Thunder rumbled down in waves as the Incense Pilgrims prostrated themselves, kneeling with their entire bodies pressed to the floor, chanting sutras.
The droning scripture spread out like ripples on water, making everyone’s heads pound and buzz.
Inside the Temple Hall, the Golden Buddha Statue radiated a gentle light.
A merciful figure slowly appeared, floating high above and gazing down upon all below.
“BOR……”
The figure, bathed in soft golden light, lowered its eyes, its expression filled with sorrow as it looked at the two people standing abruptly in the Temple Hall.
In an extremely slow voice, it asked, “All…suffering…why…take refuge…in…my… Buddha?”
Xie Dingxin raised his handsome brows.
“We already follow the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord. Does the mighty Ksitigarbha King really need to poach believers?”
Sudden thunder exploded overhead, making the golden Buddha shadow appear even more sacred amid the gloom.
Facing Xie Dingxin’s provocation, it remained neither sad nor happy, and replied slowly, “Only…my Buddha…can…save…all…beings…from…suffering…and…hardship.”
Xie Dingxin rolled his eyes and muttered to Zhang Xianyu, “This thing doesn’t look like a Buddha to me. It’s more like a pyramid scheme promoter.”
Zhang Xianyu stifled a laugh and soothingly stroked the Red Jade Bead Bracelet, which had been restless since the Buddha’s shadow appeared.
Staring straight at the golden shadow, he suddenly asked, “Is it taking refuge in the Buddha, or taking refuge in you?”
“I…am…the…Buddha. The…Buddha…is…me. Is…there…a…difference?”
Xie Dingxin pulled the Bronze Coin Sword from his hiking bag, sneering, “Oh, there’s a big difference.”
Zhang Xianyu shook his head slowly, a mocking smile on her lips.
“Naturally, there’s a difference between the true Buddha and a false one.”
The Buddha shadow’s lowered eyes suddenly rose, the upturned corners of its mouth collapsing, revealing pitch-black pupils.
“Sinner…must…die!”
“Sinner, must die!”
The Incense Pilgrims who’d been lying on the ground suddenly sat bolt upright, their black eyes fixed on the two standing at the center of the Temple Hall.
“Damn! When words fail, you resort to a mob…”
Xie Dingxin spat.
“A fake is always a fake—no tolerance at all.”
Over a hundred Incense Pilgrims below instantly glared at him with twisted faces, grinning eerily as they closed in.
Lightning flashed and thunder rolled above, but none of the furious bolts fell.
A thin golden light shimmered over the temple roof, blocking all attacks from outside.
Xie Dingxin and Zhang Xianyu stood back-to-back, covering each other.
He glanced at Zhang Xianyu’s empty hands and clicked his tongue.
“Too bad we didn’t bring any talismans this time. There’s still a Soul Summoning Banner in my bag, you can make do with that.”
Zhang Xianyu narrowed her eyes, letting go of the Zhu Chuan she’d been holding.
Instantly, black mist hidden within surged toward the Buddha shadow, bringing a gust of Yin wind.
“They have numbers, so we’ll just find some help too…”
Zhang Xianyu said unhurriedly.
Xie Dingxin curled his lip.
“Where are we supposed to—”
Find any?
Before he could finish, his eyes widened in shock.
He swallowed, staring at Zhang Xianyu in disbelief.
“What are you doing?”
Zhang Xianyu drew a Summoning Yin Talisman in the air, then pressed a Heart Seal at the base of the talisman.
The ancient and solemn seal flashed and vanished, but the moment it landed, Xie Dingxin felt a chill sweep over them.
In the next instant, hundreds of Yin Soldiers surged from underground, led by a fierce and armored Yin Commander, standing at the front to command the Yin Soldiers as they faced off against the encroaching Incense Pilgrims.
“Holy crap…”
Xie Dingxin lowered the hand holding his sword, looking at Zhang Xianyu with a strange, complicated expression.
“Are you secretly cheating?”
Zhang Xianyu looked at him, confused.
“What?”
