It was clear that this should also be a temple of a True Monarch, but the altar in the center was empty, and the stone statues on both sides were smashed to pieces.
This temple was almost empty.
Li Zhiyuan: "Check around and see if there's an inscription."
Everyone clambered towards the side platforms, searching through the piles of stones. Lin Shuyou was the first to lift a corner of the inscription, reading aloud: "Compassionate True Monarch, Chen Huaiyue, born in..."
Tan Wenbin: "Then this Compassionate True Monarch should be the owner of this temple, and the Chen Family also serves as their Divination Child clan."
Lin Shuyou: "According to what Brother Xiao Yuan told us earlier on the road, that should be the case."
Tan Wenbin: "Compassionate True Monarch truly lives up to their na, even letting go of their own temple so we can pass freely. That's great."
Yin ng: "Why was this place attacked, but the Gatekeeper True Monarch's temple remained mostly intact?"
Lin Shuyou: "The Gatekeeper True Monarch was bewitched and controlled."
Yin ng: "Oh, right."
Tan Wenbin: "Maybe the fortress was breached from within, so their gatekeeper was spared instead."
Li Zhiyuan agreed with Tan Wenbin's theory.
Before dying, the Gatekeeper True Monarch must have realized sothing. Their statent of "I didn't guard the gate well" might not be a re declaration but rather a sigh with deeper aning.
The walls of the Compassionate True Monarch's temple altar were painted with black waves. A miniature ship that once supported the statue of the Compassionate True Monarch should have hung on the wall, but now the broken vessel lay scattered atop the altar.
Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou searched for stone pedestals on either side of the altar, but unfortunately, they couldn't find any.
Lin Shuyou: "Compassionate True Monarch doesn't have a habit of hiding weapons."
Tan Wenbin: "I suspect they took the weapon out to fight."
"Click..."
The youth on the altar had already opened a passage to the next circle.
Everyone glanced back at the dilapidated temple and followed, stepping out.
The next circle revealed three True Monarch temples lined side by side.
All the temples here shared a common trait: before entering, they always appeared pitch black from the outside, making them impossible to investigate.
Li Zhiyuan stopped and spoke: "One out of three."
Choosing the Compassionate True Monarch temple from earlier, passing through unhard, would naturally be the best.
Tan Wenbin raised a finger, chanting as he chose: "Eenie, enie, miney, moe... The first one!"
Li Zhiyuan: "Then the first one."
Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiao Yuan, don't do this, I can't handle such a heavy responsibility."
Li Zhiyuan: "These temples can't be deduced or analyzed."
Tan Wenbin: "Then should ng ng choose one?"
Li Zhiyuan said nothing, taking the initiative to step inside, with Run Sheng quickening his pace, walking ahead of the youth.
The condition inside this temple was even more chaotic than the Compassionate True Monarch's temple; all the accompanying stone statues had turned to powder, and there was not a single intact floor tile. A high-intensity battle must have erupted here, resulting in not even a piece of inscribed stone being found.
Li Zhiyuan stood before the cloud wall, hesitated for a mont, and chose not to open it.
Tan Wenbin suggested: "Brother Xiao Yuan, how about we retreat now and explore the other two True Monarch temples as well? I suspect they'll be quite similar to the situation here, and we don't want to miss any possible clues."
Li Zhiyuan nodded: "Okay, then let's take on a bit of risk."
The group retreated and headed to the second True Monarch temple, still entering in defensive formation. However, this one's destruction was even more severe than the first, as if it had been scorched, pitch black with no information to be found.
Exiting the second, they went on to the third, which was in a state similar to the first.
Tan Wenbin: "Five True Monarch temples have been explored, with only the Gatekeeper True Monarch having anyone, while the other four are empty. Could they all be dead?"
Li Zhiyuan: "Judging by the layout, there should be twelve True Monarchs here, plus a Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Temple."
Everyone knew that the true secret must be hidden in the deepest part, which is the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Temple, likely the key point of this wave.
Li Zhiyuan opened the cloud wall.
This ti, the youth didn't hastily proceed inside, for ahead appeared a ter-high Blood River.
It's called a river because it's flowing. Although the cloud wall was opened, the Blood River outside hadn't poured in here, as if an invisible barrier blocked it.
Li Zhiyuan extended a hand, capturing so from outside and bringing it to his nose to sll.
It was blood, indeed.
Li Zhiyuan climbed onto Run Sheng's back, with Run Sheng being the first to wade in, the others following behind.
This circle was entirely filled by the Blood River.
Tan Wenbin: "Run Sheng, you were right not to wipe yourself clean."
Run Sheng: "We'll wipe together later."
Yin ng: "Selling fake hair doesn't pay as much as selling blood plasma."
Tan Wenbin: "Who knows how many blood types are mixed in, how can you sell it?"
Li Zhiyuan: "Just one blood type."
Tan Wenbin was just surprised that Brother Xiao Yuan would join in their banter, when he looked up and saw a Buddha head standing in the blood water ahead.
Fresh blood stread from the eyes of the Buddha head, pouring into here, truly a crying Buddha.
Tan Wenbin: "Isn't that the Buddha head from the large statue we saw when we entered?"
Earlier, when they sat on the boat coming in, they almost crashed into a headless Buddha statue.
Li Zhiyuan: "Yes."
Tan Wenbin: "Why is it here?"
Li Zhiyuan: "You go in and ask."
Tan Wenbin: "Huh?"
Li Zhiyuan: "Brother Binbin, there's soone inside the Buddha head."
The youth heard sounds apart from the flowing blood inside, whispers of a person.
What was specifically being said, Li Zhiyuan couldn't discern, which indicated that whoever was inside wasn't human, as their voice wasn't transmitted in a normal way, otherwise, his keen hearing would surely pick it up.
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