Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 1192: Chapter 800: "Sinner

The initial part of the scripture seemed normal, with theories guiding people towards goodness and compassion, but as it went on, the content became more biased and eerie, introducing some terrifying punishments.

For instance, those who slandered the Buddha would have their tongues cut out, those who did not serve Buddha with sincerity would have their hearts gouged out by the Guardian God in the dead of night, and there were illustrations of people with severed limbs.

The images were brutal and bloody, and even through the pages, Yang Xiao seemed to smell the scent of blood from the illustrations.

The chanting of the others gradually became sparse; Yang Xiao glanced sideways and saw that Musa and Datou among others also wore an expression of solemnity, clearly seeing similar contents in their scriptures.

The violent methods instinctively reminded Yang Xiao of the group of Black Lamas entrenched in Tibet, and the Black Buddha Mother closely associated with them.

Carefully turning to the next page, Yang Xiao made a new discovery. This time the illustration occupied the entire page, clearer and more complete, seemingly a record of some kind of ritual.

The illustration was divided into two parts. The upper part showed a monk holding a branding iron in his left hand, branding down heavily on the shoulder of a person being held to the ground by a group. frёewebnoѵēl.com

By the victim’s attire, Yang Xiao identified that the person was a monk slave.

The appearance of the perpetrator was also distinctive, a monk missing half of his left ear with a birthmark on his right cheek, presumably a monk in charge of punishment within the temple.

What truly captivated Yang Xiao was the painting below, where the victim turned into the punishment monk from the above illustration. His head was lowered in a kneeling posture, with his left arm outstretched, being severed by someone in one stroke.

The background of this hand-chopping illustration seemed increasingly familiar to Yang Xiao. He looked up abruptly and compared it to the surroundings of the great hall. Within moments, he confirmed that the crime scene in the second illustration was indeed this Buddhist Hall.

The bottom of the illustration bore several lines of distorted script, like crawling worms. After careful examination, Yang Xiao confirmed it recorded the crimes of this punishment monk.

It stated that while the monk was erasing the "Unclean Mark" from the "sinner" with the branding iron, he was beguiled by the Evil Spirit, losing his Buddhist heart, and the cutting off of his left hand was his punishment.

Yang Xiao didn’t expect these monks to be ruthless towards outsiders as well as their own people, a method not inferior to the Cult at all.

Yet what Yang Xiao was most curious about was the "sinner"’s actual wrongdoing and what this "Unclean Mark" was, which the people of the Buddhist Temple were so eager to avoid.

Unfortunately, Yang Xiao couldn’t get any answers yet, and given the strangeness of this temple, he dared not rashly inquire with the monks here.

Before long, the chanting from the Outer Buddha Hall gradually faded, replaced by a dull drumming, signaling the end of the evening practice.

Returning the scripture to its place and tidying up the meditation cushion, Yang Xiao and his group left the Inner Buddha Hall. According to the abbot monk, six High Monks had mysteriously died there.

Though called a Buddha Hall, it was filled with a sinister and terrifying atmosphere, deterring people from approaching.

Until they left the Inner Buddha Hall, everyone felt as if they had narrowly escaped death. Maria took big gulps of the outside air, quickly glanced back, and said with lingering fear, "In this great hall, my chest felt tight, as if I could hardly breathe any time."

The youngest, Sopa, nodded repeatedly in agreement, "That’s right, I felt the same, very uneasy; it felt like... like something was hiding nearby, watching me continuously."

Though Yang Xiao said nothing, he shared this oppressive sensation, with that nearly ten-meter-tall open-eyed Buddha statue looming like an inescapable shadow over his mind.

Returning to the Outer Buddha Hall, the abbot, a middle-aged monk, was already waiting outside the gate with some monks. Seeing Yang Xiao and the others finish their evening practice, the middle-aged monk clasped his hands in prayer, muttering under his breath as if a heavy weight had lifted from his mind.

After a dozen seconds, the middle-aged monk spoke to introduce Yang Xiao and the others. The middle-aged monk declined any appellations similar to something like master or Saiyaduo, instead asking everyone to call him Patuo, presumably his real name.

Behind Patuo Monk were two burly monks, the one holding a Black Iron Ring Knife in his left hand was called Monk A Zan, and the one holding a bowl in his right hand was called Monk Kru.

Further introductions of some monks were made, but they had no distinctive features, and Yang Xiao couldn’t distinguish who was who due to the similar attire.

"Master Patuo, can we return to rest tonight?" Datou asked politely with clasped hands.

"Please wait a moment, gentlemen," Patuo Monk hesitated, "With the passing of the six High Monks, as their Hejia Lun Du, we still need to trouble you to send some people to hold incense in prayer for the High Monks tonight."

"How does one hold incense in prayer?" Imam Musa pressed further, "Is it to place an incense stand in the meditation room?"

Earlier, they had discovered an incense burner and a table in the corner of the meditation room, the incense burner being piled high with incense ash.

"No, you need to come here, divide into two teams, one group walking around the Outer Buddha Hall in prayer, and the other inside the Inner Buddha Hall, for a duration of thirty minutes," Patuo Monk explained.

"However, there is one point to heed: do not leave the Buddha Hall before the incense is completely burned, and do not fear no matter what happens, as the Buddhas within the temple and the spirits of the six High Monks are watching over you."

Yang Xiao sneered inwardly, thinking that Patuo Monk likely didn’t believe his own words; if the Buddhas inside the temple were that powerful, the six High Monks wouldn’t have all died in one night.

Moreover, the most unsettling part was that they had died inside this Buddha Hall.