Chapter 39: The Red Helmet

Moving quickly away from the cliffside, the squad followed the guidance of the young monk, Kuchao, and found a narrow path leading toward the Naye Buddhist Kingdom, significantly increasing their speed.

Before long, they followed the path and caught sight of a dilapidated, abandoned village in the distance.

Upon closer inspection, judging by the state of the buildings and the traces of recent activity, the village had been abandoned for less than a month. Everywhere were signs of man-made destruction and savage animal mutilation; the place was now completely deserted.

Here, Yuan Zhu finally saw the Huangquan ghosts he had been so curious about. Surprisingly, they were not entirely dead—or perhaps "dead" was the wrong word; they had not been completely destroyed.

Instead, someone had deliberately pinned them to the ground using long hardwood spears engraved with Buddhist mantras.

Green plants had taken root within the wounds, spreading across the ghosts' bodies and growing wildly to anchor them to the earth. No matter how weakly they struggled, they could not break free from the constraints of the mantra-engraved spears and the thick vines. They remained pinned, growing weaker with every struggle.

To be honest, after seeing this ghost, Yuan Zhu felt a bit disappointed. It was far less manic, terrifying, or challenging than the green-tinted bone-rot monsters; perhaps it was because it had already been dealt with.

This Huangquan ghost was a corporeal corpse-ghost, its skin withered and wrinkled, its eyes clouded, resembling a dehydrated mummy. Its clothes were long since tattered, emitting a faint stench of rot that was masked and suppressed by the fresh, strange scent wafting from the plants.

If there was one unique feature, it was the three arms. Beyond the two standard human arms, a large, tumorous growth protruded near the left shoulder blade on its back. It was shaped like a Buddha’s head, but its expression was fierce and ferocious, more like the face of an Asura demon.

From the mouth of this Buddha-head sprouted a long left arm. This arm was about 1.5 times the length of the mummy’s own arms. Even in its dehydrated state, it looked stronger and more powerful than the ghost's natural limbs. The fingers were slender, with sharp, claw-like nails.

Even pinned by the wooden spear, this flexible third arm could bend in an unnatural way, gripping the spear while its palm emitted a sizzling, burning sound, exerting all its strength in a futile attempt to pull the weapon from its body. No matter how hard it tried, the spear remained immovable.

Zhou Chu observed the scene: "The ghosts here have been cleared out. It must have been the monks of the Naye Buddhist Kingdom."

Yuan Zhu asked, "This victim also has a Buddha-head tumor on its back. Does that mean he was also a monk?"

The young monk, Kuchao, pressed his palms together and bowed to the corpse-ghost before saying, "This is a warrior monk from the Vajra Temple. The arm on his back is a 'Buddha Palm.' Every accomplished warrior monk possesses a Buddha Palm, though they appear in different locations. The more Buddha Palms one has, the higher their mastery of the Dharma. It is rumored that among the Bodhisattvas of Mount Ling, there is one known as the Thousand-Armed Guanyin."

So that was how the "Thousand-Armed Guanyin" was interpreted?

Yuan Zhu recalled the Buddha-cocoon on Kuchao, which was only the size of a pigeon egg. The Buddha-cocoon on this dehydrated corpse, however, was the size of half a soccer ball, a full circle larger than an adult's shoulder.

"Hey, little monk. Why is there such a huge difference between your Buddha-cocoon and this one? Is it because your inherent wisdom is lacking or your understanding of the Dharma is shallow?"

Hearing this, Kuchao’s face flushed red, and he stood shamed and speechless.

The squad leader intervened: "There are two paths of Buddhist cultivation: one is to refine the physical body to become indestructible like a Vajra, existing in the world forever to achieve Buddhahood in this very body. The other is to hone the spirit, ensuring the true soul remains immortal, achieving Buddhahood through reincarnation. This Huangquan ghost cultivated the indestructible Vajra body, which is why its Buddha-cocoon mutated, spawning fleshly limbs or other organs. As for the little monk, he has only just begun; he is not yet qualified to choose a path, and his Buddha-cocoon is still in its primal state, yet to gestate into a 'seed' or brew magical power."

Kuchao nodded repeatedly, replying to Yuan Zhu, "That is exactly right! I am not yet worthy to claim deep knowledge of the Dharma, but the Buddha-cocoon is indeed the root of wisdom."

"Continue the search and see if you can find any other useful information."

Before long, the group discovered seven more corpse-ghosts in the village. Three had already perished completely, while the remaining three were still struggling weakly.

The wooden spears, imbued with special power, served as both a seal and a means of torture, used to vent anger and take revenge.

Beyond the scattered spears blessed with Buddhist power, the squad also found another type of ghost—an intangible, resentful spirit. These were also processed and sealed in common black jars, half-buried in the ground with the other half exposed.

On the surface of the jars, the same thorny plants grew, weaving into a cage that locked the jars firmly to the ground.

