Chapter 111 - 111: Tai Sui Bodhisattva, Reincarnated True Buddha
The entrance led to an underground space, dark and profound.
Rough rock walls flanked the path, with jagged edges protruding.
Lin Qingyu, blending into the shadows, moved swiftly through the darkness.
She occasionally encountered monks carrying cauldrons, but with a powerful protective decree and her invisibility technique, she went undetected.
The passage sloped downwards, the stone steps thick and smooth.
Years of constant traversal had rounded the edges of these stairs.
Moving swiftly, Lin Qingyu reached the end of the tunnel in less than half an incense stick’s time.
A faint light emanated from the exit. She moved silently and stepped out of the corridor.
Before her was a massive underground chamber.
Upon seeing the chamber’s contents, she was immediately struck with awe. The chamber’s dome was incredibly high, and the cavern was not a natural formation but excavated by human hands.
Lin Qingyu realized she was within the “belly” of a great mountain.
Someone with immense power had hollowed out the entire rear mountain of Tian Chong Temple, creating this vast underground space.
However, what truly astounded Lin Qingyu wasn’t the space itself.
In the center of the cavern, 1296 Buddha lamps were lit. These lamps, with their bizarre design, had skulls instead of the usual lotus-shaped bases.
The dark flames burned within the skull lamps. Before these lamps knelt three figures.
The one in the middle wore a black robe, his frame thin and gaunt.
Lin Qingyu guessed his identity.
The abbot of Tian Chong Temple, Master Kong Wen.
The two beside him must be his disciples.
But their object of worship wasn’t the 1296 skull Buddha lamps, but something encircled by these lamps.
It was a colossal “creature,” black and transparent. It lay coiled like a slug, resembling a mountain of transparent flesh with thick slime covering it, slowly oozing down.
Monks with long knives stabbed forcefully into the creature’s body. The giant being seemed to feel pain, its flesh twitching and trembling slightly.
With a twist of the knife, large chunks of black “jelly” were cut and writhed as they fell into the large black vats. Black sprouts with dark green slime grew from the smooth cuts, resembling snail antennae, attempting to climb out of the walls of the cauldron.
The creature, almost reaching the dome, had a massive and transparent body. Through it, a pale, fleshy orb could be seen forming within its belly.
It was a demon.
Even though Lin Qingyu had never seen such a being before, she was certain in her heart.
What chilled her to the bone was that upon arriving here, the light from the soul lamp in her hand reached its maximum brightness.
Lin Qingyu finally understood why the soul lamp of the senior who had lost her way had not yet extinguished.
She was trapped here, transformed into a demon, serving as a vessel within the belly of the mountain behind Tian Chong Temple, nurturing the fleshy orb.
Just then, the soul lamp in Lin Qingyu’s hand suddenly brightened.
As if sensing something, the black mountainous creature stirred, and an invisible oppressive force spread out.
Lin Qingyu’s complexion changed.
At the same time this pressure spread, the powerful decree on her wrist, which should have lasted a while longer, suddenly extinguished!
The old monk in the black robe stood up abruptly, turning his gaze towards Lin Qingyu’s hiding spot.
Without the decree’s protection, her presence was instantly exposed to Abbot Kong Wen.
The old monk reached out, and Lin Qingyu, powerless to resist, was uncontrollably drawn towards him. “What’s the meaning of this?!”
Kong Wen’s expression was dark.
“A disciple from the Discipline Hall reported earlier that someone infiltrated the temple tonight. It must be this woman.”
Kong Wen squinted, lifting Lin Qingyu into the air.
“Alone, she dared to enter my sacred temple… Send a message to the monks in charge of discipline to search the entire temple to see if she has accomplices!”
“Yes!”
The disciple immediately sent the message.
“Did you just feed the Tai Sui Bodhisattva?”
Kong Wen inquired.
“Master,” Another monk replied respectfully, “Because the vegetarian feast is approaching, and we need to cut meat from the Tai Sui Bodhisattva, every hour for the past three days, we have been feeding the Buddha a hundred pairs of boys and girls… The Bodhisattva has just eaten.”
After finishing, he added, “Master, rest assured, I handled this discreetly, no one knows.” “It matters not.”
Kong Wen clasped his hands together, uttering a Buddhist chant, “To become one with the Bodhisattva is their blessing. These children have ascended to paradise, a fate many cannot even beg for.”
“Moreover…”
Kong Wen paused.
“When I achieve true Buddhahood, I will fear nothing. You, accompanying me, will also attain the status of a Buddha, far surpassing those false Buddhas and pseudo-Bodhisattvas of the Great Impermanent Temple.”
“Master speaks the truth.”
The disciples nodded repeatedly, “Then… what shall we do with this girl?” Kong Wen pondered for a moment, looking at Lin Qingyu.
“Still a maiden… Today is your lucky day. Though you cannot serve the Buddha, you will enter the belly of this true Bodhisattva..”