Chapter 316 - 231: House of Good Deeds
In the Buddhist stories, there is the Western Paradise, and there is also the boundless hell of suffering.
The virtuous assist those in distress, accumulate merit, and after death can ascend to the Bright Glaze Pure Land of the West, enjoying bliss;
The wicked oppress the virtuous and accumulate sin, and after death will fall into the boundless hell, enduring torment day and night.
Therefore, when Zhang Yao saw this terrifying black land, he immediately thought of the legendary hell, created artificially by Mani Temple.
But the thought flipped, and he overturned his idea:
"No, this shouldn’t be a man-made ’hell’..."
The reasoning is simple:
The core of the Mani Kingdom’s operation is the merit system. Not only must cultivators accumulate merit, but Buddhist temples of all sizes also persuade and guide ordinary people to abandon evil and do good, sincerely worship Buddha, and promote good deeds.
In such a context, if Mani Temple had really created a real hell, there’s no reason they wouldn’t massively advertise it to further consolidate the merit system.
The actual existence of hell, its deterrence to wicked people and deeds, is far beyond any ethereal rumor.
Yet Mani Temple hasn’t done this, which can only subtly indicate that this black land, hidden deep in the demon cave and endlessly torturing mortal souls, cannot see the light and must not be made known to others.
"If this isn’t an artificially created hell, then the source of these souls is very questionable..."
Zhang Yao realized this, and in an instant, his divine thought swept over.
In that instant, several new yin souls emerged from the black land, locked tightly by chains made of black spells.
The appearance and form of these dozen yin souls were firmly remembered by Zhang Yao.
Then Zhang Yao turned around and soared into the sky, flying non-stop toward the ’Golden Plate Well Opening’ above the underworld.
Just a dozen breaths later:
"Boom!"
Zhang Yao rushed through the metal shaft, landing on the green bricks beside the Demon Suppression Well.
He waved his sleeve, and several storage bags flew out from him, then his form flickered, an incarnation puppet appeared, grabbing those storage bags and flying away.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Yao took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze, and walked into the Sealed Demon Hall to sit down, sighing.
"I was still a bit reckless in my actions..."
"I ventured rashly into the demon cave without confirming the extent of Mani Temple’s surveillance."
After achieving Golden Core and breaking through, he claimed dominance over his peers and suppressed a nation. Wherever he went, he was renowned, inevitably making him somewhat complacent.
Just as today while investigating the Demon Suppression Well, after discovering that the muddy qi anomaly was caused by the Earth Soul Crystal, he should have stopped promptly, but due to a moment’s carelessness, he uncovered a secret he shouldn’t have.
At this moment:
He could only hope Mani Temple’s surveillance methods weren’t so advanced that they could also meticulously monitor the muddy qi-filled demon cave, otherwise, his actions were bound to be exposed.
"Thankfully, there’s an incarnation puppet that can take the property and wealth away in advance and bury them in a secluded place."
Thinking of this, Zhang Yao’s mood calmed considerably.
If Mani Temple discovered his deeds and prepared to silence him, he would remain fearless.
If the pursuer is a Golden Core Perfection, he can definitely fight back and, at the very least, escape; if it’s a Nascent Soul Old Monster, he would directly shatter his Golden Core and perish, escape as a True Spirit, and be reborn with the help of the Earth Divine Embryo.
The worst outcome would be losing all his property, ending up with nothing, but his cultivation realm and talent remain, and making a comeback is merely a matter of time.
"..."
Zhang Yao sat cross-legged with closed eyes, sitting on the mat, while refining demonic qi, he was also comprehending and cultivating divine techniques, calmly waiting for the outcome of this matter.
No matter what the future holds, he can face it calmly.
......
Mani Kingdom, Central Land.
Deep inside the magnificent and unparalleled Mani Temple, within the Great Awakening Hall.
"Buzz!!"
At the moment when Zhang Yao, tens of thousands of miles away, touched the black land deep in the Changle Mountain demon cave, the Mani Jade Pendant suddenly buzzed and vibrated.
The Passing Arhat sitting cross-legged in front of the jade pendant suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with brilliance, seeing the spot on the jade pendant representing the Changle Mountain demon cave, where a glaring red light rose, flashing continuously.
In the next instant, this red light was about to break through the jade pendant, triggering an alarm throughout the Great Awakening Hall.
"Crack!"
The red light suddenly extinguished, and the Mani Jade Pendant calmed down from its restlessness.
The Passing Arhat slowly retracted his palm, his expression as still as an ancient well, his eyes deep like a bottomless pond.
"... Another one comes."
He muttered softly, as if sighing or lamenting, recited a Buddhist phrase, and the vast Great Awakening Hall fell into silence once again.
......
An hour, two hours...
A day, two days...
In the Changle Palace, Zhang Yao waited for seven days and nights, yet nothing happened.
No inquiry, no message, no aggressive Golden Body Arhat, everything was as usual.
"Boom!"
Zhang Yao got up and left the Sealed Demon Hall, transforming into a blinding white rainbow and sped away. After circling tens of thousands of miles around the Changle Mountain area and confirming there were no ambushes or traps, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems the surveillance methods of the Mani Temple aren’t as formidable as I imagined."
