382: There is only one sun in the East Factory! Mingfo Temple!

Chapter 376: The Eastern Depot Has Only One Sun! Ming Fo Temple!

Eunuch Cao had completely lost his usual sinister composure; his pale face was plastered with fawning smiles, and even his bowing etiquette was in disarray.

He practically lunged forward to receive the imperial edict, his waist bent almost in half, “Grand Eunuch Yi, Old Ancestor, you’ve worked hard!”

Eunuch Cao’s voice was sickeningly sweet, “To think such a small matter would trouble Old Ancestor to personally make a trip. Your grandson is truly… truly…”

As he spoke, he even pulled out a brocade pouch from his sleeve. Judging by its weight, it contained at least a hundred taels of gold.

One must know that ordinarily, even as the head of the Eastern Depot’s Thirteen Grand Eunuchs, Eunuch Cao still had to respectfully address this Grand Eunuch as “Old Ancestor.”

Grand Eunuch Yi weighed the brocade pouch with a half-smile. Then, his peripheral vision caught Lu Xuan, who sat as steady as a mountain in the hall.

Within the Great Yu Empire’s inner court, he was indeed nominally the “Old Ancestor” of all eunuchs.

But who didn’t know… the true King of Hell was this Eastern Depot Director, who didn't even bother to raise his eyes when the Grand Eunuch himself appeared.

“Commander Cao, you’re too kind.”

Grand Eunuch Yi deliberately raised his voice, “This one is merely delivering a message. How can it compare to your Prefect…”

He suddenly changed the subject, his whisk lightly sweeping across Eunuch Cao’s fawning face: “Your Majesty also has an oral decree—”

Grand Eunuch Yi’s deliberately drawn-out tone was like a dull knife cutting flesh, “The Eastern Depot’s recent… activities in the capital… have been too grand.”

“It offends the heavens!”

The last four words were like a basin of ice water poured into the hall.

The Eastern Depot's agents, who had been secretly rejoicing just moments before, instantly turned ashen—

Who didn’t know that a few days ago, they had practically turned the capital upside down?

Many of those forcibly entered residences belonged to Your Majesty’s trusted ministers…

“Your Majesty said…”

Grand Eunuch Yi narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the pale faces of the Twelve Grand Eunuchs, “It’s time… to… rein it in.”

The last three words were as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds.

This clearly indicated that the Emperor was truly enraged by the Eastern Depot’s recent reckless actions and demanded that their people immediately cease all activities.

“Mm.”

Lu Xuan simply responded with a faint sound, the clear clink of the celadon teacup against the sandalwood table echoing through the hall.

This single, simple word instantly froze Grand Eunuch Yi’s aged face.

He had come bearing an imperial decree; how could he have expected such a dismissive response?

The air in the hall seemed to solidify.

The several grand eunuchs behind Grand Eunuch Yi exchanged glances, cold sweat already beading on their temples.

They had served before the Emperor for many years, yet this was the first time they had seen anyone dare to respond to the imperial will in such a manner.

The Lao Jiahuo’s change was quite significant.

Grand Eunuch Yi’s cloudy old eyes narrowed slightly, and a meaningful smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

He had served two emperors and witnessed the rise and fall of too many powerful eunuchs who held sway over the court.

But the change in this arrogant and formidable Eastern Depot Director still secretly startled him.

“Lord Lu…”

Grand Eunuch Yi drew out his words, his whisk gently sweeping over the hem of his crimson palace robe, “After many days, your Qi cultivation… tsk tsk, this one truly cannot compare.”

These words sounded like flattery, but in reality, every word carried a barb.

Everyone in the hall heard the hidden meaning—how could that Devil Head, who used to readily cause bloodshed in the court, be so indifferent to an imperial edict now?

Was it truly self-cultivation… or did he have other intentions?

The wrinkles on Grand Eunuch Yi’s face blossomed like chrysanthemums, his smile seemingly hiding countless secrets.

His hunched figure leaned slightly forward, and his withered fingertips lightly traced a line in the Void Realm—

In an instant, a furious wind erupted in the main hall, and an invisible, chilling Internal Energy, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, shot directly at Lu Xuan’s face!

