Buddhist Pagoda Ghost Tomb

Chapter 24

A dull creaking sound came from the air, and the joints of the sculptures actually started to move. The dust that had accumulated over thousands of years fell down in a flurry. Caesar asked softly, "Wen, can your posters move too?"

"Run!" Qin Wen reacted quickly this time, shouting and turning to run. Caesar hurriedly followed, thinking to himself that this girl's martial arts skills were not very good, but her ability to escape was first-rate.

As soon as they reached the stairwell, they were both shocked to find that the stairs had vanished! Instead, a heavy stone wall stood in their way!

Qin Wen was extremely anxious and yelled at Caesar, "You must have run into some kind of trap when you came in!"

“Nonsense! I didn’t even bump into a pebble when I came in!” Caesar roared back, feeling incredibly stupid for arguing with this girl about such a thing.

The two turned around and saw a field of sculptures surrounding them. The pupils, carved from stone, shimmered with a bluish-green light, making them feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar that had never melted for thousands of years, chilling them to the bone.

“Wen, aren’t you the reincarnation of Garuda? Logically speaking, they should all be your colleagues.” The two were pressed against the wall, and Caesar said with cold sweat running down his face, “Say hello to them, maybe they’ll recognize you.”

Qin Wen chuckled twice, raised her hand and waved to the sculptures, saying, "Hi, hello, I am..."

Before she could finish speaking, Guangmutian swung his axe down. She quickly jumped away, and the stone axe smashed into the ground, sending up a shower of rubble.

"Your relationship with your colleagues seems to be quite strained," Caesar said, sweating profusely. "Did you offend them in a past life?"

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your face off!" Qin Wen shouted, unable to bear it any longer. "Why did you only attack me? That person was my accomplice too!"

"Nonsense! I don't know you at all!" Caesar immediately tried to distance himself, but it was too late. The hammer of the Growth Heaven was already smashing down on his head, enough to instantly blow his skull apart.

Caesar swiftly dodged, simultaneously drawing his own gun and firing a barrage of shots at the man's arm. After several shots, the arm snapped off and rolled to the ground along with the hammer.

"That's not fair!" Qin Wen shouted. "Why don't I have a gun?"

A sudden chill ran down her neck. Without turning around, she instinctively crouched down. A stone arrow grazed her scalp and embedded itself in the ground, about half an inch deep. Qin Wen's face turned ashen. These statues were too cruel. Did she have a blood feud with them for killing her father?

Guangmutian swung his axe and walked over step by step. Without thinking, she jumped up and ran. Fortunately, these guys were just stones and weren't very fast.

But...where should she run to?

Stone arrows rained down, landing in the places she had run through. With her eyes closed, she roared, "Caesar, save me!"

Caesar dodged Kinnara's attack, turned, and fired several shots at the archery relief on the wall, hitting the bowstrings and causing the arrows to fall. The flashlight was still in Qin Wen's hand, its beam flickering as she ran. Caesar had fired these shots entirely in the dark, and she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. Could this kid also locate objects by sound?

"Ah!" she suddenly screamed in pain. Caesar was shocked. "Wen, what's wrong?"

Qin Wen covered her forehead and struggled to get up from the ground: "I bumped into something, it looks like a..." The flashlight beam shone on the object, and she froze.

A coffin! It was actually a coffin!

With a loud bang, a huge fire broke out in the center of the hall, illuminating the entire room as if it were daytime.

Just as the fire broke out, the two suddenly saw a blur before their eyes. When they regained their senses and looked again, all the sculptures that had been chasing them had returned to their original positions, their faces solemn.

The two were completely dumbfounded.

At that moment, they suddenly realized that perhaps they had never moved at all, and it was all just an illusion caused by the magnetic field.

The fuel for the flames was a huge black stone, unlike charcoal, and it produced no smoke. Neither of them had the mood to study this magical stone. Qin Wen stared blankly at the coffin in front of her, which was carved from a huge stone and covered with all kinds of Salang snakes and demonic flowers, as if to weave a huge net to seal the person in the coffin here for eternity.

