Chapter 340

Chapter 340: He’s Going to Scold Me (4000 words, combined chapters)

Before Xu Ming could react, Shixin had already pounced on him.

Shixin tightly hugged Xu Ming, her arms firmly around his waist.

Xu Ming felt the curves of Shixin’s body, those soft mounds pressing against him.

Previously, Xu Ming thought Shixin had a great figure—so much so that he almost blurted out “big boobs, no brain” several times.

Now, upon experiencing it firsthand, it was indeed true.

To be honest, a girl who looked this good and had such an exaggerated figure becoming a monk really felt like a waste.

But then again, Xu Ming also thought that if a girl like her didn’t become a monk, it would feel even more like a waste.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Ming asked, extending his arm to embrace Shixin’s slim waist, looking every bit the warm-hearted guy.

In Xu Ming’s arms, Shixin shook her head forcefully. “I was so scared earlier. There were lots of ghosts in the temple.”

“Don’t worry, I’m here,” Xu Ming said with a smile, gently comforting her.

Shixin lifted her head in Xu Ming’s embrace, her golden eyes blinking as she gazed at Xu Ming. “Xu Ming, when you weren’t by my side, I realized I’ve been thinking about you all along. It seems… I’ve fallen for you.”

Xu Ming smiled and patted Shixin’s hair. “Why are you saying these things suddenly? Did you get scared out of your mind?”

“Of course not! I truly…”

Just as Shixin, hugging Xu Ming, pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and tried to stab him from behind, Xu Ming had already slapped her down.

Shixin spat out a mouthful of blood, dissipating into spiritual energy in Xu Ming’s arms.

“What’s going on in this secret realm? Treating others like fools?” Xu Ming shook his head helplessly.

The moment she embraced him, Xu Ming knew this wasn’t Shixin—not to mention the absurdity of Shixin confessing “I like you.” That was impossible.

Shixin liking someone else? Don’t make me laugh.

This girl has gone crazy over Buddhist teachings; the Eight Precepts might as well be her mental imprint. She can’t possibly fall in love.

And it’s likely Shixin doesn’t even know what “liking” someone means.

Xu Ming continued walking forward, arriving at the rear courtyard of the temple.

The rear courtyard of this temple was vast, covered in snow, pristine and white.

As Xu Ming kept moving forward, the ground began to tremble violently.

Xu Ming quickly stepped back. Where he had originally stood, a stone monster rose up and launched a savage charge without a word.

Xu Ming dodged the stone creature’s ultimate attack with another step back, followed by a backward slash, slicing his sword down.

The stone monster was split cleanly in half.

When Xu Ming swung his sword, he felt an unusual smoothness, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

Although the spirit of the sword hadn’t awakened yet, preventing Xu Ming from fully utilizing the abilities of this immortal weapon, there was no denying that ancient divine weapons were truly sharp.

Xu Ming had used many swords before, but this was the first time he experienced the sensation of cutting through iron like butter.

Or rather, cutting through stone like mud.

However, after Xu Ming chopped the stone man in half, more stone creatures began rising from the ground.

Not only that, but the stone lions near a distant hall also came to life, leaping toward Xu Ming.

Xu Ming gripped his longsword, slashing one by one, knocking all these things to the ground.

Fragments of stone flew everywhere in the air.

Xu Ming enjoyed the fight immensely, using the opportunity to further test the sword.

When the yard returned to calm, all that remained was a pile of rubble. Xu Ming still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

“Xu Ming.”

Xu Ming heard a familiar voice calling out.

Turning around, he saw Qin Qingwan not far away, looking at him.

“Xu Ming, I’ve finally found you. I thought you were dead.”

Saying this, Qin Qingwan ran toward Xu Ming.

But Xu Ming didn’t think twice and slashed his sword, turning the “Qin Qingwan” into spiritual energy that dissipated in the air.

“How did you spot it this time, practitioner?” Finally, Xu Ming heard a different voice.

