A few minutes later, Nanshanzi looked at the slightly chipped temple wall and said to the two, "This courtyard wall isn't high. Stand shoulder to shoulder, and I'll use your shoulders to get a look at the situation."
Ink Chuan and Wang Hu immediately stood ready. Nanshanzi, with graceful movements, used a few steps of lightness skill to leap onto the wall, landing with a pivot and a twist, carefully surveying the temple courtyard.
The temple itself wasn't large, consisting only of a main hall, a courtyard, and a small incense shop.
Within the courtyard stood a single tree, a somewhat old incense burner, and a pile of miscellaneous bricks.
Nanshanzi raised his sword finger, rubbed it across his eyes, and said, "Void Thunder Eyes, open."
As a flash of lightning shot from his eyes, Nanshanzi scanned the temple rapidly, but he frowned. He had sensed ghostly energy, yet there were no ghosts present.
After observing for a few minutes, Nanshanzi said with a sigh, "I can't see any ghosts. I intend to go in, but this place might be very dangerous. Do you wish to accompany me?"
"I'll go."
"Daoist Priest, count Wang Hu in."
Nanshanzi nodded, then flipped over the wall into the courtyard. Seeing no immediate activity, he called out to the two outside the wall, "Come in."
Ink Chuan used Wang Hu's shoulders to leap into the courtyard, then tossed him the lantern and pulled Wang Hu over.
"I was here a few days ago... it wasn't this eerie normally..." Wang Hu said, feeling a chill crawl up his spine as he looked at the courtyard.
"Ghostly energy can diminish the presence of yang energy, causing the ambient temperature to drop," Ink Chuan observed, scanning his surroundings.
Nanshanzi stared at the main hall of the Erlang Temple. He slowly approached the temple door, placed his ear against the paper window, and listened to the situation inside.
After a while, he frowned again and took out the Sinan. Seeing that the spoon handle still pointed towards the main hall, he whispered, "Release your abilities, prepare to enter the temple."
Upon hearing this, Wang Hu summoned the Bone-Slicing Saber in one hand and held the door bolt of the main temple door with the other. After Nanshanzi nodded, he pushed the bolt aside, opening the temple door.
The temple was somewhat dilapidated, clearly showing signs of long-term disrepair. The three of them entered the temple slowly, maintaining their formation.
Ink Chuan looked at the cracked floor tiles, the peeling paint on the temple pillars, the dust-covered offering table, and the tall yet worn statue of Erlang Shen. He whispered, "Daoist Priest, can you check with the Sinan again?"
"I just feel like something is off..." Wang Hu frowned, sweeping his phone's flashlight around. His round head was filled with great confusion.
Nanshanzi lifted the Sinan and was about to examine it when, suddenly, the bronze spoon began to spin wildly and finally fell to the ground with a "clang."
Nanshanzi's pupils contracted: "This... why would the spiritual energy be so chaotic?"
Ink Chuan tugged at Nanshanzi's sleeve: "Daoist Priest... did you feel like that statue moved just now?"
Nanshanzi and Wang Hu abruptly looked at the statue of Erlang Shen. Under the phone's illumination, the statue stood three meters tall. Although the colorful paint was somewhat faded, its piercing three eyes and the gleaming, three-pointed, double-edged blade still conveyed the majesty of Erlang Shen.
"Little brother Ink Chuan, don't scare yourself. How could a clay statue possibly..." Before Wang Hu could finish speaking, a cracking sound emanated from the statue, startling Wang Hu into shining his phone's light towards it. The three of them peered closely and discovered a fine crack along the neck of Erlang Shen. Dust and debris rained down onto the offering table.
"This..." Nanshanzi's intuition screamed danger. "Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Let's get out of here!"
As the three turned to leave, they found that the temple door had closed at some unknown time. Ink Chuan immediately tried to open it, but no matter how hard he pushed, the temple door remained unmoving.
"Get out of the way, let me!" Wang Hu roared, and the Bone-Slicing Saber chopped down forcefully. With a "bang," it struck the temple door.
