511: Chapter 511 There really is a secret passage!

Abbess Jingci's expression suddenly changed.

"Donor Ye, what do you mean by that?"

"My Qingyin Nunnery is merely a place of quiet cultivation. We have always been law-abiding and never associate with the outside world, let alone kidnapping."

"As for the friend you mentioned, and the item you spoke of..."

"I truly have no knowledge of them."

"Could there be some misunderstanding?"

Ye Chen couldn't help but laugh when he saw her innocent act.

"Misunderstanding?"

"My friend is named Bai Shanshan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Xiamen City Municipal Bureau."

"My item is a buddha head, roughly this big."

He gestured with his hands. "Abbess, are you sure you haven't seen them?"

Abbess Jingci's expression didn't change at all as she simply shook her head slightly. "I truly have never seen them."

She wasn't lying.

She really hadn't seen them.

Could it be...

Someone was framing them?

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes. "Then what if I find them... what will you do?"

Abbess Jingci fell silent.

The nuns behind her looked at each other, and whispers began to spread through the crowd.

Ye Chen didn't rush her; he just stood there, waiting for Abbess Jingci's answer.

The atmosphere remained at a standstill for about a dozen breaths.

Abbess Jingci finally spoke.

"Donor Ye, if you truly can find the friend and the item you mentioned within Qingyin Nunnery..."

"I am willing to cooperate with the investigation and will not shirk responsibility."

Hearing this, Ye Chen nodded with a smile. "Then let's begin."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and walked straight toward the main gate of Qingyin Nunnery.

Abbess Jingci's expression shifted slightly, but she quickly stepped aside to make way.

The nuns behind her parted automatically like a tide; no one dared to stop him, and no one dared to speak out.

Bai Wanqing followed behind him.

The two of them passed through the mountain gate and entered Qingyin Nunnery.

Qingyin Nunnery wasn't large, but its layout was very orderly.

The front hall enshrined Guanyin Bodhisattva; incense smoke curled through the air, which was filled with the scent of sandalwood.

Beyond the front hall was a courtyard where several ancient pines grew. Stone tables and stools were set under the trees, looking clean and tidy, showing that someone took great care of the place daily.

On both sides of the courtyard were wing rooms with doors and windows tightly shut, quiet and still.

Ye Chen didn't stop in the front hall or the courtyard; he walked straight through the courtyard toward the backyard.

Abbess Jingci followed behind him, her expression unreadable.

A large crowd of nuns followed behind them as well, but no one dared to get too close, trailing far behind while whispers rose and fell.

But...

The scene in the backyard was completely different from the front.

If the front courtyard was what a place of quiet cultivation should look like, then the backyard was a desolate ruin.

The path was pitted and uneven, with weeds growing in the cracks.

The buildings on both sides were mostly low, single-story houses with mottled walls; some had even partially collapsed, revealing the rotting wooden beams inside.

Abbess Jingci caught up and stood beside Ye Chen, explaining.

"Donor Ye, this is the former residential area of Qingyin Nunnery."

"Years ago, when there were many people in the nunnery, these rooms were all occupied."

"Later, as the numbers gradually dwindled, these rooms were abandoned. We haven't had the chance to renovate them yet."

"If Donor Ye is looking for something here, I'm afraid you will be disappointed."

"These rooms have been empty for a long time."

Ye Chen didn't respond, nor did he stop.

He only came to a halt when he reached the third room.

Then.

He turned his head and glanced at Abbess Jingci.

"Open this one."

Abbess Jingci frowned slightly. "Donor Ye, these rooms are all empty. There's nothing to see..."

"Open it."

Ye Chen's face showed signs of impatience.

The surrounding nuns looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

They didn't understand why this young man insisted on looking at this particular room.

This room looked exactly like the other abandoned ones next to it, perhaps even more dilapidated.

A middle-aged nun in her forties stepped out from the crowd.

She was clutching a bunch of keys.

"Abbess..."

Abbess Jingci looked at her and finally spoke: "Do as he says."

The middle-aged nun took a deep breath, stepped forward quickly, and crouched down before the mottled wooden door.

She rummaged through the large ring of keys for a while before finding a black, old-fashioned key and inserting it into the lock.

"Click."

The lock opened.

The middle-aged nun pushed the door open and stepped aside.

The moment the door opened, a damp, musty smell wafted out, making people frown.

The room was very dark; there were no windows, only the bit of light that filtered in from the doorway.

