Chapter 151: Wicked people have their own methods of tormenting each other
And how is she supposed to bring back two tough guys?!
Carrying one on her back, and hugging another one in her arms?!
As soon as the warm and tall body fell into her arms, Qiao Wan stiffened like a stick.
Ma Huaizhen, lacking any sense of propriety, said, "Of course, a beautiful woman should be held in one's arms."
"Poor me," Ma Huaizhen lifted his eyelids, smiled sinisterly, his eyes teasing, "Without the beauty like Venerable One, I can only crawl back."
Luckily, Miaofa, who had spent a lot of energy suppressing the inner demons, quickly opened her eyes. Her eyelashes lifted slightly, and her wise watery blue eyes settled on Qiao Wan. She furrowed her brows and said, "Lu Cixian."
Qiao Wan quickly reached out to help Miaofa up and asked, "Senior, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Miaofa brushed away Qiao Wan's hand, stood upright, and looked at Ma Huaizhen. She nodded and said, "Hall Master Ma, thank you for mediating today."
Ma Huaizhen spoke in a deep voice, saying, "It's no trouble, Venerable One. How are you feeling now? If you're tired, why not sit down and rest for a while?"
As the two elders spoke, Qiao Wan didn't have a chance to interrupt. Seeing that Miaofa was indeed fine, Qiao Wan obediently let go of her hand and stepped aside, listening attentively to Miaofa and Ma Huaizhen's formal conversation.
They briefly discussed the situation in the demon realm, focusing on the mastermind behind the ghost market. Cen Qingyou , who is Miaofa's closed-door disciple, had heard about the heavy losses suffered by the Cen family in the Fufeng Valley battle.
Since Miaofa had already heard about the matter, it made things easier.
Ma Huaizhen said, "After Feng Zhao defected to the demon realm, he turned thirty thousand comrades into zombie soldiers. I have left a secret mark from Kunshan Wenshi Hall on these soldiers, so we might be able to gather some information."
While Ma Huaizhen spoke to Miaofa, Qiao Wan touched her temple.
Her headache was already gone.
Those times when she couldn't control opening her eyes, it felt like there was a voice inside her sea of consciousness, pressing down on her. Thinking about the vast sea of consciousness in her mind that was still dark and undeveloped, Qiao Wan silently fell into deep thought.
Could it be that there was an old man or something in her mind?
Lost in her thoughts, the surroundings suddenly quieted down.
When she looked up, Miaofa furrowed his brow.
Ma Huaizhen smiled at her.
Qiao Wan was taken aback. "Senior?"
Ma Huaizhen smirked. "What were you thinking so deeply about? Couldn't you hear me calling you?"
Miaofa's gaze fell upon her bony arm. "Lu Cixian, later on, I will send you both back to the Great Hall of Light to rest. Leave the matters in the Ghost Market to me and Hall Master Ma. You don't need to worry anymore. These few days..."
Miaofa paused, apparently not used to saying comforting words. "These few days have been tough for you."
Miaofa took the initiative to calm herself down, and Qiao Wan suddenly felt nervous, her face turning red. "Senior, you don't have to worry. After all, no one expected things to develop like this."
"You're right," frowned Miaofa. "I will investigate this matter thoroughly. You should go back to Jiuyue Mountain and rest."
After saying this, Miaofa turned to Ma Huaizhen and said something, indicating that he didn't want to talk to her anymore.
Qiao Wan stood still, feeling her heart hang high and then slowly drop. She felt empty inside and suddenly experienced a sense of loss.
This is bad.
Qiao Wan silently covered her face. Her current state was very dangerous. Having feelings for a great master of Zen was like inviting trouble.
To shift her focus, Qiao Wan calmed her mind and looked up at the ongoing ceremony.
Buddha's light poured down like rain.
In the midst of the light, countless golden figures seemed to rise up.
There were men, women, old and young among them.
In the blurry haze stood a little girl, about eight or nine years old. Her skin had been completely stripped off, and her flesh was mangled. The eyelids, devoid of eyelashes, fluttered gently.
As the sparkling golden light touched her head and shoulders, her muscles gradually became plump. In the end, she turned into a cute little girl wearing a bright red coat, with two round buns on her head, and a smiling face with beautiful eyes. She was like a precious little jade.
This was Chu Jiaojiao, who had been skinned by her family and offered on the altar.
Chu Jiaojiao's gaze fell in the direction of Qiao Wan. When their eyes met, an unmistakable look of hesitation appeared on her face.
