New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 42: Hanging the Red Lanterns High

There was still a quarter before midnight, and the innkeeper knocked on the door in advance, indicating that Yuan Zhu and others could go with the team to the square in the east to gather.

While gathering in front of the store, he was given a wooden Buddha statue by a little girl. From the front, it looked quite normal. The local Buddha was a fat man with a solemn appearance, giving the illusion of a combination of the God of Wealth and the God of Food.

But the back of the wooden Buddha statue was carved with a face that looked like it was half laughing and half crying, with an indescribable expression in its eyes, giving it the impression of a curse. Just holding it in his palm, facing his chest, he felt an instinctive discomfort.

But if he turned the Buddha upside down, facing him and away from all living things, it would feel just as wrong and would attract the attention of passers-by. He could only grit his teeth, secretly draw his dagger, and scratch the Buddha's face on the back while no one was paying attention. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Well, much more comfortable.

"Aren't you afraid of being targeted by Buddha by doing this?" Meng Xiyue's faint voice came from behind.

Yuan Zhu was firm: "I think this is the most cost-effective way to do it."

Crack, crack... Behind him, there was the sound of a dagger scraping against wood.

Everyone remained calm on the surface, but in reality, they all raised their hands to transform the Buddha statue, even the security bureau investigators were no exception. Humph, what a superstitious woman!
The six-member team assembled and followed the procession of residents carrying lanterns, incense burners, Buddha statues, and offerings, advancing along the stone pavement. Along the way, one could see the heavy Buddhist influences of Ye City. White paper lotus lanterns hung in every household, creating a sense of mourning throughout the city.

Passersby were all skilled at chanting Buddhist sutras, their voices melody-like, almost like singing. More and more people gathered along the way—normal humans, blood-red-headed tomato dummy? Everyone coexisted harmoniously, each chanting in a low voice, creating a solemn atmosphere that made one feel insignificant and humble.

This is just ordinary people chanting sutras spontaneously, but it creates a strong sense of spiritual oppression, which makes non-believers feel shocked, fearful, yearning, solemn, etc., unconsciously respecting and believing in Buddhism, and eventually converting to Buddhism.

If this power could be mobilized by the extraordinary system, the effect would be absolutely terrifying.

...

Suppressing the oppressive feeling, Yuan Zhu's team arrived at a man-made square in the east of the city. There used to be buildings here, but they were damaged in battle and then razed to the ground, transforming it into the stage for this festival.

From a distance, he could see a monk standing on the other side of the square. He was dressed in bright yellow robes and a blood-red cassock.

He was a normal-looking, bald old man with white eyebrows, a white beard, and fleshy cheeks. He was surrounded by a group of tomato-like figures with blood-red heads and wearing strange green clothes.

The old monk occupies the C position, has a strong aura and the highest status. He stands with his hands clasped together and his eyes closed, as if waiting for something and indifferent to everything around him.

The Blood-Skulled Impostors around him, though not wearing monk's robes, all clasped their hands together and worshiped devoutly with the etiquette of Buddhist disciples. They surrounded the old monk, guarding him, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.

Beyond this small inner circle, there were also large numbers of lower-ranking red-headed monks, red-headed novices, and fanatical red-headed believers, mixed in with normal-skinned human monks and civilians in a 3:2 ratio. They stood in various locations across the square, holding Buddhist instruments, chanting solemnly, and waiting quietly.

There was no unnecessary chatter at the scene. From the moment Yuan Zhu and his group arrived, everyone was solely focused on chanting sutras in low voices. Invisible energy flowed, and a Buddhist aura enveloped the square, seemingly enveloping the entire Buddhist city.

In this situation, Yuan Zhu didn't dare to say a word. He could only watch quietly and communicate with his teammates with his eyes.

Through the rat tucked into his pocket, he could sense that the invisible Buddhist spiritual pollution fluctuations in the area around the square were rapidly increasing.

When the hour of Hai arrived, the volume of the chanting suddenly increased several times. In an instant, it became resounding and magnificent, like the sound of thunder, bringing enlightenment.

The 'Abbot Duowen' suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

Aside from the moon, which shone with an emerald green light in Yuan Zhu's eyes, the stars in the sky seemed to be particularly bright. They twinkled and reflected the sound of chanting on the ground.

For a moment, the sound of chanting overwhelmed everything... An invisible spiritual resonance, with the abbot as the absolute center, swept in all directions like a collapsing dominoes.

The sounds that originally came out of the mouth unconsciously intertwined and merged into the thundering Zen chanting on the spiritual level, which carried the idea of subduing demons and made people's scalps numb and their souls numb.

Yuan Zhu, who was present at the scene, could even hear the frantic alarm of the [Immortal Scripture]. Beyond the spiritual barrier of the Immortal Scripture, the rat in his pocket and the clothes on his body also provided a double layer of defense, resisting the brainwashing erosion of the Buddhist spiritual Zen sound (pollution) on his soul consciousness.

Yuan Zhu remained awake and looked towards the center of the square. Whether normal humans or tomato dummy people with red heads, they all had fanatical expressions at this moment, and their eyes emitted faint blue starlight, echoing the stars that began to flicker violently in the space.

Hmm? This group of monks and common people, under the leadership of the abbot, actually attracted the power of the stars in the sky? Are these starlights the true purpose of the Buddhist ceremony?
The elf suddenly came online: "No! It's not the abbot who's in charge, but those green-clad, eggplant-headed pseudo-humans around him. They're working together to draw the starlight down. This starlight is a very high-level energy pollution, but it's being captured by the spiritual waves emitted by the Buddhists."

