Please, Benefactor, Become a Buddha

"Where is the Buddha in this place?"

The moment he heard this, the Old Monk was truly stunned.

"Benefactor, what are you saying? Isn't the Buddha statue right there? Where else could it be?"

Zhou You turned his head back again upon hearing this.

The Buddha hall had pillars, an altar, prayer mats, and a lotus throne.

The only thing missing was the Buddha statue that should have been there; it had vanished without a trace.

No, it shouldn't be said that it had vanished without a trace.

Scattered beneath the altar were countless fragments of stone statues. Judging by the marks, these were clearly the remains of the Buddha that had originally sat upon the lotus throne. But now, it looked as if it had been subjected to a violent demolition; although the paint on the surface still looked brand new, all that remained were large, jagged piles of debris.

Zhou You couldn't be bothered with formalities anymore. He dropped the incense and pulled the Old Monk over directly.

"Monk, look for yourself!"

The Old Monk reached out with his only remaining hand to feel the area, and in the next second, he froze like a statue.

"Wait, no, that shouldn't be? This Buddha statue should absolutely never have been harmed. Normally, as long as one is connected to the karma of the Ghost Mother Bodhisattva, it is impossible to even touch these statues; they could only settle for using ghost blood to seal them. How could they have smashed it? Unless..."

The Old Monk suddenly thought of something. His face, which lacked eyes and was as dry as a skull, suddenly trembled, and very quickly, it became as hideous as a vengeful ghost.

"--Unless it was done by their own people."

The next moment, a deafening roar erupted.

The Old Monk no longer cared about any Buddhist precepts against anger; he began to curse loudly at the darkness outside. "Those goddamn bald donkeys, the scum of the Buddhist faith! They've already squeezed so much out of the pious men and women, yet they aren't satisfied? They even smashed their own Buddha for money? I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations! You bastards will surely fall into the Avici Hell after you die and never be reincarnated!"

Seeing the Old Monk's emotions becoming increasingly agitated, Zhou You frowned and interrupted his roar.

"Monk, what should we do now?"

The Old Monk's mouth twitched, but he didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly realized something and pressed his hands hard against his face, rubbing it desperately.

After a long while, the hideous ghost-like expression slowly faded away.

"...My apologies, Benefactor. The Hungry Ghost Path almost went out of control. As for a solution... to be honest, there isn't one anymore."

The Old Monk sighed, fumbled to pick up the incense, and handed it to Zhou You.

"Benefactor, you should run quickly. I will stay here to draw their attention. That Bodhisattva will only target these few temples. As long as you can hold out until daylight, you will be able to escape. Then, just as we discussed, hurry to the Qingjing Temple to meet my fellow disciples..."

The Old Monk's words were filled with sorrow. But Zhou You didn't take the incense; instead, he began to think briefly.

--This situation is wrong.

Or rather, the plot according to common sense is wrong.

--First, although this Old Monk is full of sinister vibes, judging by the traces and his subtle reactions, he doesn't seem like a human traitor. So, following him should indeed be the final path of this script.

Secondly, as far as he knew, although this ghost game was rotten to the core, it would never give a task that was fundamentally impossible to complete. The previous Building Four, the two side quests in this dungeon, and even the two cursed items used to move the Old Monk—as long as there were clues, there would inevitably be an ending related to those clues.

So, there must be something he hadn't discovered yet.

--As for the Old Monk telling him to run... he hadn't taken that to heart from the beginning. After all, his supply of resurrection coins was still quite sufficient. At worst, he would just restart the run. So, never mind the Ghost Mother Bodhisattva; even if he had guessed wrong and the Old Monk turned traitor on the spot, he could still handle it calmly.

After all, what is life?

Just a consumable.

Therefore, Zhou You firmly pushed the incense back, ignored the Old Monk's increasingly anxious expression, and began to search the temple carefully.

The surrounding ruined walls... nothing.

The prayer mats and cabinets in the temple... empty.

The scattered trash... just pure trash.

Just as Zhou You was planning to climb onto the temple roof to take a look, he suddenly discovered something strange.

But at this moment, the Old Monk could finally no longer hold back.

"Benefactor, what on earth are you doing?? Don't tell me you intend to be buried with me here—you must know that what you are carrying isn't just your own life, but the lives of thousands of people in the entire city—"

"Alright, alright, it's too late for you to use moral kidnapping now." Zhou You interrupted him, then crouched down and began to scrape the shattered Buddha statue very seriously.

Accompanied by the harsh sound of fingernails rubbing against clay, the paint on the clay body fell away, but the sensation transmitted to his fingers wasn't that of powder, but something sticky and slippery, like a liquid.

This was definitely abnormal.

He had vaguely felt something was wrong since earlier—these three temples were so dilapidated that it was obvious no one had maintained them for a long time, so how could the paint on the Buddha be as bright as new?

"Monk, come over and see what this is."

The Old Monk fumbled over upon hearing this. He pressed his hand against Zhou You's fingers, and the expression on his face was first one of confusion, which then immediately turned into wild joy.

"This is... the incense and faith energy condensed on the Buddha statue? Those bald thieves didn't scrape this stuff away? Could it be... forget it, regardless, there is hope now!!"

The Old Monk immediately wanted to stand the Buddha statue back up, but when he touched the pile of debris, his smile suddenly froze.

Afterward, it was Zhou You who sighed and provided the answer for him.

"Monk, you and I definitely can't piece this thing back together. And even if we could, we don't even have a bottle of craft glue on hand right now; it's impossible to stick it back together."

The Old Monk remained in a half-squat, and after a long while, he suddenly raised his head.

"No, there is still a chance now."

"Benefactor, let me ask you: since you didn't even change your expression when you sacrificed your own flesh just now, may I ask, are you able to endure pain?"

Zhou You did not answer immediately, but after thinking for a moment, he finally said, "That depends on the degree. I can endure ordinary pain, and I've even grown somewhat accustomed to it, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hold up under things like torture..."

"No matter, Benefactor, you only need to hold on through the first half; I will bear the rest."

Then, the Old Monk took off his outer robe, spread it on the ground, and proceeded to stretch out his arm, using only one hand to sweep the dust and dirt off the lotus pedestal.

Then, he turned his head and "looked" at Zhou You with his hollow eye sockets.

"Although the Buddha statue is completely destroyed, the incense and willpower remain, and it can still fulfill its duty of suppression."

"Right now, all that is missing up there is a clay idol."

"Therefore, this poor monk implores you, Benefactor."

"--Please, sit up there and be the Buddha for once."