The Buddha is actually me

Chapter 440: Lotus Ancient Formation, Tracking the Holy Land

Yue Ling's discovery shocked everyone.

You should know that before Yue Ling came, the abbots of Bodhi Hall and Vinaya Hall had already examined this head.

Apart from the broken neck, no external injuries were found, no traces were left around, and no clues were found.

But Yue Ling only looked for a moment and seemed to have discovered something they had overlooked.

Eye!

Zhang Jiuyang immediately walked up and stared at the pupil of the head. Sure enough, there seemed to be a vague figure in the smallest detail.

The figure was very faint and tiny, appearing extremely insignificant in the dark pupils. Even if ordinary people observed carefully, they would never be able to spot it.

Only someone with Yue Ling's high level of cultivation and keen observation could notice the details here.

"Normally, a person's pupils cannot leave a trace, but Master Fangzhang is a great cultivator at the peak of the sixth realm after all. Maybe he used some means to leave this trace of afterimage in order to convey some important information to us!"

Tongji agreed with Zhang Jiuyang's words. The sun disc between his eyebrows also started to rotate, emitting brilliant light, and he looked into his brother's pupils.

However, no matter whether it was Yue Ling's golden pupil or Tongji's solar eye, they could not see clearly in the end.

It's really too vague.

"Zhang Jiuyang, your Heavenly Eye is the most mysterious, and you have a unique ability to see things. Come and take a look."

Three eyes can see everything in the world!
In addition to being able to control heavenly fire, Wang Lingguan's Dharma Eyes also have special abilities similar to the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, which can see through everything and see through the human world.

Although Zhang Jiuyang has not yet reached the level of Wang Lingguan, he has undoubtedly gone further on the path of the Heavenly Eye than Yue Ling and Tongji.

He nodded and opened his third eye to check.

However, after a moment, he also withdrew his gaze and shook his head.

Yue Ling's eyes showed a trace of disappointment. Even Zhang Jiuyang's divine eye couldn't see clearly? If so, it seemed that this clue could only be abandoned.

"It doesn't matter. Although the figure in the eyes is not clear, there are still some valuable clues."

Yue Ling's pupils lit up and asked, "What did you find?"

Zhang Jiuyang pointed at the abbot's pupils and said, "His eye muscles were obviously contracted. In the last moment before his death, he seemed to be in shock. Combined with the residual image he left in his pupils, it is not difficult to infer one thing..."

Yue Ling immediately understood and said, "The abbot saw the true face of the murderer before he died, and the murderer was someone he knew!"

Zhang Jiuyang nodded, and then seemed to have thought of something, and asked: "Did you hear any big noise today?"

The monks thought about it carefully, and finally shook their heads and said, "We have never heard of it."

Zhang Jiuyang frowned.

Tongji couldn't help but ask, "Master Zhang, why do you ask that?"

Zhang Jiuyang explained: "With the abbot's cultivation, it is impossible for him to die quietly. Moreover, his magic power has dissipated, which shows that he has broken the method of silent meditation. How could no one hear his shocking cry thirty-two years later?"

"There is only a head but no body here, and there are no signs of fighting around. It is clear that this is not the first scene. Master Tonghui was killed somewhere else and his head was cut off and sent here."

That's why Zhang Jiuyang asked this question. He wanted to find the first crime scene, where there should be more clues.

But what surprised him was that these people didn't hear anything.

Could it be that the place where the two sides fought was far away from Baiyun Temple?

"Strange, do you have some very hidden place here where no one would notice our movements even if we fight?"

Zhang Jiuyang asked.

Tongji's expression changed slightly when he heard this, as if he had thought of something, and said, "I think I know where Brother Abbot fought with the murderer."

……

Back mountain, Baiyun Peak.

Tongji took Zhang Jiuyang and Yue Ling to the top of the mountain. There were many formations along the way, such as the obscuring formation, the blinding formation, and the disturbing formation. The most powerful one was the ancient lotus formation.

Three thousand lotus flowers condensed by the power of Buddha symbolize the three thousand Posah worlds, spread out in a star-studded pattern, forming the ancient lotus formation, one of the eight most dangerous formations in the world.

If one does not know how to break the formation, once one enters the formation, one will continually experience the suffering of the lotus cycle of birth and death until one's primordial spirit disintegrates and one's true spirit collapses.

