CH 155

The exposed skin of the burly man became redder and redder like cooked shrimp.

“Buddha! Buddha, save me! Buddha!”

The burly man rolled on the ground in pain and lots of blisters soon appeared on his skin. Pus oozed from the blisters and the skin turned from red to black, quickly producing a burnt smell.

Suddenly, the burly man stopped and looked in one direction in horror, “Buddha? No, you’re no Buddha but a demon.”

With that said, a wisp of fire burst out of the burly man's body, shrouded him, and quickly burned him to ashes.

Everything happened in just a few minutes, and many people hadn’t returned to their senses.

At this moment, another person said in a miserable voice, “Buddha, spare me. Please spare me.”

Jing Yue saw that the enthusiastic waiter in the shop also exhibited the same symptoms as the burly man. Before his cries subsided, he was also reduced to ashes.

Yi Wang looked at Jing Yue in bewilderment as the latter held his hand. He wanted to save them just now, but Jing Yue stopped him.

Jing Yue couldn’t be bothered about others now. His brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes were grave, and he doubted what he had just seen.

It was his soul-mind that entered the illusion, and in his vision, he clearly saw that the burly man and the waiter had both their soul-minds ignited, which in turn burned their bodies.

Mortals had three fires, one on the head and two on the shoulders. This fire was invisible to the naked eye, but it gathered the life force of the person. Once weakened or destroyed, that person’s life force would drain away.

In order to protect the three fires, cultivators would refine the three fires into their souls. When the soul spontaneously combusted, it must be a cultivator who ignited the three fires to burn it. Once the soul was ignited, there was no way to rescue it without treasures or elixirs to suppress the three fires in time.

Once the three fires were refined into the soul, the only one who could control it was the cultivator himself. In other words, the waiter and the burly man had self-combusted.

In fact, as soon as Jing Yue entered the inn, he noticed that several people in the inn had cultivation skills. Among them, the innkeeper and the burly man were low-level Qi Refining stage, while the waiter was only at the Body Forging stage, so he didn't pay them any heed.

After all, although this place was remote, it was still part of the cultivation world. Even though external cultivators didn’t interact much, like Megasun City, some low-level cultivators still lived in the outside world.

He just didn't expect that the waiter and the burly man would self-combust at the same time.

Why?

“D-D-Did they see the Buddha?”

The trembling voice of the innkeeper broke the dead silence, and people recovered from their panic. Thinking of what the two of them said before their spontaneous combustion, everyone was full of horror.

However, Jing Yue stared right at the innkeeper. At this moment, he suspected everyone with cultivation in the inn. He couldn’t help feeling that the innkeeper was doing this on purpose.

At this time, a bearded companion of the burly man, “Could it be that the Buddha burned them? They offended the Buddha?”

The innkeeper, “H-How is that possible? Zhang Cheng is the most devout to the Buddha. He believed in the Buddha in the early days and his mother's eye disease recovered. His faith in the Buddha is unshakeable!”

Some customers who were familiar with Zhang Cheng nodded in agreement.

Everyone thought of the burly man’s attitude before this. Obviously, he was a devout believer, so how could he offend the Buddha?

Besides, the Buddha was the kindest and could avert all disasters. They had never heard that the Buddha could resort to such cruel methods.

“Um, is it because of their devotion that the Buddha took a fancy to them and wanted to take their souls to serve him?” the bearded companion asked again.

Someone disagreed. “Aren't there many attendants around the Buddha?”

The bearded man, “Those people are just attendants. Didn't the rumors say that if the Buddhas noticed someone who is fated to the path of Buddhism, they’ll help them get rid of their mortal bodies and enlighten them personally? Maybe the Buddha is also like this?”

“Um, I don’t think so.” A hint of hesitation appeared on the innkeeper’s face.

At this moment, a commotion was heard outside. “Oh no, something has happened!”

Someone went out to inquire. It turned out that not only the burly man and the waiter but also three to five people in the city encountered similar situations, and turned into ashes under everyone’s eyes.

And without exception, these people were well-known devout believers of the Buddha.

The people in the inn looked at each other and gradually believed in the bearded man's speculation.

“If that's the case, I’m really… envious,” someone said.

Others also expressed coveting, but there was no envy in their expressions.

Who would want to die suddenly if they were living a good life, let alone dying in such a miserable state? When the burly man and the waiter died, they obviously expressed their fear of the Buddha.

Very soon, a group of people in white robes rushed into the inn. Everyone greeted them respectfully and called them the Buddha’s attendants, but they ignored the onlookers and stared at the ashes on the ground solemnly.

After that, the people in white robes collected the ashes of the two deceased and questioned everyone one by one.

When he came to Jing Yue, the man in white robes probably noticed his unfamiliar face and looked at him suspiciously. Yi Wang immediately stood in front of Jing Yue and accepted the interrogation as his attendant on Jing Yue’s behalf.

Of course, the white-robed man couldn't get anything out of them. The guests in the inn testified for each other and ruled out the suspects. The innkeeper also specially explained on behalf of Jing Yue and Yi Wang, saying that they had just arrived and did not know the situation yet.

The white-robed man probably thought that those who died outside were far away from the inn. If someone was doing this, they wouldn’t have the ability to assassinate so many people at the same time, so they didn't pursue this matter and simply said, “Keep your mouth shut, and don't say what you shouldn't say.”

