Chapter 142: Gods and Buddhas from Various Realms
Should we go forward or backward?
The heavenly kings looked down at the "invaders" in the tower with lowered eyebrows.
Fang Lingqing felt his throat dry and said, "What... what is all this?"
The four heavenly kings, awakened from their slumber, started moving their limbs. The blue heavenly king from the south raised his arm, and with the sword in his hand, he pressed down towards the area where Qiao Wan and others were.
A giant sword, gleaming with a cold light, struck down from above!
Qiao Wan leaped towards the nearby staircase and shouted, "Go upstairs!"
The giant sword hit the ground, and the floor with lotus patterns cracked open, like a broken lotus on top of another lotus. As the lotus blossomed one after another, the whole pagoda seemed to start shaking.
Qiao Wan and her group rushed upstairs along the stairs as fast as they could!
The stairs stretched upwards, forming a nine-story pagoda. Qiao Wan ran with her lungs bursting, not daring to stop, hoping that there might be a glimmer of hope upstairs.
Yu Xingzhi was injured. His thigh was deeply wounded with the bone visible. He dragged one leg and ran upstairs in a sorry state.
Being saved by Lu Cixian and his group was embarrassing enough, but judging by Lu Cixian's expression, it seemed like saving him wasn't really his intention.
Yu Xingzhi clenched his teeth and remained silent, dragging his injured leg behind Qiao Wan and the others.
Who wouldn't want to stay alive?
Even if it means being more embarrassed, at this moment, he had to hold onto Lu Cixian and the others for dear life.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Underneath the stairs, there came a series of booming footsteps. The "Four Great Guardians" took big steps, as they chased after each other, leaving deep holes in their path.
In this moment of crisis, Qiao Wan couldn't help but blurt out: "What the heck is going on? It's like a scene from a special effects movie!"
With every step the Four Great Guardians took, the stairs shook. Qiao Wan and Fang Lingqing, who were climbing the stairs, also felt the vibrations. Their footsteps slipped in unison, nearly causing them to tumble down together.
They stepped onto the second floor.
In the center of the second floor, three statues of Buddhas were seated back to back. Their eyes closed, hands in a sacred gesture, surrounded by a mist of incense. On the altar in front of them were scattered remnants of flesh and broken body parts.
The three Buddha statues seemed to sense something and began to move.
As Qiao Wan rushed into the second floor, she had a bad feeling. She leaped over the Buddha statues and mustered up her courage to climb towards the third floor!
"Don't stop! Keep running upstairs!"
Fang Lingqing followed closely behind. He quickly spotted three moving statues of Buddha and was so startled that he almost screamed. He clenched his teeth and continued rushing upwards but couldn't help feeling doubtful.
"What on earth is this place?!"
Yu Xingzhi frowned and kept his eyes straight ahead. He didn't even glance at the scattered pieces of flesh on the ground. He gripped the railing and kept climbing, leaving a trail of red blood from his injured leg.
After the hearse drifted, everyone, led by Qiao Wan started playing a sport called "parkour" from the future.
As they ascended, the walls at the corners of the stairs had niches carved out. Inside these niches were statues of Buddhas and arhats, each with different expressions, either sitting or lying down. The "divine Buddhas" from the heavens came down from their niches, and the relief sculptures on the walls seemed to come alive, with the lines wriggling.
The smell of blood grew stronger, and there were more and more scattered body parts and organs on the ground, mixed with bits of flesh, nails, and hair.
Third floor.
Fourth floor.
Qiao Wan bolted up to the fifth floor and collided with a corner. A sharp and mighty axe plunged from the sky.
At the critical moment, Qiao Wan quickly rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the axe slashing against her back. She felt a chilling sensation on her spine as the blade passed by. Looking up, she saw the "Bodhisattva" wielding the giant axe with anger in its wide-open eyes. The robes behind it billowed in the wind.
The staircase couldn't bear the weight of the falling axe and started to crack inch by inch.
Fang Lingqing and Wang Ruyi, who were following closely behind, widened their eyes as they watched the staircase collapse before them. Their thoughts were filled with shock and disbelief.