Wang Hu's hands went numb from the impact, yet the wooden temple door remained completely unharmed.
"This is bad, we've fallen into a trap!"
At that moment, the three heard a strange sound coming from behind them.
*Crack—*
*Thump.*
As the sound approached, something seemed to fall to the ground. Ink Chuan swallowed and glanced back, his whole body breaking out in goosebumps.
The head of the Erlang Shen statue had fallen to the ground! And instead of shattering like a clay object, it landed with a dull thud as if it were a living head! Black and red liquid was even flowing from the severed neck!
Nanshanzi, however, saw something else entirely—the headless statue, holding its three-pointed, double-edged blade, walked step by step from its pedestal to the offering table, then bent its knees and squatted.
Nanshanzi knew the statue wasn't planning to make an offering of something unpleasant. He quickly shouted, "Quick, get out of the way!!"
As his words fell, the statue leaped from the offering table with a "boom," and the three-pointed, double-edged blade in its hand flashed like silver, cleaving towards the three.
Nanshanzi reacted the fastest. As he shouted, he had already retreated to the side, even pulling out talismans to prepare a formation.
Ink Chuan reacted second, quickly retreating and throwing his grappling hook to see if it could damage the statue.
Wang Hu, the third to react, heard Nanshanzi's warning and the statue's leap. He rolled like a clumsy donkey towards Nanshanzi, barely dodging the leaping slash.
The three-pointed, double-edged blade struck the ground heavily, kicking up a cloud of dust.
In the dust, the statue's large figure slowly moved, seemingly searching for a target.
Ink Chuan seized the opportunity and smashed his grappling hook onto the statue's shoulder. However, instead of the expected spray of earth and stone, blood flowed like that of a living being, and the grappling hook became stuck in the statue's shoulder.
"Damn it... what kind of ghost is this? I don't think I can handle it."
Ink Chuan gritted his teeth and activated "Death Sentence." The statue's already sluggish movements became even more delayed. Seeing this, Ink Chuan shouted, "Daoist Priest! Find a way! I can't deal with him!"
At the other end of the dust cloud, Nanshanzi had quickly set up several formation points. He glanced at the struggling statue and said, "Wang Hu, go stall it for a bit longer. I need more time."
Seeing this, Wang Hu immediately charged into the dust cloud to help.
Meanwhile, Ink Chuan looked at the combat log and felt something was amiss:
"Host used a normal attack on [Corrupted Statue], triggering [Misfortune's Pendulum] (Passive), dealing 101 physical damage, 211 magical damage."
"Host used [Death Sentence] on [Corrupted Statue], dealing 164 magical damage."
"[Corrupted Statue] ******, health restored to full, slowed by 10%, duration 10 seconds."
"Full again????" Ink Chuan stared, his eyes widening. He saw that the wound on the statue's shoulder had stopped bleeding, and he was completely dumbfounded.
"Look out!" Wang Hu shouted, slashing at the statue's thigh. Black blood splattered all over Wang Hu's face, and he quickly retreated, fearing being trampled by the statue.
The injured statue didn't even move. It was instantly back to full health, though its movements became even slower than before.
Seeing the statue's three-pointed, double-edged blade swing towards Wang Hu again, Ink Chuan didn't even have time to retract his hook and quickly swung his lantern towards the statue's weapon, ensnaring it.
Ink Chuan was now pulling on the statue's shoulder with his left hand and blocking its weapon with his right. He used all his might, yet he was still being dragged by the statue towards Wang Hu.
"Daoist Priest!!—Hurry up!" Ink Chuan couldn't pull his hook free and shouted towards Nanshanzi.
Wang Hu, on the other hand, became ferociously aggressive and plunged his saber into the statue's abdomen. Black blood spurted into Wang Hu's face.
The statue began to become agitated. With its left hand, it grabbed a chain, attempting to pull it off. However, the immense force actually lifted Ink Chuan into the air.
"Ah————!!"