Chapter 8o: Chapter 080: Storage Ring

The practitioner wailed for quite some time, but no matter who questioned him, he wouldn’t say a word. He just kept holding his head and begging Yang Zhen not to eat him, not to eat him.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Several elders and sect leaders from the Great Sect exchanged glances, their faces as dark as water.

“What kind of terrifying ordeal did this disciple go through to be so frightened?” an older, stern middle-aged man asked in a deep voice.

“Tsk tsk, even his wooden tag has been crushed to pieces. He must have experienced something horrifying to be so terrified.”

“He mentioned… Yang Zhen?” The middle-aged gentleman flashed a stern look in his eyes, fixating on the young practitioner. Then he sighed, squatted down, and revealed a faint, breezy smile that was extremely affable, making people feel as though they were bathing in a warm spring breeze.

Under the influence of such a smile, some of the powerful individuals around felt that this middle-aged gentleman lived up to his title, embodying elegance and a considerable aura, with extraordinary refinement and impressive strength.

The middle-aged gentleman patted the young practitioner’s shoulder gently and said in a mild manner, “Don’t be afraid, young friend. I’m an elder from the Heartless Sect, known as the Heartless Gentleman. Calm down and tell me what happened… okay?”

People couldn’t help but nod in agreement, the middle-aged gentleman’s smooth and soothing voice seemed to emanate a calming aura. It was clear that he had put a lot of effort into this skill.

In such a situation, only somebody who could comfort the young practitioner this way was capable of pulling him out of his personal demons.

The Heartless Gentleman was quite confident that even someone completely trapped by their fears and unable to extricate themselves, he could gradually help them escape their mental bonds. That was why while the Heartless Sect’s cultivation methods were mostly strange and terrifying, there weren’t many who were left bearing indelible inner demons.

Everyone was waiting for the young practitioner to recover under the comfort of the Heartless Gentleman, but when the young practitioner took a peek at him through his fingers and immediately shrieked out, “Ghost!”

The more the Heartless Gentleman tried to comfort him, the worse things got, the young practitioner started shivering on the ground.

A bald, thin monk stood beside the Heartless Gentleman, frowning impatiently, “This kid’s mental state is too fragile. I wonder what sect he belongs to; he’s really disgraceful.

The Heartless Gentleman was taken aback and showed an awkward expression. He got up after sighing and shaking his head, “Strange, what kind of horrifying event could have occurred in the second layer of the Nine Realms Exquisite Tower? Could it be that the Nine-layer World has undergone some change, leading to a disaster on the second layer?”

The bald, skinny monk stared at the young practitioner, a sense of foreboding flickered in his eyes and his heart was filled with annoyance. After giving a glance at the Heartless Gentleman he said, “Let me handle this!

The Heartless Gentleman nodded and said, “Please, master.

Everyone looked at the bald, skinny monk with curiosity, wondering what he planned to do.

“Rumor has it that the chants from the Lachan Temple are enlightening. We might be fortunate enough to receive the blessing of Master Kuto.

“Indeed, he is a great enlightened monk. Just a single look from him makes me feel as though my soul has been uplifted.”

“Shh! Friend, keep your voice down!”

“Why, are you afraid that I’ll disturb Master Kuto in the spread of his chant?”

“No, I want to remind you, it’s useless!”

“You…”

“Shut up, the master is about to save someone!1

Seeing the serious expression on the face of the bald, skinny monk, everyone immediately ceased their discussion, staring at him with anticipation.

The bald, skinny monk revealed a peculiar expression. He squatted down in front of the curled up practitioner, patted his shoulder, and was about to say something, showing a compassionate smile that embodied the essence of Buddhist principles, when the practitioner suddenly rolled his eyes back and screamed. He fell backward with a thud, fainting.

People:”???”

The bald, skinny monk had just opened his mouth, and his compassionate smile which carried the essence of Buddhist principles hadn’t even fully blossomed, when it slowly froze. An expression known as embarrassment gradually crept over his face.

“This… Master, did you send him to the afterlife?” Someone next to him couldn’t help asking.

The corner of the bald, skinny monk’s mouth twitched, and his eye followed suit.

Help hell! Didn’t you see that I didn’t even open my mouth? How did I help him? With my gaze?

The bald, skinny monk turned his puzzled face towards the Heartless Gentleman, “This… could it be that this layman encountered some kind of terrifying inner demon related to me?”

