Chapter 779
Chapter 779
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 779
>Chapter Title: Buddha
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Li Huowang sensed that something was off. He clenched his fist and smashed it against his head several times in a row.
When he realized that wasn’t working, Li Huowang pulled out a long needle and jammed it between his fingers. The intense pain finally stopped his wild thoughts.
“Hah~” Li Huowang, drenched in cold sweat, slowly exhaled and glanced at the red Daoist robe on his body. He gritted his teeth hard. No matter what Siming really was, since it was the enemy right now, he had to face it.
And just then, Li Huowang suddenly noticed a gaze.
“Who?! Come out!” With Li Huowang’s low shout, three tentacles instantly drew three swords.
Right after, he saw the abbot of Great Qi’s Zhengde Temple, Abbot Chandu, slowly emerging from a nearby alley.
“Benefactor Li, this poor monk needs a small favor. Would you mind lending a hand?”
“Indeed, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You agreed so readily before, but the catch is here—starting to make demands now, huh?” Li Huowang thought for a few seconds before saying,
“What do you want me to do? I can’t do much, and I’m in a hurry right now. No time to go elsewhere.”
Though he was somewhat displeased that even in this major matter his side had to make conditions, Li Huowang was too lazy to argue with him.
As long as he could find a way to deal with Xuanyin, everything else was trivial.
“No need for Benefactor Li to lift a finger. Just follow this poor monk.”
Li Huowang sheathed his three swords again and followed behind Abbot Chandu.
Though Abbot Chandu said he needed Li Huowang’s help, he didn’t explain what it was. Instead, he led him deeper into Zhengde Temple.
No matter how filthy Zhengde Temple was, it at least looked impressive.
As the sun set in the west, Li Huowang strolled through the temple grounds, listening to the deep and distant tolling of bells, gazing at the ancient, solemn, majestic, and grand halls. It carried a unique charm.
After walking for about half a stick of incense, a grand hall appeared before Li Huowang.
This hall looked very new—not even a plaque above the entrance yet, with several monks applying fresh lacquer to the wooden beams.
The grand hall was nestled under a few ancient ginkgo trees. Being new, it had few visitors. From the front, it exuded an air of serene solemnity.
When Li Huowang followed Abbot Chandu inside, he found it completely empty. Though there was a lotus pedestal, it was bare. Nothing around it either.
Though the hall was empty, the incense burner held quite a few sticks of incense. No Buddha statue yet, but the incense was already burning.
“What’s this? Your Buddha fled? Want me to help find him?”
Abbot Chandu shook his head, took three incense sticks from the side, lit them with a candle, and bowed respectfully to the empty pedestal.
“Benefactor Li, this poor monk has sent disciples out these days and finally gathered some news. We hear our survival wasn’t coincidence—we were saved by someone else?”
“Someone connected Great Qi’s dragon vein to Great Liang’s, allowing us who should have died to survive?”
Hearing this, the wariness deep in Li Huowang’s eyes gradually faded. He seemed to understand what help the other wanted. His voice low, he said, “Indeed.”
“Dare I ask the savior’s honorable name? Please tell this poor monk, Benefactor Li. We hear it concerns you?” Abbot Chandu’s expression turned deadly serious at the topic.
“He’s dead. What use is asking now?”
“No, we Great Qi folk surviving relies entirely on that benefactor’s grace. Moreover, we monks cannot accept such favor without repayment. This poor monk must grant him a Buddha statue, to be revered by all.”
“Heh.” Li Huowang looked at the empty throne and let out two dry chuckles. “He becomes Buddha just like that? That kid becomes Buddha? He didn’t even believe in Buddha. Too ridiculous.”
“Then, in Benefactor Li’s view, what is a Buddha? One who has cultivated through the three immeasurable eons? One whose merits and wisdom are perfected? Or just this?” Abbot Chandu pointed at the empty pedestal before him.
Li Huowang sat on the ground and wrote the character for “Buddha” on the marble floor with his finger. He stared at it for a moment before sighing softly.
“One who saves all the world’s people and brings fortune to the masses deserves to become Buddha. This poor monk has also sent disciples into the world to inform other Great Qi folk which Buddha saved them, so the grateful may come worship and offer incense from myriad homes.”
“The man’s dead. What use are these words?”
Li Huowang gently raised his hand. The marble slabs on the grand hall’s floor quickly fused together, ultimately coalescing atop the pedestal into a stone carving of a scholar.
When that familiar face appeared before him, the ever-calm Abbot Chandu’s eyes widened in shock. “It was him?!”
Li Huowang, in low spirits, sighed and turned to leave the newly opened Buddha hall.
But the monk stood rooted, eyes gleaming as he gazed at the statue before him. “So this is Buddha.”
Once word spread that the statue was erected, all the monks in Zhengde Temple who hailed from Great Qi set aside their flayed hides and meat, took incense, and bowed reverently.
Before long, scattered Great Qi folk in the city heard the news from who-knows-where and came thronging with incense, candles, and offerings, families in tow, kneeling in worship. It continued nonstop into the night.
Hiding in the shadows, Li Huowang watched it all from afar, eyes on the sculpture enveloped in incense smoke. His sharp hearing caught every word from the worshippers.
Listening to their devout prayers and sincere pleas, as if that stone truly could respond.
Seeing these people, Li Huowang finally realized just how many lives Zhuge Yuan had truly saved.
An excited monk nearby said, “Daoist, make me real too! I want to do good deeds! I want to become Buddha too!”
Li Huowang ignored him and turned to leave. Just then, he saw Zhengde Temple’s abbot leading his disciples in solemn procession.
They seemed to be performing some Buddhist rite, though Li Huowang didn’t understand what they were doing.
The abbot held a yellow silk cloth in both hands, wrapping it reverently around the statue. Then he took a red brush tipped with cinnabar and gently dotted the center of Zhuge Yuan’s stone forehead.
When he saw a small red dot appear on Zhuge Yuan’s forehead, Li Huowang couldn’t hold back. Shoulders shaking, he clutched his belly and burst into laughter. “Hahahaha!!! ”
His laughter boomed far and wide, utterly unrestrained, quickly drawing the eyes of Zhengde Temple’s monks and worshippers alike.
“Pfft~ Hahaha!! No worries, carry on! Hahaha!!” Li Huowang laughed as he spoke, turning to leave the new hall behind.