Wet viviparity

Chapter 509: Temple, Leading the Spirit
The setting sun was as red as blood, dyeing the cliffs of Baibao Mountain into red gold.

There is an abandoned temple on the hillside of this mountain, named "Lone Fox". The eaves have collapsed, the Buddhist pavilion has fallen into ruins, and only half of the mountain gate is left with peeling red paint, creaking in the evening breeze.

Human-high wormwood grows out of the cracks in the bluestone steps inside and outside the temple, and spider webs like white gauze cover the broken prayer wheels. The rusted prayer wheels still have traces of "Om Mani Padme Hum" engraved on them.

When this temple was built, the Daba Dynasty was just established, and the legend of the Bu Lao Peak had not yet spread in Baibao Mountain.

Dust was floating in the hall, and the gold paint on the Buddha statue had fallen off, revealing the clay mixed with straw bones. Looking closely, one could see foxes and rats making nests in holes on the Buddha statue's back.

The altar in front of the Buddha was broken into three pieces, and a half-burnt candle was shedding tears of blood in the incense burner.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew through the hall, and an old green-faced demon appeared from behind the Buddhist shrine. Three dead branches grew on its head, and seven human-skin lanterns hung on the branches, illuminating the walls with ghostly shadows, which was disturbing.

"The old Huai demon is late."

A sweet laugh came from the broken window of the west wing. It turned out to be a woman in palace dress leaning against a bone couch. Her dishevelled hair revealed half of her skull face, and her gold bracelets jingled on her wrist bones.

This is Madam Shagu, originally the widow of General Zhenxi of this dynasty. She swallowed gold and committed suicide after her husband died in battle.

After death, the spirit is still there, and the resentment blends together to condense into a skeleton body, which has now been refined into a Yuandan.

This lady had sought the truth in Qingzhen Temple two hundred years ago, hoping to find a way to avoid the three disasters. Among the registered disciples, her level of Taoism was among the top five.

At this moment, there was a sound of water coming from the bottom of the well. A handful of blood mist rose from the dry well and condensed into a Taoist priest in a red robe. Around the Taoist priest's neck hung a string of prayer beads, all of which were made of the skulls of spirit children, and in his eye sockets were a pair of green eyes.

"The Blood Forest Lord has arrived."

The lanterns on the branches of the Huai tree were all dimmed. The old demon said, "I heard that you have refined the Blood River Treasure Chariot on the edge of the Lingxi Plateau. Today I want to see it for myself."

“It’s nothing.”

Thirty-six talismans flew out of the Blood Forest Lord's sleeves and turned into green-faced, fang-toothed monk ghost soldiers. He looked at the west wing, clasped his hands together and smiled, "It's nothing like Madam Shagu's gathering of a group of rampant ghost soldiers outside."

The Lord of the Blood Forest is not a disciple of the Qingzhen Temple, but a disciple of the Shuangshen Temple.

Because he secretly practiced the "Shita Joyful Merit", he was expelled by the Buddha Kongle from the Shuangshen Temple. He was jealous and stole the "Yama Skull Vessel" from the temple. He then went into seclusion on the plateau west of the Tulong Ridge to practice treasures. In recent years, he has stayed at the Qingzhen Temple, where he has lived in seclusion and practiced the Joyful Merit.

As they were talking, thick smoke filled the wellhead and more than a dozen demons appeared, all of them were mountain spirits and water monsters with hundreds of years of Taoism experience, each of them transformed into a weird appearance of a monk.

A group of demons and evildoers gathered in the hall. A strange fragrance floated up. Madam Shagu lightly tapped the futon in front of the Buddha with her slender fingers, and the futon in front of the Buddha turned into a red skull seat. "Today's gathering was invited by the leader of the Hu Society, but why is he, the host, not here?"

The Buddha statue behind the altar turned his eyes, shining with a thief's light, and squinted slightly. Only an old voice came out of the Buddha's mouth, "Who said I'm not here? You can't see the Buddha, but the Buddha is still here."

"Come down."

The old demon Huai stretched out his hand and pulled towards the Buddha, only to see a hazy and clear air being sucked out from the Buddha statue and thrown heavily to the ground. An old fox rolled out from the clear air, turned over, and revealed an old Taoist who was counting his rosary beads.

"Witch Huai, you have been listening to Buddhist scriptures for many years, why are you still so impatient?"

The old Taoist said as he moved the beads.

