Qi Zhengyan’s green robe was tattered, his body covered with wounds from which black blood occasionally seeped. However, his eyes remained clear, and his complexion was relatively good, indicating his injuries weren’t severe.
As he had just stepped into the hall, he seemed slightly unaccustomed to the brightness inside, which contrasted with the darkness outside. He raised his left hand, which wasn’t holding a sword, to shield his eyes and asked with concern, “Are you all okay?”
“You should know we’re fine if you saw that fish lying outside,” Meng Qi felt even happier seeing his senior brother return unharmed and began to joke, “How about you, Senior Brother Qi?”
He hung the Zishang he had retrieved at his waist instead of keeping it in his hand. On one hand, his left palm was severely injured, so he could only wield the sword with his right hand. On the other hand, in his current state, he couldn’t even swing the Zishang anymore.
Qi Zhengyan coughed slightly, lowered his left hand that had been shielding his face, and gradually adjusted to the light inside the hall. His expression remained as stoic as ever, lacking the youthful vigor typical of someone his age. “I sustained some injuries, and corpse poison entered my body, but it’s nothing serious.”
Meng Qi searched for the healing medicine left by Fu Zhenzhen. With guidance from Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu, he found the bottle that could remove corpse poison and yin poison and tossed it to Qi Zhengyan.
After taking the medicine, Qi Zhengyan sat cross-legged to recover his strength. Meng Qi also helped Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu sit down so they could continue healing themselves. He then applied healing medicine to his left hand, wrapped it with torn cloth from his clothes, and swallowed several pills to restore his spirit and strength.
After finishing all this, he picked up “Zi Wu,” relying on his abundant true energy to forcibly support himself while inspecting the condition of the grand hall. Many Buddhist treasures had once been here, but under the combined effects of powerful destruction and the passage of time, they had already decayed into dust. For example, a cyan lotus that had transformed into a lotus throne turned into powder with just a light touch from Meng Qi.
“Huh, was this the place where the corpse-transformed Arhat was sitting before?” Meng Qi found a spot where deathly energy had seeped into the golden bricks, right in the shadow in front of the green lamp, as if it had been guarding the lamp!
“This green lamp probably hasn’t been completely destroyed…” Meng Qi activated the Golden Bell Cover, his left hand glowing with a dark golden hue, clearly displaying the essence of Buddhism, as he cautiously reached toward the lamp.
Cool yet not cold, the lamp’s body, made of an unknown material, had not crumbled. Its flame, though dim and weak, never extinguished, emitting a pure and clear light that warmed the body and illuminated the hearts of men and the shadows of ghosts.
“It should be a treasure,” Meng Qi mused. Although his left hand was severely injured and he couldn’t wield swords or knives, he could still grasp the lamp.
The lamp’s light shone on the blood-stained “bandages,” and Meng Qi felt his wounds’ pain lessen somewhat. His Golden Bell Cover circulated even more smoothly, confirming his suspicion. He picked up the lamp and walked back to where Jiang Zhiwei and the others were.
After some healing, Qi Zhengyan’s black blood turned lighter, gradually becoming dark red. He opened his eyes, began wrapping his wounds, and turned his head toward the outside of the hall: “The corpse of Bobo’er Ba is still out there. I’ll go collect it; we shouldn’t waste the good deed.”
“There’s no rush; it’ll still be a while before we can return,” Meng Qi held the lamp in his hand, fearing it might burn other things inside the Jizi Ring, and smiled as he asked, “Senior Brother Qi, I originally thought you had shaken off that monster and hidden yourself. I didn’t expect you to chase after us.”
Qi Zhengyan slowly turned his head, glanced at Meng Qi, leaned against a pillar, and replied with an unchanged expression, “I thought that with all of you working together, you could at least severely injure Bobo’er Ba, leaving it with no more than the strength of eight apertures. Since I have the ‘Hun Tianbao Jian’ with me, there was a good chance I could finish it off. So I followed you, looking for an opportunity. However, just as I caught up, I saw Bobo’er Ba lying in the ruins outside.”
