Spirit Vessel Chapter 67: Secrets of the Temple (2)

The pagoda was filled with dust and rusted mottles while the floor was covered with debris.
Even though there was a fight outside that turned the heavens upside down, the pagoda maintained its tranquility. The buddhist candle at the top of the pagoda was still radiating a faint and gentle light.
Feng Feiyun traveled along the wooden stairs and finally made it to the top. There were no creatures nor formations along the way. This was entirely outside of his expectations.
However, once he made it to the top, everything then betrayed his expectations even more.
“Crackling!”
On the wooden floor was a burning bonfire. On top of the fire was an iron staff with a giant scorpion, it was around the size of a human head. The scorpion was already burnt brown with white smoke and issued a meaty scent.
Roasting the scorpion was a monk around eight feet tall with a muscular body and huge chains over his body.
His chest was half revealed and there was a tattoo on it. It had the shape of a black dragon raising its claws to the left and a ferocious white tiger to the right.
With the tattoos on his body, it seemed like this was not a nice person. He was more like the boss of a certain gang.
Plus, this monk was also using his buddhist staff as a tool to roast meat, and it was a scorpion of all things. His arm, the size of a water bucket, continued to rotate while roasting and drinking wine at the same time.
The monk was seated on a wooden board. His chubby head glanced at Feng Feiyun and gave a very friendly smile, but in Feng Feiyun’s eyes, this smile was no different than a ferocious sneer of a butcher.
“Big Brother Feiyun, this monk won’t let me go. Big Brother, hurry and save me.”
Feng Jianxue was huddled in a corner. It was easy to see that she was very afraid of this monk.
Feng Feiyun gave her a quick glance, clasped his hands, and bowed. Then, he respectfully said:
“Senior is part of the buddhist circle, why are you making things so difficult for a little girl? This is clearly not the conduct of a person belonging to the buddhist faith.”
This monk lifted his head and smiled:
“Young Benefactor, your words are a bit incorrect. Look at me, do my conducts resemble a monk in any way?”
The moment this monk opened his mouth, it caused others to be surprised. His voice was extremely aged, like an old man nearing his death. It completely didn’t fit his tall and muscular physique.
“This…”
Feng Feiyun became annoyed. This monk looked more like an evil monk! Plus, he was also inside the pagoda. He was definitely an expert with a powerful cultivation so Feiyun absolutely couldn’t make him angry.
If it wasn’t possible to play hard, then one could only use softness!
Feng Feiyun laughed ‘haha’, and observed the surroundings of the pagoda. Then, he stepped forward.
In the middle of the pagoda was a buddhist candle. The materials used to create it and give it the eternal never-extinguishing property were unknown.
Besides the candle, there was also an engraving on the wall. It was a venerable monk that wore a white monastic robe. The monk had a cyan dragon ring along with buddhist beads and a pair of eyes filled with infinite sadness.
Even though it was only a painting, this sadness was very vivid. Anyone who saw the picture wouldn’t be able to contain their emotions.
“Cooked, finally cooked. Little Girl, do you want to eat?”
The monk bellowed.
Feng Jianxue almost vomited from just glancing at the scorpion so naturally, she shook her head repeatedly and shut her eyes tightly. Clearly, she didn’t want to look anymore.
“Sigh! What a shame, this is such a delicious meal yet no one dares to share it with this poor monk.”
The monk shook his head and stomped his foot. He was seemingly very disappointed.
“I will enjoy this meal together with Senior.”
Feng Feiyun sat next to the monk and ripped the tail from the scorpion on the buddhist staff. Then, he directly placed it into his mouth.
He initially thought that the scorpion’s meat would be very difficult to eat, but after chewing twice, it was very delicious.
“Good meat! Senior is indeed worthy of being a famous meat roaster.”
Feng Feiyun praised from his heart.
“Hahaha! This Monk Jiu Rou’s roasting is naturally the number one in the world. Even the number one cook of a heavenly golden little miss wouldn’t roast as well as me.”
The monk laughed. It was easy to see that he was very happy when others praised him for his roasting.
Feng Feiyun surprisingly asked:
“Senior’s name is Monk Jiu Rou?”
“Not right, not right.”
The monk shook his head repeatedly.
Feng Feiyun couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Why would he ask such a stupid question? How could there be a monk named Jiu Rou (Wine Meat) in this world?
“My buddhist title is Jiu Rou.”
Monk Jiu Rou said in a serious manner.
“Pfft!”
Feng Feiyun almost spat out the piece of scorpion meat he was chewing on. This monk was really called Monk Jiu Rou!
