Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

The horse was so frightened that it neighed loudly and its steps became much more erratic.

“Miss, we have entered the territory of Yunze Prefecture. Judging from the sky, it is about to rain heavily. We must find a place to take shelter quickly. You can’t easily get caught in the rain in Yunze Prefecture. Even the strongest man will get typhoid fever for several days if he gets wet.”

A burly man in tight-fitting clothes walked to the carriage window and said, "The woman in the green dress immediately poked her head out: 'Since the official road was built, no one has walked on this old road for many years. I don't know if there is a place to take shelter from the rain. Have you sent someone to look for one nearby?'"

The burly man in tight-fitting clothes nodded and said, "I have already sent several brothers from the guild to search ahead on horseback. They will come back immediately as soon as they find anything."

The woman in the green dress said, "Alright, then let everyone speed up their pace. If we really can't find a place to take shelter from the rain, then put on the raincoats and hats we prepared in advance, and get as little rain as possible."

"Miss, there are dozens of waterproof animal hides on one of the carriages. The master had them loaded onto it before he left," the maid Xiao Chan reminded her from inside the carriage.

The woman in the green dress turned around and smiled: "Luckily you reminded me, I almost forgot about that."

Just then, several figures appeared on the road ahead, accompanied by the rapid sound of horses' hooves.

The guards of the Li family caravan looked closely and realized that the newcomers were none other than the brothers who had gone out to find shelter from the rain.

The group rode directly to the carriage where the woman in the green dress was, panting, and said, "Miss, we've discovered a temple on a hillside about three miles ahead, where we can take shelter from the rain."

Upon hearing this news, the faces of the Li family guards all showed expressions of relief.

Nobody wants to get caught in the rain in Yunze Prefecture. Even with raincoats and straw hats for protection, it's still easy to get yourself killed.

The caravan quickened its pace and soon arrived at the temple.

Just as the guards who went out to scout the way said, there was indeed a fairly large Buddhist temple on the hillside, and to get to the temple, one had to walk around the dirt road on the hillside.

The dirt road was narrow and in poor condition, posing a considerable challenge for the horse-drawn carriage.

Fortunately, the Li family's caravan drivers were highly skilled, and the entire caravan eventually arrived at the gate of the Buddhist temple.

Withered vines twine around the wall, and broken tiles and bricks leak from the doorway.

Two stone statues of door gods with half their heads cracked stand on either side of the temple gate, the temple gate is dilapidated and decayed, and the temple name plaque has faded characters.

An aura of desolation and antiquity wafted over, clearly indicating that this was an abandoned ancient temple that had been neglected and abandoned for many years.

"Miss, this place... do we still need to take shelter from the rain?" Xiao Chan asked, somewhat frightened.

Everyone knows that evil spirits often roam the wild, and abandoned temples, monasteries, and Taoist temples are the most common hiding places for evil spirits.

Apart from those skilled martial arts masters who enjoy slaying demons and monsters, and some fearless outlaws, almost no ordinary people dare to sleep in such a deserted place.

If it hadn't rained, the Li family caravan's temporary stop would have been in Shenjia Town, forty miles away, where a clan expert of the eighth rank in music was stationed.

But now it's clear that it's impossible to reach Shenjia Town before the downpour.

For a moment, the woman in the green dress regretted not having the chance to travel with the four Demon-Subduing Officers from a few days ago. Otherwise, if the Demon-Subduing Officers were present, she wouldn't have to worry about this problem.

The Li family caravan was transporting goods to a very distant destination, and the journey was quite tight, so they could not afford to delay too much along the way.

However, if any of the guards catch a cold after the torrential rain in Yunze Prefecture, it will be troublesome and will greatly affect the progress of the journey.

However, abandoning the guards who are suffering from colds will allow the caravan's defensive forces to descend upon them.

Therefore, the woman in the green dress had no reason to refuse the readily available shelter from the rain.

"Take out all the exorcising artifacts we've prepared. Everyone take one and carry it with you. Be careful and don't let your guard down. We'll stay here until the rain subsides a bit, then we'll leave," the woman in the green dress said.

"Yes."

Immediately, guards unloaded a large wooden box from a carriage. As the group opened it, they found that the box contained many Bagua plates, copper coin swords, peach wood swords, talismans, bronze mirrors, Buddha statues, prayer beads, and so on.

However, they were all sorts of magical artifacts, which the Li family had spent a lot of money to obtain from various famous and orthodox sects, and which had the effect of exorcising evil spirits and suppressing evil.

Once each guard had taken a magical artifact, he immediately felt much calmer.

There are many people here, so if they really encounter any evil spirits, they might have a chance to fight them with this large collection of magical artifacts.

click!

As two guards stepped forward and pushed open the gate, accompanied by a screeching sound, the scene of the Buddhist temple behind the gate slowly came into view.

Overgrown with weeds, fallen stone lanterns, and dilapidated ancient temples, the scene presented a desolate and bleak picture.

The walls throughout the temple are adorned with colorful murals depicting different scenes and numerous figures.

Despite years of neglect, these murals remain remarkably intact and exquisite, a fact that cannot help but amaze people.

They drove several carriages into the Buddhist temple one after another and stopped in a corridor with an intact roof.

Not long after, thunder rumbled in the sky, and with a pattering sound of water, the torrential rain from Yunze Prefecture finally began to pour down.

In just a few breaths, the rain had become so dense that it was impossible to see more than five steps ahead, and the rain splashed on the temple ground, creating sprays that were more than a meter high.

This clearly demonstrates just how terrifying this torrential rain was.

