Chapter 45: Are you happy with the money you earn with blood? (23) So close…
When the costume became clear, the two hazy white mists had completely formed human shapes, and the bodies were almost the flesh color of a living person, but because they were translucent, they looked a little lighter.
Gongbu could tell from their attire and their backs that they were two young girls.
But when these thoughts were forming, they had already walked to the door. Gongbu looked at them from the side in the mirror and could only see their backs.
He subconsciously turned his head and looked.
Logically speaking, monsters of this level should be visible to the naked eye for a cultivator like him, but when he looked in their direction, there was nothing there, without any trace.
He had no choice but to turn around and look at the mirror again.
At almost the same moment, the girl walking behind him turned her head slightly and glanced at him in the mirror.
It was just a quick glance, but the cunning smile on her lips and the cold light in her eyes startled Gongbu!
More importantly, although it was only a fleeting glance, this face was not unfamiliar to Gongbu.
His pupils suddenly constricted, and he turned around again, but still saw nothing.
So he looked at the mirror for the third time, but this time there was nothing in the mirror either; they had already left the bathroom.
A sense of fear surged up from the depths of Gongbu's heart. He took a deep breath, turned around and chased after him.
He was no longer young, after all. Even with his cultivation, he stumbled in his haste and nearly fell when he reached the door. Seeing this, Dondup and Gyaltsen hurried to their feet to support him. But Gongbu ignored them and, before they even got close, eagerly asked, "Dondup, Gyaltsen, did you see anyone leave? Two women!"
Gongbu tried to tell himself that he couldn't see them when he looked back just now because he was old and his eyesight was blurry. At the same time, he was very sure that if those two were monsters formed by the essence of heaven and earth, they should be able to see them with their cultivation level, and they were not old.
Si Ling calculated the right moment and cast two spells on Dunzhu and Jianzan in succession: "Illusionary Mist Covers the Form."
"Silk-bound Spiritual Pivot."
The first one was a trick she used easily, and the second one was similar to Western puppetry, which was similar to the spell that Aji used to control Gesan to die.
This kind of spell should not be effective on healthy living people with independent consciousness. Therefore, even if Si Ling has an amazing cultivation of 30,000 years, she can only cause slight control, such as expressions and demeanor. It is impossible to completely make two people work for her.
But that's enough.
However, Dunzhu and Jianzan looked at each other blankly, shook their heads in confusion and said, "No. Master, who are you talking about?"
Gongbu clearly heard his heartbeat "boom boom" twice.
They couldn't see it, only it appeared in the mirror, so there was only one possibility - what he had just summoned was not a monster created by spiritual energy, but a ghost.
Gongbu was about to say something else, and just as he looked up at Dunzhu, he was suddenly met with Dunzhu's smile, and he took a step back in fright: "Ah——"
Dunzhu's eyes were narrowed into slits, curved into downward semicircles, and his lips were an upward semicircle.
...This is obviously not a normal expression that a human can make.
Gongbu stared at him, his voice trembling: "You...you..."
But Dunzhu's expression had completely recovered: "Master, what's wrong?" He looked at Gongbu in confusion. Because Gongbu was suddenly frightened, Jianzan first glanced at Dunzhu twice. Seeing that Dunzhu was fine, he also looked at Gongbu in confusion: "Master?"
Gongbu forced himself to calm down and smiled at the two disciples: "I was just dazzled."
He shook his head pretending to be relaxed, but he already had a guess in his heart - years of practice experience told him that he was definitely not seeing things, and Dunzhu's strange behavior just now pointed to a clear result, that is, Dunzhu had been possessed by an evil spirit.
The two evil spirits wanted to take revenge on him, so they descended upon his disciples. This was indeed a good way to take revenge, and if the evil spirits were careful enough, they could do it quietly.
But fortunately, they miscalculated, or rather, they became too proud of themselves.
Although he was not sure why they appeared here, he was very clear about the resentment they had accumulated in their hearts.
That was more than eighty years ago.
At that time, Gongbu had just made his mark in the sect, and his master gave him enough respect. He was fortunate to assist his master in making ritual instruments - they were going to paint a human skin thangka for the majestic Buddhist palace standing on the top of the snow-capped mountains.
Human skin thangka, as the name suggests, is painted on human skin.
...In this civilized age, many people who have no knowledge of this would assume that this is something made from the skin of the deceased, but it is not.
Every skin they use to make human skin thangkas is selected while the person is still alive, and all civilians and serfs are their "spare stock".
In order to pick the perfect leather, they traveled all over the country in that era of poor transportation, and it was normal for them to spend several months.
