Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 45
>Chapter Title: Buddha
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“Master, you don’t need to explain so much to a lodger like me. I can’t control you all anyway, so please leave. I’m going to bed.”
Jian Dun clasped his hands together and bowed to Li Huowang before heading toward the door. Just as he brushed past Li Huowang, a light remark drifted over.
“Don’t look down on Buddhism. Before I became a monk, I was a Daoist. The Daoist sects are just the same—you simply don’t know it.”
Jian Dun left, leaving Li Huowang alone in the room. He turned his head and looked toward the temple shrouded in darkness in the distance. Now, he felt none of its former majesty or solemnity.
Li Huowang slowly exhaled toward the shadows. “This damn place is filthy. Isn’t there anywhere clean?”
Ever since that night’s events, Li Huowang had tried to avoid going out at night as much as possible, lest he ruin the monks’ fun and earn their resentment.
Days passed one after another, and Li Huowang’s mental state improved more and more. He’d basically stopped having nightmares.
Just as he planned to ask the abbot when they would begin, the abbot sent someone ahead of time.
“Benefactor Xuanyang, preparations for the Universal Salvation Grand Vegetarian Feast are about to start. The ceremony requires vast resources, so please refrain from wandering about in the coming days.”
“Got it. Go back and tell the old abbot I understand.” Li Huowang said to the young novice in front of him.
As soon as the novice left, a familiar figure darted in, his expression full of delight. “Little Daoist, so you’re staying here? Why didn’t you tell me?”
It was the Old Beggar from before, though he looked markedly different from his previous ragged state.
He now wore a brand-new yellow monk’s robe, with no dirt or stains on his face or body. He seemed much more spirited.
Though they’d only met by chance, encountering an acquaintance in this unfamiliar place made Li Huowang feel a sense of closeness.
“Monk, how’ve you been here?”
“Not bad. I eat my fill and stay warm every day. It’s just that I can’t do good deeds in the temple—it feels a bit stifling.”
At the mention of good deeds, Li Huowang immediately recalled that night’s events. He looked at the old monk before him and sighed softly. “Don’t worry about it so much. Just stay put. The temple’s a bit dirty, but at least you won’t go hungry.”
“Come on, little Daoist. I’ll take you to see where I work. It’s huge!” The enthusiastic old monk grabbed Li Huowang and headed for the door.
“The sun’s so fierce. Next time.” Li Huowang wasn’t in the mood. He had no interest in sightseeing at the temple.
“Come on! You’ll see—it’s absolutely worth it! So many interesting things!” Under the old monk’s insistent tugging, Li Huowang stepped out of the room.
After following the monk through twists and turns, Li Huowang arrived at a spacious open courtyard in Zhengde Temple.
Only then did he realize just how massive Zhengde Temple truly was.
“Clang clang clang!” Dust billowed in the courtyard as monks with gauze wrapped around their hands wielded stone chisels and hammers, sculpting Buddha statues.
The statues stood in two rows, one on each side, extending into the distance of the courtyard.
Under the sunlight, the monks’ shaved heads gleamed. They sweated profusely, fully focused on carving their artworks.
“You work here? The environment’s not great.” Li Huowang frowned slightly, covering his nose with his hand to block the dust.
“Yeah, I’m in charge of hauling away the useless stone fragments. These Buddha statues have some of my effort in them too.” The old monk seemed extremely proud of his role.
The two walked down the path between the rows of unfinished Buddha statues, observing the varied forms.
Monks passing by them occasionally paid them no mind, treating them as if they didn’t exist.
“Zhengde Temple isn’t carving these for itself. Obviously they’re for selling to pilgrims. Looks like these monks are pretty good at making money on the side.” Li Huowang sneered inwardly.
But after what he’d seen before, Li Huowang felt no surprise at all about such things.
“There’s more than this! Even better stuff ahead!” The old monk said excitedly, heading toward the gatehouse at the front.
Seeing him walk ahead, Li Huowang lifted his foot to follow. Suddenly, his mind blurred, and his body swayed.
“Hey hey, little Daoist, what’s wrong?” Seeing something amiss, the old monk hurried back to support him.
“What happened?” Once Li Huowang steadied himself and shook his head hard, the strange sensation gradually faded.
“You okay? Caught a cold? Maybe head back and rest?”
Li Huowang declined the old monk’s kindness. “I’m fine, feeling great. Let’s keep going.”
“Alright, if you caught a cold, you need more sun anyway. Let’s head forward then.”
Hearing this, Li Huowang glanced up at the blazing sun overhead. “Sunstroke? It’s only been a short while since New Year. I don’t even feel hot.”
Feeling no abnormality in his body, Li Huowang lifted his foot to follow the old monk.
But as soon as he did, he noticed the sounds around him had changed. No longer the clang of chisels on stone, but now the slapping of flesh against flesh.
“Hm?” Li Huowang turned puzzled toward the stone carving on his right, and his body froze instantly.
The stone carving had vanished, replaced by a writhing mass of pale flesh—all monks.
The ones who had been devoutly sculpting Buddha statues now huddled together with eyes closed in piety, their bodies wriggling and thrusting like white maggots, engaged in acts between man and man.
“This... this is?” Li Huowang’s eyes widened as he took a step back.
Li Huowang slowly raised his head, squinting at the blinding sun overhead. He wasn’t seeing things.
He slowly turned around to look at the previous statues behind him. As expected, they had all changed. Under the bright winter sunlight, dozens more fleshy mountains had appeared.
“Daoist! Hurry up!” The old monk shouted excitedly from ahead, like a child eager to show off to a friend.
Li Huowang took a trembling deep breath and continued forward, passing through a massive gatehouse into another spacious courtyard.
Here too, fleshy mountains piled high—but now they weren’t just people. Other things had joined, like pigs.
They squealed in agony, but the fleshy mountains formed by the monks’ pious faces engulfed them like mire.
“Look, these carved qilin and stone lions look so real. How great it’d be if I had that skill.”
Li Huowang mechanically followed the old monk onward, continuing to view Zhengde Temple’s monks’ “works.” He saw dogs, horses, cattle, donkeys.
Upon closer inspection, he spotted even more abnormalities: all these monks were hermaphrodites!!
At that moment, Li Huowang’s mind buzzed in chaos.
Suddenly, the old monk’s hand reached out, pulling him a few quick steps into a vast, empty hall.
But the slapping sounds didn’t fade—they grew louder, echoing through the spacious hall.
Li Huowang stiffly turned his neck toward the interior. As his head tilted higher and higher, his pupils shrank smaller and smaller.
“Look!” The old monk pointed upward, a childlike smile on his face, his tone filled with awe. “What a massive Buddha!”
(End of chapter)