“Hmph,” Xu Ming sneered. “If it were the real Qingwan, she wouldn’t have cried.”

“Amitabha, practitioner, your killing karma is so heavy—it’s not good for cultivating the heart,” the voice continued.

Xu Ming retorted sarcastically, “I’m a sword cultivator, a martial artist. The sword techniques and boxing arts I practice are all for defeating enemies. You’re telling me my killing karma is too heavy? Then what’s the point of cultivation?”

“Besides,” Xu Ming searched for the source of the voice. “I’m not a monk. What am I cultivating the heart for? And from what I’ve seen, those monks in the murals don’t seem to have lighter killing karma than me.”

“Not quite,” the elder’s voice came again. “We kill to save countless beings, but you indiscriminately slaughter everything in your path. Aren’t you afraid of making mistakes? What if you encounter the real person?”

“That’s nothing to fear.”

Xu Ming determined the direction of the sound and raised his sword.

“Because if they encountered me, they’d probably try to strike or punch me first, testing whether I can take a hit or not.”

With that, Xu Ming pinpointed a position and swung his sword, releasing a powerful sword qi that seemed capable of splitting the entire temple.

Xu Ming’s sword qi split a room in two.

The roof collapsed, revealing a monstrous statue with three heads, twelve legs, and wielding eight weapons, charging toward Xu Ming.

“Xu Ming.”

“Xu Ming, are you there?”

“Xu Ming.”

Throughout the temple, Shixin continuously called out.

Shixin carried a small sense of frustration in her heart.

Even though she had been holding onto Xu Ming’s coat tail all along, she somehow still got separated from him. Would Xu Ming scold her?

And what kind of place was this?

Moments ago, there were so many people entering, but now they were all gone.

Shixin was filled with doubts but cautiously moved forward.

“Shixin.”

Just as Shixin had walked for less than half an incense stick’s worth of time, a voice rang out.

Shixin looked up to see Xu Ming approaching her.

Shixin’s eyes lit up, stepping forward.

Xu Ming smiled. “It’s good you’re safe. I’ve been looking for you, worried you’d gotten lost.”

“You—you aren’t mad that I didn’t keep up with you?” Shixin asked guiltily.

“Why would I be mad? As long as you’re safe, that’s fine,” Xu Ming replied.

“Are you really not mad at me?” Shixin blinked her eyes.

Xu Ming nodded. “I’m really not mad.”

Hearing Xu Ming’s answer, Shixin’s eyes flickered.

“Xu Ming, where are we?” Shixin tilted her head and asked.

Xu Ming shrugged. “I don’t know where we are either, but stay close this time. Don’t get lost again.”

“Um-hmm,” Shixin nodded.

Shixin followed behind Xu Ming.

Shixin looked at Xu Ming’s back, blinking her eyes. She felt something strange about Xu Ming in front of her, but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what was off.

“Xu Ming…” Shixin hesitated before speaking.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Ming turned around.

After some thought, Shixin asked, “I just looked at those murals, and I don’t think Buddhism should be like that. It feels like the monks in the murals carry heavy killing karma.”

Xu Ming thought about it and nodded. “You’re right. I agree with you. Buddhism should be about saving all living beings, not increasing killing karma.”

“Um-hmm,” Shixin nodded, seemingly pleased to receive Xu Ming’s approval.

But in reality, Shixin instinctively dropped a step behind Xu Ming.

Shixin and Xu Ming reached the rear courtyard and continued walking forward. Suddenly, several stone men emerged from the ground, rushing toward them.

Shixin recited a spell, enveloping both of them in a Golden Bell Cover.

“Bang!”

The stone men and stone lions crashed against Shixin’s protective dome, producing a dull thud.

These things couldn’t break through Shixin’s defense.

“Stay here, Shixin. I’ll handle them!”

Xu Ming drew his Immortal Sword Red Sleeve and charged forward.

But as Xu Ming took a step forward, his sword suddenly flipped and swung toward Shixin.

“Clang!”

The sound of metal clashing echoed.

