King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 95

Master Shenbi, who had been knocked down and thrown back, groaned as he sat up, reaching out to support himself on a thick tree trunk as he struggled to his feet. The place where he had fallen was actually another dimly lit room, the same size as this one, and the two rooms were separated by the same wall.

There were two giant trees, each over two meters in diameter, planted side by side three meters apart. Their bark was dark and cracked, clearly indicating their considerable age. Master Shenbi was supporting the western one, which was likely a catalpa tree of some kind, while the other was a common Japanese locust tree. The house was also very strangely constructed, with two holes cut into the roof to allow the giant trees to grow outwards—or perhaps the two giant trees existed first, and the treehouse was built later according to the thickness of their trunks.

Zhang Baisen waved to Master Shenbi: "Abbot, we would like to stay at your temple tonight. Would you be so kind as to do so?"

Japanese men are born with a fierce and domineering aura. Even though he was beaten and fell to the ground in a sorry state, this ferocity remained unchanged. Even the abbot of the famous temple, Master Shinbe, was no exception: "I apologize for not keeping you here. Please make yourself at home. As for Mr. Feng, he is an extremely honored guest of our temple. Not only can he stay overnight, but he can stay for several months or even years without any problem."

I just helped him with his punch, so it seems he owes me that favor.

Suddenly, I heard a faint sound of water, as if a surging spring was gushing up from a tiny crack in the rocks. I looked at my feet and scratched my ears to make sure it wasn't a hallucination. This was strange, because this time it wasn't the bubbling sound of Xunfuyuan, but the clear sound of flowing water.

Zhang Baisen's expression also changed. From his lowered head, I could tell that he had also heard that sound.

The monks meditating outside the door suddenly stood up and uttered a mournful Buddhist chant. Such a strange action and sound could only occur in the face of a great disaster, but I could not see what unknown danger could harm so many people at present.

"I was invited by you through brainwaves to comprehend the mysteries of reincarnation. I am a guest from afar, and a guest should not overpower the host, right, Master Guijian?"

The boy raised his voice and called out towards the two giant trees.

Without the glass cover providing protection, the golden sheath covering Tengjia began to radiate a chilling golden light. She wasn't wearing any other clothing; her exposed skin was extremely white, and the capillaries on her skin were clearly visible.

I hesitated for a moment, then bent down to pick up the coffin lid, gently closed it, and wiped away a few specks of dust with my sleeve. In traditional Chinese thought—"the dead are respected"—even though she wasn't dead, her vegetative state was no different from "dying prematurely." Therefore, I didn't want to offend her, regardless of whether she was Chinese or Japanese.

The boy's words became increasingly mysterious, and he even mentioned something about "an invitation of brainwaves" to Master Shenbi, which puzzled me greatly.

Dusk was falling, and no one turned on the lights. I had just observed that there were no lights in the living room at all.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..." A series of low coughs rang out, suddenly silencing the wails outside.

I could hear two monks whispering: "What? Is the true master about to be born? Listen, listen..."

All sounds fell silent, except for the gurgling of water, which, upon closer listening, seemed to be coming from the direction of the pagoda. Just now, Heijian had mentioned that "the divine tide has reappeared"—could this sound be coming from beneath the pagoda?

My fists clenched involuntarily. Everyone knows that the entrance to the "Undersea Tomb" is buried beneath the "Tower of the Dead." If it is an underwater tomb, it must be related to water. So, does this sudden sound of water mean that there is a secret passage leading directly to the seabed beneath the tower?

Japan is an island nation isolated in the ocean after the extension of the Asian continental shelf. Its foundation is entirely based on seabed reefs, making it fundamentally unstable. Many geographers have even predicted that within the next thousand years, Japan will disintegrate into the azure sea, and the land of Fusang will cease to exist.

Since they live on the rocks, it's natural that seawater can flood in at any time, so there's nothing to be alarmed about.

