Chapter 190

Qian Dai swallowed hard, involuntarily looking toward the south.

He saw Nan also looking toward him from the other side.

What kind of situation is this!

Wasn't the owner of the divine palanquin supposed to have the upper hand? He even killed the Great Strength God and spoke the "Language of the Game"—wasn't he already in control of thunder and the situation?

And yet he got slapped and overturned just like that?

Though his momentum was astonishing at the time, as if a god or demon had struck with that palm, it was still just a slap.

Just moments ago he was so high and mighty, and now a single slap undid him.

Could he be a fraud?

Being able to kill the Great Strength God, the owner of the divine palanquin naturally wouldn't be some fraud.

Even if he were a fraud, it would only be relative to that white-clothed demon monk.

Qian Dai and Nan were very fortunate they hadn't responded to the divine palanquin owner's words.

Otherwise...

Thinking of this, the two wanted to curse Ueno Shigeru again—who couldn't even find a corpse and was mixed in with a group of slippery ghosts.

If possible, the two wished they could whip the corpse.

"You... very good!"

Fei Huang squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, his face extremely ferocious.

"Hah." Tang Luo laughed, leaping up and appearing before Fei Huang, grabbing his neck and slamming him down.

The ground trembled slightly as Tang Luo pressed Fei Huang into it, his mutilated body sinking into the earth.

The only hand still able to move clung desperately to Tang Luo's wrist.

"Judging by your attire, are you an Onmyoji?" Tang Luo asked, "Where are your shikigami? Were those dogs just now all your foolish little toys?"

"You—seek death!"

A furious roar burst from Fei Huang's mouth; he had just been on top, but was suddenly struck down from the clouds, the huge drop leaving him unable to control himself.

Blood light flared across his body, revealing what seemed to be an intricate formation etched upon him.

"Very good."

Tang Luo laughed, released his grip, stepped back, and let Fei Huang proceed.

The blood light rapidly expanded, forming a complex diagram on the ground as the earth began to tremble.

From within, it began to crack— a white hand bone protruded from Fei Huang's side, then another from the opposite side.

Black flames burned around them.

A massive skeleton, accompanied by trembling and fire, slowly crawled out from "Hell."

Fei Huang's mutilated body was drawn into the hollow chest of the white skeleton, a pair of vengeful eyes locking onto Tang Luo: "Mad Bone, kill him for me!"

The enormous white skeleton let out a furious roar, its giant bony claws reaching for Tang Luo.

Tang Luo did not dodge or evade, throwing a punch.

Energy surged from the point of impact, spreading in all directions; cracks appeared on the Mad Bone's bony claws, and in the next instant they shattered completely.

His entire right arm bone was shattered by that punch.

Yet the Mad Bone felt no pain—another hand bone swept sideways.

Tang Luo remained in place, similarly sweeping with one arm, shattering the Mad Bone's other hand bone as well.

Despite this, the Mad Bone's violent assault showed no sign of weakening—it lifted its skull, opened its mouth, and lunged to bite Tang Luo.

Inside was a pitch-black void; if swallowed, it would certainly not be as simple as falling down the cervical spine into the sternum.

The red ghostly light in its eyes burned like flames, surging and transmitting a binding force that completely descended upon Tang Luo.

The ground beneath his feet suddenly caved in a large section; the area around where Tang Luo stood was filled with cracks.

Numerous white hand bones protruded from the cracks, tightly gripping Tang Luo's feet.

The gaping maw, its black void now close before his eyes.

Tang Luo lifted his foot, completely ignoring the restraining hand bones, stepping back just enough to avoid the Mad Bone's bite.

Not only that, he backhanded it, striking the Mad Bone's just-closed teeth.

The teeth and skull shattered under that blow into a spray of white bone fragments.

But at that very moment—

The white bone fragments Tang Luo had shattered and scattered on the ground suddenly stirred; even the intact bones of the Mad Bone began to disintegrate simultaneously, instantly forming a massive square white bone prison that enclosed Tang Luo.

Some white bone pieces formed a white bone throne; Fei Huang landed upon it, one hand extended, making intricate hand signs toward the white bone prison.

The enormous bone prison began to shrink, soon reducing to a cubic bone cage with edges about two meters long.

"Die!"

Fei Huang roared, his intact right hand clenching into a fist.

The white bone prison was about to shrink further, but at the moment he clenched his fist, a hand pierced through the hard bone cage.

The next second, the bone prison shattered, white bone fragments even slicing Fei Huang's cheek, leaving a deep wound down to the bone.

Tang Luo tore apart the bone prison, falling to the ground: "Is that all you've got?"

"I will kill you! I will kill you!" Fei Huang's body "jumped" on the white bone throne, exploding with rage.

Even the wound that had previously bled nothing now finally began to bleed, leaving reddish-brown bloodstains on the white bone throne.

"Are you really this volatile?"

Tang Luo wore a mocking expression, not lifting a hand, just watching Fei Huang bounce like a ball on the throne.

As he bounced, his breath grew weaker, his formerly ruddy complexion rapidly turning deathly pale, his head slowly drooping.

Only those vengeful eyes remained wide open, fixed on Tang Luo.

The eyeballs, however, did not move, looking like dead fish.

