Chapter 32: Cause and Effect (II)

A cold wind swept across everyone’s cheeks and seeped into their necks, bringing with it an icy chill that penetrated to the very bones.
The disdainful gaze of that young monk was all too clear, and that scene played over and over in everyone’s minds, haunting them and provoking them…
That glance shattered the profound sense of glory that those Tang Dynasty border generals had accumulated over decades of sharing life and death, conquering lands, and killing countless enemies.
“This bastard! He’s really going too far!”
Pu Da Chui threw the basket in his hands into the Jade Belt River with force, cursing loudly, “Damn it! I’ll burn it down! I’ll set this damned temple on fire!”
Li Kuo coughed lightly, using his gaze to stop his subordinate from acting recklessly.
“Da Chui, this isn’t the time to lose your temper. Are you trying to push everyone into trouble? If we show mercy now, we’ll never uncover the secrets behind the Luo Shu Jue. That means more and more people from Jianghuai and even the Tang Dynasty will become sacrifices to the Mahayana Buddha.”
Though he spoke calmly, his words carried great weight, filled with an unchallengeable authority.
“I, the commander… I also… Heh!”
How could Pu Da Chui argue with Li Kuo? Though he had a lot to say, he didn’t know where to start and felt utterly frustrated.
Taking two steps forward and standing behind Pu Da Chui, Li Kuo patted his shoulder and said, “I’ll give you half of what’s mine. Forget about that basket of spirit chambers, but don’t act impulsively from now on.”
“Ah, ah, I understand, old Pu.”
Pu Da Chui wasn’t expecting Li Kuo to be so generous. He was momentarily confused, scratching the back of his head as he nodded repeatedly.
“Commander, look over there!”
A fierce glint suddenly appeared in Li Sheng’s eyes as he spoke coldly…
The Ullambana Festival was reaching its climax!
Thousands of lotus-shaped river lanterns were thrown into the Jade Belt River simultaneously at Wu Jie’s command, twinkling like stars in the night sky!
It is said that during the Ullambana Festival, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead blurs, and the universe returns to a state of chaos. Thus, evil spirits from the netherworld can come to the mortal world to witness its prosperity, while new spirits choose this time to head to the netherworld together.
To guide these new spirits, people light river lanterns, using this magnificent artificial spectacle to help them reach the underworld.
Since Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, it has been customary to light river lanterns on the night of the 15th day of the seventh month, and in the current dynasty, this spectacle is even more spectacular!

By this time, the monk in the gray robe, Wu Jie, had already taken his seat on a specially made wooden cart about eight feet tall, overlooking the countless worshippers bowing in reverence. He held a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, his lips moving as if silently reciting something. Suddenly, he lifted the gray robe covering his back and roared a mantra in Tibetan; the river lanterns downstream instantly caught fire, and soon the entire Yu Dai River transformed into a fire dragon, with flames rising dozens of feet high! After a while, several men in black emerged from behind the towering flames. Under the intense light, the worshippers could clearly see that these men had no heads—only a stick-like object supported their necks, atop which sat skull faces! The worshippers raised their heads from the muddy ground, staring in awe at this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle! Fires in the water, the clash of yin and yang, ghosts wandering at night, chaos in heaven and earth… These stories, which they had only heard from their elders as children, were now becoming reality before their eyes! The wealthy young masters who had once mocked their elders for telling such eerie old tales were now trembling with fear, on the verge of falling to the ground; the unexplainable supernatural events now seemed entirely logical. Perhaps it was because Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, witnessed this miracle on this very day years ago that he ordered sacrifices and prayers to be held on the 15th day of the seventh month each year to honor the souls of the deceased and send them back to the netherworld with river lanterns! “It’s ghosts! Real ghosts!” Xu Xiao, the eldest son of Minister Xu, was so terrified when he saw several skull-faced figures approaching him that he fell to the ground with his legs crossed. If not for Xu Nian, his loyal servant, who quickly stepped forward to block Minister Xu’s view, Xu Xiao might have wet himself with fear. “Xu Nian, let’s go! Let’s leave!” Xu Xiao wiped the foam from his mouth and stood up shakily, staggering upstream along the Yu Dai River. But after a few steps, his legs gave way, and he collapsed. At first, he thought he had stepped on a rainflower stone by the riverbank, but upon closer inspection, he saw a rotting corpse with a skull for a head. His loyal servant, Xu Nian, lay sprawled on the ground, a horrible wound on his neck from which bright red blood gushed out. “Ah, oh no!” Xu Xiao let out a scream no better than that of a pig being slaughtered, followed by a surge of nausea, before collapsing unconscious.

And that rotting corpse with a skull on its head clearly had no intention of sparing Young Master Xu. It bent down and used its sharp claws to pull out Xu Xiao’s heart. The poor Young Master Xu lost his life in a daze; his internal organs spilled out through the wound the size of a bowl, a truly terrifying sight. More and more evil ghosts emerged from the River of Fire and rushed at the stunned villagers. These devout believers, who had burned paper and recited prayers according to ancestral traditions in an attempt to send the souls back home, never expected their good intentions to result in a bizarre sacrifice, summoning all the sealed ghosts to the mortal world and bringing about a nightmare. “Ghosts! A night of ghosts! The world is in chaos! This is the result of the current emperor’s lack of virtue! A great disaster is coming! Everyone, run!” Someone shouted secretly, and chaos erupted among the crowded crowd. The believers scattered and ran upstream. “Everyone, don’t panic! Don’t panic! They’re not ghosts at all—they’re people in disguise!” Li Kuo, who had been holding back until then, could no longer contain himself and kept shouting, hoping the people by the Jade Belt River would calm down and avoid giving those with ulterior motives an opportunity. But under such shock, the believers were already terrified beyond reason; how could they listen to Li Kuo’s words? In their eyes, their companions were dying one after another—if it wasn’t the work of ghosts, then who else could it be? They believed what they saw. If they didn’t run now, would they end up like Xu Xiao, with their hearts ripped out by evil ghosts to be used as “dessert”? “Run for your lives! Everyone, run! Great chaos is about to strike this world! Those who can, run quickly!” Li Kuo frowned and carefully searched for the source of the voice, eventually finding the person who had spoken in code among the crowd. It was him—actually him! At this moment, Li Kuo had pieced together the clues from the past few days, and all the strange events were finally explained!