Chapter 396: Reincarnated Spirit Child

Accompanied by the endless chanting, between the three tall altars, at their junction, a qi vortex kept spinning nonstop.

The incense aura that had vanished from the air was indeed being drawn away.

It wasn't a vacuum pump doing it—it was these three altars!

What's more frightening is that, within the incense aura that had gathered and kept swirling, a faint greenish phantom flickered in and out.

It seemed to be a child about six or seven years old!

The phantom was too faint, too faint to tell whether the child was male or female, and its features were indistinct.

But it certainly existed.

And when I spotted the child, my lower abdomen suddenly throbbed with sharp pains.

And that phantom in the vortex seemed to sense something, actually turning its head to glance in my direction.

That glance was fleeting.

I even wondered if I had misseen it.

Immediately, the vortex between the three altars vanished, and the phantom disappeared as well.

Liu Junyan grabbed me around the waist and, taking several big strides, ran toward the courtyard wall.

A few seconds later, he had already brought me safely away from the Great Dharma King Temple.

I was still shaken, my palms slick with sweat.

Liu Junyan held my hand, silently bringing me all the way back to the stone house.

After we shut the door, we leaned against the bedhead, huddled together, and I whispered, "Āyàn, you saw it too, right?"

Liu Junyan said, "That child's soul has a significant background, Xiao Jiu. We may have truly glimpsed a huge secret; I'm not sure what chain reaction this secret will bring next, but… you must leave!"

"Leave?" I shook my head. "Āyàn, the moment I first looked at that child's soul, it resonated with the baby in my belly; it's very likely I've already been marked by it."

Liu Junyan also calmed down a bit; he no longer insisted I leave first, but began analyzing the matter with me: "It seems the monks' claim that they came to Song Mountain to 'escort the reincarnated spirit child's soul for conversion' is true, matching our earlier guess—the three parties seeking the reincarnated spirit child's soul are after the very same one! But… how could this be?"

Yeah, how could this be?

I thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that our understanding of the Zàng Qū living Buddha system isn't deep enough? Perhaps long ago, the Black Hat System, the Dalai Lama, and the Panchen Lama were actually one system that evolved from a single source?"

Liu Junyan raised his hand and firmly pinched his brow, then whispered, "Perhaps… right?"

After that, neither of us spoke another word.

In the darkness, we clung tightly to each other.

I regretted asking that final question.

Not understanding, one should seek to understand.

But there are many ways to gain understanding, yet none compare to personally journeying to the Zàng Qū and delving into its Buddhist system for directness and effectiveness.

And this path can be called… All-under-heaven wandering!

Thinking of those four words, I lost the courage to keep asking.

I feared that on this Song Mountain trip, I would come with Liu Junyan, but only I would return.

The next day daytime, the wind was calm and the waves still.

All day I felt somewhat dazed and muddled.

After finally enduring until nightfall, Liu Junyan urged me: "Xiao Jiu, pack your things; I'll go and come back quickly, I'll bring back the Copper Coin Person, and we'll return to Wufu Town overnight."

He lowered his head and firmly kissed my forehead once, then turned and melted into the night.

I began packing my luggage.

What we brought wasn't much—just the most practical items that I and Li Qingying picked out, and packing them wasn't difficult.

I had just finished packing the suitcase when the phone on the bed suddenly vibrated a few times.

Knowing that signal might be poor in the deep mountains, I had brought a satellite‑enabled phone this time, which can stay in touch with the outside world even without signal.

It was a WeChat message from Fang Chuanzong.

As soon as I opened his chat window, several photos were sent over.

Below it he added: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, take a look at the monks in these photos—do any look familiar? Please reply ASAP."

The photos needed time to load.

When I finally saw the monks' faces in those photos, my hands were shaking.

Because I had seen those monks before—they were standing on the altars of the Great Dharma King Temple!

I struggled to calm myself, then messaged Fang Chuanzong back, explaining the situation truthfully.

Fang Chuanzong immediately sent over some documents and data for me to examine carefully.

Finally, he especially urged me that this matter is of great importance and not to publicize it.

My heart started pounding again, thump‑thump.

When I opened those documents and flipped through them page by page, the more I looked, the more alarmed I became.

The information gathered in those documents concerns ancient legends of the Zàng Qū Buddhist tradition, including a dispute sparked by a living Buddha's reincarnated spirit child.

The situation back then was much like what we face now.

Before their passing, the living Buddhas of the Black Hat System, the Dalai Lama, and the Panchen Lama each indicated that the reincarnated spirit child would point toward the same direction—the same child.

If this child is successfully retrieved and confirmed to be the one the three factions are seeking, it would signify a major overhaul of the Zàng Qū living Buddha system.

Behind this change, it is very likely to directly cause the three factions to merge into one.

When the three factions unite, a shift in power follows.

As a result, the reincarnated spirit child hasn't been found yet, and internal turmoil has already begun within the three factions.

It is said that back then the conflict raged fiercely, with countless casualties.

Moreover, the reincarnated spirit child was seized first by ill‑intentioned people, murdered, and even its soul was damaged by some means, torn into fragments.

The monks in those photos sent by Fang Chuanzong are all staunch supporters of the reincarnated spirit child.

After the shift in power, they hid among the common people, and thereafter no trace of them could be found.

But who would have thought that, after all these years, at this critical moment, they would suddenly appear together in the Great Dharma King Temple.

Only now did I realize that they had not been lying, nor were they bad people.

They came only after sensing the Reincarnated Spirit Child's shattered soul recondensing in this world.

They intend to escort the Reincarnated Spirit Child's soul so it may take refuge.

So the question is: how did the Reincarnated Spirit Child's soul recondense?

Upon thinking of this, I suddenly realized what it was... the Seven Stars Gather Spirit Array!

I was just about to rise and go to the rear window to look toward the canyon again, when behind me the sealed stone door was pushed open with a creak.

I instinctively thought that Liu Junyan had returned.

Just as I turned my head to speak, a gust of Yin wind bearing incense smoke blew into my face, making me shudder involuntarily.

Right after that, I felt a faint ache in my lower abdomen again.

I pressed a hand to my lower abdomen and lifted my gaze to the doorway.

In the darkness, a faint illusory figure stood there; though I couldn't see its face clearly, I could feel its scorching gaze.