At that moment, I had only one thought in my mind: to rush down to the bottom of the "Tower of the Dead" and see what kind of strange water flow it was.

So, where did that heavy coughing come from? Was it from Master Shenbi? The boy just mentioned the name "Master Guijian," which should refer to Master Guijianchuan, one of the two great monks of Fengge Temple—speaking of this name, the name of another master, "Master Bumenri," also comes to mind.

When people mention the two eminent monks of Fuuki-ji Temple, they always speak of them with great respect, as they are two "national treasures" of Japan.

The boy burst into laughter, his laughter devoid of any childishness, filled with a mature and melancholic air: "I've arrived, yet you two still refuse to grant me an audience. Isn't that a bit much?"

Part 2: Tower of the Dead

— Chapter 11 — Masters Meet Masters —

A folding fan was extended and tapped three times on Master Shenbi's head. The fan, the hand holding the fan, and the clothes on his arm were all the same dark color as tree bark. If it weren't for the sound, you really wouldn't be able to tell what had just happened.

"Shenbi, you are simply not suited to be the abbot. Alas, the decline of Fengge Temple is inevitable with this generation." The speaker's voice was extremely old, but his inner strength was profound, and every word clearly reached my ears.

Master Shenbi took a step back, touching the top of his head where he had been hit, and stared in disbelief.

“You, Heavenly Dragon Monk—” the man spoke again.

The old monk, whose clothes were embroidered with golden dragons, struggled to his feet and silently clasped his hands together towards the giant tree.

"The dragon is a symbol of the Chinese people, especially the masters of Tibetan Buddhism who have studied the dragon and elephant dual forms to an unparalleled degree. How can you possibly win by using your weaknesses to fight against others' strengths? Alas, once you have overcome today's calamity, your mission will be complete, the calamity will be over, and you can retire into Nirvana..."

I looked closely at the dark tree trunks, and as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I gradually saw that there was a hollow in each of the two giant trees. The person speaking stood in a hollow less than two meters high in the trunk of the catalpa tree, turned to the east, holding a folding fan in both hands, and surrounded by a chilling mist.

Zhang Baisen suddenly interjected: "Master Guijian, as soon as I received the brainwaves you emitted, Master Xianyun immediately guided me here, but you only sent some foolish junior monks to create problems and obstruct me. What kind of logic is that?"

The person inside the tree hollow and the boy both sighed deeply, their sighs lingering on and on.

The boy smiled and said, "The companion he's looking for to meditate and attain enlightenment isn't us, but—" He slowly pointed at me, a knowing smile on his face.

Almost everyone inside and outside the door exclaimed "Ah!" at the same time, including myself, who was also greatly surprised: "What? It's me?"

I knew nothing about the "brainwave invitation" and came to Fengge Temple solely to visit Fujika and, incidentally, to look for Reiseka.

“Yes, it’s you…” Inside the tree hollow, Kame Kagawa clapped his hands together with a muffled thud, and a pine torch stuck in the side wall immediately crackled and burned, emitting a puff of smoke with the fragrance of pine.

By the firelight, I saw his face, haphazardly covered by his long hair. It was truly unbelievable that such an old man had a face as delicate and tender as a baby's. Apart from a pair of cold and deep eyes, his forehead, cheekbones, nose, and lips were as soft and delicate as a chubby three- or four-year-old child's, and they were spotless, without a speck of dust.

“It’s you…” He raised his arm and slowly pointed at me, dust falling in rustles from his black sleeve. Then, he tilted his head back, gathering all his disheveled hair behind his head, staring intently at me, looking at me again and again.

"Haha, hahaha..." Zhang Baisen suddenly burst into laughter, turning his face to look at me intently. Not just him, probably everyone present was staring at me.

I could only awkwardly maintain a smile, hoping it was just a very subtle misunderstanding. Because I knew my own abilities; if even the eminent monks of Shingon and Tibetan Buddhism present couldn't figure out the method to liberate Tengka, I was far behind and at a loss.