Monk Jiu Rou stood next to the fire. With his round face wearing a solemn expression, as if he was remembering something, he said:
“Before my master led me into the Mortal Life Temple, he didn’t give me a buddhist title before passing away. The buddhist title ‘Jiu Rou’ was a name I personally chose.”
The Mortal Life Temple was a grand temple? Feng Feiyun had never heard of it before. He felt that this monk was only speaking nonsense.
Feng Feiyun always felt that this monk had a mental problem and he didn’t want to hurt him, so he said:
“Senior is an accomplished monk, how could you keep a young miss in captivity? If this matter was spread outside, then it wouldn’t only affect your reputation but also the honor of the Mortal Life Temple.”
Feng Feiyun sincerely described the grave stakes for Monk Jiu Rou, hoping that this strange monk would be enlightened.
Monk Jiu Rou still seemed to be thinking about something. His old voice was prolonged and sighed:
“The Mortal Life Temple has already sunk into the ground for more than eight hundred years. The entire Mortal Life Temple only had this poor monk left. Even if I lost all of my reputation, I would still take this girl as my disciple to pass on all of the buddhist teachings of the Mortal Life Temple and continue our heritage. Otherwise, after this poor monk passes away, how would I have the face to meet my master?”
“What? This godly temple is the Mortal Life Temple?”
Feng Feiyun was a bit surprised.
“What?! You want to take me in as a disciple? To be a female monk?”
Feng Jianxue shivered and continuously shook her head. Even if someone were to beat her to death, she still wouldn’t want to be a monk — a shaved head would be very ugly. This matter was absolutely impossible, but there was no opportunity for negotiation.
Monk Jiu Rou nodded his head and said:
“You and buddha are brought together by fate. You have the Xiantian buddhist Bones. If you didn’t come with me to join the monastery, then it would be a great shame. Plus, I’m not forcing you to be a female monk?”
“Then what?”
Feng Feiyun also frowned. Naturally, he didn’t hope for Feng Jianxue to become a monk.
“A female nun!”
Monk Jiu Rou drank a large gulp of booze again. The sound of him swallowing wine was very loud.
Feng Feiyun and Feng Jianxue were completely speechless towards this monk. Even if he wanted a disciple, he should be finding a male that was completely dedicated to buddhism. However, this monk only wanted a beautiful little girl, like jade and flower, such as Feng Jianxue; this was causing too much trouble for others!
However, Feng Feiyun also noticed that this Monk Jiu Rou also had a bit of buddhist tendency in him. Even though he appeared to be careless and drowned in alcohol and meat, his attitude was very stubborn. Once he made up his mind, it would be difficult to change it.
“I don’t want to be a female nun, just kill me now!”
Feng Jianxue stomped on the ground. She wanted to kick this Monk Jiu Rou’s head.
“Great sin! Great sin! Master has never killed any living existence, not even an ant.”
Monk Jiu Rou spoke while chewing on a piece of scorpion meat.
Feng Feiyun smiled:
“Then the scorpion in the hands of Senior, did it kill itself by slamming into a wall?”
“Not true, not true. It was the flames that killed it, not this monk.”
Monk Jiu Rou honestly spoke with a serious expression. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
However, this sadness quickly disappeared. He continued to open his big mouth to eat the meat and drink the wine.
Feng Feiyun admitted that he was a bit shameless and had done many bad things, but today, he truly had to accept complete defeat before this Monk Jiu Rou.
“Rumble!”
The entire buddhist pagoda violently shook. The fight outside became more and more frightening. Countless sword energies scurried in the sky and destroyed buddhist pagodas one by one while they cut bronze buddhist statues into pieces.
However, within ten zhang, these sword energies were unable to enter this buddhist pagoda. Once they reached here, there was an invisible force that dissipated these sword energies and turned them into a plume of smoke.
Feng Feiyun opened a window inside the pagoda and stared outside. The three Giants were still attacking with all of their might towards the yellow muddy ancient well.
The ancient well was still standing strong. There were strands of smoke that emanated outward, turning into a sword will, and a grand battle occurred.
“Senior, you are the last monk of the Mortal Life Temple, do you know there real secret inside the ancient well?”
Feng Feiyun curiously asked.
After hearing the question, Monk Jiu Rou became even more serious. He put down the scorpion meat in his hand and stared at the sad painting on the wall. Then, he slowly spoke:
“The well buried a woman. One thousand eight hundred years ago, the abbot of the Mortal Life Temple caused all of the monks to die in order to save this woman. He refined all of the life essences of all of the existences inside this grand temple in order to create an immortal spring spirit water — in order to prolong the life of this woman.”