Chapter 1022

Originally, the ghosts had already joined forces to quietly erect a massive barrier, ready to swarm Ye Yu at once! But now, what was this great golden Buddhist lotus suddenly appearing overhead? Could it be that Ye Yu and the monks from the Buddha Realm had long foreseen their attack, and laid this trap to annihilate the Anti-Buddha army? Hiss—just thinking about it was terrifying!

They knew that fully half of the Underworld’s elites were gathered here. If they were wiped out in one fell swoop, the Underworld’s vitality would be grievously damaged—and the Buddha Realm would surely seize the opportunity to invade! Countless Ghost Cities would be delivered, and innumerable ghosts would perish! Damn that madman of the Underworld—he thought Ye Yu preached Dharma only to go mad, yet now he turned out to be so insidious!

At the thought of this possibility, every ghost’s face twisted in horror. Several top-tier elites began to debate whether to charge out and slay Ye Yu and Ru Kong at once. But in the end they were held back! As leader of this Anti-Buddha army, the Hanged Ghost Yan Ming spoke mind-to-mind to issue orders: “No one move. Observe quietly. Perhaps we’ve overthought this—it may not be Ye Yu’s trap. Let us watch first! If something goes awry, then we strike!” At these words, the ghosts all nodded and fell silent.

The next moment, three Buddhas in golden kasaya and twenty-seven Golden-Body Arhats appeared together upon the lotus. In an instant, radiant Buddha-light suffused the area, cleaving out a zone of peaceful Dharma amid the Underworld’s gloom! Ye Yu could clearly sense that all twenty-seven Arhats were peak Ghost-King realm in strength, several even verging on Half-step Ghost-Emperor. As for the three golden-kasaya Buddhas, there was no doubt—they each possessed power equivalent to an Underworld Ghost-Emperor. Such a lineup was transcendent beyond measure!

Ye Yu had never imagined Ru Kong could summon so many Buddha-Realm elites—entirely beyond expectation! In fact, it wasn’t only Ye Yu who was astonished. Even Ru Kong himself had never imagined the Buddha Realm would be so obliging as to dispatch three Buddhas! Overwhelmed by their favor, his eyes reddened and he prostrated forward, hands pressed in reverent gasshō. “I, monk Ru Kong, respectfully welcome the arrival of the Buddhas and Arhats!” In the vast Underworld’s emptiness, his voice nearly cracked as it echoed through the realm!

The hidden ghosts around pressed their hands tightly over their mouths, afraid to make a sound. Buddhas! These were beings at Ghost-Emperor level! They reminded themselves that among the Anti-Buddha army, the strongest had only reached Half-step Ghost-Emperor at most! But now three Buddhas directly descended. How could they hope to fight? They were clearly intent on their complete annihilation! Many ghosts felt their hearts chill—was their doom truly at hand? Even Yan Ming, the Hanged Ghost, despaired utterly.

Just as he prepared to rise for a desperate final charge, the words of the Buddhas froze every ghost in place: “Ru Kong, your master granted you a name meaning ‘Underworld at Full Light.’ How could you consort with ghosts so that your Golden Body is sullied and the Buddha-light dishonored?” Yan Ming’s eyes flickered strangely. Wait—could there be another turn? The Buddhas did not seem to be here to strike them first; otherwise their first decree would have been to secure the scene and prevent any ghost from fleeing—not this rebuke of the monk.

Moreover, did the Buddhas not know that Ye Yu himself was a ghost? He and Ru Kong had been together for so long! In truth, the Buddhas and Arhats did not know the full details of recent events in the Underworld, but they could discern clues via the Heart-Mind Beads left by every qualified monk sent here by the Buddha Realm. Each such monk was a pillar of promise, entrusted with great hopes, and before descending to the Underworld they left a Heart-Mind Bead. These beads resonate with their masters’ thoughts, reflecting the monk’s state. If gravely wounded, a crack appears; if slain, the bead shatters at once.

Since the Five Realms Passage opened, nearly a thousand monks had remained in the Underworld forever. Yet the Buddha Realm did not halt the mission! Only by truly delivering enough ghosts and amassing sufficient merit could the Dharma advance—and one day they too might become Buddhas! Ru Kong was one of the Realm’s most cherished prospects. Otherwise, they would never have sent him to inspect ghosts’ resistance to the sutras. But to their shock, Ru Kong’s Heart-Mind Bead had gone dark, then for a long time glowed a strange gray-black! This had never before occurred!

Upon investigation, the Buddhas discovered those gray marks were Ghost-Qi pollution of the Underworld! Ru Kong had clearly consorted with ghosts, no longer chanting sutras. Otherwise, his bead’s Buddha-light could not have dimmed so drastically! Learning this, the entire Buddha Realm was stupefied! A promising future Buddha, contaminated in this way by the Underworld! Evidently, something had gone terribly wrong below! Thus the Buddha Realm immediately mobilized forces to come and assess the situation. And just at that moment, Ru Kong had begun to call for help. They seized ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ that chance to locate him—and thus witnessed the scene firsthand!

The Buddhas’ greatest fear was not Ru Kong’s death. It was his corruption by Ghost-Qi! If ghosts could truly make a monk fall, that would be catastrophic indeed! At the Buddhas’ inquiry, tears welled anew in Ru Kong’s eyes. He began to relate the inhuman treatment he endured in the Underworld—and how Ye Yu had deceived him throughout. Preaching Dharma? All a ploy! Golden Body sullied? Undeniably so—more than sullied, it had been nearly shattered by torment. As for the defilement of Buddha-light, that was even more heartbreaking: he had prepared hundreds of sutras before departing, only for Ye Yu to scatter them all. Where was any Buddha-light left?

Hearing Ru Kong’s tearful lament, the Buddhas and Arhats widened their eyes in disbelief! “Ah? Such things have happened?” The hidden ghosts too could not believe it! So Ye Yu did not truly wish to teach Dharma. He had deliberately used this method to torture Ru Kong! What, then, was the true purpose of his actions?