Meng Qi listened to the bell rings with alarm, while his hands quietly clenched into tight fists under the blanket.
"Did they discover Qing Jing's death? Or did Qing Jing disappear?"
Hearing the unusual ringing of the bell, Zhen Ying, Zhen Guan, and the other char monks who usually were not interested in anything quickly sat up. Their panic became a camouflage for Meng Qi's unusual reaction.
Inside the Great Buddha's Hall, the golden Buddha figure was very solemn. It looked at the crowd in the hall with mercy and benevolence.
Right under the Buddha's figure stood an old monk with white eyebrows and a sagging face that shone with a pale gold color. He looked very calm and wore a yellow robe and a red cassock. In his hands he held a tin staff that had nine rings on it.
"Namo Amitābha. Benefactors, please remain calm."
With one of his hands held up, the old monk chanted the name of Buddha.
Around 20 monks that wore red cassocks stood beside him. Some of them had very deep wrinkles, and were so old that their age couldn't be inferred, while others were skinny and gaunt, and looked like dead wood. Of the rest, some had a melancholic atmosphere, and some seemed very mature and elegant.
"Humph, be calm? A disciple from my sect was killed at Shaolin, and you want me to be calm?" said an old Taoist who wore a crown that had seven stars on it and a Yin Yang frock, as he stared at the old monk. "Great master Kong Wen, we, Xuan Tian Sect has come because of your invitation, not because we wanted our disciples to get killed here. You must give us a reasonable explanation! Otherwise... humph!"
The person he addressed was as white as snow, yet his face was very ruddy, and there wasn't a single wrinkle on his face.
The old monk was Kong Wen, His Abbotship of Shaolin who attained the "Golden Body of the Dragon-subduing Arhat". His reputation and power had helped him rule Jianghu for more than 100 years.
"Amitābha. Benefactor Shou Zhuo, since such a horrible thing has happened in this temple, regardless of which the murderer is, we Shaolin will be responsible," Kong Wen said peacefully and didn't try to save face for the sect by shifting blame. "However, I believe that same as all the benefactors here, benefactor Shou Jing from your sect would want to know first who the murderer is and what he wants. Please allow me some time to examine the corpse and find out the murderer."
Taoist Shou Jing was the leader of Xuan Tian sect. It was said that he had arrived at the threshold of the Dharmakaya realm, and he ranked second in the Earthly Ranking.
"What great master Kong Wen has said is very reasonable. Please remain calm, my Taoist friend Shou Zhuo. We all feel the same sorrow that you feel." A middle-aged Taoist who wore a black tortoise frock came forth and dissuaded Shou Zhuo.
Among the disciples who stood behind him, Zhang Yuanshan was staring mournfully at Qing Jing's body, which lay on a white cloth. Qing Jing's head and body were separated into two parts, and his eyes were wide-open. Clearly, he had experienced extreme shock and anger before his death.
"The way he died is the same…" Zhang Yuanshan was startled. "How he died in reality is the same as how he died in the 'samsara universe'!"
Regardless of whether they had physically entered "samsara", or was in an illusionary projection, the "Owner of Samsara" was proven to be omnipotent, since he had accomplished all of this under the monitoring of the "Dragon-subduing Arhat"!
Zhang Yuanshan secretly peeped at Jiang Zhiwei, who stood among Xi Jian Pavilion disciples, and Qi Xia, who stood among the people of Dajiang Gang. They also couldn't hide their astonishment, and seemed very sad and serious. On the other hand, Qi Zhengyan was just an ordinary disciple and did not possess the status to enter the Great Buddha's Hall together with the seniors of Huanhua Swords Sect.
Nevertheless, a Xuan Tian Sect disciple being mysteriously murdered inside Shaolin temple was horrifying news. As a result, other young disciples in the hall had similarly frightened expressions, so nobody discovered the three's unusualness.
Taoist Shou Zhuo coldly glanced at the Taoist from Zhen Wu Sect. "Xuan Yuanzi, the victim is not a disciple of your sect. Stop being a hypocrite!"
"I have always heard that Taoist friend Shou Zhuo from Xuan Tian Sect has an irascible and frank personality. From what I've seen today, it seems that those rumors are true."
Xuan Yuanzi was a well-cultured person. He knew that Xuan Tian Sect still had many disciples similar to Qing Jing and could bear the loss of a single disciple. However, for them, Qing Jing being assassinated in Shaolin was like them being heavily slapped on the face. It was reasonable that Taoist Shou Zhuo was outraged. Thus, he only gave a simple reply with a smile, and then looked to the other side. "Taoist friend Su, what do you think?"
A young and handsome man who wore blue clothes stood in front of Jiang Zhiwei. At first sight, he seemed rather ordinary, but with careful observation, it could be discovered that he had an "empty" atmosphere. It seemed like he didn't have any human desires.