Fu Yunming brought him back to the White Lotus Temple.
As soon as they entered the temple gates, Madam Zhu noticed the two of them. Seeing Lu Fenghuo’s condition, she frowned with deep concern. “What happened to Hero Lu?”
Fu Yunming answered briefly, “His condition is still unclear. I will take him to a meditation room to check on him. Go and brew some rice porridge; he will likely need it later.”
Madam Zhu hurried off to the kitchen.
Fu Yunming escorted him to a meditation room and immediately reached out to take his pulse.
The pulse was quite peculiar. Lu Fenghuo’s body was weak, as if he had not eaten for a long time, and he seemed to have contracted a certain poison. Yet this poison could not entirely be called a poison, because its physical harm to the body was negligible, and it even carried a faint, albeit useless, tonic effect.
Unheard of.
Even if they invited renowned physicians from across the martial world, it would likely be of no use.
At that exact moment, Fu Yunming recalled something. When he first met Lu Fenghuo, the man seemed to have accidentally swallowed a Lotus Heart Buddha Bead.
That Lotus Heart Buddha Bead was a sacred Buddhist artifact capable of dispelling all poisons and malevolent energies. However, since the bead was a Buddhist treasure, driving its power required Buddhist energy.
With this thought, Fu Yunming sat down on the edge of the bed. Without minding the dirt covering Lu Fenghuo, he gathered him into his arms, pressed their palms together, and channeled his Buddhist energy outward.
Lu Fenghuo’s finger bones were remarkably well-formed. Fair, slender, and slightly more delicate than his own.
Realizing what he was thinking, Fu Yunming instantly averted his gaze, not daring to look any longer.
Lu Fenghuo felt profoundly exhausted. His eyelids weighed like lead, and he desperately wanted to drift into a deep sleep. Amidst his hazy consciousness, he felt a stream of Buddhist energy flowing in through his palm. The energy traveled along his meridians and finally gathered in his lower dantian.
Resting inside the dantian was a luminous white buddha bead. Upon coming into contact with the Buddhist energy, the bead instantly radiated a golden halo that spread throughout his limbs and bones. All the chronic ailments and toxic filth within his body were completely healed, and the malevolent energies were entirely purged.
A warm and comforting sensation washed over his entire body, and he spent the night without a single dream.
When Lu Fenghuo woke up, he found himself lying inside a clean meditation room. A momentary daze gave way to sudden understanding.
Ah, right. Before losing consciousness, he had run into Fu Yunming.
The poison in his body had been purged. Although his memories remained intermittent, his current state was vastly superior to before.
A figure entered through the doorway. The person wore dark crimson monastic robes, and as the morning sunlight fell upon him, Lu Fenghuo could see the fabric glowing with a vivid, bright red. The man had deep, handsome features and carried a food box in his hand.
Inside the food box was vegetable and shredded pork porridge, accompanied by a few easily digestible pastries.
Fu Yunming clearly remembered his preferences; the food box was filled exclusively with things he loved to eat. Lu Fenghuo thoroughly enjoyed this breakfast.
After eating his fill, Lu Fenghuo sat lazily on the bed.
Thinking of the changes in his body, Lu Fenghuo asked, “Was the poison in my body cleared out by that buddha bead?”
“Indeed,” Fu Yunming replied.
Lu Fenghuo recalled for a moment. “If I remember correctly, that buddha bead is a sacred Buddhist artifact, right? With something so precious, is it really fine to just use it on me?”
Fu Yunming answered, “It is fine. Having drifted through the martial world for centuries, the buddha bead was already an unclaimed object. Feel free to use it.”
“Alright, thank you,” Lu Fenghuo said.
“Between us, there is no need for thanks,” Fu Yunming replied.
Lu Fenghuo shifted his thoughts back to the poison.
The primary symptom of this poisoning was memory loss. At the very beginning, it caused agonizing full-body pain, but that pain inflicted no actual physical damage, serving more as a form of punishment. Once the pain subsided, memory loss began.
Mentioning amnesia naturally brought Song Guyang to mind. Song Guyang had previously been drugged, resulting in both complete memory loss and the total loss of his martial arts. The drug Song Guyang had taken felt like an upgraded version of the one Lu Fenghuo had just endured.
There were very few people in the martial world capable of concocting such bizarre poisons, let alone one that induced amnesia. This poisoning only further proved that Zhaifu Ying had played a pivotal role in Song Guyang’s imprisonment, or rather, it confirmed that Zhaifu Ying was indeed the former second master of the Roaring Dragon Stronghold!
No wonder Lu Fenghuo had fallen into the trap. That drug had originally been custom-crafted specifically for Song Guyang, so of course it was bizarre. It possessed the same effects as a poison without actually being one, which was entirely possible.
Yet since the medical expert had poisoned him, why hadn’t he simply used a fatal poison?
