Chapter 117 Xiawei Temple is too strong in every way.
Yu Naixin sighed silently.
The master's compassionate nature was formed from the very beginning.
Without the tall monk giving any orders, two nearby monks immediately dragged away the thin body, and other monks came over to clean up the bloodstains on the ground.
Their movements were very skillful, and soon the entire courtyard was restored to its original state.
Under the watchful gaze of the Buddha statues inside the hall, it was as if nothing had ever happened.
**********
Using the system's optical display to calculate time is not feasible in this illusion.
Yu Naixin tried it and found that the time display was very disordered and not very useful.
She had no choice but to use the most primitive method: observing the changes in the shape of the sun and its shadow to roughly judge the time.
Around noon, the ceremony finally began. The monks were all driven to other places, and Yu Naixin could only see monks in dark red robes and a few well-dressed nobles.
At the very center of the altar, a stout monk was presiding over the ceremony; he was likely the "Khenpo" of the temple, equivalent to the abbot.
Yu Naixin seemed lost in thought.
The Butter Flower Monk clearly comes from here, but when he builds a temple in "Xiawei Temple", the NPCs don't call him "Khenpo" but "Abbot".
As the songs and instruments began to play, the Khenpo picked up a drum and struck it with the drumsticks.
Yu Naixin: "...?!"
Yu Naixin's pupils suddenly contracted.
This drum has two drumheads, each mounted on a conical base, with the tops of the two cones connected to form a figure-eight shape.
However, Yu Naixin was not paying attention to these things.
What she noticed was that all the leather parts of this drum had the exact same texture as human skin!
Look again at the drumstick in the Khenpo's hand; it is clearly made of human leg bone!
Yu Naixin cursed out a foul language.
She had seen this scene more than once in the fragments of the butter flower monk's memory, but piecing together the fragments was certainly not as impactful as witnessing it firsthand.
This must be the infamous "Sister Drum," or something similar—the same bloody dregs in a different guise.
In the past, Tibetan Buddhism believed that pure young girls who had never lied were the most precious "materials". The monks would raise the girls in Xingchan like livestock from a young age, cut off their tongues so that they could never speak for the rest of their lives, and then raise them until they were twelve to sixteen years old, when they could be "used".
They would make a hole in the top of these girls' heads, and while they were still alive, they would inject mercury into the hole to separate the flesh from the skin.
The girls died in extreme pain, deprived even of the right to scream.
Yu Naixin felt a chill run down her spine just from seeing the words on those documents.
What kind of cruel demon could come up with such a method?!
The skin taken from a living person is used to make drumheads, drawing paper, and everything else that requires leather products.
The remaining body parts also had their uses: leg bones could be made into drumsticks or horns, skull bones could be made into bowls or ritual implements, and even internal organs were common "materials" for sacrifices.
Such experiences are common among countless Xingchan practitioners.
Their lives are worth less than those of livestock.
Yu Naixin herself has experienced many tragic deaths, but when she saw the human skin drum and the human leg bone drumstick, she still felt a chill run down her spine and was still furious.
These... creatures are worse than animals!
Apart from Yu Naixin and the butter flower monk, it seemed that no one was dissatisfied with this sacrificial ceremony.
The monks and nobles happily concluded the ceremony and left, leaving the monks to clean up the site.
Yu Naixin saw that several Xingchan monks were secretly kowtowing and praying before the venue was dismantled, muttering something unintelligible, their expressions extremely devout and fervent.
It seems that this already incomplete sacrificial site is their only salvation.
Indeed, that is the case. Apart from placing their hopes on the high and mighty gods and Buddhas, how else could they get through the days before they died?
They didn't even dare to come inside the temple and kowtow to the actual statues of gods and Buddhas.
The butter sculpture monk remained in place; there was no need to move such an offering after the sacrificial ceremony was completed.
As the sun set and the courtyard fell into darkness, the hall was brightly lit by fine candles.
Yu Naixin had already learned from the monks around her that the name of this temple was "Nizhu Temple", which means Mani Jewel.
Nizhu Temple is indeed as its name suggests, adorned with jewels and precious stones, but the brilliance of these jewels cannot shine equally on everyone.
**********
Nothing major happened at Nizhu Temple in the following days.
Yu Naixin's only source of information was the monks who frequented the area near the main hall.
Few monks of high rank frequent this place; most are from the lower ranks. Through their conversations, Yu Naixin learned about the monks at the higher levels of the monastery, especially the abbot, who lived a life of luxury and extravagance, indulging in fine food and drink every day.
These lower-ranking monks were extremely envious of this.
Yu Naixin even overheard them talking about how the Khenpo's family had "cream biscuits from the Western countries," which were said to be as white as snow and very sweet and delicious.
Yu Naixin: "...?"
They even have butter cookies here?! Does that mean this fantasy world is set in... the early 20th century?
The butter flower monks come from a cultural background very similar to her own, a fact that Yu Naixin confirmed long ago.
She had previously assumed that the butter monk was someone from at least several hundred years ago, but it turns out the difference between him and her was only one or two hundred years!
The headless stone ghost is in the same episode as the butter flower monk again...
Yu Naixin couldn't help but recall the first time she simulated "Xiawei Temple," when she saw the headless stone ghost's simple armor cracked, revealing the mottled colors underneath.
Some of her previous guesses... have probably all come true...
Although there was nothing major to stimulate her, Yu Naixin could still sense that the spiritual power within the butter monk's body was still increasing, albeit at a rate so slow as to be almost negligible.
When she has nothing to do, Yu Naixin's only pastime is watching the bullet comments. Most of the viewers who were attracted by the special memory illusion have left after these few days of uneventful content. Yu Naixin can't see the number of online viewers in the live stream, but she can tell from the occasional mention in the bullet comments that the number is quite small.
Yu Naixin understood this quite well, since even she herself found it boring.
The ritual that used a drum made of human skin didn't generate much discussion among the audience. One reason was that they couldn't clearly see what was happening, and another was that these bloody and cruel scenes were actually quite commonplace for them.
How many live streams of "Heartbeat 1000%" are bloodless?
The production team has always done a great job translating between different languages, but why are there so many untranslated words in this fantasy world? It's completely confusing!
[It's probably because of the female guest. You see, she seems to understand everything, so what we're getting is probably what she heard.]
[Wow! The female guest has such a broad knowledge base?!]
[So far, I haven't seen this female guest act like this since the very first episode because she didn't understand anything.]
[This is a top-tier player who has completed two dungeons to perfection; it's normal for them to be highly skilled.]
[Wow, that's way too powerful in every aspect!]
**********
The time has come to the seventh day since the birth of the butter flower monk.
After less than a week of rest, Nizhu Temple is about to hold another sacrificial ceremony.
This time, Yu Naixin and the butter flower monks were no longer waiting in the warehouse for the offerings, but were placed at the feet of the Buddha statue, able to witness the entire preparation for the ceremony.
Then Yu Naixin saw the two Xingchans who were brought to the main hall.
In other words, the "materials" needed to make new instruments for the upcoming sacrificial ceremony.
Both Xingchan were women, both extremely thin and frail. From their dark, yellowish-brown, and weathered faces, it was impossible to tell their ages.
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