Chapter 587: Chapter 412: The Spirit of the Buddha Statue, Reincarnation with Great Power! _2
In the open space in front of the Mogao Caves, the ordinary stone slabs were just plain stone slabs.
Xu Yang tried stepping on them with his feet.
He found that these stone slabs were also densely covered with a layer of “Buddha power”.
Looking at the Nine Shades demon again, Xu Yang found that it was breathing more out than in, and if its cultivation were a little lower, it probably wouldn’t survive the night.
However, a Nine Shades demon of the Asura Realm wouldn’t die so easily.
Xu Yang took out several Daoist talismans, stuck them on its body, called the Great General, and said, “Tie him up for me and send him back to Wu City… I’ll take care of him personally when I get back!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Great General stretched out his finger, and the Yin energy flew out from the fingertips, turning into a rope that bound the Nine Shades demon. Then, his figure flashed, and he flew towards Wu City.
Xu Yang told the other several Ghost Immortal Generals, “After Lao Ba recovers, you will continue patrolling the northwest, and report immediately if you find any traces of Nine Shades demons.”
The other seven Ghost Immortal Generals all agreed.
Xu Yang continued, “The invasion of the Nine Shades demons is a catastrophe for the human world. Killing one of them is like saving countless people from misery. This is a great opportunity for you to accumulate merit in the underworld.”
“After I get back, I’ll ask Lord Cui for a decree to seal you all as ghost officials. All your merits will be recorded in the merit book, and when you return to the underworld, you should be able to get a good position in the Underworld with this merit!”
The seven Ghost Immortal Generals were extremely excited and made their statements before disappearing into the night, one by one.
“Amitabha!”
Just after the seven Ghost Immortal Generals left, a chanting sound came. Xu Yang turned his head to follow the sound and saw a Great Monk coming out of the grotto that had previously lit up with Buddha’s light.
This Great Monk had a fat face and large ears, bare chest and exposed nipples, completely different from what one would imagine a Master of Dao to be.
His ears were huge and rounded, and he always had a smile on his face, like the legendary “Maitreya Buddha”. He put his hands together and chanted the Buddha’s name while smiling, “The Ghost Immortals were originally evil spirits, but under the guidance of Celestial Master Xu, they have turned from evil to good, protecting the common people… This is a great merit, and there have been few people like Celestial Master Xu throughout the ages.”
“The Grandmaster is too kind.”
Xu Yang looked at the monk and found that his aura was very ordinary, just like an ordinary person.
But how could a monk who nearly killed a Nine Shades demon of the Asura Realm with a single slap be an ordinary person?
He dropped hints and asked, “I didn’t expect there to be such an expert as the Great Master in the Mogao Caves. I wonder which temple the Great Master practiced in?”
The monk didn’t hide it and replied, “Since my birth, I have been practicing with my fellow disciples in the Mogao Caves for thousands of years.”
Xu Yang was surprised, “There is a temple in Mogao Caves?”
The monk shook his head and smiled, “Although there is no temple in the Mogao Caves, it is a holy place of Buddhism… Moreover, monks don’t necessarily have to practice in a temple.”
Xu Yang became more curious in his heart.
The Mogao Caves, as a famous tourist spot in the five provinces of the northwest, are also well known nationwide.
Although Xu Yang had never been there, he knew that there was no temple or monks in the Mogao Caves, and it was usually managed by the local tourism bureau.
The monk invited Xu Yang into the grotto, and as they walked, he laughed, “Celestial Master Xu doesn’t know… The Mogao Caves once had a temple, called Xianyan Temple, initially built during the Western Jin Dynasty?”
“Xianyan Temple?”
Xu Yang thought for a moment.
It seemed that there was no memory of this temple in his mind.
But being built in the Western Jin Dynasty, the history of “Xianyan Temple” would be longer than that of Da Xia’s Holy Land of Buddhism, Shaolin Temple… Could it have been destroyed long ago?
The monk seemed to be able to see through people’s hearts.
He looked at Xu Yang and smiled, “Xianyan Temple is an ancient temple of a thousand years, located ten miles south of the Mogao Caves. It was later renamed Leiyin Temple, and after the new era, the country rebuilt Leiyin Temple at the foot of Mingsha Mountain for better protection of the cultural relics in the Mogao Caves.”