With a crack, the large tree where Kamekazu was hiding trembled. He reached out and held onto the trunk, trying to get away and walk out.

"Wait...wait..." The person in the tree hole less than a meter high on another tree suddenly spoke, his breath weak, as if he were seriously ill, and his voice was very low.

Kamekawa stopped halfway through his step and listened respectfully.

“Once you leave, all your cultivation will vanish to zero, do you understand?” The person sat upright cross-legged, head bowed, hair disheveled, and covered in dust.

"Teacher, I know." Kamekawa's feet were dangling in mid-air, caught in a dilemma.

"Don't you feel it's a pity? Perhaps in another year, a month, or even a day, you could have unraveled the secrets beneath the tower. Is that all the patience you need?" Since that person was respectfully addressed as "teacher" by Kamekagawa, he was undoubtedly the most mysterious high monk of Fugekiji Temple, Master Bumenri.

When he spoke, his body remained completely still, not even his lips moved; only his chest rose and fell slightly. This was one of the most mysterious and unorthodox magical arts in the martial arts world—"ventriloquism."

The practice of cultivating oneself in a tree hollow has been recorded in ancient India. This state of cultivation makes it easiest for one to receive the influence of the Five Elements.

The spiritual energy of "wood". Ancient plants have existed for a much longer time than humans, so those who cultivate diligently can only connect with the vast "earth energy" and reach the state of "unity of heaven and man" by relying on the spiritual energy of plants.

“Teacher, I really can’t wait any longer. In these three months, the divine tides have been overflowing repeatedly. Perhaps before we can comprehend the path to the ‘Underwater Divine Tomb,’ the divine tides will overflow to the point that they will be enough to submerge Fuuki-ji Temple and Hokkaido. We have no ark to save all ages. How can we cope with this vast ocean?”

Since their appearance, all their conversations have been in Chinese, demonstrating the profound influence of Chinese culture on Japanese Buddhism.

I didn't quite understand what they were saying, but the strange phenomenon of "the tide of the gods flooding Hokkaido" seemed to be a novel and unheard-of theory.

The boy, whom Zhang Baisen called "Master Xianyun," listened to the conversation between the two high monks with a smile. Suddenly, he raised his palms and slowly reached out towards the coffin where Tengjia was lying.

A warm breeze burst forth from his palm, causing everyone in the living room to fluff their clothes. Zhang Baisen, who was holding him, not only had his clothes flying wildly, but his legs had also strained to sit in a full-on horse stance, clearly struggling to withstand the immense pressure from Master Xianyun.

With two consecutive "crack...crack, crack" sounds, two pieces of blue brick beneath Zhang Baisen's feet shattered, just as they had when the five monks had joined forces to resist him.

My gaze had no time to observe Zhang Baisen's flushed face, because at that moment, Tengjia inside the coffin suddenly floated up, its body suspended above the glass lid.

“Bao Na Bin An Yi Niu Mo Mou…” Master Xianyun began chanting sutras, his palms trembling violently.

Fujika's eyelashes were trembling violently, as if she might suddenly open her eyes at any moment. Moreover, her breathing rhythm had increased by more than double, and the blood vessels under her neck were rapidly dilating, almost bursting from her snow-white skin.

Master Xianyun held his position for nearly a minute, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening, his expression so tense it became strangely distorted—a minute later, he dejectedly released his grip, panting as he wiped his sweat from his brow, and Tengjia's body slumped back to the bottom of the coffin with a thud. Everyone could see that he had tried to use his supreme magical power to awaken Tengjia, but to no avail.

“Since you’ve made up your mind, then go. Everything in this world depends on fate; you can’t force it.” After saying this, Master Bumenlu, who was sitting in the tree hole, swayed silently. A door carved from the bark of the tree trunk slowly closed, and the tree became one with the tree, making the tree hole invisible.