He looked around and saw that all the demons and evildoers he had invited had gathered in the hall. He chanted a Buddhist name with satisfaction. The fact that he was able to invite so many demons and evildoers showed his reputation in Baibao Mountain and Qingzhen Temple.

"Hu Laixi, stop playing dumb. Why don't you ask that young master to come out and let us meet him?"

Said the old demon Huai.

"That's right." Madam Shagu pulled her sleeves and smiled, half covering her face, "I heard that the young master Chi Shen was born not long ago. I wonder if he is proficient in the way of joy and bliss in Buddhism, so that I can relax and relax."

"Madam, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst."

The Blood Forest Master stepped forward and said with great hospitality, "That young boy knows the wonders of bliss. If you want to practice together, how can you reach bliss without an old hand like me?"

Madam Sha Gu had half of her face covered by a skull, her eyes gleaming with coldness and mockery as she pretended to please Lord Xue Lin.

Madam Shagu and Lord Xuelin's obscene words made many demons and evildoers feel uncomfortable. They were invited here because they really admired Buddhism, not to watch this pair of lustful women and lewd men having fun and performing.

However, fearing the power of this lewd couple, the evil demons in the palace finally endured the discomfort.

The head of the Hu Society stamped his feet lightly and said, "Young Master Chi Shen has a deep affinity with Buddhism and an extraordinary foundation. This time, he has obtained two great causes and conditions from his own deity and copied many Buddhist scriptures in the Thousand Flowers Cave. He wants to open the door to goodness and lead all disciples to enter for enlightenment. You should all hold a respectful heart."

As he said this, he took the lead in chanting the Buddha's name, and the demons and evildoers in the hall followed suit. The solemn atmosphere made it difficult for the Blood Forest Master to act recklessly, so he had to chant along with the crowd.

"If you practice this method for your own benefit, even if you gain precious treasures, they will all be in vain.

If you seek merit for sentient beings, your oceans of merit and wisdom will naturally be filled."

As a Buddhist verse was chanted, the Buddha statue behind the altar began to shake, and precious aura gushed out from the statue, creating all kinds of strange visions. Just as the demons and Taoists took a closer look, the precious aura suddenly dispersed and rolled through the hall.

While they were still in shock, the scene around them changed drastically.

I saw the auspicious aura filling the entire hall, spreading beneath my feet; jade pillars were lined up on both sides.

The palace is inlaid with red crystals, and a blue phoenix holds a cloud pattern.

The flying pavilions and hanging corridors are full of brilliance; the five ridges and six beasts are all majestic and magnificent.

Fire coral formed by the condensation of red clouds hung from the eaves, and an incense burner carved from ice marrow stood in front of the steps.

There were also jade fairies holding incense burners, and mighty strong men holding lanterns. All these magnificent scenes made the demons and Taoists clap their hands in praise and dance with joy. Even the old demon Huai, Madam Sha Gu, and even the knowledgeable Lord of the Blood Forest could not help but be shocked.

Although they knew that this was the result of an illusion, the illusion was so exquisite, with all the sounds and lights, that one could tell the level of skill of the person who performed the illusion.

Among the demons, a man who looked like a monk stood out from the crowd and bowed down in front of the altar in the hall, "I am Bai Fu, a little demon who has been drowned in the sea of ​​suffering for a long time. Now I see your precious appearance, master. I hope you will have mercy on me and give me guidance to help me escape from the endless sea of ​​suffering." Everyone looked behind the altar and saw a novice monk sitting on the back of a white lion with green mane. The monk was wearing a brocade robe that shone with gold. He held a seal in his hand and was sitting cross-legged. He looked very dignified and everyone rushed to worship him.

Ji Ming made the fundamental seal of "God of Wealth" with his hands to receive wealth and treasure, and faced all the gazes with dignity.

The leader of the Hu family, also known as Hu Laixi, who was standing nearby, was very nervous when he saw this.

He was not worried that Chi Shen Zi would not be able to handle such a situation, but he was worried that Chi Shen Zi would be too capable of handling the situation. This young master was becoming more and more difficult to figure out. It was as if he was born divine and knew everything.

"Are you Chi Shenzi?"

Madam Shagu asked in public.

"It's the little monk."

Ji Ming released his hand seal, relaxed his body, sat on the lion's back, and smiled at Madam Sha Gu.

Old Demon Huai and Lord Xuelin did not say anything, but their expressions became more serious, almost as if they were facing Huang Zaozi, the senior brother of Qingzhen Temple.

