Chapter 504: The Dark Cold Forest of the Southwest

The abnormality of the Dragon-Patterned Jade Tablet made Li Yan somewhat surprised.

This object was gifted by the Dragon Lady and used to entrust dreams to hint at clues; the true identity of the "Chengdu Guest" was precisely her hint.

Ever since the last time he was entrusted with a dream in Chongqing Prefecture and interrupted by an Underworld mission, the Dragon-Patterned Jade Tablet had always been motionless.

Li Yan even thought it was broken.

He didn't expect it to suddenly move again now.

Could it be that this "Corpse Forest" also had clues?

Li Yan was curious in his heart, relaxed his mind, and actively felt the rhythm coming from the Dragon-Patterned Jade Tablet.

Soon, he closed his eyes and fell into a dream.

It was still this bamboo forest cottage, but Sha Lifei, who was beside the bamboo couch, had disappeared without a trace; in the haziness, it seemed he was the only one there.

Clatter!

Lake water surged around again.

Li Yan was already used to it, so he just waited quietly.

Suddenly, a pair of jade arms hugged him from behind.

Before Li Yan could react, his whole person sank downward suddenly, as if instantly falling to the bottom of the lake.

He didn't feel a crisis, knowing what the Dragon Lady wanted him to see, so he just waited calmly.

In the blink of an eye, he seemed to have descended several dozen meters, and the surroundings became pitch black, as if entering the depths of the lake.

Subsequently, it was as if heaven and earth had turned upside down, and he surfaced again.

And the surrounding scene also changed drastically.

Before his eyes was a huge range of hills, filled with gullies, not a blade of grass growing, wild sand and black fog rolling, without a trace of vitality.

And between the gullies of the hills, there were densely packed pagodas, as well as bone mounds piled up from skeletons, surrounded by piled stones, and on high wooden poles, strips of colored flags were pulled, but they had all turned yellow and faded.

It was the "Corpse Forest"!

Li Yan immediately knew what kind of place this was.

In legends, the "Corpse Forest" had eight great cold forests.

According to the picture scroll obtained from the Saintess of the Wenxiang Sect, this place was the "Southwest Dark Cold Forest."

Just as he was pondering, his body kept rising into the air.

He had had this feeling before; at that time in Shennongjia, the mountain god "Zou Yu" brought him into a dream to observe the scene in the distance.

Getting closer, the scene of this cold forest could be seen more clearly.

Those bone mounds were clearly more ancient, while the scattered pagodas had different shapes but were all relatively late.

Li Yan recalled the intelligence he had collected carefully.

Those five-colored flags hanging from the ropes were called "Mani Flags," also known as "Scripture Flags" or "Wind Horse Flags," common in Tibetan Buddhist regions.

This object was hung around temples, on mountain ridges, in the wild, near crematoriums, and other places; the flags were printed with scriptures, and the wind blowing the flag cloth fluttering symbolized the believers' oral chanting of scriptures.

This object not only represented faith and prayer but also spread the Buddha's sound through the power of the wind; every time the wind moved the Mani Flag, it was equivalent to chanting scriptures once, having the effect of transcending the souls of the dead, praying for blessings, and avoiding evil.

And those stone piles.

This thing was called a "Mani Pile" or "God Pile."

It had many functions: sacrifice, commemoration, road signs… but in the cold forest, it was undoubtedly the same as the "Mani Flag," used to transcend the souls of the dead and ensure peace.

Both of these were Tibetan customs.

As for those pagodas, they were called "Bhikshu Pagodas," used to enshrine the spiritual bones and relics of high monks.

Appearing in this place at the same time was also not surprising.

The theory of the Corpse Forest also existed in Han Fomen.

This custom already existed in Han lands before the Sui Dynasty, advocating that "Bodhisattvas give alms without sparing their lives," which reached the same destination by different routes as Tibetan Fomen.

Li Yan already had a guess in his heart.

This place was perhaps first established by Tibetan Buddhist monks, and later participated in by disciples of Han Fomen…

This place was far larger than he had imagined.

Li Yan was already somewhat anxious in his heart.

One was that the Dragon Lady still hadn't given any hints, and he didn't know what she brought him in to find.

The second was Sha Lifei, who had also entered the Corpse Forest, but he didn't know where he was hiding…

Just at this moment, the wild wind in the distance suddenly became stronger.

In the sound of the wind, he could vaguely hear some sounds, which were some miserable wails and strange, unpleasant bird calls.

Li Yan's heart moved, and borrowing the wild wind, he floated rapidly toward the source of those strange sounds.

Soon, he saw the target.

That was a stone blockhouse of considerable scale, clearly Qiang architecture, yet vaguely having the appearance of a pagoda.

One side of the stone blockhouse had already collapsed, revealing a huge pit passage.

Outside, the cold wind whistled, and hazily there were many human figures, some wearing Tibetan robes, some with shaved heads in monk's clothes, their blood-red eyes flickering uncertainly in the black fog.

For some reason, they were just wandering outside and did not enter.

And above the black fog, there were many black shadows in the shape of crows, flying up and down, but they were never able to get close to these human figures.

"Get out! Get out!"