A faint golden membrane covered Shixin’s body. The sword struck her but couldn’t even pierce her robe.

“Xu Ming,” the figure frowned. “How did you know?”

Shixin calmly replied, “Although I do believe the monks in the murals acted incorrectly—monks should save all living beings instead of resorting to killing to stop killing—

If I told Xu Ming this, he would only call me naive and mock me as a ‘saint mother.’ Even though I don’t know exactly what ‘saint mother’ means, at least Xu Ming wouldn’t approve of me.”

“And,” Shixin added softly, looking a bit aggrieved, “if I got lost, Xu Ming would definitely scold me…”

“Qingwan? Qingwan!”

Inside the temple, Wu Yanhan paced back and forth, shouting loudly.

Wu Yanhan wondered what was going on in this place. Not long ago, she and Qingwan arrived at Bihong Lake and encountered a blue dragon and a He Luo fish.

Together, she and Qingwan drove away the blue dragon and the He Luo fish.

Then, the door of the temple in the middle of the lake opened.

Naturally, she and Qingwan entered the temple.

Once inside, they got separated.

Then she met “Xu Ming.”

At first, Wu Yanhan thought it was the real Xu Ming and followed him, but as they walked and chatted, Xu Ming suddenly smiled and tried to pat her head.

In their usual interactions, Xu Ming always kept a certain distance from her. He wouldn’t randomly touch her head.

Sure enough, that Xu Ming was fake.

At this point, Wu Yanhan realized this place might be an illusion. Even if it wasn’t an illusion, at least she shouldn’t trust anything here.

“Boom!”

While Wu Yanhan was wandering around the temple,

She heard a loud noise nearby.

Wu Yanhan ran toward the direction of the sound.

“Wu Yanhan”

“Wu Yanhan!”

“Princess.”

“Wild Horse!”

“Strange, why is no one around?” Qingwan sighed, her expression tinged with melancholy. “This is truly bizarre.”

At first, Qingwan saw illusions of Xu Ming.

But the moment Qingwan saw the illusion of Xu Ming, she felt something was off with this “Xu Ming.”

Qingwan couldn’t say exactly what was wrong, but she just felt that this person didn’t resemble the Xu Ming she knew.

So, Qingwan asked “Xu Ming” a question: “Do you think Wu Yanhan is prettier or me?”

“Xu Ming” answered, “Of course Qingwan is prettier.”

Qingwan sweetly “hmm”-ed, clearly enjoying the compliment.

But the moment “Xu Ming” turned around, Qingwan unleashed a spell directly at his back.

In an instant, Xu Ming was blasted into a hole.

This “Xu Ming” then dissipated into spiritual energy.

Afterward, Qingwan realized how strange this place was. She encountered illusion after illusion,

Including those of her fellow disciples, old acquaintances, and even her master.

And all of these figures were riddled with flaws.

Honestly, Qingwan didn’t understand what was happening with this illusion.

If they wanted to deceive her, shouldn’t they at least make it more convincing?

Anyone could tell that her master wouldn’t appear in a place like this… While walking, Qingwan encountered a massive Buddha statue, which looked fierce and anything but normal.

Qingwan destroyed the statue.

The statue crashed to the ground, raising dust several meters high.

“Cough cough cough…”

Qingwan coughed a few times, waving away the dust in front of her.

And when the dust cleared, a figure stood before Qingwan.

“Huh?” Qingwan looked at Wu Yanhan standing before her and smirked. “Didn’t expect you to show up.”

With that, Qingwan recited a spell and attacked Wu Yanhan.

Wu Yanhan, who had just entered the courtyard and seen Qingwan, paused momentarily.

But she also regarded Qingwan as a counterfeit and threw a punch.

Meanwhile,

Xu Ming was in a secluded part of the temple, having just defeated a strange crab-like statue.

Just as Xu Ming kicked the thing away,

Shixin appeared in front of him.

[Phew, almost didn’t finish the update today. Luckily, it’s still before midnight.]