Everyone responded tremblingly, but the bearded man was earnest and boldly asked, “May I ask if they have been taken away by the Buddha?”

The white-robed people were all startled. Hearing the bearded man’s conjecture, the white-robed people were furious. “Outrageous! The Buddha is merciful. How could he do such a thing?”

The bearded man was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, but the white-robed people were still annoyed and dragged the bearded man away in the name of spreading rumors to mislead the public. Before leaving, they reminded the people in the inn again.

As soon as the Buddha’s attendants left, the people in the inn immediately scattered.

Jing Yue and Yi Wang returned to the room, and Yi Wang immediately asked, “Why did you stop me just now?”

Jing Yue told what he saw, and Yi Wang frowned. “The innkeeper and the bearded man were working together and really seemed like they were deliberately leading people to think that way.”

Jing Yue, “The bearded man, the innkeeper, the dead burly man, and the waiter are all cultivators. Apart from them, there are two more cultivators in the inn mingled among the burly man’s group. I wonder if they are related.”

Yi Wang, “Are you saying that they know each other and are putting on a show?”

Jing Yue, “At least the waiter and the burly man are, without a doubt.”

Yi Wang, “They self-combusted just to put on a show?”

Jing Yue, “Do you think it’s impossible?”

Yi Wang said seriously, “No, I’ll believe whatever you say.”

Jing Yue, “…”

Early the next morning, Jing Yue and Yi Wang left the inn.

Although the Buddha’s attendants had warned them in advance, the fact that several people spontaneously combusted during the worship was still known to everyone. Even the speculation made by the bearded man who was taken away somehow circulated around.

The two looked at each other and felt that someone did it on purpose.

At this time, the bell rang.

People put out the Buddha statues habitually, but they were not as keen as usual.

A woman hesitated to kneel for a long time. When her mother-in-law saw that, she scolded angrily, “Kneel down at once! Do you want people to misunderstand that we don’t respect the Buddha?”

The woman knelt aggrievedly, but her mother-in-law added, “It's just some rumors out there. The Buddha's attendants said that the Buddha would never do such a thing. It must be a conspiracy. Someone wants to frame the Buddha, just like the Daoist who was killed back then!”

The woman's husband quickly came to persuade her, and the mother-in-law calmed down and kowtowed to the Buddha statue.

However, after praying three times, she also spontaneously combusted like yesterday, and died in a blink of an eye.

The woman's scream and the man's wail sounded on the street, and everyone who witnessed this scene was terrified.

At the same time, two or three similar incidents occurred in Jingyang City. For a while, everyone was wary. At noon, not many people dared to worship anymore.

Jing Yue, “If our guess is correct, those people are deliberately targeting the Buddha.”

Yi Wang also nodded, “But why would they want to rely on self-combustion to create panic?”

Jing Yue was silent for a while, feeling something was strange, and said, “Let’s ask someone.”

Yi Wang, “Leave it to me.”

Jing Yue and Yi Wang couldn't figure it out. Monk Luo Shui, known as the Buddha's reincarnation, was also puzzled. He didn't know that the cause of those people's death was the spontaneous combustion of their soul-minds. He just thought that someone was playing tricks, and vented his frustrations at the attendants at this time.

“You investigated for such a long time but found nothing?”

The Buddha attendants said cautiously, “N-No. When those people caught fire, the people around them acted normally.”

Monk Luo Shui, “Impossible. Someone must have performed evil sorcery. They want to harm me! They want them to stop believing in me and prevent my faith!”

He paced back and forth angrily. A Buddhist attendant came in a hurry and said to the monk, “Buddha, we found out that the innkeeper in the Prosperity Inn seems to be related to the Green Mountain Sect.”

“Green Mountain Sect?” The Buddha stopped abruptly. “The Green Mountain Sect on Qingcang Mountain?”

Buddha attendant, “Exactly.”

Monk Luo Shui's facial features were distorted and looked very menacing, his usual kindness nowhere to be seen. He gritted his teeth and said, “Green Mountain Sect! Their sect leader has been dead for more than a hundred years. Why are they still fighting against me?”

Everyone bowed their heads and dared not speak.

Monk Luo Shui, “Capture him. I’ll interrogate him myself.”

Buddha attendant, “Yes.”

That night, the sound of fighting came from the Prosperity Inn, and the innkeeper Zhao Fu was surrounded by seven or eight Buddhist attendants. He knew he was exposed.

Seeing that he was about to be caught by the Buddha attendant, Zhao Fu was about to commit suicide. Suddenly, a sword flew toward him, and a handsome Daoist rushed into the siege of the white-robed men. Facing the siege of several people, he wasn’t flustered at all but knocked out all the white-robed people in just a few minutes.

Zhao Fu was shocked. “It’s you?”

Immediately after, he felt a pain in the back of his head. His eyes went dark, and he was knocked unconscious by the Daoist.

Author’s Notes:

Jing-jing: Blah-blah-blah…

Yi Wang: (smiling sincerely) Yeah, you’re right.

Jing-jing: …

Ji-ji: Don't be crushed, Jing-jing is surrounded by scheming boys!

…

Zhao Fu: Is that you?

Yi Wang: (Talk too much. Knock him out and tally the score.)