Chapter 91: ’Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies’_1

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: ’Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies’_1

At night in the Rooster Crow Temple, Wang Linchi disguised himself as a Headless ghost.

When he entered, the Headless ghosts seemed somewhat uneasy. Still, in the end, they couldn’t distinguish Wang Linchi from themselves, and as a result, they didn’t take any action.

Headless ghosts weren’t as intelligent as other Demons and apparitions. After losing their heads and becoming revived corpses, the Headless ghosts could only act on instinct. Furthermore, without sight, hearing, smell, or taste, they had no way to receive external information and could only rely on certain force fields within the Rooster Crow Temple to receive messages.

In other words, once they left the Rooster Crow Temple, Headless ghosts lost their "signal" and therefore could only exist within the temple.

As for what specific force field it was, Wang Linchi hadn’t been able to find out yet, though he could faintly perceive some traces.

While the Headless ghosts were wandering aimlessly, Wang Linchi quietly snuck into the Great Hero Treasure Hall of the Rooster Crow Temple. The Great Hero Treasure Hall, as it’s typically called in Buddhist temples, is the main hall where the Buddha statue is enshrined.

Upon entering, he stepped onto a thick layer of dry twigs, fallen leaves, and mud. The hall was in this state because no one had tended to it for many years, and with the doors and windows either broken or left open, a large amount of dust, leaves, and rainwater had accumulated inside.

Why does this Buddha statue feel so eerie?

Wang Linchi looked at the Buddha statue in the center of the hall. Like the Headless ghosts, it had nothing above the neck; its head had been chopped off.

This hall is too small. With this large Buddha statue, it feels incredibly crowded. There isn’t even space for other Buddha statues. From this, Wang Linchi could see the dilapidated state of the Rooster Crow Temple.

As for which Buddha was worshipped here, Wang Linchi had already inquired: it was Vairocana Buddha.

Its meaning is Universal Illumination, Great Sun, representing the Tathagata of the Most Excellent Broad Eye Treasury—the so-called Great Sun Buddha.

As Wang Linchi focused, preparing to gather data, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Om namo matou edo..."

The voice was very clear, yet to Wang Linchi’s ears, it seemed extremely distant.

"Is this a Buddhist mantra?"

Wang Linchi couldn’t help but murmur. The voice sounded strange, but as it reached his ears, it was instantly translated.

"As stated in the Sutra of Deliverance from Suffering: If there be any virtuous men or women who offer sincere reverence to the Tathagata, King of Destroying Evil Destinies, and uphold this mantra..."

He also learned its name from the voice: the *Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies*, also known as the *Sutra of Elimination of All Evil Destinies*, or, more simply, the *Vairocana Mantra*.

But why does it sound so strange when I hear it?

Wang Linchi looked back and noticed that, at some point, all the Headless ghosts had crowded outside the Great Hero Treasure Hall. They stood perfectly still, as if they too could hear the *Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies*.

For Wang Linchi, however, the voice vanished the moment he turned his head.

"Are there really Buddhas?!" Wang Linchi took a sharp, cold breath. If this were true, the difficulty of this Gigantic Secret Realm would be immense.

Of course, the Buddha Wang Linchi was referring to was not the Buddha from religious and Mythological tales, but rather the beings from cultivation and fantasy stories. There was a distinction: the former were Great Enlightened Ones, like Immortals, relying on virtuous conduct and cultivation, possessing heaven-defying powers. Those from prehistoric and fantasy settings, however, lacked the same grandeur.

They might have even originated from cultivator sects with dubious backgrounds, hardly comparable to the noble Immortals and Buddhas of traditional Mythology.

If these were Buddhas from cultivation or fantasy stories, it wouldn’t be a major issue. After all, such beings, though called Buddhas, were still individuals with desires. In religious Mythology, however, most Buddhas and deities had transcended the very concept of being human.

The Sanqing in the *Investiture of the Gods* hold a different status from the Sanqing in religious Mythology.

With the interruption of the Buddhist chant, the Headless ghosts returned to their normal state, continuing their aimless, unconscious wandering within the Rooster Crow Temple.

Wang Linchi looked at the decapitated Buddha statue. Could it have turned into some kind of monster, like those from tales of Demons and Ghosts? he wondered. If it were truly Vairocana Buddha, I’d be dead already. This is more likely just a lingering remnant, not a true manifestation.

But these characters...

