Chapter 571

Empty silence…… actually a Japanese spy?

Kongji…… actually a Japanese spy?

Kongji…… actually a Japanese spy?

At the moment I heard this news, my brain crashed.

But immediately, I felt everything made sense.

"At that time, I had already been dead in the Nine-story Pagoda for many years."

Thus: ""At that time, I had already been dead in the Nine-story Pagoda for many years.""

Seated Buddha lovingly glanced at the Mysterious Cat above and said, "I have entrusted all my lifelong learning, as well as the final condensed relics, to this Little Guy."

Also, that Soul-guiding Lamp was an ordinary hexagonal palace lamp that had been placed before me throughout my years of imprisonment in the Nine-story Pagoda, lighting my way; at the very end of my life, I infused my entire Merit into its lamp chamber.

During those years of bitter cultivation in the pagoda, I resonated with the 108 enshrined high monk relics in the Nine-story Pagoda; the relics' Buddha light, together with my Merit, empowered this hexagonal palace lamp.

As for the several ghost faces on the lamp chamber, they were the fierce spirits that had lurked around the Nine-story Pagoda during those long, sunless years, listening to my sutra chanting and teachings; after my death, they voluntarily entered the hexagonal palace lamp, empowering it to become a Soul-guiding Lamp that can illuminate the living world and guide the dead.

The story of the Mysterious Cat and the Soul-guiding Lamp likewise exceeded my imagination.

I had countless times sought the origin of the Soul-guiding Lamp, yet never succeeded.

Who could have imagined it would turn out this way?

"I have done all this for three reasons: first, I need the Mysterious Cat to continue my thousand-year Buddhist practice; second, I use the Soul-guiding Lamp to find a Fated Person, to personally tear apart the evil veil of E; third, I had long calculated that the Ancient God Temple still faces one calamity."

This calamity could shake the Nine-story Pagoda; if it collapses, the karmic obstruction created by the 108 Buddhas who once collaborated in Heaven-Stealing Fortune will backlash, enough to shake the fortune of the entire Chinese land—after all, the ruler who succeeded in Heaven-Stealing Fortune back then has long been dead, and since then no one has matched his fortune, no one can suppress this backlash; China… is in peril.

My two hands unconsciously clenched the hem of my upper garment.

For a moment, I couldn't fully digest the meaning of the Seated Buddha's words.

He seemed to know this news needed time to digest, so he didn't continue speaking, giving me time to slowly sort things out.

I began to sort out the clues from the start.

The source of everything began when an ambitious person sought to seize power.

In the torrent of history, such rulers are not just one or two.

If we really examine it, we can also find the corresponding person.

But that's a historical leftover issue, not something I should worry about.

I only need to know that this person, in order to seize power, gathered 108 eminent monks at the Ancient God Temple to perform rites, stealing Heaven-Stealing Fortune for himself.

What is stolen must eventually be returned.

The one who attains power bears the authority; the one who schemes for fortune bears the disaster.

But the one who attains power will eventually die.

While the power-holder lives, the stolen Heaven-Stealing Fortune can suppress this backlash, maintaining balance.

At the moment the power-holder dies, the stolen Heaven-Stealing Fortune is completely exhausted, and the balance is broken.

At this point, if anyone disturbs the Nine-story Pagoda, the backlash will immediately sweep in.

"Zàng Qū is the source of Buddhism and an important region where multiple Dragon Veins originate or pass through; the backlash arises from Zàng Qū, extends along the Dragon Veins, and ultimately aims to blanket all of China—this is the calamity I calculated in the Nine-story Pagoda."

No wonder.

I have been thinking that whether it's E, Dìshì, or Dìluán, all karma ultimately leads back to the Feng Clan.

Because their true forms and spiritual bodies are birds.

But why, in this whole affair, besides implicating the Feng Clan, does it also drag in the Dragon Clan?

The reason lies here.

"You've all seen the sacrificial pit on the backside of the rear mountain of the Ancient God Temple."

I nodded directly: "Yes, that sacrificial pit connects to the Underground Palace Temple, and inside that temple lies a Nine-story Pagoda."

"That Nine-story Pagoda was built later," said the Seated Buddha. "That sacrificial pit was originally an altar; the Japanese used blood-soaked mud, infused with the blood of our Chinese sons and daughters, to erect a gigantic Blood-Flesh Guanyin on it. Kongji, leading the monks of the Ancient God Temple, chanted sutras and prayed to it day after day, offering incense…"

I frowned: "What about E? Doesn't Kongji care about what he's doing?"

"Because of his inner demon, E has already gone mad," the Seated Buddha explained. "Kongji told E that this Blood-Flesh Guanyin was built for him; as long as their hearts are sincere and their offerings sufficient, they can forge this Blood-Flesh Guanyin into a true fleshly body for E to possess, to shed the mortal frame and be reborn."

