Chapter 140: Do You Believe in Reincarnation?

Before Shan Hongxing could make a move, those paper figurines had already taken flight into the sky.

"This is..."

A flash of suspicion crossed his mind; the paper figures ascending into the air carried genuine cultivation bases, far from being mere ordinary paper cutouts.

"The Sorrow-Joy Buddha?" Wang Xi froze.

If her memory served her correctly, this monk had previously been kicked flying by her before she herself had passed out!

Besides, they had arrived here through a hidden tunnel, so how on earth had the monk managed to walk over?

"Why are you here?"

"Amitabha, benevolent and merciful."

The brilliance in the eyes of the Sorrow-Joy Buddha gradually returned, as if to inform the group that he was no longer insane.

"This humble monk pays his respects."

"Where is the tribute?" Ling Yi coughed.

A trace of anticipation danced in his eyes as he looked behind the monk, yet that familiar figure failed to appear. Behind the monk lay only a dense, endless legion of paper figurines.

His Master had still not come. The tribute brought by the monk was not the news that his Master was still alive.

He sat dejectedly to one side, watching Yang Wennan, who was now floating in the sky, completely swallowed by those paper figurines.

"Monk, did you come here to kill my Senior Brother?" Ling Yi asked, looking at him with puzzlement. It seemed the monk had once again lapsed into forgetfulness.

The Sorrow-Joy Buddha—whether sorrow or joy—had ceased to matter to the man the very moment he attained Buddhahood.

Wang Xi drew her bow to its fullest extent. Her emotions toward those paper figurines were intensely complicated, and her subconscious warned her that if she loosed her arrow, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Liang Si had originally intended to hurl his heavy hammer, but seeing Wang Xi hesitate, he hesitated as well.

In his past life, he had accumulated too many sins of slaughter; in this lifetime, he would kill as few people as possible!

Let it be counted as praying for that person up in the heavens!

"This humble monk spends his entire life only saving people."

"Then in your next life, will you kill people?" Ling Yi blinked.

The Sorrow-Joy Buddha paused. The light in his eyes slowly faded, and he looked around in a daze. "Murder! Murder! Oh? Hehehehehe..."

He began to skip and spin around Ling Yi, his expression suddenly turning ferocious. "You disobedient little child, you're going to kill people! Death, death to so many people! You are terrifying, not a good child."

"..." Ling Yi was speechless.

"Don't listen to his nonsense." Stirred by deep emotion, Liang Si glared at the monk, picked up Ling Yi, and instinctively covered the boy's ears. "That day will never come. And if it does, I will be the one to do it."

"Wh-what?" Ling Yi did not quite understand.

"Such a cute little Junior Brother, how could he ever engage in slaughter? The monk is raving mad; there is scarcely a word of truth in his mouth." Wang Xi smiled at him.

Ling Yi nodded, yet ripples stirred within his heart.

When those children had once lunged at him, he had genuinely thought of slaughtering them all to the last, but his strength had fallen short. What if, one day, his power reached that level?

A chill ran through Ling Yi's heart.

These hidden thoughts were ones he dared not confide in anyone.

He looked up at the paper figurines in the sky. They had cocooned Yang Wennan within them, and a faint white glow emanated from the yellowish paper, as if the cocoon were about to burst open.

Seeing that the situation was slipping beyond control, Shan Hongxing soared into the air.

"Get away from here!"

Before his words had completely faded, he was sucked in by the silkworm-like chrysalis. The paper cocoon drifted slightly higher, and Shan Hongxing was reeled right into its depths.

"Senior Uncle?" Enveloped inside the cocoon, Yang Wennan's hair and beard were white—or rather, his entire complexion possessed an unhealthy, translucent paleness. The lunar disc between his eyebrows, seemingly dotted with cinnabar, appeared all the more eerie and demonic. Fortunately, his wits remained clear. "Why have you come here?"

"You still recognize me?"

