Chapter 230: Chapter 195: Great Black Buddha Mother
Strange chanting had lingered nearby for quite a while before finally departing, and by this moment, the foreheads of the four people in the room were already covered with cold sweat.
As the chanter left, the girl released her hold, and Yang Xiao took the opportunity to lower his voice, "What the hell was that outside?"
The girl turned on her flashlight and used the beam to guide him, Yang Xiao was surprised to discover there were more people in the room.
Two men’s bodies lay on the ground, both dressed in black suits, with their throats neatly slit.
Near the window, another man was tied to a chair with a black bag over his head, also in a black suit, his head hanging down, his condition unknown.
"Miss Qi, let’s take this chance to protect you and leave," said the man in black sunglasses, loyally standing by the door.
Yang Xiao and Fu Qingzhu were both stunned, their gazes turning playful as they looked at the girl, "Miss Qi?"
"The dead man was my bodyguard," the girl admitted without evasion.
Yang Xiao glanced at Fu Qingzhu, whose face had turned pale-green, the information from their middleman was like a joke, hardly any of it true.
His only consolation was that he had brought Yang Xiao with him, otherwise he would have had to face this dire situation alone today.
"Brother Yang, if I can survive this time, I’ll double my compensation to you."
Yang Xiao was not the least bit interested in Fu Qingzhu’s promise. Just moments ago, when that eerie chanting approached, his instincts told him it was an extremely dangerous fellow.
The girl was young but had the poise of a great general. Composed in the face of danger, after hearing Yang and Fu’s description of the situation outside, she slowly exhaled, "Trying to leave now is probably impossible; we can’t escape downstairs, nor upstairs. To survive, we must find a way to seal that thing outside again."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao understood; his previous guess was not wrong, the silver briefcase must have contained a Resentful Eye.
And the ghostly thing that was wandering outside must have been awakened from the Resentful Eye.
"What on earth is that thing outside?" Yang Xiao was curious.
The girl shook her head and turned to the man bound to the chair, "I’m not sure, but he definitely knows."
After removing the black hood, there was a man in his early fifties, without eyebrows or beard, his skin unnaturally pale with sagging cheeks, appearing quite aged.
The man’s face bore injuries, having been beaten, his head hanging down, eyes closed, mouth stuffed with a towel. Judging by his chest’s faint movements, he seemed to have passed out.
"This person is the leader of these demons we caught. He’s tough as nails and won’t say a word," the man with sunglasses explained.
The girl poured a bucket of ice water over the man’s face, and he suddenly awoke. After a brief pause of disorientation, he began to laugh. With his mouth gagged, he could only make a "huffing" sound through his nose, his face filled with mockery.
"I’m asking you, what is that thing outside, and how can we deal with it?" The girl crouched down, staring into the bound man’s eyes.
"Huff—huff—" The man continued to laugh, refusing to say anything.
"Whish—"
The girl thrust a knife into the man’s thigh with her backhand and slowly twisted the handle, causing blood to immediately flow. "I advise you to cooperate a bit. I won’t kill you, but I will hand you over to the Patrol Defense Bureau, and you know what they’re capable of."
Yang Xiao was completely puzzled: "???"
But no matter how the girl interrogated and tortured the man, all she got in return was his scorn. In just two minutes, the man had been cut several times and had lost an ear. The girl’s fierce methods made even men like Yang Xiao and Fu Qingzhu feel outdone.
"These brainwashed cultists are indeed madmen, their hearts only serve the Great Black Buddha Mother, fearless of everything," Fu Qingzhu glared intensely at the man, the atrocities unfolding outside were shocking to behold.
Yang seemed to think of something, he stopped the girl who was about to continue the interrogation, leaned closer, and whispered a few words into the man’s ear.
The next second, to everyone’s surprise, the smile on the man’s face froze, then turned to fear, and he began to struggle violently.
"Hmm! Hmm!" The man mumbled incoherently through his gagged mouth, his eyes wide with terror as he looked at Yang, as if he had seen an evil ghost crawling out of hell.
"What did you say to him?" This scene baffled the remaining three, and the girl, unable to contain her curiosity, was the first to ask.
"Nothing much, just told him that after this is over, I’ll find a good doctor to reattach his manhood," Yang Xiao said with embarrassment.
The girl: "???"
Fu Qingzhu: "..."
Black Sunglasses chuckled sinisterly, a flash of ferocity crossing his face, "Brother, that’s a good idea, but there’s no need to go out. Just wait, I’ll go out and fetch one back for you in no time. Then we’ll see if your Great Black Buddha Mother will still bless a heretic like you."
Under the relentless intimidation of the group, the man broke down. The tough guy who wouldn’t so much as frown in the face of torture was now sobbing uncontrollably, muttering something nonstop.
Yang Xiao leaned in to listen and realized that the man was chanting scriptures.
