“Is his medical skill brilliant?” Chang Kong and Bai Yun looked at their master together.
The Dark Monk’s thoughts also seemed to have a moment of distraction. He bent down and picked up Mu Aotie’s foot wrapping cloth. Without finding it dirty, he placed it before his nose and sniffed the medicinal scent. His gaze swept over the three brothers looking at him eagerly. A thoughtful expression flashed across his face.
The foot wrapping cloth fell from his hand. Regarding the claim of brilliant medical skill, he did not respond. He looked at the condition of the three people. “There is no need for medicine. You have just recovered from serious injuries. To avoid accidents, continue lying down and remain still. Rest quietly for another day and see.”
Yu Qing hurriedly said, “Very well, Master’s medical skill is brilliant. We will follow the Master’s advice.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie nodded repeatedly.
The Dark Monk turned and left barefoot. Prayer beads slowly turned in his hand.
Chang Kong and Bai Yun had no unnecessary words with outsiders. After quickly tidying up the place, they also left.
With no outsiders present, Yu Qing slowly breathed a sigh of relief. He asked, “Old Seven was injured so badly. In just one day, the scabs have fallen off. What do you all think of this?”
Nan Zhu turned his head and asked Mu Aotie, “Old Nine, am I really almost better?”
He also had a vivid memory of being pulled onto the copper pillar to be roasted. Though he could not see it, he could imagine how badly he was injured. He truly had suffered greatly. Otherwise, he would not have quarrelled with Yu Qing until his face was red and his neck was thick.
But Mu Aotie ignored him. He walked barefoot to Yu Qing and squatted down. He reached out to examine Yu Qing.
Nan Zhu immediately shouted, “He was howling in pain, but there is not a single injury on his body. Why do you care about him? Look at me first.”
Yu Qing also said, “I am fine.”
After finishing the examination, Mu Aotie fell into silence. He made Yu Qing begin to feel uneasy. Then he gave a sentence. “Actually, you were originally the most severely injured.”
“Me?” Yu Qing was surprised.
Nan Zhu was also surprised. He turned his head and looked Yu Qing up and down.
Mu Aotie nodded slightly. “When I woke up yesterday, I saw the Dark Monk release half a basin of accumulated blood from your chest and abdomen. Your internal organs had all suffered severe trauma. Your life was in danger. Fortunately, there was timely treatment. Your meridians were even more shattered into pieces. The Dark Monk spent a long time helping you piece together those shattered meridians. But they could not be completely pieced together. Some parts were indeed damaged. I thought your cultivation foundation was destroyed and your cultivation would be crippled.”
He rarely spoke so much. Nan Zhu listened in a daze. He had not expected Old Fifteen to have been so severely injured before.
Yu Qing asked in alarm and doubt, “Have I recovered now?”
Mu Aotie nodded again.
Thus, silence fell within the pagoda. As for why everyone had recovered so quickly from such severe injuries, the three brothers all had an answer in their hearts…
The next day, the Dark Monk brought his two disciples to the White Bone Pagoda again.
Once again, Bai Yun lifted the cloth covering Nan Zhu’s back. At this time, the new skin on Nan Zhu’s back had already lost its tenderness. Its colour was also almost the same as normal skin tone. Only it was clearly much fairer. The sunken feeling compared to the uninjured parts had also disappeared. The fullness was already very even.
However, Nan Zhu’s whole person looked obviously a size thinner.
Seeing this, the Dark Monk shook his head slightly. He clearly had a sense of wonder at the recovery of Nan Zhu’s injuries. Then he squatted before Yu Qing again. After reaching out to examine and confirm, he suddenly moved to release the restriction on Yu Qing’s body. Standing up, he said, “Circulate your energy and see if it is as normal.”
Yu Qing already felt his body could move. He tried to get up. Then he sat cross-legged. After circulating his energy with eyes closed for a cycle, he opened his eyes and nodded. “Master’s medical skill is indeed brilliant. I have recovered as normal.”
