Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen

In the afternoon, the Kumu Temple was silent, and the bright sunshine seemed to have failed to sweep away the haze that shrouded it. About half an hour ago, Junpei stopped breathing, and until the last moment, he still maintained the posture of sitting upright.Although he was already desperate, Shunping never gave up the life-and-death struggle with the "invisible demon" he described. His strong and tenacious character won Luo Fei's favor at the last moment of his life. After several hours of persistence, Junpei was finally defeated.Because of his high prestige and status in the temple, Shunping's death caused panic among the monks in the temple, and the legend and "demon" he described became so real because of his death.In everyone's imagination, the "demon" seems to be looking down on the lonely temple in the mountain without any restraint, looking for the next target to be devoured.

In this situation, in order to control the situation, Luo Fei told everyone to go back to his dormitory, and they were not allowed to visit or go out without special reasons.Kumusi Temple suddenly became lifeless. After dealing with all this, Luo Fei came to the abbot's empty bedroom.He sat in front of the table, staring at the pile of "headless grass" brought by Junping, lost in thought. Kong Jing sat on his bed far away, with an uneasy expression, and wanted to speak several times, but worried that he would disturb Luo Fei's thoughts. After a long time, Luo Fei picked out the fattest one among those plants, and held it in front of his eyes for a closer look.Although it has been away from the water for more than ten hours, its stems and leaves are still green and shiny, revealing a kind of vitality with a slightly strange color.

"Headless grass from 'Death Valley'." Luo Fei whispered to himself softly, "Are you really the devil's invitation?" Kong Jing on the side finally couldn't help but speak at this moment: "Director Luo, it's better not to touch this thing now, Shunping died for no apparent reason..." Luo Fei heard the subtext in Kong Jing's words. Originally, Shunping scared Shunde to death should only be an episode in the whole incident, but then Shunping died strangely. Touching these "headless grass" attracted the demons in "Death Valley".

Luo Fei put down the plants in his hand, looked at Kong Jing: "If you are really scared, I will help you take these things back to Kong Wang's room, anyway, I have already touched them." Kong Jing worried that Luo Fei would feel unhappy, moved her body uneasily, and said with a sad face: "Director Luo, don't blame me for being talkative, this matter is indeed a bit mysterious now, it is hard to say whether there are factors in the legend It exists." After a pause, he looked at Luo Fei and asked in a tentative tone, "When you were in Shunping's room just now, did you smell it?"

Luo Fei nodded, he knew what Kong Jing was talking about.When Junpei died, both of them went to check Junpei's breath.Like the corpses of Kong Wang and Hu Junkai, Shunping's body also had a faint strange smell.It seems that Kong Jing also noticed this at the time. "As soon as I smelled that smell, I remembered what happened twenty years ago. At that time, Kong Wang seemed to be possessed by a demon, but now, the demon has returned." Kong Jing's eyes flickered, showing the of fear. "The demon from twenty years ago?" Luo Fei followed Kong Jing's words, and lightly touched his chin, "Then how did this demon be subdued twenty years ago?"

Kong Jing was stunned for a moment, then murmured: "Perhaps only my master knows that the demon was sealed in the painting, but now it has been released again." Speaking of this, Kong Jing shook his head. Although these were conjectures in his mind, he himself felt that this explanation was a bit too bizarre. Luo Fei remained silent, he was walking along his own train of thought.Among the various mysteries that were originally like a thick fog, now there is a small bright spot. He seems to see the hope of illuminating the whole situation, but this bright spot is wrapped in several layers of tulle, flickering, erratic, It's elusive.

Suddenly, Shun He hurriedly pushed the door in, interrupting Luo Fei's thoughts. "Hurry up and have a look." He said breathlessly, "Shunhui and a few senior brothers are secretly going down the mountain." Kong Jing immediately stood up: "Going down the mountain? Why?" "They said...they said they couldn't stay in the monastery and wait to die." The little monk said while casting a trembling glance at Luo Fei. Luo Fei frowned: "Where are they now?" "It's already in the front yard." "What a mess!" Kong Jing hurriedly walked out the door, "Director Luo, don't worry, I will definitely call them back."