"Fortunately, there is a place to stay and take shelter from the rain. With this amount of rain, even if you have a raincoat and a straw hat, you would probably be ruined if you got soaked."

"We are so lucky. Thank you, Amitabha Buddha, for giving us a place to take shelter from the rain."

"But now I'm a little puzzled. How could a perfectly good Buddhist temple be abandoned like this? By the way, has any of you walked this old road before? Does anyone know the name of this Buddhist temple?"

All the guards standing under the eaves to take shelter from the rain looked blank and shook their heads, saying they didn't know.

Only one of the guards, an elderly man in his fifties, looked thoughtful, as if he knew something but couldn't quite recall it.

However, no one noticed his appearance; everyone's attention was drawn to the heavy rain outside the eaves.

Yunze Prefecture has always received a lot of rainfall, sometimes so much so that some poorly constructed houses can be washed away.

Thus, there is the saying, "Dark clouds roll like ink, obscuring the sky; white rain leaps like pearls, entering the clouds and marshes."

"It's raining so hard, it looks like it won't stop anytime soon. Hopefully the rain will lessen before the sun goes down so we can continue on our way. I don't want to spend the night in a place like this," a guard muttered to himself.

The sun was setting in the west, and dusk was approaching.

The rain showed no signs of letting up, and as the last glimmer of light disappeared on the eaves of the temple, night officially fell.

Crackling sounds!

Inside the main hall, dry firewood and straw collected from various parts of the temple were crackling and burning in a fire.

Everyone knew that it was impossible to continue the journey at this point, so they might as well quickly build a campfire and rely on the light to make themselves feel a little more at ease.

"Tonight, we'll split into three groups to keep watch, each group for one hour. Our activities are confined to this main hall. No one is allowed to leave without permission. Wherever you go, you must bring at least five brothers with you, even for basic necessities. Also, these things should be done at the entrance; don't go too far. Everyone understands why, so be smart." The caravan leader addressed the guards by the campfire.

Since we've been forced into this situation, there's nothing we can do about it, so there's no need to complain anymore. Just do your best in the present moment.

Everyone present was well aware of this, as they were all frequent travelers.

As the eldest daughter of the Li family, the woman in the green dress was not required to keep watch at night, and Xiao Chan, her personal maid who took care of her daily life, was also not required to participate in the night watch assignment.

After all, they were all grown men, and they didn't need the help of a little girl.

Food and water were distributed, and those who were on night watch in the latter half of the night lay down on the ground and went to sleep, while the guards who were on night watch in the first half of the night picked up their ritual implements and weapons and began to patrol and inspect various parts of the main hall.

Silence, drowsiness, people sleeping.

The sound of rain outside the hall, the hum of fire inside.

"what!!!"

At some unknown time, a scream suddenly rang out in the main hall, startling everyone who was sleeping. They quickly got up from the ground and looked around nervously.

"What happened? Who was in trouble?"

"I don't know. Who's on watch now? Let's see if any brothers are missing."

The woman in the green dress stood by the campfire with a serious expression, though there was still a hint of sleepiness in her eyes.

But at this moment, before figuring out the situation, no one dared to sleep anymore.

“Miss, there are bloodstains on the wall over there in the main hall, and three of our brothers have disappeared.”

After understanding the situation, the caravan leader immediately came over and reported to the woman in the blue dress.

"This……"

Upon hearing this news, the guards nearby felt a chill run down their spines; they all knew exactly what had happened.

It's definitely the work of evil spirits! If they were still inside this hall, they might end up like the three missing people.

However, the rain outside the temple was still quite heavy, and leaving the temple at this point would likely be even more dangerous.

Just as the woman in the green dress hesitated, someone suddenly pointed to the white wall of the main hall, which was reflected in the firelight, and exclaimed, "What's that?!"

Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned to look.

Suddenly, a large number of lifelike human figures appeared to dance on the white wall.

Among them, the movements of three figures appeared extremely abrupt.

They kept waving their arms and punching the wall, completely ignoring the attempts of other people around them to stop them.

The posture was almost like...they were trying to escape from the wall.

Just then, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the hall.

Everyone's eyes swept over to the source of the tremor, and their expressions instantly changed.

Fear, shock, and astonishment were all evident on their faces.

"Do not!!!"

[047] The Mystery of Jinzhao Temple

"In this world, even with evil spirits running rampant, those mountain bandits are unwilling to lay down their weapons and return to the fields to become diligent, practical, and honest farmers. They are so unwilling to work, lazy, and only think about making a living by plundering the wealth of others. The human heart is truly bizarre."

"Wealth that can be obtained with a flick of the wrist, the spoils of a single robbery may be more than what you earn by farming for half a year or trading for half a year. Once you get used to huge profits, who would be willing to go through the trouble of earning a meager amount of silver every month, barely enough to make ends meet?"

“Amitabha Buddha, money is indeed the greatest evil in the world.”

On the road, Ren Qianxing and his two companions chatted idly with each other.

Ning Xiu sat on the back of the Iron-Eating Beast, looking down at the map of Yunze Prefecture that Ren Qianxing had brought on this trip.

That day, they bid farewell to the Li family caravan and went into the mountains to capture the demon. The matter progressed very smoothly, and after forcing the mountain bandits to reveal the location of their stronghold, they succeeded.

The group rushed in and found the sorcerer who was protecting the bandits, and executed him on the spot.

Without the protection of the sorcerer, if these bandits continue to live as thieves in the deep mountains, they will be in grave danger if they encounter evil spirits.

Ren Qianxing tried to persuade these people to live ordinary lives and settle down, but they refused outright.