Chapter 86: Scenery Inside, Scenery Outside
"Is this your Buddhist sect's interpretation of quiet and peaceful...?"
Li Yingling looked at the scene before her and couldn't help but comment.
The sky was dark red and hazy. The land was covered with undried bloodstains, a desolate scene. The stench of blood wafted from afar.
Several pale skulls hung from a few trees.
An indistinct sound of weeping seemed to come from a nearby village.
Yuan Kong looked at Li Yingling with a puzzled gaze. He then took a deep breath, let it out heavily, and asked in a confused tone: "This is so nice, with clear waters and lush mountains."
As he spoke, Yuan Kong pointed to the withered tree with the hanging skulls and said: "Look, how happily those few children are playing on the swings."
Li Yingling: "..."
Chu Xingchen placed a hand on Li Yingling's shoulder: "Don't be anxious. The world in his eyes is different from ours. This is probably the reason why the book says a Son of Buddha can solve it."
"Otherwise, for just a seal, it wouldn't necessarily have to be a Son of Buddha."
Hearing this, Yuan Kong also reacted. He looked at Chu Xingchen and asked, "Is the scene in your eyes different from mine?"
Chu Xingchen nodded lightly and said, "It's a bit different. But since it's said that a Son of Buddha can solve it, you should go and try first."
Having received an answer, Yuan Kong's face instantly showed confidence again. He knew he was definitely useful.
He walked towards the large tree with the hanging skulls.
Chu Xingchen and Li Yingling followed together.
Yuan Kong stopped under the tree, put his hands together, and bowed to ask, "Patrons, may I ask what this place is called?"
Several hanging heads heard this and suddenly glared sideways, looking at the bowing Yuan Kong.
"Mind your own business! Mind your own business!"
The hanging heads opened their mouths and cursed in unison.
Hearing this, Chu Xingchen and Li Yingling couldn't help but frown slightly.
Yuan Kong, however, showed a grateful nod and said, "Thank you for telling me, patrons. May good people have a peaceful life."
The heads shouted in unison, "To hell with you! To hell with you!"
"May I ask, how many people live here?"
"Kill your whole family! Kill your whole family!"
"Oh... then who should I ask if I want to inquire about something?"
"Hang your head up! Hang your head up!"
Chu Xingchen listened speechlessly to this question-and-answer session, watching as Yuan Kong bowed to thank them again, looking very satisfied.
Yuan Kong turned around and explained, "This place is called Peach Blossom Village. There is a tavern inside. The owner of that tavern is well-informed. We can go and ask."
"We already told you, this is a mortal Buddha-land, quiet and peaceful."
Chu Xingchen nodded in agreement, reached out, and patted Yuan Kong's shoulder, saying: "We'll have to rely on you a lot this time."
"Just leave it to me."
Yuan Kong nodded confidently and walked towards Peach Blossom Village with his strides.
The entrance to Peach Blossom Village was not far away.
With Yuan Kong leading the way, they stepped into Peach Blossom Village.
Several dilapidated, yellow earthen houses stood desolately. Every household hung white lanterns and pasted white funeral couplets.
The courtyard walls of every earthen house had collapsed, with grim white bones exposed within.
A few mournful cries and weeps came from inside the earthen houses.
Li Yingling subconsciously reached for the sword at her waist, her gaze warily scanning the surroundings.
Yuan Kong, on the other hand, had a look of satisfaction, leisurely observing his surroundings.
Chu Xingchen, however, walked with lazy strides, glancing around casually.
"Look, the tavern is right up ahead." Yuan Kong pointed to a dilapidated house in front.
Li Yingling looked up and saw that inside the rundown house not far away, rows of coffins were arranged. Compared to a tavern, this looked more like a mourning hall.
It was just that around each coffin, unburnt incense sticks were stuck, and a few small stools were placed nearby...
Were the coffins being used as tables?
Yuan Kong quickened his pace and stepped into the tavern. His gaze fell upon the corpse of a middle-aged man. The man was hung upside down, his body rotting, dressed in burial clothes.