This display of loyalty deeply moved Meng Qi and the others. Qi Zhengyan had barely escaped from the monster, yet he still thought of returning to help them. This was true friendship forged in life and death!
“Senior Brother Qi, how did you escape from the monster?” Meng Qi asked out of sheer curiosity.
Qi Zhengyan’s expression suddenly changed, as if recalling a harrowing memory. He paused for a moment before replying, “It was indeed dangerous. I fled to a cliff with no way forward and the monster chasing behind, a situation that filled me with despair. Fortunately, although the monster was powerful, it lacked intelligence. I risked falling off the cliff along with it and managed to lure it over the edge.”
Perhaps due to his injuries, he became a bit talkative and described the event in great detail.
“We all have it tough. This death mission is really tough!” Meng Qi sighed from the bottom of his heart. Jiang Zhiwei, who was healing nearby, also wore a similar expression.
Ruan Yushu had already stabilized her injuries but was exhausted and didn’t want to move. Upon hearing this, she forced herself to take out a piece of dried dragon fish, put it in her mouth, closed her eyes, and slightly lifted the corners of her mouth, as if rewarding herself.
After a few casual words among the group, Meng Qi placed the green lamp in front of Jiang Zhiwei and went outside with Qi Zhengyan. With great effort, they stripped Bobo’er Ba of its black scales, fish skin, chainmail armor, purple gold crown, and cloud-walking boots, leaving the charred internal organs and muscles behind.
“Phew…” After putting all these items into the Jizi Ring, Meng Qi exhaled and leaned against a pillar, waiting for the mission to end.
He didn’t relax his vigilance, as they hadn’t returned yet. Although there had once been a golden body Arhat and an undying green lamp here, unexpected incidents were always possible.
Qi Zhengyan walked to Meng Qi’s side and leaned against the other side of the pillar, looking at Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu, who were healing, and sighed, “We were still ordinary people before this mission, but now we’re facing nearly divine and demonic monsters. The death mission lives up to its name. I wonder what changes future missions will bring?”
Meng Qi gazed at the darkness outside the hall and gently knocked his head against the pillar, “Perhaps we’ll come into contact with external martial arts styles. We might find opportunities to learn them in the mission world.”
In previous reincarnation missions, there had barely been any trace of external martial arts styles; it was impossible to learn them unless they were exchanged for, but after passing the death mission, the rewards and opportunities would definitely increase, and there might even be chances to encounter relics of gods, demons, immortals, and sages.
“After this mission, I plan to resign from my current position and go out to explore. I can’t stay confined to Ye Du anymore. The ‘Hun Tianbao Jian’ can only be hidden away, making it hard to achieve any real refinement,” Qi Zhengyan suddenly said as he looked up at the beams.
Meng Qi didn’t turn his head but continued to look outside the hall, “I feel the same. I plan to accept the Six Gates’ invitation and become a secret agent. First, I’ll go to the Divine Capital, then use the Six Gates’ information network to seek opportunities for refinement and improvement. I can’t afford to wait passively anymore.”
I also need to investigate my origins to avoid any unexpected incidents when I arrive at the Divine Capital.
I wonder how Gu Changqing is doing in the Divine Capital…
“Becoming a secret agent sounds good. We have too many secrets. If we were to suddenly gain a significant increase in martial arts skills while guarding a certain area, it would easily draw suspicion and investigation,” Qi Zhengyan, perhaps due to his injuries, spoke more than usual. “I plan to go to Jiangdong. Since ancient times, Jiangdong has been protected by the Wang family, has rarely suffered from disasters, and is the most prosperous place. It gathers top experts and talents, making it the first choice for young martial artists from various provinces to hone their skills…”
The second choices would be the Divine Capital, Changle, and Juyuan.
