noveltune Chapter 113 A Chaotic Frenzy, Orthodox Tragedy Overturned
Chapter 113 A Chaotic Frenzy, Orthodox Tragedy Overturned
Chapter 114 A Chaotic Frenzy, Orthodox Tragedy Overturned
The underground vault at Boguzhai was larger than Cheng Xiaojin had anticipated.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a blast of cold air rushed out.
The underground lights flickered on and off, the walls were covered with moisture-proof boards, and there were safes and glass display cases on all four sides.
A space was left in the middle to house the Ming Dynasty gilt bronze Buddha statue.
The Buddha statue is about half a person's height. The gold paint dims under the light, and there is a bluish-black ring around its neck. The Buddha's head is tilted towards the door, and its eyes are facing the elevator.
Han Shaobai hid behind the bulletproof glass, surrounded by several of his men.
Old Feng sat in the chair, his trouser legs still wet, clutching a string of prayer beads in his hand, his lips white from chanting.
The vault is already stocked with supplies.
A Taoist priest from Maoshan stood on a yellow cloth, holding a talisman in his hand, with a row of copper bells hanging beside him.
Two monks sat cross-legged on prayer cushions, striking the wooden fish rapidly.
Another feng shui master held a compass, with red sand spread out at his feet, and muttered jargon that Cheng Xiaojin couldn't understand.
There was also an old man in a Tang suit, with three apprentices, who were placing small bronze beasts at the four corners of the Buddha statue.
Tieguai Li watched with amusement.
"This is enough to hold a temple fair."
Zhou Banxian lowered his voice.
"At temple fairs they sell sugar figurines, but here they're selling their lives."
Tang Wanqing stood by the door, not going inside.
"Living evil spirit."
Cheng Xiaojin nodded, still wearing his gloves, and leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed.
"The seventh breath is stuck in the copper body, and the Buddha's body has been used as a door latch. Whoever makes the first move will be the first to get punished."
Han Shaobai gestured at him through the glass.
"Brother Cheng, aren't you coming to take a look?"
Cheng Xiaojin replied.
"My price only includes a distant view."
The Taoist priest from Maoshan heard this and turned around to glare at him.
"Where did these vendors come from? This is a religious ceremony. All unauthorized personnel, please step back."
Tieguai Li grinned.
"Who are you calling a busybody?"
Cheng Xiaojin raised her hand to stop him.
"Master is busy, please go first."
The old man in the Tang suit snorted coldly.
"These young people nowadays know a bit about the unorthodox ways of the martial arts world, and they dare to come to the Buddha to watch the show. Young Master Han, the people you invited are too mixed up, disturbing the sacred energy."
Han Shaobai was covered in sweat.
"Mr. Li, please go first, please go first."
The Maoshan Taoist priest lit the incense stick with the talisman, took a step, and the copper bell jingled loudly.
"Borrow the power of heavenly thunder to suppress it!"
The yellow talisman flew towards the Buddha statue's forehead.
Cheng Xiaojin closed his eyes.
He didn't look at the Buddha's face, but only listened to the echoes from the bronze body.
There was a cavity inside the metal. The sound traveled from the Buddha's belly to the right side, and when it reached a point three inches below the right side, there was a hollow space.
The echoes there were muffled, like a damp cloth stuffed inside.
The talisman had just been pasted onto the Buddha's forehead, and the fire hadn't even died down yet, when a piercing metallic scraping sound came from the Buddha's neck.
The Buddha's head turned a little further to the right, just as it turned from the entrance to the Maoshan Taoist priest.
The Taoist priest's face drained of color, and the copper bell in his hand fell to the ground.
"This, this is not right."
The feng shui master hurriedly raised his compass, the needle spinning rapidly, when suddenly the compass cracked open, and shards flew into his face.
He covered his face and took two steps back, causing the red sand to become disoriented by his heels.
The sound of the monk's wooden fish drum also became disordered.
The older monk gritted his teeth and chanted the sutra, while the younger monk's hand slipped, the wooden mallet fell to the ground, and the wooden fish was cracked.
