Chapter 101: The Buddha One Cannot Worship

I slept comfortably, and my exhaustion quickly faded. The sound of water reached my ears, followed by a sudden drop landing on my face. The icy liquid startled me so much that I sat straight up from the ground.

I wiped my face and found it wet with droplets. Water was still dripping from the cave ceiling, likely seeping through from deep within the rock.

Tian Xiaoqi surprisingly hadn’t woken me for night watch. She was lying beside me, her breathing steady, clearly having been asleep for a while. The fire at our feet had gone out at some point. I looked around, pulled an unburnt stick from the fire, and lit it with my lighter.

The flames quickly spread along the wood, immediately brightening our surroundings. I was somewhat surprised. According to Tian Xiaoqi, a large portion of the cliff had collapsed and broken apart. We were supposed to be beneath the cliff at the bottom of the river, yet there was still plenty of oxygen here.

That meant I had to consider the possibility of a ventilation system having been built here.

To avoid consuming oxygen, I quickly threw the burning wood to the ground and stomped it out. The entire cavern fell silent, as if this was the state it had kept for thousands of years. I found a relatively dry spot against the stone wall, sat down, and stared blankly at a nearby puddle that kept trembling with ripples.

After sitting idly for who knows how long, my lower back began to ache. I checked the digital watch in my bag, only to find that merely ten minutes had passed since earlier.

I finally understood why He Yu hadn’t let me keep watch back then. Sitting alone in a pitch-black cave, staring into the dark for an hour, was more agonizing than just being killed on the spot.

I suddenly wanted to find something to do, so I reached for the flashlight in Tian Xiaoqi’s bag. As I was rummaging around, out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly caught sight of a dark shape about fifty meters away from where we slept.

I wasn’t frightened because the object was tall and clearly not alive. At a glance, it looked sharp-edged and angular, set flat against the stone wall.

We hadn’t seemed to notice a building standing there earlier.

My hand happened to touch the flashlight. I pulled it out and turned it on to look. The structure turned out to be an ancient pagoda. It wasn’t very large. Perhaps because the original terrain had shifted, the eaves on its right side were embedded into the rock wall.

Yet even with the pagoda so close to us, neither Tian Xiaoqi nor I had noticed it until now.

Seeing the pagoda put my mind at ease somewhat. After a moment’s thought, I gave the sleeping Tian Xiaoqi a nudge, but she didn’t stir even after two tries. I gave up and sat back down, deciding to wait until she woke up before exploring it together.

I toyed with the flashlight in my hand, unable to stop myself from looking at the ancient pagoda. A long-dormant curiosity suddenly flared up. Staring at the pagoda door, I desperately wanted to go inside and see what was in there.

Suddenly, the door of the ancient pagoda creaked open. I snapped my head up and saw someone standing in the doorway, beckoning to me.

I rubbed my eyes and took a closer look.

Holy crap! It was actually Lu Ayao! When did he sneak into the pagoda?

At the sight of him, I scrambled to my feet. Lu Ayao waved at me again and slipped back inside the pagoda. He seemed to be in a hurry. What on earth could be inside to make him care so much?

Still, I suppressed my impulse. Tian Xiaoqi was still lying beside me, completely oblivious. She was sleeping unusually soundly today, and no matter how I tried to wake her, she wouldn’t budge. So I simply ran a line around her, hung two yellow bells on it, and fixed it in place with nails to create a protective alarm.

This way, if anything happened, I would hear the bells immediately and could rush back from the pagoda to help.

After securing the bells, I stayed cautious. A familiar face suddenly appearing in a bizarre place like this felt a bit off. So I pulled a dagger from my bag, tucked it into my waistband, and covered it with my jacket so it didn’t look like I was carrying a weapon.

With everything ready, I shone my flashlight ahead and ran toward the pagoda’s entrance. The stone slabs on the steps leading up to the door were ancient, many of them collapsed, and carved with Sanskrit that I couldn’t quite make out.

Looking up, I saw a flashlight beam inside the pagoda, so I pushed the door open and stepped in. Instantly, a gust of wind carrying dust blew straight into my face. I coughed uncontrollably and began inspecting the interior.

The ancient pagoda had four or five stories in total, and we were on the first floor. A narrow wooden staircase was built in the center, surrounded on all four sides by small stone niches designed to house Buddha statues.

Generally speaking, ancient pagodas housed ancient Buddhas. I estimated there were hundreds of statues enshrined here, though I had no idea what blessings they were meant to bestow.

Lu Ayao’s flashlight and mine illuminated the entire first floor. He was the only one inside; He Yu was nowhere to be seen. Seeing him carefully examining the ancient Buddhas in the niches, I jogged over and asked, “When did you get in here? Isn’t He Yu with you?”

