Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

Chapter 131 Special Ruins

On the same day that Shuangxiu received Meng Danqing's letter, she took two painters out of the city to the mural site. The area on the mural that had had its colors restored yesterday had actually shrunk.

The illuminated portion of the mural was already small, and after one night it shrank back a bit, making it seem more like a final burst of light before death than a genuine activation of the mural's glow.

If we attribute the lighting up of some parts of the mural yesterday to Meng Danqing activating it with spiritual energy, then today's color regression can be understood as the internal spiritual energy being damaged again, causing the mural's activity to fade.

"Is this the mural that lured you out every day?"

The painter Wu stood in front of the mural, examining it carefully. He focused on the bright spot, while the rest of the mural was dark and dilapidated. This spot was brightly colored, as if it had just been painted.

"Your skills are indeed impressive, but in this day and age... this abandoned temple has been around for at least several decades. You really have guts."

The ruins outside the city have been there for a long time. It used to be a fairly large temple, and many people came to search for treasure. However, this place is too remote. Whether you encounter robbers during the day or tigers and wolves at night, it is an awkward location where no one will come to your rescue even if you shout yourself hoarse.

It is said that a death has occurred here. A remote temple that has long been destroyed, along with the exquisite but faded murals standing in the ruins, make it a perfect haunted location.

Regardless of how the painter Bai found this place, as an old friend, the painter Wu knew that Bai had a habit of going to the most remote and secluded places. What he admired was that Bai, who was clearly weak and didn't even carry a knife, dared to wander around in this place for several days, just to study how to restore this long-abandoned mural.

Restoring ancient paintings and cultural relics has always been a task, but those were all craftsmen employed by the imperial court, and the restorations were done for various collections in the palace, or at most, for various treasures in the capital.

In ordinary places, renovations are usually done when people notice a temple is in poor condition or a statue of the local earth god is faded. The villagers pool their money to hire someone to renovate it. In any case, things that get renovated are usually famous and have been the focus of people's long-term attention. And those responsible for the renovations are simply doing their jobs for money.

Like the painter Bai, who went to the ruins where no one cared and took the initiative to restore the paintings in the ruins, not only did he have to pay and work hard himself, but no one cared whether the restoration was good or bad. In such a big city as Jinling, the painter Wu only knew one person who did this kind of thankless work.

Fortunately, the Bai family had been in business for generations and had a substantial fortune, enough to support him in doing this. Otherwise, the painter Bai would have starved to death in some unknown ruin, and his body might have ended up in the stomach of wild animals.

"How can the color fade?"

Unfortunately, the painter didn't hear his friend's exclamation. He was shocked to discover that the restored colors on the mural were actually regressing. He was like an animal whose hibernation had been disturbed. He opened his eyes, saw that there was no danger around him, and decided to slowly fall back asleep.

Could it be that this mural is actually a living creature? Then wouldn't that mean the girl in the dream was eaten by the mural?!

"According to Danqing, someone has been sabotaging the murals in the capital. Judging from the spirit and condition of the murals, the ones in the capital should be the main ones. The colors have faded, which may be related to the damage to the murals."

As Yuan Wuxiang spoke, he walked back and forth among the ruins, as did Juan Shoutian. As soon as they arrived, they sensed a bloody smell, as if something had visited and left traces after they left.

When they reached a corner, they indeed saw several mottled bloodstains. At the base of the wall connected to them, there were also traces of being dug up, and there were scratch marks on the wall, indicating that it was the work of some kind of wild animal.

"Based on the bloodstains and marks, it was a large wild beast with a wound and bleeding on its side, the tiger from last night."

When Juan Shoutian rescued the child, the sword wound cut a gash on the tiger's side. Although it was not fatal, it still caused a lot of bleeding.

They thought that after taking such a blow, the tiger would obediently run back to the deep mountains, but as soon as they left last night, the tiger came out again, specifically to the location of this abandoned temple.

Even risking another sword strike, they still came out, ignoring their bleeding wounds, and specifically went to this ruin to dig through the dirt. What was the other party looking for? What did it want?

"This temple used to be quite famous. Even tigers have come here. Could it really contain treasure?"

"Wasn't it said to have been smashed decades ago? Where does this legend of treasure come from?"

This doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it. Everyone says that the temples here were smashed a long time ago. If there were any treasures, they would have been found long ago. Where does the fame come from?

"This place is indeed quite famous, but its reputation isn't that great."