Regarding this person who seized every opportunity to praise his medical skill, the Dark Monk smiled without speaking.
Over there, Chang Kong was going to untie the bandages to examine Mu Aotie, but was refused by Mu Aotie. “I am fine like this. Almost better. No need to look anymore.”
Chang Kong turned back to look at his master.
“Let him be. Do not force it.” The Dark Monk nodded lightly in response. At the same time, he waved his hand to signal Bai Yun. After Bai Yun released the restriction on Nan Zhu’s body, he said, “The Sweeping Dust Temple finds it hard to accommodate guests from the rolling mortal world. Since your injuries have healed, I will not keep you all.”
Nan Zhu, who had gotten up and was moving his body, was stunned. The three brothers looked at each other. Yu Qing smiled dryly. “Master, it is like this. The Zhenhai Division wrongfully accused us of killing someone and deliberately persecuted us. Since the Master has saved us, why not do a good deed to the end and be a bit more tolerant.”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie nodded repeatedly in agreement upon hearing this. In short, they were afraid of being captured and tormented by the Zhenhai Division again after leaving.
The Dark Monk knew their worries. He spoke to relieve their concerns. “Rest assured. The murderer has already been found. It is an elder of Zheluo Mountain. The case has been closed. The Zhenhai Division will not trouble you again. This matter has passed. You can return in peace.”
The murderer has been found? The three brothers looked at each other again. They were somewhat bewildered. The murderer was clearly them. How could an elder of Zheluo Mountain pop up as the murderer?
Nan Zhu could not help asking, “Master, which elder of Zheluo Mountain committed the murder?”
The Dark Monk said indifferently, “I am not clear. This poor monk only knows a little to inform you. I did not pay too much attention to these matters. I do not know those various and sundry figures. In any case, you can leave with peace of mind.”
Seeing this, the three brothers had no choice but to give up on this question. But at least they were relieved. It would be best if things could pass like this.
Yu Qing said, “If that is the case, then we will not disturb you further. We take our leave now.”
Who knew the Dark Monk would say, “There is no need to be in such a hurry. This poor monk still has one unfulfilled wish. I must trouble you all.”
The three brothers immediately felt alarmed and doubtful. With this person’s status and position, what matter was not something that could be settled with a single word? What unfulfilled wish could require small figures like them to exert effort?
Yu Qing said politely, “Master, please speak freely of whatever you need. As long as it is something the three of us can do, we will certainly do our best.”
The Dark Monk’s gaze was clear and bright. “An uninvited guest has appeared on the courtyard wall of the Sweeping Dust Temple. It is quite capable of biting. It has gnawed the white bones on the courtyard wall into a mess. Wind leaks everywhere. It can also swallow clouds and release black smoke. Chang Kong and Bai Yun are greatly troubled by it. They need to clean many times each day. Yet they can do nothing about it. I believe the three of you can relieve the worries of this poor monk’s disciples.”
Upon hearing these words, the three brothers immediately knew it was Datou. Thinking of Datou’s fondness for eating bones, and then thinking of how this Dark Temple was built with white bones, they could not help but break into a small sweat. With Datou’s gluttonous nature of eating non-stop when there is food to eat, if he stayed in the Dark Temple for a month, he would demolish this legendary Dark Temple.
Moreover, from the sound of it, the other party already knew Datou was related to them.
Thinking about it, it made sense. No matter how fast Datou ran, he could not escape the Dark Temple’s actions. If they did not know he was related to them, they would probably have already dealt with Datou.
Previously, they had worried about where Datou had run off to. They had not expected him to already be causing havoc in the Dark Temple.
Yu Qing hurriedly said in embarrassment, “Actually, it is a spiritual pet we raised. I did not expect it to follow us here. Master, please do not blame it. I will go collect it now.”
Hurriedly, he exited the White Bone Pagoda. Nan Zhu, who was bare-chested, and Mu Aotie, who was barefoot, also followed out. They were all concerned about Datou, because they all regarded Datou as a treasure.
The three of them arrived in the courtyard and looked around everywhere.
