RISE OF THE MARTIAL GOD

Anthony continued to softly knock against the wall, as if feeling for something. After a while, he noticed a straight line and a slit beside it.

"This looks like a door cut out in the walls." He whispered and stabbed his dagger into the slit. Surprisingly, it entered smoothly to an extent before it stopped. Anthony began to turn the dagger in the slit, but it was hard to twist over. He tried a few more times, but turning it around while standing at a spot was quite difficult. The only option seems to move along with the dagger. He took a step back and quickly flipped in the air, taking advantage of the velocity to force the dagger to turn. The moment his foot touched the ground after the dagger made a full 360° revolution in the slit, he heard a crack and the mighty stone door clicked open, sliding into the other wall.

Before Anthony could rejoice, he felt something zoom out of the room and quickly bent in an awkward angle. Two arrows and a sword flew over his head and hit the nearby wall, making his eyes widen in shock. The area in the wall where the weapons fell turned black, making Anthony gasp in shock. The weapons were poisoned, leaving nothing to the imaginations on what would have happened if he were the one who was hit.

"This is truly terrifying." He whispered and called back his dagger from the stone door, before slowly making his way to the room. He cautiously picked a few pebbles from the stone which fell from the collapsed section of the wall when he was fighting the evil bird and threw one into the room. Feeling satisfied that the room was real and not an illusion or trap, he carefully proceeded into the room.

There was a very tall golden statue of Guanyin in the temple. The goddess had its hands clasped together, with its eyes cast downwards.

"Is this a buddhist temple?" Anthony muttered as cautiously entered the room.

As he was looking around, he noticed an altar behind the statue. At first glance, it looked really suspicious since it was surrounded by low metal barricades which seemed ready to snap shut and trap any intruder.

Anthony threw two pebbles in to test the waters. Satisfied that there didn't seem to be any trap around it, he made his way around the statue and immediately gasped in shock. On the altar, gold bars, jewelry, expensive antiques and gold utensils were arranged on a table. The sheer amount of treasures on the table was unbelievable, even for someone like Anthony who had seen wealth. At a corner of the table lay a miniature golden pagoda, alongside two ancient scrolls.

"Oh my goodness! Are these treasures real or are they caused by an illusion formation used to conceal a trap?" Anthony whispered and threw two more stones. One on the gold and the other on the weapon. But the stone fell harmlessly beside them, without any changes whatsoever. Anthony who still couldn't believe his eyes that something good could be in such an evil, god forsaken place where even birds don't shit stood there watching the treasures hesitantly.

He remembered the long sticks he had stacked in his storage ring when he discovered a bushy outgrowth, hoping to use them as firewood. He quickly brought out the longest one and used it to prod the nearest item which was a pearl necklace. He raised the item and picked it off the enclosure, before he hesitantly touched it.

The pearl was firm and solid, but Anthony was still doubtful. After all, since he entered the perilous lands, he had never seen anything good. Even the herbs he saw were tainted by dark energy, making them unsuitable for consumption. After inspecting them, he was convinced that they were real and quickly stored them in his storage ring. He waited for a while looking around cautiously for signs of something that might denote danger.

After two minutes of waiting, he believed that it was not a trap and quickly floated to the altar. He brought out two wooden boxes and quickly arranged the loot in them before returning them to his storage ring.

Anthony was beaming as he crawled out of the altar. He suddenly stumbled and his leg hit against the statue. He groaned in pain and looked back to see what tripped him.

At once, his heart left his rib cage.

"Did the statue just smile? Did it fucking smile at me?" He whispered, looking back wide eyed.

As if the scare he just experienced was not enough, the statue raised its leg at that moment and his eyes widened in shock. He quickly rolled further away and jumped to his feet. The statue moved forward and swatted its humongous hands at him, raising a mini tornado.

Anthony yelped in shock and quickly jumped out of the way, watching the area the large hands hit get instantly pulverized.

"It seems like the statue has been possessed by an evil spirit or vengeful ghost. It's no longer the holy statue of Guanyin, but an evil relic filled with the aura of darkness. No wonder the aura of darkness increased the moment I came closer to the altar." Anthony whispered, thinking fast to come up with a solution.

Before he could come up with a solution, the statue moved once again. This time, Anthony swirled around in a large arc and stabbed it while avoiding its humongous arms. However, the dagger barely left a scratch on it less than half an inch deep.

"Hey, you! I know you can hear me. If you don't stop this madness, I will have no option than to exorcise you."

The creepy smile on the statue's face became wider the moment it heard Anthony's threat and quickly made another move.

"This won't do, the weapons are not leaving a significant impact. I have to leave. No need to remain here. After all I have packed the treasures, there's nothing else here except this monster." Anthony whispered and quickly avoided the next strike, craftily moving closer to the door.

Before he could cross halfway through the room, he heard a crack and looked up.

The stone doors were closing, shutting him in with the evil statue.

What the fuck?