Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 355 - 309 Quality Assurance

"Four Buddha statues?"

Xia Jun glanced at the high altar, where the four Buddha statues were battered and severely damaged. "Is there a problem?"

"The ’Great Hero’ in the name ’Grand Hall’ refers to the Buddha’s title of virtue. Our teacher Shakyamuni possesses infinite wisdom and valiantly subdues demons, so Zen disciples respectfully address him as the Great Hero," Li Ang said. "The Grand Hall is primarily dedicated to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue. Depending on the regulations, they are arranged as one, three, five, or seven statues.

One Buddha statue—solely dedicated to Shakyamuni Buddha.

Three Buddha statues—either dedicated to Shakyamuni’s three incarnations, to the past, present, and future Buddhas, or to Shakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha, and Amitabha Buddha.

Five Buddha statues—for the Five Directions Buddha.

Seven Buddha statues—including Shakyamuni among the Original Seven Buddhas.

The main Buddha statues on temple altars in the Central Plains always follow the principle of one, three, five, or seven. Four Buddha statues is not standard; it violates the rules."

"Indeed, it is strange."

Sui Yi slowly nodded. "The Jialan Sect was, after all, one of the Former Sui’s four major Zen Sects. With hundreds of years of tradition, they wouldn’t make a mistake on such a matter. Could it be that one Buddha statue is missing? But Buddha statues don’t have legs; where could it have gone?"

Before this question could be answered, Li Ang discovered another suspicious point.

"There are no Eighteen Arhats, but instead the Twelve Perfect Enlightenment? Usually, the sides of a Grand Hall in the Central Plains are dedicated to the Eighteen Arhats, or sometimes to the twelve Bodhisattvas who sought the Dharma from Buddha—the Twelve Perfect Enlightenment. These include Manjusri Bodhisattva, Universal Virtue Bodhisattva, Universal Eye Bodhisattva, Universal Awakening Bodhisattva, Universal Faith Bodhisattva... Cough, cough, there’s no Universal Faith."

Li Ang coughed and continued, "In any case, the Twelve Perfect Enlightenment have a strict order, yet these Bodhisattva statues are placed haphazardly."

Que Teqin frowned. "Dr. Li, do you think these Bodhisattva statues are also part of the Prohibition?"

"It’s possible."

Li Ang nodded. "I still remember the specific order of the Twelve Perfect Enlightenment. Maybe if we return them to their correct places, it will trigger some kind of change. What do you all think?"

Xia Jun, Jiu Fenghai, and the others exchanged glances. The Mountain Gate of the Jialan Sect had been destroyed once, and the team from the Academic Palace had taken away whatever useful items remained, leaving little to uncover. Their food supplies were running low. Rather than dragging things out, it might be better to take a chance while they still had some strength.

"Alright."

Jiu Fenghai nodded in agreement. "What do you need us to do?"

"Lend a hand. Help me place these Bodhisattva statues in their designated spots. From left to right, they are Manjusri, Universal Virtue, Guanyin..."

Li Ang directed the others to adjust the order of the Bodhisattva statues.

The Buddha and Bodhisattva statues in the Grand Hall were made of a particularly special material—not gold, stone, or wood. They were extremely sturdy and heavy, and also capable of blocking Spiritual Power. Fortunately, with Que Teqin, an Innate Martial Artist, present, the task was relatively easy.

Once the last statue, the Bodhisattva of Wise Virtue, was returned to its original place, everyone stepped back in unison, waiting for something to happen.

Dozens of breaths passed.

"It seems like nothing is happening. Should we offer incense and pray earnestly?" Sui Yi whispered. "The Bodhisattva Guanyin seems quite efficacious. Back in our village, there was an Old Man Wang who couldn’t find a wife and thought he’d end up childless. He went to the Guanyin Temple to ask The Bodhisattva if she could give him a child."

"Hmm?"

The sudden turn in the conversation startled Xia Jun and the others. They instinctively asked, "And then?"