Perhaps he had tried, found it ineffective, and switched to this instead. Or perhaps he had simply hurled a compressed package containing every poison imaginable, but because Lu Fenghuo was completely immune to all poisons, only this particular affliction had taken effect.
With his reasoning complete, Lu Fenghuo let out a long breath of relief.
Fu Yunming looked puzzled. “Lu Fenghuo, with your formidable martial arts, you shouldn’t have been reduced to such a state.”
Lu Fenghuo sighed instantly. “True. My martial arts are formidable, but I couldn’t withstand wave after wave of villains pulling off consecutive combos. Still, it’s all over now.”
Though some of the terms were unfamiliar, Fu Yunming inexplicably understood his meaning.
Fu Yunming then thought of someone else. “Is Shen Yuansi doing well?”
Lu Fenghuo replied, “He’s fine. He’s stationed somewhere else where there’s no danger.”
“Your body is weak. You might as well recuperate here at the White Lotus Temple for a while. The White Lotus Temple isn’t short on meditation rooms or meals,” Fu Yunming suggested.
“That’s rather embarrassing.”
Yet the person who claimed to be embarrassed ended up staying at the White Lotus Temple for two full months.
Summer arrived swiftly. Lu Fenghuo’s favorite pastime during the twilight hours was wearing a lightweight garment and strolling leisurely through the town to catch the evening breeze.
At that moment, dressed in a bright red gauze robe, Lu Fenghuo stood by the edge of a bridge. The evening breeze carried a hint of coolness, feeling uncommonly gentle against his skin.
The streets were bustling with noise and activity, filled with peddlers and stalls everywhere. Lu Fenghuo loved the warm, vibrant atmosphere of human society above all else.
Intending to take a stroll through the market, Lu Fenghuo walked forward with Fu Yunming following closely behind.
As they stepped into a dim alley, a young child suddenly approached and handed a wooden box straight to Lu Fenghuo.
Lu Fenghuo opened it to take a look. Inside the box was a cloth doll wearing a pink-and-blue dress with chubby, doll-like cheeks that looked quite adorable.
Just as Lu Fenghuo intended to return the wooden box, the child was nowhere to be found.
At that precise moment, the doll emitted a strange, eerie giggle and abruptly exploded. Hearing a deafening blast right in his hands, Lu Fenghuo watched as a torrent of fire surged before his eyes!
When the smoke and dust cleared, a radius of three zhang was scorched entirely black.
Squatting atop a high wall, Lu Fenghuo dusted off the soot clinging to his clothes with a disgusted expression. Had his martial arts not been exceptional, he would likely be missing a limb or two right now.
“What on earth was that?” Lu Fenghuo asked.
“The doll was packed with explosives,” Fu Yunming answered.
As the two spoke, several more loud explosions echoed from deeper within the town. Following the blasts came the sound of shrill cries and panicked screams.
“It seems it wasn’t aimed at me. Someone is playing dirty behind the scenes and casting a wide net,” Lu Fenghuo remarked.
“Let’s go take a look,” Fu Yunming said.
The two quickly rushed to the site of the explosion. The scene was an utter mess, stained with blood everywhere. Yet the sounds of explosions continued to ring out from nearby.
Every single blast shared a common trait: it originated from a toy. There were wooden dolls, cloth dolls, all sorts of varieties, and they could even produce bizarre noises.
Fu Yunming promptly instructed the townspeople to stay away from all toys and had nearby residents transport the injured to the medical clinic. The chaotic crowd quickly became orderly.
Over the next few days, Fu Yunming mobilized the temple monks to inspect and clear out every single toy in the town. Spring Town now turned pale at the mere mention of dolls, giving anything resembling a toy a wide berth, while even the toy shops closed their doors entirely.
“Acting so brazenly, are you trying to lure the mastermind out?” Lu Fenghuo asked.
“Indeed. Those toys are exquisitely crafted and can produce sounds. Based on my guess, the mastermind behind this should be Guo Lang the Puppeteer,” Fu Yunming replied.
“Guo Lang the Puppeteer,” Lu Fenghuo repeated.
“Having vanished from the pugilistic world for many years, he has suddenly reappeared in Spring Town for reasons unknown. Since I confiscated all his toys, he will surely seek revenge against me,” Fu Yunming said.
“Or more accurately, revenge against the White Lotus Temple. That’s why you’ve tightened security at the temple recently, requiring all visitors to register their names and secretly dispatching extra monks to guard the grounds. You’re doing all this to flush out clues leading to Guo Lang,” Lu Fenghuo deduced.
“Guo Lang is exceptionally skilled at crafting mechanism puppets, but his martial arts are not particularly high. He certainly won’t show his face directly. Yet to deal with seemingly insignificant figures like us, he won’t deploy high-level mechanism puppets either; at most, he would trick pilgrims into bringing explosive ordinary dolls inside.” Fu Yunming explained.
