Chapter 42: Big Red Lantern Hung High
There was a quarter of an hour left until 9. The inn boss knocked on the room door early to signal Yuan Zhu and the others that they could join the team heading to the plaza in the east.
While gathering at the shop entrance, he was also given a wooden Buddha Statue by a little girl. The front looked quite normal; the local Buddha was a solemn fat man, giving the illusion of a combination of God of Wealth and food god.
But the back of the wooden Buddha Statue, yet carved with a twisted Buddha Face that seemed both crying and laughing, with eyes indescribably strange, always giving off a curse-like smell. Just holding this thing in his palm, facing his own chest, he felt an instinctive discomfort.
But if he turned the Buddha upside down, facing himself and back to the crowd, it still felt wrong, and he’d attract attention from passersby. He could only grit his teeth, secretly draw the dagger, and while no one was paying attention, scrape off the Buddha Face on the back, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Hmm, much more comfortable.
“Aren’t you afraid of being targeted by the Buddha if you do this?” Meng Xiyue’s ethereal voice came from behind.
Yuan Zhu’s attitude was firm: “I think this has the highest cost-performance ratio.”
Click click, click click… From behind, the sound of dagger scraping wood also came.
Everyone appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, they all raised their hands to modify their Buddha Statues, including even the Security Bureau investigators. Hmph, what a superstitious woman!
The squad of six assembled and followed the residents’ team holding lanterns, incense burners, Buddha Statues, tributes… advancing on the stone slab road. Along the way, it was evident that Na Ye City had heavy Buddhist Elements. Every household hung white paper lotus lanterns, giving a flavor of the entire city in mourning.
Passersby were all adept at chanting Buddhist scriptures, with a unique melody, sounding almost like singing. The crowd gathered more and more along the way, normal humans, blood-red heads’ Tomato Imposters? Everyone coexisted harmoniously, everyone chanting softly, making the atmosphere solemn and majestic, unconsciously evoking feelings of insignificance and humility.
This was merely ordinary people spontaneously chanting, yet it formed a strong mental oppression. Oppressing non-believers to feel shock, fear, longing, reverence… and other emotions, unconsciously venerating and believing, ultimately converting to Buddhism.
If this power could be mobilized by the Supernatural System, the effect produced would absolutely be terrifying.
…
Enduring the oppressive feeling strongly, Yuan Zhu’s team arrived at a plaza artificially cleared in the east of the city. There were originally buildings here, but they were damaged in battle, then leveled, transformed into the stage for this ceremony.
From far away, he could see on the other side of the plaza, standing a monk dressed brightly, wearing a bright yellow monk robe, draped in blood-red kesa.
That was a normal human appearance, white eyebrows white beard, cheeks with flesh, a pale old bald head. Surrounded by a large group of blood-red heads, wearing green bizarre clothes’ Tomato Imposters.
The old monk was in the C position, with a powerful aura, highest status, hands clasped together with eyes closed, as if waiting for something, indifferent to everything around.
The blood-head imposters around him, though not wearing monk robes, each clasped hands together, with the etiquette of Buddhist Disciples, devoutly worshiping. Circling around the old monk, guarding him, with excited and expectant expressions on their faces.
Besides this core small circle, there were also large numbers of low-status red-head monks, red-head young monks, fanatical red-head believers, in a 3:2 ratio, mixed with normal-skinned human monks, human civilians, standing in special positions at different spots on the plaza. Holding Buddhist ritual implements, solemnly chanting, quietly waiting.
There was no superfluous talk at the scene at all; from the moment Yuan Zhu’s group arrived, everyone did only one thing: chant softly. Invisible qi connected with each other, Buddhist Zen intent enveloping above the plaza, as if to cover the entire Buddhist City.
In this situation, Yuan Zhu didn’t dare breathe loudly, could only quietly observe, exchanging glances with teammates.
Through the mouse shrunk in his pocket, he could perceive that in the area around the plaza, invisible Buddhist mental pollution fluctuations were rapidly improving.
When time reached 9, the chanting voices at the scene suddenly amplified several times. In an instant, it became grand and magnificent, like thunderous sound pouring into the crown, enlightening completely.
That ‘Abbot Duowen’ suddenly opened his eyes, looking up at the sky.
Besides a moon emitting emerald green light in Yuan Zhu’s eyes, at this moment, the myriad stars in the sky seemed extraordinarily brilliant. Twinkling, echoing with the chanting voices on the ground.
For a moment, the wave of chanting voices overwhelmed everything… Invisible mental resonance, with the abbot as the absolute center, swept in all directions like collapsing dominoes.
That sound originally from mouths, unconsciously intertwined and fused into mental level’s thunderous Zen chanting, carrying demon-subduing intent, shaking people’s scalps numb and souls tingling.
Yuan Zhu, right in the midst of it, even heard the Immortal Scripture sounding frantic alarms. Outside the Immortal Scripture’s soul barrier layer, the mouse in his pocket and clothes on his body also successively erected two layers of defense, resisting the Buddhist mental Zen Sound (pollution)’s brainwashing erosion on soul consciousness.
Yuan Zhu stayed sober, looking toward the plaza center; whether normal humans or scarlet-red heads’ Tomato Imposters, at this moment all had fanatical expressions, eyes moreover emitting blue starlight, echoing with the stars beginning to flicker intensely in space.
Hmm? This group of monks and people, under the abbot’s lead, actually really drew down the power of the stars in the sky? This starlight is the true purpose of the Buddhist Ceremony?
Game Sprite suddenly came online: “No! Not led by the abbot,
In the Game Sprite’s perception analysis, the Abbot has always been the core of the ritual.
