The black-clad man narrowed his eyes and said to Mu Yunjin, “Then let’s die together!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the black-clad man felt a cold sensation on both sides of his neck.

Looking down, he saw daggers pressed against either side of his throat—one on the left and one on the right. His heart filled with terror. Just as he tried to turn his head to see who was behind him, two deep voices warned:

“Don’t move!”

Immediately, Mu Yunjin flicked her wrist, sending a silver needle into the black-clad man’s wrist. His hand loosened, and the sword fell to the ground.

Mamma Shen quickly freed herself from the black-clad man’s grip and ran over to stand behind Mu Yunjin, trembling with fear. “Oh my heavens! I nearly lost my old life right there!”

Huang Yan and Song Chun moved closer to the black-clad man and said, “Tsk, your master is quite ruthless, sending you all one by one to your deaths!”

As they spoke, hurried footsteps could be heard from outside.

Then came the sounds of shouting and fighting.

…

…

When Master Huaiyuan stepped into the Buddha Hall and saw the scene inside, his brows immediately furrowed. “Amitabha Buddha, why do such troublesome matters keep occurring…”

This Water Cloud Temple never seemed to have a peaceful day.

No wonder Abbot Kong Shi had once faked his death.

If things continued like this, even he would consider faking his death…

“It seems I should never come to this place. Every time I arrive, something happens.” Mu Yunjin shrugged and said self-mockingly, feeling that Water Cloud Temple had become her cursed place.

“Huang Yan, stay here. I’ll go check the situation outside,” Song Chun said.

Huang Yan nodded.

“Tell us, who sent you? Chu Qing, Black Robe, or Autumn Leaf?” Huang Yan grabbed the black-clad man and questioned.

The black-clad man tried to bite his tongue to commit suicide, but Huang Yan was quicker, grabbing his throat to prevent the action.

“Huang Yan, strip off his clothes,” Mu Yunjin commanded.

“This… in the Buddha Hall, isn’t that inappropriate…” Huang Yan hesitated.

Mu Yunjin pouted, “Then take him outside.”

“Right away!”

……

A short while later, in the open area outside.

The black-clad man had been stripped naked by Huang Yan. Mu Yunjin stood with her back turned, arms crossed, asking Huang Yan, “Does he have any marks on his body?”

Huang Yan looked carefully, “He does—there’s a black mark on his arm.”

A black mark…

Mu Yunjin thought for a moment, “Then he must be sent by Rong Min.”

“Rong Min?” Huang Yan was surprised, then looked at the black-clad man and patted his shoulder, “Were you sent by Rong Min alone, or did Chu Qing tell Rong Min to send you?”

As soon as the words fell, the black-clad man took advantage of Huang Yan’s momentary loosened grip and struck himself in the chest with a palm strike.

He collapsed to the ground, dead.

Nearby, Song Chun and some young disciples sent by Master Huaiyuan returned, each holding a black-clad man, but all of them had already died.

Empress Dowager Rui was protected in the middle of several young monks, gasping for breath. The court ladies nearby all had faces pale with fright.

“I feel something is suspicious about this,” Huang Yan said, looking at the number of black-clad men.

Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together, frowning.

“Rong Min has suffered defeats at the Princess Consort’s hands before. Knowing Your Highness’s abilities, why would he rashly send only this many people? Isn’t that just sending them to their deaths?” Huang Yan said, looking around at the black-clad men.

When Mu Yunjin saw the number of black-clad men, she also sensed something was off.

Sending only these few people to seize the military command token—wasn’t that too foolish?

But at the moment, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong…

After thinking for a while, Mu Yunjin’s eyelid twitched. She suddenly stood up and ran toward the secret room in Master Huaiyuan’s meditation chamber.

Master Huaiyuan and Huang Yan immediately followed.

After entering the meditation chamber, Mu Yunjin ran to the secret room’s entrance, but just as she was about to push the door, she discovered a formation had been set up at the entrance, preventing her from breaking through.

Master Huaiyuan arrived and saw the situation, frowning, “This is bad!”

He then flicked his wrist, sending a palm strike toward the secret room’s door.

The door of the secret room was broken by the force…

Mu Yunjin and the others looked inside and saw several figures trying to move the Buddha statue. However, the statue seemed difficult to move, and despite their efforts, they had only shifted it slightly.

“So Rong Min is indeed here,” Mu Yunjin recognized one of the figures.

She secretly sighed that these people also knew there was something suspicious behind the Buddha statue.

Inside, Rong Min saw Mu Yunjin and the others but didn’t appear panicked despite his urgency, confident they couldn’t break through the formation.

“Master, is there another entrance?” Huang Yan asked.

Master Huaiyuan shook his head, “The secret room has only this entrance, but this formation is beyond my abilities at the moment.”

“What should we do then?” Huang Yan asked anxiously.

Hearing Huang Yan’s voice, Mu Yunjin’s eyes suddenly brightened, and she activated the Phoenix Pavilion’s spirit signal.

She couldn’t enter, but someone else could!

No matter how chaotic or powerful the formation was, it couldn’t surpass the Phoenix Pavilion’s formless space…

Sure enough, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, several figures appeared.

Qiqi and Xiumei led the way, with seven or eight spirit beasts following behind.

