Chapter 1180: Chapter 794: Painted Woman
From the relationship between the two, it’s highly likely a rebellion, but due to this person’s special status, even the Cannibal Buddha can’t easily kill him.
"I know who he is now." As he spoke, Sheng Yanlin’s eyes paused and he blurted out, "He is the Martyr of the Esoteric Sect, with a noble identity, and in terms of doctrine, his status is no less than that of the High Priest Cannibal Buddha."
"He is the servant of the Pataba God in the belief of the Esoteric Sect and also the spokesperson of the God. Only through his recognition can one be considered the true master of the sect."
Hearing this, Yang Xiao roughly guessed that the position of High Priest Cannibal Buddha might have been acquired in a less than honorable way, at least this noble Martyr did not agree with it.
To avoid trouble, the Cannibal Buddha directly imprisoned this person. After all, the one with the bigger fist speaks louder, power is respected, but even someone as lawless as the Cannibal Buddha did not dare to easily kill the Martyr.
Knowing such a secret is definitely not a good thing, but what Yang Xiao couldn’t understand was why the Cannibal Buddha brought this person along.
"The Martyr is the most learned person in the sect, only he has the qualification to read some ancient secrets. Cannibal Buddha inviting him reveals how much importance he attaches to you." Sheng Yanlin took a deep breath, his expression slightly complex, he could not say whether this was a blessing or a curse.
Yang Xiao and Sheng Yanlin are both intelligent people, they would never speak of today’s events, even to Professor Cui and others, speaking out would not only be useless, but would also bring disaster.
About 20 minutes later, the door was pushed open, the Cannibal Buddha and the tattooed elder walked in one after the other. This time, the shackles on the elder were removed and his expression was not as resistant as at the beginning.
After entering the room, the Cannibal Buddha brought a chair and placed it next to the tattooed elder. The elder sat down calmly, lifting his heavy eyelids, a pair of eyes full of vicissitudes looking at Yang Xiao.
"Poor young man, the Pataba God does not favor you, you have arrived at this god-forsaken country at the wrong time."
"You are about to die, in the near future, your soul will be captured and become a disciple of the devil."
The tattooed elder stretched out his dry, tree bark-like hand, tightly holding the paper copied by Yang Xiao, first speaking in obscure Myanmar-Tai, then saying with a stiff tone: "Painted Woman"
"What?" Yang Xiao didn’t understand, then looked at the Cannibal Buddha standing by, who also had a somewhat strange expression.
"’Painted Woman’" The Cannibal Buddha rarely repeated, until Yang Xiao took the paper handed over by the tattooed elder, did he find the three words with book quotes on the edge: "’Painted Woman’"
At this moment, Yang Xiao realized that this was the name of the Ghost Script he received, these three words were written in the same place on the script box he copied, where the bloody words were located.
Connecting to those hideously black withered bare feet, a chill ran through Yang Xiao’s heart.
After a brief absent-mindedness, Yang Xiao wanted to speak, but was interrupted by the tattooed elder raising his hand. It should be the Cannibal Buddha who paid some price and reached a deal with the elder, who then told what he knew.
The Ghost Script "Painted Woman" was not appearing for the first time. As far as the elder knew, there were two times before, but those were things from a long time ago, when the High Priest of the Esoteric Sect was not yet the Cannibal Buddha.
And neither time was anyone heard to have returned alive. In the second instance, among the recipients of the Ghost Script were two skillful figures from the Esoteric Sect, and one of them was a descendant from the clan of one of the elder’s good friends, but even together, they died in the Nightmare World.
In the eyes of the elder, these two in terms of skills, intelligence, and knowledge, were not comparable to an outsider like Yang Xiao.
Receiving the Ghost Script "Painted Woman" was almost like being given a death sentence, which was also what the elder implied, advising him to accept his fate.
"Woman" in the Chinese system represents an old woman, that is, an elderly woman, and "painted" used as a noun here does not make sense, it should be used as a name, combined the translation is ’a woman painted over’, which also corresponds to the black bare feet Yang Xiao saw.
"Do you know the Painted Woman?" Yang Xiao tentatively asked.
The elder did not respond to Yang Xiao but continued to speak. It turned out that the bloody words Yang Xiao had copied were in a very niche ancient language, and the content on it was a letter for help.