So that's how it is!

Kongji really is a silver-tongued devil!

But what about the facts?

This Blood-Flesh Guanyin was aimed straight at the Nine-story Pagoda.

The Resentful Qi contained within the Blood-Flesh Guanyin seeps through the sacrificial altar into the earth, empowering the Resentful Qi suppressed beneath the Nine-story Pagoda.

The Nine-story Pagoda will soon be destroyed by the Resentful Qi.

Once the Nine-story Pagoda falls, this powerful Resentful Qi can no longer be contained; not only will the Resentful Qi expand outward, but E's inner demon will also be instantly magnified, leading to utter ruin.

At this moment, every evil conspiracy is pushed to the extreme.

Kongji's crimes are too numerous to record.

My fists clenched tighter and tighter, my whole body trembling slightly from anger.

I gritted my teeth and asked, "Has this disaster not truly erupted, right?"

"On the surface, no," said the Seated Buddha. "But in fact, it has erupted."

Yes, it has erupted.

Otherwise, that Blood-Flesh Guanyin should still be here.

Kongji wouldn't have ended up like this either.

And far away, what I previously saw would not exist either.

I turned my gaze again to the Soul-guiding Lamp and the Mysterious Cat—this… is the Seated Buddha's hidden trump card, the initial countermeasure against this disaster.

"When the great fire ignited, the Ancient God Temple was completely sealed off; the Mysterious Cat, to protect the scriptures, hid the torn pages within a dozen or so bone beads on its spine."

It was guided by the Soul-guiding Lamp, walking the mortal realm, descending into the underworld, and finally came to rest with the Feng Clan.

A sudden moisture welled up in my eye sockets.

The Seated Buddha said, he did all this merely to wait for a Fated Person to break the situation.

It erupted

===TITLE===

It erupted

Then

At the moment I heard this news, my brain crashed.

But immediately, I felt that everything had become reasonable.

"At that time, I had already been dead in the nine-story pagoda for many years."

The seated Buddha gazed kindly at the mysterious cat above and said, "I will impart all my lifelong learning, as well as the relics finally condensed, entirely to this little guy."

Also, that Soul-guiding Lamp is an ordinary six-sided palace lamp that had been placed before me throughout my many years of imprisonment in the nine-story pagoda, lighting my way; at the final moment of my life, I poured all my merit into its lamp chamber.

During those years of bitter cultivation in the pagoda, I triggered the resonance of the 108 eminent monks' relics embedded in the nine-story pagoda; the relics' Buddha light, together with my merit, empowered this six-sided palace lamp.

As for those few ghost faces on the lamp chamber, they too were evil spirits that had lurked around the nine-story pagoda during those long, sunless years, listening to my sutra chanting and Dharma talks; after my death, they voluntarily entered the six-sided palace lamp, empowering it to become a Soul-guiding Lamp that can illuminate the mortal realm and guide the netherworld.

The story of the mysterious cat and the Soul-guiding Lamp also surpassed my imagination.

I had countless times sought the origin of the Soul-guiding Lamp, yet never discovered it.

Who could have imagined it would turn out like this?

"I have done all this for three reasons: first, I need to rely on the mysterious cat to prolong my thousand-year Buddhist practice; second, I want to use the Soul-guiding Lamp to find a predestined person who will personally tear open the evil veil of the Hé; third, I had long ago calculated that the Ancient God Temple still faces one calamity."

This calamity could shake the nine-story pagoda; if the pagoda collapses, the karmic obstacles created by the 108 Buddhas who once collaborated to steal Heaven's Fortune will backlash forth, enough to shake the fortune of the entire Huaxia land—after all, the ruler who successfully stole Heaven's Fortune back then has long been dead, and since then there has been no one whose fortune can match his; no one can withstand this backlash, Huaxia… is in peril.

My two hands unconsciously clenched the hem of my upper garment.

For a moment, I couldn't fully digest the meaning of the seated Buddha's words.

He also seemed to know that this news needed time to digest, so he didn't continue speaking, giving me time to slowly sort things out.

I began to sort out the clues from the beginning.

The origin of everything began with an ambitious person who sought to seize power.

In the torrent of history, such rulers in power are not just one or two.

If one truly examines it carefully, one can also find the corresponding person.

But that is a historical leftover issue, not something I should worry about.

I only need to know that this person, in order to seize power, gathered 108 eminent monks who assembled at the Ancient God Temple to perform rites, stealing Heaven's Fortune for this person.

What is stolen must be repaid.

Those who attain power gain it; those who scheme fortune bear disaster.

Those who attain power will eventually die.

