This area, shaped like a truncated pyramid, is only twenty meters in total. Even if it slopes downward, it can't be more than a dozen meters deep. At such a distance, how could they miss me?
Moreover, their strength will not be weaker than the elder of any Daoist temple. Especially the leading old monk, I have previously felt that he and Agong Lama are not much different.
The only explanation is that this door cannot be stained by filth!
Also, they seem to be afraid of this place and dare not come directly over.
Otherwise, I should have been surrounded heavily, or even captured at this point!
Thoughts settled in an instant.
The old monk raised his single hand in front of his chest, muttering something inaudibly. With determination set in his heart, he advanced towards me with long strides!
A sense of oppression surged suddenly. I had no other choice; without hesitation, I gave a heavy kick to the door! The door swung open inward!
The fur covering the surface was torn directly, revealing a dark opening at the bottom.
This scene caused a great commotion among the lamas, who were all reciting sutras, bowing their heads. Only the old monk was approaching me with purposeful steps!
I directly darted inside the door!
The space below is narrow and similar to the tomb passage under the deep abyss of the Shinto shrine. It is impossible to stand, and one can only squat and move inward.
I pushed the door upwards with my back, and it clicked shut without any further sounds of being broken in!
In an instant, there was no sound of sutras anymore.
Not only do they dare not let any other blood come into contact with this door, but most of the lamas are even more afraid to enter here. Even the old monk dare not break through the door and enter!
The environment is confined, with no light at all. After I took out my phone, I turned on the flashlight, and there was light source.
What I saw was a dark, blood-red face just a few inches away from me.
I was first scared, then I came to my senses. It wasn't that someone was above me, but rather, there was a bas-relief-like face on the side of the closed door. The black color came from the wood itself, while the blood-red color came from the seeping blood outside.
It seems as if this face is watching over the stairs below, deterring something from appearing.
"Sigh... Hah..."
Lao Gong's voice echoed in my ears. In this crowded environment, his head appeared, stopping on my shoulder.
"Luoxian, there is no possibility of going back along this path. Come out, you have misunderstood many things. I am the Dalai Lama of Wulao Temple. I will settle the matter for you. You and Agong Lama have a good talk. The old voice carried a trace of thick warmth and strong advice: "Persistence in ignorance will leave you no way out."
"Get out, you bastard! The evil thoughts were not just from one person, but from the whole temple! Of course, you can run away from the monk but not from the temple. That saying really means a lot!" Lao Gong scolded with a sharp voice.
After taking a deep breath and adjusting to calmness, I continued walking down the stairs.
In fact, this place is better than the tomb passage under the water before. The former can only be climbed inward, but here at least one can walk, although the physical burden is heavy due to long-term squatting and moving forward.
The sense of confinement surged again, afraid that the place might be concave.
Fortunately, Lao Gong has been constantly chattering in my ear, which has made me slightly relaxed.
Such words as "no way out" are sheer nonsense.
After the half-month experience of digging the underground tomb, what's beneath the ground again?
This is why I still keep going inside, as long as I ensure safety now, I can certainly dig a hole to escape.
With Lao Gong there, he can choose the most suitable position for me.
The steps are deep, and I don't know how long I still need to go down. So, I told Lao Gong my new hypothesis. Even Lao Gong was silent for a long time before saying, "Let's get back to the point, as the saying goes, 'the one who is involved finds it hard to see the truth.' You are involved, my lord, and you are involved. I have been with you for a long time, and I have also become involved in this matter."
"Your idea is right, throwing all the things away from them was their responsibility in the first place. However, I think it's quite odd here, and even stranger that Chanren's body has disappeared. Let's explore a bit before we go."
"Um," I nodded, continuing to descend silently.
This matter also gave me a lesson: unless one can absolutely trust someone, one should not have any expectations at all, otherwise, it is easy for others to scheme and use one as a tool.
What is there in the world that is good without any reason?
Everything has a reason or cause.
I think I have walked at least a kilometer, about half an hour for a normal person walking slowly, and ten minutes if running quickly. Even crawling step by step, it would be even slower.
Finally, there was an exit to the passage.
I crawled out from that position, and faint orange candlelight replaced the flashlight's light source.
This is a stone room. At first glance, it doesn't look very wide, but it is quite high.
There is a tower in the center of the stone chamber.
The material is a special type of wood, emitting a faint fragrance.
The overall dimensions of the stone chamber are about five meters long, wide, and high. The tower takes up an area of about three meters in the middle, gradually getting smaller and almost touching the top of the stone chamber.
"It's quite strange, the cover of a gourd hides the way, under which is a stone cave, and inside the cave is a wooden tower." Lao Gong muttered: "What treasures are hidden in the tower? Saying it's an evil place doesn't look like it at all."
I didn't say anything, but watched the tower carefully and intently.
The construction of the wooden tower is very intricate. Many irregular characters are carved on the surface, looking like snakes crawling, and many wind chimes hang from the corners.
The tower door is about one meter high, with two exquisite wooden doors engraved with profound symbols. These are not Daoist incantations, but the handiwork of the Lama sect.
"Let's open it and take a look. We can't come back empty-handed," Lao Gong coaxed me from the side.
I held the high-heaven staff in one hand as a defense, and in the other hand, I pushed open the tower door.
There was no resistance, but the scene inside the tower suddenly shocked me deeply.
There was a person there, extremely emaciated, like a skin draped over a skeleton.
Thin iron chains pierced through his body, like a net woven together, locking him in the center of the tower.
Some of the chains sank into the ground, while others extended from all four sides of the tower.
The person's movements were extremely painful, but his expression was serene, even with a faint smile of comfort.
"This guy is perverted, right? He's been tied like this, even if he's dead, he still smiles?" Lao Gong shuddered and muttered: "The old monk didn't lie. Oh, no, they're not just bald-headed guys. They're different."
I, however, stared fixedly at the man. It seemed that I could feel the faint undulation of his body.
He was naturally dead, but he possessed the characteristics of a living corpse.
"Is he a ghost? He doesn't look like one at all. His nails are very long... Lao Gong, haven't you noticed the problem?"
A chill rose from the bottom of my heart, making me sweat profusely and break out in goosebumps.
I carefully examined his body, and although his skin was dry and thin, its texture was still quite thick. It didn't seem like it had been drained, but rather, he had always been that thin. His hands were full of scars and calluses, just like those of ascetic monks.
Especially his nails, which were not black but dry yellow, with a hint of luster. They were exactly the same as that of the thirteenth-world Chanren!
"They have locked away the body of the living Buddha! Agon Lama said that there are five living Buddhas in the Wulao Temple! There was only Chanren left at first!" I said firmly.