The coffin lid had been opened by someone, but it must have been opened not long ago. Damaged talismans remained on the lid, and the inside was covered with a layer of dried blue flowers, which looked similar to the "Blue Enchantress" but also had many differences. A sweet and fishy smell permeated the air.

Her heart suddenly felt as if it were being violently squeezed by two hands, the pain piercing to the bone. Memories suddenly surged like a raging river, overwhelming her. She knelt down, supporting herself on the edge of the coffin, tears streaming down her face.

Caesar came over and helped her up: "What's wrong? Whose coffin is this?"

“Zhenyan…” she choked out, “This coffin belongs to Zhenyan.”

A strange look appeared in Caesar's eyes. Qin Wen suddenly stood up, turned around to face the stairwell, and saw a beautiful woman in a red dance dress, wearing a veil, walking in step by step, each step extremely difficult.

The fire was still burning. She walked around the fire to the coffin. The lid was still closed. Where the coffin body and lid connected, there was a string of runes carved with the heads of the Salang snake. She bit her lower lip, picked up a stone, and smashed it hard against the runes. The runes didn't budge. She gritted her teeth and smashed it again and again. The sound of the impact echoed in the hall until her delicate hands were worn raw and bloody, but the runes still didn't have a single scratch.

With the final blow, the stone shattered, and she cried, kneeling on the ground. This coffin had been cursed by the evil cult of Shaluo, and its five senses had been sealed off. There was only one way to save Zhenyan's soul.

She stood up resolutely. "Zhenyan," she said, "we've depended on each other for so many years, we're each other's only one. If you die, what reason do I have to continue living? Even if I survive, every night I'll be haunted by nightmares, my eyes will weep day and night, my heart will suffer the torment of hatred, and my soul will never find peace."

Rather than live like this, I would rather you find salvation—

And died.

She lightly touched the ground with her toes and began to dance. Her red gauze dress spun and fluttered with her graceful figure, each movement carrying an indescribable eeriness and sorrow. A dance without emotion is dry and lifeless; only a dance infused with all emotion and soul can be a true dance of flight.

Zhenyan, did you see that? My last dance, Kuiji's last dance, was for you.

As she stepped past the last drumbeat, she leaped into the fire. At that moment, two flames ignited behind her, like a pair of dazzling blood-red wings. They rapidly expanded, bursting out of the pagoda and merging with its body. From a distance, it looked as if the pagoda itself had grown a pair of blood-red wings.

The talismans burned by the flames broke off one by one, and the coffin lid opened with a thud. Inside the coffin lay a female corpse whose body was corroded beyond recognition. In her arms, she tightly clutched a golden treasure box inlaid with gemstones.

The golden light from the treasure box spread over the woman's body, and a wisp of dark blue light flew out from her chest, condensing into a blue butterfly in the air.

At the same time, a ray of red light leaped out of the flames and condensed into a red butterfly. The two butterflies danced in the air, then one flew out of the tower, while the other was sucked into the woman's body.

Faintly, a woman's soft voice seemed to drift over.

Kui Ji, wait for me. In the next life, I will follow this road to the Western Regions to come back and find you. At that time, I will do everything I can to save you and let both of us live.

The coffin lid slammed shut again, and from then on, Kui Ji's world was left with only endless darkness.

28. The Gate of Infinity

Qin Wen felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She opened her eyes and realized that she had never felt the most terrible pain of memory as she did now. Long ago, she didn't know which philosopher had said that forgetting was a remedy given to mortals by Buddha, which could cure all the heartaches in the world.

The greatest tragedy in the world is the inability to forget.

Caesar watched her close her eyes and ponder for a long time, now with tears streaming down her face, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Wen, have you remembered something again?"

Qin Wen nodded: "I remembered a lot of things."

Tell me about it.