In the elf's perception and analysis, the abbot is always the core of the ceremony.

He used the belief of the people in the Buddhist country of Naye in "Buddha" as a medium, and his own spiritual soul as an anchor. He aroused spiritual resonance through chanting and reciting scriptures, connecting everyone's hearts and weaving them into a big network.

The core members in the center of the square were the raw materials of this network. The civilians chanting and observing the ceremony on the periphery were also connected to this network, acting as the batteries that powered this "spiritual Dharma network." The circle of eggplant-headed pseudo-humans surrounding the abbot also achieved spiritual resonance through their chanting of Buddhist teachings, connecting them to this network. However, they also displayed another innate ability. Through the resonance of the Dharma network, they led all the red-headed pseudo-humans in the square to guide the starlight from the sky to descend.

Yuan Zhu: "I understand. That great monk is the core of the spiritual network. He connects everyone present, and the people outside are used as spiritual batteries by him. Those red-headed pseudo-humans who make up the network have the extra energy to communicate with starlight. They are luring this energy (pollution) to descend, so that it can be captured and absorbed by the spiritual network."

Elf: "Yes, that's it."

"What is the purpose of doing this?"

As the ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner, a slight uneasiness arose in his heart.

Perhaps it was because he was both surrounded by an invisible "Buddhist spiritual pollution," mired in a quagmire, and because another kind of "starlight pollution" in the sky was gathering in ever-increasing volumes, presenting a terrifying high-energy reaction. It looked like it was poised to explode at any moment, distorting all life, and he instinctively wanted to run away.

As the ceremony steadily progressed, streaks of starlight fell from the sky, caught in the net. The ordinary monks and novices standing in the center of the square, themselves the raw materials for the net, were the first to be overwhelmed. Their chants began to stumble and break, their brains overloaded, frozen and stagnant.

The red-headed tomato-like figures were even worse, their eyes blazing with starlight, their minds tainted with Buddhist spiritual power. The two sides used the eggplant-headed monk's mind as a battlefield, battling and attacking each other.

Some red-headed monks stopped chanting and instead let out strange giggles. Sometimes they struggled to control themselves, their faces agonized as they cried out, "Buddha! Buddha! Buddha!" Then, their eyes, gleaming with brilliance, took over, and they shouted at the starry sky, "Qia! Qia! Qia!"

This schizophrenic scene seemed to be contagious, and more and more Blood Skull Monks lost control.

Sometimes they wept bitterly, sincerely repented, and shouted loudly: "Buddha! Buddha! Buddha!" At other times, they looked like crazy and fanatically, looking up to the sky and shouting: "Qia! Qia! Qia!"

...

"Fuck! Brother Zhuzi, I'm a little panicked. Should we run away?"

Lü Rang, standing behind them, witnessed this collective hysteria. Under the intense starlight, his legs trembled, and he could barely stand. He quickly pushed Yuan Zhu, hoping to find a supporter.

"Wait, look a little longer!"

Yuan Zhu, who was somewhat attracted, also looked up at the starry sky. While letting the [Immortal Scripture] record this newly emerged pollution, he was also a little caught up in it, staring at the twisting and changing starlight in a daze, always feeling that there was endless wisdom hidden in it, attracting him to join in.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Brother Zhuzi, look! His head is flying off and his neck is about to be broken!"

The ceremony seemed to be very successful. As the red-headed monks in the field went crazy collectively, more and more starlight in the starry sky was attracted, twisted into beams, broke through the barrier of the sky, and was projected to the human world, converging above the ceremony site.

Then the starlight exploded into strands, falling from the sky, heading straight for the eyes of those eggplant-headed pseudo-people and drilling into them.

Then you can see that inside the red skull made of flesh and blood, there is starlight lit up, and the head emits bright red blood light like a light bulb, illuminating all directions.

The originally dim square was now ablaze with red lanterns, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of blood-red lights, suffusing the scene with a vibrant crimson glow. The scene was almost like something out of a horror film. Was this a Buddhist ritual or a rite of passage?

As more and more starlight energy penetrated into their eyes, their heads not only became brighter but also larger, breaking away from the shape of a human head and becoming larger and rounder, like a large tomato with its facial features stretched and deformed.

Not only did their blood-red heads grow larger, rounder, and brighter, they also began to rise against gravity, pulling their bodies toward the sky, trying to return to the starry sky.

But the feet of these red-headed monks were firmly rooted to the ground, resisting the blood-red skulls that wanted to soar into the starry sky. They cried out in pain: "Buddha-Buddha-Buddha! Jia-jia-jia! Buddha-Buddha-Buddha... Jia-jia-jia..."

The scene of self-stretching made Yuan Zhu feel pain in his neck.

The human's neck was stretched longer and longer, making a creaking sound as the joints rubbed against each other.

Until there was a 'Puff!'
“Buddha, Buddha, Buddha!”×N
“Kua ka ka!”×N
Yuan Zhu was stunned: "Bloody romance, so fucking spectacular!"

He had lived for so many years, and this was the first time he had ever seen such a shocking scene. It was strange and yet possessed an inexplicable beauty. It reminded him of a film he had watched in his early life, "Raise the Red Lantern."

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　　May the Buddha have mercy on you all and may your life be prosperous in the new year...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)