Scourge Messenger

Chapter 24 Like a Ghost Like a Buddha
"Oh?"

Yan Qing glanced at Xue Yan and the other 'strange NPCs' he had seen in the game, but he didn't care.

The content of his conversation with An Wu was actually not important. What was important was that An Wu was able to accurately identify the account 'Yan Qing' and give correct feedback according to the plan Yan Qing had previously set in 'Automatic Evolution'.

According to his settings, only if he shows up in person and says the code word 'An Wu, I'm here', will An Wu report to him on the current progress of the plan. If any of the conditions are missing, the feedback procedure will not be executed.

If An Wu couldn't recognize him, Yan Qing would be embarrassed in front of Heilang and the others.

Fortunately, the test results were quite encouraging - identity recognition, voice recognition, and secret code recognition all worked. This means that even if Yan Qing doesn't have the game console in his hand, he can use the secret code to trigger the "secret door" of the trumpet and then control the trumpet by voice.

Although Yan Qing didn't care about An Wu's words, the pharmacist Yuan behind him didn't ignore it: "What are they complaining about?"

An Wu naturally didn't answer the evolution of Pharmacist Yuan's question, so Yan Qing could only explain it for him: "An Wu rescued them, but they complained that he was too late. They might also complain that An Wu didn't give them the blood-replenishing pills sooner."

Blood-replenishing pill!
Yan Qing said it lightly. After all, he really didn't care about the blood-replenishing pills—who would care about the lowest-level red medicine in the game? But people like Pharmacist Yuan who knew the business had huge waves in their hearts.

You should know that the blood-replenishing pill has another common name among the people: the elixir of immortality!
It means that as long as you take this pill, no matter how serious the injury is, you can be cured, even if the heart is pierced, you can still hold on to your life!

Even people of Yaoshi Yuan, Ying Rushi, and Shang Xinlei's status could only receive a handful of Blood Replenishing Pills each month, and they even had to apply for them. One of the reasons Yaoshi Yuan was able to form the Embroidered Uniform Guard was because she was able to obtain a certain amount of Blood Replenishing Pills from her father as start-up capital.

Yan Qing actually used such a precious elixir to save strangers. It was really... too extravagant!
Yao Shiyuan followed the trail of kerosene and blood all the way to the large iron gate leading underground to the inner hall. Combined with the previous rumors of human trafficking at Anguo Temple, she had deduced a rough outline of the truth. She glanced at Xue Yan and his group. She had even met several of them before; they were all descendants of high-ranking officials and ministers.

However, Pharmacist Yuan had no good feelings towards them at all.

Although they were victims, it was clear from their appearance that they were just a group of parasites reincarnated into a noble family. Yao Shiyuan even felt that saving these people would only make him eat the rice of Gui Chang'an.

"You, what do you want to do?"

"I am the nephew of Grand Minister of Agriculture Su Ling. If you rescue me, the Su family will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Seeing the powerful and murderous pharmacist coming over, many people were scared out of their wits, some begging for mercy or making threats, but no one dared to resist or run away.

Seeing such an ugly scene, Yao Shiyuan felt even more disgusted.

Just as she raised her spear, a little girl mustered up the courage to step forward and said loudly, "Not everyone complains. I'm just grateful that he saved us!"

Xue Yan, whose legs had weakened at the sight of Pharmacist Yuan's murderous aura, finally came to his senses and quickly stated, "Yes, that's right! To repay An Wu and An Liu for saving my life, I'm willing to do anything!"

Yan Qing didn't care about these strangers, so he didn't interfere when Black Wolf wanted to attack. But after hearing what Xue Yan said, he became interested: "You said you're willing to do anything?"

Xue Yan immediately understood Yan Qing's intention after hearing this response. He turned to the others and said, "I am willing. I think you should be willing too!"

"Yes, yes!"

"I'm willing to pay any amount of money. My father is Wang Yuanhai!"

"I can never repay you for saving my life. I will definitely fulfill any request you have!"

The others also knew what to do and quickly expressed their stance under Xue Yan's urging - the murderer wearing a black wolf mask raised his spear, and if he didn't bow his head, he would die!

"Black Wolf, they are still useful, let them go." Yan Qing said with a smile.

What's with that tone of voice? Do you think I'm your subordinate?
Yao Shiyuan wanted to kill them all and give Huang Quan a good slap on the face, but Huang Quan said they were useful. Between anger and reason, she chose reason. She glared at Xue Yan and the others, snorted coldly, and returned to Yan Qing and the others.

"There are more than a dozen cans of kerosene here. An Wu and his men will pour the kerosene all over the exits of Anguo Temple. If you want to help, pick up the kerosene and follow them to help. However, they will block the entrance and exit of Anguo Temple, so if you want to escape later, you must return to the main gate and leave with us."

The nobles agreed one after another. Many of them were worried. Once they reached the entrance, they could leave directly. As for An Wu and his men, they would block the door - how could they possibly block the door of such a big temple as Anguo Temple?
Although Yan Qing didn't know what they were thinking, asking them for help was just a spur-of-the-moment move. He wouldn't care even if it was of no use. If it was useful, then saving them would not be in vain.

