Chapter 538: Chapter 538: Cries for Help
Lin Fei, Leng Ying, Qin Yunyue, Xiao Ling, and the others all turned their gaze to Master Qingteng.
“Lin Fei, don’t let him go!” Leng Ying said to Lin Fei while staring at Master Qingteng.
Qin Yunyue and Xiao Ling also said one after another, “That’s right, Lin Fei, you can’t let him go.”
Lin Fei looked at Leng Ying and said, “He now only has half the strength he used to, he’s no longer a match for you. Stick to the old rule, abolish his martial arts.”
As Master Qingteng struck Lin Fei’s Dantian, intending to cripple his martial arts, Lin Fei had already absorbed most of Master Qingteng’s power.
Upon hearing Lin Fei’s words, Master Qingteng’s expression changed, as if Lin Fei had hit a nerve.
Originally, he was at Grandmaster Level Six, but because he tried to cripple Lin Fei’s martial arts, Lin Fei absorbed three levels of his power instead.
Now, he only has Grandmaster Level Three strength.
Indeed, he was no match for Leng Ying’s Grandmaster Level Four strength.
Leng Ying felt invigorated by Lin Fei’s words.
He had fought Master Qingteng twice, once at the Su family and once at this temple, and lost both times.
Thus, Leng Ying harbored a great resentment towards Master Qingteng.
However, Master Qingteng’s strength surpassed his, so Leng Ying could do nothing despite his anger.
Now, hearing Lin Fei say Master Qingteng’s strength had halved, making him not a match for himself.
Leng Ying assumed it was Lin Fei’s palm strike earlier that severely injured Master Qingteng, leading to his reduced strength.
Since Master Qingteng’s strength was halved, Leng Ying naturally wouldn’t miss the chance for revenge.
Leng Ying walked towards Qingteng.
Lin Fei, knowing Leng Ying could handle Qingteng, began to remove the Gu Insects from Qin Yunyue and the others.
He first used X-ray Vision to locate the Gu Insects inside Qin Yunyue.
Then, he found the Gu Insects inside Qin Yunyue’s body.
At this moment, Master Qingteng noticed Leng Ying approaching and, knowing he wasn’t Leng Ying’s match, swiftly flew out the window, attempting to escape.
Leng Ying snorted coldly, “If you had your original strength, I might have feared you. But now, with only half your strength, do you think you can escape my grasp?”
Then, Leng Ying swiftly followed, flying out the window.
Soon, sounds of intense fighting rang out from the courtyard.
It seemed Leng Ying and Master Qingteng had started fighting.
Meanwhile, Lin Fei continued removing Gu Insects from Qin Yunyue and the others.
Half an hour later, Lin Fei finally expelled the Gu Insects from Qin Yunyue, Xiao Ling, Qin Zimo, and killed them all with silver needles.
Then, Lin Fei noticed the sound of fighting between Leng Ying and Master Qingteng outside had disappeared.
“Let’s go out,” Lin Fei said to Qin Yunyue, Xiao Ling, and the others.
The group immediately left the pavilion.
Upon reaching the courtyard, Qin Zimo, Su Xiaoyue, Zheng Yutong, and others saw piles of centipede corpses around the walls, making them appear shocked and disgusted.
“Lin Fei, Leng Ying and Master Qingteng are gone, could Leng Ying be in trouble?” Qin Yunyue asked Lin Fei worriedly.
Lin Fei said, “I don’t think Leng Ying will be in trouble, but Master Qingteng is cunning and familiar with the Qingyun Temple environment. Leng Ying might have let Master Qingteng escape.”
Just as Lin Fei wondered where Leng Ying and Master Qingteng had gone, Leng Ying’s figure suddenly flew into the courtyard.
“Leng Ying, did you catch Master Qingteng?” Lin Fei asked him.
Leng Ying said furiously, “That guy, despite his reduced strength, was still able to resist. He ran into a room and then vanished. No matter how I searched, I couldn’t find him.”
“Let’s go have a look,” Lin Fei said.
Leng Ying then led Lin Fei and the others to a room in the temple, which looked quite ordinary.
The bed platform made of bricks and stones was somewhat like a kang bed typically found in the North, covered with a wooden plank mattress, with simple tables and chairs around.
Besides that, there was nothing else.
“That old scoundrel is really cunning. Relying on his familiarity with the temple’s rooms, he dashed left and right and finally went into this building, but when I went inside, he was gone, and the doors and windows were all closed as if he hadn’t left,” Leng Ying said to Lin Fei in confusion.
Xiao Ling and Qin Yunyue started searching the room, even lifting the bedding off the bed, but found nothing.
Lin Fei said to Leng Ying, “Since Master Qingteng disappeared after entering this room, there might be an underground chamber or secret passage.”
Then, Lin Fei’s gaze fell on the bed and said, “This bed is highly suspicious; given that this is the South, people rarely sleep on a northern-style kang, and placing a wooden board on it seems very strange.”
Leng Ying immediately went forward, throwing the bedding and wooden plank to the ground.
The bed platform was exposed, and everyone stepped forward to find an almost imperceptible seam in the middle of the platform.
“There’s a seam, it seems to be the entrance to a secret chamber or passage. Check if there are any mechanisms around,” Lin Fei said to Leng Ying, Qin Yunyue, and Xiao Ling.
The group immediately began searching around the platform.
“Lin Fei, there’s a protruding round stone ball here,” Qin Yunyue seemed to have found something, saying to Lin Fei at this moment.
Lin Fei and the others walked over to the stone ball Qin Yunyue discovered, which was the size of an ordinary egg, embedded on the right side of the bed platform near the wall.
Without close observation, it was almost unnoticeable.
Lin Fei reached out and pressed the stone ball gently, causing it to sink into the bed platform’s stone bricks.
With a creaking sound, the stone slab on the bed platform split into two parts and opened inward.
Then, Lin Fei and the others saw where the bedding on the bed platform once lay, a 1.5-meter-wide entrance appeared, with light and steps below.
Lin Fei said to Leng Ying, “We’ll go in first, and if nothing happens, the others can follow.”
Then, Lin Fei and Leng Ying descended through the bed platform entrance.
After going down the steps, in front was an underground tunnel, with lights above in the passage.
“It seems this is an escape tunnel,” Lin Fei judged.
“Could Master Qingteng have escaped through this passage?” Leng Ying said.
Lin Fei said, “Very likely. I’ll hurry after him now, while you follow with the others.”
Leng Ying nodded, “Yes, you need to be extra careful.”
Lin Fei then quickly began to pursue through the underground tunnel.
While Leng Ying went back up to call the others.
Lin Fei walked several dozen meters ahead and came upon an exit.
This exit was blocked by dense shrubs, with bits of sunlight streaming through.
Lin Fei pushed aside the shrubbery, stepped outside, and found himself at the temple’s rear mountain.
This place was right near the forest of the rear mountain, and ahead was the protruding rock Lin Fei had previously visited.
Needless to say, Master Qingteng had escaped to the rear mountain through the underground passage.
Lin Fei suddenly thought of Yang Jiahao.
When he and Leng Ying headed to the temple, Yang Jiahao was made to wait at the rear mountain. Now, since the secret passage leads directly to the rear mountain, could Yang Jiahao have fallen into Master Qingteng’s hands?
Just then, Lin Fei spotted a pink women’s sneaker in the grass, causing his face to change: it was the shoe Yang Jiahao had been wearing today.
“Help…” Suddenly, from the abyss several steps away, a faint cry for help echoed.