This was the inner court’s secret “Yin Wind Finger,” specifically designed to break through various Protective Auras.

“This one only hopes…”

Grand Eunuch Yi’s voice suddenly became ethereal and eerie, “that I can still see the Director in such glory next time…”

Before his words finished, Lu Xuan merely raised his eyes slightly.

In that instant, the temperature of the entire hall plummeted. Grand Eunuch Yi’s sinister finger strike actually froze in mid-air, shattering to the ground with a “clatter.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

Lu Xuan’s fingertips lightly tapped the armrest, each tap like a funeral bell tolling in everyone’s hearts, “Grand Eunuch Yi is advanced in years; it would be better… to worry more about his own lifespan.”

Upon hearing this, the smile on Grand Eunuch Yi’s face instantly froze, and the fingers in his sleeve trembled uncontrollably.

Only then did he realize that his fingers… were covered with a thin layer of frost, he knew not when.

“Great… Grandmaster?”

Grand Eunuch Yi’s cloudy pupils suddenly constricted, and the veins on the back of his age-spotted hands bulged.

He knew better than anyone—when they met half a month ago, this Lao Jiahuo was clearly still stuck at Grandmaster Perfection!

How, in just over ten days…

No wonder he dared to treat the imperial edict with such disdain; no wonder he could casually neutralize his “Yin Wind Finger.”

It turned out this Old Man had quietly crossed that chasm!

Like himself, he had become one of the few Great Grandmaster experts in the Great Yu Empire.

“Heh heh heh…”

Grand Eunuch Yi suddenly let out a dry laugh like a night owl, his hunched back bending even further, “Lord Lu truly is… deeply hidden…”

He subtly took half a step back. The most urgent task now was to return to the palace immediately!

Grand Eunuch Yi suppressed the shock in his heart, straightening his hunched body slightly. His crimson palace robe billowed without wind: “Lord Lu, with the imperial command upon me, I shall take my leave.”

He flicked his whisk and walked away without looking back, as if he had made some kind of decision.

“Go!”

This sharp shout startled the stunned crowd.

Most of the people present had not even been able to clearly see what had happened during that lightning-fast confrontation.

They only vaguely felt that—Grand Eunuch Yi, who had always been unfathomable, now left with a hint of panic in his retreating figure.

The most awkward were the accompanying eunuchs, each lowering their heads to stare at their shoelaces, wishing they could bury their heads in their chests.

The less one knew about conflicts between the Old Ancestor and Lord Lu, the longer one lived…

And Eunuch Cao was even more disgraceful.

This fellow actually trotted after Grand Eunuch Yi with a face full of smiles, forgetting even the most basic courtesies of taking leave.

It wasn't until he stepped out of the threshold that he suddenly seemed to remember something, turning back to meet Lu Xuan’s half-smiling gaze—

Eunuch Cao felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze. He scrambled to catch up with Grand Eunuch Yi’s entourage, looking like a stray dog wagging its tail and begging for scraps.

Inside the hall, the remaining eleven Grand Eunuchs slowly rose, their expressions complex as they watched Eunuch Cao’s retreating figure.

As the saying goes, those involved are confused, while bystanders are clear!

Everyone knew in their hearts—in this Eastern Depot, the sky could be black, the ground could be red, but there could only ever be one sun.

Even if one was deeply favored by Your Majesty, one still had to remember one’s own identity.

As one of the Eastern Depot’s Thirteen Grand Eunuchs, Eunuch Cao could only be an adopted father’s dog for life.

Half a day later, Ming Fo Temple, ten li outside the capital!

Outside Ming Fo Temple, the green mountains were like painted brows, and the sound of bells resonated melodiously.

More than a dozen guest-reception monks stood with palms pressed together, smiling as they greeted the endless stream of pilgrims.

The stone steps in front of the mountain gate were moistened by the morning dew, gleaming with a gentle luster in the sunlight.

Suddenly—a commotion erupted from below the mountain.

Dozens of pilgrims were seen with ashen faces, as if they had seen a ghost, desperately scrambling up the mountain.

