I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 581 Is this bear monster real?
Hearing the strange roar, Chen Xuan turned his head sharply and saw a bear... no, a man wearing a bear skin, roaring and swinging a large axe as he charged out of the snow-capped mountains next to the Zen temple.

"This, what is this?"

Chen Xuan stared wide-eyed at the tall figure in disbelief. Although the hill was only a few hundred meters high, the terrain was rugged and winding. It must have been at least a kilometer long to rush through it. Yet, this person had covered half the distance in an instant, making Chen Xuan's scalp tingle!
"What else could it be but a bear monster (Note ①)!"

"Is this the kind of skin in 'bear monster'?" Chen Xuan stared, speechless, while Feng Xue shrugged and said:
"Otherwise, you can't really find a bear with the 'monster' tag, can you? Alright, I'm starting to fight, you better stay away!"

"Wait..." Before Chen Xuan could finish speaking, he felt a gentle yet irresistible force push him away, and he was like a tissue fluttering in the wind, drifting away from the firelight.

The wind howled in his ears, and the updrafts from the flames pushed him further and further away. He watched helplessly as Feng Xue and the bear-like monster collided in the distance. The sound of metal clashing against metal was deafening, even briefly drowning out the crackling of the flames, and shaking the snow off the mountain!
"Oh!"

He eventually fell into a thick snowdrift in a not-too-awkward manner. The icy snow instantly filled his neck, making him shiver, but also bringing him back to his senses from a brief moment of confusion.

"Cough cough... spit it out!" He spat out the unmelted snow in his mouth and scrambled out of the snow pit. His first reaction was to look back in the direction of the Zen temple.

The towering flames turned the sky an eerie orange-red, and the sounds of violent collisions and inhuman roars rolled in like muffled thunder, yet faintly, Feng Xue's somewhat mocking voice could also be heard—

"Come on, you big oaf!"

Chen Xuan's lips twitched. This Great Sage seemed to be enjoying himself? But then he shuddered. Compared to caring about Feng Xue, he seemed to have more to worry about—

"Where the hell is my luggage?"

A cold wind blew by, and Chen Xuan, who wasn't dressed too warmly because of the temple's warmth, felt like he was about to turn into an ice sculpture. Looking around but seeing nothing to warm himself, he gritted his teeth and started running—

"Never mind, at least moving around will keep me warm..."

However, he froze after taking only two steps.

Ahead of him, in the reflection of the snow, a dozen or so figures appeared silently.

Gray monk's robe, bald head, standardized smile.

It was that group of monks from the "Guanyin Temple"—or rather, hypocrites!
They seemed completely unaffected by the terrible battle and towering flames behind them. Their ranks were orderly, their movements synchronized, like pre-programmed machines, precisely "gliding" towards Chen Xuan.

Some parts of their monks' robes were blackened by flames, and some even had soot marks on their arms or cheeks, but their smiles remained perfectly chilling.

"Elder..." the leading monk began, his voice still flat, but seemingly deliberately drawn out, which only made it more chilling—

"The temple is on fire! Please come with us to a safe place!"

This shout nearly scared Chen Xuan out of his wits!

Safe zone? Go back with them? Even a pig-headed idiot wouldn't believe that!
"You, you guys, don't come any closer!" Chen Xuan screamed, his survival instinct kicking in, and he ran in the opposite direction with all his might!

The snow was deep and uneven, making running extremely strenuous, but the speed he unleashed at that moment was beyond his lifelong limits! He haphazardly used the light-foot techniques he had learned before, switching to one if one didn't work, and in this alternating process, he actually managed to devise a decent running method.

His movements, stumbling and uneven, were quite ugly, but he was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, he had already run a hundred meters or so!
He dared not turn around; all he could hear was his own heavy breathing, his frantic heartbeat, and... the death-defying screams behind him—

"Elder, do not panic! The fire has not spread here! Please come with us to a safe place!"

The monotonous voice followed closely behind, growing ever closer. Chen Xuan felt as if his lungs were about to explode; the icy air cut into his throat like a knife. He stumbled, nearly falling, and in his panic, glanced back.

That one glance filled him with utter despair.

Those fakes were less than three meters away from him! And they stretched out their hands—their fingers hooked forward, about to grab the back of his collar!
But perhaps after so many years of bad luck, his luck finally turned around. Suddenly, his foot slipped, as if he had stepped into a snow pit, and he rolled down the hillside with a splash, instantly escaping the pursuit of the fake monk.

"What luck!"

Chen Xuan never imagined he would have the chance to say such lines, but the fake monk's shouts drew closer again. He didn't have time to think and started running again.

This time, however, "luck" did not smile upon him. Just three minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, he was finally surrounded by that tireless group of fake monks.

"My life is over!" Chen Xuan cried out inwardly, already resigned to his fate.

However, the expected capture did not occur.

That cold, metallic hand did indeed land on his shoulder, but the force was unusually... gentle? It even carried a hint of soothing!

Immediately afterwards, several other fake people surrounded him. Instead of attacking, they quickly and orderly formed a protective circle, shielding Chen Xuan in the middle.

"Elder, you've been frightened." The leading monk nodded slightly, his face still bearing that standard smile, but his tone seemed to be trying hard to express apology. "The Great Sage instructed us to take good care of you, or else we'd be in big trouble!"

Chen Xuan: "???"

He was completely dumbfounded. This wasn't how the script was supposed to go! Shouldn't they have dragged him back and burned him?

Before he could react, two monks had already "supported" him from either side. The other monk pulled out a gleaming, metal-like object from his robe, unfolded it into the size of a blanket with a "whoosh," and gently but firmly wrapped it around Chen Xuan's body—even trying to stuff it into his clothes along the collar!

Chen Xuan didn't know what this meant and was about to struggle, but just as he was resisting the monk who was stuffing "metal pieces" into his clothes, another monk pulled out a steaming thermos from somewhere, unscrewed the lid, and held it to Chen Xuan's lips. Before he even took a sip, he could smell a faint ginger flavor.

"It's cold, have some ginger soup to warm yourself up," the monk said with a smile.

Chen Xuan was completely numb, like a puppet being manipulated, drinking ginger soup, wrapped in a thermal blanket, surrounded by a group of "enthusiastic and thoughtful" fake monks, stumbling and walking back...

The direction was directly towards the Guanyin Temple, which was still burning and where terrifying sounds of fighting could be heard continuously!
(End of this chapter)