Wet viviparity

Chapter 340: The Third Cellar
There are five sacred mountains in Hemingfang, two of which are extensions of the blessed land, and the other three are in the southwest direction, extending from the remnant of the mountain called Nanhuang Tianteng Mountain.

Yanxu Mountain is one of the three sacred mountains. The ground vein under this mountain can be described more vividly as a root, which grows out from the main root under Tianteng Mountain.

The other two sacred mountains are the other two roots that grew separately.

As he sank into the earth veins, Ji Ming had a feeling of being on the line between yin and yang behind the ghost gate. Soon he arrived at the underworld under another sacred mountain.

Generally speaking, such an invasion would easily attract attention, especially from the underground lord who controls the Lingshan Dharma Covenant. The movement of the earth veins would alert him like a warning from his soul.

But... Ji Ming is a Taoist priest from Taiping Mountain. He is well-known in the Earthly Court, listed in the Heavenly Court, and has been granted the magic talisman. Even if he goes to the underworld under Taiping Mountain, he will not be regarded as an outsider, let alone the underworld of a mountain under this Taoist land.

In this underworld, unlike the usual Yin Mountain, there is a temple instead.

Shu Si once said that of the other two sacred mountains, one was inhabited by high-ranking Buddhist monks, and the other was owned by three influential independent cultivators.

The underworld that Ji Ming arrived at should be the one under Lingshan Mountain where the great monk lived.

In the depths of this underworld, the only existing temple looks quite ancient. It stands there quietly, as if silently guarding a huge secret.

The outer walls of the temple were made of dark black stones that emitted a cold and faint light, seemingly swallowing up all the light around them. The walls were carved with complex patterns that were both mysterious and strange, like runes and Buddha images.

Ji Ming did not approach rashly, but hid in the remaining clouds and observed.

The purpose of his visit was to hunt down evil spirits and ghosts, not to spy on secrets.

Just looking around, there was not a single wandering ghost, even the evil spirit was very faint. Instead, there was a solemn and wonderful atmosphere of Buddhism.

"Will they all be saved?"

Ji Ming thought to himself.

When it comes to the ritual of refining and offering food, Buddhism is even more powerful than Taoism. So much so that when the word "transcendence" is mentioned, people subconsciously think of Buddhist monks.

However, no matter how professional the monks are, they cannot completely liberate the dead! It is just like being licked by a dog.

Ji Ming was unwilling to give up, so he went to the temple to see if there was any new discovery.

At the entrance of the temple, two stone statues stood on the left and right, their faces were ferocious, their eyes were empty, as if they were watching every ghost that entered the temple. On the lintel hung an ancient plaque with three golden characters "Guanglong Temple" written on it.

Ji Ming landed in front of the temple and dispersed the clouds formed by his soul's outer treasure a little to cover the talisman to avoid being recognized.

Seeing that the temple seemed to be unattended, Ji Ming walked straight into the temple gate. A cold wind blew towards him, which seemed to be able to blow away souls, but was blocked by the clouds outside him.

The interior of the temple is dim and spacious, with only a few dim lights swaying, casting mottled light and shadows.

There is a huge statue in the hall in front. This statue seems to be a god from the underworld. It has a solemn face, carved with round scales, and its hands are clasped together, as if praying for some kind of peace.

There are some offerings placed around the statue, which are just flowers, incense, candles, and nectar, not any blood food. It seems that the temple does not worship evil gods or Buddhas.

There are some scrolls hanging on the walls of the temple. These scrolls depict the scenes of the underworld. Some of the pictures show the rivers of the underworld, while others show the endless sea of ​​suffering.

These scrolls seemed like windows to the underworld, allowing people to get a glimpse into that mysterious world. Ji Ming stared at the paintings for a long time.

"Echo Ghost, did you find anything?"

Jiming asked.

He couldn't see anything valuable in the temple, nor did he discover any ghosts, so he had to ask the echo ghost who had a connection with Buddhism.

In the temple, the Echo Ghost sat on the Seven Treasures Altar, hidden in the thick dark clouds, and said, "Master, there is something behind the Buddha statue that is attracting me."

After hearing this, Ji Ming walked around the Buddha statue and saw a stele with the following inscription: "In the 12th year of Da'an, there was a drought. The county officials came to Guanglong Temple to pray for rain, and the prayer was answered. Therefore, a shrine was built next to it, and the image of the dragon and Buddha was painted."

