Chapter 5: The True Buddha of the Ancient Temple

  Seeing that I agreed, Old Zhao took out a rosary from his own pocket and said: "This string of beads has the Heart Sutra engraved on it, made by Xiao Ye Zi Tan. I don't know how long its history is, but when the lay Buddhist gave it to me, it was already polished very brightly. It should have been used for countless generations to recite scriptures and chant Buddha's name, and it can be considered a Dharma instrument. You'd better carry it with you, it's always good to have one. Best to hold it in your hand while turning the beads and chanting Buddha's name."

  When I touched the rosary, I felt that kind of warmth and also a sense of mental tranquility, which is also a treasure. We are all mortal, can't see clearly, don't know if this is the Buddha's light shining everywhere, but I am still very grateful to Old Zhao, although it was just temporarily lent to me, but the feeling in my hand has already made me realize how great the impact I received earlier was.

  I always thought that the resentment hadn't affected me much, judging from my senses, I've always been clear-headed. However, when I got the rosary and followed Old Zhao's lead, as I turned the beads and recited the Buddha's name, the more I recited, the clearer my mind became, and the previous anger, fear, and entanglements were all swept away. It was just like a drunkard who feels sober again. I had almost fallen into a state of intoxication, and the consequences would have been unthinkable.

  It's actually quite strange, I've lived for over 20 years and have never encountered such supernatural events. As for religion and ghosts, I only treated them as a cultural phenomenon worth studying, but never thought it was possible to establish a bizarre world like this. It seems that everything started from when my master revealed his secrets to me and had me study ancient books. Is the saying "believe and you shall have, don't believe and you won't" really true?

  I discovered the magical power of this rosary, and I began to concentrate my mind, reciting Buddhist scriptures. Although the surrounding fog was thick, my mind was clear, and I wouldn't get lost. I followed Old Zhao closely, and every time I didn't see him, I became more determined to go back and take a good look at that book. If I had believed in its contents earlier, who knows, maybe this disaster wouldn't have happened. But I also understood that even if I had refused to come, I would be fine myself, but what about Old Wang and Xia Xue? Including Old Zhao, they all had to come. If something really went wrong, I could still try my best to fulfill my obligations and accept my fate. If I hadn't come, it would be a lifelong regret.

  No matter how much I thought about it, it was useless. As we were still walking on the rugged mountain path, a miserable cry began to come from somewhere in the white fog. It was a woman's cry, gloomy and mournful. I suddenly felt my head getting dizzy again. Fortunately, I didn't stop reciting the Buddhist scriptures in my mouth at this time. On the contrary, in order to boost my courage, I recited the beads faster and louder. Old Zhao pulled me and said, "Don't mind these things, if you're afraid, just recite loudly, fear will be invaded by evil spirits. It seems that another homicide has occurred here, we must hurry down the mountain to report to the police early tomorrow morning."

  Xia Xue, this name suddenly popped into my mind, I wonder if something has happened to Xia Xue?

  After careful consideration, although the voice was mournful and high-pitched, it still differed somewhat from Xia Xue's voice.

  As that mournful cry began, all around seemed to be in an uproar, with gusts of cold wind and eerie white fog, like being in hell. The kind of tragic sorrow, the appearance before death, was vividly etched in my mind. What kind of pain would produce such a sharp scream? What kind of resentment would not disperse? I felt my hands trembling, my mind in chaos, with only the mournful cry left, and even the Buddha's name seemed to be drowned out by this boundless resentment.

  At this moment, a wooden stick hit me and I seemed to have come to my senses. My somewhat clear mind heard Old Zhao reciting: "You go! You leave! I will whip you with this stick. If you don't go, I will surely punish you without hesitation. If you don't go, I'll whip you away."

  I felt like I had been beaten awake and hastily waved my hand: "I'm fine now, what happened just now? Did I get possessed again?"

  Lao Zhao's face turned pale, I quickly went up and asked: "What's wrong."

  He smiled: "I'm fine, I think it's already midnight, at this time anything can happen. I feel like we've been walking around the mountain without following the path left by previous people, so after walking for so long, we still haven't arrived. Originally, we should have arrived in 40 minutes, now it should be 11 o'clock. We need to hurry up and arrive at the ancient temple before the hour of the Ox, otherwise, it will be really troublesome. I didn't expect this thing to be so fierce, you are a person without foundation, it's inevitable that you would get confused. I almost got lost too. You should continue reciting Buddha's name, let's hurry up."

  I feel that Old Zhao is a bit forcing himself, but at this time, it can't be helped, just follow his words and hurry up. I followed behind him, this time loudly reciting the Buddha's name, and didn't think randomly. Who knows, maybe I really have some talent, my clear mind has returned again.

