Buddha Tomato! Buddha Tomato!!!

Lü Rang, standing behind Yuan Zhu, was terrified by the sight.

He gripped his rifle with both hands, his fingers trembling with nerves as they kept clicking against the trigger. If the safety had not been on beforehand, he would already have been beaten to death by those increasingly deranged believers for attacking first and disrupting the ritual.

Now, not only had the monks in the center of the square grown larger, rounder heads that were an eerily evil red, tearing free from their necks and floating high into the air, only to be tethered by their spines.

Rather than being afraid at the sight, the believers around the perimeter grew even more fanatical because their mental frequencies had been hijacked by the Dharma net. They chanted scriptures with greater fervor, sending wave after wave of spiritual power to the "Tomato Heads" serving as nodes of the Dharma net, resisting the endlessly falling starlight.

There were simply too many spectators present, and everyone was chanting with astonishingly uniform fervor. The squad's position was close to the square, making it convenient for them to watch the ceremony.

Under these circumstances, trying to leave would be far too conspicuous and would easily draw the attention and assault of the fanatical crowd. Yuan Zhu thus urged Lü Rang to stay calm. "Let's wait and see. We don't know yet whether this change is good or bad."

Meng Xiyue beside him analyzed, "I don't think any of this has gone beyond the Abbot's plans. Otherwise, he wouldn't be acting so calm."

Although the scene was bizarre beyond belief, the local residents of Na Ye City looked utterly unsurprised. Perhaps this was the proper way for a Buddhist Sect ritual to unfold? Having entered another land, they could only follow its customs and offer their blessings, hoping the coming developments might become a little less undead.

As they lowered their heads and whispered among themselves, more and more false human heads swelled violently into spheres, tore free from their necks, floated into the air, and burst with bloody light as they tried to return to the Starry Sky.

Yuan Zhu could see that the spinal bones connecting the heads to their bodies bore not the slightest trace of flesh or blood vessels. Yet between the fractured wounds and the bones, strands of dark green flesh stretched out like leaf veins, clinging tightly to the sections of bone and holding the heads back from flying away.

"Look at those green veins on the bones. Don't they resemble the contaminated flesh tissue of those foul-bone mad beasts?"

"Huh? A little, yeah."

At that moment, a spherical, blood-red head swollen to its limit finally could no longer bear the endless influx of starlight. It opened its mouth and let out a scream of unbearable agony before exploding in midair with a Bang!, splattering thick, bright-red eggplant juice in every direction.

In an instant, a rich fragrance—impossible to tell whether it was fruity or the sweet scent of flesh and blood—spread across the square.

Immediately afterward, one giant head after another, rapidly fattened by starlight energy, exploded in succession, spraying crimson fruit pulp all over the ground. The sight was far too graphic—more thrilling than when he had blown apart the heads of wild beasts with random gunfire!

"Glug..." "Slurp..." "Gurgle..."

The civilians around Yuan Zhu struggled to chant, yet swallowing sounds rose from their throats one after another, while their stomachs rumbled with hunger.

That scent was simply too alluring, overflowing with fruitiness and carrying a captivatingly fishy sweetness. Even without tasting it, one could automatically conjure detailed illusions of its flavor in one's mind.

After telling the Little Elf to strengthen its shielding against external illusionary erosion, Yuan Zhu stared fixedly at the square. He saw that red starlight still shone from the spots where the heads had exploded and self-destructed.

The Eggplant Heads, which had kept swelling until they burst, were gone, but the Buddha Cocoons nurtured inside their heads had not disappeared. Instead, after absorbing highly concentrated starlight, they had become objects possessing the dual traits of "Buddha Dharma" and "starlight."

Their size had not changed—they were still as large as pigeon eggs—but they had turned vermilion. They were shaped like Buddha heads with complete features, their eyes closed in compassion, but at the neck of each Buddha head, layers of green calyx leaves grew upside down.

Viewed upside down, they were clearly little tomatoes with leafy caps!

The tomato Buddha Cocoons floated in the air, releasing streams of blood-colored starlight. Buddhist scripture BGM rose around them, while the sandalwood fragrance they had once emitted was replaced by the fruity aroma of eggplant juice.

"What exactly are these things? Buddha Cocoons? Sarira? Buddha-head tomatoes? Or Buddha Fruits?"

Smack! Bang! Boom! One floating head after another exploded amid despairing wails. Eggplant juice like blood plasma splashed and erupted, scattered by the wind into a bloody mist that rained down over the entire venue.

Not even Yuan Zhu escaped the baptism of eggplant-juice blood rain. Warm, sweet juice dripped onto his cheek, releasing an enticing fragrance. Unable to resist, he licked a drop. Sour and sweet, with a hint of salt? It was actually pretty good.

