The seven-colored mist in the sky did not fully dissipate.
The rift created by the Golden Buddha's descent remained, not vanishing with the judge's death.
"Something is wrong."
Chen Zhou's brow furrowed.
He had already won the Golden Buddha's bone pillar trial, and his competitor, Yin Wudao, was long dead.
Even the judge who had inhabited Yin Wudao's body was now reduced to two shriveled eyeballs.
Why hadn't the thing descended yet?
Or had it already descended but was hiding to avoid being found by him?
Wu Gou had said long ago that the Golden Buddha was a mass of self-aware flesh.
Did it really not want to be claimed by him?
Chen Zhou calmly put away the two orbs of light.
"Gah—!"
An anxious crane's cry rang out.
The Nine-Age Crane flew over, shaking its head and pointing its wings toward the palace while emitting sharp, urgent cries.
Seeing its distress, Chen Zhou seemed to understand.
"Are you talking about Song Zi'an?"
"He's with Wu Gou and the Dream Demon. He should be safe."
As he spoke, a crucial point suddenly occurred to him.
The Golden Buddha was a supreme treasure of the Buddhist Sect, which consisted of three branches: bone, flesh, and soul.
Since he had passed the bone pillar trial, where would that mass of flesh be hiding?
Given that it was self-aware and didn't want to be found...
The place the Golden Buddha would consider safest was...
"In a dream," Chen Zhou whispered.
He looked at the surrounding mist, swirling with seven colors, as mesmerizing as dreamlight.
He became increasingly certain of his guess.
What a coincidence.
He happened to have an expert in dreams right by his side.
"Let's go find Wu Gou and the Dream Demon."
By now, the battle on the Star-Picking Platform was drawing to a close.
Only some black spots needed to be cleared away, and the situation had completely stabilized.
Chen Zhou left the cleanup work to Hong Ling and immediately activated his Bone Incarnation, descending upon Jian Huaishuang.
Then, leading the Nine-Age Crane, he headed in the direction the golden Sanskrit characters had flown from earlier.
The Nine-Age Crane seemed truly desperate, flying at top speed and frequently looking back to urge Chen Zhou on.
"Alright, alright, I know you're in a hurry," Chen Zhou said helplessly. "I'm taking you to Song Zi'an right now."
Chen Zhou followed the path where those golden butterflies had come from.
Inside the palace, debris and ruins were everywhere due to the violent earthquake.
Before a collapsed palace wall, Chen Zhou found Wu Gou.
Wu Gou was sprawled on the ground without any regard for his image, his limbs spread wide.
Sweat had practically soaked his monk's robes, his face was pale, and his chest heaved violently—he had clearly overextended his power.
Beside him, the large Diting had curled itself into a ball, lying there like an exhausted, oversized meat worm.
Upon Chen Zhou's arrival, Wu Gou didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, let alone stand up to greet him.
He gasped for air, speaking in short bursts.
"Truly... really... this poor monk almost... went to see the Buddha..."
"There are so many malevolent ghosts... they're endless... I just couldn't kill them all..."
"Great Fiend... is everything settled... on your end?"
Seeing his wretched state, Chen Zhou felt a stir of emotion.
He knew that if Wu Gou hadn't woven a barrier with his great vow earlier, the outcome of that battle would have been uncertain.
No matter how unreliable he usually seemed, the monk was still worthy of trust.
The value of a Saint was evident.
Chen Zhou nodded. "The judge is dead, and the dragon vein has exploded."
"But the Golden Buddha never descended."
Hearing this, Wu Gou finally opened his eyes in surprise and flipped himself upright with a carp's leap.
"Is that so?"
"The bone pillar is broken and the judge is dead. Logically, that mass of flesh should have been unable to resist jumping out by now."
Chen Zhou shared his theory with Wu Gou. "I suspect it's hiding in a dream."
Wu Gou rubbed his bald head, nodding thoughtfully. "It's highly possible."
"The Buddhist Sect has three branches: the Bone Temple, the Aspect of All Beings, and Sukhavati."
"The bone pillar trial selects the bone, which is the vessel to carry the Golden Buddha."
"But the flesh itself has the right to choose. If it doesn't want you to have it, hiding in a dream is the safest option."
"However..."
As Wu Gou was speaking, the Nine-Age Crane suddenly became agitated.
Seeing the two of them still chatting about the Golden Buddha while no one cared about its young master, it began hopping around in anxiety.
Finally, it grew bold enough to grab Chen Zhou's sleeve with its beak and pull him toward the palace wall with all its might.
Chen Zhou finally realized the situation and asked, "Where are Song Zi'an and the little pig?"
Wu Gou pouted and pointed toward a bizarre-looking palace wall ahead.
"There, they entered the Path of Hungry Ghosts."
"Little Patron Song went to find his master."
Chen Zhou looked in the direction Wu Gou pointed, and his eyes instantly narrowed.
Where there should have been ruins stood a palace wall that had not yet collapsed.
The wall was made of writhing flesh, and in its center was a gaping, blood-red mouth.
Two rows of jagged, pale fangs inside the mouth were closed, currently chewing on something.
Chen Zhou's expression darkened.
He hadn't expected that besides the hell beneath the provincial capital, there was such a monstrous thing on the surface.
"What is this?"
Wu Gou sighed and explained.
"Hungry ghosts are sealed within this wall."
"To suppress resentment, the successive royal families of the Ghost Dynasty sealed countless people who died of starvation into the walls."
"Later, as the malevolent ghosts grew in number and gathered here over the years, the wall came to life."
"It would be hard for such a place not to give birth to some monstrosity."
Wu Gou looked at the giant mouth with some concern.
"Little Patron Song and the little pig have been inside for a while."
"I wanted to go in and pull them out, but there were too many malevolent ghosts outside. If I had left, this place would have fallen."
"Furthermore... the Path of Hungry Ghosts is easy to enter but difficult to leave."
"Especially for those with deep obsessions, it's very easy to get lost inside."
Without a word, Chen Zhou pulled out a handful of high-grade pills and tossed them to Wu Gou without even looking.
"Recover first. Don't die."
"I'll go in and check for myself."
Wu Gou scrambled to catch the pills. When he saw their grade, his eyes lit up.
"Whoa, what a lavish gift."
Chen Zhou walked up to the tightly shut, blood-red maw. Looking at the fangs, he summoned a bone spear with a wave of his hand.
Then, he thrust it forward with immense force.
Boom!
Carrying massive power, the bone spear pierced straight through the teeth of the Path of Hungry Ghosts.
Crack!
Accompanied by a strange, scream-like sound, a huge hole shattered open amidst the fangs.
"Let's go."
Chen Zhou's figure blurred into a streak of light as he flew through the hole.
Seeing this, the Nine-Age Crane hurriedly flapped its wings and followed without hesitation.
Wu Gou took a pill and watched Chen Zhou's disappearing back, smacking his lips.
"Tsk tsk, talk about a forced entry."
"Typical of you."
He didn't stand on ceremony, popped the pill into his mouth, and sat back down cross-legged. He spoke to the Diting beside him.
"Baby, wake up."
"Are you full? If you're full, protect this poor monk."
"We still have to guard this door for a while."
The Diting squirmed as if in protest, but it still obediently burrowed into the ground to re-establish their defenses.
Rate on N.U.
