Chapter 505: Lecturing on Physics

Looking at the ruined temple about a hundred meters away from himself.

Tang Luo's expression was calm, unaffected by the sounds beside his ears.

He didn't recite many scriptures, and rarely did so, but he had heard them recited far too many times.

On Spirit Mountain, as long as one calmed their mind and listened carefully, one could often hear all sorts of chanting voices.

Most put one's mind at peace, a small portion made one irritable and distracted — for instance, the scriptures near the Demon-Subduing Pagoda were truly headache-inducing.

For the yaoxie imprisoned in the Demon-Subduing Pagoda undergoing punishment, it was even more like the Tight-Fillet Spell.

Every time they heard it, they had to bang their heads against the wall to relieve the agony.

When they felt it didn't hurt anymore, congratulations — you've already been half-converted.

Being able to chant along with it meant "the sea of suffering is boundless; turn back and you'll find the shore"; lock them up for a few more hundred years, and once repentance and atonement were complete they could leave.

Spirit Mountain's background music was the grand celestial sound formed by the fusion of countless chanting voices.

Tang Luo and the others indicated they were already used to it.

Amid the chanting, the head-count, the pond's evil ghost fishing, the ancient mansion's elderly couple — all remained utterly motionless, not the slightest movement.

Tang Luo and the others walked past, and it didn't provoke any reaction from them at all.

Arriving before the ghost palanquin, Tang Luo stepped over the "crossbeam," entered the palanquin, and took out the ribs placed inside.

Everyone inside the palanquin had already turned into cold corpses.

There was no telling how they had died.

Exiting the ghost palanquin, Tang Luo and the others headed straight for that ruined temple — as the only "extra thing" at present, it definitely had to be investigated.

Approaching the ruined temple, the sound of the repentance text gradually grew louder, and also more indistinct.

Even Tang Luo and the others couldn't make out its "form," only able to hear its "spirit."

Ao Yulie's and Xiaotian Quan's expressions both grew slightly dazed, their mouths opening and closing slightly, as if wanting to chant along.

"Pa!"

Tang Luo pressed his palms together and clapped sharply; the crisp slap echoed, instantly drowning out the grand celestial sound of the chanting.

The dazed look on Ao Yulie and Xiaotian Quan vanished at once; their bodies shuddered, as if waking from a nightmare, their gazes toward the ruined temple filled with utter wariness.

They nearly really chanted along — who knows what would've happened then?

It couldn't possibly be converting to Buddhism.

"The closer to this temple, the easier to be affected," Zhu Bajie said.

"Mm." Tang Luo nodded. "You wait here, give me the things."

Bringing the head-banner, severed hand, ribs, and thighs, Tang Luo walked alone toward the ruined temple.

The ruined temple was truly dilapidated — not only missing its roof, but the left wall had largely collapsed, the rear had a huge gap sealed with planks with gaps wide enough to stick an arm through.

The right wall was the only one fully intact.

The front folding doors — one had fallen inward into the temple, the other leaned at a forty-degree angle to the ground, still "clinging to its last breath."

Around the ruined temple stood stone statues each about half a person's height.

They weren't any famous named Buddhist images, but bald monks with blurred features, palms pressed together before them.

There were quite a number of these statues; aside from the front, they surrounded the other three sides.

The ruined temple as a whole wasn't built directly on the ground; beneath it was a raised platform about half a meter off the ground.

Slightly larger than the temple main body, with an extra half-meter ring of "plank clearing" around the outside.

Stone steps led up to the ruined temple's main gate.

At the very front of the steps, on both sides stood two stone niches — nothing enshrined in them; they looked more like a pair of candlesticks.

The moment Tang Luo stepped onto the stone steps, that celestial-sound-like chanting abruptly stopped, and the surroundings fell completely silent.

Stepping on, the long-unrepaired planks creaked, giving the feeling they might collapse at any moment.