  Under our hurried footsteps, we finally walked through this road. At this time, the fog had already faded away, and it seemed like it was completely invisible. So, we saw that ancient temple, and at this moment, it was as if the sky had cleared up. The moon in the sky hung quietly, and the stars were still following their eternal rules, rotating constantly. As I walked out of the fog, breathing in the fresh air on top of the mountain, I finally felt completely awake. Before that, my feeling in the fog was still very dizzy, and I really didn't know how I would have gotten here without Old Zhao's rosary and chanting of Buddhist scriptures.

  That ancient temple stands on the mountain top, this mountain is not high, and there are few flat places, so there is only a small place here, so this ancient temple has only one old temple, and there is no large-scale temple, let alone any courtyard. The temple looks like it's already in ruins, the tiles have fallen off, the door is soft and lying on its side, the windows are long gone, leaving only empty holes. Even so, this ancient temple still has that transcendent calmness, just like a refined old man standing silently on the mountain top, witnessing the changes of human world, time flies like an arrow.

  Lao Zhao finally let out a sigh of relief when he saw the ancient temple, and we would be safe once inside, at least for a short time. My friend and I didn't linger, and walked towards the temple. As we entered, we deliberately went to the left side. All the temples have three doors, with the left door for entering, the right door for exiting, and the middle one not to be used. This also represents the Chinese concept of "left is honorable".

  After entering the temple, the big Buddha in the temple was still there, only most of the gold foil had fallen off. It still had a compassionate gaze, with its eyes closed and looking down at all living beings with a smile as it twirled flowers. The world returned to its usual quietness. I'm not sure if it's because I just chanted Buddha's name and my mind was a bit muddled, but it's also possible that I had planted the seeds of enlightenment. I suddenly felt a sense of reverence for the Buddha statue and bowed down to the ground.

  The bluestones on the ground are still so neat, and the wind and rain have only left marks of years. I didn't come here to lament history, but now I feel that seeing it is incredibly intimate.

  Lao Zhao stood at the door and looked outside, saying: "We can't stay here either, I don't know if there will be any danger. Lao Jiang, you go to sleep first if you're tired, I'll keep watch. We have to take turns keeping guard, or else it's not safe."

  I hastily declined, saying: "Don't say that, just now we were able to get here thanks to you, you must be very tired, otherwise you give me the branch and rosary, you sleep first, then I'll call you, how about it?"

  Lao Zhao didn't decline, lay down and fell asleep. We rushed out, only bringing torches, water, and some dry rations like biscuits, nothing else. It's not that we didn't want to bring more, but one reason is that it would be a burden, another reason is that at that time we didn't think too much, and we didn't know how evil this mountain was.

  My eyelids are also fighting, being alone is really too lonely, but what can I do? It's only around 11:12 now, which means there's still a long time before dawn, and I don't know how much longer I'll have to endure. I also don't know how Wang Luli and Xia Xue are doing.

  I find it really boring staying in the temple, I stand up, holding the wooden stick and rosary, standing by the window looking out. Not far from the temple is a white fog, but it's not thick and hasn't surged up yet. After watching for a while, I realize that something is wrong, the white fog there has been constantly surging up with time.

  I suddenly realized that the white fog here changes according to time. In mysticism, the twelve earthly branches represent the twelve hours of the day. Among these twelve earthly branches, each has its own yin and yang aspects. Starting from the hour of Zi (11 pm) to Hai (9 am), odd numbers are yang and even numbers are yin. Each also corresponds to one of the five elements: water and metal are yin, wood and fire are yang, and earth is neutral. Water happens to be in a state of extreme yin, paired with the yin nature of Hai hour, making it the time when yin energy is at its strongest. When it reaches the hour of Zi, yin and yang intersect, and as yang energy begins to rise, yin energy weakens. However, whether human or ghost, all contain both yin and yang properties. Pure yin can actually produce a restraining effect. Therefore, usually after the hour of Zi, during the hour of Chou (1 am), which is a transitional state where yin energy still dominates, it's possible for strange things to happen.

  At this time, it was approaching the ugly hour, and it was just after sunrise, but still very weak. At this time, those resentful evil spirits would thrive, just like when boiling water, the hottest moment kills all bacteria, and the coldest moment slows down the growth of bacteria. Only in a warm state of over 30 to 40 degrees is the easiest time for bacteria to grow, and the same goes for the resentful evil spirits. So it's no wonder that white fog rises up.

  What's even more frightening is that in the rolling white fog, it seems not to be pure, and there seem to be some dark shadows constantly wandering around, like ghosts in the dark night, eerie and terrifying, making me involuntarily grip my artifact tightly.

  At this moment, a strange voice echoed from behind: "Those ghostly things are here again."

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