The floor at the center of the square was flooded with vast amounts of eggplant juice. The stone slabs rapidly absorbed the juice and pulp on their surfaces, hissing as they softened, bulged, and grew vascular patterns, forming the outlines of Buddha heads. A touch of tender green even drilled out from their mouths, beginning to stretch and grow with seductive flourish.

Rustle, rustle, rustle... The originally blood-red ground was quickly drained dry. Face after face of Buddha emerged, spitting out thorny Eggplant Seedlings that rapidly grew beneath the starlight. The stone Buddha faces beneath the plants also groaned in incoherent delirium. "Eggplant, eggplant, eggplant! Buddha, Buddha, Buddha!"

Lü Rang pointed at the sprouting green shoots and said excitedly, "Ah! I recognize them. They're the plants used in those villages to imprison and seal ghostly things! Our wooden spears were transformed from this kind of plant too?!"

Yuan Zhu said calmly, "After these Tomato Heads explode, the eggplant-juice blood plasma they spray out is red. But the blood of those mad beasts is green. There must be some kind of connection between them!"

Zhou Chu said, "Could it be that once they mature, their blood becomes tomato-colored? And before maturity, their blood is the color of plant leaves and stems?"

Meng Xiyue said, "Isn't that a bit too hasty?"

Monk after monk had their heads burst beneath the starlight, their wildly spraying eggplant juice nourishing all living beings, leaving behind only a single mature Buddha Cocoon Sarira, gleaming with bloody light. More civilians tilted their heads back, greedily sucking in the eggplant-juice blood rain falling from the sky to replenish their strength and continue contributing their share of spiritual power to the Dharma net.

At this moment, the special "Eggplant Head false humans" surrounding the Abbot wore equally agonized expressions, yet none of their heads swelled or tore free from their necks. Instead, their features sometimes twisted savagely as green light flashed in their eyes; at other times, they looked pained as they continued chanting with difficulty.

The distance was too great for Yuan Zhu to hear them clearly. But one thing was certain: these monsters were not shouting "Eggplant! Eggplant! Eggplant!" Rather, like those mad beasts, cracks split across their blood-red cheeks, green eyeballs drilled out, and they rasped something hoarsely. "Kill, kill, kill. Blood, blood, blood. Flesh, flesh, flesh..."

Much-Learning Abbot stepped half a pace forward and thundered in rage, "Wicked abominations! Why do you not swiftly take refuge in my Buddha!"

The Eggplant Head monsters immediately dropped to their knees and slammed their foreheads down hard. With difficulty, they said, "Master, save me!" "Buddha Lord, deliver me!" "I am willing to take refuge!"...

Much-Learning Abbot raised one hand, his five fingers curled into a claw, and viciously gripped the head of the person before him. His other hand stood upright before his chest as he rapidly chanted scriptures. The invisible Dharma net covering the entire venue used the floating Buddha Cocoon Sarira as nodes, fiercely squeezing the spiritual power of all living beings, drawing in starlight, and gathering it toward itself.

Yuan Zhu finally understood. This ritual seemed to be making use of the racial talents of these tomato monsters, turning the Eggplant Head monks into human filters that absorbed starlight, burst their heads to refine it, and performed a blood sacrifice to create Buddha Cocoon Sarira with the dual nature of "Buddha Dharma/starlight."

The Abbot had blood-sacrificed countless monks to forge this "physical Dharma net," wielding both the spiritual power of all living beings and starlight energy, then using it in turn to purge the foul-bone poisonous blood from the tomato monsters' bodies.

He understood now. He finally understood!

The Eggplant Head monsters kneeling before the Abbot let out agonized rasps, yet their expressions held both pain and joy. At the same time, streams of thick, inky-green mad blood poured out from the holes the Abbot had gouged through the tops of their heads, rose into the air, entered the Abbot's arm, and were suppressed by the power of the Dharma net.

His five fingers left the first tomato monster. The Abbot continued pacing until he reached the second, then used Buddha's Crown-Stroking Dragon Claw again. His five fingers pierced through the tomato's crown, extracting the thick green mad blood and leaving behind a five-holed bowling ball before he moved on to the third monster, repeating the process in turn.

As more and more mad blood accumulated within him, the Abbot's mental state worsened by the moment. Inky-green blood vessels crawled across his eyes, and his expression alternated between compassion and madness...

The "spiritual Dharma net," with the Buddha Cocoon Sarira as its nodes, continued draining the civilians' spiritual power. Their fleshly bodies visibly withered at rapid speed, their chanting weakened, and frail auras spread from them.

Then the blood-lit Buddha Cocoons fiercely drew in another wave of starlight and projected rays of bloody light toward the people around the perimeter, nourishing their bodies. Their shriveled shells gradually filled out again, and their spirits became as energized as if they had chugged Red Bull, whereupon they resumed chanting.

