Chapter 45: Returning Home (XII)
Zong Nian was standing in the raging fire.
Zong Nian had experienced the end of the world for twenty years, and had already practiced the secret arts of the Zong family to the fullest through life and death. At this moment, he was like a pine or cypress, standing in the fire circle he created with the fire talisman. The wind surging from all directions lifted up his wide white shirt, and his sleeves fluttered, revealing a strong and thin waist, which made him look like a rose branch that would break if it was slightly bent, which was very imaginative. But although Zong Nian looked so fragile, his resolute and calm expression made it difficult for others to easily regard this young man standing in the fire circle as a harmless dodder.
The fire circle surrounding everyone burned more and more fiercely, and had completely turned into a circular fire wall that connected end to end and shot straight into the sky. The flame created by this fire symbol was not very hot, but it frightened the villagers outside the fire circle, thus protecting Zong Chen, Guan Eryue and Lu Yang who were inside.
In fact, Zong Nian in the apocalypse was not a smart man, but the reason why he survived to the end of the apocalypse was because he worked hard enough to make himself strong enough. In the face of absolute power, all the intrigues of smart people are just scratching the surface of the game.
Next to Zong Nian, Zong Chen, who was praised as a rare genius in Xuanmen, was looking at his cousin who had just been beaten on the ground in surprise. Zong Chen suddenly realized that Zong Nian, who used to only follow him and call "cousin, help me", was no longer someone he could compare to. At least Zong Chen himself was unable to use the fire talisman to draw such a strong and large-scale protective barrier at this stage.
A trace of unknown bitterness surged into Zong Chen's heart.
But the good news is that the originally aggressive villagers were all stopped outside the fire wall and could not advance an inch.
However, the favorable situation for the Zong family members did not last long. After a while, a Buddhist verse was heard from behind the crowd.
Zong Nian, who was concentrating all his efforts on casting a spell, was stunned for a moment when he heard the Buddhist verse, and the fire in the surrounding fire circle also became weaker. Zong Nian saw the Bodhisattva who gave him another chance. He was standing outside the fire wall at this moment, casting a focused gaze at him.
The Bodhisattva was standing on a lotus platform, wearing layers of white clothes, spotless. The cinnabar between his eyebrows was bright and dazzling, and his whole body was emitting a holy light. He was looking at Zong Nian with a smile and asked solemnly: "Zong Nian, do you believe me?"
After Zong Nian saw the Bodhisattva and heard what the Bodhisattva said, he visibly relaxed his guard. He looked at Zong Chen with joy, like a man floating on the sea who has grabbed a piece of driftwood, and said, "Brother! The Bodhisattva is here, we are saved!" But when Zong Nian turned around, he saw Zong Chen's solemn expression.
Zong Chen shook his head solemnly at Zong Nian, stopping him from removing the protective barrier around him, and not allowing him to approach the Bodhisattva opposite. The story is too long, and Zong Chen, who didn't know where to start, said a question as the first sentence he said. He asked Zong Nian: "Cousin, do you believe me?"
Then, Zong Chen pointed at the Bodhisattva whose face was distorted by the rising hot air through the flames and said, "That is an evil demon in Buddha's clothing. He is here to harm us. You can't trust him."
But the Bodhisattva opposite said to Zong Nian: "Your brother has been possessed by the evil spirit and is clearly trying to harm you. You can't believe him. If you don't believe him, ask him if he was jealous of you just now."
Zong Chen, who was standing by, heard what the evil Buddha said and realized that his little shameful thoughts had been discovered by the enemy. He was half angry and half ashamed, and his cheeks turned liver-colored in an instant. But it was also true that he was a little jealous of Zong Nian. Zong Chen, who was not good at lying, actually hesitated for a long time and didn't say a word of defense, which aroused suspicion for no reason.
When the evil Buddha saw Zong Chen's appearance , his clay eyes showed a triumphant smile. He said to Zong Nian, "Look, is it as I said?" As he spoke, the evil Buddha was about to step forward. Just as he was about to walk through the weakened fire wall and come in front of everyone, something strange happened. Just as the evil Buddha was only one step away from the fire wall, the fire that had weakened suddenly rose, even much higher than at the beginning.
That was Zong Nian expressing his anger.
Zong Nian looked at the so-called Bodhisattva in front of him with red eyes, and asked sternly: "Do you know what kind of person Zong Chen is? How dare you slander him that he was possessed by evil spirits and wanted to harm me! Absolutely impossible!" Zong Nian spoke word by word: "As long as my cousin is still alive, I will fight to the end to protect the Zong family and the living people, and never compromise!"
Zong Nian will always remember the day when Zong Chen died in his previous life.
Zong Chen could have gotten away with it if he hadn't saved him. Zong Nian at that time didn't know anything and had no other strengths except being a drag. But even so, Zong Chen never abandoned him. Because he was the youngest head of the Zong family, he had his responsibilities and never shirked his responsibilities.
