"Why are you disturbing her sleep? The little one rarely gets to sleep in..."
Liu Chuchen frowned and tried to stop Shen Weixun, but before he could finish his words, he was shouted back by Shen Weixun.
"Shut up! Come and feel Niannian for yourself!"
Shen Weixun still didn't give up on waking Niannian. Logically speaking, with all the commotion he'd made, the little dumpling should have woken up long ago. But there was not a single sound from her.
Liu Chuchen reached out his hand curiously and touched the little dumpling's arm. Just one touch sent an electric shock-like feeling through his whole body.
"What's going on? Why is Niannian's body so cold?"
At this moment, the little dumpling's body temperature was as cold as a dead person's.
That was definitely not a normal body temperature.
Moreover, as cultivators, they naturally had a strong yang energy. Normally, their body temperature should be higher than that of ordinary people.
It was impossible to reach such a low temperature.
Liu Chuchen shifted his gaze to Niannian's chest and found that the little dumpling's chest had stopped rising and falling at some point.
He checked her breath and pulse.
Both were completely still.
At this moment, Niannian had clearly become a cold corpse.
But she surely wasn't dead.
"Did her soul leave her body?"
Liu Chuchen tried his best to stay calm and asked.
"No, Niannian's soul is still in her body. I suspect she had this symptom last night, which is why she can't wake up today. Hurry and take Niannian to Master. Maybe Master can figure out what's wrong."
After shaking the little dumpling for a long time and failing to wake her up, Shen Weixun quickly picked her up from the bed.
He didn't bother with the door and just jumped from the second floor. He climbed over the wall and rushed to Master at the fastest speed.
Daoist Qingyun was stunned when he saw his third disciple in such a hurry.
Then he looked at Niannian in his arms and his eyes widened in shock.
"What have you been hiding from me? Why has Niannian's lifespan been drained?!"
Daoist Qingyun could tell at a glance what was wrong with Niannian.
The little dumpling wasn't dead, but someone had drained her lifespan.
The length of Niannian's coma was exactly the length of the lifespan that had been drained from her.
This kind of method was more likely the work of a spirit monster.
It was definitely beyond the capabilities of a human's spell.
"We didn't go anywhere. Last night..."
Shen Weixun quickly told him what had happened last night. After listening, Daoist Qingyun raised his hand and was about to hit him.
The slap landed heavily on the back of Shen Weixun's head.
He roared angrily, "Can you two inform me, your master, before you go and do something? Do you even consider me as a living person? I'm still alive!
And when he wanted to give his merits to those spirit beasts, you just watched? You even agreed?
Have you forgotten what you saw when you first entered this place? Why were those people staring blankly and huddled in the corner motionless? It was because they were unconsciously having their lifespan drained by the evil statues and spirit beasts! Using blood as nourishment was to stimulate the evil nature of the spirit beasts!
Do you think they're just ordinary cats and dogs? Giving away your merits would just make you feel a bit of pain and that's it?
After they absorbed the merits given by Niannian, they unconsciously established a connection with her. While absorbing the lifespan of others, they were also unconsciously absorbing Niannian's!
It's only because Niannian has a high cultivation level and a strong soul and body that she's still alive. Otherwise, she'd probably be cold by now!"
Daoist Qingyun was almost driven crazy by his two reckless disciples.
If he had known about this, he would never have let these two kids go. Even if he had gone with them, he would never have allowed Niannian to give her merits to those spirit beasts.
Doing so was just like sending her to her death.
"What should we do then?"
Shen Weixun felt that he really deserved that slap. He even wanted to slap himself a couple more times.
He thought highly of himself, believing that he was well-informed, read a lot, and had a quick mind. He thought he could plan everything perfectly.
It was precisely because of this arrogant attitude that he didn't think things through last night.
That's how he had harmed Niannian.
If he could, he would even like to give his own lifespan to Niannian or directly take her suffering instead.
Daoist Qingyun had always seen how much his disciples doted on the little dumpling, so he only taught them verbally.
He knew that Shen Weixun didn't do it on purpose. After this happened, he was probably more sad than anyone else.
Finally, he let out a long sigh and said, "There are two ways. One is to destroy all the evil statues that have absorbed Niannian's merits. As for the spirit beasts inside, don't worry about them. Whether they live or die depends on their own fortune. But I reckon that once the evil statues are destroyed, they probably won't survive either.
The second way is to steal all these statues back and release the spirit beasts one by one in a gentle way. This way, we can ensure their survival and also ask them to return Niannian's lifespan. For Niannian, it's all benefits and no drawbacks."
Obviously, the second way that Daoist Qingyun mentioned was the best choice, but also the most difficult one.
Not to mention how troublesome it would be to release the spirit beasts one by one later, just stealing all these evil statues back would be full of difficulties.
But they had to do it no matter how difficult it was.
Shen Weixun didn't believe that he couldn't buy that temple with money.
There's no such thing as an airtight wall in this world.
Among the people working in the temple, as long as there's one who can be tempted by the benefits, they can secretly transport all those statues back.
Shen Weixun quickly took out his phone and told the butler to handle the matter.
The butler heard that this matter was related to Niannian's life, so he handled it quickly and efficiently.
He called back in less than half an hour.
But the news he brought was not good.
The butler did manage to bribe someone with money, and that person really wanted the reward.
But in the end, that person still didn't agree.
The reason was that all the things underground had been transferred this morning.
They were transported to the imperial capital. As for the rest, he didn't know.
"Search! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must find them!"
Finally, Shen Weixun said the domineering CEO line that the butler had been waiting for.
But now the butler didn't have the mood to act like a drama queen.
He had already sent people to look for the whereabouts of the Evil God Alley, but he still hadn't received any news.
The people transporting the evil statues were very cautious and left not a single trace.
It was very likely that they had used some kind of metaphysical means, or else they wouldn't have disappeared so completely.
"Master, we have to go to the imperial capital."
Shen Weixun couldn't wait any longer.
He remembered the news that Liu Chuchen had brought back.
Maybe the Holy Cult really had advanced the time of the banquet.
The small auction to be held at the Golden Tripod Hotel next week was very likely related to the Holy Cult. The auction items whose information couldn't be found were probably those evil statues.
Even if he was completely wrong, it didn't matter.
The butler would continue to investigate.
They would do both at the same time and not miss a single detail.