Too miserable. Too miserable! They were nothing but a pack of playthings, a pack of human batteries, left to be manipulated, tortured, and squeezed dry by the Abbot.

Yet even this could not ease his increasingly unstable mental state.

After piercing the heads of ten tomato monsters in succession, the danger within the Abbot had reached a perilous level. His aged, frail body visibly swelled and strengthened, looking more and more like the prelude to a mad-blood outbreak.

"Chaah!"

The Much-Learning Abbot roared in fury. Raising his hand once more, his five fingers pierced through the eleventh tomato monster's skull, brutally pulling out the madness blood as he solemnly swore to heaven and earth:

"Disciple Duowen.Jiamaye hereby makes this great vow: I am willing to bear all the suffering and calamities of this world in my own body, save all living beings, quell the ghost calamity of the Yellow Springs, and rebuild the Na Ye Buddhist Kingdom. Unless I save every living soul in this world, I swear I shall not become a Buddha!"

As his vow took shape, the Buddhist Dharma Power within him suddenly erupted. Brilliant golden Buddha-light shone around his body, beginning to erode and devour the blood-red starlight. Together, they suppressed the green demonic blood within him.

The twelfth, thirteenth... one tomato monster after another had their skulls pierced by the Abbot, their madness blood dug out, while he left behind his own Buddha Cocoon seeds within them...

His face twisted with pain as the Abbot trudged toward the final tomato monster. His five fingers clamped over its face, then clenched viciously, shredding the entire face apart. Every finger stabbed into its skull, drawing out the demonic blood.

At the same time, the Abbot's muscles swelled to the extreme, and the sound of flesh tearing came from his neck.

Strips of green fleshy leaves—like tongues, yet also like sepals and petals, their edges covered in sharp barbs—used his neck as a stalk and stabbed outward in every direction, forming a ring.

They resembled a collar, flower petals, or enormous thorny tongues, clustering around the Abbot's head and forming a bald green sun. Then the petals curled inward, licking his bare scalp before finally wrapping around his head, creating the rudimentary shape of a green flower bud.

The headless Much-Learning Abbot, with a green flower bud sitting atop his neck, suddenly pressed his palms together and sat cross-legged. The green bud above him rapidly expanded, turning into a sphere.

This time, his head did not explode into pulp like those Eggplant Head Monks. Instead, it split open of its own accord with remarkable calm. When the bud opened, his original head had been completely broken down, leaving only layer upon layer of thick, crimson flesh-petals. Translucent capillary patterns grew across the petals.

The fleshy petals bloomed layer by layer, ultimately becoming a gigantic flower nourished by a human body. At the flower's base, where its receptacle should have been, was the old face of the Much-Learning Abbot, smiling compassionately.

The human-headed flower adjusted itself like a sunflower, turning toward the plaza. Its eye sockets and mouth opened one after another, growing dense red filament stamens, like clusters of writhing blood vessels.

"My Buddha is merciful! This old monk wishes to save every living being in Ye Country. All disciples of my Buddhist sect, quickly aid me in attaining Buddhahood!"

In the sky, the Buddha Cocoon Relics that had been tempered jointly by Buddhist Dharma Power and starlight descended toward the human-faced flower receptacle like young swallows returning to the nest.

Meanwhile, the stamens in the Abbot's eyes and mouth, nourished by the starlight, stretched longer and longer, drifting into the heavens and linking with the necks of those incoming "Buddha Cocoons."

It was as though fruits had found their roots and stems. Using his human head—his human-faced flower receptacle—as a vessel, the Much-Learning Abbot bore dozens, even hundreds, of Buddha Cocoon fruits. Was he human? Or a plant—a tomato? He resembled a humanoid starlight tomato plant that had borne over a hundred fruits, strangely harmonious and overflowing with Buddhist resonance.

"Buddha Buddha Buddha... Eggplant Eggplant Eggplant... Buddha Buddha Buddha... Eggplant Eggplant Eggplant..."

After connecting with the Abbot, these "Buddha Cocoons" seemed to have been infused with souls. One after another, they opened their mouths—some shouting "Buddha," others calling out "Eggplant."

Bolstered by the many Buddha Cocoon Relics, the Abbot's Dharma Power surged. More than a dozen green vines suddenly shot from beneath his cassock, piercing the tomato monsters around him and merging them into his body.

The monsters did not struggle. Instead, their faces were full of contentment and joy, as though they had been delivered into Buddhahood, welcoming the wonderful transformation.