"This is where Zhenyan's body rests in its final moments. After the execution at the top of the tower, the three treasure chests and the body were brought to this hall and imprisoned in a coffin enchanted with a talisman. Kuiji killed all the Volgilians and finally came here. To save her friend's soul, she sacrificed her own life."

Caesar frowned, a pang of pain shooting through his heart: "What a silly girl."

“You’re right.” Qin Wen nodded, but a warm smile played on her lips. “She was indeed foolish, but it was all worth it. Zhenyan was saved because of her. In this small and dark coffin, her heart has never been so at peace.”

In saving her friend's soul, her own soul was also redeemed.

Caesar shook his head: "The Buddhist way of thinking is really hard to understand."

"Of course you wouldn't understand." Qin Wen smiled calmly. "Where the heart finds peace, the body finds peace; when the heart is at ease and free from all worries, everywhere is a paradise of lotus blossoms, where is not the Western Paradise?"

Caesar rolled his eyes. "The more you talk about it, the more confused I get. If this coffin contained Zhenyan's body and the triple treasure box, then who took them? Aren't these talismans supposed to be very powerful?"

"No matter how powerful the spell is, there is someone who can easily break it."

"who?"

"The one who cast the spell!" A hint of hatred flashed in Qin Wen's eyes. "Do you remember the story I told you? More than 2,500 years ago, a remnant of the Kshatriya cult bewitched King Ebony, made him the high priest of the Mano Kingdom, and under his leadership, launched a movement to destroy Buddhism."

Caesar's expression changed: "You mean, the high priest from back then is still alive and took Zhenyan's body and the triple treasure box with him?"

“No.” Qin Wen shook her head. “They are not still alive, but reincarnated, like us.”

Caesar still didn't believe in reincarnation or rebirth. He paused, but didn't refute, "Even if it's true as you say, it happened more than two thousand years ago. What was his purpose in doing this? To obtain the Triple Treasure Chest?"

The young girl remained silent for a long time before saying, "Perhaps, it's for revenge."

Caesar paused for a moment, then laughed: "In your past life, he killed Zhenyan, and to avenge him, you killed him; in this life, to avenge him, he comes to kill you all. It's truly laughable. So your so-called reincarnation is just to continue killing each other?"

Qin Wen was startled. Although the man kept saying that he was not a Buddhist, every word he said seemed to be imbued with Buddhist principles.

She knew he wasn't wrong.

"You should say those things to that damned transvestite," Qin Wen said, wiping away her tears. "Right now, we need to find the stairs to the top of the tower as soon as possible, otherwise... I don't know what that damned transvestite might do to Xiao Li!"

Caesar watched her frantically groping along the walls and chuckled, "Are you sure it's Min Eun-joon?"

“It’s obvious even to a fool. That kid was so weird and mysterious the whole way, like he knew everything and wasn’t surprised by anything. He clearly doesn’t know martial arts and yet he survived. There’s only one explanation: that dead transvestite has a huge connection to this Mano Kingdom! Either the High Priest or…” Her expression froze, and her hand, which had been groping along the wall, suddenly stopped, as if she had suddenly thought of something. Caesar asked, “What is it now?”

"It's nothing, I was just thinking, maybe I know how to get to the top of the tower." Qin Wen returned to the fire. "Caesar, did you see this stone when you came in?"

“At that time, I only had a lighter.” Caesar shrugged. “I couldn’t see anything…” He paused, then saw the Kinnara statue standing next to the stone. He was certain that when he saw the statue, there were no stones around it.

His heart sank, and he gripped the gun tightly. Qin Wen crouched down by the fire, examining it carefully: "Clearly, this stone is a gift from someone. Now, we just need to figure out where it came from, and the road will be clear."

Caesar recalled what happened when he was being chased by the statue. The scene was chaotic and dark, and he relied entirely on his instinct for danger to shoot.

What strange things happened during that period?

