89: Chapter 89 Five Doppelgangers

The wooden door was ajar, and a wisp of sandalwood incense drifted out from the crack.

The nunnery was very dark, with an altar table placed in the very center.

Upon it sat a statue of Guanyin, with a kind expression and holding a jade vase, looking quite ordinary.

But Wu Xi's gaze fell upon the face of the Guanyin statue.

Someone had used red paint to draw two thick eyebrows over the Guanyin's eyes, resembling two caterpillars.

The corners of the mouth had also been upturned, painted into an exaggerated smile.

That smile stretched to the earlobes, revealing two rows of neat white teeth, appearing exceptionally eerie in the dim light.

"Amitabha."

An aged voice suddenly came from behind the altar table, and everyone stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

The Old Woman walked out from behind the altar table with a trembling gait.

The wrinkles on her face were as deep as gullies, each one filled with the wear and tear of life.

She leaned on a jujube wood cane, its head polished smooth and round.

She limped as she walked, and when she reached the group, she stopped.

Then, with a "thump," she fell straight to her knees.

Her knees struck the bluestone floor, emitting a dull thud.

"Kind-hearted people, I beg you, please save me."

The Old Woman raised her head, two streams of turbid tears flowing from her turbid eyes.

The tears flowed down her wrinkles, gathered into a single drop on her chin, and dripped onto the ground.

"My son has fallen gravely ill and is lying in bed, nearing the end.

My family is poor, and we don't even have money to buy medicine.

An old woman like me, with no one to rely on, can only come to this nunnery to beg for the Bodhisattva's protection.

But the Bodhisattva is of no use either..."

As she spoke, she wiped her tears with her sleeve.

The sleeve was dirty and tattered, leaving streaks of black and white on her face.

"I only have this one son.

If he dies, I won't be able to go on living either.

Kind-hearted people, please show some mercy and give me some money.

Even if it's just a little bit, it could let my son live a few more days."

As she spoke, she began to kowtow.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Her forehead struck the bluestone floor with a crisp, loud sound.

After just a few knocks, her forehead broke, and fresh blood flowed down the bridge of her nose, dripping onto her tattered coarse cloth clothes and blooming into dark red flowers.

Niu Fei scratched his head and reached into his robes: "Old Woman, don't worry.

I have some here..."

"Don't touch her."

Wu Xi's voice suddenly rang out.

Niu Fei's hand froze in mid-air, and he turned his head in confusion: "What's wrong?

She looks quite pitiful.

Look, her head is even broken."

"Pitiful?"

Ling Muxue's eyes were full of mockery: "Big lug Niu, in this desolate wilderness, where would an old woman come from?

And she just happens to be crying about poverty the moment we walk in?"

Hearing this, The Old Woman cried even harder.

She prostrated on the ground, kowtowing incessantly, and the blood from her forehead flowed more and more, staining a patch of the bluestone floor in front of her red.

"I am not lying to you!

Everything I said is true!

If you don't believe me, you can come home with me and see!

My son is really dying!

He is lying in the room behind us, his whole body burning up, talking nonsense!"

"Help her?

On what grounds?"

A sharp voice suddenly came from behind the screen.

Everyone looked toward the sound.

A middle-aged woman walked out from behind the screen.

She was wearing a green dress, which was a bit old but washed very clean.

Her face bore a trace of exhaustion, but even more so, resentment.

She held a chipped coarse porcelain bowl in her hand.

"I have toiled for this family my whole life!"

She slammed the bowl onto the ground, "Clack!" The bowl shattered into several pieces.

"Working from dawn till dusk, scrimping and saving, raising the child, and serving the elders until they passed.

I have given so much, and now that I am old and can no longer work, you should support me!"

The middle-aged woman pointed at everyone's noses, spittle flying: "You young people, all dressed so brightly and beautifully, holding such fine weapons, you must have plenty of money.

What's wrong with giving me some money?

This is what I deserve!"

Qiu Chuanxing frowned: "What you have given has nothing to do with us.

We don't even know you."

"Don't know me?" The middle-aged woman sneered, her voice even sharper: "All parents in the world are the same!

Your parents also sacrificed for you like this!

Now, I am equivalent to your mother, isn't it only right that you show filial piety to me?

If you don't give me money, you are unfilial!

You are ungrateful!

You are worse than beasts!"

"Pah!" Ling Muxue couldn't help but curse: "You are worthy of being my mother?

Besides, my mother would never be like you, biting people everywhere and demanding money like a mad dog!"

"You little girl, what kind of talk is that!"

A booming voice suddenly exploded, and a middle-aged Man in Long Robe walked out from the inner hall.

He walked with his hands behind his back, belly protruding, wearing a sanctimonious expression on his face.

His eyes scanned the crowd sharply, as if inspecting criminals.

"Young people these days really have no upbringing at all!"

He walked to the middle-aged woman's side, patted her shoulder, and signaled her to step back.

Then he turned around and began to lecture everyone.

"Respecting the old and cherishing the young is a traditional virtue, do you understand?

This older sister has worked hard her whole life, it hasn't been easy.

Since you have the ability, you should help her.

This is morality!

This is an obligation!

This is the basic principle of being a human!"

