Chapter 48 – The Evil Buddha

Since it was built on the shaded side of the villa, the study was currently dimly lit, with only a few eternal lamps glowing in the corners, casting faint shadows that illuminated the interior. Having already looked at the photos countless times, Wei Yang was very familiar with the study’s layout. Without hesitation, he stepped into the room.

This was a typical Chinese-style study, with a complete set of Qing Dynasty rosewood furniture arranged neatly throughout the room. Against the wall was a temperature-controlled curio cabinet specifically designed to house antiques and collectibles. However, when Wang Ming had gone mad that day, Elder Ye had been so frightened that he hadn’t had time to retrieve the iron Buddha from the safe. The safe, with its door wide open, had been left on the bookshelf, and later, when Director Sun sent someone to collect evidence, they didn’t dare to take the Buddha out. Thus, the iron Buddha remained in the safe, gazing down at the entire room.

Involuntarily, Wei Yang’s eyes drifted in that direction. The photos provided by Director Sun were incredibly detailed, but the one thing they couldn’t capture was the iron Buddha. In all the photos, the center of the bookshelf was a blurry shadow, as if the lighting was too poor to clearly capture what was inside the safe. However, at this moment, Wei Yang knew this assumption was completely wrong, because directly above the bookshelf, a ceiling lamp emitted a faint, cold light, revealing the iron Buddha sitting in the safe with perfect clarity.

With just one glance, the hairs on Wei Yang’s back stood on end, and a chill ran down his spine. The iron Buddha had changed, and the change was so drastic that it was impossible to ignore. The iron sword held by Manjushri had turned around, cutting into its own neck. The blade was already halfway embedded, as if with just a bit more force, it could completely sever the Bodhisattva’s slender and elegant neck. The originally serene expression of the Buddha had also changed. Its lips still held a smile, and its eyes remained narrow, but a deep red mark had appeared in its eyes, as if they had opened into blood-red pupils. The smile was now eerie and sinister, exuding cruelty and ferocity.

Wei Yang’s heart pounded violently, and his lips trembled. He gritted his teeth, refusing to look at the Buddha again. His current task was to place the Yangsui mirror and set up the final step of the formation’s eye. Brother Qi was still waiting for him outside. After silently repeating this to himself, Wei Yang took another step forward, heading toward the bookshelf.

According to the prearranged plan, one mirror was to be placed by the window, and the other was to face the Buddha, using the principle of light reflection to draw in the power of the stars and enhance the Buddha’s inherent suppressing force. They had simulated the placement of the mirrors many times, and now all that was left was to find the positioning points. Wei Yang worked quickly, swiftly placing the Yangsui mirror on the floor, then went to the window and pulled the curtains open completely, adjusting the angle to align with the twinkling stars in the sky.

The Yangsui mirror was different from other bronze mirrors, requiring a high degree of precision in its reflection angle. This meant Wei Yang had to be extremely careful when positioning it. Because of this, he didn’t dare to turn on the room’s main lights, relying solely on the starlight to calibrate the mirror. When two faint beams of starlight simultaneously lit up on the mirror’s surface, he let out a soft exhale and looked up at the point where the light fell.

In the faint starlight, a pair of blood-red eyes appeared.

Wei Yang froze in place. At some point, the red marks in the iron Buddha’s eyes had spread, and while its body hadn’t moved, the red marks had shifted slightly, as if a pair of red eyes had turned to lock onto the intruder.

The evil Buddha had awakened.

Like a frog caught in the gaze of a snake, Wei Yang couldn’t move a single finger. His entire body trembled as an invisible pressure bore down on him, and a cold, sinister aura washed over him. The talisman jade around his neck and the Buddhist beads on his wrist grew warm, as if they were about to burst into light at any moment. But just then, a sound came from outside the door—a clear, sharp ring of a sword being drawn.

Zhang Xiuqi stepped into the room, his short sword reflecting the faint starlight, emitting a cold, sharp glow. He didn’t look at Wei Yang, but a yellow talisman was already flying from his hand.

“Go.”

That single word acted like a spell, breaking the pressure on Wei Yang’s body. The red eyes also shifted away, locking onto the new enemy. Wei Yang’s body relaxed, and without hesitation, he rushed out of the room. Behind him, the sound of a heavenly break—a clash of spiritual forces—echoed.

Cold sweat soaked through Wei Yang’s back, and his legs shook uncontrollably. But he didn’t stop, quickly dashing into the adjacent living room: “Master! The evil spirit has awakened—”

He nearly bit his tongue as he spoke. The previously calm living room had also transformed. The copper coins spread across the floor rippled like waves, and the red nitre seemed unable to suppress the evil energy. The entire formation began to stir. At the center of the formation, Wang Ming’s throat gurgled, his limbs convulsing as his hands clawed into the stretcher. His face was twisted into a terrifying expression, and black, foul-smelling blood oozed from the long wound on his temple. The jade pieces covering his seven orifices had mostly fallen off, and the silver needles inserted into his seven passes began to shake, as if they would be ejected at any moment.