Qiao Wan exerted force and kicked off, flipping onto the shoulder of the Buddha statue. Sliding down its back, she coldly called out to Fang Lingqing, "Come up!"
They were determined.
Fang Lingqing clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, his energy concentrated in his lower abdomen. With a swift leap, he soared up.
For Wang Ruyi, it was a bit easier. She swung her hair and tangled her arm with Qiao Wan's, leaping over the collapsing staircase and flying towards them.
At that moment, Yu Xingzhi had just turned the corner of the staircase.
The flying wood debris and thick smoke from the collapsing staircase obscured the view of the young man.
Qiao Wan stopped in her tracks when she saw the collapsed stairs ahead of her. She couldn't go up anymore.
From behind, she heard loud footsteps approaching. "Bodhisattvas from all heavens" were rushing towards them.
Qiao Wan blinked her eyes and, despite the dust and smoke, locked eyes with Yu Xingzhi.
While she admired Yu Xingzhi's willingness to protect their fellow students, their loyalties were different. She didn't take this opportunity to push Yu Xingzhi down the stairs; that was her way of showing respect for her senior at Sun Tao College.
As for saving him, she didn't feel so generous. After all, people are naturally selfish and protective of themselves. If she had decided to take down Sun Tao College, it was better not to develop any kind of "comrades-in-arms" bond with the enemy.
Qiao Wan looked away, turned around, and continued climbing the stairs.
Yu Xingzhi wasn't surprised that Lu Cixian didn't want to save him.
Yu Xingzhi pursed his lips, turned towards the direction downstairs, drew his sword, and prepared to have a deadly battle with the eerie creatures in this pagoda.
Instead of looking at Yu Xingzhi, Wang Ruyi glanced in his direction and shook her hair.
"Come on up!"
The young man was surprised.
Wang Ruyi urged, "What are you waiting for? Come up!"
Nobody wanted to die, so since the corpse was willing to save him, Yu Xingzhi didn't hesitate. He reached out and firmly grabbed onto the black hair in front of him.
Wang Ruyi took two steps forward and accelerated!
She managed to pull the big man up.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch," the female corpse rubbed her head and spoke in a sweet voice.
Witnessing this horrifying scene of the female corpse acting cute, Yu Xingzhi glanced at Wang Ruyi without saying a word.
Wang Ruyi kneeled in front of Yu Xingzhi, her hands resting on her knees, tilting her dry head to study him. "Yong Lang?"
This term of address felt especially affectionate in this situation.
Furthermore, it was uttered by the horrifying corpse in front of them.
Although he didn't know who the little corpse in front of him was referring to, Yu Xingzhi had no interest in chatting with such an ugly corpse.
The young mummy might have mistaken the person who saved him multiple times. Although Yu Xingzhi was indifferent, he didn't deny it, simply saying, "Thank you for saving my life."
Wang Ruyi wasn't foolish, and immediately sensed a barely discernible disdain in the young man's eyes.
The young girl tugged at her face thoughtfully and asked, "Do you think I'm ugly?"
Looking at Yu Xingzhi's face, Wang Ruyi candidly said, "You're even uglier than me, you know?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the young man in front of her froze.
Who said the mummy was ugly?!!
Although his cultivation was not as good as Ye Xiyuan's , his face was more handsome than Ye Xiyuan's by more than twice.
The speaker did not intend it, but the listener took offense.
Before, he could still be considered handsome, but after this battle, he lost an arm, half of his thigh, and half of his proud face, exposing gruesome and blood-red muscle tissue. It's true that he can no longer be associated with the word "handsome."
In Yu Xingzhi's narrowed eyes, a strong resentment instantly arose.
Who's ugly?! How dare this mummy, who looks like this, say he's ugly?!
Running up the stairs, Qiao Wan clenched her hand tightly and counted in her mind.
Sixth floor, seventh floor, eighth floor.
As she reached the ninth floor, Qiao Wan suddenly stopped and made a gesture to Fang Lingqing behind her.