It couldn’t be that Immortal Cranes descended from the heavens carrying a baby in swaddling clothes, could it?

"Then, right after Old Man Wang stepped out of the temple, he was struck and killed by a horse carriage," Sui Yi said seriously. "It seems The Bodhisattva Guanyin really is efficacious."

What kind of evil spirit’s power is this?!

Xia Jun and the others felt their eyelids twitch, wanting to speak but stopping themselves.

Suddenly, on the high platform, the second statue—that of the Universal Eye Bodhisattva—dropped the cleaning bottle from her hand. (The Universal Eye Bodhisattva is an alternative name for The Bodhisattva Guanyin, as the Buddha Sutras praise her compassionate eyes that observe all beings, hence the name "Universal Eye.") The bottle smashed on the ground with a crash.

CRACK.

The cleaning bottle shattered. Li Ang, who was closest, stepped forward. Among the fragments were many dried, cracked, and dull-colored Bell Beads, along with a square black iron box. The surface of the iron box was covered with lines that faintly formed some pattern.

"Hmm?"

Li Ang picked up the iron box and weighed it. It was solid, sturdy, and heavy. A line of small characters was engraved on the bottom:

[Since you have seen the Tathagata, why do you not prostrate yourself?]

"What does this mean?"

Xia Jun looked at the Bell Beads scattered on the ground and frowned. "The Spiritual Energy in these Bell Beads has long since dissipated. They’re useless and won’t count towards our score! Is the Academic Palace joking? How could such a major trial have such an oversight?!"

Sui Yi’s brow furrowed as she picked up several Bell Beads from the ground and carefully examined them. The beads were gray and could be easily reduced to powder with a light rub.

Sea Shell Bell Beads were produced in the depths of the Endless Sea and could only be obtained by killing mollusk demons. Harvesting them was dangerous, the yield was low, and using them required cultivators to expend their own blood. Most importantly, the "shelf life" of Sea Shell Bell Beads was much shorter than that of talismans.

A Level 5 Sea Shell Bell Bead, equivalent to a Cloud Patrol Realm talisman, was effective for only about fifteen days, with optimal effects during that period. After one month, the Spiritual Energy inside would irreversibly dissipate, significantly weakening its effects. After two months, it would become an ordinary shell bead, too dull and rough even for a necklace.

"This Bell Bead... doesn’t look like it’s been here for just a few months," Xiao Da suddenly said. "My family used to be fishermen who harvested shellfish and pearls along the coast of the Zhou Kingdom. If a pearl is left out for too long, say fifty or sixty years, moisture from the environment will continuously seep into it, causing its surface luster to gradually fade. A bead powdered to this extent has definitely been here for over a hundred years, possibly even several hundred."

Several hundred years?

Li Ang raised an eyebrow. Centuries ago, with the Jialan Sect’s wealth, they could indeed have easily bought many Sea Shell Bell Beads. But why had they placed them in The Bodhisattva Guanyin’s cleaning bottle? And this iron box—why did it give him such an eerily familiar feeling?

"Perhaps these Sea Shell Bell Beads were collected by the Jialan Sect in the past. That’s why the Academic Palace made Bell Bead scores a significant factor in this trial."

Li Ang shook the iron box in his hand. "The inscription says, ’Since you have seen the Tathagata, why do you not prostrate yourself?’ Should I try paying homage? You guys keep watch and be careful of our surroundings."

"Sure," Sui Yi nodded. "But Senior Sister has a small suggestion: when praying for a marriage partner, don’t put your palms together, otherwise your left and right hands might fall in love with each other."

Senior Sister, you’ve had enough.

Li Ang put the iron box aside, took a few steps forward to the front of the high altar, and prepared to kowtow.

As he approached the Buddha statue, the indistinctly familiar sensation grew stronger, as if he had experienced all of this before.

Déjà vu?

Li Ang slowly bowed to the Buddha statue. As he rose, laughter emanated from within the statue.