Chapter 461
Chapter 461
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 118
>Chapter Title: Approaching Omen (2)
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In the northern reaches of Datong in Shanxi Province stood the Great Yan Temple of the Zhenyan Esoteric Sect.
Behind the temple rose a massive peak towering majestically, surrounded by over a hundred Vajra monks of the Esoteric tradition clutching their Vajra scepters as they chanted sutras.
The solemn chants echoed across the entire mountainside, bringing peace of mind and body to any who heard them.
Yet the faces of the Vajra monks chanting them were far from serene.
Their complexions were pallid, dark circles under their eyes, as if they hadn't slept in days—each one looked utterly exhausted.
“Om somani somani hum harina harina hum harina banaya hum anaya hok baabam baara hum batak.”
Even so, they chanted without pause.
In the midst of it, one Vajra monk broke out in cold sweat, and soon,
“Pfft!”
Black blood erupted from his mouth like a fountain.
So much blood gushed forth that it seemed he would die from blood loss in moments just from what sprayed from his lips.
The nearby Vajra monks panicked and tried to stop their chanting,
“Gah!”
But an old monk standing behind them, gripping prayer beads, let out a sharp shout.
The Vajra monks hesitated for a moment before sitting back down and resuming their chant.
“Om somani somani hum harina harina hum harina banaya hum anaya hok baabam baara hum batak.”
Meanwhile, the old monk rushed to the side of the monk spewing blood.
“Gack! Gack! Gack!”
The condition of the blood-vomiting Vajra monk was utterly dire.
His body withered away rapidly, as if all moisture within him were being drained, black veins bulging grotesquely beneath his exposed skin.
The old monk sat behind him, pressed his Vajra scepter against the monk's back, and channeled the energy of the Buddha's path.
“Grrrrrr.”
The Vajra monk convulsed in agony.
Undeterred, the old monk continued pouring in the Buddha's energy.
At that instant,
—Fwooooosh!
A dark, ominous smoke rose from the blood-spewing Vajra monk's mouth.
Then,
—Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Vajra monk seized his own neck and twisted it backward with a snap.
—Thud!
As the monk collapsed with his neck broken, the old monk's expression darkened.
Even with the profound Buddha energy he had cultivated for so long, he couldn't dispel the evil force that had invaded the monk.
But this was far from over.
“Gack... gack...”
—Spurt!
Another Vajra monk raised his head and vomited black blood.
The old monk rose to rush toward him,
—Spurt!
—Spurt!
—Spurt!
But Vajra monks everywhere began lifting their heads and spewing black blood.
The old monk's face hardened at the sight.
The bodies of the convulsing, trembling monks withered at an alarming rate.
When just one had vomited blood, they had endured at the old monk's command.
But with over a dozen now hemorrhaging,
“Eek!”
“R-Run!”
“We're all gonna die!”
Some of the panicked Vajra monks screamed in terror and fled the scene like madmen.
“Stop!”
Even the old monk's cry couldn't halt them.
The bizarre deaths had cracked their resolve, and nearly half the Vajra monks could no longer contain their fear—they discarded their Vajra scepters and bolted.
“We can't stop now! If we do, everything will be for naught.”
The old monk infused his voice with qi and shouted, then clasped his hands in prayer and strode to the front of the formation around the peak, intoning a grand Anti-Demon Mantra.
“Om somani somani hum harina harina hum harina banaya hum anaya hok baabam baara hum batak.”
As the old monk chanted, a golden light—the energy of the Buddha—flowed from his body.
In the presence of his profound Buddhist aura, the terrified monks regained their composure, resuming their seated positions and joining the Anti-Demon Mantra.
Just as the mantra seemed to stabilize once more.
It was then.
“Gack!”
The chanting old monk clutched his own throat.
Wracked with pain, he dropped to his knees, his face flushing red as violent convulsions seized him.
“Abbot!”
Two Vajra monks from the front row rushed to support him.
But the suffering old monk shoved them away.
As the monks tried to grab him again,
“Gwaaaargh!”
The old monk retched, spewing forth not black blood, but strangely formed insects.
“W-What in the...?”
The Vajra monks recoiled in shock at the grotesque bugs, at a loss for what to do.
What ill omen was this?
Evil so potent even a senior monk who had cultivated the Buddha's path for decades couldn't withstand it?
No sooner had the Vajra monks' chants faltered than,
“Gack!”
—Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!
Monks everywhere lifted their heads again, vomiting black blood like fountains.
The barely quelled terror and fear instantly gripped the group once more.
“I d-don't wanna die!”
“Uwaaaaaah!!!”
Screams erupted as Vajra monks tried to flee.
Unlike those who had run earlier, however, those rising from their spots couldn't lift their feet from the ground—as if their legs were pinned.
“W-What's this...”
