Wandering Gods of Day and Night

Chapter 1450: Chapter 538: Silver Bodhisattva Flower (2)

Next, he felt Lady Lianhua’s temple again—extremely cold.

"Contemplation Zen doesn’t die."

Even though Zhou Xuan had confirmed that Lady Lianhua was dead beyond any doubt, he still stubbornly clung to his own view.

And just then, Zhou Xuan’s gaze fell upon the flesh tumors on Lady Lianhua’s body.

Lady Lianhua’s appearance was naturally grotesque—the enormous body aside, like a small hill, it was covered all over with flesh tumors.

Each of these bulbous lumps was larger than a normal person’s head.

Yet it was precisely these lumps of flesh that, in rare years of drought and famine, had saved the lives of countless commoners.

Those peasants who had no grain to eat survived only because of the tumor-balls on Lady Lianhua’s body.

And it was these very flesh tumors that built up Lady Lianhua’s vast Buddha name.

Zhou Xuan’s hand lightly reached toward a flesh tumor; he could still sense that inside those lumps, "something" showed signs of slowly writhing.

"There’s something inside the tumor."

As soon as Zhou Xuan finished speaking, he summoned out his Bone Teeth and viciously slashed at the tumor on Lady Lianhua’s chest.

The sharp Bone Teeth spines split the tumor open, and this act instantly enraged those yellow-skinned ones.

They all began shouting: "Storytelling sir, what are you doing?"

"Our granny treated you well, why are you insulting her corpse?"

"No... no... Little Nine, Xiao Ba, stop shouting, how could granny’s flesh tumor be hiding such filthy things inside."

This group of yellow-skinned ones had been raised by Lady Lianhua from childhood; the older ones had been taught to be literate and proper,

and the younger ones were also innocent and lively—they weren’t a pack of brute louts who couldn’t tell right from wrong.

Right away, an older yellow-skinned one called out to her younger brothers and sisters, telling them not to be disrespectful toward Zhou Xuan.

Following the shout, Zhou Xuan also looked over, and saw that after the flesh tumor on Lady Lianhua’s body was cut open, aside from oozing sticky pulp, a soft, squishy lump of brain had fallen out.

That lump of brain used its own brain-mass for feet, slowly wriggling along the ground.

"What is this thing?"

Zhou Xuan crouched down for a look; as soon as he moved just a little closer to that brain, he felt himself inexplicably fall into an illusion. When he looked again, that brain was no longer a brain, but a lithe, wondrous flower.

"This little brain even has the power to bewitch?"

"That’s not right, granny’s flesh tumors weren’t like this before... they really weren’t like this."

The older yellow-skinned one kept saying.

Zhou Xuan knew this yellow-skinned one; her name was Huang Zhishu, a girl who also loved to listen to him tell stories.

Zhou Xuan asked Huang Zhishu, "What were Lady Lianhua’s flesh tumors like before?"

"My granny’s flesh tumors, ugly as they looked, once you plucked them off her body and cut them open, a rich fragrance would pour out. Those who’ve eaten them said that once cooked, they were crystal-clear and very delicious."

Zhou Xuan nodded.

Previously, Lady Lianhua had also given Zhou Xuan half a Buddha Tumor—Zhou Xuan absorbed the Buddha energy within and rose to Two Incense.

"The tumors weren’t like this before. You can only say that after the Hundred-eyed Child died, many of the illusions related to the Lotus Temple and Lady Lianhua all vanished."

Zhou Xuan immediately called out to Little Brain: "Little Brain, come out and identify this Buddha Country thing."

This crawling lump of brain was obviously not some Buddha Country—surely we’re not to say Lady Lianhua’s body had grown a whole bunch of Buddha Country on it?

It ought to be some creature from Buddha Country.

This was also the first time a Buddha Country creature other than Buddha Country appeared in Jing Country.

As for the properties of this sort of creature, Zhou Xuan naturally had no idea; he could only call Little Brain out to identify it.

With a soft "whoosh," Little Brain drilled out of Zhou Xuan’s body.

From a distance, it took one look and then said to Zhou Xuan, "Master, this thing, in Buddha Country, is the most ordinary of ordinary objects,

yet for all that it’s ordinary, it’s also extremely not ordinary."

"You playing riddles with me here? You glib little pest, who’d you learn that from?" After giving Little Brain a bit of a lecture, Zhou Xuan said, "Spit it out straight."

"Alrighty."

Little Brain’s tone instantly turned solemn as it said, "Master, this thing that looks like a lump of brain is called the Silver Bodhisattva Flower."

"Silver Bodhisattva Flower?"

"It can generate illusions. In the eyes of ordinary Buddha Country, it appears as a lithe, wondrous flower."

Little Brain’s words confirmed the illusion Zhou Xuan had just suffered. He nodded and asked, "And then?"

"People of Buddha Country love to ingest this brain-lump the most. It has a natural, strange fragrance, and within it is imbued with Buddha Power."

Little Brain said, "But as for where this Silver Bodhisattva Flower is produced, no one knows. Once ingested, a layer of imprint will be planted inside the eater’s heart."

"What’s the function of that imprint?"

"This imprint’s function, you could say it isn’t that big," Little Brain immediately said. "It’s just that when the Realm Masters of the First Ten Heavens descend from the Thirty-Three Heavens into the human world of Buddha Country, those who have eaten it will see the illusion of ’the Buddha Master Lin Fan.’"

"And this imprint will also push those users to have a powerful sense of identification with the Buddha Master..."

"A mind-control imprint?" The phrase naturally popped into Zhou Xuan’s head.

Little Brain hurried to echo, "Exactly, exactly, same principle... For people of Buddha Country to remain loyal to the Buddha Country Buddha Master despite such barren mountains, evil waters, and people unable to make a living—more than half the credit belongs to this Silver Bodhisattva Flower."

As soon as he said this,

the incense fire Taoist’s eyes bulged with rage,

He had finally seen through the malicious intent of Buddha Country, and understood the sinister arrangements Buddha Country had laid in Jing Country over all these years.