In the instant before the golden ring descended, Mo Chuan felt the terrifying surge of spiritual energy behind him. He instinctively prepared to shield himself, but just as he started, Zhang Hanshan, who rushed forward, pushed him aside.
The golden ring landed on the phantom image of the Vajra Yaksha King, shattering it directly.
Zhang Hanshan’s aura suddenly weakened. He spat out a large mouthful of blood and, along with Mo Chuan, fell onto the gradually shattering base.
Behind them, the stone statue, having expended its power in that one strike, began to disintegrate even faster, finally turning into a handful of yellow sand; the murals also gradually disappeared as the stone statue collapsed.
“Old Zhang!” Mo Chuan’s pupils constricted. He quickly held him in his arms and shouted, “Sister Lian! Zhang Hanshan, he—”
Qing Lianzi immediately flashed to Mo Chuan’s side. First, she used a silver needle to seal Zhang Hanshan’s vital energy to prevent his injuries from worsening. Then, she placed her hand on Zhang Hanshan’s pulse, using her spiritual energy to sense his condition.
However, Qing Lianzi’s expression immediately turned grim.
“Massive spiritual energy loss… multiple meridian fractures… and most importantly…” Qing Lianzi said, looking at the gradually weakening Zhang Hanshan, “I can’t feel his special ability anymore.”
“What?!” Mo Chuan’s pupils constricted, and he grabbed Qing Lianzi’s sleeve. “How is that possible? Then he’d be useless! With only spiritual energy but no skills, isn’t that the same as someone who hasn’t awakened?”
“Don’t rush… I’ll save his life first.” Qing Lianzi administered several more needles, sealing acupoints, then patted Zhang Hanshan’s chest, causing him to cough up a large amount of dark blood.
“Alright… next, the bones and external injuries…” Qing Lianzi said.
Hearing this, Mo Chuan immediately poured three bottles of [Corrupting Potion] into Zhang Hanshan. Under the potion’s systematic healing, Zhang Hanshan’s injuries clearly improved, but he remained in a weakened state.
“Done… fortunately, the soul was not harmed,” Qing Lianzi said, withdrawing her silver needles. “We need to find a way to get him out. An ordinary person cannot survive here.”
…The others fell silent. While they often heard about the dangers of ruins, experiencing it firsthand was a different sensation altogether.
Mo Chuan gently set Zhang Hanshan down, then walked to the base with a gloomy expression.
On the shattered base, only the pile of yellow sand remained as proof of the statue’s existence.
The intense emotional turmoil made Mo Chuan extremely agitated. He raised his right hand and punched the base.
“Boom—”
Under the heavy impact of this punch, the base could no longer bear the load and shattered into several pieces. Strangely, the ground beneath the base also cracked open.
Sensing the tremor from beneath his feet, Qing Lianzi quickly picked up Zhang Hanshan and shouted, “Everyone be careful! Something’s wrong!”
Before anyone could react, the ground beneath the dust and sand finally revealed its true form—a massive mirror.
As the mirror shattered, a white light flashed, engulfing everyone.
…
Mo Chuan felt the coolness of the ground. His consciousness returning, he immediately got up from the ground, scanned his surroundings, and checked on everyone else.
The surroundings were no longer the yellow sand and stones of the Dunhuang ruins, but bluestone bricks, vermilion pillars, and white lacquered walls.
Qing Lianzi and the others were not far behind Mo Chuan, clearly not yet awake.
Mo Chuan was about to wake them when bright lights suddenly ignited in the room, illuminating the great hall.
On the vermilion beams, a couplet was displayed:
Red dust does not reach the true immortal realm,
A peaceful land, a good place for cultivation.
Mo Chuan: “???”
The previous owner of Mo Chuan’s body was a huge fan of the Black Myth series of games. Having beaten the main story quests dozens of times, he was very familiar with the scene of “Little Leiyin Temple.”
As the lights and incense illuminated the hall, the darkness before Mo Chuan revealed itself—a wall with countless niches, and within each niche, a bronze Buddha statue.
Mo Chuan’s pupils constricted.
Suddenly, a slightly hoarse voice spoke:
“You common mortal, what are you doing in our three-inch pure land? Do you not know that offending a sacred Buddhist site is a grave sin?”
Mo Chuan looked for the source of the voice and saw a Buddha statue with a large, round head and ears near the center of the wall speaking to him.
No need to guess, Maitreya.
However, this Maitreya did not look as simple and understanding as the one in Mo Chuan’s memory; instead, he had a somewhat cunning, hawk-eyed, and imposing demeanor.
Scanning the surroundings again, Mo Chuan realized that many of the Buddha statues he could identify looked incredibly cunning.
And most importantly, the niches in the center of the wall and the one below Maitreya were empty. The empty niche below Maitreya contained only a bronze base for some kind of mount.
Mo Chuan subconsciously touched his backpack.
“Why is this idiot so dull?” “Is he scared silly? Why isn’t he replying?” “He’s really ugly…”
For a moment, the Buddha statues in the niches began to whisper amongst themselves.
Mo Chuan narrowed his eyes—he believed he was in a similar situation to what the Journey to the West protagonists encountered in the Small Western Heaven—these “Buddhas” were likely demons or fiends disguised as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Just as Mo Chuan was contemplating the necessity of taking action, a light, ethereal voice suddenly spoke: “Benefactor, may I speak with you for a moment?”
Mo Chuan scanned his surroundings but found no speaking Buddha statue on the noisy wall.
“Benefactor, don’t look. I am in your bag.”
Mo Chuan was stunned—was it his own Buddha statue?
Then, the Buddha statue conveyed a highly informative message: “None of these Buddha statues are real Buddhas; they are all disguised by demons and members of the Azure-Winged Eagle clan.”
“Then you…”
“I am Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.”