Qiao Wan was stunned, uncertain why, but it felt like she had seen that gaze somewhere before.
However, Chu Jiaojiao's figure quickly dissipated into thin air.
At the same time, Ma Huaizhen finished speaking.
"Let's go," Ma Huaizhen turned his head. "Let's return to the inn."
Qiao Wan interrupted, "Wait."
"Before we go back to the inn," Qiao Wan hesitated, "Can you, senior, accompany me to Chu's house first?"
After sunset, the gates of the Chu family were tightly closed.
Setting Ma Huaizhen aside, Qiao Wan walked forward and knocked on the door.
After a while, the door creaked open, revealing a sleepy woman who asked, "Who is it?"
Her gaze fell upon the young man outside the door, causing her to pause in surprise.
Looking further behind, she saw a remarkably beautiful monk and a disfigured middle-aged man.
The woman quickly woke up and asked cautiously, "Who are you?"
Ma Huaizhen replied, "Is Mr. Chu at home?"
"We met a few hours ago," said Ma Huaizhen calmly, his voice low and steady. "We came specifically to thank him this time."
A light turned on.
Chu Yongsheng, wearing his clothes, came out of the bedroom and looked at the group of people in astonishment. "Who is this taoist friend?"
Ma Huaizhen said, "Is the young master here?"
Chu Yongsheng's heart skipped a beat and he questioned, "What does this taoist friend want with Rong Rong?"
Kunshan, also known as the Demon God, earned that name for a reason. Just by looking at his face, Ma Huaizhen seemed like a big boss in the underworld.
Although confused, Chu Yongsheng turned to look at the woman in front of him. He didn't want to mess with the man in front of him, who had a disfigured and disabled appearance. "Go, call Rong Rong," he said.
The woman stopped pouring tea and nodded. Before long, a young boy walked over, carrying a shadow puppet.
As soon as Chu Rong saw Ma Huaizhen, he wasted no time and said directly, "You found my sister."
Chu Rong's eyes widened, "Where is my sister? You really found her?"
Chu Yongsheng and the woman's faces turned pale after hearing these words.
Chu Yongsheng unconsciously took a step forward and stammered, "Taoist friend... you really found Jiaojiao?"
Ma Huaizhen looked up at the couple in front of him.
Feeling the man's gaze on him, Chu Yongsheng's throat felt dry, and he felt a bit scared. "Taoist friend?" he said, hesitantly.
Qiao Wan tapped the fingernail she had hidden in her sleeve on the table. Ma Huaizhen looked up and said, "I found this in the tower."
"What's the matter?" Ma Huaizhen raised an eyebrow. "Judging by your reactions, it doesn't seem like you're happy?"
Chu Yongsheng glanced at the fingernail on the table, his heart pounding with fear. He quickly looked away and forced a smile, saying, "Taoist friend, are you joking with us? This is just a random fingernail, who knows where it came from. And where is Jiaojiao?"
Ma Huaizhen calmly said, "This is your daughter's fingernail, found on the incense table."
The man stared at the nail, which was stained with oil paint. Suddenly, his face turned pale and he shouted, "This... this can't be Jiaojiao!"
"Jiaojiao is my daughter, and no one knows her better than me! This is not Jiaojiao's fingernail—"
Before he finished speaking, Qiao Wan sensed someone's gaze on her.
Ma Huaizhen glanced at her and gave her a signal with his eyes.
Clang!
The sound of a sword being unsheathed!
The man choked on his words and stopped abruptly.
"You..." Chu Yongsheng, sweating profusely, looked at the young boy in front of him with fear and disbelief.
A sharp sword was inserted into the man's fingernail, and blood slowly seeped out.
The boy, expressionless, sat on the chair and looked down at the man, saying softly, "You know deep down whether this belongs to your daughter or not."
Chu Yongsheng's heart grew cold as he looked into the dark eyes.
He felt drained of strength and slumped defeatedly onto the chair.
"This..."
He wanted to deny it, but the words wouldn't come out. "This...this is indeed Jiaojiao's fingernail."
Miaofa frowned slightly.
"But we didn't want this!" Chu Yongsheng cried, holding his head in his hands. "We, ordinary people, have to survive in this ghost town. We need the blessings of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva requires fresh blood, but where do we get it from! Rongrong is our only son, and we rely on him for our future."
Chu Yongsheng started crying, and the woman immediately covered her face and started crying too.
