Free Web NovelChapter 123: Chapter 41: Luring the Ghosts from the Mountain
This time, he drew the 10 of Spades.
A total of six cards were now stacked on his soul: Ace, 2, 4, 10, Queen, and King.
’Although the luck accumulated from the black tie is helping, this number still puts some pressure on me,’ Gao Tian thought.
’The further this goes, the higher the probability of drawing it. The luck from only two or three people dying might not be enough to protect me.’
’Even if I die every time my luck is at its peak, the number of Ghost Cards will eventually stack up to thirteen. It’s not like after placing all the cards from Ace to King, the ghost’s luck could somehow help me draw a 14.’
’That wouldn’t be luck anymore; it would be directly altering reality.’
’It seems that after getting the Peace Stone from the Divine Tree, I also need to hurry and subdue The Hanged Man 57 in the old district.’
’But these aren’t problems to think about now. First, I have to survive the Longshu Temple incident. Then I can worry about the future.’
...
...
"You had a nightmare..."
The twilight afterglow, like crushed gold dust, layered itself over the temple ridges, the treetops, and the stone steps. A warm breeze gently brushed against his body.
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Lan Chu’s crazed, oversized face. Before she could say more, Gao Tian shoved her away and urgently said to Jiang Yang, who was observing him:
"I’ve been reborn. And more than once. We’ve already been wiped out twice in this godforsaken place."
He immediately highlighted the key points, quickly recounting the major events of the first and second runs.
Compared to the first run, where they died inexplicably, the situation in the second run was much better.
They had made significant progress and discovered the secret within the Great Buddha. In the third run, if nothing went wrong, they would most likely survive past nine o’clock and meet the long-absent master of Longshu Temple.
Hearing Gao Tian’s torrent of words, both Jiang Yang and Wang Wenbo were utterly shocked. Their memories had been completely reset. From their perspective, this was their first time here. They had never imagined that so much had already happened in a timeline that no longer existed.
Wang Wenbo fiddled with his watch and began to expound upon his vast knowledge of physics:
"If time is reversing..."
Gao Tian, who could already recite it by heart, cut Wang Wenbo off and continued for him:
"If time is reversing, then according to the theory of negentropy, you’d need to introduce a negative spacetime... It would be very difficult to make a palm-sized area experience a reversal of time.
"Of course, this is the Inner World... you can’t just rigidly apply macroscopic physics."
Wang Wenbo was momentarily speechless. That was indeed what he had been about to say.
It was just that he was still organizing his thoughts, whereas Gao Tian had expressed it far more fluently.
Gao Tian gave him a sympathetic look and delivered the finishing blow:
"Why do you know so much? Because you have three master’s degrees. Your first major was one your parents forced you into—computer science for practicality, while physics and geology are your life’s passions."
There. Identity confirmed. Wang Wenbo was now 100 percent certain that this Gao Tian had traveled back from the previous two timelines. He hadn’t even known what he was going to say next himself; only a time traveler could have finished his sentence so perfectly.
Regardless, knowing he had died twice in the previous timelines, and that his performance had been so pathetic each time, was a terrible feeling.
It also took Jiang Yang a moment to process the information Gao Tian had brought back.
He said pensively:
"So, based on what happened in the first and second runs.
"Our first priority is to avoid the two death triggers: the Transparent Coffin and the Great Buddha. Then, we need to find a way past the endless hungry ghosts and get into the main hall. We’ll use the scriptures there to withstand the subsequent bear roar.
"That way, we can break Longshu Temple’s time curse, which has been active for who knows how many years, meet the master, and trigger a new part of the story."
Gao Tian:
"That’s right."
Jiang Yang:
"But there’s one more thing I want to confirm."
Gao Tian:
"Go ahead."
Jiang Yang:
"How do you know the master of Longshu Temple will definitely appear after nine o’clock?
"All this information came from the hungry ghosts inside the Great Buddha, right?
"You said yourself that these hungry ghosts are just a pack of mad ghouls controlled by starvation, completely devoid of reason. They were only able to have a brief, lucid conversation in the first run because they had eaten Lan Chu, which temporarily sated their appetites.
"The words of a vicious ghost can’t be taken as evidence."
He continued slowly:
"Second.
"Even if what the hungry ghosts said is true, and their master returns after we survive past nine.
"How can we be sure that events will develop in our favor, instead of getting even worse?
"This temple has been trapped in a time loop for years, perhaps even decades or centuries.
"After countless loops, the Monks in the temple have all turned into malevolent ghosts, merging to become part of this haunted place.
"The probability that the great monk who has yet to appear is still human is very low. If we make it past nine, what we’ll be waiting for is most likely another, even fiercer, vicious ghost.
"This plan is incredibly risky."
Gao Tian:
"Because...
"All of this is what *you* deduced during the second run, Jiang Yang.
"It was your theory from the last loop. That if we survived the nine o’clock bear roar and met the master who returns afterward, we could trigger a new part of the story. Maybe even end the entire time loop system.
"I don’t know which version of you makes more sense, the one from this timeline or the last.
