Free Web NovelChapter 76: Chapter 64: To Die Under the Peony Flower, Wu Tan Plays the Rogue
"Amitabha Buddha."
At that moment, Xu Lei was overjoyed.
His joy stemmed from having finally pinpointed the exact location of the immortal’s cave!
This was a feeling he could not let Qi Yang and Miao Ying know about.
But Xu Lei showed his happiness openly anyway.
"I... I have a clue! An idea! So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is!"
Xu Lei shouted at the same time.
He disguised his elation, making it seem as if he’d finally found a new direction for deciphering the strange, ancient text left by the cave’s master after observing the surrounding feng shui and earth veins.
"What?"
Qi Yang, sitting on the shoulders of two Human Puppets, also looked somewhat excited. ’He has a clue?’
Of course, he was currently playing the part of Miao Ying’s loyal servant, so he didn’t break protocol by speaking out of turn.
He merely looked at Miao Ying.
"Divine Monk!"
Miao Ying was also very excited. Without needing any prompting from Qi Yang, she asked in a delicate voice, "Is it true? What have you deciphered?
The method for breaking those Restrictions?
You’ve figured it out?"
"Not completely!"
Xu Lei said excitedly, "But I have a lead now.
Perhaps... I feel this might be the correct line of thinking!
It’s just that it will require some careful deliberation afterward.
But... I feel like... it seems feasible!"
Of course, Xu Lei said all this just to fool Qi Yang and Miao Ying.
He had no intention of ever telling them the Secret Seal to undo the Restrictions.
But for now, Xu Lei had achieved his first objective.
Namely, to learn the precise location of the immortal’s cave!
Next, before he died, Xu Lei had another small goal to achieve!
He needed to make Qi Yang and Miao Ying hopeful that they would smoothly obtain everything inside the cave!
That way, they wouldn’t lose their cool and choose to use brute force to destroy the cave.
This would ensure the cave survived until the day Xu Lei returned in his next life to claim and refine it.
"The Divine Monk is truly worthy of his title."
Miao Ying couldn’t help but praise him. "I heard long ago that you have a profound mastery of the Skill of Worldly Affairs.
Not only can you build the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse, but you can also improve the methods of forging iron!
And now, your skill at deciphering this strange ancient text is just as impressive!
Yingying is full of admiration."
"Amitabha Buddha."
Xu Lei looked at Miao Ying and said, "It is time to go back and deliberate based on this new line of thought.
After that, perhaps we can attempt to break the Restrictions.
However, Donor Yingying, I have spent the last few days surveying the feng shui and terrain, running over most of this mountain range.
Now, I am deeply fatigued!
Shall we?"
As he spoke, Xu Lei pulled Miao Ying into his arms and kissed her on the lips.
"Divine Monk, you..."
Miao Ying pushed against Xu Lei’s chest with her slender hands. "Not here. Shall we return to the cave first?"
"Amitabha Buddha."
But Xu Lei said, "Donor Qi Yang is your loyal servant.
And this isn’t the first time he has stood guard outside while I and Donor Yingying... entangle ourselves.
Why be shy?
Besides, these Human Puppets are nothing but walking corpses, not living people.
Just think of them as cats or dogs.
What’s more, the scenery on this mountain peak is so beautiful.
Donor Yingying, don’t you want to create a wonderful memory with me here?"
Afterward, on the palanquin carried by the Human Puppets, Xu Lei held Miao Ying’s soft, delicate body from behind.
With her back to Xu Lei, Miao Ying’s lovely face was turned toward Qi Yang, who also had his back to them. A watery, lustrous light shimmered in her beautiful eyes.
「Another month passed in the blink of an eye.」
Carried by the Human Puppets, Xu Lei, Miao Ying, and Qi Yang had returned to a stone chamber within a cave-dwelling, part of a winding network of tunnels deep inside a tall mountain.
Over the past month, after returning, Xu Lei had been constantly analyzing and deciphering the ancient text based on the information he’d gathered from the feng shui, earth veins, and so on.
Then, every seven or eight days, he would go and attempt to undo the Restrictions within the immortal’s cave.
Qi Yang continued to maintain his role as a qualified, loyal servant.
He would stand silently in a corner on guard, only stepping forward when given an order.
Miao Ying, meanwhile, naturally served as Xu Lei’s assistant.
A role similar to that of a boss’s secretary on Earth.
The kind of secretary who "does the work when there’s work to be done, and does the boss when there isn’t."
Naturally, Xu Lei wasn’t sincerely trying to decipher these Restrictions.
He was merely putting on an act.
