Sweeping Through Martial Arts: My Clone's Extraordinary Talent

There were two things in the brocade pouch.

One of them was a note.

Shen Han leaned closer to the oil lamp and looked at the note by its light. The handwriting was very fresh, and there were only ten characters:

All troubles can be found in the reclining Buddha.

Concise and to the point—a reclining Buddha! But what exactly is this reclining Buddha?

Having no clue what to do for the time being, Shen Han put away the note and turned to look at something else.

A human skin mask.

Shen Han immediately unfolded the human skin mask. It felt cool to the touch. The surface of the mask was made of some special material, making it very thin and realistic, and it even had textures.

"Give it a try..."

He simply put the mask on his head.

The mask fit the skin perfectly, blending seamlessly with the entire face without any abnormality.

I fetched a basin of water and looked at my reflection.

Upon seeing the reflection, he was even more astonished. His reflection on the water's surface had completely transformed into that of a middle-aged man with an extremely ugly appearance, without the slightest flaw.

"Interesting...wait, is that my voice?"

What surprised him even more was that his voice became much hoarse and low after he put on the mask.

This stuff is great!

Shen Han removed his mask and revealed his true appearance.

If there are any things that are inconvenient to do in person, just wear this mask and do them under a different identity!

……

"Guard Zhan, how does your arm feel?"

The next day, upon arriving at the Xuanhu Medical Clinic, Shen Han immediately went to the guard team.

Zhan Chaoyang looked radiant: "The pain is completely gone! Little Doctor Shen, you truly deserve to be called a miracle doctor!"

"It's mainly because Guardian Zhan has a good constitution. Come on, let me give you another injection to change the medicine."

Thank you for your trouble.

After changing the dressing, Shen Han remembered the note in the brocade pouch and had a sudden thought. He said, "By the way, Guard Zhan, you've been navigating the county town for many years. I want to ask you something."

Zhan Chaoyang asked in surprise, "What?"

Where is the reclining Buddha in Sanhe County?

Shen Han said, word by word.

"A reclining Buddha?"

Zhan Chaoyang froze on the spot. "Let me think... there shouldn't be... wait, there is!"

Shen Han's eyes lit up: "Please inform me, Guard Zhan."

"In the west of the county town, there is a Golden Buddha Temple, inside which lies a reclining Buddha statue. However, that Golden Buddha Temple has been abandoned for many years and has long since lost its incense offerings. Young Doctor Shen, what do you need the reclining Buddha for?"

"I was just asking casually."

"Well, Jinfo Temple is probably only frequented by homeless beggars occasionally, so it's not very peaceful. Little Doctor Shen, you'd better not go."

"I see."

Shen Han smiled.

During the day, everything at the clinic was as usual, and everyone at the clinic avoided talking about the Black Dragon Gang collecting protection money the night before.

Soon, night fell.

Shen Han found a set of black clothes to change into, put on a human skin mask, and quietly headed west of the city.

There are very few people in Sanhe County at night.

The western part of the county town is a relatively underdeveloped area, with scattered houses and a desolate population.

As we turned the corner of the alley, a horse-drawn carriage slowly approached.

Howling!

Perhaps it was Shen Han's incredibly ugly face that frightened the horse, and the driver suddenly lost control of it.

The carriage accelerated instantly, rushing towards Shen Han.

Boom!

Shen Han dodged aside, and the carriage crashed into the low wall beside him before finally coming to a stop.

"What happened?"

Two men jumped off the carriage, one after the other.

Shen Han recognized these two people.

One of them was Lin Tanzhi, the young head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) of Fukang镖局 (escort agency), and the other was the agency's steward.

"What an ugly person..."

The head of the escort agency, carrying a lantern, blurted out his innermost thoughts upon seeing Shen Han.

"shut up!"

Lin Tanzhi hurriedly interrupted.

He approached Shen Han with a smile and said politely, "Sir, I'm so sorry to have startled you."

"Young Master Lin didn't recognize me..." Shen Han thought to himself.

The human skin mask is truly no ordinary object!

"It's alright, what he said is true, my appearance is indeed very ugly."

Shen Han waved his hand.

Lin Tanzhi was somewhat embarrassed and quickly said, "Sir, there's no need to belittle yourself. Appearance doesn't define everything. As long as you have ability, you can still make a name for yourself!"

As he spoke, he took out two taels of silver.

"To express our apologies, please take this money, sir. We have other matters to attend to, so we'll be leaving now."

Take care.

Watching the carriage leave, Shen Han tucked the silver into his pocket.

"Young Master Lin is truly charitable and generous; no wonder he enjoys such a high reputation among the people."

This little accident also served as a test of the mask's magic.

Alright, time to get down to business!

Following the address given by Zhan Chaoyang, Shen Han soon arrived at the entrance of Jinfo Temple.

This temple is small, consisting of only one main hall.

The temple gate had vanished, and the temple walls were riddled with holes, clearly indicating that it had been abandoned for a long time.

"Is this the place mentioned in the note?"

Shen Han looked around and stepped into the Golden Buddha Temple.

Compared to the outside, the temple was in a complete mess, with broken tiles and filth scattered everywhere, and a stench wafting through the air.

Shen Han frowned and looked straight ahead.

It was a reclining Buddha.

The reclining Buddha is over two zhang long, but its head is gone, and its body is pitted and uneven.

Shen Han walked around the reclining Buddha once.

No findings have been made yet.

"All troubles reside within the reclining Buddha... Could it be that something is hidden inside the Buddha statue's belly?"

He gently patted the reclining Buddha.

It is not hollow, meaning there is no interlayer inside.

Squeak!

Just then, the sound of footsteps crunching on fallen leaves came from outside the temple.

Shen Han made a quick decision, jumped out of the back window of the temple, and hid behind the wall.

Two beggars came in.

"Not very exciting today, only made two coins. How about you?"

"I'm a little bit better than you, Sanwen."

"This can't go on."

"How about we stake out outside Miaoyu Brothel and steal from them? Those customers all have money anyway."

"Okay, let's have one round first, then we'll go."

"You're so naughty..."

Shen Han, standing behind the wall, was dumbfounded. Being a beggar was one thing, stealing money was even understandable, but you two were both men…

Half an incense stick later, the two beggars finished.

"Let's go."

"I'll hide the five coins first."

"Um."

One of the beggars walked to the corner of the wall, squatted down, and reached out to pry open the wall bricks.

There was a hidden compartment inside.

He took out a dark earthenware jar from the hidden compartment and put the copper coins inside.

After doing all this, the two beggars left the temple hand in hand.

The Golden Buddha Temple has returned to tranquility.

"So there were hidden compartments in the walls of this dilapidated temple..."

After the beggar had completely gone far away, Shen Han returned to the temple.

They thoroughly inspected all four walls.

Soon, he found a hidden compartment on the north side.

Inside the hidden compartment was a wooden box!

Shen Han immediately took it out.

The wooden box was almost dust-free, indicating that it had not been stored for very long.

Click!

Shen Han opened the wooden box.

Inside was a palm-sized black brick and a piece of fine silk cloth.

The black brick was special, radiating a purple light.

I don't know what material it's made of.

On the silk cloth, there were several lines of text and four patterns.

"This should be the brick that Iron Fist Martial Arts School is looking for. What's written on the silk cloth? Oh well, it's too dark to see clearly here. I'll study it slowly when I get home."

Shen Han didn't think much of it.

After stuffing the empty wooden box back into the hidden compartment, he quietly left.