'Master...'

Kneeling in front of three Buddha statues, I faintly saw my deceased master.

'Have I ever been defeated all these years?'

'Bai Suzhen herself is unaware, and sooner or later, she will bring calamity to the mortal world. How can I stop her?'

I lifted my gaze.

The three Buddha statues radiated compassion, surrounded by golden light.

Master once said that he saw the past, present, and future of Buddhism in me.

Yet, I struggle to even subdue a small snake demon.

In a sudden realization,

I saw before me three enormous fleshy Buddhas, their skin withered like toads, oozing greenish fluid. Within their breaths, countless agonized faces seemed to scream and struggle.

'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form; form is not separate from emptiness, emptiness is not separate from form...'

Every time I witness this scene, I recite the scriptures silently, and the illusion disperses.

Master said I was born with the divine power of the Heavenly Eye, one of the supernatural abilities of Buddhism, which enables me to see through all the illusions of the world.

Since childhood, I could see these fleshy Buddhas.

However, after reciting the scriptures this time, the chilling sensation in my spine didn't dissipate.

A bloody piece of flesh squeezed out from the Buddha statue, resembling a long snake, and instantly merged into my wound, disappearing without a trace.

I was horrified, my mind went blank. Although my chest wound improved, it left behind a delicate pink scar that didn't hurt or itch.

'What is this... thing?'

A wave of horror surged through me, and I felt a cold sweat and an urge to vomit.

Then, there were two consecutive 'thud' sounds from the hall.

Two objects fell from the bellies of the Buddha statues, splattering a few drops of foul-smelling black blood on my face.

I was petrified and immediately became dumbfounded.