Chapter 36.5 - They must be the most polite assassins

While Li Xinwen and Min Xiaoyu went to look for Min Shaotian, the person in question was hiding up in the tree. He concealed his spiritual energy as he eyed the cave in front of him. 'Just what is that demon up to...' Min Shoatian wondered. He had been keeping an eye on one member belonging to the demonic cult for the past few days when suddenly, the demonic cultivator began to move.

Min Shaotian tailed him and he saw the member meeting other cultivators. After that, they move towards one direction and Min Shaotian informed his friends about his findings. Now, he is only waiting for the rest to arrive.

Soon, a person appeared beside him. Min Shaotian didn't realize this person approaching but when the other made themselves known, Min Shaotian didn't panic either. Instead, he showed a relieved expression.

The person who arrived turned out to be a woman. Her dark long hair was tied in a ponytail, her eyes were sharp, and her nose and cheekbones were a perfect contour. Her skin was almost perfect, were it not for the scar that marred her face. The scar went from the top of her left eyebrow, straight down to her chin. Because of the scar, it made her look fierce. This woman is the head Matriarch of the Yan family, Yan Zhuyi.

"Zhuyi, you're here," Min Shaotian greeted her with a smile.

"En. Minghui?" her reply was short as her eyes trained on the cave entrance.

"Minghui is not here yet," Min Shaotian said. Then, he proceeds to explain to her the current situation: "I've been here for a while now. The member of the demonic cult kept on appearing and entering the cave. Based on these findings, I assumed that this cave is their hideout. I'm also worried if they are planning something..."

"Something large-scaled?" she asked. "You mentioned that they have already gotten the method to the sealing, how did that happen?"

Min Shaotian sighed as he recounted on the event that happened during that day when Li Xinwen had come over. When the female cultivator heard this, she also had a guilty expression on his face. "Fortunately, nothing happened to Yuyu. Shaotian, I'm sorry. I was the one who suggested to keep Chen Jingguo close so we can monitor their movement..."

"No. The fault lays with me... I shouldn't have put my guard down. I didn't expect the demon would dare to come out when he's still weak," Min Shaotian replied.

While they were talking, a new person joined them. Compared to the two, this man looked younger. When Min Shaotian and Yan Zhuyi looked at him, their gaze softened and they looked at him with tender eyes.

"Xiao Ming, you're finally here. It must be a long travel for you," Min Shaotian greeted the other man.

"Uncle Shao, Aunt Zhu," Xiao Ming, or better known as Lan Minghui by the public, greeted the two respectfully. "Is the demon that is responsible for my father's death inside?" as he said this, his eyes burned with the fire of vengeance.

"Xiao Ming, be patient. If you rush in, who knows if there are traps inside," Min Shaotian said and Yan Zhuyi nods her head in agreement.

"Don't worry, uncle Shao. Am I not being patient right now?" Lan Minghui replied. "It is a pity that uncle Bingzhan cannot join us."

"It cannot be helped. Bingzhan had entered closed-door cultivation for a while now," Min Shaotian sighed. "Let us just wait and see what they are planning. If things get too suspicious, I'll go in and scout ahead."

The other two agreed and waited. More people entered the cave, but none left. They continued to wait until the sun was about to set.

"Shaotian, how long has it been since the last group entered?" Yan Zhuyi suddenly asked.

"Two hours and thirty minutes."

"Strange. What meetings take two hours thirty minutes?" Yan Zhuyi wondered. "Are they cultivating inside?"

Because they were close to the demonic cultivators' den, they didn't dare to send their spiritual sense inside. So they never found out the fact that the cultivators who had entered had all died in the hand of An Wuya.

"I'm going in. You guys wait here. If anything happens inside, you will know," Min Shaotian said before he went into the cave.

The cave was cold and damp. The dense Yin energy spreads around the cave path and it even affected Min Shaotian's mood. He wrapped himself in layers of spiritual energy to protect himself from being affected by the Yin energy around him.

He trod slowly until finally, he reached the heart of the cave. What he saw, made his blood go cold. Bodies were strewn all over the place. Each one of the corpses has the same expression; disbelief and fear. They all died from the same form of attack, and their dantian was gouged out. Min Shaotian could feel the hair on his neck rise just imagining the pain these people had gone through.

"Ah, look who has decided to join us," Min Shaotian heard that familiar, demonic voice. His eyes narrowed as he left his hiding spot and faced An Wuya.

"Demon! I never thought you would be this cruel even to your own followers!" Min Shaotian said, admonishing An Wuya.

"Whatever do you mean? As my follower, don't you think that they are more than happy to become one with me?" An Wuya replied with a chuckle. "No matter, it is good that you are here. I still lacked a few more souls to consume in order to heal my soul, but with you here, it should be enough," An Wuya smiled at Min Shaotian.

With just a smile, Min Shaotian could feel himself getting swayed. But luckily, he managed to recover himself by biting his tongue before things turned bad for him. The pain helped him resist the mental attack that was about to charm him.

"Tsk. It looks like you've learned your lesson from the first time we met," An Wuya said, clicking his tongue in displeasure. "Oh well, since things have gone this way, then we can only do it the hard way."

An Wuya's eyes narrowed at Min Shaotian as he let out his spiritual energy. "My strength might've regressed, but taking care of someone at the Xiantian stage is still doable, especially since you are currently in my domain. Chen Jingguo, you start the process first. Once I'm done with this ant, my soul will be healed completely," An Wuya said.

"Process?" Min Shaotian's suddenly felt uneasy. He eyed Chen Jingguo and when he saw what was placed on the table, his eyes widened. "You have all the ingredients already?!"