Having been in constant contact with various sources of pollution over the past two days—especially after joining the "Happy Home" and receiving explanations from Meng Xiyue, and requesting a set of pollution test strips from Zhou Chu as a souvenir—the "Immortal Scripture" was no longer as ignorant as it had been upon first arrival. It no longer labeled every harmful substance as simply "Pollution." Now, it could vaguely distinguish and categorize the types of pollution. Having smelled enough stench, it could finally offer a critique.

The "Immortal Scripture" captured a special fluctuation similar to "Holy Light" from the plants and spears. The little sprite guessed it was a "Light Attribute," which aligned with Yuan Zhu’s expectations of Buddhism. After all, Buddhist light is said to shine for ten thousand miles, and these plants likely held the blessing of "Evil-Repelling Buddhist Light."

"These plants contain special energy that imprisons and grinds down the resentful spirits within the jars. As long as they aren't broken, they will continuously absorb energy from the environment to suppress and eventually extinguish the spirits. Like the pinned corpses, this must be the local Buddhist method of subduing demons."

Meng Xiyue rested her chin on her hand and asked skeptically, "Little monk, have you ever seen this method of demon-subduing before? It doesn't seem like the Buddhist style I remember. I've heard that the lingering traces of Buddhist power usually make people feel as if they smell sandalwood or hear Zen chants, bringing a sense of peace. Your Buddha-cocoon has that effect, but these wooden spears and vines do not."

Kuchao shook his head: "I recognize the jars; they are containers from the market used to store food or wine. But this method of driving away demons and killing ghosts, along with these spears and plants, is something I am seeing for the first time."

Meng Xiyue added, "Could it be the new power mentioned in that letter, which the new Abbot found to suppress and eliminate the Buddha-ghosts?"

Zhou Chu said, "We'll know once we reach Naye City. Let's pick up the pace!"

...

The group set off again, heading straight for the Naye Buddhist Kingdom along the main road.

Along the way, they encountered several more villages, almost all completely empty, filled with the remains of pinned corpse-ghosts, sealed resentful spirits, and charred, fragmented remains of bone-rot monsters.

Under the squad leader's guidance, Yuan Zhu and the others pulled out a few wooden spears that had already finished off their targets to use as defensive weapons.

Additionally, the leader remarked that the "third limbs" (Buddha Palms) of the dead corpse-ghosts could be traded for a few coins in the God Realm. If they weren't afraid of the grime and stench, they could collect a batch, provided they didn't let their uniforms absorb them.

As they continued, any stray ghosts they encountered posed no threat. Since their uniforms were also resistant to the "Huangquan aura," the leader arranged for the squad members to take turns fighting the corpse-ghosts, using them to hone their courage.

With the wooden spears as a weapon to restrain the ghosts, Yuan Zhu found it easy to blow the heads off ordinary corpse-ghosts, though he still couldn't secure a kill unless he chose to leave the spear behind to pin them down.

Desperate, he pulled out his "13 Methods of Exorcism," hoping to find a new technique. However, the book mentioned closed environments with chlorine gas fumigation, high-concentration holy salt solutions, scientific holy light (UV rays)... he had none of the materials.

In the end, Yuan Zhu summarized a primitive exorcism method for everyone: Fire. Use the spear to blow the head off, break a leg, and finally shove a burning torch into the stomach to ignite the marsh gas, quickly setting the corpse-ghost ablaze.

Purifying all impurity with primitive fire.

As for the intangible resentful spirits? During its first attack, it launched a mental assault that was deflected by the squad's uniforms. It was forced to change targets, successfully possessing a small goat.

Then, it was dealt with by Zhou Chu.

This was the first time she had demonstrated her "Law-Command" ability. Yuan Zhu saw a fingerless red glove appear on her right hand out of thin air. With a wave of her arm, she lashed out a chain from her palm, binding the goat tightly.

The goat then convulsed violently, screaming as if subjected to continuous electric shocks. It had the distinct flavor of an exorcism, like a believer possessed by a demon being tormented by a cleric, and a large pile of black pearls spilled onto the ground.

In the end, the last trace of the resentful spirit's power vanished from within the goat. The saved goat was left half-dead. It walked with a limp, did its best to avoid Zhou Chu, became silent and withdrawn, and had no interest in eating the roadside grass.

Yuan Zhu didn't understand any of it; all he saw was a young lady abusing an animal and earning the gratitude of an old woman.

...

Finally, as the foam world approached dusk, the team arrived at the outskirts of Naye City. From afar, they could see the blurred outline of the city walls and the towering Buddhist pagodas within.

As Yuan Zhu’s group approached, a team of people appeared at the city gate, riding toward them at high speed.

The two groups moved toward each other, and as the distance closed, the image became clearer. From quite a distance, Yuan Zhu saw a group of red helmets approaching via the rats he had sent out to scout.

Why weren't they wearing armor, yet sporting bright red helmets? Weren't they afraid of drawing attention?

But as they drew even closer, he realized those weren't helmets at all. They were...

"Human heads?"