Some didn't even bother with their lost shoes, while others even used their hands and feet to climb the stone steps.

Even more alarming was that several warrior monks, who should have been guarding the mountain base, were also mixed in with the crowd.

They vied with each other, performing light footwork, and in a few leaps, they were already ahead, jumping onto the mountain gate.

“Senior Brother, something terrible has happened! A large group of people suddenly appeared down the mountain!” The warrior monk in the lead approached the gate in a panic.

After speaking, his body continued to tremble uncontrollably.

“Oh?”

Master Huibao, who was responsible for greeting guests, paused slightly in his hand that was twirling prayer beads, “So many people have come? A gathering of pilgrims, isn’t that a grand event for our Buddhist sect?”

He smiled as he looked towards the mountain path, as if he could already see the glorious scene of Ming Fo Temple’s flourishing incense and its elevation to a state religion.

“Se-Senior Brother, it’s the Eastern Depot’s hounds!”

Another warrior monk’s voice changed pitch in his urgency. His fingers clutched his Senior Brother’s monastic robe tightly, “They stretch as far as the eye can see, all carrying weapons!”

The smile on Master Huibao’s face instantly froze.

Only then did he notice that those “pilgrims” were all pale-faced, and the swaddling clothes of several women’s infants had been torn by thorns.

“Quick… quick, ring the alarm bell!” Master Cibao suddenly pushed open the mountain gate, his voice like thunder, “You are responsible for getting all pilgrims into the temple immediately! Hurry!”

No sooner had his words fallen than a flock of birds startled from the forest below the mountain.

Immediately after, a troop of black-clad cavalry, like a dark cloud pressing down, their Embroidered Uniform Guard blades glinting so sharply it was hard to open one’s eyes.

All talk of a national religion and grand aspirations now seemed like a joke. These Eastern Depot Devil Heads were clearly here to annihilate the temple!

At the end of the mountain path, dust billowed.

A dark, python-patterned official sedan chair slowly advanced, surrounded by sixteen strong porters.

The Eastern Depot emblem embedded on the sedan chair’s roof gleamed with a cold metallic luster in the sunlight.

The sedan curtain hung low, vaguely revealing a tall figure seated within.

Although the person himself had not appeared, he had already silenced all the birds in the entire mountain forest.

On either side of the official sedan chair, the Eastern Depot’s Twelve Grand Eunuchs stood in a line, with Eunuch Cao naturally not among them.

These terrifying figures, whose names made the whole Jianghu tremble, were all present today.

They were uniformly dressed in white Eastern Depot agent uniforms, with gilded tokens hanging from their waists swaying with their steps, and the morning dew on their Embroidered Uniform Guard scabbards had not yet dried.

Even more chilling was the dark, dense formation behind the official sedan chair.

Brocade Guard’s three Chief Commanders personally led the elite of Brocade Guard, pouring out en masse.

The Vermilion Bird Chief Commander wore a crimson robe like fire, carrying a pair of maces on his back, the flame patterns on the maces vivid in the sunlight.

The Azure Dragon Chief Commander’s gaze was sharp and cold, his soft sword at his waist coiled like a spiritual snake.

The White Tiger Chief Commander’s warhorse neighed, and the cold glint of his eight-foot long spear was chilling.

Apart from Commander Commander Shen Wanbao, who was feigning illness at home, and the Black Tortoise Chief Commander, who had been dealt with by Lu Xuan, the entire high-level combat force of Brocade Guard was present!

In front of the mountain gate, the wooden fish in the hands of a group of guest-reception monks dropped with a “thud.”

Such a formation, how could it be for offering incense? It was clearly to bathe the mountain gate in blood!

“Presumptuous! How dare you! Seeing the Director’s carriage arrive personally, how dare you keep the mountain gate tightly shut?!”

Upon seeing the Ming Fo Temple gate tightly closed, the Eastern Depot’s Twelve Grand Eunuchs roared in unison.

The rolling sound waves, like thunder from the Nine Heavens, exploded on the bluestone path outside Ming Fo Temple.

Cao Er, in the lead, his Embroidered Uniform Guard blade clanged half an inch from its scabbard, its cold light reflecting in the stone lions’ eyes at the temple front, making them appear to bleed.