Madam Shagu stood up from the rosy skull seat, but suddenly she tripped and was about to fall. The Blood Forest Master hurriedly held her up and fumbled around with his hands. Then he caught a glimpse of the half-skull face under her cloud-like hair. His expression changed and he immediately stepped back in disgust.

"unlucky!"

The Blood Forest Lord cursed.

Madam Shagu only looked at the Blood Forest Master with resentment, smiled sadly, and didn't care. Then she looked at the Chi Shenzi behind the altar and asked, "Young Master, I wonder if I have a chance to escape from this sea of ​​suffering in the mortal world?"

"Have!"

Ji Ming said.

He knew that Madam Shagu deliberately revealed a terrifying appearance just to test his Buddhist practice.

Buddhists do not attach to external appearances, and there is nothing outside the mind. If he is in the same situation as the Blood Forest Master, doesn't it mean that he is also a vulgar person who is attached to appearances? This Madam Sha Gu is quite interesting.

As soon as Ji Ming finished speaking, he smelled a fragrance under his nose and felt Madam Shagu slip into his arms. His body tensed at first, then relaxed. With Madam Shagu in his arms, he felt as if he was holding a puppet that was several times bigger than himself, which was very awkward.

After a moment of concentration, he saw a half face with charred cheekbones, intertwined flesh granulations, and half of the skin and tendons hanging. Madam Shagu's eyeballs, which had no eyelids, moved, staring at Ji Ming, paying attention to the changes in his expression.

"Is this half of my face likely to please the young master?"

Madam Shagu said sarcastically.

This half of her face was doused with thunder water refined by an immortal in the Great Chunyang Palace, so that even if she used a different shape, she could not cover this half of her face.

Normally, she suffered a lot of coldness from her fellow practitioners because of her terrifying appearance. Even when she came to Qingzhen Temple, she was still despised by her fellow disciples. These experiences made her determined to practice magic and comprehend Buddhist skills, and she was very motivated.

Her ruined face allowed her to see more clearly the direction of her efforts, and her determination to seek the truth became increasingly firm. However, the looks of others, and even the indifference of the old man Ku Ma, made her feel deeply inferior.

The reason why she accepted Hu Laixi's invitation this time was because Hu Laixi was one of the few spirits in the temple who was not treated based on appearance. She also wanted to take a look at the quality of this son of Chi Shen.

Just as she was filled with mixed thoughts, she felt a warmth on the terrifying half of her face, and her exposed eyeballs suddenly trembled, only because the small hand of Chi Shenzi was covering half of her face.

"Fellow Daoist, why don't you come and see how I see it."

"What do you mean?"

As soon as she finished speaking, her soul was pulled and was about to fall onto the body of Chi Shen Zi.

Madam Shagu hesitated for a moment, but for some unknown reason she did not resist at all. She let go of her spiritual defenses and accepted the pull, and her vision changed.

She saw herself, and saw herself through the vision of Chi Shen Zi.

That half of the face looked as if it was crawling with centipedes, and she found it difficult to look at it for long. Soon she saw the tendons and skin on that half of the face disappear, and the granulation tissue and burnt bones also disappeared bit by bit, and that half of the face became empty.

Looking more closely, she saw a woman.

The woman was sitting in an empty pavilion, dressed in mourning clothes, hugging her quilt and crying bitterly. This was the state of her life when she lost her husband.

At this time, the voice of Chi Shenzi rang in my ears, saying: "This is what I saw, just a poor woman."

"You're pitying me."

Madam Shagu said while trying to calm herself down.

Ji Ming brought back Madam Shagu's soul. Ji Ming had also heard about what happened to Madam Shagu in the temple. In his opinion, among all the evildoers in this temple, only she could be liberated and get good results.

"Madam, can you listen to the sutra?"

Ji Ming said.

An inexplicable look flashed across Madam Shagu's eyes, and she just stared at the Son of Chi on the lion's back.

She didn't expect that she would actually meet a monk who was not blinded by appearances and could treat her normally, and she felt secretly happy in her heart.

However, the discrimination she had suffered over the years made her extremely disgusted with her own joy, as if she was denying her original intention of persisting in her long-term hard practice.

Chi Shenzi's little hand was still on her face, and the warmth from it made her reluctant to let go. She nodded as if bewitched, and murmured, "Please, young master, preach the Dharma."

Ji Ming nodded with satisfaction. This Madam Shagu was indeed as ambitious as the rumors said. With her cooperation, he would be able to successfully hold this Buddhist conference, which could lay the foundation for future plans.

(End of this chapter)