The man became more and more excited as he spoke, his face flushed red: "If you don't help her, you are cold-blooded and heartless!

You are inhumane!

If this gets out, others will poke at your spines!

How will you establish yourselves in the Jianghu in the future?

Who would still want to be friends with you?"

Qiu Chuanxing was trembling with rage.

He gripped his sword tightly, his knuckles turning white: "Stop trying to put big labels on us here!

Morality is used to restrain oneself, not to kidnap others!

If you have the ability, you should help her yourself!

Why demand it of us?"

"Oh, you dare to talk back?"

The Man in Long Robe sneered, his eyes turning vicious: "Did I say something wrong?

You young people are just too selfish!

Only thinking of yourselves, never considering others.

Today, I am going to teach you a lesson and let you know what rules are!

What respecting the old means!"

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and walked toward Qiu Chuanxing.

"Big brothers and big sisters, please don't argue."

A young, delicate voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone was taken aback.

This voice... was very familiar.

A-He walked out from behind a pillar.

He was still wearing that coarse cloth outfit, his hair messy, his face covered in dust.

He still looked like that simple, kind, and somewhat shy youth.

"A-He?"

Jiang Jiye widened her eyes in surprise: "Why are you here?

Shouldn't you be in the village at the foot of the mountain?"

A-He lowered his head, rubbing his hands together, appearing somewhat embarrassed.

"Big brothers and big sisters, you are all good people."

A-He's voice carried a crying tone: "You have already helped me a lot.

Now, I beg you, please help me one more time, will you?

As long as you are willing to stay and keep me company here for three days, my parents can come back."

"Stay here?"

Ling Muxue raised an eyebrow: "Why stay here?

Staying for three days can make your parents come back?

Who told you this?"

"The Bodhisattva said so."

A-He pointed at the Guanyin statue on the altar table, his eyes filled with piety: "Last night, the Bodhisattva came to me in a dream.

She said that as long as ten kind-hearted people are willing to pray for my parents for three days, and their sincerity moves heaven and earth, my parents can be saved from the underworld."

He fell to his knees with a thud.

"I have already found five people, and I still need five more.

You are exactly five people, I beg you, please help me.

I only have this one set of parents.

If they don't come back, I will become an orphan."

As he spoke, he kowtowed.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

His forehead quickly broke, and fresh blood flowed down his cheeks.

It was exactly the same as The Old Woman from before.

Jiang Jiye ran over, wanting to help A-He up: "A-He, don't do this.

We will agree to it.

Isn't it just three days?

We will stay with you."

"Don't help him up."

Jiang Jiye's hand froze in mid-air.

She turned her head, looking at Wu Xi in confusion: "Brother Wu, why?

A-He is so pitiful..."

Wu Xi did not answer her.

Just then.

A sudden change occurred!

Five beams of light in different colors erupted simultaneously.

A gray light erupted from The Old Woman, carrying endless tragedy and despair.

A yellow light erupted from the middle-aged woman, carrying intense demands and resentment.

A black light erupted from the Man in Long Robe, carrying heavy morality and oppression.

A red light erupted from A-He, carrying fervent familial affection and filial piety.

A brown light erupted from the fat ghost from before, carrying entangled relationships and sacrifice.

The five beams of light shot up into the sky, intertwining in mid-air to form a huge pentagram Formation.

The five corners of the Formation corresponded exactly to the five people.

The center of the Formation was Wu Xi and the other five people.

"Hum—" A loud noise rang out.

The entire nunnery was trembling.

An invisible pressure instantly shrouded everyone.

It was like a great mountain pressing down on everyone's hearts.

"Hehehehe..." A lewd, evil laugh suddenly came from the depths of the nunnery.

The laughter was hoarse and unpleasant, like sandpaper grinding on wood.

"Not bad, not bad.

Indeed, you are all hot-blooded young people."

A monk wearing a flowery cassock walked out.

He was tall and burly, with a fat head and big ears.

His belly looked like an inverted large pot, swaying as he walked.

He had a greasy smile on his face, his eyes narrowed into slits, his gaze greedily sweeping over everyone.

Around his neck hung a necklace of skulls.

Each skull was polished smooth and round, with eerie green light flickering in their eye sockets.

In his hand, he held a Zen staff.

At the top of the Zen staff, instead of the common crescent spade, was a woman's head.

The woman's eyes were wide open, her face still bearing the fear and despair from before her death.

Her hair hung down, covering half of the Zen staff.

This was the true form of the Lustful Hungry Ghost.

"Especially these two little girls."

The Flowery Monk licked his lips, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Ling Muxue and Jiang Jiye, his drool almost flowing out.

"You are truly beautiful.

Your skin is so white, so tender.

Once I suck dry your vital essence and refine your souls into a Cauldron, I will be able to advance further.

By then, even if the judge from the underworld comes, he won't be able to do anything to me!"

As he spoke, he stuck out his tongue and licked the woman's head.

"As for you men."

His gaze turned to Wu Xi, Niu Fei, and Qiu Chuanxing, and a look of disdain appeared on his face: "I will first suck dry your Yang Qi, and then throw your corpses to the back mountain to feed the dogs."

The Flowery Monk burst into laughter.