That fresh corpse that suddenly burst out from the Buddha statue’s abdomen was smashed to pieces by Zhang Xianyu just like that.
Xie Dingxin, who was standing to the side in utter shock, almost wanted to give her a round of applause.
But there was no time to cheer, because as soon as that corpse was crushed, the hundreds of worshippers went mad.
They no longer maintained their human appearance; black mist surged all over their bodies, and their ferocious faces gradually emerged.
Just like the decayed corpse of Li Wei they had seen late last night.
Each of these worshippers transformed into the state they were in after death, maggots crawling in and out of their highly decomposed bodies, and the intense stench declared they had been dead for a long time.
The Yin Soldiers could seize souls, but these “people” had already used their own souls as Incense offerings, so even the Yin Soldiers could do nothing about them.
Right at this moment, the Golden Barrier that had shrouded the temple above began to shatter inch by inch, and the thunder outside was about to strike—
Hundreds of Yin Soldiers bowed to Zhang Xianyu.
In an instant, they burrowed back into the ground.
At the same time, lightning flashed and thunder rolled outside, dazzling bolts striking down with explosive force.
“Boom—”
As the lightning danced, the once-prosperous temple could no longer maintain its illusory facade.
The swirling Incense dissipated, leaving only charred corpses and crumbling ruins.
Where was there any Dizang Temple left?
All around, withered trees stood on barren ground.
A dilapidated temple barely stood, dust covering its main hall, where a weathered, blackened Buddha statue sat upright, its abdomen gaping with a large hole.
The Evil Buddha, still entangled mid-air, let out a shrill screech.
Its pitch-black pupils instantly turned red as it charged toward Zhang Xianyu.
But Lin Wushui did not give it the chance.
Black mist spread out like a giant net, enveloping the Evil Buddha completely.
It thrashed about inside for a while, but after a brief struggle, it slowly quieted down.
Lin Wushui silently digested for a moment, then, as if spitting out bones after a meal, he spat out a lump of glittering gold.
The golden apparition was faint, but one could vaguely make out a miniature Buddha image, its features compassionate and dignified.
The Golden Apparition pressed its palms together and bowed to them.
Though small in form, its voice was sonorous and powerful, “BOJSRB……”
“Thank you, benefactors, for your help.”
Lin Wushui had never liked dealing with these Taoists and monks, so he kept his distance.
Having devoured the Evil Buddha, he was feeling a bit full, so he simply hid back inside the bead bracelet on Zhang Xianyu’s wrist.
Zhang Xianyu and Xie Dingxin returned the gesture.
“What just happened?”
They had originally thought it was just the Evil Buddha causing trouble, but never expected a True Buddha to appear in the end.
Zhang Xianyu didn’t understand, but Xie Dingxin knew very well: in this age of the decline of the Dharma, not only had the gods and Buddhas vanished, but in recent decades, even Earth Officials such as Land Gods and City Gods under the Underworld’s domain were rarely seen.
If not for the fact that their rituals for salvation still received responses, they would almost have believed that all the gods and Buddhas of the heavens had ceased to exist.
Yet the dignified Buddha apparition only nodded gently to them, then pointed at the two with its right hand.
Two golden rays merged into their foreheads.
The sensation was not uncomfortable—on the contrary, it was warm, dispelling the heavy Yin energy all around.
Enveloped within the golden light was a segment of memory—a memory from the Golden Apparition.
It was not the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha himself, but rather a consciousness born from the Buddha statue’s years of Incense offerings—a “Spirit,” so to speak.
People often say a temple is efficacious; what they really mean is whether the idol being worshipped has developed a Spirit.
This Spirit is not the deity itself, but it retains a subtle connection and some inherited qualities, thus able to protect its worshippers.
In the Buddha apparition’s memory, this had indeed once been a Dizang Temple, though its history was long forgotten.
Long ago, Jiuhuan Mountain had been inhabited, but as time passed and dynasties changed, it was gradually abandoned, and the once-thriving Dizang Temple fell into ruin, becoming a deserted shrine with no one left to offer Incense.
The “Spirit” within the Buddha statue was born from the prosperity of Incense offerings.
Without Incense, the Spirit naturally weakened, and perhaps in a few more years, it would fade into nothingness.
But before the Spirit vanished, a dying cultivator discovered the Dizang Temple deep in Jiuhuan Mountain, along with the fading Spirit inside the Buddha statue.
His lifespan was at its end, but upon discovering the Spirit, he found a glimmer of hope.
He entered the Buddha statue, using a forbidden technique to forcibly strip his own soul from his body, and in soul form, devoured the weakened Spirit.
Even though it was only a remnant, years of Incense offerings had given it considerable power.
After devouring the Spirit, the cultivator used its unique qualities to evade the Underworld’s ghostly enforcers, and began to plot his own resurrection.
His heart was wicked.
Trapped in the abandoned temple, he was unwilling to resign himself.
When someone accidentally discovered the Dizang Temple, he revealed his true form to scare them, granted a few insignificant wishes to lure them in, and tricked them into bringing more people to offer Incense and make wishes at the Dizang Temple.
But this time, the cultivator killed them all.
The corpses were casually piled in the Dizang Temple’s courtyard, and their souls were seized and refined into Changgui, tasked with luring more people inside.
Changgui were too weak, able to act only at night, and Jiuhuan Mountain was too remote, making it difficult to lure in victims.
Later, the cultivator improved his Revival Ritual, causing the corpses in the courtyard to become reanimated.
With the Spirit’s power, these revived corpses could appear normal for a short period, even able to move about in broad daylight, though they could not stray too far from Jiuhuan Mountain