Chapter 118 Xiawei Temple is for saving the other party
They were forcibly dragged here by two monks in old robes. These two monks seemed to know what they were about to face, their faces filled with fear and resistance.
But their bodies were too thin and weak, and even their struggles seemed feeble and powerless, or rather... they didn't dare to struggle at all.
Thrown carelessly into a corner of the main hall, the two Xingchan monks collapsed onto the floor, trembling like two puddles of mud.
It is clear that the matter of the lives of two Xingchan monks is not worth the Khenpo's personal appearance.
The person who came into the hall to carry out the work was just an ordinary-looking monk. He walked skillfully to the two female monks and, standing tall, commanded them from above: "Today you must stay in front of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas for three hours to absorb their aura, so that you can be qualified as offerings tomorrow!"
The monk was clearly in the posture of his hands clasped together in front of his chest, like a Buddhist who was as humble and devout as could be, but in the eyes of these two monks, he was comparable to the most brutal devil.
They instinctively huddled together, trying to draw even the slightest sense of security from each other, but the result was nothing more than two puddles of mud merging into one, still not resembling human figures.
Xingchan, whose hair was slightly longer, mumbled something with his pale, purplish lips, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single syllable.
Seeing her reaction, the monk glared at her and instinctively wanted to kick her, but he quickly realized that she was already the chosen material and it would be troublesome if he kicked her and caused any problems.
Offerings must be made while the animals are alive to ensure their spirituality; dead animals are not suitable as materials.
With a cold snort, the monk ultimately did not move his foot: "You lowly bastards, being qualified to kneel at the feet of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas is already an immense blessing, and you are still not satisfied?!"
After speaking in a condescending tone, the monk, not wanting to waste any more time with the two monks, strode away from the hall.
The temple doors were tightly shut, imprisoning the two Xingchan monks inside. Several monks guarded the outside to prevent them from escaping.
The main hall, where several incense sticks and candles are lit every hour of the day, is never lacking in light. The candlelight illuminates the faces of the two monks, who are in despair and collapse, clearly and vividly.
It's unclear who started crying first, but the two initially tried to suppress their sobs, but later they became increasingly unable to control their wailing, and their sorrowful cries filled the entire Buddhist temple.
Yu Naixin couldn't help but close the eyes of her spirit.
She was just a complete bystander.
Even if we take a step back, Yu Naixin still can't understand why, after selecting these poor people as "materials" for sacrifice, they wouldn't be allowed to eat anything good and would just be left to starve and wait to die.
These Xingchans have never had a full meal since birth.
Time ticked by, and under the looming threat of death, Xingchan, whose hair was slightly longer, could no longer endure it.
She knelt on the ground, crawling on all fours from the corner to the main statue of the gods and Buddhas. Like a madwoman, she slammed her head against the ground repeatedly, kowtowing to the deities: "Buddha! Bodhisattva! I beg you! I beg you! Save your followers, save your servants!"
She was rapidly muttering something incoherently, which Yu Naixin couldn't understand at all, except for the repeated phrases "I don't want to die" and "I want to live."
In just a few breaths, she had already banged her forehead until it was covered in blood, but she showed no sign of stopping.
Another Xingchan quickly joined in, the two withered and thin figures prostrating themselves on the ground, using the most humble and devout way they could to pray for the mercy of the gods and Buddhas.
The blood spurting from their heads even landed on the butter-flower monk at the foot of the Buddha statue.
"Sizzle".
Like the sound of a candle wick being lit, Yu Naixin heard the voice emanating from the body of the butter-flower monk.
That drop of blood acted like a powerful catalyst, causing the insignificant spiritual energy buds of the butter monk to suddenly begin to grow at a rate far exceeding that of before.
Finally, amidst the increasingly muffled kowtows of the two monks, the butter flower monks gained complete spirituality for the first time.
The hardships he was facing made the butter sculpture monk dissatisfied with the inanimate body of a butter sculpture; he longed to gain more power to reach out to these suffering people.
As the possessing spirit, Yu Naixin could clearly sense how the initial simple thoughts of the butter flower monk were formed and operated.
He eventually succeeded.
The eyes made of butter sculptures shone with the color of "life." The butter sculpture monk looked at Xingchan, who was kneeling not only at the feet of the golden Buddha statue but also at his own feet, and tried to communicate with them: "Get up! Give me your hand and finger!"
Yu Naixin's eyelids drooped slightly.
The way the butter-flower monk spoke at this moment... was remarkably similar to the headless stone ghost in "Xiawei Temple".
Not only was his speech halting, but the sound the butter-flower monk could make was also very weak, completely drowned out by the kowtows of the two monks.
It wasn't until the first Xingchan to seek help fainted due to excessive blood loss that another Xingchan rushed to check her breathing, finally noticing the butter flower monk.