The white-clad painter traveled tirelessly to find murals in the ruins; he knew the stories of this place best.

"It is said that during the war, people from the north fled to the south. A wealthy man came to Jinling and built a temple with his own money, intending to live there as a monk."

"Rich people? Weren't they supposed to be a bunch of White Lotus Sect fugitives?"

Suddenly, the painter Wu interjected. He was initially reluctant to come because of the legends about the White Lotus Sect. He was passionate about painting portraits of Lü Dongbin and greatly admired Lü Zu. Naturally, he also had a high regard for Taoism. He didn't have a good impression of heretical sects like the White Lotus Sect.

"You've got it mixed up; the White Lotus Sect is a later part of the story."

The story here seems quite rich, and many people know about it, with the White Painter knowing the most details.

"That man seemed to have enemies who were involved with the White Lotus Sect. Not long after the temple was built, he was killed by his enemies. It is said that when his body was found, blood was sprayed all over the walls. He died a particularly gruesome death."

As he spoke, the speaker exaggeratedly swung his arms, as if simulating a scene of blood splattering.

“It caused a huge uproar at the time, and it was even linked to a cult. It couldn’t be dealt with in a short time, and no one in the temple was in charge. After the person was buried, some people had wicked ideas and wanted to enter the temple to search for some valuables to sell.”

The person who built the temple here was very wealthy. He single-handedly handled all the construction and was also involved with enemies of the White Lotus Sect, which makes people think that the temple might be hiding treasures.

"And guess what? Someone saw a monk chanting sutras in the main hall, and he looked exactly like the one who had died. That person had been dead for more than a year. It was like seeing a ghost!"

"...That's really a bit scary."

A person who has been dead for a long time appears in the temple he built as a monk to chant sutras, which does indeed resemble a ghost story.

"But after the report was filed with the authorities, there was nothing left in the temple. However, people still saw the monk inside, appearing and disappearing mysteriously. Eventually, no one dared to approach it anymore, and it was completely abandoned."

"Even in this state, you still dare to come over. You truly are a member of the Bai family."

This was the first time that Painter Wu had heard the story of the ruins in such detail. The story of these broken walls and ruins outside the city had been passed down for decades, and naturally there were many different versions of the story. Many of the detailed accounts were told with stumbling blocks. The version that Painter Bai was talking about was the most comprehensive one at present.

This shows that the other party really put in the effort to research, even ghost stories.

"So, could there really be a treasure here that can bring people back to life?"

"That tiger isn't a spirit, it shouldn't be that smart to run out looking for so-called treasure."

Juan Shoutian rejected this conjecture. Isn't bringing the dead back to life simple enough in *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*? There are so many cases of souls returning to life through possession; no special treasure is needed to accomplish this. Even if a treasure existed, the tiger, with its limited intelligence, wouldn't need it. It lacked sentience; it was just an ordinary wild beast, and its current greatest desire was probably for food like flesh and blood.

The assumption that the tiger came looking for treasure is utterly illogical for an ordinary wild animal. He's more inclined to believe that someone deliberately lured the tiger down there, someone who didn't dare come themselves and used a tiger from the mountains to test the waters.

For example, the illegal trespassers they chased into the deep mountains yesterday—the tiger was suspected of being affected at the time, and now all that's missing is solid evidence.

But the tiger hasn't come out yet. If we want concrete evidence, we'll have to go deep into the mountains and see if the tiger is still alive.

"The bloodstains have been lingering here; there's probably something underneath."

Because most of the walls were smashed, the murals that should have covered the entire wall were lost due to damage to the medium. Although it is called a mural, what is in front of you is only the largest and best part that has been preserved. There are murals on the surrounding fragmented walls as well.

However, these are too fragmented, and the content of many paintings is no longer discernible; the figures on them are all incomplete.

The bloodstains seemed to be circling along the base of the wall, and the excavated soil was also piled up nearby, all close to the base of this broken wall. This part of the ground might be where what the other party was looking for is hidden.

"The matter concerning the murals can be handled by Danqing. Why don't we take a look at what 'treasures' are hidden here... Hey?"

"what happened?"

Yuan Wuxiang, leaning against the broken wall, suddenly let out a small gasp. Hearing the sound, Juan Shoutian quickly came over to inquire, and the two painters also came over.

"...There's blood on this wall too."

Yuan Wuxiang raised the hand that had been supporting him against the wall. His gloves were covered with fragments of blood and blood. There was a large patch of blood and blood on the broken wall that had dried up over many years, mixed with the paint and dust on the wall. His eyes were focused on the base of the wall, so he didn't notice the large area of ​​blood on the wall.