“If I have the chance, I’d also like to go to Jiangdong. ‘Lotus Prince,’ ‘Shocking for Miles,’ ‘River of Sword Qi,’ ‘Calculating the Fate of All Beings,’ ‘Invisible Sword’—these names truly make one yearn for it…” Meng Qi said with a look of yearning. These were the top ten experts on the Human List who mainly operated in Jiangdong or had once been among the top ten.
Besides them, there were many other experts on the Human List. Jiangdong could truly be described as a gathering place for heroes.
The two chatted on and off, while Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu both sat with their eyes closed, meditating. The entire grand hall exuded a kind of indescribable tranquility and warmth.
After an unknown amount of time, a cold and emotionless voice suddenly echoed in Meng Qi’s ears: “At sunrise on the eighth day, the main mission ends. Return now.”
“Finally over… the death mission is finally over…” Meng Qi truly relaxed for the first time, feeling physically and mentally exhausted, as if he had aged decades in just seven days, having experienced life and death, separations and reunions. Looking back on the journey, there were many feelings and sorrows.
The light around him dimmed, disappeared, and then reappeared. A cool and refreshing sensation filled his body, and warmth spread throughout. His left hand injury rapidly improved, his broken ribs regenerated one by one, his body radiated a dark golden glow, and gradually regained its former clarity, accompanied by continuous cracking sounds.
At the same time, a green and lustrous reincarnation talisman appeared in Meng Qi’s palm.
“I’ll invite Zhiwei and the others to explore the mysterious tomb of Zhenwu later,” Meng Qi resolved firmly. Of course, this would be after returning and processing the gains from this mission. Currently, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted, not something that healing alone could cure. Going to the mysterious tomb of Zhenwu now would easily lead to mental breakdowns.
He looked around and noticed only three light pillars, his heart immediately sinking. It seemed Old Luo hadn’t survived this time.
As the healing light pillars faded, Meng Qi stepped out and found that Qi Zhengyan had already recovered, confirming his injuries were indeed lighter than his own.
After waiting for a while, Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu also completed their healing, their right arms restored to their original condition.
“There’s no stiffness at all,” Jiang Zhiwei moved her right hand, affirming the healing abilities of the Master of the Six Paths Reincarnation.
Ruan Yushu held the zither with her left hand and strummed it rapidly with her right, producing clear and melodious sounds, like flowing water over mountains, pleasant to the ear.
Then she rewarded herself with a piece of dried dragon fish…
“First, let’s appraise all the items. Those that can be converted into good deeds should be exchanged, and then we’ll divide them equally,” after a moment of silence and sorrow for Luo Shengyi’s failure to return, Meng Qi said calmly. Even though the relic was obtained through his own incantation, the “Dalaingsi” plaque was something he and his companions had risked their lives to obtain together. How could he keep it all for himself?
He first placed the green lamp in his hand into the central light pillar and requested a public appraisal:
“Green Lamp Before the Buddha (nearly destroyed), an object from the Buddha’s seat. When intact, it was a divine weapon capable of emitting boundless light, illuminating all directions and infinite worlds, capable of converting evil spirits and demons, yin ghosts and wronged souls, igniting karma, and protecting oneself from all evil. Now it is nearly completely damaged, only able to expel yin evil, restrain demons, and burn impurities. At the same time, it can shrink to the size of a bean, and its flame, without being activated, does not burn anything, equivalent to an ordinary treasure-grade weapon, worth 1,600 good deeds. If it needs to be repaired, it would cost 52,000 good deeds.”
“Additionally, it is suspected to be a continuation of the Jade Buddha statue. Forced decryption would cost 30,000 good deeds.”
Meng Qi and the others looked at each other in astonishment. They hadn’t realized the lamp had been so powerful when intact, nor that the small jade Buddha had a continuation.
“We entered the Pure Land of Vulture Peak because of your small jade Buddha. One item for another, there’s no need to exchange the green lamp for good deeds. You can just keep it yourself,” Jiang Zhiwei smiled, without the slightest hesitation.
Qi Zhengyan and Ruan Yushu nodded in quick succession.
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