Cataclysm Chapter 49: Play Till Death 5; Bodhisattva of Peace

Chapter 49: Play Till Death 5; Bodhisattva of Peace

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations 

Editor: Girl from the East

 

Chen Yang: “Where is that sanatorium?”

“Changhe Town in the suburbs.”

Hearing this, Mao Xiaoli looked surprised, she seemed to have heard of the sanatorium.”Is there a problem in this town?” Chen Yang asked.

Mao Xiaoli: “Changhe Town is not just a town, it’s a coffin home. ¹ In the past, many unclaimed corpses were left there. They could not be just disposed of, so many were left in the village.”

The coffin home was originally a place where ancient families set up schools and ancestral halls for the settlement of the people in their family as well as a place for unclaimed corpses. However in recent centuries, due to rampant wars, it has become a place solely for storing corpses. It has become a place where wandering spirits and wild ghosts often reside.

Changhe town, also known as “Changhe Coffin Home”, has been abandoned for a long time, but there are rumors of beings haunting the place occasionally. There were not many families living nearby the place either. However, many young people go there ghost hunting for fun. They are often quickly scared away, though no one was killed there before. A few years ago, a man went on an expedition. At midnight, he saw a fierce ghost painting on the wall on the third floor of the coffin home and rushed out scared.

There was also an occasion with a man seeing a hanging corpse in the coffin home corridors. The explorer was too frightened and fainted. The next day, they saw the corpse above their head and called the police. After the police’s investigation, it was found that the dead man was a homeless person, he was living in the coffin home. The man died from excessive draining of blood, it was an abnormally dried up corpse. There were two puncture wounds on the man’s neck.

At that time, the police in charge of the case was an experienced old policeman who immediately blocked the news and informed the Taoist Association of the matter. Tianshis from the capital were dispatched, the team included one SanDong WuLei, Tianshi from the BaiYun temple, the grandmaster of LuZu temple, and some eminent monks from the Grand Buddha Temple. After listening to the description of the old police officer, they immediately guessed that it was the work of a Jiangshi.

So they set out to subdue the Jiangshi, but they misjudged the strength of it. As a result, two of the three Tianshis’ disciples were killed. With grief and guilt, the three Tianshis killed the Jiangshi with a suicide attack.

“They needed to use a suicide attack?” Chen Yang: “Was the Jiangshi that powerful?”

“It was a Feijiang.” Jiangshi were dried corpses that had not rotten, they rose after being untreated for a hundred years. According to cultivation, it is divided into different levels. The lowest level is the Yinshi, it is the intermediate form from a corpse, to a full-fledged Jiangshi. The highest level is a Feijiang. It is said that a Feijiang has to cultivate for thousands of years. It has evolved to not be afraid of the sun and was even good at magic.

If a corpse does not rot, it will haunt and scheme for a decade. If the flesh has rotted, but the bones have stayed for thousands of years like a Jiangshi, it could be transformed into skeleton spirits² by absorbing moonlight. They are also called Flying Yaksha.

The skeletons in Miyun ghost house [Crimson Embroidery Shoes Arc] did not melt into ashes. If Chen Yang hadn’t dealt with them in time, they would have been cultivated further. If the bones do not change for thousands of years, it will become a Fushi. If they had gotten the essence of the sun and moon, they would finally become a Flying Yaksha.

Zhang Qiudao continued. “Later in the Changhe Coffin Home, Taoist talismans and mantras were put up. Taoist Sutra banners and five element flags, as well as Buddhist scriptures too. Moreover, the structure of Changhe Coffin Home was a combination of the Taoist and Buddhist eight trigrams to begin with. Although Buddhism and Taoism are not vastly different from each other, they are still completely different in some aspects. In particular, how this is related to the Coffin home which no one knows who set up. However, according to the historical data, it should have been built in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.”

Changhe Coffin Home was originally a combination of Buddhism and Taoism beliefs. It happened that during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the relationship between Buddhism and Taoism were not very smooth, but there was also a period of truce. Chen Yang said, “Changhe Coffin Home is the product of the cooperation between Buddhism and Taoism to suppress the Feijiang?”

“This is the most likely scenario based on the subsequent in-depth investigation.”

Chen Yang: “What happened to Changhe’s coffin home after that? Why is the address of the sanatorium there?”