With blood on his hands, Yuan Wuxiang could only take off his gloves and examine the broken wall again. The painting on it was very blurry, but it should be one of the many Bodhisattva statues. Unfortunately, the head was smashed off where it should have been, leaving only the body.

However, they didn't realize that compared to the tiger blood on the ground, the bloodstains on the wall could be described as "old blood," dried for who knows how long, mixed with the murals. If Yuan Wuxiang hadn't accidentally rubbed off the blood film on it, he wouldn't have known it was blood.

"...In the story, the person who built the temple died, and his blood splattered on the wall, right?"

Once you know that the above is also bloodstain, it becomes easier to identify it carefully. Although you can't determine when the bloodstain was there, you can still roughly determine the direction of the blood splatter.

Yes, it was a splatter. After distinguishing the bloodstains from the mural, it's clear that the blood was accidentally splattered. The area affected is so large that it looks like someone was beheaded in front of the mural, with blood spraying all over the wall.

Coincidentally, in the story the painter just told, there was a scene where someone died and their blood splattered on the wall. Is this a coincidence? Or is it true?

"Brother Bai, is it too late for me to go back now?"

Painter Wu never expected that he would come across a murder scene from nearly a hundred years ago. In the beginning, the other party had taken him away under the pretext of studying a mural that had been in disrepair for many years.

Although he is now studying murals, studying the colors of murals and studying the bloodstains on murals are two completely different things. He can't take it anymore; he wants to go back to his studio.

"It's too late, you're already on the wrong side of the law."

"With your mouth, you deserve to fail the imperial examination."

What do you mean by getting on a pirate ship? You're so ruthless to yourself... No, he dared to run into haunted ruins. This kid is pretty ruthless to begin with.

"I'm afraid of ghosts, can I go home instead?"

"...You specialize in drawing Lü Dongbin, are you afraid of ghosts?"

The painter didn't believe this reason at all. He said that he was afraid of ghosts, and that it would be better if he said that he had a painting that he had to hand over to the client the next day, but he hadn't touched it yet.

"It doesn't mean that being able to paint immortals makes you unafraid of ghosts. I can only paint Lu Zu, I can't actually invite Lu Zu to come."

"Where would there be ghosts in broad daylight? Even my great-uncle wouldn't be bothered by that... cough, with two Taoist priests here, nothing could possibly happen."

I didn't hear what he mumbled in the middle, but anyway, the painter's attitude was the same: since you're here, don't even think about leaving.

"Dig it up, there's definitely something down there."

Now that we've come this far, and all the clues point to a secret hidden beneath this broken piece, it would be impolite not to take action soon.

"Roar--"

Just then, a blood-stained figure emerged from the deep forest. It was a ferocious tiger with a long bloodstain on its side. The blood around the wound had dried, and it was walking towards the group.

The tiger had a clear goal and walked straight this way. When it emerged from the shadows of the forest and its entire body was bathed in sunlight, a strange sense of incongruity washed over us.

Tigers are indeed fierce, but on this fierce face are a pair of completely lifeless eyes. They are not blind, but their pupils seem to be fixed, staring straight ahead without moving, just like the eyes of a dead fish.

What's even stranger is that when it gets close to the sunlight, it casts no shadow, leaving a blank space on the ground. It's said that ghosts don't cast shadows, but this tiger is clearly a physical entity. When the wind blows, people can also smell the blood on its body.

Moreover, besides roaring, its body also showed signs of breathing. There's a word that perfectly describes this tiger: a walking corpse.

They couldn't sense any sign of the other party being alive. The tiger was like a zombie; it was clearly dead, yet it was still moving, running and jumping.

"The shadow is gone; it seems to be that guy."

Juan Shoutian said he didn't inflict a fatal wound on the tiger, so he definitely didn't. Beida Fangxiu wouldn't stoop to lying about something like this. Overnight, the tiger not only died but also disappeared without a trace, emerging like a manipulated shell. Even a fool could tell what the illegal transmigrators had done to it.

The shadow disappeared, and the body was controlled. This was the first time Shuangxiu had seen the other party have this ability. Before, they had always attacked innocent people directly and had never controlled anyone.

Now they've suddenly revealed their ability to control other creatures, what's this all about? Are they panicking? Because they want to dig underground?

"It seems we need to study this place carefully."