Chapter 17

Guessing correctly... Zhang Yuanqing felt a bit relieved.

In fact, after exploring the mountain god temple and dealing with the zombies, the entrance to the cave would open. However, before the construction team arrived, the senior had already taken the Demon Subduing Staff.

If he couldn't see through this detail and return the Demon Subduing Staff, he would probably be stuck at this step forever.

Zhang Yuanqing patiently waited, quietly tensing his nerves, concentrating his energy, and not daring to be the slightest bit careless, because at the bottom of the cave, there might be the source of the mountain god temple's decline.

After a while, seeing no abnormalities at the collapsed entrance, he summoned the Red Dancing Shoes, activated the second form, and let it replace the running shoes, wrapping around his feet.

Then he walked to the dark and deep cave entrance and lightly leaped.

Thud... His feet quickly touched the ground, and the Red Dancing Shoes absorbed the force of his fall.

Zhang Yuanqing found the Demon Subduing Staff among the scattered rocks, bent down to pick it up, and regained control of this powerful tool.

With the Red Dancing Shoes and the Demon Subduing Staff, he was confident he could face the dangers in the cave.

The candlelight seeping down from above could only illuminate a limited area. Ahead was a dark and silent passage, filled with unknown fear.

In such an environment, moving forward in the dark would be extremely unwise.

Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and cast his gaze on the tool in his hand.

The item description said that this was a tool containing the power of the Sun, and by offering blood, one could obtain the divine power.

The genuine power of the Sun should be able to dispel the darkness and bring light, right?

It was worth a try, but the "note" in the attribute description was a bit unsettling... Zhang Yuanqing silently exhaled and drove the sharp three-pronged spike into his thigh.

A sharp pain came, and blood gushed out, not flowing down his pants but forming blood lines that poured into the brass tool.

Zhang Yuanqing felt a warm force surge from the Demon Subduing Staff, rushing up his arm into his body. His pupils glowed with a faint golden light, turning into radiant golden eyes.

The Demon Subduing Staff didn't dispel the darkness, but it gave him the ability to see through it.

At the same time, dizziness, difficulty breathing, and chest and lung pain all disappeared, leaving only the weakness from blood loss.

The zombie poison in his body was cleared.

It was indeed a matter of trading life for power, but it was still acceptable... He focused his vision and looked ahead. In front of him was a wide passage extending into the darkness.

The walls of the passage had traces of human excavation, not naturally formed.

Zhang Yuanqing walked through the passage at a steady pace, and the silence echoed with his footsteps.

After walking for about ten seconds, plant roots appeared on the walls, densely covering them.

"Help, help me..."

Suddenly, from the darkness ahead, came a chilling cry for help, like a plea.

Following the sound for a while, the passage opened up, and a huge stone cave came into view. In the center of the cave was a thick tree trunk, piercing through the ceiling and growing to the outside.

At the base of the thick tree trunk, the roots intertwined and wrapped around a stone coffin.

The most terrifying thing was that pale arms and faces emerged from the thick tree trunk, mindlessly crying for help.

The dense arms grabbed wildly, as if searching for a lifeline.

My密集恐惧症犯了... The candlelight and the Demon Subduing Staff gave Zhang Yuanqing courage, and he only felt a slight tingling on his scalp, without too much fear.

At this moment, a hoarse and沧桑 voice sounded:

"For so many years, this is the first time a living being has come here."

With these words, the cries for help stopped, and the seaweed-like arms withdrew into the tree trunk, and the faces of the people disappeared into the tree.

"Who?"

Zhang Yuanqing was startled and looked around cautiously.

"I? I am just a tree..."

A hideous human face floated out of the tree trunk, different from the faces of the spirits. Its skin was tree bark, symbolizing the tree itself.

Is it the old locust tree in the courtyard, which has become a spirit? Zhang Yuanqing didn't expect to encounter a communicable existence in such a ghostly place, even though it was a tree.

He didn't dare to get closer and asked tentatively:

"Did you kill the disciples in the temple?"

"It wasn't me, it was her."

The tree spirit's gaze fell, as if staring at the stone coffin below, though it couldn't see.

"Who is she?"

"She is the Lady of San Dao Mountain."

Zhang Yuanqing felt as if he had been hit on the head, his mind numb.

The Lady of San Dao Mountain, the powerful night spirit who was supposed to have ascended in the early Ming Dynasty, was lying in the stone coffin?

The source of the mystery was the Lady of San Dao Mountain, and she killed the disciples in the temple?

Zhang Yuanqing blurted out, "Why did she do this?"

