Chapter 33: The Monk

After reading the diary, Zhou You remained speechless for a long time.

First he killed his father, then his wife, then his own son and daughter. And he did it all so cleanly and decisively, without the slightest trace of guilt...

“This guy was wasted being born in the modern era. What does being the richest man in a city amount to? If he’d been born a few hundred years earlier and thrown into ancient times, he’d have at least become a notorious bandit king wreaking havoc across the land.”

Closing the diary, Zhou You felt a multitude of emotions.

“As for now, the System has basically given me two choices. One is to leave immediately. The other is probably to join the monk and fight that Auspicious Tranquil Ghost Mother Bodhisattva. But judging from all the clues I’ve seen so far, that thing definitely won’t be easy to deal with. So what should I choose?”

He glanced at the diary again, then finally shook his head.

“Forget it. I’ll go see that monk first, then decide after watching the final storyline.”

With that thought, Zhou You directly opened the System menu and selected the daytime of the fourth day.

However, while the scene was changing, he suddenly felt as though he had forgotten something.

Well, if he’d forgotten it, then he’d forgotten it. Since he couldn’t remember it clearly anymore, it probably wasn’t important.

The sun outside remained bright.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Zhou You felt that today’s sunlight was much warmer than before.

The midday rays filtered through the window lattice and draped themselves over his body like a thin veil, filling him with a comfortable warmth from head to toe.

The security office looked exactly the same as before.

The messy interior had not changed at all.

The only difference was that a new location had been specially marked in red on the patrol map near the entrance, a name that had never appeared before.

Guanghua Temple.

The mist outside the security office had also thinned considerably.

The previously illusory pedestrians had become tangible.

Although their eyes remained dull and unresponsive, at least the district now felt somewhat real.

Everything seemed to be improving.

Yet Zhou You could not shake his feeling of unease.

As daytime grew increasingly close to reality, would the completely opposite nighttime become ever closer to a demonic realm?

His pace unconsciously quickened.

About half an hour later, Zhou You finally arrived.

However, although Guanghua Temple was called a temple, it was actually only slightly larger than the security office.

It was merely a vermilion gatehouse commonly seen in urban districts.

In fact, because it was so narrow, it looked as though it had been forcibly squeezed between two residential buildings.

There was no sign hanging above the entrance.

Only several sticks of incense burning in the censer outside indicated that this was a religious site.

Walking through the wide-open doorway, Zhou You discovered that despite its small size, the temple possessed everything a normal temple hall should have.

At the innermost end stood a wooden Buddha statue receiving offerings.

Unfortunately, his knowledge was too limited to identify what it was.

At that moment, an elderly monk sat before the statue.

His head was lowered, and he softly chanted indistinct scriptures as though praying for something.

Maintaining basic courtesy, Zhou You stood at the entrance and listened for a while.

Unfortunately, the monk was so absorbed that he failed to notice a living person entering the temple.

After waiting for some time, Zhou You finally lost patience and stepped forward to lightly pat the monk’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. I’m...”

Before Zhou You could finish speaking, the old monk turned around.

Very slowly.

Painfully slowly.

Yet that simple motion almost made Zhou You draw his dagger.

The man’s appearance was simply too horrifying.

At first glance, only a layer of wrinkled skin remained stretched tightly over bone.

There was nothing beneath it.

No muscle.

No fat.

Not even blood vessels.

He looked as though a human skin had been forcibly draped over a skeleton.

Merely looking at him made him resemble a ghost.

In fact, it could be said that even the Landlady from Building Four looked healthier than he did.

But there was one problem.

The bell had not rung.

And this man was still breathing.

Seeing Zhou You’s wary expression, the skin-covered skeleton paid it no mind.

He slowly rose to his feet, bent his waist, and solemnly performed a respectful bow toward Zhou You.

“Many thanks, benefactor, for breaking the seal and saving this old monk’s life.”

“And...”

His mouth opened slightly.

His voice sounded as rusty as corroded metal.

“May I ask...”

“Could you get this old monk something to eat?”

A little over ten minutes later, they were still sitting in the same temple hall.

“...In short, that’s what happened. This old monk was deceived by Liu Shang back then as well. He claimed he wanted to donate money to restore the temple’s golden statue and strengthen the seal. Instead, he joined forces with Ghost Granny and sealed me inside the temple. For three whole months I had neither food nor water. I was forced to enter a state of withered meditation just to survive. In the end, I became this neither-human-nor-ghost thing...”

Unlike his terrifying appearance, the monk’s voice was calm and upright.

The only problem was that his mouth was currently stuffed with food, making his words somewhat slurred.

Sitting on a meditation cushion across from him, Zhou You watched as the monk tore into a chicken drumstick.

It was the only food Zhou You had been able to obtain from a nearby food stall.

Then he quietly asked,

“Master, is it really okay for you to eat meat?”

“Normally, no. But under the current circumstances, whether it’s okay or not doesn’t matter anymore. Besides, if I don’t restore some strength while I have the chance, how am I supposed to fight that thing later? Compared to the lives of everyone in the city, breaking a precept once is insignificant. I can still tell which matters more.”

The old monk carefully tore off a strip of meat and placed it into his mouth.

But this was not enjoyment.

Judging from his expression, he was clearly unaccustomed to eating meat.

Every swallow made him frown deeply.

Yet in the end he managed to force all of it down.

Afterward, he wiped the corner of his mouth with his greasy hand and said to Zhou You,

“Benefactor, I more or less understand what you’re asking. But I must tell you something as well. This Auspicious Tranquil Ghost Mother Bodhisattva is not easy to deal with. Though it calls itself a bodhisattva, it was originally a demon suppressed here hundreds of years ago. It accepts flesh and blood as sacrifices and feeds upon human organs. If the three temples were still intact, this old monk might be able to reinforce the seal. But now all three temples have been corrupted. Unless a Buddha personally descends into the world, there is nothing anyone can do.”

Zhou You froze.

“...Master, then why were you just saying that you intended to fight it?”

“We can’t simply abandon all those people.”

The old monk’s expression remained calm.

“For now, it is only causing trouble within this realm of illusion and reality. But once it escapes, the entire city will immediately become a ghost domain. I may already be nearing the end of my life, but I still retain a little magical power. If I exhaust everything I have, I can bypass one of the resentful spirits guarding the crossroads. Therefore...”

The old monk let out a soft sigh.

“All I can do is try my best and leave the rest to fate. I can only see whether a single remaining temple might delay it somewhat. As for you, benefactor, this place is no longer suitable for staying. Fortunately, I’ve recovered a little strength. I can barely send one person out. However, I have one request. After you leave, please immediately go to Qingjing Temple on the nearby mountain and inform my senior brothers that the bodhisattva has broken free of its seal. They must come down the mountain at once and evacuate the city’s residents, lest even more innocent people die.”

Every word carried an unmistakable refusal.

He had not even left Zhou You room to argue.

Well, it looked like the scenario ended here. Though there still seemed to be a side quest. The only question was what exactly that Qingjing Temple...

After listening to the monk’s endless instructions, which sounded suspiciously like final words, Zhou You could only stand up and dust himself off.

He was just about to follow the monk’s suggestion and leave.

But in the very next second, his expression froze.

A crucial point had suddenly occurred to him.

“Wait a second. You said you can only bypass one ghost. So if I can help you bypass the other two, does that mean you can remove the seals on the three temples and seal that Auspicious Tranquil Ghost Mother Bodhisattva away again?”