He rubbed his temples, but then heard Qin Wen say, "Did you hear a thud when I bumped into the coffin?"

Caesar's eyebrows twitched, and he suddenly realized: "That's right, I heard a heavy sound when I heard it fall to the ground, and I thought you had knocked over the statue."

Qin Wen rolled her eyes at her, annoyed. Was she really that clumsy?

Caesar ignored her protest and looked up at the snow-white ceiling, which was carved with the sun, moon, stars, the sky, and dancing apsaras. In the center of the ceiling was a circular vortex, symbolizing the boundless universe.

"What did you think of?" Qin Wen asked.

"That vortex is the entrance to the top of the tower!"

“Great, how do we get up there?” Qin Wen finally smiled. Caesar looked at her, hesitated for a moment, then helplessly took off his coat and threw it to her, rolling up his sleeves: “You should rest for a while. Let me, the gentleman, do this kind of physical work.”

Qin Wen agreed, sat down against the coffin, and felt utterly weak. These past few days in the desert had been the most stressful and arduous period of her life; if she were to return alive, it would likely become a lifelong nightmare.

The handsome young man, who looked like a vampire, climbed step by step up the ceiling using the mural as a guide, asking as he went, "Who else is in your family?"

“Grandpa, Mom, Dad, and an older brother.” Qin Wen took a piece of chocolate from his shirt pocket. She remembered that he had made it himself. She took a small bite, and it tasted very sweet. A sweet feeling flowed from her throat to her heart. “You still have the mood to talk about this?”

“We have to say something.” Caesar took a few suction cups out of his backpack, put them on his hands and feet, and hung upside down from the ceiling. “They’re worried about you, aren’t they?”

Qin Wen rolled her eyes. Today was the day she rolled her eyes the most in her life. She was starting to wonder if her eyes were twitching: "How dare you say that? Don't you even think about who caused all this!"

"Haha..." Caesar chuckled dryly, quickly changing the subject. "My father was an adventurer. He always loved to travel and rarely came home. I only met him a few times, and what I saw most were the books and exploration notes he left behind. Later, he died in an adventure. My adoptive father was a friend of my father's and also an explorer, so I was practically raised by Uncle Manra. I've always respected him, but I never expected..."

He didn't say anything more. Manra was loyal to him, but she had also schemed against him. He simply couldn't tolerate any deception from the person he trusted most.

Qin Wen sighed deeply: "I really envy you. You have no memory of your past life."

Suddenly, a terrifying thought occurred to her. Because of the series of bizarre events, she had almost forgotten about it. She stood up, her face grave: "Caesar, I still have the poison Manra has inflicted on me!"

Caesar was taken aback, as if he had just remembered. He chuckled mischievously twice: "It's alright, as long as you stay by my side, I guarantee you won't get into any trouble!"

"You!" Qin Wen gritted her teeth. She had seen shamelessness before, but never anyone as shameless as him. Did he expect her to follow him for the rest of her life?

Thinking of this, she suddenly understood the deeper meaning in his words, and two red clouds immediately rose on her cheeks. She stomped her foot hard and said, "Who wants to be with you, you arrogant jerk!"

Caesar's hand had already touched the vortex. He slowly groped around, trying to find the mechanism, when suddenly the vortex opened, a burst of fire shot out, and he screamed, his hand slipped, and he fell from the ceiling. Qin Wen was shocked and quickly leaped up, catching him around the waist. With a spin, she absorbed most of the force, and then they both crashed heavily to the ground, their bones feeling as if they had been shattered.

"Ouch..." Qin Wen's face was contorted in pain. She finally managed to get up, only to find that Caesar's eyes were tightly closed and his handsome face was covered in black. She gasped and moved his face towards her, almost screaming.

He suffered severe burns from his left forehead to his ear. Although the area was not very large, it was still a bloody mess and emitted a burnt smell.

"Caesar! Cheer up!" Qin Wen patted his right cheek. "Don't sleep, wake up!"