Of course, the extremely powerful ones who have achieved the Yang God in the Eight Realms are excluded, because achieving the Yang God implies that the soul has touched the realm of immortals and Buddhas, and is indestructible and can withstand no disasters.

Zhang Jiuyang practiced many inheritances of the Yuding Palace and had certain attainments in formations. How could he not see the power of this ancient lotus formation?

He secretly sighed that it was worthy of being the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism that had been passed down for thousands of years, and its foundation was truly unfathomable.

This formation is extremely powerful, probably no less powerful than the mountain protection formation of Baiyun Temple. It is so grand that it is definitely beyond the reach of today's cultivators.

This should be the formation set up by the Baiyun Patriarch who founded Zen Buddhism.

However, such a stunning formation is not used to protect the temple, but only to protect the mountain behind. This is a bit of a waste of talent.

Could it be that in the eyes of Patriarch Baiyun, the things to be protected on this mountain are even more precious than Baiyun Temple itself?
"We're here. This is it."

Climbing to the top of the mountain, there is a vast sea of ​​clouds all around, which looks very quiet. The most attractive thing is the painting on the stone wall.

The Picture of Five Hundred Arhats to Suppress Demons!
Zhang Jiuyang was shocked and looked at it carefully. Is this the last work of the Saint of Painting?
"You two, this painting is guarding the holy land of our Baiyun Temple. The Arhats in the painting are all seniors in the temple. They have a bad temper. If they offend you, please forgive me."

Tongji first said something in a voice transmission, and then bowed to the painting and said, "My dear seniors, I have come to ask you a question."

There was still silence all around, without any sound.

Tongji's expression suddenly changed.

"Master Tongji, there seems to be something wrong with this painting. Look carefully at the five hundred arhats..."

Zhang Jiuyang's voice sounded unusually solemn.

Tongji looked at it carefully and was shocked. He saw that the five hundred arhats in the painting were all lying on the ground. Some had their heads smashed, some had their eyes gouged out, and some had their limbs chopped off...

The noisy arhats of the past have now become corpses in the painting, losing all their charm.

Even the strongest Tianlong Luohan died miserably. The Dragon King he subdued was skinned and his tendons were pulled out, and his own chest cavity was hollowed out, with his heart missing.

But the strange thing was that Tianlong Luohan still maintained the same posture, raising his finger to the sky, as if he was completing a spell, but was forcibly interrupted by someone.

Tongji's eyes turned red again, but this time he did not lose his temper. Instead, he calmed down. However, he clenched his fists tightly, making the Buddhist beads crackle. "Strange, although there are traces of fighting here, they are very slight, not as tragic as in the painting..."

Yue Ling looked around and frowned.

"You guys come with me."

Tongji stepped into the painting and his figure disappeared in an instant.

Zhang Jiuyang and Yue Ling looked at each other with a hint of surprise, and then they realized that the holy place of Baiyun Temple was hidden in the painting.

It seems that the Painting Saint gave this picture to Patriarch Baiyun in order to protect this holy land.

Then the murderer's purpose of coming to Baiyun Temple should also be for the so-called holy land.

Zhang Jiuyang suddenly developed a strong curiosity about the holy land. If nothing unexpected happened, the Huashou Gate mentioned by the Two-Faced Buddha should be in the holy land.

In addition to being the gateway to the Western Paradise, what other secrets does this door hide? Why did the two most powerful people, the Painting Saint and Patriarch Baiyun, start making arrangements to protect this door in ancient times?

Legend has it that Huashou Gate was a prophecy of the Buddha's passing away. Could it be that the Buddha's passing away was also related to the Saint of Painting and Patriarch Baiyun?

Zhang Jiuyang felt as if he had touched a distant truth from ancient times, but unfortunately it was still shrouded in mist and he could not see the blue sky.

"Let's go in together."

Yue Ling patted Zhang Jiuyang on the shoulder, and then, as before, she took the lead in entering the painting to help Zhang Jiuyang explore the way.

If the murderer was still hiding in the painting and had not left to launch a sneak attack, she could also serve as a human shield for Zhang Jiuyang.

She never talks about these little details, she just does them silently.

Zhang Jiuyang also entered the painting. His eyes went dark for a moment, then brightened again. When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in the world of the painting.

When he saw the surrounding scene clearly, his pupils trembled slightly.

