Bifang did not look at the giant human face in the sky, instead turning to walk toward the place he had visited earlier.
That mountain temple was illusory and dreamlike, yet also real and solid.
The old temple keeper sat cross-legged with his head lowered, devoid of all breath.
The golden light on the golden Buddha statue behind him had long since peeled away entirely, revealing the muddy earthen bricks beneath amidst mottled patches. The offerings placed on the altar table still looked intact on the surface, but when a gust of wind blew across them, they turned into a pile of fine powder.
In this place Bifang had visited before, no abnormalities could be discerned earlier.
Because the temple at that time had indeed existed in reality, and since nothing was wrong with it to begin with, naturally no signs of trouble could be seen.
Yet it was worth noting that now, after Bifang's arrival here, the temple was also changing along with him, revealing that inner layer hidden within.
This Buddha statue, coated in gold powder on the outside but molded from layers of ordinary earthen bricks on the inside, wore a slight, eerie smile upon its flaking, mud-stained face.
A voice like a booming bronze bell of celestial saints and immortals issued from the clay mouth of the statue, that mouth opening and closing to reveal a somewhat deep and pitch-black passageway.
"Why must Benefactor force your way here?"
Though this voice was imbued with a hazy, celestial aura, judging from its tone and inflection, it was still the voice of that old temple keeper, that old monk.
Yet previously, when Bifang conversed with that old temple keeper, the man's speech had been calm, carrying a compassionate and serene air as though he had seen through the