While those in power live, the stolen Heaven's Fortune can suppress this backlash, maintaining balance.

At the moment those in power die, the stolen Heaven's Fortune is completely exhausted, and the balance is broken.

At that point, if anyone moves this nine-story pagoda, the backlash will immediately sweep in.

"Zàng Qū is the source of Buddhism and also an important region where many Dragon Veins originate or pass through; the backlash arises from Zàng Qū, extends along many Dragon Veins, and ultimately aims to blanket the entire Huaxia land—this is the calamity I calculated in the nine-story pagoda."

No wonder.

I have been thinking that whether it's the Hé, Dìshì, or Dìluán, all karma ultimately points to the Feng Clan.

Because their true forms and spiritual bodies are birds.

But why, in this whole affair, besides implicating the Feng Clan, does it also drag in the Dragon Clan?

The reason lies here.

"The sacrificial pit on the rear side of the back mountain of the Ancient God Temple, you have all seen it."

I nodded directly: "Yes, that sacrificial pit connects to the subterranean palace temple, and inside the temple there is a nine-story pagoda."

"That nine-story pagoda was built later." The seated Buddha said, "While that sacrificial pit was originally an altar, Japan used blood-soaked mud mixed with the blood of our Huaxia sons and daughters to erect a massive flesh-and-blood Guanyin on the altar; Kōngjì, together with the monks of the Ancient God Temple, daily chanted sutras and recited Buddha's name for it, offering incense..."

I frowned: "What about the Hé? Does Kongjing not care about these things he's doing?"

"Because of his inner demon, the Hé has already gone mad from cultivation deviation." The seated Buddha explained, "Kongjing told the Hé, this flesh-and-blood Guanyin was built for him; as long as their hearts are sincere and offerings sufficient, they can forge this flesh-and-blood Guanyin into a true corporeal form for the Hé to seize a body and be reborn."

So that's how it is!

Kongjing really is silver-tongued!

But what about the facts?

This flesh-and-blood Guanyin was aimed straight at the nine-story pagoda.

The resentful qi contained within the flesh-and-blood Guanyin seeps through the altar into the underground, empowering the resentful qi suppressed beneath the nine-story pagoda.

The nine-story pagoda will be destroyed by the resentful qi—it's only a matter of time.

Once the nine-story pagoda falls, this powerful resentful qi can no longer be contained; not only will the resentful qi seek to expand outward, but the Hé's inner demon will also be instantly magnified, leading to utter downfall.

At this moment, every evil conspiracy is pushed to the extreme.

Kongjing's crimes are so numerous that bamboo slips would not suffice to record them.

My fists clenched tighter and tighter, my whole body trembling slightly from anger.

I gritted my teeth and asked, "This disaster ultimately never truly erupted, right?"

"On the surface, no." The seated Buddha said, "But in fact, it has erupted."

Yes, it has erupted.

Otherwise, that flesh-and-blood Guanyin should still be there.

Kongjing wouldn't have ended up like this either.

And what I saw in the distance earlier wouldn't exist either.

I then turned my gaze toward the Soul-guiding Lamp and the mysterious cat—this… is the seated Buddha's hidden trump card, and also the initial means of opposing this disaster.

"When the great fire ignited, the Ancient God Temple was completely sealed off; the mysterious cat, in order to protect the scriptures, hid the torn pages of the sutras among the dozen or so bone beads on its spine."

"Guided by the Soul-guiding Lamp, it walked the mortal realm, descended into the netherworld, and finally came to rest with the Feng Clan."

Suddenly, a wetness welled up in my eye sockets.

The seated Buddha said, he did all this merely to wait for a predestined person to break the impasse.

And the mysterious cat, under the guidance of the Soul-guiding Lamp, finally ended up in the Feng Clan.

In the darkness, everything has a fixed fate.

No wonder that back then at the Wufu Town Pawnshop, Hui Moqiong would say, the Soul-guiding Lamp recognizes its master; it only recognizes me.

It's also no wonder that I asked so many people, yet none knew the origin of the Soul-guiding Lamp.

It was born for the Yǒuyuán Rén.

It can also be said that it was born for me.

"The mysterious cat brought back two people from the Feng Clan: one was the Phoenix Lord, the other was the Great Witch of the Feng Clan at that time."

"The Phoenix Lord held the Soul-guiding Lamp, the mysterious cat perched on the Great Witch's shoulder; together they broke the Formation Array set up by Wa Country, destroyed that flesh-and-blood Guanyin, suppressed the vast majority of resentful spirits, but could not withstand the backlash left behind by the Heaven-Stealing Fortune."

My gaze passed over the seated Buddha, passed over A Cheng, and went further back.

That wide and long river, the farthest point my sight could reach, I once again saw that boat, and the man standing firm on it……