“That’s the problem.” Kou Xuanling moved the mouse and clicked on the information of the Ye sisters and about their volunteering details. “It’s about the Ye sisters sending their mentally-ill foster mother to the Changhe Sanitarium – yes. The nursing home was renamed Changhe Sanitarium, and the site was built on the site of the Changhe coffin home,” he said. Because they don’t have much money to pay for their adoptive mother’s expenses in the sanatorium, they resorted to doing some volunteering in the sanatorium.”

He points to another photo: “This is a picture of the original site of Changhe coffin home, which has not changed much since it was transformed into a sanatorium. But the internal situation is not clear, because no one else is allowed in. Moreover, because a Feijiang was killed and suppressed by the magic tools of Buddhism and Taoism there, the common evil spirits did not dare to approach. The Tianshis did not pay attention to this. I don’t know how the land was granted for the construction of the sanatorium, but ordinary people being blinded by evil spirits was understandable.” 

“This sanatorium has been very low-key, so low-key that no one in the imperial capital noticed the difference for five years. However, during the past five years, the talk about an unknown sanatorium spread in various provinces. The sanatorium would kill the doctors in various ways. When the police asked the family members, they could not even tell the name of the sanatorium, because it was also confidential. Even if they wanted to go to the sanatorium, they did not know the name. But if they checked the records of the sanatorium, which several of the doctors who died worked before, it was called the Changhe Sanatorium. Its address is also where the Changhe coffin home was located.”

Chen Yang: “So is it possible that the mysterious organization we are after is in this Changhe Sanatorium?”

“We can track down the sanatorium, and we can submit volunteer applications to it,” Kou Xuanling said.

Mao Xiaoli: “Will the other party accept us? If it is really the so-called mysterious organization, they most likely would not accept applications so easily.”

“They will accept,” Chen Yang firmly said even though Mao Xiaoli didn’t understand. Chen Yang explained: “Their goal is us after all. I can probably understand the purpose of Meng Xi now – remember Meng Xi?”

Mao Xiaoli nodded. Chen Yang continued: “I thought he was trying to distract us and let Dong Hong commit murder successfully. But now that I think about it, his goal was actually the red string on my wrist.” He fiddled with the bronze coins on the red string. “If my Taoist instrument is the red string instead of this bronze coin, I would be stripped of my Taoist instrument.”

 

“There is a conspiracy there. However, there are so many Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in the imperial capital, why did they pick us?” Mao Xiaoli glared at him with big round eyes, then she turned angry: “Are they picking on us because we are weak?”

Chen Yang sometimes didn’t know if he should be pleased with Mao Xiaoli’s self-knowledge of weakness or not, but he also felt like she was right. There were so many Tianshi sects and bureaus in the imperial capital, but only their five member branch department was chosen. Among them, the highest level of Tianshi was just a grade three, which is quite unpleasant.

As they were talking, Du Shuo and Zhuo Qi walked through the door. Chen Yang caught a glimpse of them and immediately beckoned them to come. Kou Xuanling stood up and gave way to Du Shuo. Du Shuo sat next to Chen Yang and saw the videos and documents in front of him. He took a short glimpse with his eyes and already knew which step in the investigation they were in.

Chen Yang knew Du Shuo’s eyes and tiny shifts well, even if he had no expression at all. Fortunately, they have known each other for nearly seven years, and have been married for nearly five years. They, husband and wife, have been intimately related for a long time. They can see each other’s meaning at a glance. So Chen Yang asked, “You’re not surprised. Did you know this for a long time already?”

Du Shuo: “I found out one day before you.”

Chen Yang cheered up in an instant: “Do you know who’s controlling things behind the scenes?”

“Probably.”

“Who is it?”

“When you go there, you will be able to find out for yourself.” Du Shuo changed the subject and pulled Zhu Qi in: “He will go with you.” Seeing Chen Yang’s puzzled eyes, he explained: “Because this incident is within the scope of Zhu Qi’s responsibility, it’s up to him to deal with it. And I will be more at ease if he goes with you.” 

“Won’t you come with me?”

Du Shuo pinched Chen Yang’s neck and touched his earlobe affectionately: “I’m too busy, can’t leave.”

Chen Yang was a little confused, but he knew his identity as a Hell servitor. Taking into account other people present, Chen Yang made no more inquiries. Zhu Qi nodded to Chen Yang with a serious expression, he said: “Yes, Mrs. Du.”

Chen Yang smiled and presented the gold ingot to him. Zhu Qi took it, then ignored the emperor’s indifferent gaze and called him “Mrs. Du” even more respectfully. The others were quite surprised. They thought Zhu Qi was human, but when they saw Chen Yang burn a paper gold nugget and send it to Zhu Qi’s palm, they knew he was a Hell servitor.

