Chapter 381: Chapter 268: I Am a Buddha’s Son, How Can I Be a Demon?

"???"

’This... I don’t remember ever telling him. How does Zhuan Yu know?’

"Master..."

Yang An decided to confess, to use this chance to tell him about Guang’an.

’That’s right. My Dharma name is Guang’an. I’m a Gami in the Great Virtue Temple, and I’ve become the new His Highness the Buddha Prince’s Attendant Monk!’

But before he could speak, Zhuan Yu cut him off.

"Say no more. I know you’re a clever man. But you must also remember that my Golden Thread Pavilion and the Great Virtue Temple have been rivals for many years. Our infiltration of each other’s ranks runs deep. I have quite a few eyes and ears in the Great Virtue Temple myself, you know. Heh heh."

"..."

’Is this old bastard warning me?’

’But if you’re going to warn me, at least get your facts straight first.’

Yang An was speechless.

This was the second time he had fallen silent before Zhuan Yu. And in Zhuan Yu’s eyes, his silence was an admission.

"You’ve done well. Getting close to the Great Virtue Temple’s Buddha’s Son without anyone noticing... A brilliant move. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you."

’Of course. A warning, followed by praise. The classic carrot-and-stick approach. Such an old trick.’

"You praise me too much, Master."

Yang An adopted a humble tone. Since Zhuan Yu already knew, there was no need to waste any more words explaining.

’Wasn’t this the whole point of everything I’ve done? To make Zhuan Yu misunderstand? Now that it’s happened, completely by accident... this is a good sign.’

"Now, about the mission I have for you."

Zhuan Yu’s tone shifted.

’Yang An couldn’t help but feel a mix of anticipation and suspicion.’

’The old bastard isn’t going to tell me to kill the Buddha’s Son, is he?’

’Kill myself?’

’That would be far too risky. After all, Guang’an is just a Gami. Forcing him to act now would be the same as exposing my true strength prematurely, leaving me with no escape route.’

Fortunately, Yang An’s guess was wrong. Zhuan Yu then revealed the real mission.

"I want you to find an opportunity during the Joyful Shrine Association to destroy the Round Gate Four Pavilions within the Great Virtue Temple!"

"The Round Gate Four Pavilions?"

Yang An looked confused. He had never heard of them.

"The Round Gate Four Pavilions are four stele pavilions, one in each of the four cardinal directions of the Great Virtue Temple."

Zhuan Yu offered only this simple explanation.

"Why destroy them?"

"You only need to know that the Round Gate Four Pavilions are critically linked to a place of great importance within the Great Virtue Temple. If you can destroy them, it will be a great service. Do not ask any more questions. Just do it. If it proves impossible, just do your best."

"Yes."

"Also, this is an excellent opportunity to kill openly. Don’t waste it."

"Yes."

After that, Elder Zhuan Yu’s voice fell silent, the connection with Yang An severed.

’The Round Gate Four Pavilions... A place of great importance in the Great Virtue Temple...’

’What important place could that be?’

Yang An fell into deep thought.

’If there was such a place, the first thing that came to mind was the Eternal Prison.’

’But he couldn’t just ask someone about it. If the wrong person heard him, they would assume he had ulterior motives.’

Beyond that, Yang An had another concern.

He was worried he wouldn’t be able to complete the mission.

Participation in the Joyful Shrine Association was predicated on obtaining a Buddhist Shrine, and the grade of that shrine determined the upper limit of how much of one’s Demon Barrier could be vented.

If he couldn’t get a Buddhist Shrine, it meant he wouldn’t even have a chance to make a move.

Yang An suspected he wouldn’t be able to obtain a Buddhist Shrine at all, because he suspected he didn’t even have a Demon Barrier.

But he would have to wait until the time for the Seeking Shrine ritual to find out for sure.

"I’m a Buddha’s Son. There’s no way I can’t even get a First Grade Spiritual Shrine, right?"

The fourteenth day of the fourth month arrived quickly. The time for the Seeking Shrine had come.

Guang’an came to see Yang An, buzzing with excitement. He could hardly wait, and he wasn’t the only one.

The Seeking Shrine ritual took place at the Grand View Cave Zen.

When Yang An arrived at the Grand View Cave Zen with Guang’an, a large crowd had already gathered.

The crowd parted to make way for Yang An, and he walked to the very front.

It was a large plaza, and all eyes were fixed on a bizarre Buddha statue in the center.

The statue was thirty feet tall, but it was not made of pure gold. Its body had a strange, black-gold sheen.

One hand was held in a ritualistic gesture, the other gripped a staff. Its face was savage, its eyes gleamed with malice, and its entire form seemed to radiate a baleful aura. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

An ordinary person would never mistake this for a dignified Buddhist statue.

On the statue’s back, connected by what looked like a thousand gossamer threads, was another statue. It looked as though it had split off from the Buddha’s body, connected by a thread, like a lotus root snapped in two.

It was a statue of a Demon Fiend!

This statue was the same size as the Buddha, but its entire body was a blackish-red, the color of fresh blood.

The Demon Fiend statue’s demeanor, however, was the complete opposite of the Buddha’s. Though it had the form of a Demon Fiend and the body of an evil specter, its face was one of profound sorrow and pity, as if its heart was filled with compassion.

This bizarre pair of statues made the atmosphere feel even more sinister.

"This is the Seeking Shrine Buddha. It responds to a sincere heart. A Shrine Seeker must send their spirit into the statue to obtain a Buddhist Shrine."

A Zen Master whom Yang An didn’t recognize walked up to the Seeking Shrine Buddha statue, apparently to explain the process to the crowd.

After speaking, he brought his hands together, extending and crossing his middle and index fingers with his thumbs tucked underneath, forming a hand seal.

"We will begin with the disciples of the Gami Courtyard, one of the four courtyards of the Disciple Temple. No more than twenty people at a time."

Markings appeared on the ground around the statue, indicating where each Shrine Seeker should stand.

Soon, the Shrine Seekers stepped forward one by one.

Yang An watched from the side. It wasn’t his turn yet, which gave him a perfect opportunity to see what this "Seeking Shrine" was all about.

At the same time, he noticed that several Corpse Transformation Abbots and Zombie God Zen Masters had also hurried to the scene.