Chapter 232: Chapter 197: Kill Me
Bursting out the door, the scene at the end of the corridor completely overturned everyone’s understanding, as a giant figure nearly 4 meters tall suddenly appeared.
Barefoot, dressed in white purer than snow, with flowing sleeves, draped in a Buddhist cloak resembling the lotus mantle of Guanyin, but even more pristine and holy, hands clasped around the lower abdomen, brandishing an enormous horsetail whisk, this... this was actually a White-robed Great Bodhisattva!
Auspicious clouds and mist swirled around the White-robed Great Bodhisattva, accompanied by solemn and majestic chanting, as if they had arrived in the holy Mount Meru.
"Quick, run!"
This White-robed Great Bodhisattva did not show any aggression, but just by looking, they knew it would be tough to deal with. Everyone ran toward the emergency exit.
But the next second, something unexpected happened—the iron door outside the emergency exit wouldn’t open.
"Damn!" Black Sunglasses tore the person in front away and violently shook the iron door, "What’s happening? How is the door locked!"
They had checked before; there was no issue with the door, which was why they had chosen to take a brief respite here, backed by the emergency exit so they could retreat quickly in case of danger.
"It must be those remaining cultists; they secretly locked the door!" At this moment, Yang Xiao and Fu Qingzhu also realized what had happened.
Unfortunately, it was too late for anything now. The room they were in was a dead end. They had to either charge past the White-robed Bodhisattva through the corridor or escape through the only route—the emergency exit.
In a desperate move, Yang Xiao told everyone to back off and he fired several shots at the lock of the emergency exit door, but aside from leaving a few dents, it was utterly ineffective. The ricocheting bullets almost injured their own people.
"Buy me some time, I can open the door!" Black Sunglasses fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a thin piece of wire, bent it several times, then crouched by the door and probed the lock with the wire.
Fortunately, the Bodhisattva moved slowly and the corridor was very long; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have time to think of a plan.
But even so, time was not on their side. The White-robed Great Bodhisattva was getting closer and the chanting grew louder and clearer.
As the distance closed, Yang Xiao finally saw the true face of the Great Bodhisattva.
The face was majestic and wondrously beautiful, with both masculine firmness and feminine softness, making it impossible to discern the gender, but Yang Xiao inclined toward it being a man with the grace of a woman.
The eyes were narrow, a speck of cinnabar mole between the brows, and a pair of light golden pupils stared straight ahead, the expression calm and indifferent, without sorrow or joy.
Yang Xiao felt a strange sensation arise, as if in the eyes of the Great Bodhisattva, there were no reflections of them at all.
And one more thing, the lips of the White-robed Great Bodhisattva did not move at all; where was that chanting coming from?
The voice of the chanting was solemn and grand, not something a single person could achieve—it would require at least dozens, if not hundreds, chanting together.
The White-robed Great Bodhisattva was getting nearer, and the mist around began to spread towards them, painting their surroundings as if it were heaven.
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang!"
Yang Xiao decisively fired his gun, but the bullets shot toward the Great Bodhisattva were like a stone into the sea, causing no ripple at all.
The Great Bodhisattva was still approaching, with the same indifferent eyes, without sorrow or joy, looking at all lives with only compassion.
In the eyes of the Great Bodhisattva, Yang Xiao and the others were but one among the countless beings, no different from ants.
"Drag out the Meat Calabash! Drag him out!" the man who had smashed the computer shouted.
The elderly man was a Flesh Lama of the Great Black Buddha Mother Sect. It was said that through them one could sense the supreme will of the Great Black Buddha Mother.
The bound old man, like a dead dog, was dragged out from the room. The man wearing a duckbill cap dragged him forward and threw him onto the White-robed Bodhisattva’s path.
Moments later, as if the Bodhisattva hadn’t seen him, it continued to walk forward. As the bare feet made contact and the hem of the robe brushed against the old man’s body, it actually passed right through as if a holographic projection, with the Great Bodhisattva continuing to step forward.
"It’s an illusion!" the man who had smashed the computer said with a glimmer of joy, "This is a trick! Quick, the real danger is still hidden nearby!"
Following the order, everyone began to tentatively move closer to the White-robed Great Bodhisattva. Just as Fu Qingzhu was not willing to be left behind, a hand pulled him back.
Surprised, Fu Qingzhu looked back and saw Yang Xiao motionless, simply shaking his head at him.
Fu Qingzhu felt a shock in his heart. Although he did not understand how Yang Xiao made the judgment, he instinctively chose to trust him. The two stood still, without moving.
"You, go ahead first." The man who had smashed the computer was the commander of the squad, ordering a subordinate.
The man in the duckbill cap who had thrown the old man seemed to have great confidence in his judgment. He took steps forward, dodging left and right a few meters away from the White-robed Bodhisattva, and he found that the Great Bodhisattva didn’t even look at him.
It seems that the White-robed Bodhisattva was only intimidating in size, but in reality, was like a wound-up machine, without consciousness.
"He can’t see us, follow me."
The man in the duckbill cap steeled himself, leaning slightly against the left wall, back to the wall, trying to find a gap, slipping through the narrow space between the Great Bodhisattva and the wall to escape.
Everyone held their breath, initially everything went smoothly, the Great Bodhisattva did not divert its gaze, not noticing him at all, until they were almost upon each other. Suddenly, the man in the duckbill cap convulsed, snot and tears streaming out, his knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground, kowtowing frantically to the nearby Great Bodhisattva.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"I am guilty! I am guilty!"
