Though her tone was one of complete indifference, her pupils revealed caution and composure. Ye Qi looked directly into those bright eyes and couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
This girl was filled from head to toe with incongruities that didn’t match her apparent age. Yet oddly, this sense of discordance wasn’t off-putting. Instead, it involuntarily stirred one’s curiosity about her, as well as… a trace of inexplicable trust.
Even though in this world people’s hearts are hidden behind their chests, there are still those people whom you know at a glance are not bad people.
Ye Qi released his grip and cooperatively stepped back a small pace, gesturing for Changling to proceed.
He watched as she slowly drew out the blade, positioned the sharp edge against the door crack and pushed outward. With an extremely soft “crack,” the lock was severed by the Gouhun Blade. The next moment, the wooden door was suddenly pushed open a crack, and the Gouhun Blade’s edge reached out, steadily intercepting the lock’s intimate encounter with the floor.
Ye Qi clicked his tongue in admiration, “Who would have thought the young lady is a professional locksmith.”
Changling ignored him, tossing the blade and lock in her hand back to him. Ye Qi caught them in one motion. When closing the door, he didn’t forget to hang the broken lock back up. Seeing Changling walking straight outside, he quickly followed.
Although these two didn’t see eye to eye, once outside the door they actually became coordinated. From the library, they followed the stairs all the way down. At each floor they separated to investigate, and after finding nothing, they met up again to continue downward. Though two people with four legs moving swift as the wind, throughout the entire process neither made even the slightest sound—
After inspecting three floors that were either filled with books or stored miscellaneous items, Changling’s heart began to have doubts—was this place really used to imprison people? If not, why would the temple monks apply fire oil inside the library for no good reason? Weren’t they afraid that with one careless moment, they’d set themselves on fire?
Lost in thought, the two passed through a corridor and the light suddenly brightened a bit. Ye Qi, a step ahead of her, stopped at the corner of the stairway ahead, crouched down low, and slowly poked his head out.
Below was a lofty hall. Candlelight flickered on the walls. In the center of the hall sat an enormous statue of Vairocana Buddha. The Buddha’s body was painted in glittering gold, with one hand pointing to heaven and one hand pointing to earth in an attitude of supreme self-importance.
Five meditation cushions were arranged before the Buddha statue. On the cushions sat five high monks in cross-legged meditation—among these five, one was the leader, while the other four sat to the sides. One after another, they pressed their palms against each other’s backs, eyes closed in meditation, practicing some unknown technique.
“This is the Four Symbols Formation…” Changling suddenly said, barely audible.
Ye Qi was startled when he first heard Changling’s voice. He quickly turned his head to glare at her. Changling calmly crouched down, “They’re cultivating at the Supreme Void period, which is precisely when they close their breath and concentrate their spirit. They can’t hear this bit of whispered sound.”
Ye Qi turned his head back and discovered that these high monks were completely undisturbed. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, “How can you tell they’ve cultivated to the Supreme Void period?”
“The Four Symbols Elemental Spirit Formation has nine total periods. Each period has different seating arrangements and cultivation methods,” Changling explained. “The Supreme Void period is the seventh level. Only after passing through the Clear Spirit period and the Great Vehicle period can cultivation be considered complete.”
Ye Qi momentarily showed a look of shock, “The Four Symbols Formation is a technique practiced by monks. How do you know about it?”
“I previously…” Changling got stuck for a moment, “…saw it.”
She forcibly bent the word “practiced” into the word “saw.”
Fortunately, Ye Qi didn’t continue questioning and returned his attention to those high monks. “According to what you’re saying, if we walk past them right now, they won’t notice?”
“They’ve only entered a meditative state, they haven’t ascended to heaven.”
“True… this makes things difficult then.” Ye Qi extended his hand pointing toward the corridor to the side of the Buddha statue. “If this Great Vehicle Tower truly has a place for holding serious criminals, I think… it’s most likely in the cellar over there.”
Changling looked over. She could vaguely see that the corridor stairs led downward, which did seem like a place for holding people. Her eyes flashed, “That’s easy. In a moment I’ll go up and give the monk sitting at the back a palm strike. After they’re injured, they’ll necessarily need to regulate their breath first to protect themselves. At that time, you and I can go down to investigate. This way will be more secure.”
Seeing Changling about to stand up, Ye Qi grabbed her and pulled her back, “If they endure your palm strike, what will happen to them?”
Changling said lightly, “They won’t die. At most they’ll just lose half their internal power. After cultivating for another ten or so years, won’t it all come back?”
Ye Qi: “…”
These old gentlemen looked like they were seventy if not eighty years old. By the time they rebuilt their internal power over another ten-some years, wouldn’t this lifetime be pretty much over?
“No good, no good. Hurting people from behind… is far too dishonorable. Wait a moment, let me think if there’s any other way.”
Changling turned her head to glance at him, “Your companions were drugged and shackled by these people, barely alive in that cave. At this juncture you still care about martial world honor?”
“Sigh, if upholding honor still requires assessing the situation and timing, can it still be called honor…”
This was just Ye Qi’s casual muttering, but it made Changling’s heart skip a beat.
The seventeen-year-old Yue Changling thought that as long as she was strong enough, she wouldn’t fear any open attacks or hidden arrows. At that time, she was several years younger than this young master before her, and had also taken pride in upholding righteousness and been shamed by betraying it—
Changling rarely refrained from arguing. Ye Qi contemplated for a moment and asked, “How much longer must this formation be cultivated?”
“Hard to say. Quickly, a few hours. Slowly, ten days or half a month isn’t impossible.”
