Chapter 191: Destroying the Buddha

To be honest, Xiao Fen did not completely believe what the girl before him said.

The servants and stewards outside remaining conscious conflicted greatly with the scene of falling into black smoke upon bypassing the spirit screen. Being able to precisely control the toxic mist to ensure the servants were undisturbed and ignored the situation in the courtyard was unimaginable.

Especially since this toxic mist was diffuse in nature and could not be accurately controlled.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fen suddenly asked: “What is going on with the black smoke in the front hall? Did it appear today, or was it already spreading before?”

The girl was clearly stunned and said: “It has been there for the past two days. Everyone in this residence has been controlled by the Black Mist and is completely involuntary. Why do you ask?”

Xiao Fen frowned and asked: “Then what about the Master in the main hall?”

The girl also frowned and said: “Master? What Master? The owners of this residence are all in the back; they all died two days ago. What Master did you see? Did you see a ghost?”

Xiao Fen’s expression changed drastically. He turned to look at Lycaon, and they exchanged a glance. Although Lycaon was not very clear about what the girl said, he realized something. Looking at Xiao Fen, the burly man whispered: “Acting?”

Xiao Fen nodded and said: “Besides acting, I can think of nothing else. The people outside were all acting. Before, it could be understood as trying to prevent others from realizing something was wrong with the residence. Later, seeing we would not leave, they pretended to be the owners of the residence to deceive us in the main hall.”

Thinking for a moment, Xiao Fen continued: “They knew we did not know who the real owner of this residence was, so as long as they put someone there, we would likely fall for it.”

“After all, the mist was heavy, and we had a preconceived notion that these people were already poisoned, so even if the fake Master’s acting was a bit poor, it would not arouse our suspicion. We would only think his body was weakened by the toxin, hence the situation.”

Looking at Lycaon, Xiao Fen added: “Following this reasoning, we can know that because they knew they could not stop us outside, they had to let us in.”

“But the problem now is, they knew clearly that once we entered this backyard, we would quickly discover the truth, so why did they let us through so easily? The whole process was unbelievably smooth.”

Lycaon frowned and replied: “A trap. Except for a trap, it cannot be explained.”

Xiao Fen nodded, suddenly turned his head to look in another direction, the direction Jing Shanxin had left. Now, he could faintly sense some strange fluctuation there.

“Those two children are a trap to lure us over. Over there, contrary to what the fake Master said about his descendants, they may have already prepared and are waiting for us to wipe us out in one fell swoop.”

Xiao Fen suddenly said: “However, Jing Shanxin already discovered this. Although I do not know why he did not point it out on the spot, he at least hinted to me that once matters here are finished, more things will follow endlessly.”

“I think the words he said to me before heading into that trap likely meant that those who set the trap would discover only Jing Shanxin was there and would rush over to deal with us.”

Lycaon also looked in that direction and said: “Sounds like this monk has a lot of spirit. Alright, Palin, let’s not think too much for now. Think about it, what do we do now? The sooner we solve the problem here, the more help we provide to that monk.”

Xiao Fen nodded, turned to look at the girl, and asked: “Where did they dig up the Buddha statue before?”

The girl looked at Xiao Fen, smiled, and said: “That bird language you spoke earlier was quite interesting. When will you teach me?”

Seeing Xiao Fen’s poor expression, the girl pointed not far in front of the pavilion and said: “That is the place. The poison gas is heaviest there. When you get there, be careful not to be stimulated by the Yin coldness; one slip, and you will die first.”

Xiao Fen nodded and asked: “How much of this miasma can you control?”

“In the past two days, I have practiced repeatedly in this pavilion. With the living aura of the residence being drawn out by the toxic mist and continuously gathering here, I feel my body has improved much, and I have gained insight into controlling this Black Mist and miasma. By now, I can control the miasma here so that it does not cause Yin coldness harm to you two.”

Pausing, the girl added: “However, I can only control this area. Near the Buddha statue, I cannot control it. If you approach the statue, you will likely be harmed.”

Xiao Fen nodded and said to Lycaon: “Your poison resistance is not high; you better not come up. Wait until I go there to see the situation before deciding anything else.”

Lycaon did not refuse, nodded slightly, and pulled out a long steel wire rope from his ring, saying: “Tie this to your body. If there is any problem, do not speak, just pull the rope, and I will pull you back first.”

Other than that, neither said much. Xiao Fen took out his Staff. In the carriage earlier, he had stored 5 Qigong skills in it. Correspondingly, Xiao Fen once again realized his spirit was insufficient; he could not wield too many skills at the same time. Being able to use skills fewer times meant he was in more danger.