This world was almost destroyed. The mountains and rivers were devastated and shocking. There were withered flowers and dead willows everywhere. The original beautiful scenery like the Peach Blossom Spring had disappeared.

Sure enough, this is where the fight will take place!

And because this is a world within a painting, no matter how loud the noise of a fight is, it will not be heard outside, so the monks said they did not hear anything unusual.

"The body is there!"

Yue Ling pointed and everyone immediately flew up into the sky and came to the head of the stone Buddha. As expected, they saw a headless corpse. The eight-treasure cassock was stained with blood, and the nine-ring staff was inserted directly into the stone, swaying gently in the wind, and the ding-dong sound was like sobbing and wailing.

Zhang Jiuyang noticed that the murderer did not take away either the Eight Treasures Robe or the Nine-Ring Staff, and seemed to care nothing about these two treasures of Baiyun Temple.

"Senior brother..."

Tongji's voice was filled with grief and he choked with sobs, and at the same time his hatred for the murderer became even stronger.

"You two, please help me find the murderer. Even if I risk going astray and falling into hell, I will avenge my brother!"

Yue Ling understood his emotions very well. People who practiced the Ming Wang Fa actually had relatively pure hearts and minds, with a clear distinction between love and hate, and would rather break than bend.

Otherwise, she would not have vowed to kill Tianzun because of her sister's death, and would not have pursued him for many years.

"Master Tongji, we are willing to help you, but you can't hide anything. You must answer my question honestly."

Zhang Jiuyang looked into his eyes and asked, "Is the holy land of your Baiyun Temple hidden in this painting?"

Tongji paused slightly, with hesitation in his eyes.

After a long while, he nodded and said, "Yes, the holy land is indeed hidden in this world in the painting."

"Where is that in the painting? Can you take us to see it?"

Zhang Jiuyang looked around. In fact, he had been observing when he first came in, but he did not find the holy place.

Tongji immediately shook his head upon hearing this and said, "This is the greatest secret of our Baiyun Temple. It must not be passed on to anyone except the abbot and the next abbot. No one except the abbot is allowed to enter the holy land."

Zhang Jiuyang sighed helplessly and said, "But your biggest secret has long been known by the murderer. His goal is very clear, which is the holy land of Baiyun Temple."

"Five hundred Arhats blocked the way, but they were all killed. Then they walked straight into the painting and found the place where the holy land was hidden. This alerted the abbot. I guess... it must be some kind of mechanism."

"It's a pity that the abbot was no match for him and died tragically in the end."

Zhang Jiuyang stepped slowly, as if putting himself in the murderer's perspective, and continued: "The murderer still entered the holy land, got what he wanted, and came out satisfied."

"He seemed to have a kind of disgust towards monks, so he cut off the abbot's head and placed it in the Buddha's hand for people to find."

"It's not just a dislike for monks, it's even a dislike for... Buddha."

Zhang Jiuyang's pupils suddenly trembled, and he said, "It is even possible that he did not leave immediately after putting down the head, but quietly waited for the first monk to find it. He left contentedly after seeing the monks become afraid of the Buddha, whom they used to revere as a god, and fled in panic after being frightened..."

"enough!"

Tongji raised his eyes suddenly and said word by word: "I will definitely catch him!"

"If you want to catch him, take us to the holy land. The murderer's target is there. I think there must be more crucial clues there."

"Otherwise, your brother would have died in vain."

Tongji took a deep breath and said, "I do know how to open the holy land, but the holy land of Baiyun Temple has never allowed outsiders to enter. This matter... let me think about it for a while."

"How long do we have to wait? You have to know that the longer we wait, the lower the possibility of finding the murderer."

"Wait for me...bury my brother first."

Tongji stopped talking. He slowly picked up his brother's body, took away the nine-ring staff, and fled out of the painting with a resolute look on his back.

Yue Ling frowned and said, "There is no other way. This is Baiyun Temple after all. Even if I represent the Imperial Observatory, I cannot force them to open the sect's forbidden area."

Zhang Jiuyang said meaningfully: "He was actually shaken just now, but he had to refuse because of the temple rules passed down for thousands of years."

"In that case... I might as well add more fuel to the fire."

Yue Ling's eyes lit up and she said, "Zhang Jiuyang, do you have a solution?"

Zhang Jiuyang smiled faintly and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, I believe he will personally invite us into the holy land soon."

……

(End of this chapter)