"Naturally." Yang Wennan looked slightly perplexed. "Should I not recognize my Senior Uncle?"

Shan Hongxing knitted his brows. "What is going on here?"

"I simply overthought things, pondering far too much, which brought me to this state!" He let out a dry laugh. "It's fine. As for these paper figurines, they wish to regain their human forms, and I happen to need their power as well."

"Do you know why they turned into paper figurines?"

"They didn't merely turn into paper figurines; they could only attach themselves to these paper cutouts in order to come out and seek help."

"Mhm?"

"The vanished citizens of the Qianyan Kingdom are down within the underground fissures, places where both profound masters and demons find hard to locate. Oh, and Senior Uncle, that Demon Lord has already awakened. Because of the probing of the gods, the only place without the backing of any faction that still retains its ancient name is Mogan City.

Before the founding of Qianyan, Master pointed out the location of the capital to them and warned them that if the Demon Lord should ever awaken, the entire city's populace would slumber within the fissures, capable of movement solely by relying on dark and baleful entities.

These paper figurines walked out of a coffin shop, and all of them carry an ominous aura."

"So the Qianyan Kingdom is actually guarding the tombs as well?" Shan Hongxing sighed.

To think he had worried in vain! Exactly how many things had Wen Jingeda done behind his back?

Ai Fengling was right after all!

He had fancied himself exceptionally attentive toward her, only to be met with cold indifference, never dreaming that the one truly in the wrong was himself.

"Hah!" He sneered coldly. "Next, do you intend to help these paper figurines recover their bodies? To restore vitality to this city?"

"Yes, and no."

"What does that mean?"

Yang Wennan lowered his eyes, uncertain how to articulate that Master had already passed away. "Once upon a time, someone could have led them away, but now that person is gone. Master is gone...

Ordinarily, I would have been capable of it, but previously, the selves of my past thirteen lives all sought to devour my current self. They were slain and eradicated by Senior Brother and Eldest Junior Sister.

I no longer possess that capability now. They have wrapped me up precisely to assist me in absorbing the vortex of energy that has suddenly materialized between heaven and earth."

"What tier are you at?"

"Approaching the fourth tier, skipping two levels in succession, because..." Yang Wennan smiled bashfully. When he smiled, Shan Hongxing could even discern the blood vessels beneath his skin; his face seemed so thin that it might shatter at the slightest touch.

"Because the traces left behind by the Soul Clan here have a reinforcing effect on me, my progress is exceptionally rapid. Senior Uncle Shan!" Yang Wennan exhaled a breath of stale air. "Am I no longer permitted to return to the Profound Cloud Sect? Among us disciples now, it seems Senior Brother is the only normal person left."

"You may."

"Senior Brother..." He sighed and left the sentence unfinished, knowing in his heart that with Master gone, Senior Brother would most likely part ways with them all.

"The Great Master residing within Second Senior Brother has been left behind there; at least Master will have company, so Senior Uncle need not fret. As for myself...

The Soul Clan is unaccepted by this world; I shall find a place to live in seclusion. Master said that if she ever had idle time, she wished to behold the splendor of this world all the more. I beg Senior Uncle to spare my life and let me walk the path in Master's stead.

After this ordeal, Junior Sister will likely remain in Qianyan and never leave.

As for our newly entered Junior Brother, while he was quite attached to Master, Master passed away mere days after his initiation. The child is craftily clever, yet radiates an inherent air of malevolence. If Senior Uncle is so inclined, simply let him go; he is bound to turn to the path of demons in the future.

As for Junior Brother Yuan, he is of advanced age and is now half-demon; his own heart must know his destination far better than I do.

To think that the Profound Cloud Sect—aside from Second Senior Brother, whom Master personally chose—truly holds no one else suited to remain."

Yang Wennan smiled, yet tears streamed down his face. "Senior Uncle, do you believe in reincarnation? Tell me, can destiny truly be altered?"