Esoteric Buddhism: To live as king in America

"No! This can't be done!"

Leo was horrified; the chilling reality of death instantly overwhelmed the brief confidence he had gained from acquiring power.

Despair clung to his heart like cold vines, far more so than when he faced the demon's and the monster's dagger.

Back then, there was still anger and a sliver of room for resistance, but now, in this omnipresent yet powerless spatial trap, he felt as insignificant as dust, only able to watch helplessly as he plummeted to his doom.

An endless feeling of falling gripped his throat; the shadow of death had never felt so real.

"It's over...we're all going to die here..."

The thought, like the deepest ice, froze his mind and strength. He instinctively tightened his arms to protect the unconscious Shirley on his back, futilely awaiting the final impact.

Just then, a firm force suddenly tightened around the arm that Mian had just grabbed.

Lord Angel!

In this bizarre and disorienting endless vortex of falling, Mian's gaze remained fixed on one direction—not up, not down, not left or right, but forward. A "forward" that transcended the concept of physical dimensions.

He ignored the bottomless abyss beneath his feet, the flickering kitchen fire on the eleventh floor or the howling wind from the rooftop, and the instinctive warnings of his falling body.

Having received the warning that the other party might use spatial teleportation, Mian focused all her attention on the parable of the cheat code, "What you do is the truth," and a simple action.

He took a deep breath, as if his feet were not on empty air, but on solid ground. Then, to Leo's horrified gaze, Mian resolutely took a step forward toward the "front" where chaotic light and shadow intertwined and spatial fragments spun wildly.

The instant his foot landed—

"Snap!"

A crisp sound, like a giant glass dome shattering, clearly pierced through all the chaotic noise.

Leo stumbled and almost fell down with Sherry, barely managing to regain his balance.

Wait, fell down?

They're back!

The inverted and chaotic space disappeared, and Leo was surprised to find that they were now standing on the fourth level of stable ground.

Is this the great power of the angels?

Looking at Mian before him, Leo first felt immense respect, then immense shame.

He had just questioned the adult in front of him, even if it was only for a moment. But if this were a test, he knew he would have lost a lot of points.

Stop having any more schemes. Whether the adults are angels or not, if you want to survive here, you can only obey their orders wholeheartedly.

So Leo opened his mouth and asked Mian sincerely.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

What should we do? I really want to know too.

The ability to manipulate the space inside the building is really unfair. Even though Mian has the protection of a cheat code that can temporarily dispel these illusions, he still feels a deep headache just looking at the door numbers on the fourth floor.

Forget about reaching the 17th floor, they've even regressed by one floor. If things continue like this, Mian will never reach the 17th floor to find Ain, let alone catch the culprit.

So what should we do?

Mian looked up, lost in thought. The doorplate came into view.

"4-4"

Speaking of this doorplate...

Mian recalled the visit today and the victims' files. The victim from the fourth floor seemed to have died in this room.

"You are the king, the master of this land. No labyrinth or illusion can trap you, for what you see is absolutely true, and what you do is the truth."

The words that had appeared on the shards of the mirror echoed in his mind. Upon reflection, while this ability had directly transported him to the enemy, it could indeed be seen as a path to the truth.

Now that I've activated that ability once again, could this room be the gateway to the culprit?

The door remained locked as always, but now was clearly not the time to respect citizens' property rights.

"Mr. Leo, open this door; our path lies within."

Mian continued to act as if everything was under control and gave Leo orders.

This time, Leo didn't hesitate for a moment. He simply put Sherry down from his back and then slammed the door of 4-4.

One tap, two taps, three taps. The dilapidated security door collapsed to the ground, and a thick smell of dust rushed into the nostrils.

Mian frowned. He had come to these rooms with Wang Yuanli earlier today, but the previous rooms were nowhere near as musty and dusty as they were now, with every step kicking up clouds of dust.

But the gap doesn't stop there.

Carefully turning on the apartment lights, the dim light, far more so than during the day, illuminated the old, peeling paint on the walls and the piles of clutter and trash on the floor.

Mian still remembered that the room she visited this morning was not so messy; although the furniture was obviously old, it was generally quite clean and comfortable.

Wait a minute, the person who died in room 4-4 seems to be an elderly woman. The records show that she was 70 years old and had severe asthma. She and her grandson, who was studying at Sacred Heart University, lived together in this apartment until six months ago when her grandson suddenly disappeared. Since then, she has been living alone in this room, barely making ends meet with her savings.

Can an elderly person living alone with asthma and not in good financial condition really keep their room clean and tidy all the time?

Mian thought about the residents near the old man again, namely the woman who lived alone and raised her child that morning and the drunk man who died on the 16th floor.

Mian happened to already know about their living conditions and backgrounds. The woman had to work three jobs a day to support her son. The drunkard was a dockworker who only went home at night. Clearly, neither of them had the capacity or resources to help care for the elderly for an extended period.

Therefore, the old man's room could not possibly be as clean and tidy as Mian had seen before; on the contrary, it should be filled with all kinds of household garbage and dust that he was unable to clean.

Is this some kind of time reversal, or perhaps some kind of symbol?

Mian pondered this as she cautiously entered the mess, stepping into a frozen moment in time.

His gaze slowly swept over the filthy, cramped kitchen, then moved to the messy bedroom that exuded an old-fashioned atmosphere, carefully discerning every detail that did not match his memory, or that had been deliberately hidden or distorted.

During the visit this morning and afternoon, because Wang Yuanli was somewhat secretive, Mi An didn't actually see every detail of the room.

But if we think about it the other way around, if we remove the details we remember and focus on the parts we haven't seen before, the answer might emerge.

Suddenly, his gaze settled on a pile of old items almost buried under the bed in the bedroom. One of the objects, in the dim, flickering light, reflected a faint, unusual luster.

Mian's eyes lit up immediately.

He seemed to have found the path to the truth.