Meng Xiyue snarked, "Could this be what he meant by 'bearing all suffering and calamities in his body, and swearing not to become a Buddha until he has saved all of Na Ye'? As long as he links everyone together and turns them into one whole, he'll have saved everyone and can become a Buddha?"

Yuan Zhu clapped his hands. "That makes sense!"

By now, the art style had become extraordinarily bizarre. The Much-Learning Abbot, fused with nature—plants—suddenly turned his flesh-flower receptacle toward the civilians where Yuan Zhu and the others stood, preaching through spiritual resonance. "If there were no suffering in this world, how would living beings know that my Buddha's Dharma is boundless and his compassion saves the world?! Chaah!"

With a furious roar from it, the countless "Buddha Cocoons" connected to the human-faced flower receptacle all began howling miserably, weeping blood from their eyes as they shouted in a chaotic chorus, "Kill kill kill... Blood blood blood... Flesh flesh flesh..."

Above the Abbot, the starlight that was gradually being warped into a blood-red hue swept down with streams of green mist, shining upon the crowd attending the ceremony. The "Foul Bone madness blood" still unrefined within his body was expelled once again, turning into rising blood mist that mixed with the blood-light and illuminated the entire square.

"Fuck!!! We've been had!"

The rat in Yuan Zhu's pocket let out a piercing shriek. The Uniform on its body trembled uneasily, forming a double layer of defense against the warping blood-light.

But the civilians beside them were not so fortunate. Their minds were still trapped within the "Dharma Net," leaving them utterly powerless against the scarlet starlight.

The blood-light poured backward into their bodies, bringing with it the power of evolution. Their muscles began to swell, their flesh grew uncontrollably, and their skin could no longer bear the strain, splitting apart with ripping crackles.

Then, familiar green eyeballs emerged from the wounds, vividly rolling around... each displaying the traits of a green version of the Foul Bone Demon.

Yet unlike those crazed beasts, these Buddhist Kingdom citizens contaminated by the "Duowen.Starlight Tomato.Abbot" rapidly developed, even as they underwent Foul Bone demonification, pigeon-egg-sized lumps of flesh on their cheeks, torsos, limbs, and other parts of their bodies. From them grew the outlines of green skeletal Buddha heads.

Yuan Zhu boldly guessed that the "Tomato Abbot" intended to first refine ordinary people into Buddhistized versions of Foul Bone Demons, then use his immense Dharma Power to gradually deliver them back into the Buddhist sect.

That way, he would truly fulfill his great vow: "All living beings fall into demonic corruption; save the whole world. Rebuild the Buddhist Kingdom, and only then may one become a Buddha."

"Fuck, what a ruthless monk!"

Seeing the civilians around them successively undergoing Foul Bone demonification, Yuan Zhu and the others hesitated no longer. They raised their guns and fired madly, trying to carve a bloody path through.

The Tomato Abbot was not having an easy time either. That powerful starlight was not a force the Buddhist sect could lay its hands upon. He had borrowed the conversion and assimilation of tomato monsters to wield it indirectly, so naturally, he had to pay the corresponding price.

Having excessively driven the blood-red starlight, he too showed signs of a split mind, shrieking madly, "Eggplant Eggplant Eggplant! No, no, no, I am Duowen.Jiamaye Eggplant... I am the Buddha of Na Ye! I am Eggplant Eggplant... I am Duowen... I, I, I... Eggplant! Buddha!... Aaaaahhh..."

The flesh-flower shuddered violently. The Buddha Cocoons linked by the human-faced flower receptacle's protruding stamens also wailed and cried, babbling "Buddha" and "Eggplant" in wild confusion as they collectively went mad, tearing and biting at one another.

"Aaaaahhh... Aaaah... Ah, I understand! I am—Buddha Tomato! I am—Duo! Wen! Buddha! Tomato!!"

The gigantic human-faced flower receptacle threw its head back and roared. The countless "Buddha Head Cocoons" connected by fleshy stamens also raised their heads toward the Starry Sky, calling out loudly, "Buddha Tomato! Buddha Tomato!! Buddha Tomato!!!"

Warped yet powerful starlight descended upon the world once more, and the blood-red starlight infected everything.

At that moment, human and plant achieved perfect symbiosis. Buddha and eggplant became one.

Foam World Present Buddha: Duowen Buddha Tomato has been born!

For the sake of reading experience, I won't split it up. This one chapter today has completely wrung me dry.

Also, let me clarify: this book is not that kind of weird-fiction story steeped in a horror atmosphere, nor do I intend to write it in a frightening, horror-oriented direction.

At most, the art style is a bit bizarre, but its essence is still lighthearted. Take this Buddha Tomato, for example—you can picture it as a Tomato Buddha. It is obviously very cartoonish and adorable.

Lastly, please support it. During the new-book period, everyone, please try to keep following along and give it some support.