I didn't expect my spiritual sprout to excite the old man so much, which makes me curious. The old man has always been focused on tricking me. When did he become so concerned about me and look forward to my breakthrough? Moreover, why does he have such high expectations for me? Why does he say that his life is not in vain if I make a breakthrough? Does it mean that all his previous time was wasted? Could it be that he himself has not made a breakthrough yet?
Hahaha, just thinking about how the old man may still not have made a breakthrough until now makes me feel very happy. Doesn't this mean that I can tease him as much as I want in the future?
"Young brat, practicing cultivation is like rowing upstream; without diligence, you won't succeed. You are so lazy; you will definitely amount to nothing in the future!"
"I made a breakthrough and have a spiritual sprout now. Have you made one?"
"Young brat, how dare you talk back! You really disappoint me."
"I made a breakthrough and have a spiritual sprout now. Have you made one?"
"Young brat, don't forget to learn humbly or else you'll stagnate!"
"I made a breakthrough and have a spiritual sprout now. Have you made one?"
"I'll kill you - Ahhhhhh-"
...
Hahaha, just thinking about how angry the old man will be after being teased by me makes me feel very satisfied.
"Master, your reaction is too big! Even I got scared."
I pulled back my hand and looked outside through the window only to find out it was already bright outside.
"What time is it now?" I asked.
"It's afternoon already; You've slept for two days," replied the old man.
"What?! Two days?! We're still here even after two days?! How's Jietou doing? Have you checked on him?" I jumped out of bed and asked anxiously.
"You've been unconscious the whole time. What could I do? Do you want me to carry you there?" said the old man.
"No, that won't work. Hurry up! Let's go save Jietou!" I said nervously.
"Don't worry; don't be in a hurry. The police haven't come to investigate yet, so they must have other things to deal with. Besides, Jietou is my disciple; they will give him some face and not make things too difficult for him," comforted the old man.
Hearing this, I finally felt relieved. However, as soon as my mood relaxed, I realized how hungry I was - my stomach was sticking to my back! So, I quickly asked Uncle Zhang for some food.
After eating and drinking enough, Uncle Lao Zhang helped me wash and dry the clothes. Then I prepared to go with the old man to save Jietou. Uncle Lao Zhang introduced us to the route, saying that there was a main road not far east where occasional cars passed by and we could stop one of them to get to the county town. We thanked him and left.
After leaving, I remembered something and suggested checking out the situation in the basement of the ruined temple first.
"Better not go there," said the old man. "It's a crime scene, you might destroy evidence if you go."
The old man's words piqued my curiosity so I couldn't help but stop and ask him: "Master, your words are interesting. If I went there it would be destroying evidence but if you went nothing would happen?"
"You little brat! What kind of talk is that? When did I ever go?" The old man shook his beard in denial.
"Heheh, Master, don't pretend anymore. But how do you know that police haven't investigated for two days? If your disciple isn't mistaken then you must have just gone today yourself and already destroyed some evidence right?" I looked at him as I spoke.
"Well...um..." Caught red-handed by me, he immediately became crestfallen and stuttered without being able to come up with an excuse.
"I'm going over there now; surely you've done something bad again." After finishing my sentence, I turned around towards Poshan Ruined Temple while he had no choice but to follow me with his cane.
Soon we arrived at Poshan Ruined Temple; directly entering into its basement whereupon picking up a piece of extinguished candle from off ground which was lit illuminating our surroundings allowing us check out what was inside.
The candlelight flickered dimly casting shadows on everything within sight; downstairs was in chaos, the smell was foul and unpleasant. Yin Yunshan's body had dried blood on it; several rats seemed to be nibbling on his corpse.
The situation in the basement didn't seem too different from when we left, but after a closer look I quickly found some abnormalities.
On that day, both JIETOU and I were tortured to the point of near death by the Blood Buddha Puppet. It even almost took our lives. The ground was left with only scattered pieces of soil, and there was nothing else left behind. The Blood Buddha Puppet disappeared without a trace.
This made me feel strange because the Blood Buddha Puppet is essentially a corpse controlled by YinYunShan to have mobility. Now that YinYunShan is dead, the Blood Buddha Puppet should have lost its ability to move as well. It couldn't have just run away on its own.
However, it has now disappeared out of thin air, which is very odd.
Of course, besides the Blood Buddha Puppet disappearing, there are also some other things in the basement that vanished abnormally. For example, those Buddhist treasures used by YinYunShan against JIETOU and me; I don't know if they're all pure gold or not but regardless of their material value they look expensive based on their color and style. These items also disappeared without a trace which makes it even more peculiar.
At this moment, holding a candlestick in my hand while carefully examining everything in the basement revealed occasional scratches mixed among broken footprints on the ground indicating someone had searched through here using their hands.
Seeing this situation immediately made me understand what happened: Old Blind must be responsible for all these disappearances since he loves money so much! Those Buddhist treasures probably became his collection already; as for why he hid them along with the Blood Buddha puppet? Even if I asked him directly about it he wouldn't tell me anyway!
"Hey brat! Aren't you worried about JIETOU? Why are you taking so long down here? You've been looking around for ages!"
While investigating downstairs Old Blind's voice echoed from upstairs at entranceway.
Hearing this remark I could only respond with an "okay" and then extinguished the candlestick. I went over to help Old Blind up while asking him, "Master, you took away those Buddhist treasures but why did you also take the corpse?"
After hearing my question, Old Blind opened up and laughed saying: "Don't worry; your master won't do anything bad. You'll understand everything later on. In any case, everything your master is doing now is for your own good so don't disappoint me kid.