Chapter 141 - 133: East Market like a Coffin

Chapter 141: Chapter 133: East Market like a Coffin"The ancient Buddha never had a head to begin with." Yun Ziliang, holding a teapot, looked towards the west and said, "The ancient Buddha descended upon the Reincarnation Snow Mountain, initially as a vast left hand. Its five fingers completely covered the dragon-like snow mountain range, radiating infinite Buddha light, attracting countless followers, Anyone who got close to the Buddha’s hand could hear a murmuring sound imbued with deep compassion and the tones of the five aggregates. By chanting along with this sound, followers could borrow the golden light of the Buddha’s hand to manifest a solemn Dharma Image and move with the might of Vajra, As more and more followers gathered around the left hand, the one with the highest prestige among them, known as Master Luncang, revered the left hand as the ancient Buddha and referred to the murmuring sound as the Rotating Buddha Sutra. Thus, this was the origin of the ancient Buddha and the source of the first Buddha Sutra of Jing Country, As the number of followers and their wish power grew stronger, the ancient Buddha was nourished by this wish power. The left hand grew into an arm, the arm birthed a torso, then came legs, and finally, it only lacked a head to become the "Great Perfection Rotating Ancient Buddha" prophesied by the Buddhist disciple. But unfortunately, the Alien Ghost descended, The golden body of the ancient Buddha shattered and was lost forever, Yet, before the loss, it still had never grown a head, So, no head existed! How could a monster with a sheep’s head and human body have stolen the Buddha’s head?! Wasn’t this historical revisionism at its peak?" The words of Yun Ziliang were too mysterious for Zhou Xuan to entirely believe, but the idea of the ancient Buddha descending as merely a left hand gave him some understanding of why that Alien Ghost, "Ten Fingers," dared to boast that it was "the mother of all Buddhas." The ancient Buddha had one hand while "Ten Fingers" had two. From a numerical perspective, "Ten Fingers" certainly had the upper hand. However, its size was rather tiny, whereas the ancient Buddha’s hand overshadowed the sky. "Why alter history?" Lv Mingkun asked. "I’ve pondered in the paintings for many years, and only arrived at one direction. There are those who wish to hide something or are terrified of something..." The "people" in the words clearly weren’t ordinary folks but at least the upper echelons of Jing Country... "The past is irretrievable, and perhaps the history I know has already been tampered with. Now it’s just been altered further, and all our discussions are just idle talk, without much nutritional value, Let’s talk about what you intend to do today. Since you aren’t willing to say what you’re looking for, I’m a warm person, I should point you in a direction." Yun Ziliang pointed to the ground beneath him and said, "Dig three meters under my feet, and you’ll find a Mysterious Sect Talisman. Break it, and perhaps you’ll find what you’re looking for." "What kind of talisman is it?" "A Ghost Suppressing Talisman." "It’s not used to suppress you, is it?" Zhou Xuan suddenly asked. "Pfft, with the way I am now, that talisman isn’t necessary to suppress me. This talisman is meant to suppress East Market Street." "The whole street?" Lv Mingkun asked. "East Market Street is very peculiar. Every household is filled with Yin Sha Qi, related to the street’s feng shui. If you don’t believe it, climb up the street’s water tower and see for yourself, you’ll see." "Alright, I’ll go take a look now." Zhou Xuan and Lv Mingkun left the shop together. "Hey, can you show me a little trust? I used to be the Dragon Seeking Grandmaster, and my ancestors were Great National Masters, from a prestigious and righteous line!" Yun Ziliang shouted in grievance, but Lv Mingkun and Zhou Xuan were already gone. He sat down with a bitter smile, lit a tobacco pipe, and rambled to himself while smoking. "People always seek the dragon, always seeking the land of the dragon vein, the place that gathers Dragon Qi. Once found, they dig graves and build houses on that land, thinking they’ve found a bargain, that they will have good fortune in life, and blessings for future generations, Phooey, So mundane! Just recognizing land and mountains as dragons, how is that different from those foolish believers who kneel day and night before clay figures? The essence of dragon seeking is actually—seeking the person!" In the afternoon, Yun Ziliang sat at the shop reading the "True Scripture of Dongting." Zhou Xuan greeted him, and he looked up just as Zhou Xuan was walking in, startling him. *Because the "sensing" within his body was violently shaking.* *"He must be the one I am seeking!"* ... "Elder Yuan, do you think our history has been tampered with?" Zhou Lingyi asked. Yuan Buyu opened a folded fan and said with a smile, "Master Zhou is teasing me, isn’t he? The collective memory alteration incident in the Old Hall wasn’t that long ago, If memory can be altered, then how much more can history, which has already changed beyond recognition? This Taoist, from his speech, indeed has the bearing of a Dragon Seeking Grandmaster from Hidden Dragon Mountain!" "The Dragon Seeking Heavenly Masters of the sensing line from Hidden Dragon Mountain were only recorded in ancient texts, and there’s no such lineage today..." "They were exterminated, killed off completely," Yuan Buyu said. "The sensing line of Hidden Dragon Mountain was too powerful, capable of perceiving many heavenly mechanisms, but they lacked the prudence to keep silent. Those who know secrets but cannot keep them secret are most prone to the calamity of extinction in Jing Country. Ru Yun Mountain Man hid in painting for so many years, hoping he would understand that trouble comes from the mouth, Some ’heavenly mechanisms’ are not mechanisms at all but knives for killing." ... The water tower didn’t resemble the water towers from impressions, looking more like a building, with a proper octagonal shape and spiral staircases inside. The first to the seventh floors were rooms, with the top being an observation platform and alarm bell. Being a building, staff stayed on duty even at night. Fortunately, Zhou