Chapter 273 What is the situation?
There are countless living beings in the world, and a large number of souls who died in vain appear every moment.
Most of the souls of these people who died unjustly floated directly to the underworld. Some went to Fengdu City, which is governed by the underworld of Mount Tai, and some entered the City of the Unjustly Dead built by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
Only the souls of a very small number of people who were unjustly killed will come to the Meng Realm.
Nezha said that Mengjie was a place of filth and dirt built by Tathagata to maintain the reputation of Buddhism. He was not completely wrong, but he was not entirely correct either.
In the Meng Realm, there are not only the souls of people who were unjustly killed by Buddhism, but also the souls of people who were unjustly killed by Taoism or demons and monsters.
Because they were killed, these wronged souls have more resentment and deeper obsession than those who died in Fengdu City of Wrongful Death.
The deeper the obsession, the stronger the power of faith generated.
The more anger and resentment they have, the more merit you will gain by saving them.
In a sense, this world of Meng is a gold mine for Buddhists that produces merit and faith.
Only those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who have made contributions to Lingshan and are respected by Tathagata are qualified to sit in the Mengjie Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda.
Li Anran and Nezha waited for a moment, and then they saw golden whirlpools appearing on the Qiankun map, and hundreds of wronged souls with confused looks on their faces appeared out of thin air on the Qiankun map.
"Tathagata's methods are so powerful!" Nezha was shocked.
The Meng Realm is in the Qiankun Map, and the Qiankun Map is in the Lingjiu Cave. Nezha originally thought that the wronged souls could only enter the Meng Realm through the Lingjiu Cave.
But, in reality, it is not the case!
When Tathagata was refining the Meng Realm, he used some great means and magical powers. Once the soul of a person who was unjustly killed appeared in the Three Realms, it would automatically appear in the Meng Realm.
Just like souls in the underworld.
No matter when and where a living being dies, once dead, it will automatically cross the boundary between Yin and Yang and appear in the underworld.
The underworld has this effect because after Niangniang Pingxin transformed into the reincarnation tunnel, she borrowed the Treasure Mirror of Heaven and Earth from Zhen Yuanzi and used the Treasure Mirror of Heaven and Earth to check the three realms.
Tathagata was able to build a world similar to the underworld by himself. This method was indeed very clever!
"Is there a knock-off version of the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror in this Meng Realm?"
Li Anran suddenly remembered that Tathagata's predecessor was Duobao Taoist, a powerful man whose attainments in refining equipment were no worse than Taishang Laojun and who was extremely good at creating various copycat magic weapons.
From this point of view, Guanyin's research and development of the copycat version of ginseng fruit made with the help of young boys and girls and the incense of blood relatives has indeed inherited some of the true teachings of Tathagata.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
On the Qiankun map, golden ripples are constantly appearing like the surface of a lake on a rainy day. The bigger the ripples, the more wronged souls appear in the Mengjie. Sometimes there are only one or two, and sometimes there can be thousands of them appearing together.
After entering the Meng Realm, they will be instantly soothed by the Sanskrit sound...
Or it would be more appropriate to say that it is forced brainwashing!
The confusion, hatred, unwillingness and other emotions on their faces all disappeared, leaving only piety and calmness. Then they would walk to the nearest pagoda, sit cross-legged, recite scriptures and chant the name of Buddha.
After observing for a while, Li Anran figured out the general situation of the Mongolian world.
Li Anran asked, "Nezha, how did all those wronged souls you are looking for die? How many are there in total?"
After death, the soul will mostly remain in the state before death.
As long as we know how Li Jing silenced the people, we can find the wronged souls through their injuries.
And from what we saw just now, the wronged souls that entered the Mongolian world in the same batch will stay together.
Quantity is also a key information to find them.
Nezha also understood Li Anran's idea instantly. He stared at the Qiankuntu and said, "I'm not sure about the exact number, but there are at least two to three thousand people in a mortal town. Li Jing trapped them with the Linglong Pagoda, and then burned them to death with the Samadhi True Fire!"
When Nezha talked about this, he gritted his teeth and was filled with murderous intent.
It’s not all about a sense of justice or anything like that, it’s more about empathy!
Every time Li Jing dealt with him, he would first use the Linglong Tower to capture him, and then torture him with the Samadhi True Fire.
Nezha has the body of a lotus, and belongs to the element of wood. He is most afraid of fire spells such as the Samadhi True Fire.
In addition, his soul and body have become one, so burning his body is also burning his soul.
Even though Nezha was extremely strong and could do things like cutting flesh to repay his mother and cutting bones to repay his father, he could not withstand the torture of the Samadhi True Fire and had to bow his head and beg for mercy from Li Jing.