With a flash of firelight, Gui Jianchuan leaped out of the tree hole and stood face to face with Master Xianyun. He was not particularly tall, but rather thin and frail, giving the impression of being skin and bones and weak as a feather.

“What use are these… ‘troublesome hairs’?” He stroked his hair, and with a whoosh, all his messy, dirty hair fell to the ground, revealing his baby-like, tender face, which complemented Master Xianyun’s appearance as a seven-year-old boy.

The idea that enlightened monks can "rejuvenate and have youthful appearance despite their white hair" is a well-known anecdote in Buddhism, and we saw two of them at the same place, Fengge Temple, today.

The monk Tianlong, who had just been reprimanded by Kamekagawa, had been standing silently to the side. Now, he turned around and slowly walked out of the living room. The monks outside automatically made way for him until he reached the center of the courtyard, facing the pagoda to the south, and slowly sat down cross-legged.

The three old monks, representing the elephant, lion, and tiger, wore expressions of sorrow and lamentation. "Nirvana," the state of enlightenment, is the essential path for Buddhist disciples to shed their physical bodies and enter the Western Paradise. In the minds of these eminent monks, Nirvana is a transformative process of "birth and death, death and birth," the happiest thing. But for ordinary people, the separation of life and death is the most painful experience.

"He's gone." Kamekawa smiled, but the sound of a baby-faced person speaking in such a desolate voice made my stomach extremely uncomfortable.

“Yes, he’s gone. After his wisdom was extinguished, what grew alongside him was a more profound tree of wisdom. What about us? Shouldn’t we do something for the reincarnated one?” Master Xianyun responded, his gaze shifting back and forth between me and Tengjia, while his ten fingers kept pinching and kneading, as if he were calculating something.

Throughout the constantly changing situation, the sound of flowing water was actually constant, but my attention was completely focused on the two high monks in the tree hollow, so I temporarily forgot about the eerie sound of the flowing water.

Just after Master Xianyun's voice fell, the sound of the water suddenly amplified tenfold, turning into a rushing, gushing sound like a torrent. The monks outside began chanting Buddhist scriptures loudly again, fighting against the sound of the water.

Master Shenbi exclaimed "Ah!" and stepped in front of Guijianchuan with a deathly pale face: "Master, the strange 'nameless fire' is about to appear again. Please, Master, help the younger disciples in Fengge Temple..." At this moment, the monks outside had scattered and hid behind the walls, corridors, and behind flowers and trees, as if some dangerous change was about to happen.

Kamekawa listened intently for a few seconds, head held high, before replying with a mixture of composure and resignation: "Since it's called an 'unnamed fire,' why bother with it? Just stay calm, keep your spirits steady, and let it come and go as it pleases—"

Although Zhang Baisen wasn't looking around, his eyes were constantly darting around. As China's leading master of special abilities, he had demonstrated countless times that he could see anything within a 360-degree range without moving his head. Now, without turning around, he could certainly take in the entire situation in the courtyard.

I thought "nameless fire" was just a Buddhist allusion, used to refer to anger or "unprovoked evil fire," and I never thought it could be anything substantial. Seeing Master Shenbi's expression, I couldn't help but find it a little funny, but at this moment the sound of the flowing water had reached a climax, and a burnt smell suddenly filled the air.

The monks screamed in unison, for just as the water reached its boiling point, a flame suddenly erupted from the head of the Tianlong monk sitting cross-legged in the center of the courtyard. I wasn't mistaken; it was a real flame, like a kerosene stove that had just been turned on.

He had his back to us, so we couldn't see the expression on his face after the fire started, but from his back, there was no sign of him struggling in pain.

Terrified, Zhang Baisen turned around abruptly and looked at the Heavenly Dragon Monk whose head was already surrounded by flames.

Master Xianyun suddenly raised his right hand, his five fingers forming a "crane's beak" shape, and stretched it forward rapidly. I believe he has the ability to extinguish fires from a distance, but it's a pity that this flame came so strangely. If he extinguished it all at once, wouldn't he lose a great research opportunity?

