Fu Ning's reaction after waking up relieved me a great deal.
"Miss Du?"
Fu Ning sat up on the stretcher. Looking around at the brightly lit courtyard and the lush green trees, he scratched his head in a daze. "Am I awake, or... did you enter my dream?"
"Aren't you supposed to be following Xue Shuo and the others? How did you fall asleep?" I asked in surprise. "After you answered our call, did you... meet someone?"
Fu Ning frowned and thought for a while, then smiled brightly at me. "Miss Du, after I answered your call, I actually saw a security door underground. Do you know how eerie it is to find such a place in an ancient temple like this?"
His words confirmed the strange things I had seen in the underground passage before. Fu Ning should have been in the same place as us at that time, but not in the same time - space.
"I peeked inside through the crack of the security door. Then the door opened, and an old gentleman with gray - white hair, looking very gentle and elegant, walked out. He asked me what I was doing there. I didn't dare to say that I was looking for Xue Shuo and his master - mother, so I just said that I had taken the wrong way while coming to worship Buddha."
As a police officer, Fu Ning certainly couldn't tell the truth when encountering such a strange thing.
The old gentleman nodded and opened the door, inviting Fu Ning to come in and sit down.
The thought of refusal had just popped up in Fu Ning's mind when another thought overwhelmed it. Suddenly, he felt that it wouldn't hurt to go inside. Maybe he could get some clues about Xue Shuo and the others.
Moreover, he thought the old gentleman looked very kind, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
So, he somehow followed the old man into the house.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped over the threshold, a sight of ancient buildings hidden among the old trees immediately appeared in front of Fu Ning. Those buildings were so magnificent that they looked like a fairyland. Just as Fu Ning was thinking this, the old gentleman walking in front suddenly transformed into an old immortal with a high - crowned hat and wide robes, exuding an otherworldly aura. With a casual wave in the void, he pulled out a set of red sandalwood tables and chairs, on which there were two cups of fragrant tea steaming with white mist.
The old immortal invited Fu Ning to sit down and have tea. Fu Ning sat down obediently as if he was under a spell.
He was still thinking about finding Xue Shuo and his mother, but his hand involuntarily picked up the cup.
Just as he was about to bring the cup to his lips, a burning pain came from his pocket, instantly waking his dazed mind.
"I still have things to do. I can't stay here!"
Fu Ning quickly stood up from the comfortable chair.
"It doesn't matter. The people you're looking for should all be safe. They have noble people to help them." The old immortal seemed to know what Fu Ning was thinking. He reached out his hand to him with a smile. "But there are some very magical items on you. Can you let me have a look?"
Fu Ning didn't want others to see the talisman on him. He knew it was a life - saving thing. But the words of this old immortal were like a bewitching spell. His hand involuntarily reached into his still - hot pocket.
That talisman was sold to Fu Ning by Du Wenzhong for 5,000 yuan. Now it was emitting a faint golden light, like a small light bulb held in Fu Ning's hand, casting strange and colorful shadows on the old immortal's face.
"Give it to me!"
The old immortal's snow - white long eyebrows suddenly shot up, and there was a hint of anger in his voice.
Fu Ning was startled. His hand trembled, and the talisman immediately fell to the ground. Immediately, countless transparent hands appeared on the ground, scrambling to grab the falling talisman paper. Every hand that touched the talisman paper withered and turned black immediately as if it had been burned...
It wasn't until the talisman paper was also dyed into a mass of black air by those blackened semi - transparent little hands that the old immortal waved his long sleeve and caught the talisman.
"Oh, it's the Six Ding and Six Jia Divine Talisman!"
The old immortal glanced at the blackened talisman paper. "Little police officer, this thing is very precious. You should hold it well. Don't let others see it casually next time. This is your life - saving thing!"
Saying that, he shook his long sleeve. The talisman entangled by the black air turned back to its golden - shining appearance and fell back into Fu Ning's hand. At the same time, those black airs turned into thin, long rope - like things and disappeared in front of Fu Ning.
Fu Ning didn't have the time to care about those black mists. He quickly and carefully folded the yellow talisman and put it back into his pocket.
The old immortal also sat down again and handed the teacup beside him to Fu Ning. This time, the talisman in his pocket no longer felt hot. Fu Ning immediately felt extremely thirsty. He picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp!
However, before the old immortal could pour another cup of tea for Fu Ning, Fu Ning felt a hard slap on his forehead. Then his eyes hurt as if they were being pricked by needles, and he let out a scream.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw my anxious face.
After listening to Fu Ning's dream - talk, I immediately concluded that what he saw in the illusory dreamland was not an old immortal at all. It was probably the "behind - the - scenes mastermind" hidden in Hongluo Temple, trying to use Fu Ning's body to deal with us!!
I lifted Fu Ning's eyelids to check if he had been poisoned by a curse, but at this time, he seemed to be completely fine and struggled to get off the stretcher.
"Miss Du, where's Xue Shuo? Where's my master - mother?"
Fu Ning was completely awake now and finally remembered his mission.
"Officer Xue's wife was seriously injured and sent to the hospital. Xue Shuo was sent to Si Jiangchen's house to recuperate for a while, so as to avoid any more problems."
I briefly told him about the dangerous experience just now.
So far, our trip to Hongluo Temple had achieved its goal. We had rescued Xue Shuo and his mother and sealed the One - Eyed Buddha Mother. As long as we fulfilled her wish for revenge with her own hands, I could send her to the Underworld. Then, it would depend on how much sin she had committed when facing the judgment of the Ten Kings of Hell...
When Si Jiangchen and I were going down the mountain, the great master Zhebu of Hongluo Temple personally led his disciples to perform a grand ceremony to see us off at the mountain gate.
I felt a bit embarrassed, but Si Jiangchen seemed to be used to this kind of occasion. He whispered in my ear, "Xiao He, you're the savior of Hongluo Temple. Even the Bodhisattva they worship should thank you. What's it to accept their bowing?"
Because Danba had colluded with other temple monks and secretly turned Hongluo Temple into a place full of all kinds of desires and evils. If we hadn't assisted the police in destroying the secret chambers of those evil gods underground this time, I'm afraid more monks in Hongluo Temple would have been involved, and more people would have died here!
Although the road up the mountain had been blocked by the police, when we were going down the mountain, we could still see countless pilgrims lighting incense and candles by the roadside, devoutly kowtowing towards the golden top of Hongluo Temple.
At this time, my phone rang. When I took it out, I saw that the red dot on Zhao Zifeng's WeChat avatar was constantly refreshing.
"Xiao He, are you going to Green City? Xixi is going to have a full - moon banquet. I'm afraid there will be some trouble!!"
As soon as I unlocked my phone screen, Zhao Zifeng's messages flooded in!