At this moment, Monk Chizhi had already sat cross-legged on the floor, his prayer beads wrapped around his hands, a dull wooden fish placed in front of him. As he gently flicked the beads, a Buddhist chant began: “Namo Sattva, Sugata, Arhat, Samyak Sambuddha…”

This was the Shurangama Mantra, one of the most profound Buddhist chants, known as the King of Mantras for its power to exorcise demons. Legend has it that when Ananda was bewitched by the demoness Matangi, the Buddha sent Manjushri Bodhisattva to recite this mantra to save him. As long as someone in the world recites the Shurangama Mantra, the true Dharma will never perish. Monk Chizhi’s dry, hoarse voice was like the sound of chiseling stone, accompanying the complex and lengthy scripture as it echoed through the room. At each pause in the chant, he would tap the wooden fish with two fingers. Despite being just two fingers, the sound was as powerful as a hammer, making the small wooden fish emit an unexpectedly loud noise.

As the chant continued, Wang Ming’s slightly arched body was pressed back down, and the silver needles in the four passes—Yunken, Shangmen, Zichen, and Shangyang—returned to their original positions. However, the needles in the remaining three passes—Tianyang, Yusu, and Taiyou—shook even more violently. These were the key acupoints controlling the seven souls. If they were breached, the invading evil spirit would likely escape.

In the blink of an eye, the living room had become another battlefield. Wei Yang took two steps back, standing helplessly in the middle of the hallway. This wasn’t part of the plan. The Heavenly Star Formation was supposed to reach its peak power at midnight, when the sun’s true yang and the moon’s true yin both disappeared, leaving only the vast power of the stars. Only then could the Heavenly Star Formation be activated to its fullest, catalyzing the star power into a force capable of suppressing the evil. But it wasn’t even 10 PM yet!

Could they really hold out against this evil entity for two hours until the star power reached its peak? Impossible! From the study came another loud crash—not the sound of a heavenly break, but something shattering the window and falling to the ground below. The ground below… Wei Yang’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he shouted, “Brother Qi, the Calamity Dragon!”

If the Heavenly Stars could stimulate dragon energy, could the Calamity Dragon’s energy reverse the Heavenly Stars? Wei Yang wasn’t sure about the formation’s effects, but if they could use the Calamity Dragon… However, this shout received no response. Zhang Xiuqi, as if hit by a speeding truck, was sent flying backward, slamming into the wall. A mouthful of blood gushed out, but he didn’t waste a drop, spitting it forward in a single motion.

In front of him was the faintly glowing Yangsui mirror. The mirror’s surface was stained with his blood, and it emitted a white light. He struggled to his feet, smearing the edge of the mirror with his finger, and a blood talisman quickly formed. A red light burst from the talisman, blocking a thick black shadow.

At some point, Manjushri’s neck had tilted to the side, held together by only a thin layer of iron. A human-shaped black smoke emerged from the iron Buddha, emitting a strange, cackling sound as it rampaged around the study. However, it couldn’t escape further, as the iron sword in Manjushri’s hand had been knocked away, held down by a blood-soaked yellow talisman. Without the sword, the broken Manjushri statue was like a chain binding a wild beast—precarious yet unbreakable. In front of the struggling shadow, Zhang Xiuqi stood up and glanced at Wei Yang.

That glance was far too complex for Zhang Xiuqi, containing emotions that words could never fully express. But Wei Yang understood: “Brother Qi, I’ll hold it off. You go.”

The Heavenly Star Formation was in the courtyard. If they wanted to activate the formation and alter the Calamity Dragon’s formation, it was possible, but Zhang Xiuqi would have to go down and personally oversee the changes. However, if he left the study, this fierce ghost would immediately break through the defenses, destroy the iron Buddha, and invade the formation in the next room. If that happened, not only would Monk Chizhi be severely injured, but Wang Ming would also be directly possessed by the fierce ghost, giving it a new physical form. To change the formation, someone would have to stay in the study, guarding against this fierce ghost and holding it back.

Wei Yang understood the struggle in Zhang Xiuqi’s eyes, his fear and hesitation. He remembered the first time they dealt with the Three Corpses, when Zhang Xiuqi had said with a cold and murderous tone, “Don’t hide.” The talisman jade on his body had been able to block the Three Corpses, and now, with the addition of the Buddhist beads given by Monk Chizhi, it should also be able to block this fierce ghost. However, this time, Zhang Xiuqi couldn’t bring himself to say those words again. What he feared wasn’t that the talisman jade and Buddhist beads couldn’t stop the ghost, but that Wei Yang would be put in danger.

But it was okay. Wei Yang understood. He took off the Buddhist beads from his wrist, gripping them tightly in his hand, and walked into the study, standing in front of the blood-stained Yangsui mirror. What had Monk Chizhi said back then? The Diamond Sutra, recite the Diamond Sutra!

“All phenomena are illusory.” As he recited this verse, Wei Yang took a step forward, directly facing the black shadow. A white light burst from the Buddhist beads, colliding with the shadow. As if burned by something, the shadow let out a ghostly wail and rolled backward.