It was all just a show!
After all, he had been pretending to be a Divine Monk for so many years!
Xu Lei’s acting skills were still top-notch!
At the same time, over the past month, Xu Lei had been frantically performing "Charitable Giving" with Miao Ying.
He knew that as long as he failed to decipher the text, Qi Yang’s patience would eventually run out!
And that would be the day he died!
Though Xu Lei wasn’t afraid of death!
For a normal person, death is like a lamp being extinguished!
But Xu Lei could be reincarnated and reborn!
So naturally, he wasn’t that afraid!
However, before he died, Xu Lei still wanted to maximize his gains.
To that end, this past month, he had been taking a special drug he’d brought from Anchan Temple, one that strengthened his "Charitable Giving" ability.
Although the drug’s true function was to overdraw on his body’s vitality ahead of time!
But Xu Lei didn’t care.
After taking the drug,
even though he was already an old monk,
he was still incredibly ferocious!
After all, Xu Lei didn’t want his Dao Seed to be extinguished!
So, to become more vigorous, he chose to take the drug!
"Please, no, Divine Monk."
On this day, Miao Ying pleaded pitifully, "Yingying really can’t take it anymore. Please let Yingying rest today!"
That’s right. Although Miao Ying was a woman who practiced an Evil Technique,
she couldn’t use her Dharma Gate of Absorbing Yang to Nourish Yin on Xu Lei.
Otherwise, if Xu Lei were drained dry, who would be left to decipher the Restrictions?
Under these circumstances, she was no different from an ordinary woman.
With her fair skin, beautiful face, and youthful, well-proportioned body, she should have been more than enough to handle Xu Lei.
But unfortunately, Xu Lei had taken a drug with powerful side effects!
And drugs with powerful side effects often have astonishingly potent effects!
This drug was a forbidden medicine at the temple.
Xu Lei didn’t know where it came from either.
He had only learned of it when he was the Seed Sowing Supervisor Zen Master at Anchan Temple.
Its origins were untraceable, but that was understandable.
After all, dynasties rose and fell, but the Buddhist Sect had endured for ages!
That kind of hidden heritage was naturally terrifying!
"Amitabha Buddha."
But Xu Lei said, "Donor Yingying, I feel like I’m still missing something. My thoughts are stuck, I have no inspiration. I beseech Donor Yingying to comfort me!"
"Divine Monk, please don’t be like this!"
Miao Ying squirmed but didn’t completely push Xu Lei away. She said, "Your body is already much thinner than before! You can’t keep indulging like this! You need to rest too!"
"Amitabha Buddha."
But Xu Lei just held Miao Ying and said, "Donor Yingying, after all these days, do you still not know my capabilities?
Is my stamina any weaker than other men’s?
The reason I’ve grown thin is only because I have been deciphering the ancient text and probing the Restrictions!
It has consumed too much of my mental energy!
Of course, if Donor Yingying is unwilling, I will naturally not force you.
After all, the reason I wish to be with Donor Yingying like this is also because of the love in my heart.
It is not purely carnal desire."
Of course, this was just an excuse Xu Lei had fabricated.
In truth, Xu Lei had grown thin because of his frantic "Charitable Giving" with Miao Ying.
But this depletion of his life force was exactly what Xu Lei wanted!
He was going to die soon anyway!
Since that was the case!
He thought, ’Might as well die in the arms of a beauty!’
「Three more months passed in the blink of an eye.」
Xu Lei, who had been continuously taking the drug and performing "Charitable Giving" with Miao Ying for nearly four months,
felt that his life force was about to be completely exhausted.
He had become much thinner.
Therefore, on this day, Xu Lei decided to get straight to the point!
In other words, it was time to play the scoundrel and mess with them!
"My apologies, Donor Yingying, Donor Qi Yang. I... I have failed!"
Xu Lei said to Miao Ying and Qi Yang, "My previous line of thinking was wrong!
I thought it was feasible, but after many days of deliberation, I still failed!
I cannot undo these Restrictions!
Of course, while it is true I cannot undo the Restrictions myself.
That’s the bad news.
But there is also good news—according to the information I’ve deciphered from the ancient text:
In about fifty or sixty years, this Spirit Gathering Array will finish gestating on its own!
At that time, the Restrictions will undo themselves!
Therefore, my two donors, if you can wait another fifty or sixty years,
these Restrictions will be removed naturally!
Then, you will be able to obtain all the Treasure within this immortal’s cave!"
And upon hearing these words,
the expressions on Qi Yang’s and Miao Ying’s faces turned extremely ugly!