“My feet won't move.”
“Urgh!”
As they strained desperately to pull free, something even more horrifying occurred.
—Rip!
Those trying to wrench their feet away had their legs torn clean off.
“Gaaaaah!”
“M-My leg!”
The legless Vajra monks collapsed, shrieking in agony.
But soon, they clung to the ground, their entire bodies adhering to it.
“Urk!”
“M-My body...”
Those stuck had their skin tear as they were sucked straight into the earth.
The sight was utterly gruesome.
Skin and muscle twisted, bones snapped—it was too horrific to behold.
The Vajra monks near the old monk, who had vomited the bugs, dropped their scepters and trembled in dread at the nightmare unfolding.
—Slither...
In their eyes, they saw the massive amounts of blood pouring from the Vajra monks flow backward up toward the peak.
The vast blood flowed right into the mountain.
—Rumble rumble rumble!
The peak shook violently as if struck by an earthquake, cracks spiderwebbing across it.
The old monk's eyes widened in horror amid his torment.
The widening cracks revealed a chilling gaze that locked onto his own.
“Grrrgh.”
—Boom!
His body swelled massively and exploded.
Nor was he alone.
The two Vajra monks trembling beside him suffered the same.
Their bodies ballooned before bursting.
—Drip drip...
The blood flowing from their ruptured forms mingled with the streams and seeped into the peak.
—Step step.
Amid this carnage, a figure approached, trampling the blood.
Wearing a death's-head crown, one hand formed a mudra, the other clutched a sinister ritual implement woven from skulls.
The crowned figure gazed at the colossal entity within the crumbling peak and spoke.
“The time has come to spread your white wings once more, White Peng Demon King.”
* * *
Deep within a cave at the base of a sheer cliff in Pan'an, Zhejiang Province.
Entering the cave led to a vast cavern embedded with countless glowing stones, twinkling like stars in the night sky.
Below sprawled intricate formations etched into the floor.
At the center loomed something enormous.
This behemoth, occupying half the hundred-zhang cavern, bore golden mane, a tiger-like head, and a tail woven from hundreds of blades.
—Grrooooowl.
It resembled a lion incarnate.
Hundreds of hooks pierced its massive body, chains linking them densely embedded in the cavern walls.
Upon closer inspection, the chains bore red inscriptions resembling spells.
These,
—Groooowl!
Constrained the lion at its slightest twitch,
—Whiiiiiing!
Yanking with hooks and chains inscribed in red script, threatening to tear its limbs—no, its entire body—asunder.
The pain was so excruciating the colossal lion couldn't even twitch.
One peculiar detail: the lion had no eyes.
Not naturally eyeless, but sockets hollowed out forcibly.
—Sniff sniff?
Suddenly, the beast sniffed the air, nostrils flaring, enduring the hooks' bite as it tensed with venomous hatred, straining to rise.
As the lion moved,
—Groooowl!
The entire cavern trembled and shook.
It felt on the verge of collapse, but the dense formations on the floor activated, absorbing the vibrations entirely.
Then, toward the lion strode a death's-head crowned figure, hands clasped behind their back.
The lion's face twisted, and soon,
—Roooooooar!
It unleashed a deafening roar that could shatter eardrums.
Hurricane-force winds whipped through the cavern from the bellow, yet the crowned one approached the lion's snout unperturbed.
Halting before it, the crowned figure spoke.
“Will you follow if I grant you new eyes? Or if I offer another chance at vengeance? Lion Tearing King.”
* * *
In the imperial palace of Kaifeng, Henan Province.
Within the inner palace, in the lavish chambers of the most resplendent consort.
—Crack!
The pristine white teacup in delicate hands split and shattered.
“My lady!”
As shards fell, a beautiful palace maid cried out in alarm, hastily brushing away the remaining pieces from the consort's hand.
She glanced outside and shouted.
“Is no one there? Fetch—”
—Shh!
But a raised hand silenced her.
The maid spoke in distress.
“Consort, we must call the physician at once. The shards are sharp; your hand must be cut... Ah?”
Her eyes widened.
The consort's hand, which should have been sliced, was pristine.
Even she had nicked herself brushing away a fragment moments ago—what sorcery was this?
As she puzzled, the consort's lips curved upward.
The palace maid gasped unwittingly at the smile of Ho Consort, the imperial palace's most breathtaking beauty, a woman to topple nations.
“Ah!”
Ignoring her, Ho Consort rose.
—Clatter clatter!
She approached the rattling window and flung it open.
The cloudless night sky was pristine, but the fiercely swirling cold wind carried an eerie foreboding.
Extending her hand to feel it on her fingertips, Ho Consort murmured.
“The stench of blood will soon quake the heavens and earth.”
< 118화 다가오는 징조 (2) > End