Chinese Superman

Chapter 206 Welcome to Elysium

Gao Ming turned to Songchai and asked a few questions in Lao.

Songchai clasped his hands together, pointed into the depths of the mist, and spoke a string of words.

Gao Ming translated: "He said the temple is inside; you can see it by going through this fog."

Everyone looked at each other.

To go in, or not to go in?

The mist is blocking out divine sense, which is obviously problematic. It's not ordinary mountain mist. No one knows what will happen after entering.

But if we stop here, the trail to that spirit stone vein will be lost.

Could it be that we really should learn Tian Shu's demonic methods?

Gao Ming was silent for a moment, then looked at Cao Linghui: "Captain Cao, what do you think?"

Cao Linghui pondered for a moment and said, "We've come this far, it would be a shame not to go in and take a look. But we can't let everyone go in."

""

He paused, then looked at Xia Xinghan: "Xinghan, what do you think?"

Before Xia Xinghan could answer, Hong Xueyi interjected, "Team Leader Cao, I'm willing to stay outside the fog. If there's any unusual activity, I'll use the communicator to call for help from other exploration teams."

Xia Xinghan nodded and said, "If that's the case, let's do it that way."

Cao Linghui handed the communicator to Hong Xueyi, and Gao Ming also left two members of the Gao family to guard outside the fog.

Then, Xia Xinghan said calmly, "Go in."

Everyone was taken aback.

Xia Xinghan has already stepped forward, heading into the mist.

"Brother!" Tian Shu exclaimed anxiously, "Wait a minute! A wise man doesn't stand under a crumbling wall. How can you be the first to go?"

Xia Xinghan didn't turn his head, his figure disappearing into the mist.

Tian Shu gritted his teeth and followed.

Cao Linghui watched the two figures disappear into the mist, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's go."

He strode forward.

Gao Ming and the others exchanged glances and followed.

The moment they stepped into the mist, everyone's expression changed.

It's not a problem with the fog.

It is perception.

After entering the "world outside the wall," everyone's spiritual senses were already weakened to some extent.

But at this moment, upon entering this mist, the weakening effect intensified suddenly, and even divine sense could not penetrate it.

My senses have become dulled.

Even a martial artist's intuition about danger is veiled, making it blurry and unclear.

"There's something wrong with this fog, a really big problem," Wei Gang said in a deep voice. "I feel like I'm deaf and blind."

Wu Dandan tried to activate her spiritual power, her expression turning even more grim: "My spiritual power is functioning normally, but my senses are being suppressed too much. If a monster were to attack now—"

"Keep going." Xia Xinghan's voice came from ahead, calm as ever. "We're already in."

With the Martial Ancestor leading the team, what's there to be afraid of?

The group continued on in silence.

The fog was so thick that you could only see a few steps ahead or behind you. The ground beneath your feet was flat, as if it had been leveled and compacted.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the fog suddenly thinned out a bit.

The sight before them stunned everyone.

paddy.

A golden rice field gleams warmly in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The rice stalks drooped heavily, their plump grains swaying gently in the wind.

People are working in the rice paddies.

Several people dressed in tattered clothes were bending over, weeding in the field.

They heard footsteps, looked up, smiled at everyone, and then continued working.

"This—" Xiong Ba's mouth gaped open. "This is the end of the world?!"

Everyone looked at each other.

Somchai stepped out from the crowd, clasped his hands together, bowed to everyone, and his face was full of pride.

After Gao Ming finished speaking, he translated: "He said that it was all thanks to the Living Buddha. With this mist, the monsters outside couldn't get in, which is why they were able to survive until now. These rice paddies were cultivated by them over the past ten years, yielding two or even three harvests a year, enough to feed the dozens of people in the temple."

The crowd was both surprised and suspicious, exchanging bewildered glances, their eyes filled with shock.

Even in the apocalypse, such a pure land still exists?

Cao Linghui sighed, "I thought the world outside the wall was all ruins and monsters, a dark age of cannibalism where civilization had ceased to exist. I never expected—"

"I really didn't expect that." Xiong Ba looked at the rice field, touched his bald head, and had a complicated look in his eyes.

Tian Shu leaned closer to Xia Xinghan and whispered, "Brother, this—this really seems to be a pure land?"

Xia Xinghan did not answer.

He looked at the rice paddies and the villagers working there, his gaze calm.

Pure Land?

Yes.

But that's only on the surface.

After passing through the rice paddies, a temple came into view.

Typical Southeast Asian style, with pointed roofs, flying eaves, and gold leaf decorations that shimmer in the sunset.

The temple is small but exquisite, with several Bodhi trees planted around it, their leaves rustling in the wind.

The sound of chanting came from the temple.

At first, it was Pali, a language incomprehensible to most. The ancient and melodious chanting drifted through the twilight, bringing peace to the soul.

But as they walked, the chanting suddenly changed.

It was transformed into a language that everyone could understand.

It wasn't a particular dialect or the official Mandarin of the Great Xia Dynasty, but rather the familiar local accent that everyone heard, which evoked a sense of warmth and wonder.

Welcome to "7"

The voice was old and kind, like the advice and concern of an elder.

"Welcome to the world inside the Great Firewall."

"Welcome to—the Pure Land!"

