At the same time, Gui Yuanzhang's team entered the gate of "Tianrendao".
The scene behind the door surprised everyone.
After passing through a dark, narrow passage of about 50 meters, they arrived at a spacious palace.
The palace, which is the size of a basketball court, is filled with many bronze "Buddha statues" of various shapes. Around the Buddha statues, a whole circle of ever-burning lamps is lit, making the entire hall brightly lit.
In front of each Buddha statue was a soft cushion and an incense burner, clearly for kowtowing and offering incense.
Upon closer inspection, everyone saw that some of these Buddha statues were sitting on a deer; some were holding prayer beads; some were holding what appeared to be alms bowls; others were carrying a pagoda, carrying scriptures, riding elephants, accompanied by lions, with open chests, raised hands, heads bowed in contemplation, picking their ears, carrying cloth bags, holding banana leaf fans, and having eyebrows as long as their beards...
Bronze statues of various shapes and sizes are arranged in a circle in the main hall, creating a lively scene.
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
The main hall was sealed off with no obvious exit. At this point, they had two choices: first, they had encountered a dead end and had to go back to find another exit; second, they could find the hidden mechanism in the main hall to open another door leading deeper into the maze.
Clearly, the second possibility is more likely.
Ye Qi scratched his head and looked at the Buddha statues: "Of all the Buddhist deities, I only recognize 'Guanyin Bodhisattva' and 'Buddha' from 'Journey to the West.' I don't recognize any of these... Do you recognize them?"
"Not familiar." Shao Qingge shrugged.
He shrugged. He was an atheist who ran his own fund company. He believed that the key to a person's success lay in their own efforts, not in divine intervention, so he never offered incense at temples. Like Ye Qi, he only recognized the Buddha and Guanyin from the Journey to the West he read in his childhood; he knew nothing about other deities.
Fortunately, Gui Yuanzhang recognized the bronze statues. He said, "The bronze statues in this hall are the 'Eighteen Arhats' of Buddhism. The one with a deer next to him is called the Deer-Sitting Arhat; this one is the Contemplative Arhat; this one is the Ear-Cleaning Arhat, the Bag-Carrying Arhat, the Banana Leaf Arhat, the Laughing Lion Arhat, and the River-Crossing Arhat..."
Gui Yuanzhang actually called out the names of all 18 Arhats in one breath.
Chu Huaying glanced at him in surprise: " Old Gui, you believe in Buddhism?"
Gui Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Some things exist if you believe them, and don't if you don't."
He didn't answer directly, but Shao Qingge felt that this senior was obviously a Buddhist. How could an ordinary person clearly name the eighteen Arhats? Moreover, when Xiao Lou mentioned " six paths of reincarnation " just now, Senior Gui obviously knew it as well.
Shao Qingge looked at Gui Yuanzhang: "Senior, do you have a solution to the mechanism in this secret room?"
Gui Yuanzhang whispered, "In Buddhism, the 'gods' are ranked from lowest to highest as Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. We've only encountered the Eighteen Arhats so far. I suspect that after solving this secret chamber, we might encounter Bodhisattvas of even higher status, or even the Buddha, in the next chamber. According to the theory of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, those who can enter the 'God Realm' are people who did many good deeds in their previous lives. So, theoretically speaking, this secret chamber shouldn't have any dangerous mechanisms."
After he finished speaking, he stepped forward and knelt calmly on the cushion.
The other teammates dared not move, all eyes fixed on him. Gui Yuanzhang clasped his hands together, bowed to the bronze statue in front of him, then rose and knelt down again…
After performing the Buddhist ritual of three kneelings and three prostrations, the bronze Arhat statue in front of him suddenly turned slightly.
The teammates were overjoyed.
Ye Qi couldn't help but whisper, "It seems that solving the puzzle in this secret room requires kneeling and praying to Buddha?"
Gui Yuanzhang nodded and said, "A push-button mechanism."
Long Sen and Qu Wanyue exchanged a glance, neither of them daring to speak until Qu Wanyue finally asked softly, "Senior, do we have to kneel and bow to each of the Eighteen Arhats?"
Gui Yuanzhang said calmly, "That's very likely. Let's split up."
The teammates had no choice but to quickly kneel down in front of different Buddha statues and imitate Gui Yuanzhang's actions of kneeling and bowing three times.
There should be a sensor under each cushion; after you kneel and worship, the corresponding bronze statue will rotate slightly...
After the six people quickly finished paying homage to the eighteen Arhats, a flash of golden light suddenly appeared before their eyes, and at the same time, a melodious chanting of Buddhist hymns reached their ears, along with the scent of sandalwood that seemed to come from a Buddhist hall.
The eighteen Arhats moved to a new position, and a door opened behind them, revealing a wide corridor covered with a red carpet and illuminated by ever-burning lamps on both sides.
The light here is so good that people don't even need luminous pearls.
Gui Yuanzhang stood up and said, "Everyone, keep moving forward. Xiao Ye, report our situation to Professor Xiao."
Ye Qi nodded, pressed the earpiece, and said to the other team, " Professor Xiao, how's your progress? We've encountered a place... similar to the Buddhist Hall, with sculptures of the Eighteen Arhats inside. The way to unlock the mechanism is to kneel and worship the Buddha statue. We've solved the mechanism and are about to continue in."
Upon hearing Ye Qi's voice, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance.
The scene before them sent chills down the spines of the six men.
Xiao Lou thought to himself, "Your side has eighteen Arhats, but our side has eighteen hells."
Before us lies the first level of the Eighteen Levels of Hell —the Hell of Tongue Pulling.
The walls of the entire room were covered with tongues of varying lengths, a sight that was absolutely chilling!
Xiao Lou tried to speak, but found that he couldn't make a sound.
At the same time, Yu Hanjiang, Lao Mo, Liu Qiao, Lu Jiuchuan, and Tang Ci were in the same situation—they opened their mouths and tried hard to speak, only to find that they had completely lost their voices!
Lu Jiuchuan, with a sullen face, pointed to his own mouth and then to the tongue on the wall. The meaning was clear—since it was the Hell of Tongue-Pulling, everyone would also be affected by the punishments of hell and temporarily lose the ability to speak.
Yu Hanjiang nodded to his elder brother and gestured for him to hurry up.
Ye Qi was still asking through the voice headset, " Professor Xiao, what's the situation on your end? Can you hear me?"
A prolonged lack of response will worry the opposing team's teammates.
Left with no other option, Xiao Lou summoned Qin Guan and invited him to connect to Ye Qi via Telepathic Connection.
Ye Qi was taken aback when she received the invitation, but immediately connected.
Immediately afterward, Xiao Lou's voice echoed in his mind: "We are in the Eighteen Hells, and we have now reached the first level, the Tongue-Pulling Hell. We can't speak. Tell Senior Gui to be careful. This maze is likely full of illusions."
Ye Qi was startled and immediately reported the situation to Gui Yuanzhang: "They've entered the Tongue-Pulling Hell, where no one can speak!"
Gui Yuanzhang frowned, pressed his earpiece and said, "A scene of hell has appeared... You must be extra careful. To avoid distracting you, we will not contact each other for now. If you encounter any danger, we will retreat directly to Peach Blossom Spring."
As soon as Gui Yuanzhang finished speaking, Xiao Lou's waist tightened suddenly.
The next moment, Yu Hanjiang stretched out his long arm and pulled Xiao Lou into his embrace. At the same time, [ Light as a Swallow]
With the Lightness Skill card activated, Yu Hanjiang soared into the air like a whirlwind.
Almost simultaneously, the tongues on the wall suddenly stretched out and fiercely swept towards the spot where Xiao Lou had just been!