Chapter 134 Xiawei Temple is not easily obtained. You deserve it.
The headless stone demon was sitting on the stone bed.
This stone bed is the only thing in the cave that can be called furniture, and it is also the only decoration and object. Its shape is irregular, and it looks like it was carved by the headless stone ghost himself, which is similar to the armor on his body and the great sword in his hand.
The headless stone demon sat cross-legged on the bed, its hands resting naturally on its knees. The giant blue stone sword was placed on the edge of the bed for easy access.
Yu Naixin recognized that this posture was the one the headless stone ghost had maintained when it served as a stone Buddha in the grotto.
Upon hearing Yu Naixin's voice, the headless stone ghost, whose neck had been slightly drooping, immediately raised its head. After "seeing" Yu Naixin, it quickly stood up.
The headless stone ghost's movements were the kind that Yu Naixin was very familiar with; it was fast, but looked very clumsy.
Yu Naixin didn't stand still and wait for him to come over. Instead, she took the initiative to walk up to the headless stone ghost and carefully examined him up close.
"Illusion..." A deep, hoarse voice came from the severed neck. The headless stone ghost spoke, "Benefactor Yu, you... have seen my... Illusion of Recollection?"
Yu Naixin's eyes lit up.
Mr. Stone spoke much more fluently than before, and for the first time he even called her "Benefactor Yu," which was enough to show that his mind had indeed recovered a little!
As if sensing Yu Naixin's thoughts, the headless stone ghost nodded somewhat slowly: "Benefactor Yu, you have broken the illusion, and some of the resentment has freed me from its constraints."
【!! The stone Buddha is finally looking much normal again, that's great!】
[This punctuation is really hard for me to hear... Sigh, I wonder if the female guest can help him recover more. These kinds of guest contestants shouldn't have to suffer so much...]
[Having encountered the Great Demon King, Stone Buddha has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Using two sacrificial lambs as bait to enter that special memory illusion and stay there for such a long time—that's something only a typical TV guest could pull off.]
I still have a lot of questions about how the female guest knew there was an illusion in that place, and how she immediately knew that she could get in by using a substitute straw man...
[Each time the female guest survived a particularly eerie and resentful memory illusion, the resentment within the illusion did indeed dissipate, so it wouldn't be wrong to say she had broken free of the illusion's resentment. However, didn't the guest in the corresponding instance of the Butterfly Monk's illusion not show any significant changes after breaking free? How come the guest in the Headless Stone Ghost's instance suddenly regained such a clear mind?]
[Because the Butter Flower Monk's mind was not damaged, the dissolution of the resentment in the illusion didn't have an immediate effect. However, the headless stone ghost's mind was already severely affected by the resentment. Dissolving that resentment was equivalent to relieving a large part of his burden, so the effect was definitely much more pronounced than on the Butter Flower Monk.]
Yu Naixin chatted with the headless stone ghost for a while and found that Mr. Stone's most basic thinking abilities had almost returned, but he was a bit slow and dull, and he would no longer suddenly go out of control.
However, in terms of memory, the headless stone ghost can only remember those that left a particularly deep impression, including those memories after arriving at "Heartbeat 1000%", which the headless stone ghost does not remember very clearly.
The special memory illusion of the headless stone ghost is the same as that of the butter flower monk, both ending when the two of them enter the "Xiawei Temple" program segment.
Yu Naixin roughly knows from the fragments of the headless stone ghost's memory that Mr. Stone was the first guest to arrive at this program location.
The program's instance, which had not yet been occupied by any guest, was a very chaotic and dense gray fog, seemingly boundless from any direction. The headless stone ghost was like a bluish-black ink stain on dark gray rice paper, and only after this bluish-black ink stain became the center did the outlines of other scenery slowly emerge.
Because of the origin and background of the headless stone ghost and the stone Buddha, the earliest prototype of "Xiawei Temple" was a simple mountain wall. The earliest part with a more refined shape was the scattered golden ginseng flowers blooming on the stone wall.
This is what the headless stone golem considers most important. Even after he had a clear home field, he still regarded this place as his "home field".
There is no clear evidence for what happened later, but as someone who experienced all the memories of the headless stone ghost and had information from the butter flower monk as a reference, Yu Naixin was able to make a rough deduction.
—The headless stone ghost was afraid that the people under the stone wall would be attacked again, so it wanted a place that could shelter innocent people, and that place had to be as large as possible to accommodate as many people as possible to take refuge.