"Jiaojiao..."
"Our Jiaojiao... she's our only daughter, we haven't even had enough time to cherish her, how can we bear to...?"
Ma Huaizhen glanced over.
The little boy held onto the shadow puppet, looking fearful and unsettled at the scene before him.
Ma Huaizhen asked, "Do you even know about your sister's situation?"
"I..."
Chu Rong took a step back, swallowing nervously.
This person looks terrifying.
The man exuded a dark and menacing aura. Chu Rong's legs went weak, and he quickly dropped the shadow puppet in his arms, hiding behind the woman. The woman, still crying, immediately realized what was happening and pulled their precious son behind her.
"Rongrong is so young, he doesn't understand anything! It's all our fault, countless mistakes. We're sorry... sorry, Jiaojiao." The woman wiped her tears.
He had a vague sense of it as well.
Chu Rong anxiously lowered his gaze.
He overheard his parents talking late at night, saying that the Bodhisattva needed to feed on someone's blood.
"Rong Rong is still young, and Jiaojiao is the older sister, so let Jiaojiao go."
"After all, when she gets married in the future, a daughter who is married is like water thrown out of the house, there's no use in keeping her here."
Later, his sister disappeared.
He missed his sister very much.
Chu Rong tugged at his sleeve, anxiously thinking.
But... he was too scared to go to the tower, so he let sister go instead. sister had always been good to him, always looking out for him in big and small matters.
He still remembered the way sister smiled as she put candy into his mouth.
At that time, Mom bought a lot of candy. sister didn't dare to eat it in front of their parents, she could only secretly take a handful. He saw it and threatened to tell their parents. sister immediately panicked and hurriedly put a piece of candy into his mouth.
"Here, have some. Don't tell Mom, okay?" sister whispered.
Seeing him enjoy the candy, sister wiped away the candy stains from the corners of his lips and smiled, "Is it sweet?"
Since we were able to give him both candy and meat, why can't we give him more? He believes that if sisterh is still with us in the heavens, she wouldn't blame him.
Chu Yongsheng, with red eyes, said, "As a husband and a father, I haven't done well enough. In the end, it's my fault for not taking good care of Jiaojiao."
The woman cried, "Yongsheng."
Chu Rong also tugged on the woman's clothes, "Mother."
The family of three hugged each other and cried together.
The discarded shadow puppet fell lightly to the ground, but no one paid any attention to it. The shadow puppet little girl, dressed in a red coat, had a smiling face, looking at the family of three, shining brightly.
Chu Yongsheng suddenly wiped away his tears and bowed to Taoist Friend Xie, "No matter what, thank you for bringing Jiaojiao back... It's our fault for not taking good care of Jiaojiao."
"We have already brought sisterh, whom you were looking for, back," said Ma Huaizhen. "She is your daughter, if you truly regret it."
Ma Huaizhen laughed and said, "It's time to move away, the farther from this place, the better."
Chu Yongsheng sighed and said, "I have made up my mind. In the end, it's because the supernatural world cannot accept ordinary people. We have to move away."
"Lu Cixian," Ma Huaizhen suddenly looked up and said, "Carry me away."
Qiao Wan didn't move and said, "Senior."
The golden silhouette in the Buddha tower appeared again, wearing a bright red coat, Chu Jiaojiao .
This family sacrificed their own daughter, they don't deserve to be parents, but ultimately, they were harmed by this cult-like thing.
Qiao Wan looked at them coldly, feeling both sad and angry.
But she couldn't bring herself to kill the family of three, she had no right to judge others.
Unexpectedly, Ma Huaizhen took the initiative to leave, but Qiao Wan stood still.
Ma Huaizhen said, "Let's go."
After leaving the Chu family.spoke lightly, "You don't need to do anything, this family will suffer the consequences, at the latest tonight."
What does "at the latest tonight" mean?
Qiao Wan blinked in confusion.
Ma Huaizhen glanced up at Miaofa.
The Buddha closed his eyes slightly, not saying a word. There seemed to be a sharp coldness in his expression.
Miaofa had been silent from the beginning, hearing that the Venerable One of the Great Hall of Light had been trapped by inner demons and unable to make progress. No matter what others thought, Ma Huaizhen himself had never understood these monks.
He considered himself somewhat selfish, without much ambition. As long as he protected his subordinates, it was enough. As for those beings seeking salvation, they ended up causing him trouble in the end.