Han Shaobai shouted from behind the glass.
"Master, what's going on?"
The Taoist priest from Maoshan couldn't save face, so he bit his fingertip and drew another talisman.
"A demon dares to haunt the Buddha!"
Cheng Xiaojin opened her eyes.
"Don't post a second one."
The Taoist priest said angrily.
"Shut up!"
The second talisman was pasted on the Buddha statue's chest, and two lines of black liquid immediately seeped from the corners of the Buddha statue's eyes.
The black liquid seeped down the gold paint and dripped onto the marble floor tiles, etching a pit into them. A foul stench rose up, and several workers immediately bent over and vomited.
Tang Wanqing covered her mouth and nose.
"The seventh gate of Qi has been activated."
"Zhou Banxian cursed."
"Fool, using a yang talisman to dispel evil spirits is like stuffing firecrackers into a coffin."
The old man in the Tang suit still wanted to save face, so he called out to his apprentice.
"The four beasts press down, sealing its four energies!"
Four small bronze beasts were placed at the four corners of the Buddha statue.
As soon as it landed, a muffled thud came from inside the Buddha statue's belly, and the four bronze beasts overturned at the same time. One of them rolled to the old man's feet, spitting out black water that splashed onto his cloth shoes.
The old man yelled, smoke rising from the soles of his shoes, and his apprentice dragged him away.
Han Shaobai panicked completely.
"Master Li, didn't you say it was a family heirloom for suppressing Buddha?"
The old man in the Tang suit didn't care about appearances.
"This Buddha statue is unclean; the price will be extra!"
Tieguai Li laughed out loud at the door.
"They were quite clean when they received the money."
The Taoist priest from Maoshan heard this and was both ashamed and angry.
"If you're so capable, then come and try!"
Cheng Xiaojin didn't move.
"It's not our turn yet."
The Taoist priest glared at him.
"Playing tricks."
As soon as the words were spoken, the Buddha statue's eyes shifted.
It wasn't the Buddha's head that turned; it was the shadow at the position of the eyeball that moved half an inch towards the doorway.
The lights in the vault dimmed for a moment, and several men behind the bulletproof glass shouted in unison.
Old Feng slid off the chair and onto the floor, scattering his prayer beads everywhere.
Han Shaobai is almost paralyzed.
"Brother Cheng, don't just stand there admiring it from afar, I'll add more if 500,000 isn't enough!"
Cheng Xiaojin remained leaning against the door.
"What's the rush? The masters haven't left yet."
Those masters didn't care about making a graceful exit.
The feng shui master stuffed the cracked compass into his bag, saying that the energy of this place was not in harmony and that he needed to go back to retrieve his ancestral artifact.
The Maoshan Taoist priest picked up the copper bell, but hadn't even collected all the talismans.
The two monks, supporting each other, walked out chanting Buddhist mantras. The younger one almost slipped on the red sand.
The old man in the Tang suit was being supported by his apprentice, and one of his shoes had been taken off. He was still being stubborn when passing by Cheng Xiaojin.
"This thing is extremely strange; only our sect can handle it. I'll go back and ask my elders."
Tieguai Li was leaning on a wrench.
"Are your elders still alive? Don't ask them to come down and turn around."
The old man was so angry that his beard trembled, and he didn't dare to stop.
The vault was emptied by the blink of an eye, leaving only Cheng Xiaojin and his group, along with Han Shaobai's men.
Black liquid was still dripping from the corner of the Buddha statue's eye, and several pits had been eroded into the floor tiles. The smell was so strong that it made one's scalp tingle.
Han Shaobai emerged from behind the glass, his legs still weak.
"Brother Cheng, we've already flipped the ship several times. If you can't handle this either, I'll sell Boguzhai tonight."
Cheng Xiaojin glanced at him.
"To whom will it be sold? To the Buddha himself?"
Han Shaobai was about to cry.
"Please stop insulting me."
Tang Wanqing walked to Cheng Xiaojin's side.