"I really wish I could bring the second-run Jiang Yang here to debate with the current you."
Jiang Yang’s composure started to crack:
"The second-run me really said that?"
Gao Tian:
"Mhm, you did.
"How about this: since the third-run you has refuted the second-run Jiang Yang’s opinion, let’s just vote on what to do next. All four of us."
Should they stick to the plan from the second run: find a way to survive past nine o’clock, meet the master at ten, and break Longshu Temple’s time loop?
Or should they abandon this path entirely, maybe even avoid meeting the master at ten o’clock, and look for a new way out?
The result of the vote was obvious.
Four to zero. A unanimous vote for the first option.
Even Jiang Yang himself had to admit it was better to meet the ten o’clock master, whether he was human or ghost.
After all, they didn’t have any other, better leads at the moment.
Besides, now that they knew they could be reborn, and that Gao Tian retained his memories each time, the group’s mindset had subtly changed.
When it came to the unsolved mysteries of Longshu Temple, they felt they could afford to be a bit more adventurous—try something first and see what happens.
Even if the master they met at ten turned out to be a vicious ghost and wiped them all out, what was the worst that could happen? They would just enter the next loop and avoid meeting him then.
Since the decision was made, they would enter Longshu Temple in groups and begin their operation.
Having gone through this process twice, Gao Tian was already an old hand at it.
First, he and Lan Chu would enter the temple, carry the Transparent Coffin out, and leave it outside.
This would prevent Wang Wenbo from getting killed right off the bat.
Then, all four would enter the courtyard together. Just like before, Jiang Yang, under Wang Wenbo’s guidance, would shoot five bullet holes into the Great Buddha’s stomach.
The hungry ghosts inside the Great Buddha had to be released.
But not immediately.
In this run, they would be thoroughly prepared.
Gao Tian had already memorized the scriptures and corresponding movements he had seen inside the Great Buddha’s stomach.
He demonstrated them on the spot. Everyone, including the manic Lan Chu, followed Gao Tian’s movements, observing and learning, pretending they were already inside the Buddha’s belly. They practiced until everyone could do it perfectly on the first try.
Next, before opening the Great Buddha’s stomach, Gao Tian placed two mirrors in the far corners of the main hall. He also gave everyone a mirror to keep on their person.
Gao Tian and Jiang Yang found a thick branch and began ramming it against the upper part of the Great Buddha’s crumbling belly.
The non-combatants were to evacuate to the temple plaza first and take refuge by climbing the Vajra Trees, which were engraved with the Diamond Sutra.
Wang Wenbo was so unathletic he couldn’t even climb a tree in a life-or-death situation, which led to him being pulled into a mirror in the second run, his fate unknown. They definitely couldn’t make the same mistake this time.
They had Lan Chu, that wild monkey with immense strength, pull him up a Vajra Tree to hide in advance.
Finally, the front of the Great Buddha in the main hall had been battered to the point of collapse. It was just one hit away.
As planned, Gao Tian left the main hall and took refuge in his pre-selected Vajra Tree.
Only Jiang Yang remained. After forcefully ramming the Great Buddha’s abdomen one last time, the wooden panels collapsed, revealing the mural behind them. Jiang Yang immediately turned and ran, scrambling up the nearest Vajra Tree outside the hall as fast as he could.
Under the sunlight, the portraits of hungry ghosts on the mural peeled off one by one. From a mountain of corpses and a sea of bones, numerous vicious ghosts were released from the Great Buddha’s hollow stomach and came rushing toward the center of the plaza.
’Good, everything is going according to plan. No mistakes at all.’
Seeing that the main hall was now empty and the scriptures inside the Great Buddha were exposed, Lan Chu clutched her mirror, eager to make a move:
"Let’s go!"
Gao Tian remained calm:
"Don’t be hasty. It’s not time yet.
"If we enter the main hall now, the hungry ghosts will definitely rush back in and eat us one by one inside the Great Buddha’s belly.
"We wouldn’t even survive until nine o’clock that way.
"These hungry ghosts were stimulated and awakened because they were exposed to the sunlight outside.
"Once the sun sets and the sunlight completely disappears from Longshu Temple, these hungry ghosts will fall back asleep. That’s when we’ll make our move."
Time ticked by. The four people in the trees and the countless hungry ghosts wandering below were locked in a silent contest of endurance.
The timing had to be precise, during that small window of safety after the hungry ghosts fell completely asleep but before the bear roar began.
Looking up, the moonlight was bright and clear—
"It’s time.
"Everyone, let’s go."
Gao Tian activated the Mirror Ghost’s ability, the first to pull himself from the tree into the mirror’s surface.
A moment later, his figure reappeared from the mirror that had been placed in the corner of the main hall opposite them.
Although Longshu Temple placed restrictions on the Mirror Ghost, disconnecting it from mirrors in the outside world, the mirrors inside Longshu Temple were still connected to each other.
Using this method, Lan Chu, Wang Wenbo, and Jiang Yang were transferred from the trees into the main hall, one by one.
Without anyone—or any ghost—noticing, they had all bypassed the hungry ghosts in the central plaza and entered the main hall.
