A monk?
Yang Ling's heart tightened slightly.
They arrived so quickly!
This must be a monk from the Bitter Awareness Temple!
He opened the other party's Status Panel and took a look:
Character: Hui Neng
Occupation: Martial Artist
Strength: 18
Agility: 12
Spirit: 6Martial Arts: Boulder-Splitting Palm (Skilled), Swift Wind Step (Skilled), Bitter Awareness Heart Sutra (Second-Rate, Beginner's Insight)
Affiliation: Bitter Awareness Temple
"Three martial arts techniques at his disposal!?"
"Is this the foundation of a major sect..."
Yang Ling inwardly marveled.
However, he noticed that the Bitter Awareness Heart Sutra cultivated by Hui Neng was only second-rate.
"His status within the Bitter Awareness Temple probably isn't high. Moreover, with his Spirit attribute, he hasn't reached the level required to cultivate the Vajra Bright King Technique either."
Yang Ling thought to himself.
"You're saying the Butcher of Prisoners was captured right here?"
The monk said indifferently.
"That's correct."
Supervisor Wu nodded carefully.
All the miners were stunned.
It was the first time they had ever seen such a 'careful' expression on Supervisor Wu's face.
They were inwardly shocked. What kind of background did this monk before them have?
"On the Butcher of Prisoners' person, aside from a few taels of loose silver, there was nothing else?"
The monk asked again.
A trace of a bitter smile appeared on Supervisor Wu's face:
"At that time, the Butcher of Prisoners had already been taken away by Chief Constable Lin. I did not personally search him..."
He glanced covertly at Chief Constable Lin, vaguely guessing something in his heart.
Chief Constable Lin frowned. "Master Hui Neng, at that time, after the Butcher of Prisoners was captured, his identity was verified. There truly were no other superfluous items on his person."
Having said that, he seemed thoughtful:
"Previously, there were rumors in the martial world that the Butcher of Prisoners stole a Buddhist scripture from the Bitter Awareness Temple. Could it be the rumors are true? Is Master Hui Neng searching for this scripture?"
Hui Neng glanced at Chief Constable Lin, then smiled:
"The Butcher of Prisoners did indeed steal a Buddhist classic from the Bitter Awareness Temple. Because it was the original manuscript, containing profound Buddhist teachings, it cannot be allowed to be lost.
That is why the Bitter Awareness Temple sent me to recover this scripture.
But now, since it is not on his person, it means he has hidden this item somewhere."
Supervisor Wu's expression shifted. "Master Hui Neng, you mean..."
"This Fire Crystal Rock mine is a very suitable place to hide something."
Hui Neng pressed his palms together in a Buddhist salute. "Benefactor Wu, could you assist in the search? If we can find that Buddhist scripture, this humble monk would be immensely grateful."
"Brother Wu, we can help with this. I brought several dozen men with me this time; we can all search together."
Chief Constable Lin said.
Seeing the situation, Supervisor Wu naturally wouldn't refuse. He immediately instructed Supervisor Niu to arrange for all miners to search for this Buddhist scripture.
Facing the thousand-plus miners, Hui Neng suddenly spoke clearly and loudly:
"Whoever can find my Bitter Awareness Temple's Buddhist scripture, this humble monk can teach them a fist and foot technique, as well as reward them with fifty taels of pure silver."
"Hiss—"
"A martial art technique!? Fifty taels of silver!?"
"Is that for real!?"
"A master from the Bitter Awareness Temple definitely keeps his word. If we really find it, wouldn't that be hitting the jackpot!"
In the crowd, Zhang Wei, Lin Guoliang, and the others also became exceptionally excited.
In their view, this was a game quest!
"Mengmeng, Chen Xu, if we find the quest objective, we'll share the rewards together!"
Lin Guoliang said excitedly.
Wu Meng nodded happily.
A trace of gravity appeared on Chen Xu's face:
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy..."
Over on Supervisor Wu's side, to prevent anyone who found the item from secretly keeping it for themselves and offending the Bitter Awareness Temple.
He had the Mine Guards and Chief Constable Lin's men take charge of supervision.
Both sides combined also had nearly a hundred men.
One person supervising a dozen or so miners was no problem.