You can't touch it.
"I know."
Zhou Banxian placed the compass on the ground, with the needle pointing towards the right side of the Buddha statue.
"The energy point is on the right side."
Cheng Xiaojin closed his eyes and listened intently for a moment.
A faint echo emanated from inside the Buddha statue. The bronze body should have been thick and solid, but the area three inches below the right side was hollow, with the sounds of wood and paper mixed in.
He kicked Tieguai Li's prosthetic leg.
Tieguai Li lowered his head.
"What?"
"Brother Li, it's our turn to get to work, you bunch of junk collectors."
Han Shaobai immediately moved forward.
"What should we do, smash the Buddha statue?"
"Are you willing to part with it?"
"Even if it's painful, we have to live."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at the Buddha statue.
"Don't smash the Buddha. Three inches below the right rib, there's something else stuffed inside. When the Buddha turns his head, it's that thing using the Buddha's body to find the door."
Tang Wanqing asked.
"Can we retrieve it?"
"Whether or not to take it depends on Brother Li's skill, as he can tell the location by sound."
Tieguai Li opened his toolbox, which contained a watch knife, a soft steel hook, a fine file, and an oilcloth bag.
He didn't immediately approach the Buddha statue even after noticing the black liquid in its eyes.
"A bronze-plated gilded piece from the Ming Dynasty. If I make a mistake, Han Shaobai will cling to my leg and cry for three years."
Han Shaobai quickly waved his hand.
"Don't cry, don't cry, Brother Li, you drive. If you break it, it's on me."
Tieguai Li looked at Cheng Xiaojin.
"You can't touch it, and you can't get too close. Just call out."
Cheng Xiaojin nodded, took half a step back, and pressed his back against the door frame.
"Three inches below the right rib, the outer layer of copper is one and a half fen thick, and there is an old patch under the gilding, which is not from the same year."
Master Ma's eyes flickered.
"Making amends by sticking to one's own methods?"
Cheng Xiaojin listened to the faint echo from the Buddha's body, "The mouth is filled with the Cheng family's vertical hook."
Han Shaobai's face turned pale.
"Did your father also practice Buddhism in my family?"
Cheng Xiaojin didn't look at him.
"Young Master Han, the Buddha in your family has an unusual background."
The vault light flickered again.
The sound of metal scraping came from the neck of the Buddha statue again, and the Buddha's head began to turn slowly toward Cheng Xiaojin.
The black liquid dripped even faster, and the pits on the ground connected in a line.
Tang Wanqing used a red thread to press down on the threshold.
"It's recognizing you."
Zhou Banxian's face tightened.
"A living person's key attracts bad luck; there's no escaping it."
Tieguai Li had already crouched down close to the right side of the Buddha statue, and the clockwork knife was inserted into the edge of the patch.
He didn't touch the front of the Buddha statue, but only picked along the old patch lines little by little.
Report.
Cheng Xiaojin closed his eyes.
"Go up half an inch, don't go too deep. The bottom is hollow, and there are wood chips inside."
"Report again."
"stop."
Tieguai Li stopped wielding his knife.
The Buddha statue's eyes had turned to the doorway and were looking at Cheng Xiaojin.
Han Shaobai hid behind Master Ma, chanting "May Buddha protect me," his legs still trembling.
Cheng Xiaojin did not back down, his tongue still dripping with blood, and he spoke in a low voice.
"Don't look at me. The door you're looking for isn't here."
A muffled thud came from inside the Buddha statue's belly.
With a twist of his wrist, Tieguai Li caused a thin slit to appear in the patch on his right rib.
A small piece of black wood peeked out from the crack, with yellowed paper pressed on it. The corner of the paper was wet, and from the wetness, the vertical hook of the Cheng family name slowly emerged.
Master Ma took a step forward, almost dropping the teacup.
When Cheng Xiaojin saw the broken corner of the paper, the color drained from his face.
On the back of the paper, a line of text was written in very fine, soot-colored characters.
The Buddha with seven bellies on its belly fled at the sight of me.