“Ten days or half a month?” Ye Qi blinked in surprise. “Just sitting like that, not eating, not drinking, not sleeping—is this cultivation or becoming an immortal?”
“Oh.” Changling said as if it was nothing unusual, “Of course they’ll rest and eat.”
Ye Qi let out a soft “wow,” “So you’re saying they can stop whenever they want, and after stopping they can continue?”
Changling gave him a look that said “I refuse to answer such an idiotic question.” Ye Qi was completely oblivious and continued, “If this formation technique is so formidable, I wonder what kind of situation it would be if they unleashed it…”
“If we continue crouching here and watching like this,” Changling said blandly, “perhaps you’ll soon have the opportunity to ‘feast your eyes.'”
Ye Qi waved his hand, “Not likely. They’re practicing quite vigorously.”
Just as the words left his mouth, at that very moment, someone outside the tower urgently called inside, “Abbot! Something, something terrible has happened!”
The five high monks suddenly heard the commotion outside. Each frowned, but none stopped the circulation of their internal power. The monk sitting in the middle spoke, “What has happened?”
The person outside said in a panic, “The vaulted tower… the vaulted tower’s Eastern Xia sect leaders… have escaped, escaped!”
The abbot’s eyes flew open. The others were all shocked upon hearing this. The abbot rotated both palms facing upward in a small circle, then brought his hands together in a closing gesture. The high monks behind him withdrew their palms one after another. The abbot said to the person outside, “Yun Hui! Come inside to speak.”
With permission granted, the person outside pushed the door open and entered. Changling looked carefully—it was precisely Yun Hui, the monk who had led them into the temple. Upon entering, he immediately knelt on the ground to plead guilty. The abbot stood up and urgently asked, “What exactly is the situation now? Have they all escaped?”
“Not, not yet…” Yun Hui said in a fluster, “Uncle Master Jingxin discovered it in time and has notified the brother disciples to intercept them… It’s just that those sect leaders have profound martial skills. Though we have many people, I’m afraid…”
The high monk seated at the very end, who was also the shortest, couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t they all ingest the Bone-Softening Powder?”
“I don’t know either. Tonight at the hour of the rat, I went to the vaulted tower to check. They were clearly all locked in the Iron Skulls. I don’t know how they escaped…”
Another high monk said incredulously, “Are you saying the Iron Skulls were all unlocked?”
Yun Hui nodded repeatedly.
The abbot turned to address two high monks beside him, “Junior Brother Yuan Kong, Junior Brother Yuan Jue, you two go take a look first. Under no circumstances can we let those eight sect leaders leave this temple.”
Ye Qi watched the departing figures of Yuan Kong and Yuan Jue, thinking to himself, “So these four are Yuan Kong, Yuan Jue, Yuan Zhan, and Yuan Xian. Who would have thought that in my nighttime exploration of the Great Vehicle Tower, I would not only encounter Dazhao Temple’s four great elders, but also run into Abbot Yuan Hai. Truly my fortune is poor and my fate fraught with difficulties.”
At this time, he heard Yuan Hai ask Yun Hui, “You say you went to check on the vaulted tower?”
Yun Hui quickly answered, “In response to the Abbot, tonight the Eighth Princess suddenly paid a visit, saying she wanted to go see those eight sect leaders…”
“Wait,” Yuan Hai interrupted Yun Hui’s words, “What eighth princess?”
Ye Qi guiltily shrank his head back and exchanged a glance with Changling—could their luck really be this bad?
Sure enough, after Yuan Hai heard Yun Hui’s full account, he immediately said angrily, “You fool! The Princess is of noble birth and royal blood. How could she possibly travel with only one Tianpo accompanying her? Moreover, the Prince just sent someone with a letter yesterday saying he would personally come soon. If that’s the case, why wouldn’t the Ninth Princess travel together with the Prince?”
Yun Hui’s eyes went wide, “Then… then they…”
Yuan Xian said in a deep voice, “These two must have impersonated the Princess to come rescue those eight sect leaders… However, even if they could cure the Bone-Softening Powder, how did they break open the Iron Skulls? Even we don’t have keys to those Iron Skulls.”
Yun Hui was already too frightened to know what to do. Yuan Hai asked again, “When the eight sect leaders escaped, were those two people following beside them?”
“No… I, I didn’t see them…” Yun Hui said trembling, “The two junior brothers guarding the door also said no one had entered or exited…”
Yuan Zhan looked at Yuan Hai, “Abbot, it appears they’re still hiding within the temple.”
Yuan Hai’s eyes flashed as he took a step forward, “Since these two could unlock the Iron Skulls, they are definitely not ordinary people. We cannot let them escape.”
Changling glanced at Ye Qi with a look that said “you’re truly a crow star.”
Ye Qi: “…”
At this very moment, the two “not ordinary people” being hotly discussed were crouched in a corner less than five zhang away from them, silently eavesdropping. Changling figured that at this rate of conversation, exposure wasn’t far off. Her heart was still set on going to the dungeon to confirm with her own eyes, so she turned to look at Ye Qi.
Ye Qi was half-crouching on the ground, one hand supporting his chin, his eyes rolling around as he thought about something.
Changling secretly sighed—she was truly confused. At this critical juncture, even she couldn’t think of a good strategy, so how could she rely on such a fledgling youth?
Changling was preparing to retreat first to see if she could find another way, when Ye Qi grabbed her hand. The bottom of his eyes carried a trace of a smile as he silently mouthed to her, “I have a way.”