After selecting a satisfactory person, they will invite the skilled painter Wuqin① to paint directly on the living person. Since the painting steps of Thangka are extremely complicated, this process often takes several months.
During these months, the person acting as the "canvas" must not gain weight, as this would pull on the canvas; but neither can they become thinner, as this would also cause the work to distort.
Therefore, they will strictly control the "canvas"'s food intake to avoid problems as much as possible. Even Gongbu has to admit that this process is not very comfortable.
Later, when their great paintings were finally completed, they certainly couldn't wait until they died – not only would that take too long, but as they aged, their skin would develop disgusting wrinkles, which would ruin the beautiful paintings. If they died from illness or an accident that caused skin damage, all their efforts would be in vain!
Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to remove the human skin directly, and Gongbu never thinks there is anything wrong with it.
This is how Gam and Zhuoerga died, but their existence was more "sacred" - they made this thangka for a very high-level celebration, so the selection of personnel was extremely strict from the beginning.
The most basic requirement was to have a pair of young twin sisters who were virgins. Beyond that, the masters in Gongbu required them to be pure and beautiful, with no skin scars, not even a single mole.
These harsh conditions made Gongbu spend two years just to find people. Several pairs of twins were rejected by his master one after another. Finally, he finally chose them.
...Their appearance was as if destined. Not only did they fully meet the requirements, but the elder sister Gamu's name meant "incarnation of White Tara" and the younger sister Zhuoerga meant "White Umbrella Goddess".
When the master of Gongbu saw them for the first time, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "They are destined to be dedicated to the gods and Buddhas!"
With the astonishingly perfect canvas, the thangka painting process quickly began. Before painting a thangka, they always had to perform a sacred and solemn ceremony. However, to reflect the importance of this thangka, Gongbu's teacher added an even more important step - the "double cultivation" that many people consider a bit bizarre.
They believe that men are compassionate and women are wise, and dual cultivation can unite the two and achieve the noble state of "bliss and emptiness are one."
For the two sisters who are about to become magical instruments, this is naturally a blessing.
So Gongbu's master performed this step personally, and after him, Gongbu and several of his fellow disciples also performed this step.
This is also absolutely necessary, and Kampot never thinks there is anything wrong with it.
To this day, he still remembers the joy he felt at that time, because it was the first time in his life that he practiced dual cultivation.
He therefore always believed that this series of rituals really enhanced the magical power of the exquisite thangka, and now it seems that this is correct.
As for the two sisters coming to his door, Gongbu just felt sorry for them.
——They should have gone to a better afterlife. Those who dedicated themselves to the gods should go to a better afterlife, but they insisted on sticking to this life.
.
"Master, you don't look well. Please sit down and rest for a while." Although Dunzhu was worried about Gongbu's condition, he still reached out to support him and helped him to the sofa.
Seeing this, Jianzan stepped forward to help, and when they reached the sofa, he gestured for Dondrub to sit down and accompany Gongbu first, and he thoughtfully made a cup of hot tea, hoping that it would make Gongbu feel more comfortable.
After the tea was brewed, Gyaltsen placed the cup in front of Gongbu and asked carefully, "Master, did you see anything in the bathroom?" He looked around and said, "There are no rules here. Just now, Dunzhu tried to leave this room... and he was able to get out. It's as if the strange talk about rules has disappeared."
"I didn't see anything." Gongbu tried to remain calm.
He picked up the teacup and drank tea, thinking in his heart how to deal with the evil spirit possessed by Dunzhu.
Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught sight of the reflection in the teacup. Gongbu knew it was the shadow of Jianzan standing beside him, but he still subconsciously lowered his eyes to glance...
“Bang!”
The teacup was thrown onto the coffee table, the tea spilled out, and the handle broke.
…because what Gongbu saw in the reflection was the face of the twin sisters.
He took a deep breath. The panic he felt made him not have the courage to look at Jianzan beside him. He only heard Jianzan ask in great confusion: "Master, what's wrong with you?!"
Dunzhu was also surprised. He looked at Gongbu several times in confusion, then reached out to pick up the broken teacup, and then took several pieces of paper from the tissue box on the coffee table to wipe the tea.
Jianzan seemed to be lost in thought. "Master, why don't you go back and rest first? My fellow apprentices and I will come up with an excuse to end the banquet early, put the clubhouse under martial law, and then we can find that evildoer."
This is one way.
Gongbu thought it made sense, nodded, and wanted to make some specific arrangements.
He then focused his gaze on Jianzan, and saw...
Jianzan was standing right next to him, with his face clearly visible.
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The author has something to say: [Notes]:
①【Wuqin】: means "great painter".
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