Chapter 178: 178,【Shallow waters teem with turtles, small temples are rife with goblins】 (Thanks to Alliance Hierarch “Zheng

Heshan” for the 100,000 reward)

Translator: 549690339

The Shallow Water Temple wasn’t big and appeared somewhat simple and crude.

In Lu Xun’s memory, he didn’t have any impression of this temple.

After all, he hadn’t visited every place in the ‘Heavenly Dust’, his main source of information was from the forum.

There were so many posts in the forum, and he selectively read some every day.

“Is there a problem?” Lu Xun asked Mao Nanbei.

Mao Nanbei nodded, then said: “There’s a demonic aura!”

And added, “It’s a very well-hidden demonic aura, concealed beneath the teachings of Buddha, probably unnoticeable for the average cultivator.”

“Oh?” Lu Xun glanced in the direction of the temple again and asked, “Since it’s so well concealed, how did Fourth Sister notice it?”

“Because I’m a monster too!” Mao Nanbei said matter-of-factly.

Lu Xun:

That seems reasonable.

“What’s the power of the monster… inside?” Lu Xun asked again.

“Decent,” Mao Nanbei replied: “But this entire temple… is full of monsters!”

After saying that, she looked up at Lu Xun and asked, “What does your sword sheath need? We can go in and exchange spirit stones for it. If that doesn’t work… should I take it by force?”

Last time, facing the mysterious man, Mao Nanbei felt her performance wasn’t that great. Today, she intended to show off in front of her junior brother, to regain her lost face!

She had just sensed that there was no capable monster in this temple, so it was safe.

“Let’s go in and have a look,” Lu Xun suggested.

Given the safety assurance, there was nothing to fear; they could just enter and see.

Moreover, temples are originally places for burning incense and worshiping Buddha, so I should be allowed to light up some incense, right?

The paper crane landed at the entrance of the Shallow Water Temple and was subsequently stored by Lu Xun in his storage ring.

The group of three entered the temple where four monks were cleaning. Seeing people enter, regardless of whether they held a broom or a cloth, they all turned their heads to look at Lu Xun and the others.

The four monks looked young, to be exact, they were more like novice monks.

However, despite their tender age, they had hunched backs and necks a bit longer than an average person.

What Lu Xun found most endearing was, these four little monks moved very slowly, whether it was their cleaning movements or the movement of turning their heads to look at him, everything was slow.

This reminded Lu Xun of Elder Gui living on the Hidden Mountain.

“Good day, venerable masters. We have come to burn incense,” Lu Xun said politely.

Perhaps because it had been too long since this small temple had seen any worshippers, the four little monks looked at each other, perplexed.

At this moment, Lu Xun felt a light tug at his sleeve. It was Mao Nanbei.

Lu Xun squatted down, and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

Mao Nanbei whispered in his ear, “They’re turtles, all of them in the temple are turtle spirits!”

Hearing this, Lu Xun was taken aback and thought, “This temple is called Shallow Water Temple, and it’s filled with turtle spirits?”

This truly lived up to the saying, “More turtles in shallow water, smaller temple hosts a larger demonic aura.”

Though it was already surprising that these four monks were monster monks, they turned out to be turtle monks.

However, the relationship between the Monster Clan and the Human Race in the Heavenly Dust Continent wasn’t exactly life or death. Conversely, many sects had shape-shifted monster cultivators, like Mao Nanbei, which wasn’t unusual.

But having a temple entirely filled with monster cultivators was quite a rare sight.

The shortest and seemingly youngest monk in the front listened to Mao Nanbei’s words. Instead of getting angry, he corrected her slowly, “Madam, we are not turtles, but turtoises.”

He spoke earnestly and seemed very serious. Combined with his much slower speech than the average person, he appeared amusing and interesting.

“Pfft!” Mao Nanbei burst into laughter.

The little monk slowly extended his right hand, touched his bald head, and looked doubtful, unsure what she was laughing about. In the end, he blushed slightly, wondering if he had said something wrong?

However, upon further consideration, turtles and toads are truly different, belonging to two different species.

The little monk in the back, holding a broom and looking about fifteen or sixteen, appeared to be the oldest of the four monks.

He spoke up, “Are all three of you cultivators?”

Lu Xun nodded, revealing his identity without secrecy or need for it.

“Please wait for a moment, benefactors. Your humble monk needs to ask for Master’s permission first,” the tall monk said.

After he finished speaking, he slowly walked into the temple.

Even the way he raised his legs to cross the threshold was exceptionally slow.

Perhaps he realized how slow he was, he didn’t forget to turn around and say, “Benefactors, you may have to wait a little longer. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.”

“No harm done,” Lu Xun said with a smile.

The location of Shallow Water Temple was indeed remote, surrounded by wilderness. The young monks inside gave off an aura of worldly detachment, appearing simple and adorable.

Lu Xun waited outside the temple, while the other three monks continued their cleaning. From time to time, they could not resist stealing glances at the three visitors, seeming to have not seen outsiders for a long time and showed curiosity.

Lu Xun squatted down to speak at eye level with Mao Nanbei. “Fourth Sister, looking at it this way, Elder Gui should also be a kind of turtle who has gained spirituality, don’t you see any resemblance?”

“Indeed, there is some resemblance, but Elder Gui doesn’t have a trace of demonic aura, so I’m not quite sure,” Mao Nanbei whispered into Lu Xun’s ear.

After a while, the tall monk who had gone in to ask for permission finally returned. He put his palms together and bowed, “Honoured guests, the Master said you may burn the incense. Please follow me.”

As he spoke, he went ahead to lead the way, while the other three young monks outside the door continued cleaning, craning their necks to look inside from time to time.

Shallow Water Temple was really small, about the size of a common courtyard house.

There was only one statue of Buddha in the temple and it appeared ancient, like it hadn’t been repaired for a long time. The features of the statue had blurred over the years.

It was a stone Buddha without a golden body.

The other items in the temple were also quite old.

From the looks of it, Shallow Water Temple was…quite poor.

Could the sword sheath’s supplement be here?

Could the supplement be the little turtles in the temple?

Does it want to eat turtles?

At this moment, Lu Xun saw an old figure slowly walk out from behind the stone Buddha. He was the oldest person he had ever seen, looking even older than Elder Gui.

His back was very hunched, as if he was carrying a mountain.

His eyebrows were all white, his face was full of wrinkles, his aura was dim, and his eyes were very cloudy, as if he could leave this world at any moment.

With his hands folded in prayer, he glanced at Lu Xun and others with his cloudy eyes. He wanted to recite a Buddha’s name, but his gaze was attracted by the sword sheath in Lu Xun’s hand. His lips moved, but he couldn’t utter a word.

His fingers were trembling slightly. It was unclear whether it was due to his old age or for some other reason.

After a long while, he finally spoke in a slow voice, “Respected patron, this humble monk has an impolite request. May I borrow your sword sheath for a look?”

Perhaps due to his good impression of the temple, Lu Xun didn’t refuse. He raised his left hand that was holding the sword sheath and put it horizontally in front of him, gesturing that the monk could come closer to take a look.

But to hand the sword sheath over to him, Lu Xun certainly wouldn’t do that.

The old monk came in front of Lu Xun, took another careful look at the sword sheath, and then his body began to stoop slightly. To Lu Xun’s surprise, the old monk ended up kneeling before him!

(P.S: First update, thank you “Zheng Heshan” for the 100k Qidian coin gift ~ we got another Alliance Hierarch ~ Backlog +1.)