No sooner had his words fallen than twelve black figures shot into the air like arrows released from a bowstring.

Cao Er and his comrades were clad in silver-white tight-fitting attire, the golden-threaded flying fish patterns on their coattails swirling in mid-air, like twelve dormant venomous snakes suddenly awakening.

The twelve lightly tapped the treetops with their toes, snapping branches in their wake, and the Qi waves stirred by their profound Internal Energy lifted the copper bells on the eaves.

In the next instant, twelve streams of Grandmaster-level Protective Aura violently collided in mid-air, like twelve mountains collapsing simultaneously.

The invisible force twisted into a vortex of Qi in the Void Realm, sweeping all surrounding fallen leaves and dust into it, forming a three-zhang diameter sphere of Chaos Qi.

With a roar that shattered the clouds, the two large agarwood doors, each thick enough for two men to embrace, exploded.

The flying wood splinters, imbued with sharp Internal Energy, actually gouged out dense, bowl-sized holes in the screen wall in front of the temple.

And the warrior monks blocking the door were struck as if by divine wrath.

The grey-robed warrior monk in the lead, holding a Zen staff, was hit directly by the Qi wave without even managing to execute half a move.

His chest caved in like a broken drum, and the blood mist spewing from his throat drew a crimson arc in the air.

Three more warrior monks were torn to shreds by the Qi, their internal organs mixed with minced meat raining down, staining the mottled stone steps into a scene of Hell.

The other warrior monks were not spared either; some were sent flying several zhang by the Qi wave, crashing heavily against the corridor pillars, the sound of their bones shattering echoing one after another.

Others vomited blood, collapsing to the ground and convulsing uncontrollably, their eyes filled with despair and terror.

The smell of blood mixed with the fragrance of agarwood permeated the air, and the murderous aura in front of Ming Fo Temple was even more terrifying than the eighteen layers of Hell.

“A sin, a sin!”

In the nick of time, the main contingent of Ming Fo Temple finally arrived.

“Amitabha, when anger arises, the fires of karma ignite; this is a great calamity for the human world…” The low Buddhist chant vibrated like a great bell, rippling through the scattered limbs and blood mist.

The grey-robed monks of Ming Fo Temple surged forward like a tide, their kasayas fluttering as they reached the mountain gate.

The white-haired Old Monk in the lead was Master Bei Feng, the abbot of Ming Fo Temple.

He slowly walked out, leaning on his nine-ringed tin staff, the golden swastika symbols embroidered on his deep red kasaya gleaming faintly with each step.

Master Bei Feng looked at the devastation on the ground, his benevolent brows slightly furrowed, and the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes seemed to hold centuries of compassion.

This Old Monk suddenly pressed his palms together and, amidst the cold gazes of the Eastern Depot, sat down in the pool of blood to chant scriptures.

His withered knuckles gently stroked the prayer beads; with each bead he moved, a Sanskrit sound transformed into an invisible ripple, seemingly truly delivering the souls of the dead from the sea of suffering.

“Is this the abbot of Ming Fo Temple?”

Someone among the Twelve Grand Eunuchs chuckled softly, though his hand unconsciously tightened on his Embroidered Uniform Guard scabbard.

Rumors in the Jianghu claimed that this seemingly frail Old Monk might be the strongest person in the world.

At this moment, Master Bei Feng’s aura was as contained as an abyss, yet it caused the hair on the back of the Twelve Grand Eunuchs’ necks to stand on end.

Within the seemingly calm Buddha light around him, a world-shaking power capable of purifying the firmament seemed to lie dormant.

“Old Monk, do you regret showing mercy that day?”

Cao Shi, dragging his still-unhealed right arm, walked to the front of the formation, beside himself with glee.

His twisted face was full of ferocity, and his single eye gleamed with a morbid excitement.

With his adopted father presiding today, he feared no one, not even the Heavenly King!

“Today, I shall make your Ming Fo Temple…”

Cao Shi suddenly tore open his robe, revealing the savage Buddhist palm print on his chest, “Pay for the blood debt!”