Ye Chen and the other person walked straight in.

Abbess Jingci stood at the door, not entering, just watching quietly.

The nuns gathered outside, craning their necks to peer inside, their whispers rising and falling.

"There's nothing inside..."

"Exactly, it's empty. There isn't even a stool."

"What on earth is this young man looking for?"

"Who knows? Maybe he's mistaken?"

...

To the side, Abbess Jingci also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She was truly worried that a person would suddenly appear here; if that happened...

Things would be impossible to explain.

The Chief Instructor of the Dragon Group was not someone a minor nun like her could compare to.

She took a deep breath before saying, "Donor Ye, as you can see, there is no one here."

Ye Chen ignored her, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.

The room wasn't large, about twenty square meters. The walls were made of rough stone, and the floor was paved with blue bricks, with a few clusters of dried moss growing in the cracks.

There really was nothing.

It was completely empty—not a table or a chair, let alone any buddha head or Bai Shanshan.

Bai Wanqing's brow furrowed tightly as she instinctively looked at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's face remained expressionless as his gaze fell upon the center of the room's floor.

There sat a buddha statue covered with a golden silk cloth.

The cloth was large, covering the statue completely from head to toe, leaving only a small section of the stone base visible at the edge.

A thin layer of dust had accumulated on the golden silk cloth; it had clearly been sitting here for some time.

Ye Chen paid no mind to the whispers.

He walked straight to the center of the room and stood before the buddha statue covered in golden silk.

Then.

He reached out, grabbed a corner of the cloth, and gave it a sharp tug.

The golden cloth slid off, revealing the true appearance of the statue beneath.

It was a half-person-tall stone-carved buddha statue with a kind and benevolent face. Its hands were held before its chest, palms facing upward as if holding something.

But at the moment, those palms were empty; there was nothing there.

Ye Chen glanced down at the base of the statue, then looked up at the surrounding walls, and suddenly spoke calmly.

"Is there a secret path beneath the buddha statue?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.

The nuns at the door were stunned at first, then they all began to shake their heads.

"A secret path? How is that possible?"

"This room has been abandoned for so many years. Where would a secret path come from?"

"Exactly. If there were a secret path, how could we not know about it?"

Abbess Jingci stood at the door, her hands pressed together in prayer, and spoke with a calm expression.

"Donor Ye, I have practiced here at Qingyin Nunnery my entire life; I grew up playing in this backyard since I was a child."

"I know every room and every small path like the back of my hand."

"There truly is no secret path beneath this room."

Her tone was certain and her gaze was steady, showing not the slightest hint of a guilty conscience.

Ye Chen turned his head and looked at her, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Won't we know once we open it and see?"

Abbess Jingci's brow furrowed slightly, and she was just about to say something.

The next second.

Ye Chen suddenly raised his right hand and made a grasping motion with his fingers.

An invisible suction force suddenly erupted from his palm!

The long sword hanging at the waist of a young nun at the door was suddenly yanked by an unseen hand, flying out along with its scabbard with a "whoosh!"

The young nun cried out in alarm and instinctively reached for it, but only caught a handful of air.

The long sword traced an arc through the air and landed steadily in Ye Chen's hand.

"Donor! You—"

Abbess Jingci's face changed drastically, and she was about to stop him.

Ye Chen had already gripped the hilt and drawn the long sword from its scabbard.

A cold light flashed as the blade was unsheathed.

Then.

He gave a casual wave, slashing down toward the stone-carved buddha statue.

No gathering of strength.

No running start.

There wasn't even the slightest warning.

Just a casual, light wave.

A golden sword qi shot out from the blade, carrying a sharp whistle that tore through the air, and struck the buddha statue hard!

Boom!!!

A loud explosion rang out, and stone fragments flew everywhere!

Under this strike, the half-person-tall stone buddha statue was sliced cleanly in two right down the middle, as if it were made of tofu!

The head, torso, and hands of the statue collapsed to both sides, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The nuns at the door were pushed back by the shockwave; some cried out in surprise, some covered their ears, and some stared with eyes so wide their mouths could fit an egg.

The dust gradually settled.

Everyone's gaze fell upon the original position of the buddha statue.

Then.

They saw it...

After the statue was split open, what was revealed was not a solid stone base, but a pitch-black tunnel entrance.

The opening was about three feet square, just enough for one person to pass through.

The inside was dark and seemingly bottomless.

A secret path.

There really was a secret path.