Of course, Xu Yang knew Leiyin Temple.
It was now the largest Buddhist temple in Ganshire Province.
Hearing this, Wu couldn’t help but laugh and said, “From the Mogao Caves to the foot of Mingsha Mountain… what is this called? Relocating and rebuilding?”
The monk nodded and said, “Indeed, it is relocating and rebuilding… Celestial Master Xu, please!”
As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance to the grotto.
The monk made a “please come in” gesture.
Inside the grotto, there were no lights or candles, but there was a gentle Buddha light shining, making the cave bright.
Xu Yang had never been to the Mogao Grottoes before, and after entering, he looked around and saw that there were quite a few murals on both sides of the cave, with some small stone carvings below them.
At the innermost part of the grotto was a Buddha statue about six meters high.
Upon seeing the statue, Xu Yang’s pupils couldn’t help but contract, and then he suddenly turned his head to look at the big monk beside him.
The big monk still had a full face of smiles, his eyes squinting with laughter.
Xu Yang looked back at the Buddha statue, then at the monk, and realized that the statue looked exactly like the big monk before him, as if someone had made a replica of the monk to scale.
“Great Master… this Buddha statue… is it sculpted in your likeness?”
The monk shook his head and said, “When this statue was carved, I hadn’t been born yet. How could it be sculpted in my likeness?”
“It’s just because I was born from the statue that I grew up looking like this.”
Xu Yang’s face showed a sudden understanding, and he clasped his hands in respect, saying, “I apologize… it turns out that the Great Master is not a person, but a spirit of the Buddha statue.”
Seeing that Xu Yang wasn’t too shocked, the monk asked, “Has Celestial Master Xu met any other spirits of Buddha statues?”
Xu Yang nodded and said, “In Xi’an, there is a Xuan Mountain Temple, where there is a monk who calls himself the Great Priest of Xuan Mountain Temple. He is also a spirit of a Buddha statue, but when I met him, he had turned into an evil monk.”
Upon hearing this, the monk sighed somewhat wistfully, saying, “It’s not his fault, but rather that the world is difficult, and the Dao has been silent and spiritual aura depleted for nearly six hundred years. Faced with death, not every living being can maintain their inner perseverance, especially the spirits born in small temples that do not have much incense and belief. If they do not become evil monks, they will simply perish.”
Just then, a crisp female voice came from the door, asking, “Brother Kongji, do you have guests at home?”
A female bodhisattva entered gracefully.
The monk introduced her, “Sister, this is Celestial Master Xu. Celestial Master Xu is the Heavenly Emperor-appointed Heavenly Master of the Jingming Sect, and he has a great background. Go and invite the other brothers, sisters, and disciples to come and form a good bond with Celestial Master Xu.”
He said this in front of Xu Yang.
However, even Xu Yang felt that there was nothing unreasonable about these words coming from this monk’s mouth, but he was astonished in his heart…
Could it be that there are many spirits of Buddha statues in the Mogao Caves?
The Mogao Caves are known as the Thousand Buddha Caves…
Could there really be a thousand spirits of Buddha statues?
And if every spirit of Buddha statues has the strength of the big monk, that would be too terrifying!
In a short while, the small grotto was filled with 72 spirits of Buddha statues.
The weakest of these spirits was comparable to a Daoist True Monarch. Six of the stronger ones were as powerful as the big monk. They were very polite to Xu Yang, and after a discussion, Xu Yang did not leave until four in the morning.
“These monks are a bit overly enthusiastic!”
On the way back to Wu City, Xu Yang had countless thoughts running through his mind.
The big monk said… that he has a big background and should form a good bond. Could it be that my identity as the “Son of the Great Emperor” has been exposed?
Xu Yang didn’t know that after he left, the monks didn’t disperse.
One by one, the spirits of the Buddha statues surrounded the big monk and asked, “Brother Kongji, you asked us to form a good bond with Celestial Master Xu, and you said that he has a big background… is he the reincarnation of some great power?”
The big monk nodded his head.
A young monk’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “Brother Kongji, which great power is Celestial Master Xu the reincarnation of?”
“It cannot be said, it cannot be said.”
The big monk shook his head.