However, adding attributes could only be considered during leveling up; thinking so much now was meaningless. He casually took out a bronze Scepter with durability as high as 100 from his leather bag, preparing to use it as a torch in an emergency. For this, the Greek Fire in his left hand was also ready.

Seeing this Scepter, Lycaon could not help but ask: “Palin, how many keys do you still have unopened?”

Xiao Fen smiled bitterly and replied: “Very many, enough to make you vomit from opening keys.”

This was not bragging. Originally, after the Buddha Hall mission at the Pan Family, Xiao Fen had only opened a large part of the keys, with still several dozen keys left unopened.

Later, at the residence outside Dongzhi Gate, after fighting monsters with the guards for half the night, the ground of the entire residence was covered with key crystals invisible to the Natives.

Xiao Fen had only picked up keys from the front half of the courtyard and already felt bored, but Lycaon, after confirming his sister was fine, took Xiao Fen to sweep the entire residence, eventually collecting at least 400 key crystals.

Fortunately, Xiao Fen’s backpack was large enough; otherwise, just these keys would not fit. For this, Xiao Fen was delayed until around 12 midnight before returning to the Eastern Depot to rest, so his physical fatigue did not completely disappear. Only after killing Sophie last night did he get a thorough rest.

In the intervals, Xiao Fen had opened a few keys, but luck had not been on his side, and he got nothing good, except for this thick, ordinary quality Scepter with incredibly high durability.

Hearing Xiao Fen’s answer, Lycaon smacked his lips and said: “Alright, when we rest, perhaps we should sit together and open keys for a whole day. Compared to vomiting, I prefer getting these rewards.”

“As you wish, poor child from a poor family.”

The rich man Xiao Fen replied thus, leaving the pavilion and quickly walking towards the place where black smoke billowed out.

When he was less than 2 meters away from the place the girl pointed to, Xiao Fen’s eye suddenly twitched. New text reminded him that the Black Mist and poisonous miasma around him was causing toxin damage, 5 HP per second.

Xiao Fen endured the stinging pain all over his body caused by the miasma in the air. The Greek Fire in his left hand suddenly activated. With a bang, flames overflowed from the bronze Scepter, illuminating the surrounding dark space exceptionally clearly.

The black smoke seemed to fear the flames very much. As soon as the Greek Fire appeared, the black smoke scattered like it was alive. In less than 2 seconds, there was no mist around Xiao Fen, and the new text in the corner of his eye told him that he was out of toxin damage.

This was a new discovery. The corner of Xiao Fen’s mouth lifted slightly. The previous Blood Python seemed to fear flames as well. At the very least, flames caused bonus damage to these Filth Creatures. This could be utilized. However, he did not know if all flames would cause bonus damage.

Thinking of this, aided by the light of the flame on the Scepter, Xiao Fen took a look inside. Not far in front of his feet, there was a pit that was half-covered and half-buried. On the ground opposite the pit, scattered a pile of bones that looked completely flattened and tangled together, making it impossible to tell what they were.

That pile of bones was most likely the skeletons of the two dead people mentioned by the girl. However, Xiao Fen could not distinguish the difference between the two people from this pile of remains.

As for the depths below the pit, about 4 meters from the ground, illuminated by the light of the Torch, a bronze Buddha statue stood in the hole. One hand formed a seal, and the other hand faintly held a bead.

Looking down from above, Xiao Fen could not see the facial expression of the Buddha statue at all. But for some reason, from this angle, amidst the dancing firelight, Xiao Fen felt that the Buddha statue below was slowly raising its head, looking at him and smiling coldly.

However, if observed carefully at this moment, the Buddha statue had not changed at all.

15 seconds passed in a flash. The bronze Torch in Xiao Fen’s hand suddenly extinguished. Xiao Fen had no intention of continuing to observe and slowly backed away.

However, at this moment, his mind was constantly thinking about the strange smile of that statue. For a moment, he ignored everything else. After walking a few steps, he suddenly discovered that the Black Mist around him had not become thinner, but instead became denser.

Xiao Fen froze for a moment, reached out, and tugged the steel wire rope at his waist. How was he to know that the rope was loose and slack? There was no sign that someone was pulling on the other end.

At this time, the Buddha statue in the tunnel in front began to slowly float up from the ground. At first, it was a pair of expressionless eyes. Later on, it was the strange smile that Xiao Fen was incredibly familiar with.

Under the shroud of the dark Black Mist, this smile looked incredibly ferocious.