Zhang Qiudao: “Zhu Qi is Director Du’s underling.” He and Kou Xuanling both guessed that Du Shuo was Du Bei, the director of the Taoist association. He even called Du Shuo directly in the sub Bureau several times. However, Ma Shanfeng was not surprised and Mao Xiaoli didn’t notice it. She still called Du Shuo directly like she always did.

Kou Xuanling and others were surprised. They knew that Director Du was an immensely strong person. Maybe he was even a Shangqing Tianshi. Unexpectedly, he could even accept a Hell servitor as his underling. However, it is also said that a Shangqing Tianshi had stepped into the immortal gate with half a foot, and was able to instruct the heavenly soldiers and generals to their will. Asking a Hell servitor for errands might not be so far-fetched.

After listening to Zhang Qiudao’s words, Ma Shanfeng’s eyebrows arched. He thought Zhu Qi’s name was familiar but he thought it might just be a coincidence. After all, it’s not a very special name. After learning that he was a Hell servitor, the gut feeling he had grew more and more strong. Carefully observing Zhu Qi’s appearance, he looked like he came out of a portrait of the five ghost emperors, especially with his very pale beard.

Director Ma then looked at Zhu Qi’s reverence towards Du Shuo, and the attitude of Du Shuo that he was used to the admiration. He had a general idea in his mind. He fell into a trance, it would seem that the sub Bureau he was in has just found a great mountain as a support. Their bureau was backed by the whole Fengdu. Throughout the Tianshi world, no one could have this background.

The resourceful deputy director Ma met the Fengdu emperor’s penetrating gaze. While offering tea to the emperor, he said silently in his heart that he was but a spectating old man. Du Shuo picked up his tea cup and nodded to Ma Shanfeng. The interaction between the two was very normal in other people’s eyes. In other people’s eyes, besides their appearance, Du Shuo and Ma Shanfeng were of the same generation.

Zhu Qi reached his hand out, holding Fatty by the neck with his fingers, Fatty’s limbs hanging down, his body fat was in a pie shape. Zhu Qi shook it, and Fatty’s fat formed an evident wave line, and they could hear the ‘Duang Duang’ sounds coming from the fat.

Fatty looked even more hopeless, and Zhu Qi said, “I saw this cat ghost at the door, sneaking up the wall.” Actually, Fatty was just trying to see if Du Shuo was there.

“He just came to eat.” Kou Xuanling got up and picked up Fatty and frowned: “Fatty, you have to have more than 20 Kg.”

Chen Yang looked at it and thought it was fat as well. He said, “Fatty, did you try to lose weight?” Fatty felt instantly that the world was bullying him.

Ma Shanfeng asked Kou Xuanling to put Fatty by his side and said, “It’s OK.” He looked at it carefully for a moment. “It’s not fat, it’s plump. Good fortune, good fortune.” Ma Shanfeng laughs. After a long time of observation, everyone finally confirmed that he was sincere. He really thought Fatty was just plump and not being sarcastic. Maybe this was the generation gap. After Kou Xuanling submitted his volunteer application to Changhe Sanatorium, Zhang Qiudao received a call from Mr. Qian. On the other end of the phone, Mr. Qian was very humble, small, and his voice was full of fear.

After a few words of comfort, Zhang Qiudao hung up: “The Ghost Face Pimples on Mr. Qian’s back has begun to eat his flesh and blood.” It shows that the Ghost Face Pimples on Mr. Qian’s back are mature and begin to speak and eat.

Chen Yang was surprised: “He didn’t feed the Ghost Face Pimples?” Generally speaking, as long as they have food, they will not eat flesh and blood.

Zhang Qiudao: “He did. It is said that he hired someone to feed them 24 hours a day, but as long as there is a trace of slack, they will eat flesh and blood.”

“It seems that Mr. Qian doesn’t have any remorse.” Ghost Face Pimples grew on Mr. Qian’s back, and could feel the ups and downs of his mood. They only needed three meals for normal maintenance. With Mr. Qian, it is very likely that there is no repentance, so he angered them.

Chen Yang asked again, “Do you want to check it out?”

“Yes.” Zhang Qiudao got up and went upstairs to get his backpack. “See if we can pry something out of his mouth. I think Mr. Qian is greedy for life, selfish and when it is life-threatening, he will give in.” 