“Although the White Lotus Temple is under strict lockdown, the measures are carried out in secret. On the surface, the temple remains completely normal. This makes it easier to lower Guo Lang’s and the pilgrims’ guard, causing them to slip up,” Lu Fenghuo added.
“Lu Fenghuo, you always manage to follow my train of thought,” Fu Yunming observed.
“Is that a compliment to me, or a compliment to yourself?” Lu Fenghuo raised an eyebrow.
“A compliment to you,” Fu Yunming replied.
Really now?
Lu Fenghuo looked skeptical. A moment later, he said sincerely, “I really envy you for having such a handsome, dashing, resourceful, domineering partner who can make one tremble with awe.”
It took Fu Yunming a moment to process what he meant, and a chuckle escaped him.
Two days later, a female pilgrim placed several dolls in the temple’s back courtyard and was caught red-handed by monks lying in wait. The pilgrim was a woman in her forties with triangular eyes and thin lips, giving her a rather harsh appearance.
The monks escorted the woman to the former site of the Heavenly Prison. The woman kept her lips sealed tight, refusing to reveal a single word no matter how she was interrogated.
Spring Town residents currently feared dolls above all else. Who would dare act like this woman, not only getting close to dolls but smuggling them into a temple? She undoubtedly possessed clues about Guo Lang the Puppeteer, yet simply refused to speak.
“Have you checked her background?” Lu Fenghuo asked.
“Surname Wu, a local resident. Her husband burned to death years ago, and she lives alone now,” Fu Yunming answered.
“Could she have taken money from the puppeteer?” Lu Fenghuo wondered.
“The monks tested her. No matter how much gold and silver was dangled as temptation, she didn’t waver in the slightest,” Fu Yunming said.
“That’s strange. This woman is a local and hasn’t left town. How did she get involved with the puppeteer? And what’s stranger is her fierce loyalty in protecting him.” Lu Fenghuo frowned.
“That is precisely the suspicious part.” Fu Yunming agreed.
The trail had gone cold.
“Does this woman frequently come to the White Lotus Temple to offer incense?” Lu Fenghuo asked.
“Not frequently, but she always comes four or five times a year.” Fu Yunming.
A devout Buddhist? That made things easier. If he remembered correctly, there was plenty of white phosphorus stored near the temple’s back mountain buddha tower.
“Shall I give it a try?” Lu Fenghuo offered.
“Alright,” Fu Yunming agreed.
The method Lu Fenghuo came up with was simple. Since interrogation failed and the woman believed in deities and spirits, he would simply impersonate a spirit to trick the clues out of her.
Night fell, plunging the Heavenly Prison into darkness. The woman lay on a bed of straw with an indifferent expression. Just as she was about to close her eyes and sleep, she saw a burst of flame erupting mid-air, shaping itself into the form of a skull while emitting thick white smoke, looking eerie and ghostly.
The spectacle was terrifying.
Having never witnessed such a sight, the woman shrieked in fright.
Fu Yunming looked at the floating skull. “Is this the deity you conjured?”
Lu Fenghuo waved a hand dismissively. “Gods are too hard to draw, and skulls are basically the same. Successful people focus on big results, don’t sweat the details!”
With that, Lu Fenghuo began acting out the role of a dead victim.
“I… died… so miserably,” a spooky young voice echoed through the Heavenly Prison.
The woman shrank back into her cell, her voice trembling. “I don’t know you… you have the wrong person.”
“Who says you don’t… the explosion case was the puppeteer’s doing… the puppeteer took my life, and you helped him carry it out, which makes you my enemy.”
Hearing this, the woman suddenly burst into wild laughter. “You’re from Spring Town? So you’re from Spring Town. Haha, you deserved to die! Everyone in Spring Town deserves to die!”
Lu Fenghuo paused slightly. How was he supposed to respond to that?
Fortunately, the woman explained the reason herself. “My husband was a kind and honest man who helped many people in his life. But on the day he was burned to death by the fire, did any of you step inside to help him?! You stood by with cold eyes and watched him burn, not even taking a single step forward to aid him! It was pitiful how I had just escaped the fire myself and could only lie on the ground like a corpse, unable to move. I begged you so bitterly to go inside and help him, yet not one of you wavered! You cold-blooded, heartless wretches, you are all destined for hell, every last one of you!”
Lu Fenghuo glanced at Fu Yunming.
It was hard to pass judgment on such a matter. Judging by the woman’s description, she had been heavily injured at the time, and the fire must have been massive. From that perspective, the onlookers likely chose not to help because they deemed the burning building too dangerous.
If saving someone meant risking your own life, most people would hesitate.
All one could say was that helping was a high moral choice, but refusing to help did not break the law.
The situation was mostly clear now, though they still needed the clues regarding the puppeteer.
Lu Fenghuo casually pulled out a bundle of copper-wire skulls and lowered them from the ceiling. Channeling his internal energy to heat the copper wire, the white phosphorus instantly ignited.