The first floor of the main hall is much larger than it looks from the outside, but it has long since lost its grandeur a thousand years ago.
Half of the stone slabs underfoot were broken, some sank completely, and some were raised half a foot. A thick layer of gravel and dust accumulated in the cracks.
Looking up, I saw that the ceiling had collapsed in many places, and several thick beams were stuck diagonally on the ground. The wood stubble at the fractures had long been rotted and turned black.
The collapse of the upper three floors put the entire weight of the temple down, with the first floor bearing the heaviest pressure. Several supporting columns were broken, and the rest were full of cracks and the surface was covered with scorch marks.
The traces left by the war covered the entire hall, and barely an inch of intact wall could be seen. The Buddha statues were smashed, the stone walls were blown down, the pillars were dented, and the stone slabs on the ground were full of deep pits and scorched marks.
Qin Tiexin scanned around, and everywhere he looked, there were Buddha statues.
Hundreds of Buddha statues are arranged along the walls of the temple, one next to the other, with different postures.
More than half of the Buddha statues are broken.
Some were missing arms, some had their entire faces cut off, and some had only half of their bases left, with their upper bodies shattered into gravel on the ground.
The three main Buddhas in the middle were the most severely damaged. One had no head, and the fractures at the neck were uneven, as if it had been forcibly broken by something Great Strength; half of the body of one was shattered, and the entire left shoulder to left hip disappeared, and dark red fire marks could be seen on the section; and the other was split by a very narrow and deep gash from the top of the head to the chest. The crack penetrated the whole body, and the Buddha's face was split in two from the middle.
The three main Buddhas all face the door of the hall, and their empty Buddha eyes look down at everyone who steps into the hall.
Qin Tiexin looked at those three pairs of empty eyes for a moment, without stopping, he looked away.
There was no one in the hall, but there were footprints on the ground.
The footprints were very fresh and did not look like they were left a thousand years ago. They were probably monks who came to participate in the Secret Realm Trial. They extended all the way into the depths of the hall from the entrances in different directions. Judging from the direction they came in, there were at least six or seven people passing by, and there were probably no less people from other directions. Some of the footprints were on the dust, some were rubbed on the gravel, and they were of different depths, all heading towards the depths of the hall.
Part of the area has been rummaged by those who came first, and the bases of several Buddha statues were pried open, revealing empty hidden compartments below; an altar table in a side hall was overturned, the stone slabs under the table were lifted, and there was nothing underneath the floor tiles.
The rummaging technique was very professional, and the traces were clean and neat. It should have been done by monks. However, there were some areas that were not touched, probably because of lack of time, or because they felt they were not worth the money.
It seems that those who entered the temple first have already gone to the upper levels.
Qin Tiexin followed the footprints to find the upward stairs. The sense of the broken arm clearly pointed to the upstairs, which was consistent with the direction of the footsteps.
The further we walked into the temple, the stronger the smell of incense in the air.
The smell was like incense ash that had accumulated for thousands of years and was re-stirred. It was stale, Heaviness, mixed with a faint burnt smell. Although the ground in front of it was seriously damaged, it was at least normal, with only some scattered dust.
Arriving at the depths of the main hall, the situation became strange. Scattered incense ash began to appear on the ground. The further in, the thicker the incense ash became. When we almost reached the stone platform of the Buddha statue, the incense ash on the ground was already surprisingly thick, covering a full layer. There was almost no sound when you stepped on it. It was soft and light, as if you were stepping on fine snow.
But the strange thing is that all the footprints here have disappeared.
Qin Tiexin couldn't help but slow down, Xiao Rou followed closely behind him.
He looked down at his feet, squatted down, and picked up a handful of incense ash with his fingers.
The incense ash was gray in color and extremely fine. He rubbed it gently with two fingers, and it felt too smooth to the touch. Looking closely, there were almost no gaps in the ash on the fingertips, but if you look closely, you will find that the dark gray incense ash is mixed with some different pale white colors.
A bit like ground bone meal.
He frowned slightly, put it under his nose and smelled it. The smell of incense was very strong, with a very faint burnt smell, but he smelled a hint of blood hidden in the smell of incense.
He put the incense ashes back on the ground and clapped his hands.
Thousands of years ago Pure Land Chan Temple, incense was very popular. Even if the incense burners in front of hundreds of Buddha statues in the main hall were toppled at the same time during that war, they would not have accumulated so much ashes for thousands of years.
There is probably something else mixed in these ashes, most likely the bone meal of the first batch of fallen monks.
In Jiang Lie's description, countless monks died in the war thousands of years ago. The vanguard troops invaded Pure Land Chan Temple and killed the abbot at that time. Because of this, Chengxin Buddha was infected by Devil Qi, and instantly broke through to Nascent Soul cultivation, and carried out an extremely brutal massacre here.
Many high-ranking monks from the coalition forces were all left by him in Pure Land Chan Temple forever. The corpses of the coalition monks were crushed into powder by the impact of the Buddha's light and Devil Qi, and were mixed with the poured incense ashes. It was no longer possible to distinguish which was the incense and which was the bone.
At first I couldn't feel anything just by reading the text description, but now that I'm here, the finger-thick powder makes Qin Tiexin's scalp numb.
How many monks have stayed here forever? Hundreds or thousands?
Jiang Lie may be lucky. Before his death, he was able to leave behind complete skeletons, information Jade Slip and personal Law Artifact. His body even formed a piece of Blood Forest after death.
But the monks here can only turn into the same thing as incense ash and stay on the ground forever. It is no longer possible to tell who is who. Not only did they not leave any information behind, they didn't even leave their names.
Moreover, it can also be seen from the situation here that Nascent Soul Cultivator is just like Celestial Person to monk Foundation Establishment.
Having experienced several battles with Golden Core Demon Beast before, Qin Tiexin once even felt that "Golden Core is nothing more than that". If he faced the weaker Golden Core Early Stage Demon Beast, he would have the confidence to escape alone or even fight back.
But after seeing the situation here, Qin Tiexin realized that maybe he was very lucky, either with the help of his teammates, or he happened to find the weakness of the opponent. If he faced the monk Golden Core head-on, he might not even have the slightest room to resist, let alone Nascent Soul.
In that battle a thousand years ago, the lowest number of monks left here was Foundation Establishment Realm, and there were a large number of the Golden Core Realm monks, but they were not the enemies of the possessed Chengxin at all. Only people like Jiang Lie Only Meridian Opening Peak like E had a chance to escape, leaving behind whole corpses; hundreds of the Foundation Establishment Realm and even Golden Core Realm monks were all turned into bone powder and stayed here.
For the possessed Chengxin, killing them is no more difficult than squeezing ants to death.
Qin Tiexin adjusted his mind. Perhaps because he had won too smoothly in recent battles, he was a little arrogant and even lost the most basic respect and caution. He turned his head and looked at Xiao Rou.
Why would I let a person with "obvious problems" stay with me for so long?
It seems that we have to find a way to get rid of it or deal with it. In the world of immortality, being careful and surviving is the most important thing.
Xiao Rou seemed to be aware of his gaze, turned around and looked over, but found nothing. He only followed him three steps behind, being obedient and quiet, without making any noise.
Qin Tiexin Speed up two steps, distance yourself, avoid the incense ashes area, and continue walking deeper along the palace wall. Although I don't know what's wrong with these incense ashes, it's better to avoid them if you can.