" Found it, they are here."
Li Anran quickly found the wronged soul that met Nezha's conditions, near the middle of the northwest direction of the Mongolian realm.
“It should be them.”
Nezha was very clear about the burn marks left by the Samadhi True Fire. He took a closer look and confirmed Li Anran's judgment.
Li Anran used his finger to draw a rough area around the wronged souls and said, "Nezha, when a vortex larger than three inches appears at this location on the Qiankun Map, we will go in and blend in with the newly appeared wronged souls."
"Okay." Nezha nodded.
He had just been paying attention to the golden vortex on the Qiankun map. There would be at least dozens of wronged souls in a three-inch vortex, and it would be difficult to find them if they were mixed in it.
But then Li Anran said, "After we go in, let's not rush to do anything. Let's wait until daybreak."
Nezha was stunned: "Dawn?"
Li Anran said "hmm" and explained: "The Meng Realm that Tathagata refined is quite complete, and there are also sun, moon and stars that change day and night. Wicked souls are afraid of sunlight, and they will not change in the Meng Realm."
"These wronged souls will definitely enter the pagoda during the day to avoid the sunlight. We can take this opportunity to find out what is going on inside the pagoda."
Nezha frowned slightly, with a puzzled look on his face: "Why are we going through so much trouble? After we go in, I will hold back the Buddha, and you will collect all the wronged souls. Then we will rush out and return to heaven immediately!"
Li Anran said: "It's not as easy as you say! These pagodas are arranged according to the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation of Jiejiao. There are 14,800 pagodas in total. It's easy for us to get in, but it's not that easy to get out!"
It was only after the Zhuxian Formation was broken by the Four Sages that Patriarch Tongtian summoned all the disciples of the Jiejiao to set up the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation which he created based on the Zhoutian Xingdou Formation.
It can be seen that in the eyes of Master Tongtian, the power of the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation is even greater than that of the Zhuxian Formation!
Although the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation that Tathagata arranged in the Meng Realm is not as good as the original Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, it is not that easy to deal with either.
In the sequel to Journey to the West, there is a statement that the Meng realm cannot use magic power, which should be the effect of the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation!
Li Anran had upgraded the Zhoutian Xingdou Great Array to its maximum level, and also learned the incomplete Ten Thousand Immortals Array during his lifetime as a fake Tongtian.
Otherwise, the moment he discovered the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, he would have turned around and left with Nezha without saying a word.
Master Tongtian's Ten Thousand Immortals Formation was unable to deal with the other four saints, but Tathagata's Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation should have no problem dealing with the two of them!
"Ten Thousand Immortals Formation?!"
Nezha was suddenly startled and dared not say anything. He and Li Anran turned into wronged ghosts, but he felt some emotion in his heart.
At the beginning, Taiyi Tianzun and the others were afraid that he and Yang Jian would die in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, so they didn't dare to let them in and only let them stay outside to support the formation!
Unexpectedly, ten thousand years later, he would have to visit the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation!
It’s just that the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation of the Jiejiao Sect has turned into the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation of Buddhism!
The two waited for about ten minutes, and a golden vortex finally appeared within the range drawn by Li Anran on the Qiankun map.
"Let's go!" Li Anran pulled Nezha and jumped into the whirlpool.
Accompanied by a dizzying spinning of the sky and the earth, time and space intertwined, and countless colorful lights enveloped the surroundings.
When the glow faded, they had already arrived at the Meng Realm. In front of them stood a nine-story pagoda, surrounded by the souls of those who were unjustly killed.
Although there are sun, moon and stars in the Meng Realm, alternating between day and night, the Buddha's light inside is too numerous and too dazzling.
Being in it, you can't see the stars above your head at all. Wherever you look, there is golden Buddha light with countless dark golden Sanskrit characters shining inside.
As soon as they came in, the Buddhist light and Sanskrit characters were like the air that could penetrate any pore and instantly penetrated into their bodies.
As for those truly wronged souls, it has seeped into their souls!
All the wronged souls sank completely in an instant, and all their emotions turned into piety. They clasped their hands together in front of their chests, chanted Buddhist scriptures , and moved closer to the pagoda in front of them.
Fortunately, I prepared in advance!
Li Anran turned his head and nodded slightly towards Nezha.
Nezha's worried heart finally relaxed a little, allowing the Buddha's light to continue to penetrate into his body.
In the palm of his hand, a swastika Buddhist seal was flashing with a faint light.
The Buddha's light that entered Nezha's body only circled the surface of Nezha's skin before converging into the Buddha seal, making Nezha look like those wronged souls, infected and eroded by the Buddha's light and completely controlled by Buddhism.
