This time, there was no need to take the small path behind the mountain. We could walk over openly. Upon reaching the deserted village of Fanshen, from afar, I saw the Han Yin Temple half-way up the mountain, under reconstruction, with numerous scaffolding poles and a yellow tower crane. Below in the deserted village, a new road had been carved out by bulldozers, facilitating the entry of construction vehicles.
I deduced that the reason for Shakespeare's meticulous preservation of the Fanshen village ruins might be related to that "Chuyun Bin." They likely guessed that the Chuyun Bin had been left behind in the deserted village, hence they had not disturbed the village, leaving the ruins untouched. Later, when I opened the Jiuxian Cave and found the Chuyun Bin, this deserted village lost its significance in preserving its original state.
I drove straight up the new road to the foot of the mountain. There was a road leading up the mountain, which existed before but I hadn't used it. I drove up to the parking lot at the entrance of Han Yin Temple. A familiar young monk, perhaps having seen me approaching, was waiting there.
"Amitabha, Benefactor Wu, it has been a while."
"Xing... Master Xingyao, right?" I said.
"Indeed, it is I. The senior sister asked me to wait here for Benefactor Wu and the others. If you need anything, please feel free to command me. I can drive to the town to purchase items."
"Not for now. Have the others arrived?" I asked.
"Who?" Xingyao looked bewildered.
"The demons... the Nine Immortals."
Xingyao shook his head, "I'm not sure. Have they returned?"
It seemed Senior Sister Shen Xingyue hadn't told him the specifics.
"It's alright, we're going up. Can we pass through the temple?" I asked.
"Yes, please wait a moment. I will ask the workers to stop." Xingyao ran into Han Yin Temple, and soon, the work tools and the tower crane ceased operation.
Chen Lu, Zheng Bingbing, and I passed through the temple and arrived at the thorny thicket behind it.
Chen Lu looked back, "I remember this temple was renovated not long ago. Why is it being renovated again?"
"Yao Yao blew it up..." Bingbing stuck out her tongue. She had been present that night. Located to the north of the Five Elements formation, its attribute was water. She had personally witnessed Yao Yao controlling a giant aerial dragon that had smashed down Han Yin Temple.
"That powerful!" Chen Lu exclaimed in amazement.
I didn't join the discussion, taking the lead. As I passed through the thorny thicket, I activated the Qi Sensing Technique.
The demons likely came from the back mountain and had each entered their respective caves. Yao Yao's aura was in the middle cave.
Arriving below the Jiuxian Cave, there were now two ladders, likely placed by Xingyao and his team. I climbed onto the platform using the first folding ladder and then positioned the second ladder towards the center. Reaching Yao Yao's cave entrance, the large stone door was ajar, allowing me to squeeze through—she and Bingbing could enter easily, as the burden on their chests wasn't significant, unlike Yao Yao and Shen Xingyue, who were both under immense pressure.
The coffin was still suspended above, and the ladder we had brought in last time was still in place. I switched on my flashlight and climbed up the ladder. Looking into the coffin from its side, Yao Yao lay peacefully inside. Her clothes were gone, replaced by layers of white soft paper, the kind commonly used as toilet paper. I didn't understand why the demons had wrapped her like this, making her look like a mummy.
Mengmeng's clothes were also missing. She wasn't in her own cave above, but was kneeling beside Yao Yao, meticulously wrapping her with toilet paper layer by layer.
There were also some discarded rolls of toilet paper nearby, soaked with a considerable amount of blood. However, the "mummy" paper on Yao Yao's body now showed no bloodstains. I wasn't sure if the demons had successfully stopped her bleeding, or if she had simply bled dry...
"Mengmeng, how is she?" I asked softly.
Mengmeng was so engrossed that she didn't even notice me (perhaps she was communicating with Yao Yao telepathically, as her gaze was very vacant). Upon hearing my question, she returned to normal, turned her head, and looked at me, "She's alright, no life-threatening danger, but recovery might take a long time. Right now, her true qi has been severely depleted."
"Is it like before... I need to channel true qi into her?" I asked. Mengmeng and Yao Yao were bunkmates, so she knew what I was referring to.
But Mengmeng shook her head, "Not yet. Boss is too weak. Please wait a while longer."
"What can I do?" I asked.
"For now... there's nothing you can do. You can help us eight sisters guard the place. I'm worried some bad people might take advantage of our situation—we have zero defense while guarding Boss." Yao Yao said sincerely, rarely speaking so maturely...