After a brief moment of disbelief, Xingchan, still lucid, was overjoyed: "Buddha! Buddha has appeared to us!!"
Without hesitation, she bit off all ten fingers of both her hands with her teeth. Enduring the excruciating pain and amidst waves of dizziness and blurred vision, she held the ten fingers in her two bare, bloody palms and placed them at the feet of the butter monk.
Xingchan, who had fainted, had regained some consciousness. Under the almost incoherent retelling of Xingchan with the severed finger, she also hurriedly offered up her ten fingers.
Yu Naixin: "..."
Seeing the spark of hope finally igniting in their eyes, Yu Naixin sighed deeply.
Given the physical condition of these two Xingchans, if they were to sustain such severe injuries in a place like the plateau, even if they managed to escape, they wouldn't be able to survive for long; infection and inflammation would easily take their lives.
...Perhaps for them, dying here would be a tiny bit better than being brutally murdered alive.
The twenty fingers almost completely submerged the entire body of the butter-flower monk.
He awkwardly mobilized the spiritual power within his body, imitating the method of the old monk who created him, using these twenty fingers as raw materials to create two human bodies.
The idea of the butter flower monk was to create replicas of these two Xingchan figures to replace them as offerings.
At this stage, the butter flower monks' use of spiritual power is like a young child learning to use chopsticks, paper, and pen—difficult and awkward, with both efficiency and quality being appalling.
Along the way, Yu Naixin couldn't help but want to lend a hand several times, but she and the butter flower monk were essentially from different times and spaces, so she couldn't help at all.
It is conceivable that, under such circumstances, the common sense of the butter-flower monk's attempt to rescue Xingchan could only end in failure.
The human bodies created from twenty fingers were deformed and bizarre. The two Xingchans were unable to find a chance to escape. When the monks outside came in to drag them away for sacrifice, the monk who had previously reprimanded them was furious when he saw their empty finger parts.
Ultimately, these two Xingchan did escape the fate of becoming offering materials because they were not complete enough.
Two other female Xingchan were temporarily brought in as sacrifices, and the sacrificial ceremony proceeded as scheduled. These two Xingchan, however, died under cruel torture.
Yu Naixin and the butter flower monk could both hear the two girls' shrill screams before they died in the dungeon not far away.
No one expected that the butter sculpture offering placed at the feet of the Buddha's golden statue would come to life. The two Xingchan monks never revealed the story of the butter sculpture monk until their deaths, and the butter sculpture monk was able to remain in place intact.
Yu Naixin could sense how much this event had shaken the monk's heart.
Another sacrificial ceremony began half a month later. Yu Naixin discovered that the sacrificial ceremonies at Nizhu Monastery seemed to have no regularity. It seemed that the Khenpo would hold one whenever he wanted, and leave it idle when he didn't.
This time, the sacrifice involved three male monks who were to be imprisoned in the main hall for three hours. They were also desperate and couldn't help but beg the gods and Buddhas for help. The butter flower monks also "manifested their power" and took the fingers of the three of them.
Yu Naixin realized at this moment that the butter flower monk's ability to create objects out of thin air must have been honed to perfection in this process.
Using severed fingers as raw materials is a tradition inherited from the old monk whose ten fingers were frostbitten and crippled. This is also directly related to the hunting conditions when he later appeared as a guest in the "Xiawei Temple" instance.
Yu Naixin finally resolved a question that had been bothering her: why did the butter monk, who clearly meant her no harm, insist on setting hunting conditions for her during her first simulation, genuinely intending to cut off one of her fingers?
Aside from the fact that she harbored hostility towards the Butter Flower Monk during that simulation, for the Butter Flower Monk, cutting off someone's finger was not a way to harm them; on the contrary, it was a way to save them.
Moreover, the butter monk specifically chose Yu Naixin's little finger, the one that would have the least impact on her health.
Later, since Yu Naixin was unwilling, the butter flower monk did not insist.
The three male monks provided a total of thirty fingers, and the butter flower monks' sculpting skills also improved significantly with the further growth of their spiritual power. This time, the three substitutes were so realistic that they could be mistaken for real people.
The butter flower monks also specifically pointed out the patterns they had observed over this period, informing them when the guarding monks would become lax and careless, thus providing them with the best opportunity to escape.
The three Xingchan monks kowtowed several times to the butter sculpture monks, tears streaming down their faces, thanking the "Living Buddha" for saving them.
"...This humble monk is not a living Buddha." The butter flower monk said helplessly.
However, he can only speak and create things with raw materials; his body is still immobile, and he has no way to stop the three Xingchans from bowing.
Watching the three of them carefully and successfully escape from the hall, the butter-flower monk felt both pity and relief.
He was finally... able to save people.
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