HomeGuardians of the DafengChapter 42: The Head

Chapter 42: The Head

“Save me, save me…”

The ethereal, chilling cries for help echoed in his ears, like calls from the depths of hell itself.

With Xu Qi An’s current cultivation level and experience, he wasn’t exactly frightened, though he had to admit the pleas were unnervingly otherworldly. The cries reminded him of similar pleas he’d heard from Shen Shu back in Sang Po.

But these two voices were distinctly different.

“Save me, save me…”

The pleas continued endlessly, wrapping around his ears, though in truth, the sound transmitted directly into his mind, similar to voice transmission rather than actual sound waves.

After circling halfway around the Bodhi Mother Tree, Xu Qi An pinpointed a location behind it, where curtain-like vines hung down, concealing the massive trunk.

He reached out with his paw, pushing aside the thick vines, and saw the Bodhi tree’s main trunk. There, imprinted on the trunk, was a face—wrinkled and elderly.

The facial features broadly resembled those of the Pagoda Spirit Old Monk, though with subtle differences in the details.

The Pagoda of Buddhist Relics floating above “Xu Qi An’s” head trembled with a resonant hum. Then, the voice of the Pagoda Spirit Old Monk rang out in his ears, filled with overwhelming emotion:

“Master…”

The elderly face on the trunk remained expressionless, like an unremarkable carving, mumbling the same words repeatedly:

“Save me, save me…”

So it was Bodhisattva Faji. How did he end up here? This must be connected to the Beyond-Mortal expert in Alantuoyi. What exactly happened back then… Xu Qi An reached out with his paw, pressing it against Faji’s “face” to sense his condition.

“Only a fragment of his soul remains.”

He directed these words to the Pagoda Spirit Old Monk.

The Pagoda Spirit couldn’t leave the Pagoda of Buddhist Relics, but its current master, Xu Qi An could sense its profound sorrow.

“Do you have any way to help?” Xu Qi An asked.

Though he cultivated the Heart Parasite, it was merely one branch of soul cultivation. Faced with the current situation, he couldn’t offer any insights or solutions.

After a moment’s pause to collect himself, the Pagoda Spirit transmitted:

“I can use the ‘Great Wisdom Dharma Image’ to temporarily restore his consciousness. Whether his soul can be repaired afterward will require the help of a powerful Daoist cultivator.”

But even if the soul was repaired, most of his memories would likely be lost forever.

Given Bodhisattva Faji’s current state, those parts of his soul had probably already scattered to dust. Even after repair, he wouldn’t be the same person—more like a newborn with fragments of memories.

Hopefully, some memories remain… Xu Qi An nodded:

“Begin!”

Golden light showered down from the Pagoda of Buddhist Relics. From its peak arose a dharma image of a figure sitting cross-legged with lowered brows, fingers forming a flower mudra, with a magnificent seven-colored halo behind its head.

The halo began rotating clockwise for the first time.

Rainbow-like radiance formed a bridge, drawing out Bodhisattva Faji’s essence from within the trunk, bathing him in the light of wisdom.

Visible changes swept across Bodhisattva Faji’s blank expression as vitality returned to his scattered gaze.

He first noticed the hairless great bear before him, then looked up at the Pagoda of Buddhist Relics floating in the air.

“It’s you…

“Where am I, and why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be in Lei Province sealing Shen Shu’s remnant limbs?”

Bodhisattva Faji instinctively asked these two questions.

“Master!” The Pagoda’s voice grew excited again, with a slight tremor:

“You’ve been missing for over three hundred years. The Buddhist sect searched everywhere but couldn’t find you. So this is where you’ve been.”

“Where is this?” Bodhisattva Faji asked again.

The Pagoda Spirit answered softly:

“This is Chan Lin, Buddha’s meditation grounds. You’re… you’re inside the Bodhi tree, with only a fragment of your soul remaining.”

Bodhisattva Faji froze, mumbling:

“Chan Lin, inside the Bodhi tree… Chan Lin, inside the Bodhi tree…”

He repeated these words over and over, like a walking corpse who needed someone to wake him from his stupor.

Xu Qi An seized the opportunity to ask:

“Bodhisattva Faji, do you remember what happened to you?”

Bodhisattva Faji’s face contorted, his voice becoming sharp and shrill:

“Buddha is Shen Shu, Shen Shu is Buddha.

“He ate me, He ate me…”

“Why did Buddha eat you?” Xu Qi An quickly pressed.

Bodhisattva Faji didn’t answer, instead crying out in a deranged, piercing voice:

“He is not Buddha, He is not Buddha.”

Xu Qi An couldn’t speak for the Pagoda Spirit’s feelings, but he could feel his goosebumps rising.

“Who is He?” Xu Qi An shouted.

Bodhisattva Faji’s cries gradually subsided, and the face protruding from the trunk’s surface became vacant once more, mumbling:

“Save me, save me…”

The Pagoda Spirit Old Monk’s voice emerged from within, filled with sorrow and desolation:

“Time’s up. This is all I can do. Please extract his soul and place it in the pagoda for nurturing.”

As he spoke, the delicate small pagoda’s door opened, releasing a stream of light that transformed into a damaged bronze mirror in Xu Qi An’s palm.

The bear paw gripped the Universal Mirror and directed it at Bodhisattva Faji.

As the face “carved” into the trunk was slowly extracted, Xu Qi An instinctively expanded his thoughts, his mind working rapidly.