Wang Linchi hadn’t heard the *Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies* in its entirety. However, by comparing the script, phonetics, and translation, he discovered an intriguing fact: the forty-nine symbols he had previously found were, in fact, the characters comprising the *Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies*.

Sanskrit...

Merely forty-nine Sanskrit letters, pieced together into words and phrases—even if assembled haphazardly—possessed the power to slay Demons and Ghosts. If he were to engrave the complete *Shakyamuni’s Fundamental Mantra for Destroying Evil Destinies* onto his blade, its power would undoubtedly be far greater.

And that was just a mantra; there were still True Sutras, on a higher level.

From this, one could glimpse the former glory of this place, a glory that had now faded like passing smoke.

It gave Wang Linchi the feeling of being in the End of the Dharma Era, an age of five turbidities and rampant evil.

Whether the Buddha was dead or alive, Wang Linchi didn’t know.

But he was certain of one thing: some form of power must still reside within the Vairocana Buddha statue in the Rooster Crow Temple. If activated, the Demons and Ghosts lurking around Black Rain City would inevitably be purged.

Precisely because of this, a hidden mastermind was compelling Demons and Ghosts to target Wang Linchi. He wondered if this mastermind knew something more.

But now was not the time to pursue these questions. He carefully approached the Buddha statue. When no further echo of the *Vairocana Mantra* reached his ears, he grew bolder.

He then climbed onto the Buddha statue, preparing to examine the severed neck.

The break is smooth, almost like it was cleanly cut in two. Interesting.

The entire statue was carved from stone and was not hollow in the center, which showed the Rooster Crow Temple’s reverence for the Buddha statue.

If it’s solid, then the head couldn’t be inside the statue, could it? Wang Linchi hesitated.

After all, it was unlikely to be semi-solid or merely a superficial facade.

Transporting such a massive statue would have been impractical, as its size exceeded that of the temple’s entrance. Therefore, the most plausible explanation was that when Rooster Crow Temple was being built, the stone for this statue was brought in first and then sculpted concurrently with the temple’s construction.

But it’s also possible it was hollowed out by some powerful force.

Having come this far, Wang Linchi was determined to investigate further; he couldn’t leave without checking.

However, doing so would inevitably damage the Buddha statue, making subsequent repairs even more challenging.

Under the current circumstances, simply erecting a new Buddha statue would likely be useless. The power probably resided in this long-worshipped Vairocana Buddha statue itself, not in Vairocana Buddha as an entity.

Moreover, he worried that damaging the statue might neutralize its power.

He had initially thought "reforging the golden body" meant merely repairing the Rooster Crow Temple and its statue. Now, however, it seemed more akin to restoring its sacred power to suppress evil and protect the people.

Ultimately, clenching his jaw, he decided the head must be within this statue.

The monk’s head isn’t large; it could be placed almost anywhere.

But the Buddha’s own head, if hidden here, would likely be in the torso or the lotus pedestal; it simply wouldn’t fit elsewhere.

So, do I choose the lotus pedestal or the torso?

After a careful appraisal, Wang Linchi finally focused on the lotus pedestal.

Whoever had desecrated the Buddha statue hadn’t completely destroyed it. Wang Linchi wasn’t sure if they lacked the ability or if they intended to humiliate it.

He leaned towards the latter; if they had lacked the ability, the Rooster Crow Temple would have been annihilated long ago.

The beheading of the monks and the Buddha statue likely occurred simultaneously, with the monks transforming into beings akin to Corpse Ghosts. Since the monks were so brutally desecrated, the statue must have suffered a similar, humiliating fate. Simply hiding the heads in the torso wouldn’t be insulting enough. Placing them within the lotus pedestal, forcing the Buddha statue to sit upon its own severed head and the monk’s head—that would be a far more appalling desecration.

Therefore, Wang Linchi chose the lotus pedestal.

If I’ve guessed wrong, I’ll check the torso next.

Of course, it might not even be inside the statue; I could be completely wrong. But there’s no harm in guessing. Ruling out one option would make the next steps slightly easier.

What else can I do? I’ve only been here a short time, and the Rooster Crow Temple massacre happened over a decade ago. If it had just occurred, I could have used my Soul Kind·Soul Courtyard combined with Soul Kind·Thought Palace to trace the culprit through clues. But now? It’s impossible to even reconstruct the scene, let alone find the killer.

As he chiseled open the lotus pedestal, a strong, repugnant odor assaulted his nostrils.

Though the stench was overwhelming, a surge of elation filled Wang Linchi.

It’s here! Damn it, I guessed right!