"These ingredients may be rare in a lower plane such as this but, I have a lot of them in my storage. Taking out a few is not that hard," An Wuya replied in a calm, yet playful tone. It was as if he's toying with Min Shaotian, mocking him.

Min Shaotian finally understood how dangerous his situation had been. From what An Wuya had said, he gathered that if it had not been because his soul was damaged, he would have probably recovered his strength by now. 'Then, we can only damage his soul again!' Min Shaotian thought as he let his spiritual energy flare-up.

Outside, Lan Minghui and Yan Zhuyi felt this, and they immediately entered the cave. They didn't waste any time, fearing that if they are just a second late, they would lose Min Shaotian. And then, they might not be able to win unless Bingzhan arrived.

Meanwhile, back in Tianjing Temple, Li Xinwen watched the sun as it slowly disappeared into the horizon helplessly. Then, he turned to one of the temple disciples and asked for the nth number of time. "Where is this senior of yours?!"

"He is still working. Please wait patiently," the monk replied.

"I have been patient for hours now! Just tell me where he is and I'll go find him," Li Xinwen said as he stood up from the spot where he had been sitting the past few hours.

"Halt! You said that you didn't mean any harm. Then just stay there and wait patiently!" when the monk saw that Li Xinwen had stood up, they took their stance and aimed their bo staff at him.

"Mr Li, please just wait a bit longer," Min Xiaoyu said as he grabs the other's sleeve, pulling at it gently.

With a grumble, Li Xinwen sat down and glared at the monk, showing his displeasure. Another half an hour passed, and they finally heard someone approaching. Turning their head to the source of the footstep, they finally saw a monk walking towards them. In one of his hand, he held his Xizhang, which showed that his rank within the temple is quite high.

"Senior brother Bingwen!" the monks who were keeping an eye on both Li Xinwen and Min Xiaoyu greeted the newcomer with a big smile on their face.

"En. Are they the one who wanted to meet with Abbot Bingzhan?" the monk, Bingwen asked.

"Yes, ah! They suddenly appeared without warning, and no one saw how they arrived. It must be that they are assassins!"

Monk Bingwen just smiled at his junior brother's explanation before speaking: "If they are assassins, they must be the most polite assassins this monk has met. Assassins don't just wait around like this."

After saying that, Monk Bingwen approached Li Xinwen and Min Xiaoyu. "Honored guests, I apologize for making you wait for too long. Please, follow me inside," Monk Bingwen said as he gestured for the two of them to follow him. "As for the rest of you, please return to your training. Don't think that I don't know that you did not even train while you 'keep watch' on our guests."

As soon as Monk Bingwen's word left his lips, the monks felt shivers running down their spine. With a bow, they quickly left the area, returning to the training ground in order to catch up with their training.

On the other hand, Monk Bingwen led Li Xinwen and Min Xiaoyu into the inner court of the temple. Inside, there was a huge building and deeper inside, they could see majestic twin pagodas. Li Xinwen's eyes immediately went to the pagoda on the left, narrowing slightly. Just now, he felt as if someone was watching him from the highest floor.

"That is the Moon Pagoda," Li Xinwen suddenly hear Monk Bingwen said. "The highest floor is where Senior Brother Bingwan always does his closed-door cultivation. The other pagoda is the Sun Pagoda. Monk Bingzhan resides on its highest floor," he explained.

"Is that so?" Li Xinwen didn't move his eyes and continued to gaze at the top floor. "Then shall we go there immediately? I'm sorry, but we are running out of time here," Li Xinwen finally moved his eyes away once he realized that the other didn't seem to pay him any more attention.

"The honoured guest is too impatient. Outsiders are not allowed within the Sun and Moon Pagoda. Please, follow me to the main hall. You can wait for Abbot Bingzhan there instead," Monk Bingwen said as he continued to walk.

When they arrived, Monk Bingwen asked them to wait while he called Abbot Bingzhan. Li Xinwen and Min Xiaoyu looked at each other before Li Xinwen let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry, Mr Li... if it's alright, how about I accompany you home? Last time, your mother seemed to enjoy my company," Min Xiaoyu suggested.

"Hmm... no. I don't think there is a need to go that far. It's alright, as long as Abbot Bingzhan meet us, we'll ask him about your grandfather then leave. We'll continue our search tomorrow," Li Xinwen told the male. Min Xiaoyu only nods his head in agreement.

Not long after, Monk Bingwen returned with a guilty expression plastered on his face. "Honored guest..." he began, his tone nervous. Li Xinwen already didn't like the sound of it, but he patiently waited for Monk Bingwen to continue. "My apologies honoured guest. It seems that you will not be able to meet with Abbot Bingzhan today."

"Your mother!" Li Xinwen cursed out the abbot's family, before realizing that to become monk, the abbot should have already severed his ties with his family so he cursed the temple instead.

"Honored guest, please quell your anger. The temple did not do anything wrong-"

Li Xinwen just glared at Monk Bingwen before he stood up. "This is a total waste of time. Min Xiaoyu, let's go find the other family and ask them instead!"

Just as they were about to leave, the spiritual energy around them suddenly fluctuates before all of them swirled. The epicentre of this phenomenon is on top of the Sun Pagoda. Not long after the spiritual energy started to get absorbed into the Sun Pagoda's top floor.

Li Xinwen who had reached all the way to Kongming stage knew what was happening and his heart raced in excitement. 'Someone is breaking through into Yuanying stage! And based on the location where the spiritual energy is gathering, it is none other than that Abbot Bingzhan.'