"Because the Age of Dharma Decline has arrived, and cultivators find it hard to break through their bottlenecks. To achieve immortality, the Lady of San Dao Mountain fell into the path of evil. She sealed herself in the stone coffin, using the locust tree to imprison spirits, nourishing herself with the spirits to ensure her physical body and soul remain eternal. She is a powerful night spirit, and night spirits can naturally devour souls to strengthen themselves."

The human face on the tree trunk sighed, "The locust tree has accommodated too many souls, receiving their wills, and gradually developed intelligence, which is me. Over the years, people have mistakenly entered this place, died here, and eventually became her nourishment. I have carried the hatred and resentment of the spirits, always waiting for someone to come here and end her."

So, is this triggering an NPC quest? Zhang Yuanqing's eyes flickered, "I should do it."

"Open the stone coffin, and use the weapon in your hand to pierce her heart, and it will all end. Ha, the Demon Subduing Staff contains half of her yang soul. Piercing her heart will seal the remaining yang soul in the staff, and without the yang soul to protect her, her physical body will die immediately." The locust tree spirit said, then added slowly:

"You will also be able to leave here."

Zhang Yuanqing didn't move, remaining silent.

The locust tree spirit said slowly, "Young man, what are you still hesitating about?"

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly said:

"I'm thinking of a question..."

The locust tree spirit responded gently, "What question?"

Zhang Yuanqing stood far away, staring at the face on the tree trunk, and said word by word:

"Are you not the temple keeper?"

The cave suddenly fell silent. After a few seconds, the locust tree spirit said in a low voice:

"The temple keeper was the first person to be bewitched by the Lady of San Dao Mountain, becoming her puppet, and later became her nourishment. If you don't believe me, come and open the stone coffin, and you will know I am not lying."

"Then help me open it."

"I cannot open it; I am just a tree."

"Is it that you can't open it, or that you dare not open it?" Zhang Yuanqing seemed to have gotten the answer he wanted and smiled:

"The one in the coffin is the temple keeper, and you, are his guardian, or his soul?"

After saying these probing words, he entered a state of alert, waiting for the tree spirit's reaction.

As a tech-savvy gamer, after experiencing so many crises, if he still couldn't uncover the secrets of the mountain god temple, it would be too disappointing.

First, the Lady of San Dao Mountain ascended in the early Ming Dynasty, and after her death, the local government built the temple for her.

The disciples in the temple went missing during the Yongle period, at least fifty to sixty years, or one to two generations, later.

Second, the information in the main hall indicated that the Lady of San Dao Mountain was a righteous figure, while the locust tree spirit's claim of her falling into evil was one-sided. Zhang Yuanqing was more inclined to believe the former.

Finally, and most crucially, the content written in the notebook was: "Do not trust your master!"

The true enemy was hinted at in these details.

Zhang Yuanqing just hadn't figured out why the temple keeper would kill his own disciples.

Now he knew.

If the one who wanted immortality and fell into evil was the temple keeper, all the doubts would be resolved.

The cave fell silent, and the locust tree spirit sighed, "Your caution is too strong. From beginning to end, I have had no ill intentions toward you, and I would not harm you."

"Would not harm, or cannot harm?" Zhang Yuanqing slowly stepped back and said:

"Let me guess, your way of killing is by twisting the neck, but the method is related to illusions and the mind. You tried to kill me not long ago, but I didn't turn back."

This time, the locust tree spirit's face suddenly changed.

Zhang Yuanqing, seeing this, knew his reasoning was completely correct.

The night spirit in the Taiyi Sect's records clearly pointed out two things: one, the locust tree is dangerous; two, do not turn back.

So, his exploration of the ancient well was fruitless because the well itself was not the problem; the tree was the problem.

Additionally, he could accurately judge the "illusion" because the ghost called out Zhang Yuanqing's name, not the name of the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign.

The last point, when Zhang Yuanqing discovered the ancient well, he thought of a famous Japanese horror movie, which left a psychological shadow, making him afraid to peek into the well.

The ghost that emerged from the well, in white clothes, with long hair covering her face, and no features, matched the vague fear in Zhang Yuanqing's mind.

"You are talking to me in a polite manner because the illusion can no longer deceive me. After all, I have the Demon Subduing Staff from the Lady, which makes me immune to illusions." Zhang Yuanqing looked calm as he analyzed the truth:

"Trying to trick me into going over there to kill me with other methods, but since illusions are ineffective on me, it must be physical attacks, right?"

He glanced at the tree roots crawling on the passage walls and suddenly stabbed down with the staff.

...

ps: Two chapters updated today, and there will be another one later, within an hour.