The group paused in their tracks.

Tian Shu's eyes widened: "How did he know we came from inside the wall?"

Cao Linghui frowned and looked at Gao Ming.

Gao Ming also looked solemn.

The group stepped into the main hall of the temple.

The hall was dimly lit, with only a few oil lamps flickering. In the center was a Buddha statue, its gold paint peeling off, obscuring its face.

In front of the Buddha statue, an old monk wearing a tattered robe sat cross-legged on a prayer mat.

He was so thin he was skin and bones, his face wrinkled like a dried-up riverbed, his eyes slightly closed, his lips moving as he continued chanting scriptures.

There were dozens of people sitting around, men, women, and children, dressed in tattered clothes, chanting sutras with the old monk.

Hearing footsteps, they all turned around and looked at the crowd.

Those gazes—

Peaceful and serene.

Compassionate and empathetic.

They all resemble enlightened monks, or perhaps wooden or clay sculptures.

"My goodness—" Tian Shu shivered and subconsciously moved closer to Xia Xinghan.

Gao Ming took a deep breath, stepped forward, clasped his hands together in a gesture of respect to the old monk, then spoke a few words in Lao language and pointed to Songchai.

Songchai walked up to the old monk and whispered something to him.

The old monk opened his eyes.

The wrinkled eyelids were lifted up, revealing double pupils in the eyes below.

No, they're compound eyes, like insect-like compound eyes, but not as numerous, yet they still feel eerie and unsettling!

That moment.

Apart from Xia Xinghan, everyone had a strange feeling, as if something had seen right through them.

The old monk's gaze slowly swept over the crowd.

Finally, it lingered on Xia Xinghan for a moment.

A fleeting moment.

Then he looked away and gave a kind smile.

Gao Ming turned to Songchai and said, "Songchai, we've brought you back safely. Now you can tell me about the clues regarding the spirit stone mine, right?"

Songchai raised his head.

His face still wore that humble smile.

But his eyes had changed.

It's getting weird!

"A spirit stone vein?" he asked, no longer speaking Lao, but fluent Da Xia language. "Since you're here, why not join the Blissful World?"

Gao Ming's expression changed.

"What paradise? Somchai, what do you mean?"

Songchai did not answer.

But the dozens of villagers who were chanting sutras with their heads down, who were originally eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures with the old monk, all raised their heads at this moment.

They looked at the crowd and exclaimed in unison, "Join the Paradise!"

"Join the Pure Land!"

"Join the Pure Land!"

The voice was hollow and mechanical, like countless mouths repeating the same sentence.

Everyone's expression changed.

"Let's do it!"

Cao Linghui roared and unleashed both palms, the Great Sun Burning Heaven Palm, but nothing happened.

The flame in his palm flickered for only a moment before going out.

"My spiritual power!?" Wei Gang exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone tried it, and their faces grew paler and paler.

The spiritual energy was still within the body, but it seemed to be suppressed by something, making it completely unusable, like a silent relic that had lost its owner.

"It's fog!" Wu Dandan gritted her teeth. "Inhaling that fog can suppress spiritual power!"

Upon introspection, everyone discovered that a hazy mist shrouded the dantian!

Tian Shu shouted in shock and anger, "When I passed through the fog, I deliberately held my breath and didn't inhale any fog at all!"

Xia Xinghan replied calmly, "Because the mist is all-pervasive, unless you are already in a state of perfect purity, it won't help even if you don't breathe."

Gao Ming roared and grabbed at Songchai.

Songchai did not dodge.

He continued to smile, letting Gao Ming grab his neck.

"I am no longer afraid of life and death. Please join me in ascending to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

Then—even as Gao Ming gripped his neck, unable to breathe, his face flushed, he still wore a strange yet peaceful smile, as if he truly disregarded life and death.

But without a doubt, Somchai is a living person, a real living person, and an ordinary person.

"That's fucking weird!"

With bloodshot eyes, Gao Ming used his five fingers to snap Song Cai's neck, then threw Song Cai's body at the old monk. He then turned around abruptly and took out an ancient pottery figurine from his bosom.

Eastern Han Dynasty Drumming and Storytelling Figurine

The mist can seal away and silence spiritual power, but the life force remains, and the mysteries of the relics remain!

He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the terracotta figurine.

The terracotta figurine suddenly lit up, and a powerful pressure spread out.

"Thump!"

The drums thundered, and golden ripples swept outwards.

But the old monk remained seated and motionless.

He simply raised his hand and pointed lightly.

"Buzz!!!"

Accompanied by magnificent chanting and the radiant light of the Bodhi tree, a majestic bronze statue rose from behind him.

That's a Buddha statue in the Southeast Asian style!

It has four faces and eight arms, each holding a different ritual implement: a conch shell, a vajra, a lotus flower, a mirror, and prayer beads.

It hovered in mid-air, with all eight arms forming hand seals simultaneously.

A hazy, gray light descended, enveloping the Eastern Han Dynasty drumming and storytelling figurine.

The terracotta figurines trembled violently, the drumbeats became disordered, and finally—silence fell.

Drumbeats, rap, no magic can work!

Gao Ming coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered backward.

"This is—" he exclaimed, his eyes widening, "A national-level treasure?!"