"I'll kill you all!"

In the pit passage, Sha Lifei's angry roar suddenly rang out.

He saw him holding a decaying bone staff, waving it crazily at the entrance of the pit passage, but he couldn't hit those things at all.

Moreover, he seemed to have been driven a bit crazy.

His eyes were blood-red, and several times he almost stepped out of the pit passage.

Seeing this, Li Yan secretly thought it was bad.

He learned from the letter that Sha Lifei's temperament had grown, at least having the courage and murderous intent to face this Corpse Forest.

But in the Mystic Sect, courage alone was not enough.

According to Buddhist teachings, the Corpse Forest was very lively.

It was not only the dwelling place of souls and evil spirits but also the gathering place of Dakinis and Dakas, controlled by the Lord of the Corpse Forest.

As for those strange birds, they were corpse-eating birds, often pecking at corpses in the Corpse Forest and devouring souls.

Seemingly fierce, they were actually sacred, symbolizing the cycle of life and natural laws.

The building before his eyes was also very strange.

How could Qiang architecture appear in the Corpse Forest?

And it also had protective power.

Sha Lifei's divine soul was precisely hiding in it by chance, so he could barely resist and not be harmed by those things.

Li Yan was anxious in his heart and couldn't help but want to go down.

But in an instant, the light and shadow before his eyes changed again.

The originally broken stone blockhouse pagoda suddenly disappeared.

But he saw an old monk wearing Qiang clothing sitting cross-legged in the open space ahead, eyes slightly closed, silently chanting scriptures.

Countless evil spirits around wanted to approach, but were blocked by the power of the chanting, and could only scream and wander outside.

This was precisely the method of practicing in the Corpse Forest.

And as the old monk chanted, huge stones appeared out of thin air on the ground, jumping and rising into the air to build the stone blockhouse.

So that's how it is…

In an instant, Li Yan understood many things.

According to Buddhist teachings, he guessed that this Corpse Forest was also similar to the tribal land of the Qiongqi lineage he saw on Mount Xianshan, a gap between the mortal world and the Great Luo Dala Fajie.

Dakinis and Dakas, in Buddhist legends, were all messengers of the heavenly realm, very likely also coming from the Great Luo Dala Fajie.

This place, which could only be reached by entering a dream, should be a kind of spiritual space.

Stone blockhouses and pagodas were very likely related to building the tower.

Just as he was pondering, a sudden change occurred.

Whoosh~

It seemed that seeing the stone blockhouse was about to take shape, the surrounding evil spirits suddenly went crazy, attacking desperately.

They should be those who failed to practice in this place.

Because of obsession and resentment, they wanted to attack that Qiang monk.

Not only that, but a large number of corpse-eating birds were also alarmed, flying over in a dense mass, forming a circle, circling and flying, attacking the evil spirits below without stopping.

But the madness of the evil spirits had already made the monk unable to support himself.

Clatter!

The stone blockhouse that was about to be built almost collapsed. "Roar!"

Just at this moment, the sound of a dragon roar rang out.

Rolling black smoke rose from the monk's back, winding and twisting in the air, forming a huge dragon-shaped black shadow.

A wild wind whistled, and whether it was those evil spirits or the corpse-eating birds, all were swallowed by the dragon-shaped black shadow.

It was the Jiang Shen Great Lord!

Li Yan instantly understood why the Dragon Lady brought him here.

The remnant thought of the Jiang Shen Great Lord was attached to this monk.

What Li Yan couldn't figure out was, what did the Jiang Shen Great Lord come here for?

Could it be…

A thought suddenly popped into Li Yan's heart.

This Jiang Shen Great Lord wanted to use the gap to enter the Great Luo Dala Fajie?

Without interference, the stone blockhouse was soon built; the Qiang monk slowly stood up, walked toward the blockhouse, and disappeared into the wall.

!.

Li Yan vaguely understood some things.

To practice smoothly in this place, one must manifest the tower outside the spirit, and those large and small "Bhikshu Pagodas" were all traces of high Buddhist monks practicing.

Wind and sand drifted, as if time was flying.

He didn't know how long it had been, but only heard a roar, the stone blockhouse wall collapsed, and the monk walked out slowly, sighing at the sky, his eyes filled with helplessness.

Clearly, no matter what he wanted to do, he had already failed.

The monk's figure also disappeared accordingly, leaving the Corpse Forest.

Although it was only for a short instant, Li Yan still saw his appearance clearly: his face was ancient and firm, he had a big beard, and his pupils were surprisingly golden-yellow.

Subsequently, the Dragon Lady's dream-entrustment also stopped accordingly.

Li Yan could feel an invisible force pulling him, retreating rapidly, leaving the Corpse Forest.

"Don't, wait a moment!"

Li Yan was somewhat anxious and hurriedly opened his mouth.

However, this force was difficult to resist, and he could only watch helplessly as Sha Lifei and the shadow of the stone blockhouse moved rapidly away.

Whoosh~

Li Yan took a deep breath and stood up suddenly.

Turning his head to look, he had already returned to the bamboo forest cottage.

Sha Lifei was still sleeping on the bamboo couch beside him, his face pale, forehead sweating, gritting his teeth.

