254: Chapter 254 The Living Dead

The other stone statue did not move.

It sat upon the high platform, its head slowly turning back to the center, the golden light in its eye sockets flickering once before extinguishing.

The stone skin began to grow anew from the forehead, closing inward from the edges of the cracks toward the center.

No trace of the previous cracking could be seen on the surface, and the light of the Buddha Light seeping from the gaps also extinguished.

The stone statue resumed its solemn, grayish-white sitting posture, its hands crossed on its lap and head lowered, exactly as it was before, as if nothing had happened.

...

Meanwhile, on Wu Li and Bai Chi's side.

The two stepped into the main hall, which was even more spacious than it appeared from the outside.

The dome hung high, nearly ten zhang off the ground, its top painted with Buddha statues and lotus patterns, with golden light flowing along the lines as if the entire main hall were breathing slowly.

Dozen of stone statues were lined up on both sides, each with a different posture—some sitting in full lotus position, some performing the Abhaya mudra with one hand, and some lowering their heads and brows—all facing the center of the main hall.

The ground was paved with solid bluestone slabs without any gaps, forming a single complete floor whose surface was polished as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the outlines of the Buddha statues on the dome.

At the end of the main hall stood a high platform, upon which rested a single Buddha statue several times larger than the others, with lowered eyes and hands forming a seal upon its lap.

"This is... "

"How warm. "

Bai Chi stood in the center of the main hall, its gaze falling upon those stone statues as it slowly turned its body, looking at them one by one.

Wu Li stopped at the entrance of the main hall, his gaze pausing slightly as it swept over those stone statues.

Something was slowly emerging within his pupils, as if guided by some force, shifting toward the direction of the Buddha statue upon the high platform.

Right at this moment.

At that instant, the Blood Pupil between Wu Li's brows opened on its own, crimson light surging from the pupil to cover his eyes, forcing back the invading golden Buddha Light and restoring his pupils to normal.

"Hum~"

"Hmm?"

Wu Li's vision cleared once more as he looked at Bai Chi.

At this moment, Bai Chi—

its pupils reflected golden light, slowly expanding and gradually covering the darkness around its pupils.

Its hands slowly lifted, clasping together in front of its chest with fingertips aligned in a gentle motion, as if guided by some force. Its knees began to bend, its body sinking toward the ground while its joined hands remained steady, its gaze falling upon the largest Buddha statue on the high platform.

At this, Wu Li frowned slightly, the Blood Pupil between his brows lighting up as the crimson radiance condensed into a thin thread that fell upon Bai Chi's forehead: "Wake up!"

"Boom!!"

The bloody light trembled.

Bai Chi's body shook violently, its joined hands parting in front of its chest, its knees stopping just as they were about to touch the ground before slowly straightening again.

"Old Ancestor, I..."

It straightened its body once more, lowering its head to glance at its own hands.

That layer of expanding golden light slowly receded from its pupils, revealing the color beneath.

It gasped for breath, its voice somewhat dry: "Just now, I..."

Wu Li withdrew the Blood Pupil between his brows.

"The things here actively erode human will. Do not stare at the Buddha statue for more than two breaths."

Bai Chi nodded, gripping the blood pearl tightly once more as the dark red radiance stabilized around its body, separating it from the surrounding golden Buddha Light.

It glanced at the largest Buddha statue before looking away, turning toward the direction of the side door deep within the main hall, its voice a bit steadier than before: "There is something behind the side door."

Wu Li looked along its gaze; the side door was half-open, and a layer of golden light thicker than the Buddha Light in the main hall leaked through the crack.

Shortly after, a monk walked in.

"Hum~"

The golden Buddha Light within the main hall suddenly intensified the moment the monk stepped in.

That monk was draped in a grayish-white kasaya, the edges shimmering with a dark golden light as if it had been soaked in Buddha Light all along, the fabric long since saturated, every fold brimming with power.

The monk's face was made of stone, lacking the texture of flesh and blood, and two fixed clusters of golden light were embedded in its eye sockets, neither rotating nor flickering, as if nailed to that position for a long time.

When its footsteps fell upon the ground, there was no sound, and every step landed solidly, yet no footprints were left behind on the ground.

The monk stopped about three zhang away from Wu Li and Bai Chi, its hands clasped together, the hem of its kasaya drawing inward accordingly with a low rustle of fabric friction.

Its lips opened, and a voice came from deep within its throat, low, slow, and even.

"Amitabha."

"Do the benefactors know that interrupting the Awakening of my Buddha's Protector is a crime of Avici?"

The monk's voice was not loud, but it produced a distinct echo in the main hall, growing heavier with each reverberation.

Wu Li's gaze fell upon that monk, his blood-red pupils showing no fluctuation—

"Living dead."

The monk's clasped hands did not part, but the main hall began to shake.

The Buddhist scripture carvings on the stone walls lit up simultaneously, golden light surging from the carvings and rapidly rising along the walls, gathering high above into an expanding curtain of light.

Dense scriptures emerged on the surface of the light curtain, appearing line by line from top to bottom. As each line of characters appeared, the temperature inside the main hall continued to rise, and the density of the Buddha Light also increased, pressing the golden mist on the ground to retreat to both sides and revealing slender damp marks.

"Mph."

Bai Chi gripped the blood pearl tightly, the dark red radiance violently leaping around its body as its edges were slowly eroded by the golden Buddha Light.

Wu Li spoke immediately.

"You retreat first!"

Without hesitation, Bai Chi turned and ran toward the side door, the dark red light of the blood pearl continuously leaping around its body, already significantly weakened, constantly contracting under the squeeze of the Buddha Light as if being continuously compressed by some force.

The monk did not look in Bai Chi's direction, its clasped hands remaining steady, its lips continuing to part and close as its voice kept spreading through the vibrating main hall.

"Namo Amitābhāya, tathāgatāya, tadyathā..."

The Buddhist scriptures did not dissipate after being uttered from its mouth, but instead condensed into entities, turning into strands of pale golden characters that suspended in the air for a moment before drifting toward Bai Chi's direction.

Every time a character touched the bloody light around Bai Chi, the dark red radiance of the blood pearl would leap violently, its edges contracting at an even faster rate, and tiny cracks began to appear on the surface of the bead.

"Damn it."

Bai Chi's footsteps did not stop; the side door was already before its eyes, but as the Buddha Light fell from above, its speed noticeably decreased.

The cracks on the surface of the blood pearl were extending at an accelerated pace, and the dark red light at the heart of the bead grew dimmer and dimmer amidst continuous leaping, as if being pressed down layer by layer.

"Old thing."

"So arrogant even after death."

"Daring to ignore me like this."

A layer of coldness rose within Wu Li's Blood Pupil.

He raised his right claw, and dark red Demon Power surged from his palm, spreading out to both sides along the ground like a rising tide. It propped up the golden Buddha Light gathering toward Bai Chi for a split second, allowing its footsteps to take two more steps forward within that brief gap.