There are always places in this world where even the Buddha cannot reach, and there are always times when extreme measures must be taken.
Ma Huaizhen's eyes grew dark.
He had understood this truth since the northern battlefield hundreds of years ago. When it was time to kill, he killed. When it was time for torture, he tortured. Compassion, that thing, couldn't save anyone.
Perhaps this Buddhist giant had long held this kind of thinking.
...
Qiao Wan , Ma Huaizhen , and Miaofa walked away, witnessed by others.
The woman choked up and said, "What should we do now?"
"What should we do? These people are not easy to mess with," Chu Yongsheng gritted his teeth. "Let's move away for a while to avoid trouble."
If they didn't earn much money in this eerie city without having to pay taxes to the government, they wouldn't have lived in this creepy place. They could save money to build a house and set a marriage for Chu Rong.
Just the thought of that man with a broken leg, who was neither human nor ghost, made the woman shudder.
"Alright... let's move away first," she said, getting up. "I'll pack our things."
Chu Yongsheng reminded her, "Before we leave..."
After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Let's go to the pagoda and light incense, to say goodbye to the Buddhas. After all, the Buddhas have already accepted Jiaojiao."
After packing their things, Chu Yongsheng carried Chu Rong in his arms, and the family of three walked towards the direction of the pagoda.
The midnight hour had long passed, and the streets were getting empty.
The woman was taken aback and said, "This...this is?"
Where was the pagoda?!
In the place where the tall pagoda used to stand, there were now only broken pieces of colorful bricks and tiles. Buddha statues were buried under the rubble, with only their upper bodies sticking out.
The woman immediately dropped her belongings and rushed over, exclaiming in shock, "Where is the Bodhisattva?!"
This was a big deal to Jiaojiao, as the Bodhisattva was the patron deity of their family.
Chu Yongsheng quickly stepped forward and knelt down.
This Bodhisattva was supposed to bring prosperity to their family's business, so they couldn't afford any mishaps.
"Father... Mother..."
As Chu Rong saw the man and woman kneeling on the rubble, digging with their hands, he unconsciously took a step back. His gaze fell upon a smiling Buddha head not far away.
He...he felt that something was not right.
Just then, Chu Yongsheng's joyful voice rang out, "I found it!"
"Thank goodness," he said, moving away the red-painted pillar that was pressing on the Buddha statue. He brushed off the dust on the Bodhisattva and let out a sigh of relief.
The Bodhisattva was still there, and thankfully, it was mostly intact.
A white-robed Buddha lay on the ground among the ruins, with a smile on his lips. Although there was a part missing from his cheek and he had lost a hand, he still had a dignified appearance.
Chu Yongsheng carefully lifted the statue and pulled the woman down to her knees, eagerly bowing down a few times, not forgetting to call Chu Rong to join them.
"Quick, come here and bow to the Buddha."
Thud, thud, thud — the muffled sounds echoed in the dark night, and the white-robed Buddha's robes seemed to sway gently in the wind, lifelike.
"Mother..." Chu Rong nervously rubbed his clothes, taking a step back. "I... I'm scared, maybe we should leave."
"Why leave? We have recognized your sister's Buddha, it will bless our whole family."
The woman looked at the white-robed Buddha with a pained expression. "Now that the pagoda is gone, what should we do?"
Chu Yongsheng fell silent for a moment and made up his mind. "How about we take it back with us?"
"Perhaps if the Buddha sees our sincerity, it will continue to bless our family."
By chance, they caught a glimpse of the smiling white-robed Buddha in the ruins.
Chu Rong's heart became even more afraid.
He...he always felt that the Bodhisattva was smiling.
Didn't father say it? This Bodhisattva wants blood offerings, but Ah Zhi is gone. Where will they get blood offerings from?
Thinking about this, Chu Rong hurriedly tried to touch the shadow puppet.
But the shadow puppet had already been thrown on the ground by him.
"Ah Zhi!" Chu Rong called out, "Ah Zhi!"
Ah Zhi, please come quickly! Offer yourself quickly!
Then they heard that father and mother were going to take it back, immediately shouting in protest, "I don't want to! Father! Mother! I don't want to!"
But throughout history, no parents have ever paid attention to a child's protests.
Chu Yongsheng carefully carried the Bodhisattva statue and cautiously stepped over the mess.
"Let's go, let's go back first."
In the dark night, the white-robed Bodhisattva extended their smooth and slender hand, slowly reaching towards the man's neck.