Xie Dingxin shook his head, pushing aside his doubts for now.
“Let’s deal with what’s in front of us first.”
Both of them turned their eyes to the Buddha shadow suspended in midair.
There, Lin Wushui was already fighting the golden shadow.
The Buddha shadow flickered in and out of sight.
Except for when Zhang Xianyu called it a “false Buddha,” it kept its merciful expression.
It pressed its palms together, chanting scripture without pause, stubbornly maintaining its “Buddha” dignity even as Lin Wushui pressed it hard.
Lin Wushui, on the other hand, was like a wolf catching the scent of meat.
Black mist churned and twisted, morphing into a giant mouth that lunged for the golden Buddha shadow.
Its chanting was interrupted.
The Buddha shadow’s form vanished, only to reappear elsewhere.
Before it could recite another verse, half its body was already being devoured by the waiting black mist.
The black mist and golden Buddha shadow merged together; it was impossible to tell who was swallowing whom.
“We should help,” Zhang Xianyu said, pulling an iron hammer from the hiking bag and charging at the Golden Ksitigarbha Statue.
Xie Dingxin blurted, “Why do you even have a hammer?”
Zhang Xianyu didn’t answer.
Lightning crackled from her palm through the iron hammer, which she brought down hard on the statue.
The clash rang out in a fierce, buzzing vibration.
The Buddha shadow in midair erupted in anger, its eyes flying wide.
“Sinner! You dare!”
The furious roar boomed like thunder in their ears.
Xie Dingxin staggered, barely managing to stay upright, blood trickling from his ears.
Zhang Xianyu’s movements paused only briefly before she slammed the hammer down again without hesitation, sparks of lightning and fire flying.
The Buddha shadow tried to stop her, but Lin Wushui’s black mist clung to it relentlessly, always looking for a chance to completely devour it.
Down below, thunder flashed and deafening clanging rang out as the Golden Buddha Statue sparked and finally began to crack.
The Incense Pilgrims, locked in battle with the Yin Soldiers, all howled in anger, trying to break through the Yin Commander’s lines to protect the statue.
The Buddha shadow’s eyes bulged in rage, the golden light on its body gradually turning black, its once-merciful expression now becoming twisted and strange.
At the same time, thick black energy poured from the Incense Pilgrims below, surging up toward the Buddha shadow—
But the black mist binding the Buddha shadow suddenly split in two.
Before the black energy could reach the Buddha shadow, it swept in and devoured the gathered blackness.
The Buddha shadow roared, unable to maintain its dignified facade any longer, revealing its ferocious true face.
Black light blazed.
The Buddha shadow’s form stayed the same, but its expression completely changed.
Its eyes slanted upward, pupils pitch-black, lips drooping, deep nasolabial lines carving its cheeks.
There was no trace of holiness left—only sinister malice.
“A fake is a fake. A couple of hits and it falls apart,”
Xie Dingxin and Zhang Xianyu, one wielding the Bronze Coin Sword, the other an iron hammer, smashed the Golden Buddha Statue with all their strength.
As Xie Dingxin swung his sword with all his might, he couldn’t help but throw in a jab.
A heavy, dull banging echoed again and again.
In no time, they’d smashed a hole in the statue’s belly.
A strange fragrance drifted out from inside.
Xie Dingxin pulled out his phone to shine a light, only to see, inside the hollow statue, a lifelike corpse sitting upright.
It was too dark to see clearly, so Xie Dingxin leaned in.
Suddenly, the corpse’s eyes flew open.
With a roar, it lunged at him.
Xie Dingxin dodged nimbly, the corpse missing him and instead turning with a snarl to charge at Zhang Xianyu.
Zhang Xianyu didn’t move.
As the corpse rushed at her, she raised the iron hammer and brought it crashing down.
Lightning surged through the hammer, roasting the corpse black with blinding light.
Still, the corpse thrashed and howled, crazed, desperate to bite Zhang Xianyu.
Without mercy, Zhang Xianyu hammered down again and again, a dozen times or more, until the corpse’s head was smashed to pulp and finally lay still.