Buzz!
A sound that made every pore on one's body tremble suddenly came.
Dust motes floated in the ancient Buddhist temple.
Under the golden light, they refracted into irregular column-shaped rays of light.
The sound of chanting came from both sides of the Buddhist temple.
Hundreds of futons were neatly arranged on the ground.
Under the illumination of the light, one could vaguely see hundreds of monks sitting cross-legged in the Buddhist temple, chanting scriptures.
Fang Xin looked up.
The Buddha directly opposite had downcast brows and eyes.
One hand formed the Abhaya Mudra, the other the Bhumisparsha Mudra.
The Buddha statue was over ten meters tall.
It was majestic and grand, enveloped in golden light, with a solemn and magnificent aura.
Although the Bodhisattvas and Arhats on either side of the Buddha statue were not as tall as the Buddha, they too had compassionate brows and eyes, surrounded by Buddha's light.
The Sanskrit chanting came from an unknown source.
The moment Fang Xin stepped into this place, the feeling of being summoned reached its peak.
"Come here!"
A voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
This sudden sound startled Fang Xin so much that his chrysanthemum clenched.
A cold wind swept through the ancient Buddhist temple.
The prayer flags flapped noisily.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The Buddha's light surrounding the Buddha statue suddenly surged.
The chanting in the Buddhist temple also increased in volume by a notch.
It directly suppressed the voice that had just echoed in Fang Xin's mind.
The chanting grew louder and louder, continuing for several minutes before slowly subsiding.
A gentle breeze blew into the Buddhist temple.
The prayer flags swayed slightly.
Fang Xin's gaze shifted, and he then noticed that on the offering table in front, on either side of the four-legged, double-eared incense burner, two lit candles were still emitting a soft glow, their flames flickering. They had been burning for so long, yet they were still lit.
His gaze swept past the candlesticks and then to the surrounding walls, which were covered with many murals.
After a quick glance, the murals generally depicted scenes of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats subduing demons.
There seemed to be more murals behind the Buddha statue.
Fang Xin was about to change his angle to continue observing, but as he turned, his gaze suddenly fixed on one spot.
It was two black-skinned imps. The two black-skinned imps were very abstract in appearance, with shriveled bodies and open chests, revealing dry ribs. Their heads were not perfectly round but shaped like the character 'Mountain' (mountain). They had large eyes, flat noses, and Thunder God's Mouth . Their proportion in the painting was noticeably different from that of the other imps.
But none of that was important.
What was important was that as Fang Xin changed his position within the Buddhist temple, the eyes of those two imps also changed with Fang Xin's position.
Fang Xin thought he was hallucinating from the glare of the golden light, so he specifically stared at the figures in other murals, but the figures in the other murals did not change.
However, the gaze of those two black-skinned imps kept changing with Fang Xin's gaze.
Their eyeballs were moving!
Fang Xin tightly clutched his Panlong Spear and suddenly feigned throwing the Panlong Spear at the two black-skinned imps.
The next second...
Miska Moska!
The two black-skinned imps turned and ran within the mural, making strange noises.
Their figures in the mural grew smaller and smaller.
As they ran, they even knocked over several figures in the painting.
Fang Xin's eyes widened instantly.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought he'd eaten too many mushrooms and was hallucinating.
Fang Xin leaned towards the mural.
The two black-skinned imps had already turned into two tiny black dots.
Fang Xin paused, then had Huo Shi go forward and touch the mural.
Huo Shi's ghost soul, after arriving at this place, was almost dissipated by the Buddha's light.
But he couldn't resist Fang Xin, nor did he dare to harbor any rebellious thoughts, so he had to step forward and touch the mural.
He touched it and found that it was indeed a solid, hard mural, with no other reaction.
Huo Shi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly floated back to Fang Xin's side.
Fang Xin felt suspicious, so he circled the giant Buddha statue, looking at the murals behind the Buddha.
The murals behind the Buddha looked somewhat blurry and indistinct, but they were still scenes of the Buddha subduing demons, though it was unclear exactly who he was subduing.
And on the wall behind the Buddha, there was also a door, half-open, suggesting another world beyond.
Fang Xin bypassed the altar and first walked towards the mural.
After a moment of hesitation, he placed his hand on the mural.
There was nothing unusual; it was just a solid, hard wall.
Fang Xin poked the figures in the painting with his finger, but there was no reaction. Then he looked at the two black-skinned imps. By now, the two black-skinned imps had become two tiny black dots, difficult to distinguish among the dense army of demons in the painting.
After circling the Buddhist temple, Fang Xin's gaze settled on the half-open door behind the Buddha.
The feeling of being called seemed to be just beyond that door.
Looking through the crack in the door, he saw a courtyard. The courtyard was covered with fallen leaves, and the wing rooms were dilapidated from years of disrepair, with some windows and doors dark and hollow, covered in cobwebs, all showing signs of ruin.
Fang Xin gestured, sending Huo Shi inside.
Huo Shi cautiously peered inside, then, mustering his ghostly courage, gritted his teeth and walked in.
He went through each wing room one by one.
Fang Xin watched as Huo Shi explored inside.
There was nothing unusual.
The two wolves at his feet suddenly barked at the wall.
Fang Xin followed the wolves' gaze.
He saw Huo Shi's figure appear on the wall mural.
He was aimlessly wandering around, unknowingly brushing past many figures in the mural.
Fang Xin stared at the mural, then glanced at Huo Shi, and then his gaze moved towards the direction where the two black-skinned imps were.
If the backyard and the scene on the mural overlapped, then the two black-skinned imps were in the wing room in the southeast corner.
Fang Xin immediately told Huo Shi to go and check that spot.
Huo Shi stiffened his neck and walked over, his ghostly head peeking around. He looked at the spot Fang Xin indicated, then turned back to Fang Xin and said, "There's nothing!"
Fang Xin couldn't help but feel suspicious.
He could see Huo Shi's figure on the mural getting smaller, almost overlapping with where the two black-skinned imps had just shrunk.
"Look again carefully!" Fang Xin said.
After searching for a moment, Huo Shi replied, "Still nothing!"
As he spoke, Huo Shi floated off to other areas, wanting to continue inspecting the backyard.
But as he tried to go to one spot, even though there was clearly air in front, Huo Shi just couldn't pass, as if blocked by an invisible wall.
Huo Shi immediately let out a frightened shriek, flailing his arms and legs as he ran back towards Fang Xin, shouting as he ran, "Mama! Ghosts!"
Fang Xin lost his patience and kicked Huo Shi, "Call your grandpa! You're a ghost too!"
Huo Shi was stunned for a moment, then seemed to slowly realize that he was indeed a ghost.
Fang Xin's gaze fixed on the spot that had just blocked Huo Shi, and proportionally, he looked at the same spot on the mural where Huo Shi was blocked.
In that same spot, there was a figure on the mural, seemingly a monk.
The monk had rather delicate features, with his hands clasped behind his head, his face turned towards the outside of the painting.
Fang Xin felt that the face looked more and more familiar.
"Damn it! It's this guy!"