Chapter 111: A shocking scene

“Are you Li Chun’er’s disciple? According to your lazy nature of the Li family, the Li family only accepts one disciple. Are you the only disciple of the Shan family?” After Master Hongren called me over, he asked me one more question. He looked at me with the same expression as he looked at Huigen and Jueyuan, with a kind of intimacy.

I have a deep respect for this great monk, and I quickly replied, “I am Chen Chengyi, a disciple of the Li family’s Shan branch. Not only me, but all the disciples of the Li family’s Shan branch are here.”

Master Hongren nodded, smiling at all of us, and then said to me, “Come over. There is not much time left.”

This was the second time that Master Hongren urged me to come over. I was a little surprised. I was already very close to him. What was the point of this?

Looking at Master Hongren waving at me, I had to take a few more steps forward. These few steps were just ordinary steps, bringing me closer to Master Hongren, but I didn’t expect that when I took the third step, the whole city was shaking.

What is it? Is there an earthquake? I stood on the platform and felt no panic. Taoists may lack the compassion of Buddhists, but they are more in line with the Taoist view of right and wrong. What if we just get rid of the evil?

In my heart, this new city is so evil that it should not have existed in the first place!

Seeing my calm expression, everyone’s expression also changed from some initial confusion and panic to calmness. Master Hongren revealed a smile of appreciation and continued to sit there, looking at me. His eyes clearly encouraged me to take a few more steps.

So what if I take a few more steps? I walked forward boldly, and the whole city shook more and more violently. I knew in my heart that I must have touched some great secret, and that this was why the city was reacting in this way. Why should I back down?

The shaking made my steps difficult, but I also walked up to Master Hongren. I was only a few inches away from Master Hongren’s sitting body.

“Good, then you watch carefully.” Master Hongren’s originally compassionate expression suddenly became serious, and then suddenly golden light surrounded him. In this gray sky, black ground, and dark city, the golden light from the point of the general’s platform was so dazzling. This was the purest magic of the Buddha family, transformed into the light of the Buddha. I was in the middle of this golden light, and I could faintly hear the sound of chanting, which showed how pure Master Hongren’s magic was.

I didn’t understand what Master Hongren was going to do, but just bathing in this golden light, my state of mind was also so peaceful and harmonious. The city was shaking more and more violently, but my mood was surprisingly calm.

“Hmph…” A voice came from somewhere, with a kind of tragic and brutal atmosphere that I can’t describe, and it instantly spread throughout the city.

This square is built on a hillside halfway up the mountain. It feels like the mountain was cut in half and then a platform was built. So from the highest point of the square, you can see half of the city’s buildings.

With the sound of this snort, I saw that the dense ghosts within my line of sight had all knelt down, whether they were awake or crazy, they all knelt down in unison.

Zhu Zhuo was pale and wanted to kneel down, but was tightly held back by Jue Yuan. He said, “Souls are all equal. Good and evil divide them into ranks. Your soul is cleaner than the owner of this voice. Why should you kneel?”

Zhu Zhu was so anxious that he was about to cry, and he kept saying, “I, I…” with a look of extreme fear, unable to speak. Although Jue Yuan was gentle and refined, he was also a man with magical powers. He insisted that Zhu Zhu not kneel, so how could Zhu Zhu kneel?

Faced with this huge change, Master Hongren only opened his eyes, which were originally closed, and then closed them again. I was standing next to Master Hongren, and he wouldn’t let me leave, so naturally I wouldn’t leave.

“Hong Ren, you are not keeping your promise.” A cold voice suddenly appeared, just like the snorting sound, which echoed throughout the city.

The kneeling ghosts were even more frightened, and their bodies were buried even lower. Looking from my position, I could see waves of fluctuation. This fluctuation was caused by many people trembling together. At this moment, I already knew in my heart that apart from the owner of this city, who else could have such authority?

This sentence was nothing more than a reproach, a very ordinary sentence, but it actually carried the crushing might, causing the Buddha light of Master Hongren to show signs of breaking.