Thus, the Xiawei Temple, situated next to the stone wall, came to be, with its vast area of broken walls and ruins.
The headless stone demon's spiritual power and remaining consciousness could only go so far.
The arrival of the butter-flower monk finally enabled the temple to be truly established. The reason why the headless stone ghost stopped causing trouble for the butter-flower monk later was probably because it finally realized the merit of the butter-flower monk.
It was the butter flower monk who perfected and achieved the unfinished ideal of the headless stone ghost.
However, special areas within Xiawei Temple, such as the west wing of the backyard, can only remain in their dilapidated state as constructed by the headless stone ghost because they contain the special memories and illusions of the butter flower monk. Even the butter flower monk himself cannot repair them.
For example, the main hall, being the home ground of the headless stone ghost, naturally couldn't be altered by the butter flower monk, who was nominally the only competitor. The doors, windows, and walls on the front were passable, a result of the butter flower monk's efforts.
As for why the main hall was in such a state, it was naturally the work of the bandits and Japanese pirates that the headless stone ghost had witnessed firsthand. This was a wound etched into the headless stone ghost's heart that could not be erased even in another time and space.
After confirming the headless stone ghost's condition, Yu Naixin's eyes and brows were full of smiles. She held up the rehmannia flower she had been holding for a long time, stood on tiptoe, and handed it to the headless stone ghost: "Here! It's a 'honey pot' that grew in the snow next to the illusion. It should be especially sweet!"
Looking at the pink and white flower, the headless stone goblin was in a daze for a while before reaching out and carefully, even tremblingly, accepting the "honey pot".
The headless stone ghost remembered clearly that two days ago, Yu Naixin had given him a "honey pot" plant.
But at that time he was in a daze and had no clear concept of many things. He only knew that he should not harm the person who had taken the "honey pot" and that he was happy when someone gave him a gift.
And now, this is the first time he has received a "honey pot" from someone while he is fully conscious.
To comfort the young children, the headless stone ghost planted the "honey pot" on the rock wall where it was located. More than a thousand years have passed, and the "honey pots" covering the mountain have sweetened the smiles of countless children, but no one has ever given it a single flower.
The headless stone ghost received a considerable number of flowers from worshippers, including fresh flowers and paper flowers. However, the rehmannia flower, a small flower with an extremely inconspicuous appearance and even a grayish color, was rarely included in the offerings of the people.
Not to mention that the cave where the headless stone ghost is located is full of Rehmannia glutinosa flowers. If you offer this flower next to a Bodhisattva, wouldn't it be very insincere?
Yu Naixin was the first person to send a "honey pot" to the headless stone ghost.
Holding this "honey pot" that carried so much of the past, the headless stone ghost's voice trembled slightly: "...Thank you, Benefactor Yu."
[Congratulations, female guest! The male guest in this episode, "Headless Stone Ghost," has reached 100% affection for you!]
You will receive additional generous rewards during the settlement process after this program ends!
The sudden system notification startled Yu Naixin.
...How did Mr. Stone gain so much favorability so quickly?
[Full affection! The Stone Buddha has reached full affection for the Little Witch!!]
[I hereby declare that the Butter Flower Monk has lost this time! Both of them had a heart-to-heart talk after the female guest broke through their memory illusions, but the headless stone ghost immediately gained a lot of goodwill. Butter Flower Monk, what's wrong with you?! Are you really that cold-blooded? You're not even as good as a stone man?!]
[This is hilarious! I knew there were a lot of viewers as excited as I was to see the "Big Boss" win over all the male guests!]
[It's rare to see the little witch with such a bewildered expression, so cute!]
[Even the female guest involved was this surprised? What do you call this? Is this what they call a natural-born, max-level hooker?]
Yu Naixin was both amused and exasperated: "Mr. Stone, you've given me such a good impression way too easily!"
She didn't do anything.
“Not easily.” The headless stone demon slowly shook its head. “You deserve it.”
Wow! Wow, this is amazing! I heard a rock spouting sweet nothings so smoothly!
[Wow, is this the first time in Stone Buddha's history that he's spoken a complete sentence without any stumbles?! Even when he's out in public! I remember Stone Buddha was silent for a long time, the first time he spoke was about "killing" the Japanese pirates, and afterwards, his mental state deteriorated more and more, until now he can finally speak a complete sentence! All for the female guest!]
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Author's note: Second update coming soon~
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