the final step of the Divine Eight Steps, Meng Qi was eager to practice.

Although Zhenyong "knew" he had family martial arts, Meng Qi was still not used to practicing the steps directly, unless he used a knife technique to cover it, but that would be too noisy and easily noticed by Zhenmiao and others on patrol, leading to scolding.

Looking around, Meng Qi clutched his stomach and said to Zhenyong, "Senior Brother, my stomach hurts, I need to relieve myself. Please take care of things here."

In the scripture hall, Zhenyong had experienced this several times and did not find it strange. He smiled and said, "Go quickly. If Senior Brother Zhenmiao and the others come, I'll explain for you."

Meng Qi, holding his戒刀 (ritual knife), darted into the forest ahead, not daring to go too far, and began practicing the steps around the giant trees near the cliff.

The Divine Eight Steps were exquisite and bizarre, and in the darkness of the night, Meng Qi moved like a ghost, appearing and disappearing.

"Good, it's indeed like this!" After practicing a few rounds, Meng Qi nodded in satisfaction and decided to return.

Just as he was about to step forward, he heard a slight scraping sound from the cliff. His senses immediately heightened, and he silently slid behind a large tree.

"Can my luck be this bad? Aren't there senior brothers and uncles guarding the inner layers? And there's a thick mountain cliff between us!" Meng Qi's first thought was of demons and spirits.

He peeked and saw a large, slightly red rock beside which a large hole had silently appeared in the cliff, and a figure cautiously darted out.

This figure felt around a spot behind the rock, and the scraping sound resumed as the stone wall slowly closed.

"Secret escape tunnels dug by demons and spirits?" Meng Qi bitterly guessed, regretting why he had entered the forest!

He had thought there would be at most some wild animals, and with the severe winter cold, the animals would not come out, making it a safe place. Who knew he would encounter such a mess!

The figure turned and was about to run to the other side of the forest.

At this moment, by the dim moonlight, Meng Qi recognized the face of the figure.

Him? Meng Qi was both surprised and shocked, almost shouting out, but managed to bite his lip and hold back.

The person who came out from the back mountain was Zhen Guan!

The Zhen Guan who had attacked him and was tormented by the hopelessness of revenge!

"Wasn't he expelled long ago?" Meng Qi wondered, believing Xuanxin had not lied to him, as Zhenyan, a friend from the miscellaneous service hall, had not seen Zhen Guan since that day.

Meng Qi did not act, watching Zhen Guan leave, as he knew his own strength was far from enough to get involved with demons and spirits.

"People need to have some self-awareness; not everyone is the protagonist..." Meng Qi muttered to himself.

If he rashly opened that secret passage, he feared he would not find a magical beast's core or a demon's divine skill, but would be killed and silenced, eaten, or turned into a puppet. After all, such encounters were reserved for "protagonists," and he did not have that kind of "luck."

He quietly left the forest, deciding to find someone capable of handling the situation. Although he had long decided to leave the monastic life, he was still in Shaolin Temple, and if chaos erupted, he might suffer as a result.

"Junior Brother Zhending, did you eat something bad?" Zhenyong teased when he saw Meng Qi return after a long time.

Meng Qi said seriously, "Senior Brother Zhending, while I was in the forest, I encountered something strange and think I should report it to the senior uncles and masters in the inner layers!"

"Ah? Then you should set off the fireworks quickly!" Zhenyong was startled, his eyes darting, and without asking what happened, he told Meng Qi to send the emergency signal.

Meng Qi's mouth twitched. Zhenyong, usually warm and generous, was quite slippery in critical moments, trying to stay out of it.

He ignored Zhenyong's thoughts and decided to be cautious. At this moment, Zhenhui, ahead of him, pulled out a small bamboo tube from his chest, aimed it at the sky, and pulled off the cap.

With a swoosh, a red light shot up and exploded into a brilliant display in the air.

"Junior Brother is indeed a man of action, sending the signal without asking anything..." Meng Qi wiped his cold sweat, holding his knife in front of Zhenhui, on guard for any possible attack.

After a few breaths, Meng Qi's vision blurred, and he saw a middle-aged monk with a handsome but melancholic face. He wore a yellow monk's robe and a red kasaya, and held a string of black beads carved with Buddha images in his right hand.

"Yellow monk's robe, red kasaya... which hall's abbot or elder is this?" Meng Qi was about to address him but hesitated, unsure whether to call him Uncle, Great Uncle, or Great Great Uncle. He did not recognize the monk, and the generational hierarchy was confusing.

However, seeing such a high-ranking monk arrive, Meng Qi felt somewhat reassured.