"Hmm?"

Tang Luo frowned slightly, this just died? Shouldn't be, the trump cards haven't even been truly revealed.

Young man, where is your karmic fire?

"Die."

Suddenly, Fei Huang opened his mouth and spoke, and splendid flames burst forth from his body.

This was the karmic fire, burning his shattered body fiercely, a fire serpent writhing its form, replacing the Fei Huang above the white bone throne.

"Hmm, that's more like it." Seeing that this one still had strength left, Tang Luo felt relieved.

The fire serpent coiled, burning the white bone throne into a pile of ashes, and in the city's sky, flames began to rise and appear, condensing.

Then they gathered into the fire serpent before Tang Luo.

The fire serpent, constantly gathering flames, began to swell, another snake head slowly forming, then a second, a third...

Soon, before Tang Luo's eyes appeared a fire serpent with eight heads, its forked tongue also made of flames, looking down upon Tang Luo from above.

"What is this?"

"Yamata no Orochi, no, not..."

Chiyō and Nandū moved their gazes away; within this fire, it seemed countless wronged souls were wailing.

A single glance made one feel as if plunged into hell, unable to hold oneself, as if in the next second one would sink into it and become part of it.

Tang Luo said nothing, gazing at the eight-headed karmic fire serpent before him, revealing a thoughtful expression, as if pondering something.

He completely ignored the awe-inspiring might, as if the fire serpent carried hell itself upon its arrival.

The eight-headed karmic fire serpent did not attack immediately, but slowly coiled, enveloping Tang Luo within.

Using itself as a cage, the eight heads lifted, gazing upon the seemingly insignificant white-clad monk.

"You are not Fei Huang." Tang Luo suddenly raised his head, gazing at the eight-headed karmic fire serpent before him and said.

The response of the eight-headed karmic fire serpent was merely to sway its heads.

"Nor are you that onmyōji." Tang Luo continued, "At least not entirely; that onmyōji is at most one of your identities."

"Am I right?"

"Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva."

As Tang Luo uttered these five words, the eight-headed karmic fire serpent, which had been slightly swaying, stilled, began to slowly extinguish, or rather, condense and transform.

A solemn-looking monk appeared before Tang Luo, stepping upon a fire lotus.

"Truly you, able to summon the karmic fire and understand me somewhat; thinking about it, only you could be." Tang Luo said, his face calm.

In the Journey to the West world Tang Luo experienced, Buddhism has three great Buddhas.

Dīpankara, Tathāgata, and Maitreya—these three are the highest of the three.

Other Buddhas exist, including Tang Luo's conferred title of "Douzhansheng Fo," but not as many as in Journey to the West.

Those Buddhas, like Merit Buddha and Golden Sea Light Buddha, are more inclined toward certain titles, not truly the same level as these three Buddhas.

Some are equivalent to the Five Great Bodhisattvas, while others are lower than those five.

Below the three Buddhas are the Five Great Bodhisattvas: Guanyin, Puxian, Wenshu, Dashizhi, and, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva before Tang Luo!

The remaining Bodhisattvas, like the "Buddhas" outside the three Buddhas, are all inferior to these five.

For example, Zhu Bajie's Pure Altar Envoy also belongs to the "remaining Bodhisattvas."

Buddha and Buddha, Bodhisattva and Bodhisattva—though titles seem similar, the differences are not small; some parts can even be described as "worlds apart."

Using an not-so-appropriate metaphor, it's like the difference between a standing committee member and a non-standing committee member.

Among the Five Great Bodhisattvas, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva is the most special.

He made the great vow "If hell is not empty, I will not become a Buddha," and many consider him the closest to the three Buddhas among Bodhisattvas, surpassing the others in existence.

There are rumors that, were it not for this great vow, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva could already have become a Buddha.

Not a Buddha conferred by a title, but truly a Buddha of the three Buddhas' level.

"Āmítuófó." Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva joined his palms, "Holy Monk Xuanzang, long time no see."

Tang Luo said nothing.

The fire lotus pedestal beneath Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's feet continued to burn and leap, illuminating his originally solemn sacred visage with alternating light and shadow.

It appeared even more gloomy and terrifying than when the flames burned Tang Luo initially.

"No, you are not Kṣitigarbha." Tang Luo suddenly said.

"Oh?" Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva smiled slightly, "Holy Monk, what do you mean by this?"

"To speak frankly, I am not actually that familiar with Kṣitigarbha." Tang Luo said, "But I think, one who made the great vow 'If hell is not empty, I will not become a Buddha' would not do such a thing."

This city is truly a human hell on earth.

"Hah." Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva chuckled lightly, "If hell is not empty, I will not become a Buddha? Now, is this not hell itself? To purify it is indeed our aspiration."

His words were strange, a demonic aura sweeping over.

"And most importantly—" Tang Luo paused, "The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva I know is not this weak."

Having said that, he threw a punch!

The fist seemed to transcend time and space, appearing upon Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's forehead.

The violent power erupted without reservation!

Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's body, together with the lotus pedestal beneath his feet, directly turned into a mass of fierce flames, and under the fist's power, appeared like dying embers blown by a wild wind, dissipating.

Only a faint speck remained, swaying in the air.