“Master, what has happened?” Qiqi asked, catching her breath.

Mu Yunjin wanted to ask about what had happened at the Phoenix Pavilion when they had hurriedly left that day, but the current matter was more important, so after a pause, she spoke.

“There’s a formation at the door that prevents us from entering. We need you to use the formless space to take us in,” Mu Yunjin said.

Upon hearing this, Qiqi was stunned for a moment, then looked inside the door. Seeing the scene inside, her eyes widened, and without hesitation, she activated the formless space.

Mu Yunjin placed her hand on Qiqi’s shoulder, and Huang Yan placed his hand on Xiumei’s shoulder.

With a flash of light, the figures who had been at the door an instant ago were suddenly inside the secret room.

Inside the secret room, Rong Min had been watching Mu Yunjin’s movements at the door. As he watched, his vision blurred for a moment, and when he looked again, Mu Yunjin had appeared before his eyes.

Having suffered several defeats at Mu Yunjin’s hands, Rong Min felt some fear upon seeing her.

“Retreat!” Rong Min called out, preparing to leave.

Mu Yunjin couldn’t give him the chance to escape. Her phoenix-tail whip lashed out, wrapping around Rong Min’s body, cutting off his escape route.

The black-clad men nearby were also surrounded by the spirit beasts of the Phoenix Pavilion.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

“You’re quite something, extending your schemes even here,” Mu Yunjin coldly smiled, mocking him.

Rong Min could only curse his bad luck, again and again!

Finally getting a mission, only to run into this woman again.

It seemed this woman was the biggest stumbling block on his path to becoming king!

“Are you cursing me in your heart again? Cursing me for blocking your path?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow, looking at Rong Min.

Rong Min was stunned and didn’t speak.

“What do you want with this Buddha statue?” Mu Yunjin asked patiently.

“Kill me or torture me as you wish,” Rong Min spoke, his expression displeased.

Mu Yunjin gave a cold snort, “If I kill or torture you, how will you ever ascend to the throne?”

“…” Rong Min was speechless.

“I’m telling you, no wonder you can’t compete with Rong Jiu. You really can’t keep your composure. You won’t be content as the King of Han in Eastern Ling, and you insist on following Chu Qing, Black Robe, and others.”

“Look at yourself now, falling for their tricks again!” Mu Yunjin said scornfully.

Rong Min had been full of resentment toward Mu Yunjin, but after her words, he couldn’t refute a single sentence.

Indeed, this visit to Water Cloud Temple was at Chu Qing’s behest. Chu Qing had told him that there was a Buddha statue in the secret room of Water Cloud Temple, and if they could destroy it, they would achieve half their goal.

He had lost his composure and rushed to Water Cloud Temple after hearing this.

Unexpectedly, Mu Yunjin had seen through it all.

“What’s inside this Buddha statue? They’ve made such a big fuss over it,” Qiqi asked curiously, walking toward the statue.

Huang Yan followed.

The two looked around and were both puzzled, “There doesn’t seem to be anything special about it.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin was stunned for a moment. She walked closer to the Buddha statue and circled it. When she passed behind the statue, she could see that the mechanism behind it was gone.

Mu Yunjin didn’t linger her gaze on the back of the Buddha statue to avoid revealing anything suspicious.

“Master Huaiyuan, these people have come to cause trouble at your Water Cloud Temple. How do you plan to deal with them?” Mu Yunjin looked at Master Huaiyuan at the door.

Master Huaiyuan sighed, “Send them all to the secret prison.”

“Alright, let young master Huang take care of it first,” Huang Yan said, then escorted Rong Min out.

The spirit beasts escorted the black-clad men away.

Soon, only Mu Yunjin and Qiqi remained in the secret room.

“Qiqi, what happened at the Phoenix Pavilion that made you rush back last time?” With no one else around, Mu Yunjin finally asked about this matter.

Hearing the question, Qiqi’s expression darkened. She moved closer to Mu Yunjin and lowered her voice, “Black Robe was performing some ritual by the stream, disturbing the disciples’ rest. Even Grandma Fish was disturbed and had headaches for several days.”

“These people again,” Mu Yunjin clenched her fingers.

Qiqi puffed her cheeks angrily, “That old Black Robe ghost used some kind of witchcraft, causing crow cawing sounds throughout the pavilion, making everything a complete mess.”

“How is it now?” Mu Yunjin asked.

“It’s been quiet these past few days, but most of the disciples are sick and listless. Grandma Fish hasn’t left her bed for days,” Qiqi said.

The more Mu Yunjin heard, the angrier she became. These bastards were truly detestable!

“Oh, right, when I was leaving just now, Grandma Fish summoned me specifically and gave me something,” Qiqi took out a sachet from her waist and handed it to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin reached out to receive it. Opening the sachet, she found a small pearl.

The pearl was very ordinary in quality, not a superior item. Mu Yunjin looked at it for a long time but couldn’t determine what was special about it.

“Did Grandma leave any message?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Qiqi thought for a moment, “Grandma only said to keep it safe, and didn’t say anything else.”

“I understand,” Mu Yunjin said, putting the pearl back in the sachet.

Since it was from Grandma Fish, this pearl must have its use and value. She would obediently keep it safe as instructed.