"Perhaps in the Underworld where muddy qi runs rampant, even the most heavenly methods can’t truly establish a surveillance system."
Once Zhang Yao deduced this, he felt much more at ease.
After returning to the Changle Palace, he sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, still pondering the scenes he had witnessed in the Demon Cave:
"What exactly does that black earth represent? What secret are those living souls hiding?"
"The most crucial point is... does the plotting of the Mani Temple involve us foreign Golden Core Cultivators?"
This was his greatest concern; if he unknowingly became a pawn of the Mani Temple, it would be truly unfortunate.
On the surface, the Mani Temple invited foreign Golden Core Cultivators to guard the Demon Cave merely to refine demonic qi and maintain the stability of the Mani Kingdom, while also bestowing good deeds, a mutually beneficial arrangement to serve both parties’ needs.
But the problem is, they also hide unspeakable Yin Souls within the Demon Cave, surely harboring other plots behind the scenes.
"In the past few thousand years, many foreign Golden Core Cultivators died at the hands of the Mani Temple, but it was mostly because they broke the rules and didn’t abide by the merit system."
"However, if there’s an obscure scheme behind this by the Mani Temple, those rumors may not be true..."
Thinking of this, Zhang Yao frowned deeply, his heart in turmoil.
He had already uncovered the secrets of the Mani Temple, and if he chose to ignore them and do nothing, he would truly be ill at ease.
But if he continued to investigate the secrets of the Demon Cave, he might inadvertently touch the reverse scale of the Mani Temple, and against such a behemoth, he would have no power to resist.
"Unless I leave at once, anything that happens within the Mani Kingdom could easily entangle me."
"Assuming the worst-case scenario, if I’m already caught in their plan, leaving the Mani Kingdom might not even guarantee my escape..."
After much deliberation, Zhang Yao finally made up his mind:
"Let’s start with those Yin Souls, investigate them in secret, but to be safe, I won’t enter the Demon Cave again."
"If the Mani Temple’s scheme has nothing to do with me, I’ll pretend to know nothing, accumulate good deeds, and redeem the treasure as soon as possible."
"But if their scheme has already implicated me..."
Zhang Yao’s gaze turned deep:
"Then I might just have to stir up a storm, overturning heaven and earth, and make life difficult for those bald monks!"
......
Several days later.
The Incarnation Puppet dispatched by Zhang Yao to the Mani Kingdom’s border finally returned to the Changle Mountain area.
In the Changle Palace, Zhang Yao retrieved the previous storage bag and immediately sent the incarnation into the mortal world for a secret investigation of the past lives of those Yin Souls.
Day and night, braving wind and rain.
Zhang Yao’s puppet incarnation maneuvered the escape light, maintaining the concealment Daoist Technique, roaming within the vast Changle Mountain area.
The Mani Kingdom spans over hundreds of thousands of miles wide, with thousands of towns and cities near Changle Mountain alone, wherein countless ordinary citizens live, easily numbering in the millions.
In such a vast sea of people, finding several dozen specific individuals is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
Fortunately, Zhang Yao’s target was clear, with fixed dates and hours of death, their pre-death appearances, and most importantly, techniques to search human memories on a large scale, resulting in high efficiency.
Even so, after roaming over a hundred cities and spending over ten days, Zhang Yao finally found the first target.
Changle Mountain area, within Celestial Moisture City.
In an opulent mansion covering dozens of acres, a large family was in a noisy dispute:
"I don’t care, as the old master instructed before his death, we cannot divide the family."
"Not divide the family, so we feed you freeloaders for nothing? Nice try, just like during last year’s shop dividends..."
"Bullshit, why didn’t you speak up when the old master was alive? Now that he’s gone, not even cold in the grave, you’re starting to bring up old scores?"
"No matter what, we’re all family, let’s sit down and discuss it."
The masters and ladies of the different households accused and argued, tension rising, while the many servants and maids stayed far away.
Inside the hall, Zhang Yao maintained his invisibility technique, sitting on a chair on the side, watching the drama unfold.
"Buzz..."
A powerful divine thought permeated every corner like mercury spilling on a ground, simultaneously browsing through the memories of dozens of people.
Zhang Yao’s eyes flickered, his expression very complex:
"Truly unexpected..."
The truth about those Yin Souls was completely opposite of what he imagined.
The first target he found was a chubby, wealthy old man, renowned as a great tycoon in Celestial Moisture City.
Contrary to his assumptions, this old man, in life, was not a villainous landlord, but a well-known good person around Celestial Moisture City, respected as ’the Great Benefactor Li.’
Setting up porridge charities, repairing bridges and roads, funding schools, aiding disaster victims... in short, this Great Benefactor Li was genuinely from a virtuous family, doing all kinds of good deeds, with a whole family devoted to Buddhism, having donated several temples.
Logically, such a great benefactor, after death, should ascend to the Western Paradise.
Yet, somehow, after his death, his soul was inexplicably seized, confined by the Array Power within the Demon Cave, suffering terrible torment day and night on the black earth.
"Why on earth is the Mani Temple doing this?!"