Exposed, Reciting Scriptures for Self-Protection

The pale white hands before me reached for me at terrifying speed.

My heart leaped into my throat.

There really was no such thing as a free lunch.

The reason these filthy things had agreed to let me in out of the rain—

was definitely because they had their eyes on my clothes and the white porcelain bowl in my hand.

It was precisely because I had these two things that these filthy things had mistaken me for one of their own.

That was why the Drowned Ghost Zhang Qiang had been unable to find me.

If they took them away, I might not survive the night.

Since they were trying to rob me, I couldn't just sit there and wait to die.

I picked up the white porcelain bowl and smashed it at the reaching hands.

"Don't touch me!"

I snapped angrily.

Even though I was terrified, I refused to act meek and submissive.

With several bangs, every hand struck by the porcelain bowl recoiled with a whoosh.

But none of them cried out in pain.

Only the old man's hoarse voice rang out in annoyance:

"Beggar, we let you shelter from the rain, and not only do you refuse to give us anything, you hit people? Get out of here yourself!"

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the filthy things gathered before me quickly retreated to either side.

A path opened up before me, signaling for me to leave on my own.

This pavilion was their territory. They didn't welcome me here.

If it hadn't been raining outside, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second.

But although the rain had eased considerably,

I would still get soaked through if I went out.

So I remained crouched beneath the stone table and answered again:

"I'll leave when the rain stops!"

The moment the words left my mouth, I felt a tremendous force strike from behind.

Someone grabbed my clothes from behind.

I was roughly dragged straight out from under the stone table.

In my panic, I discovered that the one dragging me was the gaunt old man with the waxy yellow face.

"If you won't give us anything, then get out!"

the old man said hoarsely.

"Let go of me!"

As I spoke, I raised the white porcelain bowl in my hand and swung it at the old man.

But the instant I lifted the bowl, one of the filthy things beside me seized my wrist and pinned me to the ground.

Its strength was so immense that it felt like a millstone was pressing down on me.

The white porcelain bowl in my hand clattered to the ground, but thankfully, it didn't break...

The hand holding me was as cold as a pair of pincers. I couldn't move at all, much less break free.

The ghosts around me stared at me with numb, icy eyes.

But the filthy thing gripping my wrist paused slightly and sniffed at me.

Then it looked at me in surprise and said:

"He isn't a beggar. He's a living person!"

At those words, the old man standing before me also revealed an expression of shock and fury:

"You aren't here to shelter from the rain. You're here to hide from disaster—from that Water Monkey."

The moment he spoke, the filthy things around us, whose faces had been numb just moments ago,

all revealed vicious expressions. They opened their mouths, raised their hands, and lunged at me.

At the sight, my entire body went cold.

I struggled several times while pinned to the ground, but it was useless.

In terms of strength, I was completely crushed by them.

Just as the claws of those filthy things were about to reach my face,

I opened my mouth and began reciting scriptures. Whether they would work or not, I could only try anything in desperation.

I didn't know if it would help, but I had to do something:

"The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name.

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when practicing the profound Prajna Paramita..."

The first part was from a Daoist scripture, the latter from a Buddhist one.

I'd learned them off Baidu earlier.

Those were the only two lines I could recite. I hadn't memorized anything after that.

Anything was better than waiting around like an idiot to die.

But who would have thought that the moment those two lines left my mouth,

the filthy things surrounding me all shuddered.

They covered their ears, pulled back their hands, and even staggered several steps away.

The ghost gripping my wrist also let go.

Clearly, these scriptures had some intimidating effect on these filthy things.

The old man covered one ear with his hand as well.

Then he barked in a hoarse voice:

"This is so annoying! Stop chanting..."

After saying that, he raised his other shriveled ghost claw and tried to hit me.

Seeing this, I hurriedly grabbed the white porcelain bowl from the ground and smashed it at Old Ghost's hand.

With a bang, the pain made him yank his hand back...

Then I hurriedly said:

"Whoever comes over, I'll smash them to death!"

After saying that, I continued chanting the scriptures over and over.

I held up the white porcelain bowl and warily watched the filthy things in the pavilion.

I noticed that aside from Old Ghost, all the other filthy things were covering their ears with both hands, their faces twisted in discomfort.

But the old man was still aggressive.

He raised both hands again, looking ready to fight me to the death...

I didn't dare let my guard down either. I raised the white porcelain bowl, ready to strike at any moment.

But at that moment, gusts of cold wind began to blow around us.

A faint, strange odor suddenly appeared in the air, somewhat like the pungent smell of formaldehyde.

It mixed with the earthy fragrance of the rainy night.

As the strange smell and icy chill appeared,

the filthy things around the pavilion, still covering their ears, seemed to have been provoked.

They all whipped around and fled outside in utter panic.

In the blink of an eye, they vanished into the rainy night.

The old man's expression across from me also changed from viciousness to utter terror.

He stared behind me, as if he had seen something horrifying.

His feet even shifted back two steps.

Then, just like a living person, he swallowed hard and said to me timidly:

"T-the pavilion is yours..."

After saying that, the old man didn't linger either. He turned and ran outside.

His running posture was especially bizarre—he ran on tiptoe, swaying crookedly from side to side.

But he too quickly disappeared into the rainy night.

This sudden turn of events made me wary as well.

Clearly, they weren't afraid of me.

They had seen something terrifying appear behind me...