Facing this kind of questioning, Master Hongren finally opened his eyes again and said, “Monks do not lie. I have never failed to keep my promises. Your promise and mine does not include that I cannot trigger the opportunity. Even if I trigger the opportunity, my promise with you, that bet, still exists.”

At this point, Master Hongren paused, and then suddenly asked with a mocking tone, “Are you afraid?”

“How dare you!” The voice was so provoked by Master Hongren’s casual retort that it shook the entire city, making it seem extremely terrifying.

Look at the huge moat outside the city, the water roaring up, churning up huge waves, mixed with the screams of the souls of the dead, rushing towards the sky, and then falling again. Look at the mountain we are on, where huge chunks of black rock are rolling down, roaring…

Along with the voice of “presumptuousness” came a roar of a beast, which was also extremely powerful. The tiger in my soul suddenly couldn’t contain itself and wanted to rush out, but I forcibly suppressed it, but it roared in the depths of my soul.

I was naturally not unfamiliar with this roar. At the entrance to the lake, it was this roar that made Yucui retreat, and it was also this roar that made Shahu howl in dissatisfaction.

“You…” Master Hongren suddenly looked up, then looked at the few people in our Li family line, and suddenly burst into a hearty laugh, shouting, “Good, very good!”

I don’t know what’s good, but Master Hongren didn’t explain either. He just said, “I’m in your dream. You naturally know every move I make. What are you afraid of? This new city will have a disaster. The seeds were planted many years ago. Aren’t you ambitious? Aren’t you ambitious? Don’t you even have the courage to face the disaster? Can you hide from it?”

At the end, Master Hongren used his magical powers, and the sound of “Can you escape?” echoed throughout the city!

As the sound fell, the city, which had been shaking, suddenly became quiet. The moat was calm, and the rolling rocks on the mountain suddenly disappeared.

The inexplicable sound suddenly subsided, and after three good words, it completely subsided.

I was in the middle of the silent struggle, and I didn’t feel anything, but after everything was quiet, I suddenly felt a huge pressure from the depths of my soul. Is this what is meant by hindsight?

But Master Hongren didn’t give me time to think about it. He shouted at me, “Chen Chengyi, you just watch.”

After saying this, Master Hongren’s whole body was bathed in golden light. Then he stood up abruptly, almost awkwardly, and stepped aside. Then I saw that a faint golden pattern had appeared under him. Using the position under him as the point of inspiration, the faint golden pattern actually spread throughout the entire city. I stood on the point of the stage, my heart surging. This was a spectacular sight.

But it wasn’t over yet. As the golden patterns spread, in the four corners of the city, suddenly, a more magnificent golden light rose up, like four pillars of light, illuminating the entire city.

At that moment, I noticed that all the ghosts in the city, including Zhu Zhuo, froze in their tracks, their expressions frozen in a moment of panic!

I can’t describe the feeling in my heart, because in that moment, I knew… I knew the opportunity left by the master, and I knew how great this was!

The golden ripples stopped spreading at a certain point. From where I was standing, I could only see a vast area shrouded in black mist, and the four pillars of light that had been shining brightly also dimmed and gradually disappeared…

“You should know that there are five such pillars of light, and there is one more, right below me,” said Master Hongren, somewhat weakly.

I nodded solemnly to Master Hongren.

“The outer array is nothing. For many years, including myself, there has been a guardian to keep it from being destroyed. The key to everything is in the inner city. Do you understand?” Master Hong Ren said to me again.

“What do I have to do?” I was excited, and my voice was a little shaky. At that moment, I suddenly lost confidence in myself and thought I could do it!

Master Hong Ren’s eyes fell on the agarwood beads on my wrist. He wanted to say something, but suddenly said to me, “There’s no time. I have to keep my promise. When you get to the inner city, you will understand naturally. Remember the location of the pillar of light.”

After saying this, I saw a group of figures suddenly rushing towards the square where we were. Master Hongren smiled calmly, then walked to the position where he had just sat cross-legged, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and stopped talking.

The rune patterns that had spread throughout the city had completely disappeared, and the ghosts that had been frozen in time had returned to normal. Zhu Zhuo, among others, was now confused and thinking back, not knowing that such a shocking scene had taken place in the city.