That day, Zong Chen endured the pain of being bitten by thousands of ghosts, stretched out his hand and tapped Zong Nian's forehead, and used the last bit of his strength to perform the art of shrinking the earth into an inch. Zong Nian only remembered that he saw Zong Chen put his index finger and middle finger together, waved them vigorously in the air, and shouted: "Go!" Then Zong Nian's body began to move on its own without listening to him.
Before leaving, the last thing Zong Nian saw was Zong Chen's tall and broad back and his broken body. He had bled so much that it formed a small puddle on the ground. But Zong Chen just turned around and smiled at Zong Nian who was leaving. At that moment, Zong Nian understood that even though Zong Chen himself was trembling in the wind and rain, he had been doing his best to protect them from the wind and rain for many years.
Zong Chen has long been the belief of many people.
Zong Nian stood by Zong Chen without hesitation, and then two spells flew out of Zong Nian's hand, shooting straight at the face of the evil Buddha. In an instant, lightning and thunder flashed all around, and one of the lightning bolts directly hit the evil Buddha, causing a huge cloud of dust. Zong Nian's clear young voice came from the smoke and dust, and he shouted word by word: "All monsters appear!"
After a while, the smoke and dust raised by the lightning dissipated, and the evil Buddha standing opposite also revealed his true face. The disgusting appearance really scared Zong Nian. He suppressed his discomfort and complained to Zong Chen: "Have I been worshiping such a disgusting thing all this time?!"
However, before Zong Chen could answer, he saw the evil Buddha open his eyes in an instant. Zong Chen and Zong Nian were not prepared and were met with those densely packed eyes.
Almost in an instant, Zong Chen and Zong Nian fainted, and the fire that protected them was instantly extinguished.
The Buddha head looked at the four people lying on the ground, and said to the villagers standing not far away with a lack of interest: "They are just a group of unruly livestock. Take them away as sacrifices for this month's fast." After receiving the order, the villagers stepped forward and carried away the four people lying on the ground.
However, just as the two villagers approached Lu Yang, the Qilin cub, which had been sleeping for a long time, suddenly opened its eyes.
On the other side, Lu Ren was running with Ali in the mountains. Ali was born and raised here, and was familiar with every tree and every blade of grass on the mountain. She ran like a butterfly fluttering up and down, graceful and flexible. Lu Ren, who was following closely behind, was running breathlessly all the way, like an elderly person who was forced to run a marathon, and people couldn't help but worry that he would be taken to the ICU in the next second.
As Ali ran, he said to Lu Ren, "The evil Buddha used the shrines and reclining Buddha statues of every household in the village to set up a spirit gathering array. He is invincible in this spirit gathering array. We need to find a way to destroy it. Did you take the things with you?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Ren raised the object in his left hand. He was holding something wrapped in black cloth, about the length of his forearm, and it was unclear what it was.
This is the magic weapon that Qi Yu snatched from the evil Buddha at the risk of his life.
Speaking of this Dharma instrument, there is also a story behind it. It was not originally the property of the evil Buddha. A long time ago, the evil Buddha was just an ordinary Mori in the Pratyekabuddha Realm. One day, a celestial being from Shanjian City went out on business and was attacked. He then lost the Dharma instrument, which was picked up by the evil Buddha. The evil Buddha had no way to return it, so he temporarily put it aside.
Unfortunately, the celestial being came to him later, so the evil Buddha was convicted of theft, his hands and feet were chopped off, and thrown into the Salt Sea. The evil Buddha felt wronged, so he paid a huge price and fled to the human world overnight, which led to various incidents later. Since celestial beings are a general term for the living beings in the Buddhist world, this magic weapon can also be regarded as a treasure of Buddhism.
Seeing that the magic weapon was well kept by Lu Ren, Ali finally put his mind at ease and continued to lead Lu Ren to take a shortcut. They had to go to the reclining Buddha as soon as possible and destroy the spirit gathering array.
On the way, Ali also carefully warned Lu Ren: "You must not look into the eyes of the reclining Buddha for a while. The four realms of Shanjian City make good use of the method of the universe to lock people's souls in any place in the three thousand worlds. If you are not careful, you will get lost in the infinite lives of infinite worlds, unable to see the way back. If the soul is lost, the body will naturally fall into an endless sleep. When the body is destroyed, you can never return to this world again."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ren nodded quickly to show that he understood.
Soon, the reclining Buddha arrived.
However, because it is located halfway up the mountain, the reclining Buddha, which is usually deserted, is unusually lively at this moment, with villagers and evil Buddhas gathering here.
Lu Ren thought to himself: "What bad luck! How did they know we were going to come here to destroy the spirit gathering formation?"
The question soon had an answer.
A huge figure was seen running towards Lu Ren and A Li. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the Qilin cub that had just woken up. It had now become the size of a lion, carrying the unconscious Guan Eryue, Zong Chen, and Zong Nian on its back. Despite its larger size, the Qilin cub's voice was still that of a child. When it saw Lu Ren, it excitedly shouted, "A Ren!"
Lu Ren: “…” The culprit who lured the enemy here was found.