After a round of interrogation, the man finally spoke, but unfortunately his knowledge was limited. He said that his only orders were to awaken this Magic Artifact and then kill everyone related to it.
"Magic Artifact?" Yang had never heard such a term before.
"It’s that Resentful Eye." The girl wiped the blood off her dagger and slid it back into her waistband. "That Resentful Eye has an extraordinary origin; it was obtained after several great families besieged the Southeast Branch and took it from the Great Black Buddha Mother. It’s said to be the sacred amulet of the Southeast Branch Holy Mother, and many skilled fighters were sacrificed to defeat her."
"Why didn’t you say that earlier?" Fu Qingzhu asked, clearly displeased.
"Sorry, I couldn’t tell whether you were friend or foe until now, these guys are too cunning." The girl gestured to the man’s clothes and sincerely apologized, "There’s one more thing, not all of our people were killed. Some posing as ordinary guests are still upstairs, but like us, they’re trapped in their rooms."
"To escape, we need to meet up with them first," the girl added.
Now Fu Qingzhu perked up, "Do they have equipment on them?"
"Yes, we brought some equipment to handle emergencies, including a Ghost Camera," the girl revealed, no longer hiding the truth, as she needed their help.
"Shh—" Black Sunglasses, hiding behind the door, suddenly gestured for silence, and everyone immediately quieted down.
Listening intently, Yang Xiao heard nothing. He gave Black Sunglasses a questioning look, who then pointed to his own ear, then to the wall.
Yang Xiao pressed his ear against the wall, and after a moment, his brow furrowed; he heard a very faint, friction-like sound.
Yang Xiao slowly raised his head and looked towards the door. The sound was coming from the corridor outside and was still moving slowly.
The intermittent friction sounds gave Yang and the others a very bad premonition, as if... the source of the sound was searching for them—deliberately and getting closer.
Suddenly, Yang Xiao spun around just in time to see the man tied to the chair moving his lips quickly. He was still chanting, only very, very softly.
"Get him to shut up!" Yang Xiao suddenly realized. It was this man who had lured the ghostly presence from outside with his chanting!
The moment Yang’s gaze collided with the man’s, the man knew he had been exposed. He straightened up suddenly and, in a shrill voice reminiscent of a eunuch’s, yelled, "Nurturing Sect Mother, Supreme Being Wuji, the Little Holy Spirit White-Robed Mother has manifested!"
"Nurturing Sect Mother, Supreme Being Wuji, Little Holy Spirit White-Robed Mother... mmm!"
The man could say no more, his mouth spewing blood as the girl stood before him, stabbing the dagger into his throat.
But it was too late. Attracted by the sound, a ghostly chanting burst forth from outside, rushing towards them at a tremendous speed.
Yang Xiao covered his ears and crouched on the floor, but it was pointless. The chanting, like a living thing, effortlessly penetrated walls, palms, and burrowed desperately into his head.
In his mind, bizarre images surged among the solemn and grand chanting. Hundreds of devotees knelt densely in a cave, crawling forward in devout worship. In the distance, a colossal, black Bodhisattva loomed, dozens of meters tall.
The Great Black Bodhisattva sat barefoot atop a huge lotus pedestal stained with blood, looking down upon the people with a gaze of pity and love.
The terrible pressure felt as though it could crush the soul. Yang Xiao forcibly closed his eyes, and the scenes in his mind shifted, the fragmented images reassembling. When he reopened them, a sight that chilled him to the bone greeted him. He was suddenly inside a cave, where, upon looking up, he met the elongated, enormous eyes of the Great Black Bodhisattva.
In front of him lay a dagger and a piece of yellow cloth used for staunching blood, covered in scriptures. The dagger was smeared with filthy blood; the handle soaked to a dark red.
Amidst the chanting of the countless followers behind him, Yang’s right hand moved uncontrollably, gripping the dagger. The blade turned, pointing towards his own lower body.
"Don’t do this! Damn it, don’t do this!"
Yang was vehemently resistant inside. He was still a child; he hadn’t even touched the hand of a girl, and now he was being forced to castrate himself. Where was the justice in that?
The dagger slowly lifted, and Yang could feel his right hand gather strength, ready to sever his own root of affliction.
That’s right, the root of affliction, as chanted in the scriptures—only by forsaking the root of affliction could one serve the Great Black Buddha Mother wholeheartedly as a sanctified believer.
Yang’s head grew heavier as his grip on the knife tightened. A bizarre smile curled his lips, and his gaze turned dull and foolish as he began to join the followers behind him in praising the Great Black Buddha Mother’s immeasurable virtues.
As the chanting reached its climax, Yang’s hand forcefully brought down the knife, but his body felt no pain. Instead, the blade was frozen in mid-air.
A pale hand that appeared from behind gripped the blade, and before Yang could react, the knife was snatched away and then fiercely thrown, piercing straight towards the venerated forehead of the Great Black Bodhisattva.