He bowed and asked: "May I dare to ask, boss, if there is a Buddhist temple here?"
A muddled and unclear voice came from the corpse's head: "I'll cut your head off to go with my drink..."
"There isn't? Then what about a Buddha statue, or a Guanyin statue?"
"Get into the coffin, get into the coffin!"
Yuan Kong's expression was conflicted. He then sighed softly and said: "I am a monk, I cannot eat meat. Please, shopkeeper, serve some vegetarian food."
"I'll dig out your heart and liver! I'll dig out your heart and liver!"
"Thank you, thank you. Then, shopkeeper, you must explain things to me later." Yuan Kong's face showed a smile as he quickly bowed. He then gestured with his eyes for Chu Xingchen and Li Yingling to take a seat nearby.
Yuan Kong found a nearby coffin. After sitting on the stool, he very naturally rested his hand on the coffin.
Sighing silently, Chu Xingchen also sat opposite Yuan Kong. Li Yingling sat beside her master.
Yuan Kong fiercely wiped the coffin in front of him with his sleeve and said: "It's rare to see a rectangular table like this. It's so long."
Chu Xingchen nodded lightly in agreement: "Indeed... rather bizarre."
Yuan Kong looked back at the hung-up shopkeeper, then leaned his small head over and whispered: "This shopkeeper is really black-hearted. He won't give information without a meal. Do you have a lot of money on you?"
The expression on Chu Xingchen's face was hard to read. He said: "The money should be enough, but I'm afraid he won't want money."
Yuan Kong asked with a puzzled gaze: "If he doesn't want money, what does he want?"
Li Yingling looked at the coffin, which Yuan Kong had wiped clean, and speculated: "Your heart and liver, and your little head?"
Yuan Kong laughed and shook his head: "Hahaha, that shopkeeper is a bit shady, but this place is clearly not an evil establishment. The boss is quite kind-faced, just a bit greedy for money."
Hearing this, Li Yingling looked up again at the shopkeeper, whose entire head was extremely swollen, his tongue was stretched out, and his eyeballs were about to fall to the ground.
To her, it was truly impossible to see how the boss was kind-faced.
Behind the hung-up boss, a curtain resembling those in a mourning hall was lifted.
A waiter, whose body was rotten to the bone, limped over. In his hands, he held a bowl of food containing squirming, fat insects mixed with some dark red blood clots.
He placed this bowl of food on the coffin in front of the three of them.
The waiter's ferocious and unpleasant voice came: "Eat and die! Eat and die!"
As he spoke, he pulled out a blood-stained, rotten long blade from behind his back and aimed it at Yuan Kong's head, posing as if to strike.
Li Yingling glanced at her master and saw that his expression was still calm, so she composed herself.
Yuan Kong looked down at the food before him and said with a hint of grievance: "I cannot eat meat, but that doesn't mean I can eat something this spicy."
The waiter raised the long blade high and said harshly: "Don't eat and you'll still die! Don't eat and you'll still die!"
"You said it wasn't spicy..." Yuan Kong looked up, picked up an incense stick from the incense burner beside the coffin, and used it as chopsticks to pick up a squirming fat worm.
Taking a deep breath, Yuan Kong looked determined, preparing to eat the fat worm.
Chu Xingchen reached out and pressed down on Yuan Kong's action. His gaze drifted leisurely towards the waiter holding the blade.
He sneered, and said in a flat tone: "Eat your mother!"
Hey readers! If you're eager to dive into advanced chapters, consider joining our Patreon. By joining, you'll get access to 20 chapters ahead and enjoy 14 new chapters per week. Plus, we have 3 more exciting fics with the same chapter release rate, giving you a total of 42 chapters per week! Join now and keep the adventure going!
Patreon: https://patreon.com/Alex_Cruise
{Please join patreon. I am posting 4 chapters per day there, for any tier you join, you can read 4 chapters for all series i work on. and i currently badly need financial support to keep myself afloat. I will continue to do my best to provide you with good chapters daily. So i hope you can help me escape these troubled times.}