Luo Fei also stood up, and hurried to catch up with Kong Jing, while Shun He trotted ahead to lead the way. Soon, the three of them passed through the main hall and came to the front yard.Shun Hui and two other young monks were standing at the gate of the monastery and looking around, looking hesitant, as if they were waiting for something. Seeing Shun He bring Kong Jing and Luo Fei, Shun Hui and the others were obviously surprised.They had a quick discussion, then suddenly spread their legs and ran up the snow trail down the mountain. "Hurry up, stop them quickly and tell them not to run!" Kong Jing wished she could rush to the door in one step and catch up with these timid and blind guys. Shunhe.

Shun He chased them out with all his strength, stood at the mountain crossing and shouted loudly: "Brother, don't run away! The abbot tells you to come back!" However, Shunhui and the others didn't stop, but accelerated their pace down the mountain, without even turning their heads.Because the road was rough and wet, Shunhui also fell a somersault, but he got up immediately, it seemed that this pain was nothing compared to the fear of staying on the mountain.The other two also staggered, looking embarrassed. When Kong Jing rushed to the intersection of the downhill, panting, the three of Shunhui had already run for more than 50 meters along the mountain road, and it seemed that they could not catch up.

"The mountain road is blocked, what are you doing here!" Kong Jing looked at their backs and stomped her feet anxiously, but what he said could no longer reach Shun Hui and the others' ears. "Forget it, let them go." Luo Fei looked a little more indifferent, "When they find that they can't go down, they will naturally come back." Kong Jing shook his head helplessly: "That's the only way to go, hey, let's go back..." "Abbot, shall I go back to the house too?" Shun He asked, clutching his chest, probably because he ran back and forth too quickly just now, his complexion didn't look good, and his tone of voice became a little lacking.

