244: Bluff

A few minutes ago, Red Corpse was laughing heartily, feeling quite smug within Tang Ku's Sea of Consciousness.

The moment Tang Ku was distracted, her consciousness had already invaded his.

"Hmph, even if you're as cunning as a ghost, you still drank my foot bath water. Hmph, you wicked monk, you didn't expect me to have this trick up my sleeve, did you..."

Red Corpse was originally an Other Shore Flower. Because it was planted on the ley lines of Shu Mountain, it gained Spiritual Qi and eventually Cultivated into a demon.

Her true form was only half the size of an adult man's palm, but her proportions were perfect, and her face was beautiful, just like a miniature woman.

The clothing and decorations on her body were as vibrant as red petals, making her quite eye-catching.

However, such a flower demon did not follow the Righteous Path, but instead became an appendage to the Blood Demon.

"Heh, the Blood Demon has already awakened, and my Mental Energy can no longer control him. But now that I've found this big monk with a powerful Physical Body, I can fight him... Hmph, let's see what's in his Sea of Consciousness..."

Red Corpse drifted forward as if floating in the sky.

The place was filled with swirling clouds and mist, and above it looked like a deep blue sky. It appeared incredibly serene, but this serenity made Red Corpse feel very surprised, and a strange feeling touched her sensitive nerves.

"This isn't right... I'm clearly in the Sea of Consciousness, so why is it completely empty?"

Red Corpse muttered to herself in confusion, "Logically, in a person's consciousness, there must be all kinds of desires. With desires come the seven emotions and six desires, and with those, there is a battle between good and evil... But in this monk's Sea of Consciousness... how is there nothing? Could it be that what Buddhism says about the emptiness of all things... is actually true? Strange. Then how am I supposed to control him?"

"Heh, the emptiness of all things is just a trick to deceive people. At the very least, my Sea of Consciousness is not empty. It's just that, with your cultivation level, you can't find it!"

The voice was clear and resonant, circling overhead like a great bell, deafening.

Red Corpse was startled and exclaimed, "Impossible! You can actually think freely within your Sea of Consciousness? Among all the Cultivators I've seen, no one has been able to do that!"

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't. Furthermore, your knowledge is too shallow. In fact, any powerhouse from the Western Buddhist Realm, including all the Bodhisattvas and Arhats, can easily do this!"

Red Corpse fell silent, then gritted her teeth and said, "No... I don't believe it. I don't believe I can't find a weakness in your consciousness. You must have desires too. As long as I grasp your desires, I can control you..."

As she spoke, she suddenly accelerated and flew off. Her speed was fast, flying in a straight line, but the further she flew, the more terrified she felt... This Sea of Consciousness seemed endless, as if it had no end.

A labyrinth?

No, this place was even more terrifying than a labyrinth. Even a labyrinth has walls, but here, there was only a vast expanse of white mist. Apart from that, nothing could be seen...

An indescribable fear, along with a silence that was almost enough to drive one to madness... She now regretted invading this monk's Sea of Consciousness.

"How could this be? Why is there nothing here? Why?"

Red Corpse suddenly stopped moving forward, hovering there, looking around blankly.

According to the time in the outside world, she had been flying for a very, very long time, almost several months.

"Heh, is there really nothing? You just haven't found it yet..."

Upon hearing this voice, Red Corpse suddenly looked up and said bitterly, "You finally spoke... Let me out... Let me... out..."

"What, are you giving up? Heh, don't give up. Why don't you have even that much perseverance? Look, if you move forward a few dozen zhang, won't you be able to see something?"

Red Corpse was jolted. This voice was so seductive, even more seductive than she was herself. She looked ahead and saw, a few dozen zhang away, a speck of golden light flickering, like a bright lamp in the dark night, or a shining star...

"There is something, over there... there is something..."

Terrified by the endless loneliness, Red Corpse found anything other than the thick mist in front of her to be a pleasant surprise.

She suddenly accelerated and flew toward the light source, at a speed so fast that even she couldn't believe it.

But as she flew, her inner fear grew even more.

"What... what is this?"

As she moved forward, the speck of light rapidly expanded in her vision. In the blink of an eye, it went from the size of a soybean to a gigantic object... It was actually a golden Buddha statue!

That's right, a Buddha statue, a golden-bodied Buddha statue, standing tall between heaven and earth. She couldn't see its true face, but it was definitely a Buddha statue.

Perhaps many people have had similar dreams, where an object the size of a needle tip is constantly magnified in their eyes until it becomes terrifyingly large, and they feel like they have megalophobia, cowering in a corner, facing the terrifying world alone...

Watching the Buddha statue get bigger and bigger, so big that she couldn't clearly see its face—or rather, she wasn't worthy of seeing the giant Buddha's face—an indescribable fear filled her soul...

The golden light made it almost impossible for her to open her eyes, but a force compelled her to look at the giant Buddha.

"How could this be... What is that, what... what is it?"

Red Corpse muttered to herself.

"Heh, do you really not know what that is?"

Hum!

The giant Buddha seemed to bow, or perhaps not, but its huge face reached Red Corpse in an instant, looking down at her, its face full of compassion.

That face was clearly that of the wicked monk...

"You... you are the Buddha... But, how can this be..."

Red Corpse was stunned, not knowing what to say, with only indescribable fear filling her heart.

"The Buddha is me, and I am the Buddha, but what about you? Where is the Buddha?"

A contradictory and difficult-to-understand sentence made her soul buzz.

"I... I..."

Red Corpse sighed deeply, "The Buddha was originally in my heart, but I entered the path of demons... I understand now..."

A tear actually fell from the corner of her eye. This vicious demon with a heart of stone, this freak who took pleasure in playing with people's hearts, was actually crying, crying like pear blossoms in the rain, crying in a way that made one pity her...

"Yes, the Buddha and the demon are but a single thought apart. Your actions have already deviated from the Buddha Dao and led you into the path of demons... Now, do you know what to do?"

Red Corpse showed no struggle in her expression; instead, a pious smile appeared on her face. She suddenly asked, "Will this... be enough to atone for my sins?"

"It cannot atone for your sins, but it can redeem your heart... Your sins can only be cleansed after experiencing the Eighteen Levels of Hell..."

"I understand..."

Swish!

Golden light gathered from all sides, and in the blink of an eye, Red Corpse had returned to reality. Beside her was the stunned Fairy Yunyi, and directly opposite was that smiling monk.

Red Corpse nodded, and then her body turned into specks of red light, disappearing into the air. The entire process was without a hint of hesitation.

Tang Ku pressed his palms together and smiled, "Trying to play with Mental Energy against me... Heh, the Buddha Dharma is vast; I can hoodwink you into submission!"