Headless Buddha

The Puppet said sadly, "I ruined his whole life, so no matter what, I have to save him!"

Lu Li was silent for a moment, then asked, "Why put yourself through this?"

Red snowflakes drifted through the air, embodying deep despair. They fell into the fire, hissing as they gave off steam. The flames dimmed a little more. The Puppet composed herself and hurried to where the Corpse Ghost had died. With her small wooden hand, she scooped up the soil soaked with the fluids left behind by the Corpse Ghost, without the slightest disgust, and tossed it into the fire. The flames shot high into the air as if doused with oil.

"Fire means life." The Puppet stepped back and continued gathering soil tainted by the Corpse Ghost's fluids, tossing it into the fire as she explained, "In this Dream of Delusion, everything has symbolic meaning. This fire represents the lives of the living. As long as it doesn't go out, those demons will have a hard time getting close."

"Those monsters make the best fuel, and that's what I'm asking you to do, young master." The Puppet gazed into the seemingly endless darkness outside, lost in thought. She gave a sad smile and said, "I'll use myself as bait to draw out the ghosts. All you have to do is pick up the torch and burn the ones I knock down. These ghosts always leave behind something that can burn!"

"That shouldn't be a problem." Lu Li nodded. He walked over to the fire, pulled out a burning piece of wood, tore off a strip of his trouser leg, and wrapped it around the wood to make a makeshift torch. Then he followed the Puppet. The torchlight flickered across Lu Li's face, revealing his excitement.

As Lu Li held up the torch and walked beyond the fire's reach, visibility dropped sharply. Even the Puppet's figure ahead grew blurry. It gave Lu Li the feeling that he was playing Don't Starve, as if something lurked in the darkness, watching him. The malice of something wanting to devour him whole, skin, bones, and all, was unmistakable.

A strange sense of panic crept into Lu Li's heart. He knew he wasn't actually afraid. Ever since that accident, he hadn't felt emotions like fear at all. If the panic hadn't come from within him, then an outside force had to be interfering.

Suddenly, Lu Li's vision blurred, and a pang of dread welled up inside him. When he looked ahead again, the Puppet had vanished. He glanced around, but all he saw was the same unchanging darkness. The panic from outside continued to seep in, along with a feeling of being abandoned. Something was plucking at Lu Li's heartstrings, trying to overturn his reason.

Lu Li didn't shout. It wouldn't help his predicament in the slightest. As for the negative emotions invading his heart, they actually made him happy. Yes, happy. It had been a whole year—an entire year since that accident—and Lu Li had barely felt any negative emotions. He hadn't felt fear, anxiety, pain, sadness, nervousness, or anger. Perhaps the only negative emotion he could feel was profound boredom!

"What a real feeling." Lu Li savored the emotions welling up inside him: the panic of being alone in the dark, the anger of being abandoned, the regret of agreeing to come in the first place, and even his yearning for the Puppet's stunning beauty.

"But these feelings are only good for reminiscing. You don't really expect them to affect me, do you?" Lu Li's expression turned cold, and he swept away those emotions in an instant. Lu Li's almost cheat-like control over his body came from his soul. In truth, his control over his own mind was just as strong. Those negative emotions, which sought to influence his mind, couldn't shake him at all.

At the same time as the negative emotions vanished, Lu Li's vision changed. The sounds of fighting reached his ears. Looking over, he saw the Puppet battling a huge Headless Buddha nearby. A notification appeared at the corner of his eye, displaying new information:

[Monster detected. Updating data]

[Headless Buddha]

[Physical assessment: 2.58; life energy generation: 0.0 (Its enormous stone body grants it tremendous strength, but perhaps not much agility?)]

[Soul assessment: 1.88; mental energy generation: 1.1 (Faith, what a wondrous thing!)]

[Category: spirit possession type]

[Cause of manifestation: A spirit formed from within a Buddha statue. How many times must the faithful have knelt and bowed before it, and how much faith must have accumulated, for it to develop a soul?]

[Special abilities: (1) Buddha's Troubled Heart: The Buddha Head is the most exquisitely crafted part of the statue, but someone stole its head, throwing its heart into turmoil. Within ten meters of the statue, you'll be attacked by negative emotions transformed from faith, with added hallucinations!

(2) Vajra Blessing: This body is a vajra body. May my heart remain unbroken and unafraid! Consumes mental energy to empower the whole body, greatly increasing strength and defense!]

[Weaknesses: Its enormous size makes it clumsy, and the loss of its Buddha Head has left it with little intelligence! Of course, as a ghost, it's also weak to the torch in your hand!]

[Monster rating: Honestly, as long as it still had its head, it could take on ten of you!]

The Headless Buddha was terrifyingly strong. Every movement was accompanied by a tremendous display of force. Its fists cut through the air with a powerful whoosh, and its feet sent gravel and dirt flying. But it was already clumsy, and the Puppet circled around it without pause, cackling as she moved. Her strings wound around the Buddha. Though its vajra-like strength snapped them one by one, they made the Headless Buddha's already sluggish movements even slower.

The Puppet's joints turned as her small wooden fists struck the Headless Buddha again and again, knocking off chunks of stone. But against the statue as a whole, the blows barely mattered. Although it seemed as though the Headless Buddha was being toyed with, one punch from it would probably be enough to knock the Puppet apart.

Seeing this, Lu Li wasted no more time. He walked forward with the torch raised. The Headless Buddha seemed to sense the approaching flames and grew restless. A sound rang out—somewhere between a low chant and a piercing shriek. Golden Sanskrit characters began to flow across its body, greatly increasing its imposing presence.

The strings wrapped around it snapped at once. Lu Li hurriedly released the restrictions on his muscles and ran forward. Torchlight fell on the Headless Buddha's body, and its stone surface blackened, developing tiny cracks.

Seeing this, the Puppet sent out a mass of strings and bound the Headless Buddha tightly, trying to stop it from moving. The immense force stretched her wooden body with a series of creaks, and fine cracks appeared. But in the end, she managed to hold the Headless Buddha in place. Under the torchlight, it crumbled into black stone...

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