"": 200,
"": "",
"": ""The Umze and the Jom, the Deputy Chief Seat and the former Bright Consort."
Kong An murmured as he sat quietly inside a main hall.
This was no longer Daren Lama Temple. No scripture cloths hung from the roof beams.
This was a new temple.
Many towering statues of deities stood within the hall.
He did not come here often.
He still spent most of his time at Daren Lama Temple, where he was a Tulku, a Living Buddha, Gonpo.
But here, he was Kong An, the newly appointed Sinpo!
He held a mallet made of white bone.
The wooden fish was deathly pale-a human skull, with wood fitted inside.
Its rhythmic knocking rang out crisp and clear.
Outside the hall, more than a dozen monks knelt.
They were all Black Rakshasas.
The new temple had only recently been completed, and there were not many Black Rakshasas yet.
For the Black Rakshasas to attain higher realms and spiritual power, Bright Consorts were indispensable.
And Bright Consorts could not be appointed arbitrarily.
"The Deputy Chief Seat will soon return to his place, and the former Bright Consort will soon enter the temple."
"A candidate for Dibe Yum has already been chosen, and the Grand Chief Seat will also take his place. The deity has cleared every obstacle from around the Grand Chief Seat. Before he performs the rites with his Bright Consort, nothing will compromise his Buddha-nature."
"A Chief Seat must have no emotional attachments, and a Bright Consort will not be an ordinary person."
"Once they have taken their places, the deity will manifest. More believers will enter the temple, and we will grow stronger."
Kong An spoke these words in Tibetan.
Outside, the Black Rakshasas knelt, raised both hands toward the sky, then bowed