Xuan had his tricks, and for forty bucks, he secured a chance from the two night watchmen to climb the tower. Standing on the observation platform, one could see all of East Market Street at a glance. The layouts of the east, west, south, and north sides were completely within view. "This street’s layout is really a bit... peculiar." Zhou Xuan didn’t understand feng shui, but the oddity of East Market Street was clear even without such knowledge. The street ran mainly in the east-west direction, with buildings on both the southern and northern sides. The eastern side was slightly wider, the western side slightly narrower, and hills backed each of the east, west, south, and north exits of the street. The street’s entrance and exit were built in the gaps between these hills. Mingjiang Prefecture had more water and fewer mountains, making the construction of a street nestled among hills on all sides strange, What’s even stranger, the heights of these hills were eerily even, with no obvious difference in height discernible to the naked eye. "This street paired with four hills looks like..." "Like a coffin," Zhou Xuan finished Lv Mingkun’s thought. "It’s not just a coffin; there are coffin nails too." Lv Mingkun pointed to four corners where tall pagoda trees stood, Apart from these four, there was a fifth pagoda tree planted at the east end, in front of the Paper Horse Shop. Gesturing with his hand to estimate the general position of the fifth pagoda tree, Lv Mingkun said, "A coffin is often nailed with five nails, four at the corners to secure the coffin lid to the body. The fifth is a burial nail, typically driven by a relative, usually placed at the position of the deceased’s chest. This nail is short and doesn’t harm the body beneath. You see, isn’t the fifth pagoda tree noticeably shorter?" Zhou Xuan took a look. Indeed, the fifth pagoda tree was much shorter than the others, He then became preoccupied with the Old Painting Pavilion, persistently feeling that its location was strangely positioned, though he couldn’t articulate precisely why, Regarding coffins and burial rites, he only absorbed some knowledge from the Zhou Family’s Troupe, but to speak truly expertly one had to look at Senior Brother Lv. "A Yin gathering spot." Lv Mingkun explained, "Inside a coffin, there’s a spot one and a half feet from the coffin head, situated on the centerline. Legends say this spot most easily gathers Yin, so a Daoist Talisman would be affixed at this point on the coffin bottom to prevent a zombie. This talisman, in burial terms, is called a Back Pad Talisman. The Old Painting Pavilion is situated in the Yin gathering spot of East Market Street’s coffin-like formation, the place with the most intense Yin energy throughout the entire street." "But we didn’t detect any Yin energy inside the Old Painting Pavilion... perhaps that is somehow related to the Ghost Suppressing Talisman that Lao Yun mentioned," Zhou Xuan said, "Junior Brother, should we dig up that talisman?" "Dig!" Zhou Xuan felt that under the current circumstances, believing Lao Yun didn’t matter anymore; the crucial point was that the Blood Well had directed them to the "Old Painting Pavilion," but there, they found no clues at all about the tattoo’s opportunity. He had no other choice left and could only dig to the underground talisman in search of the tattoo’s opportunity. "While digging, I will exert more effort. You should keep an eye on Lao Yun. If he shows any abnormal behavior, deal with him immediately." ... Leaving the water tower, Zhou Xuan and Lv Mingkun returned to their store and woke up Fuzi, bringing along a hoe for each of the three before heading to the Old Painting Pavilion. "Wow, you brought another little brother along?" Yun Ziliang lit two more kerosene lamps to help, and the three men immediately got to work, swinging their hoes, The floor of the Old Painting Pavilion was covered with slabs over earth. However, due to Li Lingzhang’s limited resources, the tiling was rather rough, leaving large gaps. Zhou Xuan and Little Fuzi used the hoes to dig through the earth in these gaps, then pried up the slabs and moved them to the side. What remained was to dig the soil, Zhou Xuan had initially prepared himself as the main force in the digging effort, but unexpectedly, Little Fuzi turned out to be an expert in digging, swinging his hoe with great vigor and efficiency, effectively doing the work of two men compared to Zhou Xuan’s efforts. "Fuzi, your digging skills are impressive." "I’ve been doing farm work since I was a kid. I know how to dig wells and till the ground very well." Little Fuzi didn’t even bother to wipe his sweat, swinging his hoe one after another, creating a pit three meters deep and a meter wide practically by himself. They dug until dawn broke, and Yun Ziliang was starting to yawn, "Perhaps we should stop, get some rest, and renew our energy before continuing?" "Lao Yun, if you came down to dig, we’d have gotten that talisman out already." "I won’t dig, it’s too filthy. My ancestors were State Preceptors, people with etiquette; behaving like a peasant is unbecoming." "He’s a remnant of the previous dynasty!" Zhou Xuan swung the hoe with full force, striking it down hard. This strike felt nothing like hitting soft soil; the blade hit something hard and, with the force, slipped across the hard surface, sparking in the process. "We’ve hit it!" Zhou Xuan suddenly felt invigorated and, without regard for his numbed hand from the shock, gently cleared away the remaining surface dirt from the hard object. To aid the clearing, Zhou Xuan also had Yun Ziliang throw down a pair of scissors to detail clear and pry the designs on the hard object. The hard object gradually revealed its true form—a stone slab. The surface of the stone slab was engraved with many evil ghost figures, all with green faces and tusks. At the center of the stone slab, there was a yellow talisman, starting with the word "Edict." Zhou Xuan couldn’t recognize the text below this character. Examining the yellow talisman and the carvings on the slab carefully, Yun Ziliang squatted by the edge of the pit and said, "This stone slab is a door. Where it leads, I don’t know! But the talisman has sealed the door. To open it, the talisman must be broken..."