It was sent from a remote monastery, because the whole content was not completely copied, so the elder could only fill in based on his experience.
Firstly, the addressee in the letter, namely Yang Xiao, had a very peculiar title, using a religious term named Hejia Lun Du, translated into Chinese as Worldly Alms Bowl.
Those chosen as Worldly Alms Bowl had a very high Buddhist fate, they were regarded as the secular avatars of high monks of the Theravada.
High monks residing in monasteries, devoted to precepts and self-cultivation, while those selected as their Worldly Alms Bowl bore the emotions of joy, anger, sadness, etc., discarded by the monks, along with corresponding wealth and status, and also were blessed by Buddhism. In other words, they could be seen as the secular avatars of the high monks.
In the lands of Myanmar and Thailand, the status of monks is very high, and to be the secular avatar of a great monk, the identity and status can be imagined, so far, the position of a Worldly Alms Bowl has a hundred benefits and no harm.
But things are certainly not that simple, Yang Xiao remained silent, continuing to listen, and indeed, the elder then turned the topic to the taboos of being a Worldly Alms Bowl, stating that this heavy identity was also a heavy shackle.
Once the vow to become a Worldly Alms Bowl for a high monk is made, it cannot be changed, equivalent to binding one’s fate with the high monk.
If during the course of practice, the monk violates commandments, or is even tempted by evil forces, destroying their Buddhist heart and falling into the demonic path, then the one who is a Worldly Alms Bowl will also suffer backlash, triggering unpredictable horrific consequences.
Additionally, if the monk suddenly dies, then the Worldly Alms Bowl that remains in the world must bear and repay the unresolved cause and effect of the monk.
"A surrogate..." Yang Xiao roughly understood the role he was supposed to play this time.
Based on the bloody words Yang Xiao copied, the tattooed elder determined this monastery was located in the remote northwest of Myanmar and Thailand, approximately 300 to 400 years ago from now.
Because the practice of selecting someone as a Worldly Alms Bowl was extremely rare, popular for only a very short period, and so few monasteries did this, greatly narrowing down the suspicious scope.
Comprehensively judging, the elder concluded that the monastery where Yang Xiao needed to go this time was the sect that briefly existed in the remote northwest of Myanmar and Thailand called Taixiao, also known as Tribulation Sect, or a derivative branch of this sect.
This sect was very mysterious, because its existence was too brief, leaving very few records, but it was very peculiar; it had no formed doctrine but could seize others’ beliefs.
"Brainwashing?" Yang Xiao frowned, this reminded him of some domestic Evil Cultivation Sects, "Cult?"
The elder shook his head, indicating he didn’t know, he was a rigorous old man, speaking only of what he knew, and remaining silent on what he didn’t know.
The elder then emphasized that his speculation should be very accurate, because in the remote northwest of Myanmar and Thailand a few hundred years ago, there was once a strange funeral custom, when executing heinous criminals, they would coat the entire body of the criminal with resin mixed with some kind of black and strange liquid, sealing the seven orifices, layer by layer, making the person like a wax statue, and then buried upright, head down, in a coffin.
It’s said that people buried this way cannot enter the reincarnation cycle; their souls would be eternally trapped within the body, experiencing endless pain, neither dying nor annihilating.
At the same time, in Yang Xiao’s mind appeared those pitch-black withered bare feet, and behind the screen that extremely thin and twisted ghostly figure, it seems the ghost he saw was indeed the Painted Woman, matching well with the elder’s guess.
This means it’s the person who was once executed by this terrifying method. The name implies an old woman, as to whether she was really executed for heinous crimes or if there is another hidden story, Yang Xiao did not know, he needed to enter the Nightmare World this time to find out.
Suddenly, immersed in thought, Yang Xiao was startled when a withered hand grabbed him, and he instinctively tried to pull back his hand, but the elder grasped him firmly.
The elder’s arm looked withered, yet it was as firm as iron, and as the elder’s eyes appeared blank, a strange blue light surfaced in his eyes.
"Don’t move!" Sheng Yanlin said, his tone was slightly complex, he couldn’t say whether this was a blessing or a curse.
"You are going to die..."
The elder’s tone was stiff, speaking more like it was not a human, but a soulless ghost.