Li Anran and Nezha imitated the wronged souls, put their hands together, chanted Buddhist scriptures, followed them, and finally sat together around the pagoda.
While the two were quietly waiting for the day to come, they were also secretly observing the situation around them.
Nezha's attention was mostly on the wronged souls around him and the pagoda in front of him, while Li Anran was observing the entire Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became.
He had learned the incomplete Ten Thousand Immortals Formation in the life of the fake Tongtian, and had seen the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation arranged by the Master Tongtian in the lives of Guanyin and the Golden Spirit Mother.
The Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation of Tathagata is very different from the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation of Master Tongtian!
Tathagata combined the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation with the Buddhist magical power of the Palm of Buddha!
These more than 10,000 pagodas not only concentrate the power of faith on the most central pagoda, but also provide a platform for the Buddha who guards the Mongolian world to worship and refine his 10-foot-tall golden body.
They, together with the wronged souls sitting around the tower and the power of faith, are the basis for maintaining the existence of the Meng Realm!
It's not that Meng Jie can't use magic power, but that Tathagata directly erased the concept of magic power and turned the power of faith in Buddha's light into an existence similar to air light.
He previously thought that it was the Buddha's light that obscured the light of the sun, moon and stars.
In fact, the light emitted by the sun, moon and stars is actually the Buddha’s light!
This kind of great supernatural power, if taken one step further, is what Master Tongtian called "re-establishing the earth, water, fire and wind" during the Conferred God Tribulation!
Tathagata's strength is even stronger than he expected!
Li Anran was a little worried.
Although Nezha is still sitting there obediently, he can clearly feel that Nezha is filled with righteous indignation in his heart and wants to destroy the pagodas in front of him and rescue all the wronged souls.
No matter which one it is, the entire Meng world will be destroyed!
Tathagata arranged the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda into the Ten Thousand Immortals Array and built the Buddha Kingdom in his palm, which must have taken a lot of effort.
By doing this, they would not only offend Tathagata, but would offend the dead Tathagata!
This is just like when the monkey broke into the Tushita Palace and took away all of Taishang Laojun's golden elixir.
Taishang Laojun was so furious that he didn't care about his own image. He first threw out the Vajra to attack the monkey. Then, when he failed to kill the monkey on the Immortal Execution Platform , he took the initiative to volunteer to put the monkey into the alchemy furnace to refine it.
It is really unpredictable what Tathagata will do for the Mengjie.
The days and nights in the Meng Realm are much shorter than those in the Journey to the West world. In less than half an hour, the moon in the sky gradually disappears and the sun slowly rises.
The alternation of day and night had no obvious effect on the Mengjie filled with Buddha's light, but those wronged souls seemed to have set an alarm clock. They stood up one after another and walked into the pagoda.
In just a few minutes, the world of Meng, which was once full of ghosts and seas, became empty, without a single ghost.
And the moment they entered the pagoda, those wronged souls regained consciousness as if awakened from a dream, with faces showing either hideous resentment, hatred, or painful wails.
Resentment and hostility intertwined together, making the inside of the pagoda, which was shining with golden light outside, look like an endless hell.
Many wronged souls and evil spirits want to rush out and seek revenge on their enemies.
At this moment, a statue of the Hell-Suppressing King suddenly appeared at the door, his eyes wide open, and he waved the demon-subduing pestle in his hand to knock them out.
"It's okay! It's okay!" Li Anran looked at the King of Hell and breathed a sigh of relief.
He was really worried that these 14,800 pagodas were filled with the six-foot-tall golden bodies of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!
In that case, even if he found a way to break the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, he could only pull Nezha away first!
In the face of absolute power, no amount of skills will be of any use!
Nezha asked, "Li Anran, what's going on? Why did they return to normal as soon as they entered the pagoda? Are the Buddhists going to wait until dark to use the Buddha's light and Sanskrit sound to control them again?"
Li Anran said: "If they are controlled by Buddhism for too long, they will completely lose themselves, and puppets without minds will not have the power of faith. The pagoda is used to isolate the Buddha's light and Sanskrit sounds outside, and the alternation of day and night in the Mengjie and this nine-story pagoda are controlling that degree."
"The longer the wronged souls stay, the higher the level they will go. This way, they will be influenced by the Buddhist teachings for a longer period of time and will not lose themselves so quickly."
"!!!"
Nezha was stunned, and then he flew into a rage: "These damn bald donkeys say that all beings are equal, but they regard all beings as grass and ants! This damn place is even more sinister and vicious than the eighteen levels of hell! What should we do now?"
Li Anran did not answer, but asked: "Nezha, how far do you want to go?"