Tang Luo entered the temple interior — there were no Buddhist images inside at all; dust and cobwebs everywhere, and many holes in the floor planks.

Directly facing the temple's main gate sat a meditation cushion.

A person sat on the cushion.

This was something Tang Luo only saw after truly entering the ruined temple; from outside, unlike the impenetrable darkness.

One could see the dilapidated scene inside the ruined temple, yet could not see the person sitting on the cushion.

The man wore a loose, plain monk's robe covering his whole body, part of it dragging on the ground.

Bald head, ordinary features, expression bearing a hint of deep sorrow, also a touch of compassion for all suffering beings.

He had his eyes closed, showing no further reaction to Tang Luo's arrival.

Merely ceasing the act of reciting the repentance text.

"Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha." Tang Luo looked at that sorrowful, compassionate man for a while before speaking.

The man slowly opened his eyes — there were no eyeballs inside, only two pitch-black hollows; two threads flowed from the hollows, leaving two bloody tracks on his face.

Ksitigarbha showed no reaction, opened his mouth, and his voice rang out in Tang Luo's heart: "Holy Monk."

"..."

As Ksitigarbha opened his mouth, Tang Luo saw his tongue had also vanished completely.

"What are you doing here?" Tang Luo said.

"To ferry all beings across." Ksitigarbha "spoke," not engaging in Chan repartee with Tang Luo.

Exchanging Chan repartee with Tang Luo would get nowhere; no matter how eloquently one spoke, Tang Luo would just say "don't understand, speak human" and it'd be awkward.

Those with decent cultivation and seniority could only shake their heads, sigh "deluded child," and leave.

Those of low seniority beaten by Tang Luo had nowhere to seek justice.

This guy could even spout the crooked fallacy that "physics is also principle."

"Want to save all beings?" Tang Luo said, "So you're saying this 'Hell' was created by you, and you're the one who released evil ghosts into the mortal world?"

He felt a few points of doubt in his heart.

These evil ghosts are practically rule-level existences; just how did Ksitigarbha manage to create them?

"Not me," Ksitigarbha said, "This is the sin of mortals; all mortals have sin, they need to repent, need redemption."

"The redemption method is to release a bunch of evil ghosts, making the mortal world like a prison?" Tang Luo said.

"Sins committed, whether concealed or not concealed, should fall into Hell," Ksitigarbha said.

"You're not talking about 'should fall into Hell,' but making Hell descend upon the mortal world." Tang Luo circled Ksitigarbha once, looking at him with great interest.

Although the monk's robes on his body covered his whole form, a bit of his outline could be made out.

The body beneath the monk's robes was clearly incomplete.

"Cleanse sins, then Hell is empty." Ksitigarbha's hollow eyes stared straight ahead, not turning his head along with Tang Luo's movements.

"Drive all evil ghosts to the mortal world, Hell becomes empty, and you become a Buddha?" Tang Luo crouched down, amazed, "Even you, Ksitigarbha, are resorting to this kind of self-deception?"

"The human heart is Hell." Ksitigarbha finally turned his head, looking at Tang Luo beside him.

In the hollow eye sockets, faint light flickered, a pair of bright eyes emerged.

In the pupils, it was as if a raging fire was burning, incomparably dazzling.

"... As expected, you've fallen into demonhood." Tang Luo stood up.

Ksitigarbha's "human heart is Hell" explains by negating Tang Luo's statement of "drive evil ghosts out of Hell, Hell becomes empty."

He also had no intention of doing that.

What Ksitigarbha is doing is even more extreme and twisted than this "empty Hell" method.

He says the human heart is Hell, all mortals are sinners; to make "Hell empty," one must extinguish the human heart, which is to extinguish mortals.

No people, no human hearts, no Hell.

Hell not empty, vow not to become Buddha.

Hell already empty, I become demon.

One thought becomes Buddha, one thought becomes demon.

"Why make such a great vow in the first place, you people, always holding it in, holding it in, each one holding it in until you break yourselves."