Passing by An Wu and the others, Yan Qing said, "According to the plan."

"Yes." An Wu lifted a can of kerosene with one hand and walked out of the inner hall without looking back. An Liu and the others followed closely behind him. Seeing this, the nobles naturally hurried to follow him out, but when Yao Shiyuan snorted coldly, their hearts skipped a beat and they obediently followed Xue Yan to carry the kerosene can. Miss Yang San didn't rush out. She saw Yan Qing draw his sword and cut the lock on the vault door of the inner hall of Anguo Temple. She subconsciously wanted to say something, but the next second, Xue Yan dragged her away.

"Haven't you heard it before? Don't look at anything indecent, don't listen to anything indecent, don't say anything indecent!" Xue Yan stuffed a can of kerosene into his arms: "Leave Anguo Temple, a place full of filth and dirt, alone!"

Miss Yang San: "But the vaults are all from different families—"

"Do you really think they are good people? Let's leave now after pouring the kerosene. Not only you, but even your father wouldn't dare touch this kind of shocking case!"

Xue Yan ran outside carrying the kerosene can. The first thing he saw was the horrifically dead bodies and blood on the ground. He was so disgusted that he almost wanted to vomit. If his stomach wasn't empty, he might have vomited. When he looked up, his face suddenly changed: "Not good!"

Several monks gathered in front of the main gate, about to open it and flee. The monks were no fools, and seeing Yan Qing and his gang of thugs hadn't come out for quite some time, they naturally sought a chance to escape from this troubled place.

An Wu's task was to block the gate and not let anyone out. He threw the kerosene can directly towards the gate, then drew his sword and cut out the moon ring!

The armor-breaking, stone-breaking Moon Ring fell upon the monks, but had no effect at all. Apparently, ignoring the city's protection rules only existed between thieves and non-thieves, and since An Wu and the monks were both non-thieves, they still adhered to the city's rules and could not harm each other.

An Wu was not surprised to see this and strode towards the monks.

In such a life-and-death situation, even rabbits would bite, let alone the monks raised by Anguo Temple? When they saw Anwu rushing towards them, they roared and tried to block Anwu.

But the next second they screamed and ran away as if they had seen a ghost!

Because Anwu is burning.

He only had his left arm that was usable, and it was now soaked with kerosene, turning it into a torch, illuminating the dim Anguo Temple, whose doors and windows were closed in broad daylight.

The monk who was doused with kerosene would immediately catch fire if he was even slightly touched by An Wu's flames, and even rolling on the ground would not be able to put out the fire.

The gate of Anguo Temple was opened a little, and An Wu walked over to block the hole. There was kerosene all over the ground under his feet, and his hands were disabled, but none of the monks around him dared to get close!
The same situation occurred at the side door and back door of Anguo Temple.

An Liu, An Qi, An Ba, and An Jiu soaked their hands in kerosene and used their bodies as fuel, igniting the fiery flames of evil spirits and blocking the entrances and exits. Even the monks' verbal battles with lotus flowers could not make them waver in the slightest.

The monks couldn't get out, so the nobles were naturally trapped here as well. At this time, some monks noticed that they were the "merchants" who had escaped from the dungeon and wanted to catch them. They had to fight back, pouring kerosene on the monks as they fled. Soon, the entire Anguo Temple was covered with kerosene from the ground to the beams.

Xue Yan and Miss Yang San poured a circle of kerosene around the gate, frightening the monks so much that they retreated further and dared not come forward. They looked at An Wu, who was blocking the entrance. Xue Yan swallowed his saliva and said in a trembling voice, "An, An Wu, can you please move aside and let us out?"

An Wu had a blank expression on his face. He didn't respond and didn't look at them.

"Okay, then we'll wait for your boss to come out and then leave together."

Miss Yang San suddenly said, "You can stop now, right? If you keep burning, your left hand will be burned off. Doesn't it hurt?"

An Wu, who hadn't reacted to their actions at all, suddenly looked at Miss Yang San, frightening Xue Yan so much that he pulled the girl to his side. But before Xue Yan could apologize, he saw a smile on An Wu's face.

"If someone cares, it's not so bad," he muttered to himself, then told them, "It doesn't hurt."

"I don't feel any pain at all."

Xue Yan looked at the young man before him, not much older than himself, his face burned and his hands reduced to charcoal, and suddenly had a strong sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen someone like him somewhere. But after careful consideration, he couldn't figure out why.

Suddenly, a ray of sunlight stung his eyes.

Xue Yan raised his head and saw a small hole in the wall high up in Anguo Temple, which had appeared at some point in time.

Surrounding the small cave is a mural depicting the majestic figure of the Dragon-Subduing Arhat, holding a vajra and a rope, surrounded by clouds of fire, a figure of compassion and majesty. The small hole is located right above the figure's left eye, allowing sunlight to filter through the gap into the dimly lit, century-old temple.

Just like the Arhat who subdues the dragons and watches over the world.

(End of this chapter)