The rest of them were busy again while Ma Shanfeng chatted with Zhu Qi. It was estimated that they will come across him a lot in the future so Ma Shanfeng was trying to get in a good relationship with him. Mao Xiaoli went back to draw talismans and practiced the Taoist skills. Recently, she seems to be a little enlightened. She vaguely felt that her Taoist prowess was insufficient and she needed to practice more.

After closing the computer, Kou Xuanling went to offer incense to his Zushiye, and then sat down cross legged to meditate. Zhu Qi was quite surprised and asked Ma Shanfeng. Ma Shanfeng replied: “He is trying to enhance the induction with Zushiye, he’s hoping to communicate with him more and more.”

Zhu Qi was even more surprised and looked at the portrait of his Zushiye: “is he a disciple of the North Tianshi sect?” Seeing Ma Shanfeng nodding his head, he said, “Then shouldn’t he worship Kou Tianshi or his real Zushiye, or maybe the Sanqing Tianshi? Why isn’t he worshiping them?”

Ma Shanfeng was stunned. Although he saw Kou Xuanling offering sacrifices to Zushiye every day, he did not actually look at the portrait of Zushiye carefully. He knew that the painting of Zushiye in the Sanqing Dynasty was not worshipped by Kou Xuanling, but he thought that maybe it was the Zushiye of the Kaishan School of the North Tianshi sect. Now he was surprised to hear Zhu Qi’s words. “Who else is there for him to worship then?” he asked.

Zhu Qi looked at it carefully. Of course, the portrait of Zushiye was not a real person. They were usually identified by the tools and hand gestures they held by the God in the portrait: “A Tianshi, who is also from the North Tianshi Sect. He is also a deity.”

Ma Shanfeng was not too curious about that so he didn’t ask more. The two changed the subject and had a friendly conversation again.

Chen Yang and Du Shuo entered their room. Du Shuo sat down, and Chen Yang walked back and forth in front of him. He grabbed Chen Yang. “Don’t move. I’m dizzy. Sit down and speak up if you have any questions.”

“If you don’t want to say who’s behind the scenes, I won’t ask. Anyway, I can find out by myself. If it’s not enough, you have to tell me whether the person behind the scenes has done other things? Maybe like disturbing the Fengdu Palace?”

“It’s not a big deal.” After Du Shuo denied it, he saw Chen Yang’s furrowed eyebrows and sighed, “There was a ghost in hell who successfully escaped 20 years ago. However, no one even noticed it if it was not for another ghost, who had committed suicide, waking up a few days ago and beat the drums to complain. Fengdu would have never known. As soon as they took over the investigation, some wronged souls began to beat drums and complain about their wrongs as well, which almost caused an uprising in the city of unjust death. I went to the town in vain and ordered an investigation to find out that there was a devil in hell who had been on the run in the human world for 20 years.”

“How would Fengdu punish Hell servitors who failed to guard the prisoners?”

Du Shuo looked apathetic: “Pulling out the root. All the Hell servitors and soldiers who are concerned will be punished.”

Chen Yang asked anxiously, “Are you also convicted?”

“I am not.” Du Shuo looked a little calmer, he took Chen Yang’s hand and said, “I’m from the Fengdu side, hell is not my responsibility. It’s just that, the city is nearly rioting, and an evil spirit fled from hell, so many trials will be conducted in Fengdu so I can’t accompany you.”

Chen Yang shook his head and said it was OK. Instead, he asked, “Is the escaped ghost related to the thing behind the secret organization?”

“A little bit.”

Chen Yang nodded, and his mind was fixed.

When Zhang Qiudao met Mr. Qian again, he thought he was mistaken. Mr. Qian was now in a horrible shape, so thin that the stork’s bones stood out as if they were going to pierce its skin. His back was arched and his expression full of pain and fatigue. He was sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in a hospital gown. It seemed that he was going to have an operation, with a doctor helping to remove the two ghost faces for him.

Mr. Qian said: “It failed. If the scalpel moves, I can still wake up after a large dose of anesthesia. I know that once I cut off the pimples, I will die of pain. Zhang Tianshi, please help me. I was wrong. I’m really wrong. I regret it. I will pray for them, do good deeds and accumulate virtue. I will also hold a Dharma ceremony for them. Please make them go away.”

Zhang Qiudao: “Mr. Qian, I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

Mr. Qian told Zhang Qiudao about his murdering of his two children, his wife and his mother-in-law and asked Zhang Qiudao to rescue him. Zhang Qiudao looked at him coldly: “I don’t see you having any repentance.”