Lu Ayao looked up at me and said, “I only got here a short while ago myself. The layout here is intricate and complex, and the current separated us.”

I swept my flashlight around, glancing at the niches. Noticing his diving suit was still wet, I said, “Your clothes are still soaking wet. Why don’t we start a fire to dry off first? The pagoda isn’t going anywhere. It won’t be too late to come back in a bit.”

Lu Ayao gave me a smile and thanked me, but said it wasn’t necessary.

I looked at him silently and said nothing more, turning back to examine the interior of the pagoda with my flashlight. The walls of the first floor were inscribed with bizarre, talisman-like symbols. Unlike ordinary Sanskrit, these characters looked distinctly unnatural.

“With so much Sanskrit here, do you know what any of it means?” I asked, touching the wall.

Lu Ayao was already preparing to head up to the second floor. He paused and said, “Much of it seems to be from the Diamond Sutra. These niches are mostly for warding off evil and praying for peace. There’s more text further up, so let’s keep moving.”

I paused for a moment, considered it, and then smiled as I followed him toward the second floor. As we walked, I said, “I noticed earlier that many of the Buddha statues are made of pure gold. It’s amazing that after all these years, no one has looted them.”

Lu Ayao smiled but said nothing.

We reached the second floor, which had the exact same layout as the first, along with three or four windows. I reached out to test the air, and my heart sank. There was no wind here.

By no wind, I mean not even the slightest draft. It felt as if time itself didn’t pass in this place, wrapped in total, dead silence. I leaned against the wall to glance outside at the Sanskrit bells hanging from the eaves; they were completely still as well. Before I had time to ponder it further, Lu Ayao called for me to move up to the third floor.

I quickly wiped away the cold sweat at my temples and continued climbing, keeping a cautious distance behind him.

As I stepped onto the stairs, I faintly heard the sound of chanting. It was quite clear, so I immediately stopped.

“Do you hear someone chanting?”

“No,” Lu Ayao replied.

“Must be my imagination then.”

I didn’t argue with him, but I had definitely heard the chanting with my own ears. What’s more, the eerie sound only occurred while I was actively climbing the stairs; as soon as my pace slowed, it vanished.

Forcing myself forward, I continued to climb. Along the way, I had the misfortune of stepping on a rotten wooden plank. The instant my foot landed, the board shattered beneath me, sending my entire right leg plunging through the gap. With my left leg already weak, I was left dangling in midair. Luckily, I grabbed hold of the railing with all my strength just in time to keep from falling.

Only after I pulled myself up did Lu Ayao turn around to ask if I was alright.

I told him I was fine.

The higher we climbed the pagoda, the narrower the stairs became. By the time I reached the fourth floor and tried to climb to the fifth, I had to use both hands and feet to crawl up. Otherwise, the steps were so narrow that one slip on those rickety, shaking stairs would send me falling.

My left leg was still fixed in a splint, so I climbed extremely slowly, but I managed to make it up eventually.

Upon reaching the top floor, we finally saw the largest Buddha statue in the pagoda. Its head reached the very top of the tower, and even at the end of the ladder, we could only see as far as its neck and shoulders.

This was likely the full extent of the pagoda.

I took a look around and was about to turn back downstairs when I felt someone grab me from behind. He said, “Since we’ve made it to this floor, it’s better to worship the Buddha before leaving.”

So after all that effort, he just wanted me to come up here and worship the Buddha.

A dull ache started in my left leg again, and my gaze instantly turned cold.

“Fuck, I’ll worship your grandmother’s Buddha^[1]!” I cursed, yanking my hand free. I pulled the dagger from my waistband and plunged it into the neck of the Lu Ayao behind me. Arterial blood sprayed out instantly, splattering across the Buddha statue.

Seeing his cover blown, “Lu Ayao’s” expression suddenly turned hideous. Ignoring the blood spurting from his wound, he lunged to grab me. He moved blindingly fast, so fast he didn’t seem human at all.

I tried to dodge, but my legs had no strength. I barely managed a few steps before he grabbed my collar and slammed me into the wall. A large chunk of stone broke off, splitting my head open instantly. Dazed and disoriented, I was dragged over to a tattered prayer cushion directly facing the Buddha.

“Worship! Worship!” His voice no longer sounded human. One hand strangled my neck tightly while the other pressed my head down with all his might.

I was on the verge of blacking out from strangulation. Driven by survival instinct, I fought back, reaching for the dagger that had fallen nearby. I rolled over, grabbed the hilt, and stabbed him viciously. His grip loosened, air rushed into my windpipe, and I began to cough uncontrollably.