He used the faith in the “Buddha” from the sentient beings of Na Ye Buddhist Kingdom as the medium, his own spirit and soul as the anchor point, triggered mental resonance through Zen chanting, linked everyone’s minds together, and wove them into a large net.
The core members in the center of the plaza are the raw materials that constitute this net. Meanwhile, the civilians on the periphery chanting and observing the ceremony are also connected to this network, serving as the batteries that provide energy for this “Mental Magic Net.”
The circle of Tomato Imposters surrounding the Abbot also completed mental resonance through chanting Buddhist Dharma, connecting to this Magic Net. Yet they demonstrated another innate ability, leading all the Red-headed Imposters in the plaza through the Magic Net’s resonance to collectively draw down the starlight from the sky.
Yuan Zhu: “Understood, that Great Monk is the core of the mental network. All people on site are linked together by him, and the peripheral masses are treated by him as mental batteries. Those red-headed imposters that form the network additionally possess the energy to communicate with starlight; they are inducing this energy (pollution) to descend and are captured and absorbed by the mental network.”
Game Sprite: “Yes, that’s right.”
“Doing this, what exactly is it for?”
As the ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner, a faint sense of unease rose in his heart.
He was probably surrounded by an intangible “Buddhist Mental Pollution,” deeply trapped in the quagmire; meanwhile, another kind of “Starlight Pollution” in the sky gathered more and more, presenting a terrifying high-energy reaction. It looked ready to explode at any moment and distort all living beings, making him instinctively want to flee far away.
As the ceremony steadily progressed, beams of starlight fell from the sky and were captured by the Magic Net. Those ordinary monks and young monks standing in the center of the plaza, who were serving as the raw materials for the Magic Net themselves, were the first to be unable to bear it. The scriptures in their mouths became stuttered and interrupted, showing a retarded appearance of brain overload, like a machine glitching and crashing.
And those Tomato Imposters with red heads were even more unbearable. Their eyes burst forth with starlight, and their minds were controlled by Buddhist Dharma mental pollution again. The two sides used the eggplant-headed monk’s mind as the battlefield, entangled and attacking each other.
Some red-headed monks stopped chanting. Instead, they let out eerie “giggle” laughs from their mouths. For a moment, they struggled to control themselves, their expressions pained as they shouted: “Buddha! Buddha! Buddha!” Then their eyes were overtaken by starlight, gaining the upper hand, and they called out loudly to the starry sky: “Tomato! Tomato! Tomato!”
This schizophrenic scene seemed contagious, as more and more Blood Head Monks followed suit and lost control.
They wailed in pain and tears one moment, sincerely repenting and shouting loudly: “Buddha! Buddha! Buddha!” The next moment, they went mad with fanatical expressions, howling at the sky: “Tomato! Tomato! Tomato!”
…
“Holy shit! Brother Zhuzi, I’m a bit panicked. Should we flee?”
Lu Rang behind him saw this scene of mass hysteria. Under the oppression of the intense starlight in the sky, his legs trembled and he could barely stand steady. He hurriedly pushed Yuan Zhu hard, wanting to grab onto a pillar of strength.
“Wait, look a bit longer!”
Some of the attracted Yuan Zhu also looked up at the starry sky, having the Immortal Scripture record this newly appeared pollution on one side while he himself was also somewhat immersed, staring dazedly at the twisting and transforming starlight, always feeling that it contained endless great wisdom, attracting him to devote himself to it.
“Holy shit! Holy shit!! Holy shit!!! Heavens, Brother Zhuzi, look quick, his head is flying up, his neck is about to be pulled off!”
The ceremony seemed extremely successful. As the monks with red heads in the field collectively went mad, more and more starlight in the starry sky was attracted, twisting into beams, breaking through the heavenly dome barrier, projected into the human world, and gathering above the ceremony site.
Then the starlight burst into wisps and strands, descending from the sky straight toward the eyes of those tomato-headed pretenders, drilling into them.
Thus, one could see starlight being lit up within the bright red cranial top of flesh material, one head emitting bright red bloodlight like a lantern bulb, illuminating all directions.
The originally somewhat dim plaza now had dozens or hundreds of blood-red light sources like big red lanterns hung high, dyeing the scene bright red. This scene was almost like a ghost film. Was this a Buddhist ceremony or a Yellow Springs ritual?
As more and more starlight energy drilled into the eyes, their heads not only grew brighter and brighter but also larger and larger, departing human head shape, becoming bigger and rounder, just like a large tomato with facial features stretched and deformed.
Their blood-red heads not only grew larger, rounder, and brighter but also began to rise against gravity, pulling their bodies to float toward the sky, wanting to return to the starry sky.
But the feet of these red-headed monks were firmly rooted to the ground, confronting the bloodlight heads that wanted to ascend to the starry sky. Their mouths let out painful shouts: “Buddha Buddha Buddha! Tomato tomato tomato! Buddha Buddha Buddha… Tomato tomato tomato…”
That self-pulling scene made even Yuan Zhu feel neck pain just watching it.
One could see the human necks being stretched longer and longer, emitting creaking sounds of bone joints rubbing.
Until ‘Pfft!’ a sound.
“Buddha Buddha Buddha!” ×N
“Tomato tomato tomato!” ×N
Yuan Zhu watched dumbfounded: “Bloody romance, fucking spectacular!”
He had lived for so many years, grown so big, and this was the first time seeing such a shocking scene. In the eerie weirdness, it carried a mysterious beauty. It reminded him of the first half of his life watching the movie Raise the Red Lantern.
Begging for support, follow-up reading, rainbow-colored comments get going! Monthly tickets, recommendation tickets.
My Buddha is merciful, may everyone in the new year have a life that’s red-hot, dazed, and dazed…
