Brahma Sound City, the City with No Way Out
Lu Ping: "..."
Little C, you've really gone too far.
You're really not afraid of the Little Black Room, are you?!
Lu Ping decisively chose A.
[You chose A.]
You held onto that Peaceful Dwelling Talisman, without refusing.
You looked up, smiled at Auntie Wang, and casually folded the yellow paper, placing it on your belt.
[The moment it touched my skin, the sandalwood scent from the Peaceful Dwelling Talisman suddenly became much stronger.]
[Salty Fish, in effect.]
[ For Heavy Tomato Users, this is in effect]
Your Dao Heart is as strong as gold, stronger than iron.
[The fragrance became natural and lingering again.]
[When Auntie Wang saw that you had put it on, she nodded in satisfaction.]
"That's right. Only by respecting Buddha can one live a peaceful life."
[Auntie Wang turned around and walked out of the courtyard.]
[You stand on the threshold, watching her figure disappear around the alleyway, your eyes slightly darkened.]
[You return inside and take out the Peaceful Dwelling Talisman, then throw it on the table.]
[You sit cross-legged on the bed, close your eyes, and continue circulating the meager amount of Spiritual Qi within your body.]
[You've thought about it.]
[At the current pace, you should be able to recover to the Foundation Establishment Realm stage in less than a year.]
[The next morning, you pushed open the courtyard gate and went to work at Chen's Rice Shop as usual.]
[As he passed the street corner, a tree branch overhead suddenly wobbled. Huzi, the blacksmith's son, slipped and fell straight to the ground.]
A crisp "snap" sound.
Huzi's right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and blood quickly seeped onto the ground.
The screams attracted a group of people.
[The man from the blacksmith's shop rushed out and scooped up Huzi from the ground.]
[Several neighbors quickly lent a hand, and a group of people surrounded them, running straight towards the temple in the center of the city.]
[You followed behind too.]
The temple was enormous, and its incense was ever-burning.
The blacksmith placed Huzi on the Meditation Cushion in front of the Buddha statue, and the neighbors who had come along also put their hands together in prayer.
The blacksmith kowtowed three times, deeply.
A beam of golden light descended from the Buddha statue, enveloping Huzi.
[In just over ten breaths, the bloody gash on Huzi's arm had healed, and the twisted bones had returned to their original positions.]
Huzi climbed off the Meditation Cushion, shook his arms, and as if nothing had happened, pushed through the crowd and ran off to play again.
[You stand outside the door, silently watching this scene.]
[You stopped an old man who had come with you and casually asked him a question.]
"Grandpa, how old is Huzi? Why is he still climbing trees to steal birds' nests all the time?"
The old man stroked his chin, thought for a long time, and then shook his head.
"How old? I can't remember. Anyway, when I moved to this street, he was already raiding that bird's nest."
You walk up to Huzi and ask him if he wants to grow up.
[Huzi licks his candied hawthorn, looking at you with a strange expression.]
"What am I supposed to do when I grow up? My mother likes me this way, and Buddha Lord likes me this way too."
[Options pop up.]
[A: Suppressing his suspicions, he continued to observe discreetly.]
[B: A gust of wind sliced off Huzi's other arm. Let's see if this Buddha's light can even regenerate severed limbs.]
[C: Rushes up to the blacksmith and hands him his business card: "Brother, interested in accident insurance? A fracture compensation package is only 3.2 million! While Buddha Lord can cure you, he doesn't cover lost wages or emotional distress!"]
Little B, you're starting to head down the road to getting into Little Black Room.
None of you are allowed to leave work until you are 63!
Even Buddha Lord couldn't do it, I'm telling you!
Lu Ping chose A.
[You chose A.]
[You return to Chen's Rice Shop, where Shopkeeper Chen is dozing on Bamboo Chair.]
[You asked Shopkeeper Chen for a day off, saying you weren't feeling well and wanted to go outside the city for some fresh air.]
Shopkeeper Chen waved his hand, not even asking another question.
[You walk along the Main Street towards the east gate.]
[Outside the city, there was a straight official road, with endless fields on both sides.]
[You walked along the official road like an ordinary person.]
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
[After walking all day, the outline of a city finally appears ahead on the official road.]
[You walk to the city gate and look up. Three large characters are carved on the gate: Brahma Sound City).]
You glanced back at the road you had come from, then looked at the city gate.
[You went out from the east gate, walked all day, and returned to the west gate.]
[There's a tea stall at the city gate; the owner is your neighbor. Seeing you approach, sweating profusely, he hands you a bowl of coarse tea and grins.]
"Ping-ge'er, are you being foolish again? Why don't you stay in the city and insist on running away?"
You took the teacup and took a sip.
"Sir, what exactly is this place outside the city?"
The old man waved his hand, looking puzzled.
"Outside? There's nothing outside. We have food and clothing in our Brahma Sound City, we're free from illness and disaster, and Buddha Lord protects us. Where else do you want to go?"
"But there has to be some other way, right?"
[You put down your teacup, and following the old man's lead, feign a troubled expression.]
"Grandpa, I just feel like life is too mundane, and I want to go out and see the world. Has no one in our city ever gone out before?"
The old man listened and lowered his voice, saying...
"There are no ordinary people who leave the temple. However, the monks in the temple can go elsewhere."
[You glanced at them and handed them two copper coins.]
"Sir, could you please explain in detail?"
The old man only accepted one copper coin as payment for the tea, then pointed in the direction of the temple in the center of the city.
"Our Brahma Sound City is just a corner of the Buddha Kingdom. The masters in the temple say that every ten years, on the Buddha-Veneration Day, temples in each city select several Willing Envoys."
"Willing Envoys leave the Brahma Sound City and travel to the Central Buddha Capital to pay homage to the Mārīcī Buddha."
"That's an incredible stroke of luck! I've heard that if you see the Buddha Lord, you can transcend your mortal body and become Golden-Body Arhat."
[Mārīcī Buddha?]
You thanked the old man and turned to walk back to Brahma Sound City.
[As darkness fell, the sound of evening chanting drifted from the temple in the center of the city.]
You stand on the street corner, looking at the temple with its incense smoke curling upwards.
[Options pop up.]
[A: Find a way to sneak into the temple and get a monk's identity first.]
[B: You know all that tricks about burning down the Red Lotus Temple and Shaolin Temple! Set fire to the temples overnight and force that old bald monk to hand over his spot.]
[C: Sneaking into the abbot's meditation room overnight, he grabbed the abbot, who hadn't even had time to put on his underwear: "Master, how many Willing Envoy in ten years? This is definitely a unique and scarce asset! Let's break down the Buddhahood quota into 100,000 'merit ABS trusts,' pledge incense offerings to Leverage tenfold, inflate the valuation, and list it in the Buddhist capital! We'll speculate on 'concept stocks' with one hand and run a pig butchering scam with the other. As long as the bubble is big enough, it will tear through the entire Buddha Kingdom. At that time, even Buddha Lord will have to come down and offer us cigarettes and pour us water to wash our feet!"]