Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 234, Section 232: The Nine Formations of Ksitigarbha

Kuai Xian was intently chanting incantations and hand gestures towards the little girl, presumably making preparations for the other children.

Daoman Xiaoche took a few steps forward and emerged from the shadows.

"Hehehe," Kuai Xian said without raising his head, letting out a nasty, ghostly laugh. The sound seemed to come from his throat, but rather from his festering chest. "Your curiosity, benefactor, is truly... deadly."

He raised his head, a hideous grin squeezing out from his festering, distorted face.

As he spoke, several robust monks dressed in robes, with ashen faces and varying degrees of festering sores on their bodies, emerged from the shadows of the main room like ghosts. They gripped gleaming knives or long staffs tightly in their hands, their eyes fiercely fixed on the uninvited guest.

Dharma is also among them.

A black cat also quietly leaped out; it was the same monster that had acted as a cat demon in Qiushang Village during the day.

It hunched its back nervously, its emerald vertical pupils scanning Xiao Che warily, a threatening growl emanating from its throat, yet it was noticeably half a body length behind the monk under Kuai Xian's command, its eyes filled with deep apprehension.

"Since you're here, make the best of it. Benefactor, why not take refuge in Buddhism and join us in exploring the path to immortality and sharing in ultimate bliss?"

Kua-hyun tempted her with her rotting lips, her voice hoarse and unpleasant.

“This old monk is one hundred and seventy years old this year. But in the daytime, have you seen any flaws in my appearance? This is the blessing of the longevity Ksitigarbha!” He tried to stand up, but his rotting legs could not support him and he fell back down, splattering pus and blood all over the ground.

Xiao Che's voice was completely flat: "Do you know Master Youchan?"

"Youchan?" A look of astonishment appeared on Kaihyun's decaying face, which then turned into deep-seated resentment and a trace of deeply concealed fear.

“Youchan, of course I recognize you! I owe my current status to this good junior brother.”

"Back then, I risked my life to bring back the Ksitigarbha Nine Formations Diagram, hoping he could use it to set up an array to prolong my master's life, but he was so rigid and pedantic! He actually said it was an evil art and wanted to destroy it! If it weren't for this humble monk, hahahahaha." He let out a series of maniacal laughs, "Thanks to him, my master passed away, and the nursing home declined from then on. He just heartlessly left and disappeared without a trace for decades. It was me! I painstakingly brought the nursing home back to prosperity!"

"I must live! And I will live. As long as I am here, the nursing home will not collapse!"

The Nine Formations of Ksitigarbha, Higashiyama Shin pondered, that Xiao Che must have learned the formation from this thing, and thus set up the seal on Mount Fuji.

Xiao Che's gaze shifted from the pile of gold and silver treasures to Kuai Xian's festering body: "Countless gold and silver, is this what you call prosperity?"

Kuai Xian slowly suppressed his smile: "It seems your arrival here is not accidental, and you are unwilling to embark on the path of cultivation with us. Then... we can only ask you to die! Disciples, listen to my command: seize him, life or death!"

The wicked monks roared like wild beasts, brandishing their weapons and charging forward, covered in pus and blood, stinking to high heaven! Pus splattered, and a foul stench filled the air!

The game has entered combat mode.

In this completely one-sided match, after Dongshan chose He Ye to attack, he immediately left the battle screen.

“He Ye,” Xiao Che said.

A thick black shadow instantly emerged from the protective mirror on his chest, followed by several hissing sounds of flesh and bone cracking. The evil monks who rushed at him were like being hit by a giant hammer, their bodies slamming violently against the hard stone wall!
boom!boom!
In no time, several puddles of a paste-like substance, mixed with broken bones, rotten flesh, and filthy blood, covered the stone wall and slowly slid down, staining the surrounding Ksitigarbha statues red.

The intense smell of blood and decay practically assaulted my senses.
Kuai Xian's expression froze, his eyes filled with the fear of death. He never dreamed that his opponent would have such terrifying power.

"Nine Lives, hurry! Stop him!"

Kuai Xian roared at the black cat demon with all his might, while frantically pulling a small cage from his pocket, inside which were two sleeping kittens!
"If you don't do it now, I'll crush them to death!"

The cat demon let out a hiss. It stared at the cage in Kuai Xian's hand for a while, then looked at He Ye, whose aura was as terrifying as an abyss, and Xiao Che, who was expressionless. Finally, it let out a sharp cry and pounced on Xiao Che.

Xiao Che reached out and stopped He Ye, who was eager to try. Facing the cat demon who pounced, he casually reached out and grabbed the cat demon by the neck.

The cat demon's claws swung in vain, unable to cause him any harm.

Xiao Che took out the demon-slaying bag with his other hand, opened the bag, and stuffed the struggling cat demon inside.

Lesser demons like this can be contained in a demon-slaying bag, unless it's a powerful demon like He Ye that can't be contained.

Kayeon's last hope was gone.

As he watched Xiaoche approach step by step, he felt as if he were seeing the Yama, the demon he had been running from for so long.

He threw down the kitten cage in terror, startling the two kittens awake, which huddled together in fear. He clasped his hands together, his face streaked with pus and blood, and forced a desperate plea: "Master, Master, spare me! I was wrong! I'm willing, I'm willing to give up everything!"

puff!
His words stopped abruptly.