In a daze, Mr. Qian grabbed Zhang Qiudao and said repeatedly that he has known his mistake and has begun to repent. Zhang Qiudao moved his hands away, sat down and said, “Well, please then, answer me some questions, Mr. Qian.”

“Yes, if you have any questions, I will answer them.”

“Who told you to do those things? Or what told you?”

Mr. Qian was stunned and laughed, “I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Mr. Qian, you and I are not stupid. We can find out more things than you can imagine. You think you can play with other people’s life by the command of that thing? Have you ever thought that you are one of the people being played with?”

Mr. Qian went silent.

Zhang Qiudao: “Mr. Qian’s son is dead, and so is the property you own, right?”

Mr. Qian tore off the surface of hypocrisy and said with red eyes, “I can tell you about that… That thing, but I want to see Chen Yang. I want to see him, and when he comes, I will tell you about the man who instructed me.”

Zhang Qiudao looked at him indifferently. He got up and walked to the door and said, “if you don’t say it, no one will force you to.”

Mr. Qian gasped, and the pain behind him almost made him lose his head. He yelled, “if Chen Yang doesn’t come, I’ll never say it. Even if you can help me get rid of the pimples, once I say it, I can’t live! You ask him to come, and I’ll say anything!”

Zhang Qiudao stopped and walked out. Later, after repeated hesitation, he told Chen Yang, “Director Chen, do you want to go?”

“I’ll go.”

“I think he has a plan, or else why does he want you to go? He obviously knew you for a long time, but last time we went to see him, he pretended not to know you. And last time was supposed to be your first meeting with him, and now his attitude makes me feel that the organization is planning something with you.”

“I know he has known me for a long time. He didn’t look right last time I met him. However, it shows that the other side really intends to involve me. Since this is the case, we should go and have a look.”

Chen Yang really went to see Mr. Qian, and Mr. Qian’s eyes burst into surprise as soon as he saw him. He greeted Chen Yang and asked him to come closer and closer. His face looked greedy.

Chen Yang stood three meters away from Mr. Qian: “Mr. Qian, now tell us what you know.”

Mr. Qian was unhappy: “You should get closer.”

Chen Yang looked at him quietly. Mr. Qian felt a trace of fear, and then reluctantly accepted the distance between them: “What do you want to know?”

“What’s the name of that mysterious organization? Who’s behind the scenes? How do you get in touch?”

Mr. Qian chuckled: “There’s no mysterious organization. Only believers, and our God. We are believers. It is “the” God. Of course, we communicate through Oracles and contact information naturally appears in our minds and hearts, and we can do what we please.”

“Be more clear.” Chen Yang said.

Mr. Qian: “We are all believers, and he is the ‘Bodhisattva of Peace’. As long as we believe it in our hearts, even if we don’t have sacrifices to offer, our God will send down the oracles and solve our problems through dreams. Let us be happy and at peace.” Even in this situation, Mr. Qian was still happy and respectful when mentioning the Bodhisattva, his face was full of piety and faith, and he was very respectful to the Bodhisattva.

“I can’t even imagine what evil spirit came out of the wild and pretended to be a Bodhisattva, they taught you how to do evil things? Yet you still believe in a being that seduces you to kill people? “Bodhisattva of Peace”? Are you happy now? Are you at peace? Why doesn’t it solve the pimples on your back then?” 

“Because I let the Bodhisattva down, I could have done it perfectly. I should not have ignored the two children, which led them to know the truth and let them have targets for revenge. I was too careless and let the Bodhisattva down. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll make up for it!” After that, he sprang up from his wheelchair and rushed fiercely at Chen Yang with a knife in his hand. His face was very twisted: “I’ll kill you, in the name of the Bodhisattva! It will forgive me. It will save me then.”

Chen Yang dodged the attack coldly and stepped on Mr. Qian under his feet. Because of Mr. Qian’s sudden distorted mentality, the Ghost Face Pimples behind him were eating his flesh and blood more crazily which made him cry in pain again, praying for Chen Yang to save him.

Chen Yang called the police and sent Mr. Qian to prison for attempted murder. Mr. Qian, who was bankrupt and had no money to hire a lawyer, was continuously tortured by the Ghost Face Pimples. After entering prison, he was too afraid to commit suicide because he was afraid of death. Finally, he put up with the Ghost Face Pimples for several years before he died.

Chen Yang thought that this trip was quite fruitful. At least he now knew the name of the person behind the scenes. He will know more after he goes back to do some research.

 

 

 

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