The Heartless Gentleman’s expression changed and replied by shaking his head, “He keeps crying out for Yang Zhen not to eat him. It has to be related to Yang Zhen. How could it be related to you, master? Someone, wake him up!” Both of them had a hard time managing to wake the practitioner up through pinching, slapping, and splashing cold water. Before he could start crying out, they Slapped him again, grabbed him by the collar and said, “Fuck, look carefully, there’s no Yang Zhen here and no ghosts!”

It took a while for the practitioner to come to his senses; seeing the skull monk sent shivers down his spine.

The skull monk’s frustration increased. Staring at the practitioner, he asked solemnly, “Did you encounter a lama like me in the second-layer world?”

“1… 1 did…” A flicker of horror flashed in the practitioner’s eyes.

-How was he?” Fear gripped the skull monk, who intently asked the practitioner.

The practitioner cried out, clutching his head in agony, “Eaten, he was eaten, eaten by Yang Zhen…”

Once these words were spoken, everyone in attendance drew in a breath and widened their eyes in shock.

“Vermin, tell the truth! How could Yang Zhen eat people, let alone a lama from my Lachan Temple?” The skull monk squatted on the ground, glaring at the practitioner.

It took the practitioner quite some time to escape from his inner demons. Upon hearing the monk’s words, he rolled his eyes, “How would I know? Yang Zhen is a devil, a man-eater, he really eats people!”

Seeing that the practitioner was on the verge of another breakdown, everyone quickly tried to calm him down.

Taking a deep breath, the practitioner began to relate what he had witnessed: “Earlier, I was hurrying on my way…”

“Get to the point!” demanded the skull monk as his eye twitched.

“I’m getting there. What’s the rush?” The practitioner gave the skull monk an annoyed look; now, he wasn’t so scared.

With so many practitioners of the Golden Core Stage and several elders from the Nascent Soul Stage present, the skull monk surely wouldn’t dare to kill recklessly.

After giving the skull monk a purposeful glare, the practitioner continued with lingering fear, “I was on my way when I suddenly heard a fight. Without thinking, I looked up and saw Yang Zhen chopping off a lama’s arm!” -What?” The skull monk trembled all over; a murderous intention flashed „ across his eyes, chilling the entire crowd, “What did you say? Say it again?” The practitioner glanced sidelong at the skull monk and said fearfully, “Monk, don’t frighten me, compared to Yang Zhen, you’re actually quite adorable!”

Adorable?

Although angered, the skull monk couldn’t help but almost burst into laughter. He then coldly asked, “What did Yang Zhen do to scare you like this?” Trembling all over, the practitioner muttered, “Yang Zhen… He’s a devil, a cannibal… He chopped off that lama’s arm, his eyes turned green, he looked excited. He picked up the arm and ran, laughing ‘hehehe’ as he went, as if… as if he was chewing on the arm. The lama was too pitiful, chasing after him, shouting… Let… Let go of my arm!”

The scene left the crowd horrified, especially with how vivid the practitioner imitated the screams of Yun Jie. Many of the more squeamish women turned pale and gasped in shock.

“Yang Zhen, that monster!” The skull monk was so angry that he stomped a giant hole in the ground.

In the crowd, Hua Youyue and Tan Fenglie exchanged weird glances.

Yang Zhen, a cannibal?

It sounded like a farce, utter nonsense. Yet, the practitioner’s account was too realistic; the image of Yang Zhen running while clutching and chewing on an arm was too vivid.

An autumn wind swept over, and everyone felt chilled to the bone, as if something were gnawing on their arms.

Meanwhile, in the second-layer world, Yang Zhen was squatting behind a large rock in a valley, joyously rubbing an old ring.

“Storage ring, wow, I didn’t expect these things to exist. Not bad, not bad, Yun Jie is richer than I thought. These are medications, charms… What kind of medicine is this?”

Staring in amazement at the small pink bottle in his hand, Yang Zhen expressed his disgust, “Gross, shameless! How could a monk carry such a thing? Good that I killed him. No, this cannot be exposed. It’s safer with me!” As he spoke, Yang Zhen slipped the small pink bottle into his pocket.

“I feel better now!”

Yang Zhen patted his chest, then suddenly heard a woman’s hysterical screams nearby.

“What’s going on?”

The sound was a woman’s shriek, which piqued Yang Zhen’s interest. Following the sound, he rushed towards its source..