Luo Fei stared at Shun He with a strange look. "You go back first, the abbot and I still have something to talk about." He said to the little monk. Shun He agreed, and walked to the temple alone. Luo Fei looked serious, watching Shun He's figure disappear behind the main hall. "Director Luo, is there something wrong?" Kong Jing saw something unusual. Luo Fei pinched his chin, pondered for a moment, and said, "Instruct someone later to watch Shun He's house and not let him come out. Let someone send him there for dinner at night." "Why?" Kong Jing couldn't help but "click" in his heart, feeling a strong sense of foreboding. "Didn't you notice? His physical condition is very bad, and his eyes are a little red." "Director Luo, you mean..." Kong Jing realized the subtext in Luo Fei's words, anxious and frightened, her voice trembled slightly. "I'm just in case, it's best that nothing happens." Luo Fei said comforting words to Kong Jing, and then took a long breath, it was obvious that he was also preoccupied. Kong Jing looked at Luo Fei blankly: "Then what if something happens? What should I do?" Luo Fei remained silent, this was also a question he was thinking hard about. "Wait for rescue." After a while, he finally spoke and gave such an answer.In Kong Jing's disappointed eyes, he looked up at the vast sky, the golden sun was shining on his face, but Luo Fei's heart felt chills.Perhaps now only he knows best how serious the situation has reached! Kong Jing smiled wryly, but no matter what, since he was waiting, there was still hope. "Let's go back first." Luo Fei said while moving his steps, "There are some things that I have to calm down and think about." The two returned to the empty room one after the other, Luo Fei didn't intend to stay for a long time this time, his purpose of coming was only to help Kong Jing clean out the headless grass in the house. When Junpei brought the headless grass into the house, he wrapped it in a long black coat and carried it in a package.Luo Fei hadn't paid much attention to this dress before, but now when he was about to pack this dress again, he discovered that it was not an ordinary monk's robe. To be precise, this is not a dress, it is more like a cape.What is more peculiar is that it wears a one-piece hat at the back of the skirt, which is somewhat similar to the monk's clothing in the European Middle Ages. "What kind of clothes is this?" Luo Fei picked up the long clothes and shook them off to see what happened. Kong Jing glanced at it, and replied: "This is the Buddhist robe worn by Junior Brother Kong Wang." "Dharma clothes?" Luo Fei didn't quite understand. "Kong Wang has a lot of research on things like spiritual divination. When a nearby mountain man's family dies, he is sometimes invited to do some ritual rituals. These are the clothes that are specially worn on such occasions." Luo Fei nodded, as if thinking of something, then he put his clothes up to his nose and smelled it. Kong Jing changed his face: "This clothes also has that smell?" Luo Fei gave a faint "hmm", it seemed that this result was already in his expectation.He rewrapped the pile of grass with his clothes and got up to leave. "I took them all with me," he said. Kong Jing looked at the package, showing disgust and fear, wishing that these strange things would disappear as far away as possible. "When will the backup go up the mountain?" Kong Jing asked when Luo Fei was about to walk out the door. "Two or three days later. If it snows again during the period, it's hard to say." Luo Fei looked up at the sky outside the door, the afterglow of the setting sun seemed to tell him that this possibility is not very big. "Two or three days..." Kong Jing muttered to himself, who knows what else will happen during this time? Luo Fei understood Kong Jing's mood, but now, besides waiting, what else could they do? During the evening fast, the disappearance of Shunhui, Shunhe and others attracted the attention of the monks, and rumors that Shunhe had been possessed by a demon began to spread in private.And Shun He's situation was indeed not optimistic, he was already bedridden, and although he hadn't experienced the horrible symptoms of bleeding from his eyes and mouth, Luo Fei knew in his heart that if no measures were taken, it would only be a matter of time. What measures should be taken?Twenty years later, the demon from "Death Valley" came again, but the method to subdue the demon has become a mystery now. Night comes especially quickly in the mountains.After the sun went down, it soon became completely dark.According to Luo Fei's instructions, everyone went back to their own rooms. In an atmosphere of confusion and uneasiness, Kumu Temple ushered in another silent night. At this time, Shun Hui and the other three who had sneaked out in the afternoon were struggling on their way back to the temple.They wanted to escape from the lonely temple that was shrouded in terror, but they finally walked halfway up the mountain, only to find that the mountain road was blocked by snow, and there was no possibility of going down the mountain.The fantasy was shattered, and they could only choose to go back in frustration. Although the situation on the mountain was frightening, at least there was food and shelter there, so they would not freeze to death in the snow. The excitement they had just walked out of the temple gate was gone at