Bajie's voice was loud to begin with.
His question sent a sudden tremor through the hall.
The monks all looked up at once.
Their hands stopped.
The chimes fell into disarray.
The head monk had his eyes closed, his lips still reciting scripture.
Hearing the discordant sounds, he frowned and slowly opened his eyes, about to snap a reprimand.
The words stuck fast in his throat.
Several figures stood in the doorway.
One with a long snout.
One with a thunder god's mouth.
One with a blue face.
One with horns on his forehead.
They stood side by side at the entrance.
The lamplight flickered.
Only half a sound squeezed out of the head monk's throat.
"Uh..."
"D-demons..."
Seeing the demons at the door standing there expressionlessly, he grew even more frightened.
The monk turned and fled.
Seeing that even their leader had run away, the others followed.
In the next instant, the lights in the hall flickered wildly as people blew them out one after another.
They flung away their chimes and bells and abandoned the Buddha statues.
The threshold was low, yet several people tripped over it.
Those in front had barely fallen when those behind crashed into them.
One knocked another's head; another trod on someone's foot.
A cassock snagged on a projecting corner of a table, dragging the altar stand down with a crash.
Some flattened themselves against the floor tiles, scrabbling with hands and feet like crawling turtles.
Some struck their foreheads against the doorframe, clutching their heads as they staggered outside.
A fine, pure place of worship had become one enormous farce.
In the blink of an eye, it was over.
The hall had emptied completely.
Bajie stood where he was, blinking innocently.
"All I did was ask one question."
Just then, someone