Chapter 110: Chapter 79: Demonic Hordes Entangle the Buddha’s Incense and Escape; Commandery Princess Pours Wine and Speaks of Idle Sorrow (Extended Chapter)
’Yu Sect.’
’Demon Buddha.’
He clenched his fists.
Looking up, he saw the bright moon in the sky.
Moonlight cast his lonely shadow.
To him, Rose was a maid in name, but in reality, she was a companion, an indispensable family member.
The reason Rose left was probably to protect him.
’But does Young Master need your protection?!’
’Does he need it?!!’
The young man felt a surge of frustration, suddenly stood up, brushed off his rear, turned to look east, and then clenched his teeth, wrapped himself in a gray cloak, and left Green Willow Pavilion.
Heading to the east street, he bought a jar of wine in a bustling tavern, chugged it vigorously, and when the bottle was empty, he casually tossed it aside, then as he neared the east gate, transformed himself into the appearance of a normal person.
He turned towards the city wall, checked to see no one was on the parapet, and Li Xuan climbed up with both hands, like a nimble ape scaling a tree, quickly going over the wall that people would usually have to pass through the city gate to cross, then swiftly vanished into the shadows of the forest outside the city.
Like a phantom, utterly unnoticed.
He rapidly sped towards Xinci Temple.
Tonight, there would be a great battle.
And if Rose was taken by the Yu Sect, it was very likely she was brought to Xinci Temple.
However, Li Xuan felt a bit uncertain.
Because he wasn’t sure if Xinci Temple knew or didn’t know that among the thousand elite troops, dozens of cavalry had escaped.
And if they did know, what would Xinci Temple do? Li Xuan was uncertain.
However, he had nowhere else to go for now, so he could only follow the trail.
Ordinarily, he might hesitate.
But today, with Sheng Chuanxiong’s twenty-five thousand elite soldiers at the forefront, he... could at least observe from behind, then seize the chance to strike.
Originally, he didn’t plan to get involved in this dispute, but the Yu Sect taking Rose... truly infuriated him.
...
Rustle, rustle.
Tree shadows swiftly receded.
Li Xuan was getting closer to Xinci Temple.
And at that moment, a sudden burst of red light exploded from the direction of Xinci Temple.
He quickly halted his steps, focused and looked.
It was a fire... a soaring fire.
Li Xuan’s expression slightly tensed.
Who started the fire?
Sheng Chuanxiong?
Unlikely.
He’d pretty much confirmed that.
Sheng Chuanxiong was quite receptive to advice, didn’t even bring kerosene.
So, eliminating the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how strange, must be the truth.
"Xinci Temple self-immolated..."
Li Xuan threw out a hypothesis.
Then began pondering the reason.
"Is Xinci Temple afraid?"
"Unlikely."
"Then why?"
In the distance, the fire rolled, spewing black smoke and red light, scorching the sky.
Even though Li Xuan was still far enough away, he could now see the fire had grown large enough to devour the entire Xinci Temple.
...
...
"Rescue the fire, rescue the fire!"
"Fetch water!"
"There’s a stream nearby!"
Inside Xinci Temple, there was chaos.
Suddenly awakened monks and nuns realized the temple was on fire and rushed to extinguish it.
And the advancing state soldiers saw the fire and were stunned, but after a brief consideration, they also charged in.
The General had said, let no mountain blaze.
So, upon arrival, pulling monk robes for answers to no avail, they too began firefighting.
Soon, the first batch of a thousand state soldiers also arrived; they quickly began fire rescue.
The arrived Sheng Chuanxiong was stunned, helplessly having to deploy his soldiers to fight the fire.
Over twenty thousand soldiers fighting the fire, soon it was slightly under control.
Sheng Chuanxiong then swiftly started interrogating the monks and nuns, yet... these monks and nuns knew nothing.
He then ordered a search for the abbot and the temple’s senior monks, but none were found.
All these caused quite a delay.
Sheng Chuanxiong had come with great momentum, but was hindered by a fire.
The most deadly was that he had to fight the fire.
Because he recalled what Young Master Li had said.
The mountain still harbors demons; if the fire isn’t fought, it might provoke the demon’s lair.
Yet, Sheng Chuanxiong felt very unwilling.
While fighting the fire, he ordered a rapid search for secret paths, and to disperse strategically to avoid a total capture.
Thus... time ticked by, second by second.
The twenty-plus thousand army to destroy the temple was thus obstructed.
Sheng Chuanxiong was furious, suddenly thought of something, and instructed his closest soldiers.
Immediately... soldiers began shouting: "Where is Jing Miao, come out quickly?!"
"Where is Jing Miao, come out quickly?!"
The voice echoed in the burning temple, yet there was no response.
Sheng Chuanxiong frowned.
The current situation was quite clear, at least those not in the temple were all those treacherous monks and nuns aligned with the Demon Buddha, deserving a thousand cuts.
If Jing Miao isn’t here, does that mean she too...
Just when he was thinking, a voice came from outside the temple gate.
"General, we’ve found Jing Miao, she’s arriving from outside."
Sheng Chuanxiong paused, beckoned, "Let her come quickly."
Jing Miao, rubbing her forehead, felt dizzy and blurred, and upon seeing the gradually burning temple fire, was even more astonished, her pretty face full of disbelief.
She remembered clearly she was sleeping in the monk room, but upon waking, found herself lying on a mat in the wild.
This wild lay beside Xinci Temple, the surroundings typically void of fierce beasts, thus to some extent was safe.
She was awakened by the sound of fire and shouting, heard many calling her name.
Hence, she stumbled, bewildered, out and was brought by soldiers before Sheng Chuanxiong.
Sheng Chuanxiong frowned, scrutinized her, asked, "Are you Jing Miao?"
"Yes, General." Jing Miao only felt incredibly dizzy, unstable to stand.
Sheng Chuanxiong said, "You’ve been drugged."
