Chapter 146: Buddhist Beads

With the flow of his True Qi, Fang Mu transformed into the appearance of the white-robed monk, down to the exact clothing.

The Disguise Technique was activated.

Fang Mu intended to use the white-robed monk's guise to investigate the situation inside the cave ahead.

When Ghost One saw Fang Mu change his appearance, he was completely dumbfounded.

Another... another miraculous ability?

He had lost count of how many times he had been shocked today; his entire life's worth of astonishment combined did not equal this single day.

Now he understood why his master had killed the white-robed monk without hesitation—with this miraculous ability, the original white-robed monk was completely unnecessary.

Fang Mu muttered thoughtfully, "Ah Bai, stay here with Ghost One and do not act rashly."

Ah Bai jumped down from Fang Mu's shoulder and landed beside Ghost One.

It did not perch on Ghost One's shoulder because it was a noble Ghost-Devouring Beast, and only its master's shoulder was worthy of its presence.

Ghost One produced a chess piece, and instantly both he and Ah Bai vanished from sight.

Fang Mu straightened his collar, touched his bald head, and even flicked it, suddenly finding it quite smooth and natural.

Footsteps echoed from outside the cave. Fang Mu stopped and quietly waited, adopting the demeanor of the white-robed monk.

The footsteps drew closer, and two figures emerged from the dark passageway.

The two gradually revealed their true appearances: one wore grey monastic robes, and the other wore yellow monastic robes.

"White Ninety-Seven, have you found any clues about the Vajra Bridge?" the grey-robed monk asked.

Recalling the information he had obtained earlier from the white-robed monk, Fang Mu figured this grey-robed monk should be Grey Seventy, and the yellow-robed one, Yellow Ninety.

He merely nodded without addressing them by name.

Yellow Ninety sniffed the air, a look of excitement dawning on his face as he said, "This scent... it is indeed the incense of the Vajra Bridge burning. If it truly is the Vajra Bridge, the Evil Buddha will surely reward us handsomely once he learns of it."

Fang Mu nodded again, pointing into the cave, "It is right inside. Go on."

The two monks did not move; instead, they exchanged a glance.

Grey Seventy frowned and said, "White Ninety-Seven, what is wrong with you today? Your tone is completely off. Normally, every two out of three sentences you utter are laced with profanity."

Recalling when White Ninety-Seven had captured Wang Wu, Fang Mu remembered that he indeed cursed with almost every breath.

His tone had failed to match the original, seeming to arouse the other's suspicion.

Thinking quickly, Fang Mu replied, "I'm just too damn excited to have found the Vajra Bridge, so I've turned out like this."

This time, his tone was quite normal. Grey Seventy and Yellow Ninety exchanged glances once more and, without pressing further, began walking toward the cave.

Fang Mu touched his chin and followed right behind them.

The cave was pitch black. After walking for a short distance, they reached the spot where the clay idol had originally been.

The clay Buddha statue had already been reduced to fragments. Grey Seventy lowered his head to look and picked up a piece to inspect it closely.

"Good, it is genuine."

Whatever method Grey Seventy used for testing yielded a confirmed result.

After speaking, Grey Seventy continued deeper into the cave.

Just as Fang Mu was about to follow, he suddenly felt his sleeve being tugged.

Looking back, he happened to catch Yellow Ninety's gaze.

Yellow Ninety glanced at Grey Seventy with a fierce expression in his eyes, then turned back to nod at Fang Mu.

As an honest and simple-natured person, Fang Mu instantly understood Yellow Ninety's intention—to take out Grey Seventy.

With great cooperation, Fang Mu nodded to indicate he understood.

Only then did Yellow Ninety withdraw his gaze and walk on toward Grey Seventy.

However, Yellow Ninety did not make a move yet, merely continuing to follow Grey Seventy.

After walking for a considerable distance further, the path ahead came to a dead end.

At the very end of the cave was a stone wall covered in damp green moss.

Grey Seventy reached out to touch the moss and said, "It is indeed here. Look at the pattern of this moss."

Although there was plenty of moss on the stone wall, it grew in an orderly fashion.

As each patch of moss pieced together with the others, it formed the shape of a bridge.

At both ends of the bridge, additional moss supported the structure from below.

Yellow Ninety urged, "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up."

Grey Seventy remained silent, turning his gaze toward Yellow Ninety and Fang Mu with an increasingly calm expression.

"What kind of look is that?" Yellow Ninety took a step back and said, "You are the only one here who knows the method to open it. Do you intend to monopolize the credit?"

Grey Seventy shook his head. "Do you take me for someone like you, who wants to kill me just to have one less person to share the credit with?"

Yellow Ninety's breath hitched, and his breathing turned chaotic.

Fang Mu sighed inwardly. Yellow Ninety was truly foolish; a single remark had drawn him out, and wasn't wearing that expression an admission of guilt in itself?

The cave was dead silent; no one spoke, yet Fang Mu could sense that Yellow Ninety beside him was in a panic.

Grey Seventy broke the silence: "The Vajra Bridge is fraught with danger, yet you harbor such a daring thought—how absurd. Do you really think the two of you teaming up can deal with me? Look at what this is."

A golden radiance lit up within the cave as Grey Seventy produced a golden bead from his hand.

The bead was only the size of a peanut, yet its brilliance illuminated the cave as bright as day. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object.

"The Evil Buddha's prayer bead!" Yellow Ninety swallowed hard and trembled as he pleaded, "Spare my life!"

A flicker of surprise crossed Fang Mu's mind. While he mirrored the look of terror on the outside, his thoughts raced within.

The Evil Buddha's prayer bead? What manner of item was this?

Judging by Yellow Ninety's reaction, he was utterly terrified, implying that the prayer bead possessed an extraordinary background.

Grey Seventy put the bead away and sneered, "I will not kill you. The path ahead is extremely perilous, and killing you would only work against me by stopping me from obtaining what lies within the Vajra Bridge."

Once the prayer bead was stowed away, the cave plunged back into darkness.

Yellow Ninety, standing beside Fang Mu, let out a long sigh of relief. Even Fang Mu could sense that Yellow Ninety had relaxed.

Regarding this situation, Fang Mu concluded that Yellow Ninety was far too naive.

Not killing them right now did not mean letting them off the hook.

The dangers ahead were unpredictable; Grey Seventy simply did not want to lose two helpers to deal with those hazards. To put it more grimly, Grey Seventy lacked two chess pieces—disposable pawns to be discarded whenever danger struck.

Fang Mu did not utter a single word. From this perspective, Grey Seventy was exceptionally cunning, and speaking too much might only expose him.

Having put away the prayer bead, Grey Seventy ignored the two of them and turned back to face the moss on the wall.

Yellow Ninety made no further move, and neither did Fang Mu.

The moss was extremely slick. Grey Seventy swept his hand across the bridge-like formation, a faint golden glow igniting on his palm.

A chisel appeared in Grey Seventy's hand. He carved two long, straight lines beneath the bridge, followed by a series of short, vertical lines between the two long ones.

The short lines were densely packed, filling the empty space between the two parallel lines.

Fang Mu stared at the carved pattern, a sudden realization dawning on him as he guessed what it represented.