He accidentally bumped into the strong and sturdy back of the young man, and tears almost welled up in Fang Lingqing's eyes.
How did Lu Cixian develop such strong muscles?
However, the words that Qiao Wan spoke next made Fang Lingqing hold onto his arm tightly as if facing a great danger.
The young man's face turned serious: "There's someone upstairs."
Hearing Qiao Wan's words, both Fang Lingqing and Yu Xingzhi became alert and carefully listened.
Indeed, there was a faint sound coming from the ninth floor.
The sound was like a knife slicing through meat, skillfully cutting through muscle tissue. Not only that, the smell of blood was even stronger than downstairs.
And at this moment, the sounds from the lower eight floors had almost faded away, becoming barely audible.
All the Buddhas returned to their places.
Qiao Wan turned her head and made a gesture, sticking close to the wall and slowly moving upwards.
Then she leaned against the wall and waited for a while before poking her head out, glancing towards the center with the corner of her eye.
In the middle, there was also a table, which was about one zhang long and half wide. On the table lay something that vaguely resembled a human.
Behind it stood a porcelain woman, holding a sharp knife in her hand, with a hammer and scissors on the table.
The porcelain woman used the sharp knife to stab into the thigh of the sacrificial animal on the table. The knife smoothly cut through the muscle tissue, skillfully dividing it into pieces. She then chopped off each finger, neatly arranging them in a dish on the left side.
She was very meticulous in her work, moving with agility that resembled a real "butcher."
Just as Qiao Wan was about to turn around and find Fang Lingqing, something fell onto her scalp.
A gust of wind passed over her head gently.
Taoist Friend Meng raised his eyes and saw something shocking. It was a dried piece of "jerky" made from a person, with its abdomen opened and organs removed.
"This is called 'zhi'," said Fang Lingqing.
It was a way to sacrifice living beings.
In a hoarse voice, Fang Lingqing continued from behind.
"This is a real scene of a sacrifice involving living beings."
As for the object of the sacrifice...
Thinking of the "Bodhisattvas" downstairs.
It was almost self-evident who the object was.
Hurry up...
Run faster...
The young man ran towards Jiuyue Mountain, panting heavily. His face was filled with tears and sorrow.
Taoist Friend Zheng is dead.
Taoist Friend Yao is dead.
Taoist Friend Meng was trapped in the temple.
Taoist Friend Dou, who went with him to seek help, also died!
Everyone is dead!
When he closed his eyes, all he could see in his mind was the smiling "Bodhisattva" in the depths of the flames.
This ghost market was not a temple gathering at all. It was simply a massacre! They... They were nothing more than pigs and dogs being raised!
"This is not from the Daoxin Sect... Is it Taoist Friend Zhao?"
"This time, shouldn't we be in the Ghost Market? How did we end up here?"
Not understanding why someone was approaching from a distance, the disciple guarding the Great Hall of Light looked at them in surprise.
Finally, they saw the mountain gate of the Great Hall of Light, and in the distance, the magnificent and brilliant halls illuminated by Buddha's light.
Zhao Ting's knees went weak, he stumbled and fell right in front of the mountain gate!
"Hurry...," Zhao Ting looked up and said with a hoarse voice, "Hurry, go find Venerable One!"
The young man's whole body was covered in blood, trembling lips, tears welled up in his eyes.
"Taoist friend? What's wrong? Don't panic, taoist friend!"
Zhao Ting lowered his head, gasping for breath, and roared, "Go... go find Venerable One Miaofa now!"
As soon as the words fell, there was a sound of wheels rolling on the ground.
A man with a deep and magnetic voice said, "Venerable One Miaofa is currently practicing meditation at Dingren Peak."
Zhao Ting was taken aback; Ma Huaizhen was sitting in a wheelchair, with a tall and powerful man standing behind him, a sword hanging at his waist.
He looked up and revealed a face that had been disfigured. There was a hint of terrifying coldness in his eyes as he solemnly said, "What's the matter? You might as well tell me first."