this moment, and they dragged their tired bodies and approached the temple gate step by step, it was already late at night.The people in the temple have all fallen into a deep sleep, and the whole temple is dark and dead silent. It is not a glorious thing to go back and forth, and the three of them were already exhausted, so they decided to keep quiet and quietly went back to the house to rest. As soon as he stepped into the backyard, Shun Hui felt a strange feeling. He always felt that there was a pair of eyes staring at him in the dark, but he didn't know where this feeling came from.When he came to his house and tried to open the door, this feeling became stronger, and he couldn't help turning around and looking around. Suddenly, the scene in front of him made him open his mouth wide, and the huge fear oppressed his chest, almost suffocating him! The two companions who were still in the yard noticed Shun Hui's strange behavior. They followed Shun Hui's gaze and froze in place, with expressions of astonishment on their faces. A black figure was standing on the roof of the Kongwang dormitory, motionless as if in a trance.Although the night is hazy, it can be clearly seen that this is a human figure without a head against the background of the snow! Because Shun Hui's dormitory is opposite to Kong Wang's dormitory, at this time the black shadow formed a condescending "staring" feeling towards Shun Hui. Under this terrifying pressure, Shun Hui's legs became weak, and she couldn't help but lean back. backwards.This caused his heels to catch on the front steps and his body fell backwards. The door of the room was knocked open by Shun Hui's fall, and the "click" sound stimulated Shun Hui, making his blank brain work again. "Come here! Headless ghost, headless ghost!" He yelled at the top of his voice, and his slightly modified voice immediately tore apart the silent night sky. Immediately there was a reaction in each dormitory. Some people turned on the lights, some jumped out of bed impatiently and went out to check, and the timid ones stayed in the room and asked tremblingly. The black shadow on the roof of Kongwang also moved at this moment, "it" seemed to be afraid of being exposed to the light, and ran along the ridge towards the front yard, and soon disappeared into the darkness. The few monks who rushed out of the house first saw this scene, and they were also stunned by the strange figure. The "headless ghost" that had been rumored for days finally appeared in front of everyone! "Chasing! Grab 'it'!" Someone yelled first, and the fear suppressed in everyone's hearts suddenly exploded into a force of common hatred, and several young and bold monks chased towards the dark front yard together. Kong Jing also came to the courtyard at this time, he did not see the black shadow on the roof, after understanding the general situation, he immediately rushed to the front courtyard with the rest of the monks.I saw the few young monks who had chased before were standing in front of the guest room in Xishou, all looking at a loss. "What's going on?" Kong Jing hurried forward and asked, "Where did 'it' go?" Several nearby monks did not speak, and cast their eyes on a tall man named Shunzhi. Shunzhi is usually a little reckless in the temple, and is often reprimanded by Shunping.Among the group of monks who rushed into the front yard just now, he ran at the forefront, and he was the only one who saw the whereabouts of the black shadow after entering the front yard. "I saw 'it' jumping off the roof, and then it seemed...as if it entered this room." Shunzhi pointed to the door of the West Head room, and said somewhat falteringly.After all, the sky was dark. When he rushed into the front yard in a hurry, what he could see was blurry and not very sure. The monks who had gathered in twos and threes immediately scattered nervously. The bold ones surrounded the door in a fan shape, while the timid ones hid behind others.Their eyes were fixed on the tightly closed door, and the atmosphere in the yard seemed to freeze for a moment. Kong Jing stared blankly at the dark, motionless room. Confusion and fear intertwined impacted his mind. For him, there was nothing worse than this. "Headless Ghost" finally appeared and sneaked into Luo Fei's house! Shunzhi was ignorant at first, but now seeing everyone's appearance, and standing alone in the front, Shunzhi couldn't help feeling a little scared, he turned his head uneasily, and looked at Kong Jing as if asking for help: "Abbot..." At this time, everyone followed him and cast their gazes over. Kong Jing took a deep breath, bit the bullet and took two steps up.Although he was as terrified as everyone else, he knew that he had an obligation to step out and deal with this matter. "Director Luo, Director Luo?" Kong Jing stood two meters away from the door and called into the room twice. The room was silent and unresponsive. Kong Jing took another step closer to the door. "Mr. Luo?" He yelled while tilting his head and trying to look into the house through the window, but he couldn't see anything. The monks made some slight commotion at this time, and a few bold ones followed. "Just push the door and go in!" Shunzhi said in a rough voice.Kong Jing's actions seemed to have given him courage again, and he walked in front of the crowd, making the gesture of pushing the door open with his hands. Kong Jing