"Wait—" Gui Jianchuan swayed, snatched over, and grabbed Master Xianyun's five fingers. His palm was rough and huge, like an eagle's claw, and he suddenly held Master Xianyun's hand in his palm.

Both of them were unparalleled masters whose martial arts had reached the pinnacle of invincibility. Although it was an unintentional collision of their palms, it must have carried the intention of "competing and testing" in a way that was not intentional or unintentional.

"Crack, crack, crack, crack," the blue bricks beneath Zhang Baisen's feet shattered into powder, and his feet sank more than twenty centimeters in an instant, demonstrating the immense pressure exerted on him by Master Xianyun's body. When he shifted the pressure to the ground beneath his feet, it was as if two heavy-duty tampers were relentlessly hammering at the hard earth.

Gui Jianchuan was in no better shape; his monk's robes on his arms and upper body ripped into hundreds of pieces with a "rip," slowly drifting down, leaving him only in a pair of grayish-white trousers and cloth shoes. Although the exchange consisted of only one move, it possessed a terrifying power.

“We…can…see…the…situation…before…deciding…” After uttering five words intermittently, Kamekawa opened his mouth wide, hissed, took a deep breath, and released his palm, making a loud “gurgling” swallowing sound.

Master Xianyun nodded, let out a long breath, his face turning red and white in an unpredictable manner.

Flames had already engulfed the shoulders of the Heavenly Dragon Monk, his gray robes were burning fiercely, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of scalded flesh.

No one raised an alarm, nor did anyone search for water to put out the fire; they simply watched silently, even the chanting of sutras ceased.

As dusk fell, another night descended upon the desolate mountain, and the burning Heavenly Dragon Monk, like the protagonist of a bonfire party, was surrounded and watched by the crowd. He was a human, not dry pine firewood, so the situation looked eerie and evil, more like a cult's sacrificial ceremony.

"This is the twenty-seventh sacrifice in three months. Divine Water, Wrath... I wonder where Heaven intends to place Fengge Temple? Master, Master, Master, is there really no way to break the curse on Fengge Temple?" Master Shenbi became extremely grief-stricken.

When the flames completely engulfed the Celestial Dragon Monk, everyone heard the sizzling sound of flesh being roasted, but no screams from him. Perhaps in five minutes, he would be completely reduced to ashes, but where did this strange flame come from?

“Perhaps we… can… go to the ‘Tower of the Dead’… to seek enlightenment?” Kamega took a step back, then hissed and took a deep breath, his shrunken belly slowly swelling up.

I've wanted to go to the pagoda for a long time, and his words are exactly what I wanted to do.

Master Xianyun answered almost without hesitation, "Okay, right away." As soon as those three words left his mouth, Zhang Baisen arched his back and shot into the courtyard. He had no intention of taking a detour; his toes barely touched the steps in front of the gate, and he rose slowly like a crane soaring through the clouds, gliding through the air and landing on the south wall of the courtyard. After another leap, he was completely out of sight. With this method of leaping and bounding, reaching the foot of the tower would take no more than three seconds.

I gave a wry smile. Although my martial arts and lightness skills were not bad, they were not even thirty percent as good as Zhang Baisen's.

"Young man, let's... go..."

Kamekawa extended his hand to me and smiled kindly. His upper body remained naked, which was quite strange.

I extended my hand as well, feeling somewhat favorably disposed towards the Japanese monk who spoke only Chinese. The moment our palms touched, a chilling coldness instantly spread throughout my body, causing me to tremble several times. The cold also jolted my mind, making me much more alert.

My first reaction was to shake off his hand, but the immense adhesive force contained in Kamekagawa's palm held my hand firmly in place.

“Princess Tengjia is very important to us. Save her—if you can…” His last sentence was clearly tinged with distrust. I felt that his handshake was like Master Xianyun’s exploration of my brain tissue, both aimed at obtaining certain special memories from my body.