The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 247: Chapter 245: Ancient Tower in the Temple

With this thought, Shen Luo stepped into the Hall of Heavenly Kings directly in front of him. Inside the hall stood a damaged Buddha statue. The left and right areas where the Four Heavenly Kings should have guarded, were now only a pile of broken stones and rubble. The floors were covered with dust, and many spider webs hung from the ceilings and walls. It looked like it had been abandoned for many years.

He walked around the hall without finding anything unusual. Then he turned around to leave, entering the bell tower on the side.

Soon, Shen Luo had completely checked the buildings in the first courtyard. However, there were no anomalies, and the ghost didn’t appear.

He didn’t stay there. He continued along the passage on the side of the square, heading deeper into the temple.

A moment later, Shen Luo emerged from the relatively well-preserved Mahavira Hall, his face as usual, yet a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Just now, he had almost finished checking this second courtyard which served as the core area of the temple. But he didn’t find the ghost creature, not even a faint trace of ghostly Qi.

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Moreover, he hadn’t seen any signs of a fight in the temple. If he hadn’t heard about what happened with the guest officials from the Lin and Du families yesterday, he would have thought that no one had been here at all.

“Did the ghost creature detect Soul Hook Ma Mian and hid itself early? However, Ma Mian should have anticipated this and wouldn’t have exposed himself so easily,” Shen Luo speculated in his heart.

“Forget it. I’ll just do my part. Whether that ghost creature shows up or not, let’s leave it to fate,” he muttered to himself. Bypassing the Mahavira Hall, he continued deeper into the temple. There were a few final buildings left to investigate. These should be places like the lecture hall, the sutra hall and the meditation room.

The rushing footsteps echoed from the front. Two yellow-robed monks ran over, one of whom was the young monk who had opened the door for him. The other was an older monk who looked to be in his thirties or forties.

“Immortal Master, help us!” Both men looked frightened, and the young monk screamed when he saw Shen Luo, sprinting towards him.

“What happened? Why haven’t you left yet?” Shen Luo frowned slightly.

“We planned to leave, but when we passed a gray tower ahead, there was a woman’s cry from inside. One of my senior brothers suddenly stopped and went into the tower. No matter how we yelled and pulled, he didn’t stop. The ghost you mentioned might be there. We beg you, Immortal Master, to subdue the ghost and save my senior brother,” said the young monk as he pressed his hands together in a bow.

“We beg of you, Immortal Master,” said the middle-aged monk, who appeared quite steady.

“Oh, take me to have a look,” Shen Luo said.

“Please follow us, Immortal Master,” Both monks breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Shen Luo’s agreement, leading the way.

The three of them moved forward until they arrived at the last courtyard, where a three-story gray tower building stood before them.

This gray tower did not appear to be unusual. Half of the top had crumbled, and the tower wall was peeling off in places. The tower body also seemed to tilt a little.

Shen Luo stood still and listened. He didn’t notice the crying woman that the young monk had mentioned; instead, he saw a gray tower quietly standing in the night.

“It’s here,” the young monk pointed at the gray tower and said.

Shen Luo took a couple of glances at the tower before proceeding.

“Immortal Master, we’ll go with you,” the two monks caught up to him.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Shen Luo glanced at the two of them.

“Of course, we are. But our Senior Brother is inside. How could we let you take risks alone?” the young monk said.

“Suit yourselves,” Shen Luo didn’t stop them and stepped into the tower.

The conditions inside the tower were similar to those of the great hall he had previously explored. There was dust everywhere. Two smaller Buddha statues sat inside, one of which was shattered and the other was tilted down on the ground.

After a quick scan of his surroundings, he stepped onto the staircase inside the tower and ascended to the second floor of the gray tower amidst the creaking sounds.

The situation on the second floor was similar to the first. There were also two statues here, still intact and erect. Beyond that, there was nothing special. The stairway leading to the third floor had collapsed, making it impossible to ascend. Even if he could get upstairs, much of the third floor had collapsed and was no longer safe to stand on.

Even the floor of the second floor had several large holes, and the creaking sound underfoot suggested that it might collapse at any moment.

Shen Luo was considering whether he should find a way to go up and have a look.

“Are you looking for me?” A wavering voice suddenly came from behind him.

When the voice reached his ears, Shen Luo’s entire body stiffened instantly. His skin tightened, and the pores on his body stood straight up.

He spun around like lightning, raising both hands in readiness to activate the talisman in them, but there was only an empty space behind him, nothing at all.

Seeing this, Shen Luo’s face turned puzzled.

But at that moment, two large green, black hands reached from behind him and pressed on his shoulders.

At the same time, his waist tightened, and two more black hands reached around and gripped him tightly. It was the two monks who had been by his side.

The two of them had somehow turned into green and black zombies. With a blood basin that was dripping yellow fluid, their mouths sprung open and lunged towards Shen Luo.

Though he was startled, he didn’t panic. Instead, his expression became severe. Suddenly sucking in a deep breath, Shen Luo’s body made a crackling sound.

His body astonishingly shrunk by a whole size, then he sprang up swiftly like a slippery fish, breaking free instantly from the two pairs of big hands, and landed a dozen feet away, his face paling.

What Shen Luo had just displayed, was a bone-shrinking technique from the Huangting Technique.

Although he could not practice the Huangting Technique in reality, he had advanced this skill to its ultimate stage in the Dreamland. Hence, he could barely perform such a simple physical trick.

However, his real-world body hadn’t been toughened by the Huangting Technique, and performing these moves was quite burdensome for him.

Shen Luo glanced at the two stunned zombie monks. A touch of severity flashed in his eyes as he lifted his hand holding the Ghost Wailing Ring, about to strike.

However, in that moment, he sensed a sharp gust of wind at his side. Without turning his head, he spurred his mind. His feet glowed brightly as he took a step forward.

His silhouette suddenly blurred, and he sprang more than two yards toward the left. Glancing back, he got a scare.

Where he had just stood, there was now a waif-like figure with loose hair and a whitish form, with green and purple skin and bulging, white eyes. A long, blood-red tongue hung from its mouth down to its waist, looking horrendously creepy.

This ghost creature had its arms bent forward, and the clawed fingers measured inches long, flickering intermittently.

Shen Luo broke into a cold sweat. Had he not reacted swiftly, he might have had two transparent holes ripped through him.