"How is it?"

Lu San had been guarding beside him and hurriedly asked.

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "How long have I slept?"

"Less than an incense stick."

"It seems the time in the Corpse Forest is different from the outside…"

Li Yan looked at Sha Lifei worriedly, recounted what he had seen in the Corpse Forest, shook his head and said: "This time it was the Dragon Lady entrusting a dream to bring me in; I was just a bystander and couldn't help Old Sha at all."

"Then what should be done?"

Lu San heard this, and his eyes were also filled with solemnity.

The complexity of the Corpse Forest far exceeded his imagination; if this continued, he was afraid that before the ceremony began, Sha Lifei would collapse.

Once the divine soul fell into it, he was afraid he would become like those evil spirits, attacking later comers with obsession and resentment.

"I must enter the Corpse Forest!"

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "I have already guessed how to practice there; the stone blockhouse where Old Sha is hiding is just the lingering charm of someone else's practice and won't last long."

"As long as the tower is built, it can protect Old Sha and successfully complete the ceremony. Tell me again, how did Old Sha enter the Corpse Forest in the first place?"

"He followed those old monks to practice…"

Lu San recounted the situation again.

After listening, Li Yan said in a deep voice: "I will go to that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva temple and try it too."

As they spoke, Sha Lifei let out a groan and slowly regained consciousness. Opening his blood-red eyes and seeing Li Yan, he immediately broke into a smile:

"Damn it, if you had come back any later, I would have been gone…"

After saying this, he fainted, and a snoring sound came from his mouth.

"No time!"

Li Yan stood up immediately, "I'm leaving now, Third, prepare the things; when I come back, we will hold the ceremony immediately!"

"Okay!"

Lu San nodded solemnly.

…………

Leaving the bamboo forest cottage, Li Yan immediately exerted the armor horse and headed toward the canyon Lu San had told him about.

Fortunately, the two places were not far apart, and in less than half an hour, Li Yan arrived at his destination.

At this time it was still night; looking out, he saw the canyon was filled with accumulated snow, cold wind whistled, it was pitch black, and not a trace of light could be seen.

He secretly thought it was bad and hurriedly quickened his pace.

Just as Lu San said, the closer he got to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue, the more his supernatural powers were suppressed; when he arrived outside that small temple, his supernatural powers could no longer be exerted at all.

The temple gate was tightly closed, and the traces of the battle Lu San and the others had fought still existed, but inside it was dead silent.

Seeing this scene, Li Yan already had a guess in his heart.

Creak~

Sure enough, after pushing open the wooden door, the few old monks inside were all sitting cross-legged, heads lowered, bodies ice-cold, and they had no breath.

They were already candles in the wind.

A heavy snow and temperature drop finally meant they didn't make it through.

Seeing this, Li Yan sighed slightly in his heart.

He knew that these monks still fantasized about being received by the Dakinis in the Corpse Forest and transcending to the Pure Land.

But without the protection of a pagoda, the result would only be becoming one of the evil spirits wandering in the Corpse Forest.

Opportunities and Buddhist fruits were not so easy to obtain.

They supported themselves with this obsession, not even as good as Sha Lifei; even if they practiced for another few decades, the result would be the same.

Unable to care about them, Li Yan sat cross-legged directly, kept chanting "Corpse Forest" in his heart, kept his spirit as one, and let himself fall into a deep sleep.

Waking up the next day, he shook his head slightly and continued to sleep.

Although he entered a dream last night, he was not received.

Just like this, he slept for another day and night.

Forcing oneself to sleep without sleepiness was actually very uncomfortable.

Fortunately, just as it was about to dawn the next day, Li Yan came to a strange place in his hazy sleep.

Unlike the Dragon Lady's dream-entrustment.

The surroundings were all dead-silent gullies and hills; looking out, it was pitch black in the distance, and he could only see the bone mounds nearby.

Finally arrived at the Corpse Forest!

Li Yan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at the surroundings; no wonder Sha Lifei fell into fear.

Being brought in by the Dragon Lady's dream-entrustment and experiencing it personally were completely different, just like falling into a maze, and what he saw was a completely different scene.

However, fear came from the unknown.

Li Yan had already been here once, observing as an outsider in the air, so he had no fear in his heart and ran rapidly in the direction where Sha Lifei was.

Here, he also couldn't use supernatural powers.

The wild wind whistled around, and in the wind, he could vaguely hear miserable wails; even the calls of the corpse-eating birds, which symbolized holiness, sounded like women's strange laughter.

Li Yan ignored them and galloped and leaped.

Finally, after crossing two mountain ridges and passing countless Bhikshu pagodas and bone mounds, that stone blockhouse appeared before his eyes.

Numerous evil spirits were still besieging it.

And at this moment, Sha Lifei's eyes were already full of blood-red, as if he had gone crazy, wanting to carry the bone staff and leave the pit passage to fight those evil spirits.

Swish!

Just at the critical moment, Li Yan leaped over, directly pulling Sha Lifei back into the stone blockhouse.

"Roar——!"

Outside the cave, the miserable and strange roars of the evil spirits rose and fell one after another…

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 505 =====