He also had the miners supervise each other.
If someone secretly kept it, a successful report would be rewarded with one hundred taels!
That was even higher than the reward Hui Neng offered!
Whether by coincidence or not.
Yang Ling was grouped together with Zhang Wei, as well as Lin Guoliang and his group.
Chen Xu was actually somewhat pleasantly surprised and stepped forward to greet Yang Ling.
"What are you all muttering about!? Hurry up and search!"
The one supervising them was a Constable. When dealing with these vagrant miners, he naturally had no pleasant expression to offer.
Chen Xu didn't dare say more and quickly began searching all around.
Not only were people searching within the mine, but people were also searching in the Miner's Village.
"Gentlemen, I shall also go and search for a while."
Hui Neng suddenly cupped his hands in salute and then headed towards the mine as well.
After he had gone some distance away.
Supervisor Wu suddenly whispered:
"Brother Lin, what the Bitter Awareness Temple lost, is it really a Buddhist scripture? And not a martial art manual?"
"It must be a martial art manual."
Chief Constable Lin's expression was very grave:
"And its grade won't be too low. At minimum, it's a second-rate martial art."
"This is a major event!"
Supervisor Wu murmured to himself: "Even a powerful sect like the Mountain and River Sect only masters two third-rate martial arts..."
He suddenly reacted:
"What did the Butcher of Prisoners say? Wasn't he captured by you? Did you get any information out of him?"
"The Butcher of Prisoners..."
Chief Constable Lin glanced at Hui Neng's retreating back:
"Master Hui Neng spoke with him alone for a few words, and then the Butcher of Prisoners died."
"Died...?"
Supervisor Wu's heart tightened slightly:
"Your constabulary isn't going to investigate?"
"Investigate what? There's no need to offend the Bitter Awareness Temple over this. How many high officials and nobles in the Zhao State are patrons of the Bitter Awareness Temple?"
Chief Constable Lin said indifferently:
"Besides, they are the wronged party."
Supervisor Wu nodded thoughtfully.
He was certain that what the Bitter Awareness Temple lost must be a martial art manual, at least a second-rate one.
Otherwise, Hui Neng wouldn't have needed to silence the prisoner, to prevent the news from spreading and attracting the covetous eyes of other major sects.
...
Time passed bit by bit.
Even the five Mine Shafts were arranged for miners to search.
Yang Ling pretended to search very seriously, but in reality, he was secretly paying attention to Hui Neng's movements.
Seeing Hui Neng head to Mine Shaft No. 5, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
Could it be the other party had already learned the hiding place of the Vajra Bright King Technique from the Butcher of Prisoners?
"No, if he knew, he wouldn't need to make such a big production out of it."
Yang Ling inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yang Ling, you're almost done gathering five taels of silver, right?"
Nearby, Zhang Wei, while searching various nooks and crannies, spoke up.
"What's it to you?"
Yang Ling glanced at him.
He also took a look at Zhang Wei's Status Panel.
Character: Zhang Wei
Occupation: Martial Artist
Level: 3
Strength: 4
Agility: 2
Spirit: 1
Martial Arts: Zhang Family Leg Technique (Novice)
HP: 40
Yang Ling remained expressionless, not revealing the slightest hint of surprise on his face.
The other's occupation had already changed from Miner to Martial Artist.
Had this guy been in contact with Zhang Hao?
Why would Zhang Hao teach him the Zhang Family Leg Technique?
Zhang Wei also didn't expect his secret to be so easily seen through. He continued:
"You mine fast, so getting five taels of silver shouldn't be hard for you. I want to make a deal with you."
"What could you possibly have to trade with me?"
Yang Ling said nonchalantly.
A flash of anger passed through Zhang Wei's eyes, but he still restrained his temper. He slowly moved closer to Yang Ling and whispered:
"A martial art manual."
"A martial art manual? You have a martial art manual?"
Yang Ling's footsteps halted.
Zhang Wei: "Keep your voice down! If you want to learn it, use silver to buy it from me!"
Yang Ling's mind stirred.
Could this guy really have an extra martial art manual?
Obtained from Zhang Hao?
If it were true, then it seemed the other party could only come to him for a transaction.
If he went to anyone else, he would be dead for sure!