Xiao Che flicked his toe, kicking a fallen dagger to the ground, causing it to transform into a flash of cold light that instantly pierced through Kuai Xian's heart.

Kuai Xian stared incredulously at the dagger embedded in his chest, a hissing sound escaping his throat.

He struggled and fell backward, his rotting flesh falling off piece by piece as his life dissipated. His decaying hands desperately grabbed at the gold and silver jewels scattered around him, muttering incoherently as pus and blood gushed out.

"My gold, my treasure, even in death, is mine."

The sound grew fainter and fainter until it finally fell silent. Those greedy eyes remained fixed on the treasure on the ground until their dying breath.

Xiao Che looked at Kuai Xian's corpse with a complicated expression. He walked to the corner and picked up the cage that had held the kittens. In his hands, the sturdy cage shattered. The two frightened kittens immediately huddled together, panting, but that didn't stop Xiao Che from putting them into his demon-slaying bag as well.

At this moment, the little girl who had been unconscious on the ground slowly woke up.

She opened her eyes in a daze, and what came into view was a room full of mess and mutilated corpses everywhere.

"what--!"

She was terrified and let out a sharp scream. She scrambled to a stone statue of Ksitigarbha, trembling like a leaf, her face covered in tears and snot.

"Don't be afraid." Xiao Che looked at her. "These are all monsters. I'm here to save you. Come out with me."

The little girl looked at Xiaoche in terror, then at the horrific corpses, and her small body trembled even more violently.

She dared not approach the bloodstains, much less Xiaoche.

Xiao Che didn't urge her, but just watched her quietly. After a while, perhaps Xiao Che's patience gave her a sense of security, she nodded tremblingly, carefully avoiding the filth on the ground, and moved step by step to a few steps away from Xiao Che.

Xiao Che then entered the passage and returned the way he came.

As for the small rooms along the way, perhaps because Kuai Xian was the core of the formation, all the children died and stopped breathing when he died.

Back in the main hall, the little girl stared at the dimly lit, empty temple and the golden statue of Ksitigarbha, her face still filled with fear.

Xiao Che summoned He Ye: "He Ye, transform and take her home."

"Yes, sir." He Ye transformed into a stoic male figure and stood at the door.

Xiao Che crouched down, looking into the little girl's still-shaken eyes, and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Listen to me, when you get back, tell everyone that the nursing home is a demon temple, filled with man-eating demon monks. A passing Onmyoji burned down the demon temple and rescued you. Understand?"

The little girl seemed to understand, tears still welling up in her eyes, but looking into Xiao Che's eyes, she nodded vigorously.

She suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Xiaoche: "Thank you. Thank you, Uncle Yin-Yang Master!"

Xiao Che shook his head: "Go quickly, go find your family." He gestured to He Ye.

He Ye took a candlestick from the eternal lamp in the main hall and led the way. The little girl followed timidly behind He Ye. The candlelight flickered, and the little girl looked back at Xiao Che every few steps before finally disappearing into the night outside the hall.

A moment later, Xiao Che turned his gaze back to the magnificent main hall, to the golden statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who sat serenely on a lotus pedestal, devoid of sorrow or joy.

He took out several talismans from his pocket, dabbed a little blood on his fingertip, and quickly drew fire-starting talismans.

"go."

Several talismans shot towards the beams, pillars, curtains, and offering tables throughout the main hall.

冯。

The dark blue flames burst into flames instantly. Unlike ordinary fire, these flames ignite when they encounter wood and melt when they encounter metal.

The magnificent painted decorations curled and peeled off in the flames, the sandalwood offering table burned fiercely, the outer gold leaf of the Ksitigarbha statue melted and deformed rapidly in the flames, and the compassionate face was distorted by the high temperature. The entire main hall was instantly turned into a sea of ​​fire and quickly spread to other buildings.

"Fire! Help put out the fire!"

"The main hall... the main hall is on fire!"

"Where is the abbot? Where is Brother Fashan?!"

The sound of monks' terrified shouts and chaotic footsteps came from outside.

However, with the key figures all executed, the remaining monks were like headless flies. The sudden fire was even more intense and difficult to extinguish.

Cries, curses, and the sound of collapsing buildings mingled together, plunging the entire nursing home into chaos and flames.

Seeing that the fire was out of control, the monks cried out and grabbed some valuables, fleeing in panic from this burning hell.

The fire burned all night, turning half the sky red. It wasn't until dawn that the fire gradually subsided, leaving only ruins and wisps of smoke, the air thick with the smell of burnt ashes.

Xiao Che trudged through the scorching ashes to the ossuary behind the temple. It was relatively secluded and less damaged.

He gently placed his master's ashes and the two secret manuals, carefully wrapped in oilcloth, into a burial niche and then buried them underground.

“Master,” he murmured to himself, facing the burial site, “your soul should have returned to a pure lotus throne, not this Avici Hell. Your disciple has cleansed your way.”

In the past, the scorching flames were his deepest source of fear, easily reminding him of the helplessness he felt during the Mingli Fire. But last night, witnessing that evil crumble in the fire, he felt only a chilling pleasure.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a disheveled monk, wrapped in a wet and tattered quilt, crept furtively to the ruins of the main hall.

(End of this chapter)