“Buddha is Shen Shu, this matches the intelligence we received earlier… With so many bodhisattvas in the Buddhist sect, why did Buddha specifically eat Bodhisattva Faji? When he said ‘He is not Buddha,’ was it because Faji discovered this secret, or is there another reason?

“If the Beyond-Mortal expert in Alantuoyi isn’t Buddha, then who could it be? This is bad, Shen Shu has entered Zhen Mo Ravine…”

Alantuoyi, Main Peak.

Bodhisattva Jialuoshu awakened from meditation, and his first action was to form the Acala Wisdom King mudra before carefully scanning his surroundings.

In this bodhisattva’s eyes, the current Alantuoyi was suffused with Buddhist nature—every tree, stone, and inch of soil possessed deep Buddhist essence, emanating faint Buddhist light.

This was the effect of the Mahavairocana dharma image; wherever the Buddhist light shone became Buddha’s realm.

As he awoke, Asura, who was nearby, also regained consciousness. This traitor immediately leaped away without a word, quickly putting distance between them.

Jialuoshu didn’t pursue, maintaining his mudra position. He hadn’t yet spotted Xu Qi An’s location, much less known whether Shen Shu was lurking nearby.

“Shen Shu is gone!”

Just then, he heard Liuli’s melodious yet emotionless voice.

Only then did Jialuoshu dispel the Acala Wisdom King Dharma image. With a stern, majestic expression, he rose and slowly surveyed behind him.

In his view lay a charred human form frozen mid-sprint. Judging by the Imperial Sword in the burnt corpse’s grip, it was undoubtedly Xu Qi An.

No life force remained—dead? Jialuoshu shifted his gaze, noticing that Liuli and Guangxian’s attention wasn’t on Xu Qi An but fixed on something else: a row of massive footprints, black and oily, suggesting their owner had endured agonizing burns while advancing.

The footprints disappeared into the depths of Alantuoyi.

Shen Shu had gone to Zhen Mo Ravine to search for his head.

Jialuoshu’s heart stirred, and he didn’t miss this opportunity. His leg muscles bulged, exploding with powerful force as he launched himself toward Xu Qi An.

Bodhisattva Liuli seized the moment to unleash her Colorless Crystal Domain. The black and white realm spread like water across the ground, draining all color from everything it touched.

Crack! Crack!

Above Bodhisattva Guangxian’s head rose a metal disc, with the Sanskrit character for “human” illuminating. The “swastika” symbol at the disc’s center pointed directly at Xu Qi An.

They would deal with the escaped cultivators later. First, they needed to eliminate this First-Rank martial artist who posed the greatest threat, then head to Zhen Mo Ravine to confront Shen Shu.

Zhen Mo Ravine.

The headless Shen Shu dispersed his dharma image and descended to the bottom of the abyss, standing at the cave entrance.

Shen Shu’s body was covered in char, gradually forming a thin layer of frost.

The temperature in Zhen Mo Ravine was extremely low; mortal breathing here would suffer frozen lungs with a single breath.

The place was terrifyingly quiet, without a single monk in sight, like a frozen hell.

Shen Shu didn’t hesitate, stepping into the cave.

His steps were steady, neither fast nor slow. Soon, he heard long breathing sounds emerging from the darkness.

Waves of cold wind struck his face, like a giant dragon’s breath.

Shen Shu raised his finger, igniting his qi. A flame burst forth with a “puff,” dispelling the darkness and illuminating his surroundings.

He saw the scene around him—a sight that would chill one to the bone.

The cave walls were tender red flesh, covered in blood vessels that rose and fell rhythmically, like a beating heart.

Directly ahead of Shen Shu, embedded in that “flesh wall,” was ahead.

It bore typical Asura clan features: a square face, high nose, neither thick nor thin lips, and prominent browbones without eyebrows, appearing extremely martial and dignified.

It must have been quite the handsome man even among the Asura clan.

The breathing sounds came from this head, which was submerged in and growing from the flesh. More precisely, the breathing came from this massive “monster.”

“You’ve come!”

The head opened its eyes, gazing coldly at Shen Shu.

“You shouldn’t have come!”

The head spoke again, its voice deep and tinged with sighs.

The two voices, spoken one after another, carried notably different emotional undertones as if they came from different people.

The latter voice continued:

“He has waited five hundred years for this day.”

Then the head spoke coldly:

“Are you ready to return to my body?”

The latter voice sneered:

“Return? More like eternal imprisonment. After five hundred years, you’ve accumulated enough power.”

The first voice said coldly:

“You have no choice.”

Shen Shu’s body raged:

“Shut up! Today I’m taking it with me, and no one can stop me.”

He strode forward, grabbing the head embedded in the flesh wall with both hands and pulling hard.

The flesh wall immediately distorted, but the head remained firmly embedded. Even with Shen Shu’s incredible strength, he couldn’t pull it free.

“Ha!”

His navel split open as he let out a mighty roar. His muscles instantly bulged as qi surged through his meridians, filling him with overwhelming power.

Only with his full strength did the embedded head begin to slowly pull free, gradually separating from the flesh wall.

Just then, the surrounding “stone walls” suddenly came alive, writhing violently. The stone shell fell away with a “rustle,” revealing more tender red flesh beneath.

The entire cave seemed like the interior of some massive living being.

The flesh walls contracted frantically and extended countless tentacles, reaching for Shen Shu.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Chapter