"Dragon? The Dragon King from the Nanpan River!" Ji Ming thought to himself.

He did not dwell on the inscription because he found a square entrance like a cellar behind the stele. It was not very big and was covered by a futon. It would have been difficult to find if he had not used his spiritual power to sweep around.

I crawled down the entrance and came to a small room.

There is a golden bowl, a bowl of fragrant oil, and a Buddhist scripture here.

Ji Ming flipped through the Buddhist scripture, only turning a few pages before putting it down.

This scripture is a part copied from the "Mahavairocana Sutra". This sutra is not a secret skill or true Dharma, but a Buddhist scripture that explains Buddhist Zen principles, various wonderful meanings, etc.

The ghost who serves as the underground master at the foot of Xiaoxi Mountain also often preached this sutra. Ji Ming had heard it once or twice, but it was obscure and difficult to understand. Without being well versed in Buddhism and practicing the Three Mysteries, it was difficult for him to fully comprehend the principles contained in it.

Looking at the golden bowl again, oh my goodness, the bowl seems to be filled with the universe, with ghosts and evil spirits, no less than a hundred of them, accumulated in the bowl, like a bowl of dirty water.

Ji Ming picked up the golden bowl, which was quite heavy. He then took out a few talismans and rubbed them together. The talismans immediately turned into fire and he sprinkled them into the bowl, which immediately attracted the ghosts in the bowl to fight with each other.

"Master, someone is coming."

The echo ghost in the temple conveyed the message.

Ji Ming took a look at the sesame oil and thought it was of little value, so he did not touch it. He tore off the cloud and turned it into a net bag, sprinkled it into the bowl, fished out the ghosts in the bowl, and then hurried away.

In the underworld, a golden light descended and hurriedly came to the entrance of the cellar behind the Buddha statue. Seeing that the golden bowl was empty, his soul trembled and he cried out in sorrow, "Which evildoer has taken advantage of me?"

At this time, Ji Ming and the echoing ghost had already followed the earth veins to the next underworld.

On the Seven Treasures Altar, the Echo Ghost scooped up ghosts from the net bag and stuffed them into his stomach. Then he chanted sutras on the altar to liberate the ghosts. He repeated this several times. It took quite a while before all the ghosts in the bag were liberated.

This time, he received more than 120 merits, which was three times more than the merits he earned in Yinshan.

Ji Ming has now felt the benefits of Yanxu Mountain. The two sacred mountains next to it are not owned by the same disciples of Taiping Mountain. So it is like a back garden where he can come and go as he pleases.

The only question is whether there are underworld officials appointed by Taiping Mountain under these two underworlds.

It would be fine if the disciple of Fanghe Temple was serving as an underworld official, but if he was a disciple from Taiping Mountain and was caught doing such a thing, he might privately sue him on the mountain.

Fame nourishes people, but fame can also be tiring, so Ji Ming needs to cultivate a second soul.

Ji Ming secretly warned himself that he had to be careful, hide his soul and magic talismans well, and not let others see his true identity.

When he arrived at the third sacred mountain in the underworld, he took out the talisman and took a closer look. Now his merits had accumulated to one thousand and twenty-three, and he only needed forty or fifty more to ask the gods to send down the rain.

Turning down from the earth veins to the underworld, you will see two small Yin Mountains in front of you, with a valley entrance in the middle.

In the valley, red lanterns were hung high, with the shadowy light, a sea of ​​red and green, very sinister. There were also little ghosts carrying plates and wine jars, welcoming and seeing off people in the valley, as if there was some happy event.

"Master Huang, Master Huang, please forgive me for being slow and not being late!"

A yellow-skinned man led Yaoyun and Ji Ming past each other and went straight into the valley. He was holding two roosters in his hands, with most of their heads torn off. He was sucking the blood of the chickens as he spoke.

"You can't be late, you can't be late, hurry into the valley, there is blood and food to entertain you."

There was a loud voice coming from the red and green lights in the valley. Ji Ming was about to listen carefully, but he heard the voice saying to him, "Daoyou, you are a guest. Come in quickly."

Ji Ming was greatly surprised. He saw that the spiritual cultivation of the person who spoke was not very high, so how could he know his whereabouts? He asked the Echo Ghost and the Seven Treasures Altar to hide aside to see if this person really had a keen eye.

(End of this chapter)