"Please, Nurturing Sect Mother, Supreme Being Wuji, Little Holy Spirit White-Robed Mother, save me!"
"I have sinned! Please, Little Holy Spirit White-Robed Mother, save me!!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
The man cried out as if possessed, his screams raw and exhaustive, the force of his bowing so great that blood quickly streamed down his forehead.
It was only then that the White-robed Great Bodhisattva seemed to notice him, as golden holy light bathed down upon him. The Great Bodhisattva looked upon him with a pair of pale golden eyes that were devoid of any ripples.
Perhaps touched by the man’s devotion, the Great Bodhisattva decided to enlighten him a bit. She lightly flicked her horsetail whisk, and thousands of whisk hairs gently brushed upon the man.
The man lifted his head, his face bathed in holy light and brimming with ecstasy, but the next second, his body disintegrated, falling apart in mid-air and scattering on the ground like a bucket of water spilled onto the floor.
All were stunned by the scene before them. The Great Bodhisattva didn’t stop; she collected her horsetail whisk and continued walking barefooted.
Yang Xiao stared at the blood-soaked ground, searching his mind for the right words, but he couldn’t find a single one that could adequately describe the scene before him.
The area, covering a good dozen square meters, was dense with twisted bones and flesh, all interconnected with a mass of blood vessels and blue tendons.
The man’s body was laid out, spread across the ground like a flattened pancake.
What was even more chilling was that the man wasn’t dead. More than half of his head was jutting from the ground, connected by his throat to the pile of indistinguishable flesh and bone on the floor.
With no mouth, he couldn’t make a sound, but the one remaining eyeball in its socket rolled up and down, the horrific and bloody scene challenging the physiological limits of those present.
Finally, someone collapsed under the tremendous pressure. They dashed into the room, grabbed a chair, and fiercely smashed at the windows. The glass shattered after a few hits, but it seemed as if there was an invisible wall outside the windows that made jumping out impossible.
"Hurry up! How much longer?"
Seeing this, no one dared to rush at the Great Bodhisattva again. Fu Qingzhu could only put all his hope on Black Sunglasses, who was trying to unlock the door.
"Almost there! Just a little longer!" Black Sunglasses was drenched in sweat.
Realizing there was not enough time, Yang Xiao reached into his chest and didn’t stop until he touched the Drama Robe, which was his biggest reliance for today.
But the next second, Yang Xiao shuddered violently. The instant he touched the robe, something brushed against his fingertips. He... he felt like he had touched a hand, a hand hidden inside the Drama Robe!
As Yang Xiao was stunned, someone else couldn’t hold back any longer. Fu Qingzhu pulled out a cloth-wrapped item from his embrace and threw it fiercely at the White-robed Bodhisattva.
As the cloth unwrapped in mid-air, Yang Xiao saw clearly—it was actually a hemp rope, very crudely made.
At the end of the rope there was a noose.
The more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed to Yang Xiao. He instantly recalled the Hanging Rope that Teacher Wang had used.
There was no doubt about it, this was the Resentful Eye that Fu Qingzhu had obtained from the last mission!
The Hanging Rope spun in the air, and the end with the noose looped around the neck of the White-robed Bodhisattva with unerring accuracy. The other end shot upSuddenly, lifting the White-robed Bodhisattva high off the ground.
Strangely enough, the ethereal White-robed Bodhisattva seemed to be restrained by the rope and was hoisted up high.
If Yang Xiao had been more observant, he would have noticed more suspicious aspects, such as the ceiling of the corridor being nearly the same height as the White-robed Bodhisattva. How then could the Bodhisattva be suspended so high? Where did the extra space come from?
But before Fu Qingzhu could catch his breath, the restrained White-robed Bodhisattva moved again. Barefooted, she stepped into the air, moving slowly but resolutely toward them.
The rope around her neck tightened further, even emitting creaking noises, but this only managed to slow down the progress of the Great Bodhisattva, not stop it.
What was more terrifying was that the neck of the Bodhisattva was stretching longer and longer until it was several times its normal size. Yet, her pale face remained expressionless, neither sad nor happy.
"It’s done!" Black Sunglasses leapt up from the ground and thrust open the emergency door.
Everyone entered in file, desperately running down the stairs. Seeing Fu Qingzhu hesitate, Yang Xiao grabbed him and pulled him toward the stairs, "What are you dawdling for? Do you have a death wish?"
"My... my rope!" Fu Qingzhu was reluctant to leave behind the Hanging Rope, which he had procured at great peril.
Yang Xiao slapped the back of his head hard to snap him out of it, "We can always make firewood later if the hills are left undestroyed. Preserving your life is what matters most!"
The key point was that leaving the rope behind could delay them a little longer, increasing their chances of escape.
Not daring to stay on the 23rd floor, the group rushed directly to the 22nd floor below. As expected, they couldn’t get further down. No matter how much they ran, it was still the 22nd floor.
When they forced open the emergency door of the 22nd floor, the scene that greeted them left everyone in shock.
The missing Sun Qiang, like a horrendous painting, was splayed out, his bloody and bare body hung on the wall.
Organs, bones, muscles, skin, blood vessels, and tendons were chaotically intertwined, with fluid still flowing through the green veins.
What was even more horrifying was that parts of his body had fused with the wall and nearby porcelain bottles and wooden ornaments, with the blood vessels and tendons wrapping around them like a fishing net, inseparable.
The majority of his head, lodged in a porcelain vase, saw people coming and started to shake. His mouth opened and closed, and a hoarse and unfamiliar voice came from his shattered throat.
"Kill... kill me now. Please... I beg you."