Zhang Xiuqi’s eyes flickered, and without hesitation, he leaped out of the study window. Wei Yang, however, stood his ground, blocking the shadow’s path once more.

“If you see all phenomena as non-phenomena, then you see the Tathagata.” The shadow slammed into the white light again, and Wei Yang felt a surge of nausea in his chest. The wooden beads in his hand cracked and shattered, cutting into his palm, but he remained steadfast. Out of the nine beads, only one had broken. He still had eight left!

He continued the chant. “If you seek me through form or sound, you are treading the wrong path and will never see the Tathagata.”

Each verse was followed by a violent collision. The shadow charged even more fiercely, flooding the air like a tidal wave, overwhelming Wei Yang’s senses. His ears were filled with buzzing, and his body was drenched in a foul stench, but he didn’t retreat a single step, steadfastly guarding the Yangsui mirror behind him. The Buddhist beads in his hand continued to crackle and snap, as if being struck by a sword, cutting into his palm. A mouthful of blood surged up, and he coughed lightly, ignoring the droplets of blood that fell as he recited the final verse.

“All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow…”

From the courtyard came a roar like that of a dragon, and with it, the ground seemed to tremble. The thin mist surrounding the small courtyard dispersed, and in the distant mountains, a white figure soared into the sky.

In the study, the shadow seemed to realize what was about to happen. It no longer charged at Wei Yang but instead turned toward the iron Buddha of Manjushri. Wei Yang’s reaction was faster than ever, and the blood-stained Buddhist beads flew from his hand.

“…Like dew, like lightning, thus should you view all phenomena.”

The beads landed above the shadow. What should have been just a shadow now seemed like a tangible entity, blocking the beads but also being tightly bound by the Buddhist power within them. An indescribable ghostly wail tore through the night sky, and Wei Yang could no longer stand. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. But outside the window, stars began to shine.

The Big Dipper’s nine stars. Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, and Yao Guang—these seven stars were accompanied by two hidden stars, Dong Ming and Yin Yuan. In later times, “seven were visible, two were hidden,” and people could only see the seven stars of the Big Dipper. However, the true Heavenly Star Formation of Longhu Mountain did not awaken just seven stars, but all nine.

Beside Kai Yang, the auxiliary star appeared, Dong Ming shining like a torch. Next to Yao Guang, the supporting star emerged, and Yin Yuan returned to the heavens. Among the nine stars of the Big Dipper, the auxiliary and supporting stars were the most noble, controlling fate and creating fortune. It was said that those who saw them would achieve great wealth and honor. But now, these two stars seemed to have been lit up, shining brighter than the North Star. A beam of silver light, as if tangible, poured down from the zenith, directly into the small courtyard.

On the windowsill, the neglected Yangsui mirror lit up. As it glowed, the copper mirror beside Wei Yang, stained with blood, also emitted a bright light. A beam of brilliant light shot toward the iron Buddha, and almost visibly, the Buddha’s body began to radiate a golden light. The black rust on the iron seemed to transform into gilded gold, gradually enveloping the entire statue. The blood-red marks in the Buddha’s eyes vanished like frost under the sun, but the serene and peaceful expression of Manjushri was gone. Two cracks appeared in the Buddha’s eyes, as if the Vajra was opening its eyes, revealing a fierce and imposing aura.

The shadow writhed, like a snake whose tail had been stepped on, hissing and struggling. But the iron Buddha was like a true black hole, cutting off all light and heat, possessing infinite power as it mercilessly opened its mouth and swallowed the fierce ghost. With a snap, the string of Buddhist beads binding the ghost shattered into pieces. The ghost struggled violently and broke into two sections, with the larger half being devoured by the iron Buddha, while the smaller half trembled for a moment before lunging toward Wei Yang!

The Buddhist beads were stained with blood, and blood was the medium for the ghost to possess a body. Even if it couldn’t escape the room, it could still seize a person’s body! But unexpectedly, something blocked the ghost’s path—a piece of jade, dead jade, the kind that would be considered the lowest grade scrap in a jade factory. Yet in Taoist practices, it was an indispensable ritual instrument. With a single incantation, the smaller half of the ghost was sucked into the dead jade, vanishing just like the larger half that had been devoured by the iron Buddha.

The jade hovered in front of Wei Yang for a moment before falling to the ground. Wei Yang didn’t look at the jade but turned his gaze toward the door. There stood a man, his face covered in blood, his clothes in tatters, as if he had trekked through countless mountains and rivers to reach him, rather than just walking through the courtyard. But the little conman wasn’t surprised. He could imagine the price one had to pay to reverse the Calamity Dragon’s energy. He just hadn’t expected that, without even giving him a chance to use the talisman jade again, the Little Celestial Master had rushed back.

Well, this time it wasn’t a nosebleed—it was blood from his mouth. Wei Yang wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled, “Brother Qi, my legs are weak. Give me a hand…”

Zhang Xiuqi stepped forward, ignoring the gilded Buddha statue on the shelf and the trembling dead jade on the floor. He simply walked up to Wei Yang, knelt on one knee, and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

“Ah Yang.”