"Mr. Si, was that... was that the evil ghost you mentioned just now?" Master Zhebu had fully believed what Si Jiangchen had said. He looked apprehensively in the direction of the main hall, filled with unease.
The three statues of the Ancient Buddha of the Past, Sakyamuni, and Maitreya Buddha enshrined in the main hall couldn't even suppress that evil god? How could it even send a clone to attack him, the abbot who presided over the offerings?
"Yes." Si Jiangchen also looked in the direction of the main hall following Master Zhebu's gaze.
"Master, have you seen a little boy about this tall come up the mountain with his mother?" I asked Master Zhebu while gesturing about Xue Shuo's height.
As the abbot, how could Master Zhebu possibly know all the people who came to the temple? He looked around.
"Master, no," a monk wearing a high hat shook his head. "It's still early. Tourists with children won't come up the mountain at this time."
The monk's words were within my expectation.
The One - Eyed Buddha Mother came to the temple for a purpose, so she naturally wouldn't let anyone know.
Master Zhebu frowned. With a few of his subordinate monks leading the way, he took us to the highest part of the Buddhist temple.
The vermilion - carved gates of the magnificent Main Buddha Hall were wide open. Three golden - bodied Buddha statues nearly five stories tall were sitting in the lotus position, their eyes slightly lowered, looking compassionately at everyone who entered the hall.
The Tibetan Buddhist temple was different from those in the Han - inhabited areas. In the Mahayana Buddhism of the Han areas, generally only one Buddha or Bodhisattva was enshrined in each hall.
In the first hall upon entering, the Future Buddha Maitreya was enshrined. In the second hall, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was enshrined. And in the third hall, the Main Buddha Hall, the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha was enshrined. People entering the temple usually burned incense, lit lamps, and made offerings in this order.
However, the Tibetan Buddhism was used to enshrining the Ancient Buddha of the Past, the Tathagata Buddha representing the present, and the Maitreya Buddha representing the future with butter flowers in the same main hall for everyone to pay homage and make offerings.
The Hongluo Temple truly deserved to be the most famous Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing. All three huge Buddha statues were gilded.
Looking up from below, I faintly felt an overwhelming pressure that made it hard for me to breathe.
"Xiao He..." A gentle warmth came from my hand. Si Jiangchen had taken my hand and turned to ask me, "Do you sense anything?"
Si Jiangchen's words brought me out of the discomfort. I squeezed his palm in return and then carefully looked around the entire main hall. The thick, almost tangible black mist that had been there before had completely dissipated. There were a few yellow - robed monks chanting scriptures in a low voice. Everything seemed solemn and there was no sign of any strangeness.
I slowly shook my head.
Si Jiangchen immediately picked up his phone and sent a text message.
I leaned over to take a look. It turned out that he was sending a WeChat message to Fu Ning.
[Where are you?]
Just three or five seconds after Si Jiangchen sent the message, the other side replied immediately.
[In the Main Buddha Hall of the Hongluo Temple. I'm quietly following Xue Shuo and the others.]
After reading these words, I immediately looked around again. I gently broke free from Si Jiangchen's hand and walked along the half - person - high red - lacquered wooden railing at the back of the hall, wondering if Fu Ning was blocked by the one - person - high red - wood lotus pedestal.
When I got behind the pedestal, I saw a passage less than one meter wide behind the three Buddha statues. The five - story - high wall was densely covered with small niches about a foot high, hidden in the shadows of the Buddha statues. Each niche contained a small spirit tablet, and on each spirit tablet squatted a gray - white soul. When they saw me coming, they immediately stretched out their soul bodies and stared at me greedily with their eyes covered with a white film.
This was the Hall of Reincarnation where the temple provided a place for pilgrims to enshrine the spirit tablets of their deceased ancestors. It was also a source of income for the temple.
I pretended not to see those souls that had been dead for who knew how long and walked around nonchalantly. Then I walked back to Si Jiangchen's side and tightly grabbed his arm.
Those deceased souls were supposed to be reincarnated after finishing their time in the underworld, but they were enshrined here by their relatives and couldn't be freed.
Many people had misunderstandings about the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. They always thought that putting their deceased relatives in the temple, allowing them to enjoy the incense and listen to the scriptures every day, would make them suffer less in the underworld judgment and be able to be reborn in the Western Paradise as soon as possible.
In fact, it was not the case.
The temple was originally a place where monks enshrined the Buddha and Bodhisattvas and devoted themselves to studying the scriptures. It was inappropriate to set aside a place to charge money and let ordinary people occupy a share of the incense here.
Since the Buddhist scriptures were introduced to China, as long as they were chanted, countless wandering ghosts and spirits scattered in the world would be attracted...
So there were always countless ghosts trapped around the temple.
If one's ancestors were enshrined here, those deceased souls would be reluctant to leave this place full of the chanting of scriptures and would mistakenly think that this was the Western Paradise and thus be unwilling to leave!
Si Jiangchen saw me come back with a pale face and knew that I hadn't found Fu Ning.
[Where exactly are you?] Si Jiangchen's long fingers quickly tapped out another line of words on his phone.
[In the main hall! Behind the three Buddha statues.] Fu Ning's reply quickly popped up on the phone.
Si Jiangchen frowned slightly and showed me the message.
I slowly shook my head. Fu Ning was a living person and couldn't fit into those small niches like those souls. He might have been discovered by the One - Eyed Buddha Mother and was now trapped in some kind of illusion!
"Master Zhebu, may I ask where those two people were taken just now?" I turned around and asked Master Zhebu who was standing beside us.
The main hall of the temple was easy to see through and there was no suitable place to hide people. Only the monks' meditation rooms or the rows of dormitories for pilgrims were relatively secluded.
That Mr. Lin and his wife were very strange. Coupled with the monk Danba who led them to rest, they always made me feel a sense of evil. They didn't have the righteousness of Master Zhebu in front of me.
After chanting a lot of scriptures, even if Master Zhebu didn't have supernatural powers, he was still a person that ordinary ghosts didn't dare to disturb.
When the monk Danba led Mr. Lin and his wife away, those red ropes that had almost strangled Mr. Lin were also wrapped around his body many times. It even seemed as if he was the true destiny of Mr. Lin's wife!
Those red ropes were extremely evil. They were not the marriage ties tied by the Old Man Under the Moon, but rather seemed like an evil ghost had playfully tied two unrelated people together...
If that was the case, it would be okay. But those red ropes were clearly trying to kill Mr. Lin!
This strangeness made me have to think of the One - Eyed Buddha Mother! She could not only use that woman to attract the living soul of the man for devouring, but also bewitch weak - minded monks and make them willingly serve her.
"They should be in the dormitories," the Iron - Rod Lama beside Master Zhebu said in a deep voice to the master. "I heard that woman shouting that they were willing to spend another million to help her husband's business reach a new level..."