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Chapter 211 The Place of Attaining Buddhahood
The vermilion gate was blasted open by an arrow.

However, what appeared before them was neither a Tantric ambush nor the eighteen bronze figures of a guru.

—The temple was empty; there was nothing there.

Seeing this, Cai Yuankui took out a divination board, quickly performed several divinations, and then nodded to Zhengde and Zhou You.

The three then filed in.

However, nothing unusual happened.

...But this in itself is the biggest anomaly.

Zhengde clearly remembered that Bodhi Temple was the most prosperous temple among the three mountains and seven temples in Lizhou, and even after the Tantric sect took over, it was not much different—in fact, it was even more popular than before.

Back in the day, there were countless novice monks and laypeople serving the senior monks in this temple, not to mention the various esoteric Buddhist monks and their retinues who gathered for the Dharma assembly.

But now, there isn't a single sound from people in the temple.

No, it wasn't just human voices. Even though it was early autumn, not a single insect chirp or bird call could be heard in the temple. Looking around, all one could see was an utterly desolate scene.

It was as if the world had already died.

Zhengde shook his head vigorously, shaking the chilling thought out of his mind, and spoke.

"Among the various schools of Tantra, five schools responded to the Dharma King's call, with at least thirty gurus and lamas in total. I originally intended to use three methods simultaneously to restrain them and have the two of them disrupt the ceremony, but now it seems that's unnecessary—but a problem has arisen: where have all these people gone?"

no one knows.

However, Zhou You noticed something unusual on the ground. He squatted down, gathered two bundles of dough, and then placed them in front of the others.

It was a handful of white dust.

Cai Yuankui took a little bit, first sniffed it, then put it in his mouth to taste it, and then gently shook his head.

"It feels like something that has been calcined at high temperatures, but because it's been burned so thoroughly, I can't taste what it is, but it doesn't really look like human flesh."

Okay, it seems there really are no leads left.

Zhou You turned his attention to Zhengde.

"Where will the Dharma assembly be held? Since the people in this temple aren't coming to us, let's go find them."

Zhengde replied quickly.

"—The Mahavira Hall is the main place of worship for both the Three Altars Dharma Assembly and the Dragon Flower Dharma Assembly."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You stopped talking and led the two directly towards the Great Buddha Hall.

However, as they approached the destination, the white powder along the way increased, eventually covering the entire road.

—When you step on it, you only feel a sticky, oily sensation.

However, no one cared about that now, and soon the three of them arrived in front of the hall.

However, after kicking open the door, it was still empty inside.

As Zhengde said, there was indeed an altar in the hall, but no priests were seen operating it. The incense and candles were still bright, but there was not even a trace of life in the air.

Apart from these, at the very end, beneath the statue of Shakyamuni, there is a withered body sitting there.

Could this be the mastermind behind it all?
Zhou You swept out a wave of murderous aura with his sword, but the response he received only made him more confused.

...This is dead, and has been dead for at least several years.

No, if you Tantric practitioners are going to perform rituals, why put a dried corpse here?

Finally, it was Zhengde, who was standing nearby, who recognized the thing.

"Is this an incarnate Buddha, or an incarnate Buddha who has attained complete relics? There are no such eminent monks in the Tantric school. Where did they get this from?"

Zhengde took a few quick steps. Normally, he would have bowed a few times first, but at this moment he couldn't care less about such formalities. He directly grabbed the mummified corpse's chin and lifted it up.

However, the face that appeared... had no face.

The entire face of the mummified corpse had been deliberately cut off, and even half of its skull had been smashed. It was clear that someone had a deep-seated hatred for it to have done such a brutal thing.

A sense of unease arose in Zhengde's mind, but before he could think about it, Cai Yuankui, who was beside him, noticed something and said cautiously.

"This person's limbs had been severed; it's unknown whether they did it before or after death, but there are fine sutures at the joints. The rest of the limbs are intact, except for a piece of the hand."

However, these still did not constitute a clue, but just as everyone was deep in thought, Zhou You suddenly thought of something.

—Wait, the palm?

Zhou You searched his body for a long time and finally found something he had long forgotten in one of his pockets.

This is what he brought with him when he first entered the script.

—That half-dried hand, which the ugly witch called a token.

It can't be... such a coincidence, right?
Zhou You carefully stepped forward and placed the half of his hand on the mutilated part of the dried corpse.

It fits perfectly, without the slightest error.

It's as if it were naturally growing there.

But before he could figure out what was happening, he saw the cut on his palm grow back rapidly, the skin healing itself, and at the same time, all the stitches in the wounds burst open—

then.

Just suddenly.

The mummified corpse seemed to come alive, suddenly raising its head and 'looking' at Zhou You.

Although the entire face had been stripped away, the person still felt an extremely intense emotion.

—It was an overwhelming joy, as if one had finally found what they were looking for.

In an instant, heaven and earth began to reverse.

It felt like I was being thrown into a spin dryer. Although it's different from a toilet, it just rotated in a different direction.

When Zhou You opened his eyes again, the scenery around him had changed.

The ordinary temple had vanished without a trace, replaced by a dazzling spectacle—surrounded by thousands of jade trees and adorned with precious flowers, everything in sight was resplendent in gold and jade, and in the sky, melodious birds soared and danced, their cries filled with Buddhist chants and sacred music.

Looking out, one can see a magnificent and splendid hall at the far end.

Behind the main hall, there is a jade tree that seems to be ten thousand feet tall. Its branches are like a giant dragon coiling in the sky, and among its branches are countless huge fruits that shimmer with seven-colored light.

And at this moment.

Cai Yuankui and Zhengde, who were standing nearby, also slowly woke up.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhengde was alright, only looking bewildered, while Cai Yuankui's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but exclaim.

"Damn, how come we've changed locations in the blink of an eye? And... where is this place? Why is there gold, silver, and jade everywhere? It looks even richer than the imperial palace's treasury. Could this place be the legendary Western Paradise?"

"Do not."

A single word refuted his guess.

Zhengde raised his head, his eyes lifeless, and murmured to himself in a sighing voice.

"here it is"

"Winged City, Hualin Garden".

"Under the Dragon Flower Treasure Tree".

"It is also the place where Maitreya Bodhisattva preached three times, attained enlightenment, and truly transformed into a Buddha."

　Finished writing 7000 words. Hmm.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)