Chapter 152
Chapter 152
Jinguang Temple stood on Jinguang Mountain, thirty-five *li* southwest of Anning County.
After bidding Master Kongchan farewell, the three accomplished monks from Mount Wutai headed down the mountain.
Their robes fluttered, wind rising beneath their feet as they moved with astonishing speed.
Only faint Marks remained in the snow, as if birds had skimmed past or dragonflies touched water.
As mentioned before, the darkness just before dawn was the most oppressive.
Halfway down, the monks suddenly felt the scene change, as though they had stepped into another world.
Everything around them turned an eerie dark red. The stench of decay filled the air.
A ruined ancient monastery appeared before them.
Bloody winds gusted.
At the center of its gate sat a young monk in scarlet robes and a vicious bronze mask. His right hand held a black-glinting dagger, his left a bloodstained letter.
The three monks stopped at once and formed a triangular formation, faces solemn.
The leader held one palm upright.
“Namo Amitabha. Is the one ahead the great Ghost Buddha?”
The young monk sprang up, an overwhelming stench of blood striking them. He pointed his dagger at the monks.
“Kekeke! Namo Amitabha!”
“After a thousand years, the lineage of Mount Wutai still remembers me!”
Their expressions grew graver when he admitted his identity.
Buddha and demon had always been irreconcilable. No more words were needed.
The two monks behind sat down, struck wooden fish, and loudly recited the *Ksitigarbha True Scripture for Subduing Demons*.
Buddhist chanting filled Heaven and Earth, and white lotuses faintly appeared.
The foremost monk shattered his prayer beads and swept them toward Ghost Buddha Faceless while chanting.
“Namo Amitabha.”
“At that time I first abided upon the First Ground. Upon hearing this mantra once, I surpassed the Eighth Ground.”
“Joy arose in my heart, and I immediately made this vow.”
“If in the future I can benefit and bring peace to all beings, may a thousand hands and a thousand eyes immediately manifest upon my body.”
“When the vow was made, a thousand hands and a thousand eyes appeared at once.”
Empowered by the *Great Compassion Dharani of a Thousand Hands and a Thousand Eyes*, the beads shone with golden Buddhist light.
Ghost Buddha Faceless neither dodged nor resisted.
The white lotus formed by scripture stopped above his head as if held by an invisible hand. The golden beads halted half a meter before him.
Unhurried, Ghost Buddha Faceless plucked the lotus from above his head and placed it gently beneath his feet.
Then, like the Buddha holding up a flower, he restrung the eighteen spinning beads and hung them around his neck.
“Kekeke! Namo Amitabha!”
“You three young monks are reasonably proficient in Buddhism. I rather admire you!”
“Unfortunately… you come from Mount Wutai!”
“Every monk of Mount Wutai must die!”
Foul blood surged from the monastery gate, flowing like a river down the stone steps to their feet.
“No!”
The monks cried out and prepared to act, only for terrible pain to tear through their throats.
They slowly collapsed into the river of blood.
They were not dead, but could neither speak nor move. Their senses had become several times sharper than usual.
Ghost Buddha Faceless stood over them, blood sliding from his black dagger. Behind his bronze mask, scarlet eyes blazed with hatred.
“Mount Wutai! Mount Wutai!”
“One day, I will slaughter every last one of your Buddhist disciples!”
Roaring madly, he threw himself upon the three old monks and devoured them.
Flesh, organs, and severed limbs flew everywhere. He was more savage than a mountain beast starved for half a month.
At daylight, pilgrims ascending Jinguang Mountain found only shredded robes, broken bones, and a letter of recommendation soaked in blood for a thousand years.