That master and his two disciples also came out. Bai Yun walked up to them and pointed out several places. “Look, those holes in the wall over there. And this wall here. And the wall in the back courtyard. These are the ones that can be seen. There are also some places where the wall surface does not seem to show anything, but in fact the inside has already been hollowed out into a large area. It is already tottering. If it encounters a slightly stronger wind, it will definitely collapse.”
Sweat! The three brothers really broke into sweat repeatedly. Yet looking around, they could not see where Datou was.
Chang Kong also walked over and added a few words. “That insect is devilishly clever. When you are inside the room, you can hear the sound of it gnawing. The moment people come out and make a sound, it immediately goes silent. Before you can even approach, it runs away.”
Yu Qing nodded repeatedly and bowed to apologise. He understood. He understood too well. Datou was caught by his own hands. How could he not know its nature? It was indeed not easy to catch.
Seeing that he did not know where it was, he had no choice but to shout loudly, “Datou, come out. Datou, come out quickly…”
After shouting several times, everyone’s gazes gradually focused on one wall. A large cricket-like insect poked its head out from a skull’s eye socket. It was Datou.
Seeing Yu Qing and the others, and seeing Yu Qing calling, Datou jumped out from the skull’s eye. Then it flew left for a while, then right for a while. Seeing that there was indeed no obstruction, it swooped down like an arrow leaving a bowstring and landed on Yu Qing’s shoulder. It also had small movements of carefully avoiding the Dark Monk and his disciples.
Who knew that suddenly a surging aura would surge forth, like a spring breeze brushing Yu Qing’s face. And Datou slowly floated up from Yu Qing’s body, slowly drifting towards the Dark Monk.
Everyone immediately turned to look. They saw Datou frozen before the Dark Monk’s eyes, struggling non-stop. It was visible that the Dark Monk only wanted to take a careful look and was not forcibly suppressing him. But Datou seemed unconvinced. His temper immediately flared up. Immediately, red light flowed within the cracks on his body. High-temperature red light began to emerge from his abdomen and body.
The Dark Monk looked at him in surprise upon seeing this. “Could this be the legendary Fire Cricket?”
Seeing that it was recognised, Yu Qing had no choice but to honestly admit, “Indeed. When I went to the capital to take the imperial examination and passed through an ancient tomb wasteland, I caught it unintentionally. I raised it and gradually raised it as a spiritual pet.”
After carefully observing for a while, the Dark Monk was quite amazed. “Observing its movements, discerning its aura, this insect has indeed gained spiritual awareness. Within the cycle of heaven and earth, there are five insects. Naked, scaled, hairy, feathered, and shelled. This insect appears to be an insect body, but is actually born from the yang of earthly yin. It jumps outside the five insects and ranks within yin and yang. It is an extraordinary body. Without fate and opportunity by its side, it would be difficult to make it acknowledge a master.”
Speaking to this point, he could not help but look Yu Qing up and down a few more times.
The three brothers actually did not read much. They understood it somewhat but not quite. In any case, whether they understood or not, they just needed to nod and agree. They all believed that doing so in front of the Dark Monk would not be wrong.
Just at this moment, the Dark Monk’s kasaya and monk’s robe suddenly moved without wind. An illusory figure rapidly expanded and grew tall around his body.
It appeared to be an illusory figure, but in fact contained enormous power, directly pushing the others away.
The people forced to step back saw an illusory image of the Dark Monk manifest. It was released from the Dark Monk’s true body, tall and majestic like a god or Buddha, palms together, eyes closed, murmuring, making people look up in awe.
The people forced aside did not understand why. Yu Qing had seen this scene when he first came to the Dark Temple, so he was fine. He only felt that the illusory figure was even taller now. But Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were seeing it for the first time. They felt greatly surprised.
Within the illusory image, only a monk and an insect confronted each other.
The monk stood with palms together, eyes closed, murmuring. His kasaya and monk’s robe fluttered.
Datou, floating in the air, continued to struggle. Red light flickered unsteadily across his body as he resisted.