Tang Luo stood up, looking down at Ksitigarbha from above, "Breaking yourselves is fine, but the key is you break and still want to stir up trouble? Finally fall into demonhood, and I have to wipe your asses! Don't your consciences hurt?"

Ksitigarbha suddenly laughed, the sorrowful expression completely disappearing, the smile extremely radiant: "What is Buddha, what is demon, Holy Monk is now attached to appearances."

"You mind whether I'm attached to appearances or not." Tang Luo said, "Look, I also helped you find quite a few remnant bodies; let's make a deal, return these remnant bodies to you, you take back those evil ghosts, don't continue stirring up trouble, this matter ends here, how about it?"

"Holy Monk misunderstands," Ksitigarbha said, "This matter was not done by me; this is the sin of the human heart, not something human power can stop."

"What do you mean?"

"Human heart is Hell, Hell will inevitably descend upon the mortal world; human heart empty, Hell only then empty, this is the Great Dao, cannot be violated."

Tang Luo looked at Ksitigarbha: "Is it cannot, or unwilling?"

Ksitigarbha shook his head, still smiling on his face: "Cannot, and also unwilling."

"Fine, then send me out, I'll go destroy the entire mortal world, then you won't have any Hell descending upon the mortal world, right?"

The smile on Ksitigarbha's face stiffened slightly, the raging fire burning in his eyes seemed to freeze for an instant: "Holy Monk jokes."

"I never joke." Tang Luo righteously.

Ksitigarbha shook his head, closed his eyes, and began reciting sutras and chanting Buddha's name again.

"This won't do, that won't do. Fine." Tang Luo said, "Then let's try, just how 'inviolable' your 'cannot be violated' really is."

Finished speaking, he turned and walked out of the ruined temple.

Didn't care about those remnant bodies either, directly threw them in the ruined temple.

"Master." Zhu Bajie, Ao Yulie, and Xiaotian Dog came up to greet him.

"Ksitigarbha has fallen into demonhood, reasoning is useless now." Tang Luo concise and comprehensive, "Now it's 'talk physics' time."

"Buddha Dharma is boundless!"

With a Buddha's proclamation, the three Zhu Bajie instantly felt a vast, incomparable power begin to surge forth.

Their whole bodies, all power was mobilized and stimulated.

If placed in a film or drama, it would be BGM starting, Qiao Feng carrying a speaker making an entrance.

In my BGM, no one can defeat me.

Buddha Dharma is boundless!

Even Ao Yulie, who follows his heart, felt he could charge into the ruined temple, circle around Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha once, full of confidence.

"Awoo!"

Xiaotian Dog howled at the sky, black flames ignited, spread, a giant white dog walked out from the flames, flames burning at its four limbs, spine, and tail.

"Smash this Hell for Master." Tang Luo said, "I want to see, with Hell gone, how he can still make the mortal world like Hell."

The Merit Jade Lotus floated in mid-air, emitting light.

Specks of starlight fell on Zhu Bajie and them, further empowering them.

Zhu Bajie clenched both hands, gripping the appeared Nine-Tooth Rake, his body beginning to swell.

A moment later, an incomparably huge, upright-walking, green-faced fanged pig demon appeared, the Nine-Tooth Rake in hand like a sky-supporting giant pillar.

"Digging ground, this kind of thing, counts as Old Pig's old specialty." Zhu Bajie said, voice like rolling thunder.

One rake fell down!

A violent wind swept in, human-head trees, small wooden huts, ancient mansions, ponds all within range.

Violent power surged out, all of these completely disappeared under the rake.

"Pure Altar Messenger, why must you persist in delusion..."

A sigh echoed from the ruined temple, and the vanished things reappeared, unharmed.

"Oh?" Zhu Bajie responded, his hands not stopping, "Stubborn?"

The massive rake replaced the entire sky, crashing down.

Nine-toothed rake, 188 consecutive strikes!

Also called blindly smashing everything.