stopped him and made a quiet gesture.Everyone held their breath, and they could faintly hear rustling noises coming from the room, as if someone was walking towards the door. The voice was very soft, but every blow seemed to hit everyone's hearts.Everyone's eyes widened, staring closely at the dark door. With a soft "squeak", the door opened gently, and the gap in the door slowly opened like a monster's mouth, and Kong Jing and Shun Zhi who stood at the front couldn't help but take half a step back. A black figure squeezed out against the crack of the door, and when the faint snow light reflected on his face, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. This black figure is exactly Luo Fei, and now he is standing at the door, looking a little tired, giving a feeling that he has not had a good rest at first glance. "What's the matter with me?" He looked at Kong Jing with a strange look, as if he was not asking, but wanted to tell the other party something. "That headless ghost appeared again!" Kong Jing looked at Luo Fei with some doubts, and then glanced into the room again. Luo Fei didn't show any surprise at all, and continued to ask: "Did you see it?" "No." Kong Jing was taken aback for a moment, then explained, "Many people have seen it." Kong Jing's words aroused the echo of many monks, and Shunzhi even mumbled without any scruples: "I also saw that guy in the end just ran into this room." "Really?" Luo Fei pondered for a moment, then said calmly, "It's likely that you are wrong." Shunzhi poked his neck in disbelief, and wanted to say something more, but Kong Jing suddenly reached out to stop him: "I believe Director Luo's words, you must be wrong." The sudden change of attitude made the monks under him a little confused, and even Luo Fei raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You all go back, I still have something to say to Director Luo." Kong Jing looked solemn, and his tone of speech was irrefutable. The monks looked at each other helplessly, and after a moment of hesitation, they finally dispersed.Shunzhi walked not far away, but turned around with some anxiety: "Abbot..." "Go back." Kong Jing waved his hands resolutely at him, "Stay indoors, no one should come out." When everyone else left, only Kong Jing and Luo Fei were left in the front yard, and the quiet atmosphere was almost suffocating. "What's wrong? What did you find?" Luo Fei broke the silence first. Kong Jing looked at Luo Fei, the fear that had been concealed all this time was finally revealed from his eyes. "Director Luo, there is a mirror in your room, go and take a look at it." He said in a trembling voice. Luo Fei was taken aback for a moment: "What do you mean?" "Your... your eyes..." "Eyes?" Luo Fei suddenly realized something, and his heart clicked. Kong Jing shook his head sadly: "Go and see for yourself." Luo Fei's heart beat wildly, he forcibly controlled his emotions, went back to the house and turned on the light, then he rushed to the mirror by the bed in two or three steps, looking at his face inside. As he had guessed, what appeared in the mirror was a pair of bloodshot eyes, which were red and red, looking like ghosts under the dim light. Luo Fei supported the edge of the table with both hands, his body trembling slightly due to excitement, he knew exactly what this meant to him! Kong Jing stood outside the door in a daze for a moment, the friendship of the two days of fighting against the enemy finally defeated the fear in his heart, he took steps, and prepared to walk into the house. "Don't come in!" Luo Fei noticed his actions and turned his head to stop. Kong Jing was shocked by Luo Fei's stern expression, he stopped, but he still couldn't help asking: "What's going on? That demon..." "Shunping is right." Luo Fei smiled wryly, "The devil found me, and it will come after you next time." Even Luo Fei said such words, Kong Jing couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock, the feeling of despair and helplessness poured on his heart like cold water. "Then what should we do? Is there really no way to deal with it?" Kong Jing murmured. "There must be a way." Luo Fei looked at himself in the mirror, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, "But what should I do?" There is a way!Hearing such words, Kong Jing cheered up.He looked at Luo Fei with expectant eyes. For some reason, even at this point (things are so strange that even Luo Fei himself has fallen into the entanglement of "demons"), he still has a strong sense of dependence on this man: As long as Luo Fei is not in despair, there is still a possibility of things turning around. Inspired by this belief, Kong Jing also developed a sense of responsibility: "Director Luo, what do I need to do now?" "Control the emotions of the monks and wait for rescue." Luo Fei waved his hand, "You can go back now, let me think about it quietly." Kong Jing nodded, stared silently at Luo Fei for a moment, then turned and left.Luo Fei's words were very simple, but Kong Jing knew the weight of them.If the situation continues to deteriorate, and the monks who are on the verge of collapse lose control, the consequences will be unimaginable.As the abbot himself, he must be responsible for this no matter what. At this time, Kong Jing even missed Junpei a little bit, if he was there, he would have a lot more confidence in his heart.And thinking of the horrible