The middle-aged monk arrived with a serious expression, but seeing the calm surroundings, his face relaxed. Noticing Meng Qi's hesitation, he guessed what was troubling him and smiled slightly, "My Dharma name is Xuanbei. Why did you set off the emergency fireworks?"

Xuanbei was already an abbot or elder? Meng Qi was greatly surprised but suppressed his inner turmoil and recounted what he had thought through: "Uncle Xuanbei, while I was in the forest, I saw a secret door appear on the cliff..."

Xuanbei listened calmly to Meng Qi's account and nodded slightly, "You did well, not rash or concealing. Are you sure the figure was Zhen Guan, who was expelled?"

"I recognize his face, but I'm not sure if it was a demon in disguise," Meng Qi answered honestly.

After clarifying the location of the secret door and its surroundings, Xuanbei instructed, "Wait here and follow Xuanchi back to the martial monk hall. I will handle this."

"Yes, Uncle Xuanbei," Meng Qi was eager to leave, worried about demons and spirits lurking in the darkness.

Xuanbei, without moving his feet or body, vanished and reappeared at the edge of the forest. A faint chanting sound surrounded him, and a faint Buddha light flickered, solemn and sacred, like the arrival of an Arhat or Bodhisattva.

"This is the power of a near-peak outer realm practitioner..." Zhenyong muttered, watching Xuanbei disappear.

Meng Qi looked over, surprised, "Senior Brother Zhenyong, do you know this uncle?"

Zhenyong came to his senses and said with a sigh, "Apart from the uncles I see daily like Xuanchi and Xuanku, I don't recognize the others, but Uncle Xuanbei is well-known. I heard about him from Senior Brother Zhenchang."

Zhenchang, the top of the Zhen generation? Meng Qi knew Zhenchang, who was said to be slightly more powerful than Zhenmiao and Zhenben.

Zhenyong continued, "Uncle Xuanbei was once a top expert who roamed the world, nicknamed 'Seven Absolute Hands.' But he suffered a great tragedy, losing his entire family. Although he eventually avenged them, the enemy had deep connections, and a grandmaster came to capture him. Already disheartened, this event pushed him to enter Shaolin and embrace Buddhism, severing all ties to the secular world and living with ancient Buddhas and lamps."

"Due to his outstanding talent and dedication to Buddhism, he was highly regarded by the abbot, who took him as a disciple and allowed him to learn the 'Maha Vajra Fist.' He made rapid progress and entered the grandmaster rank. Later, he became the first of the Xuan generation to reach the eighth level of the outer realm, just one step from the peak."

"Such a person is always full of legend..." Meng Qi thought quietly, while Zhenhui listened with great interest.

Afterward, Zhenmiao and others arrived, along with many yellow-robed monks Meng Qi did not recognize. The three were led back to the martial monk hall by Xuanchi.

The next morning, just as Meng Qi was about to go out to practice calligraphy and inquire about the outcome of the incident (he did not have to get up early to fetch water due to his guard duty the previous day), the door was pushed open, and the stern-looking discipline monk Xuan Kong walked in, followed by a dejected Zhenyong.

"Your discovery foiled a demon's plot in the back mountain. The Bodhi Hall will reward you, but it will take a few days," Xuan Kong said with a forced smile, "However, you left your post without permission, so the Discipline Hall must punish you. Considering your contribution, you will be confined to the meditation room for three days."

Just three days of wall-gazing? Meng Qi merely said "oh," not caring much about the punishment, as it was too light and would allow him to focus on refining his internal energy.

He eagerly awaited the reward from the Bodhi Hall. Would it be one of the seventy-two special techniques?

Three days later, after finishing the evening meal delivered to him, Meng Qi completed his wall-gazing and happily pushed open the door.

"Hmm, Junior Brother, why don't you look happy?" Meng Qi encountered Zhenhui, who had just returned.

Zhenhui said angrily, "Today, the senior uncles and masters came to select disciples, but you were confined to the meditation room and couldn't come out."

Meng Qi's face darkened. So that was the purpose!

Was it because of his previous disrespect, or because of Zhenliang's brother in the Discipline Hall?

He narrowed his eyes and said calmly to Zhenhui, "Let's go to the martial hall."

Although Meng Qi was not too keen on finding a master, as it would make leaving Shaolin more difficult, he was not happy with the current situation.

As he spoke, Meng Qi suddenly saw two lines of text on the thin snow in the courtyard:

"The second cycle has begun!"

"Please be mentally prepared. In the future, you will be pulled in without prior notice."

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