situation when Junping died, Kong Jing couldn't help but tighten his heart again: I can't say that I won't encounter the same fate! After Kong left quietly, Luo Fei closed the door, then returned to the bed and sat down.Not long ago, he was secretly delighted with a certain discovery he had made, but a sudden change plunged him into a huge crisis in an instant.And it can be foreseen that this crisis will inevitably sweep the entire temple at an increasing speed.Judging from what has happened, at least I can't wait for the moment of rescue. You must save yourself! But how can we save ourselves?So far, Luo Fei has almost figured out the ins and outs of all the strange things that happened on the mountain—the demons, the headless ghosts, all of which have appeared in front of him, but Luo Fei still has no idea how to repel them Know. At this time, the devil seemed to be aware of this, and was attacking Luo Fei without restraint.Luo Fei had no ability to resist such an attack, his body gradually weakened, and his consciousness and thinking ability also disappeared bit by bit.It seems that the possibility of him wanting to restore the decline has become smaller and smaller. In this case, ensuring rest and conserving energy may be the most practical way to fight against demons.Luo Fei lay down on the bed and fell into a drowsy sleep. This sleep lasted until the sky was bright, until Luo Fei was woken up by a loud noise.After regaining consciousness, Luo Fei's first feeling was that his face was very swollen, and his eyes were even more uncomfortable. He rubbed the corners of the eyes lightly with his hands, and a warm and damp feeling came from the palm of his hand. Luo Fei's heart felt cold, and he spread his palm in front of his eyes, there was a bright red spot on it, it was fresh blood! The noise came all the way to the front of the guest room, and Luo Fei vaguely heard Kong Jing's voice mixed in: "Everyone calm down, listen to me, don't get excited..." However, his persuasion obviously didn't have much effect, Shunzhi yelled to take over the conversation: "Calm down? If you keep calm, everyone will be ruined. Measures must be taken!" With a bang, the door was pushed open rudely, and Shunzhi rushed into the room first, followed by two young monks, all with tragic expressions of death and death. Luo Fei sat up and looked at the intruders. Seeing Luo Fei's horrifying scene, Shunzhi was stunned: "Director Luo, why are you..." Then he turned around and said to the door: "Abbot, even Director Luo is like this, why don't you... Can you wait any longer?!" Kong Jing squeezed into the room in a panic, and looked at Luo Fei helplessly: "I can't control it anymore... Shun He is dead, and there are three other monks who are just like you now..." "It came so fast..." Luo Fei seemed to be talking to himself, then he struggled to stand up and looked directly at Shun Zhi and the others, "What do you want now?" Shunzhi didn't pay much attention to Luo Fei, his eyes swept around the room, and finally stopped at the corner. "Here!" He shouted excitedly, rushed over and picked up the "Headless Grass" piled there. "It's these scourges! Burn it quickly!" The monks watching echoed. It was only then that Luo Fei realized that they believed the legends and regarded these "headless grasses" as the culprits of the trouble, so they found this place all the way. Shunzhi found the target, didn't stay any longer, and rushed out of the house with the pile of "headless grass", and the other monks followed him.Only Kong Jing and Luo Fei were left in the room. Although already very weak, Luo Fei still moved his legs with difficulty and walked towards the door. Kong Jing stepped forward to support him: "Director Luo..." Luo Fei noticed that Kong Jing's eyes were also bloodshot at this time, he was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly: "Let's go out and have a look together." The two came to the backyard with their arms, a dozen or so monks formed a circle, in the middle were the corpses of Kong Wang, Hu Junkai, Shun Ping, Shun De, and Shun He who had just died. Straw and other things are piled up. Luo Fei immediately understood their intentions, and tried his best to stop them: "You can't...you can't burn the corpses, you are destroying the evidence!" How can the monks who have lost their normalcy listen to such words?Several people turned their heads and looked at Luo Fei with strange eyes mixed with hatred and sympathy. Luo Fei suddenly understood the meaning of this gaze. In their eyes, he was actually almost the same as those corpses.Just waiting to die, he will also be put on this crude execution ground. A burst of sadness rose in Luo Fei's heart, and a kind of despair that he had never felt before completely overwhelmed him.He never thought, nor would he believe that he would meet such a result when he went up the mountain this time, but the cruel reality was before him, what chance did he have to redeem it? His vision has gradually begun to blur, and his thinking has become difficult. Where is the answer he is looking for? In a trance, he saw a ball of fire rising from the center of the circle, and the monks used the most primitive way to fight the mysterious "demon" for the final battle. Shunzhi went to the fire, and added the pile of "headless grass" to the flames that were burning more and more vigorously. A strange smell came out!