Scenes of hell on earth Flash before his eyes, leaving even the highly virtuous monk Xuanzang speechless with astonishment.
"This is neither a natural disaster nor a man-made one, but a curse from the Buddhist Sect."
Xu Xiao suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with undisguised disgust.
Xuanzang's face turned deathly pale. "Buddhist mantra? How could this be...?"
" The Sentient Beings' Skin-Form Curse!"
"This curse is not a killing technique, but rather a manifestation that distorts the outward appearance of living beings, casting them down to the Animal Path." Xu Xiao straightened up, his eyes filled with icy coldness.
"What a Golden Buddha Kingdom! What a blatant act of destroying Buddhism!"
"Just because ordinary people don't choose to believe and worship, they have to cast a curse upon them. What a wonderful Buddha and Bodhisattva they are."
Xuanzang remained silent, unable even to utter the name of Amitabha Buddha.
Although Xu Xiao's words did not accuse him, the scenes on the blood-red screen had already explained everything. Even if there were some mistakes, it was definitely related to the Buddhist Sect.
"That bald monk is too wicked," the monkey grinned. "And he wants us to go and fetch that damned scripture? Can that stuff really save people?"
Xu Xiao remained silent, only looking at the trembling rat spirit in front of him, and reached out to grab it.
A wisp of extremely fine golden thread was slowly drawn from the crown of the leader rat spirit. It was as thin as Silk, yet indestructible. A Buddhist Sect aura emanated from it, with a scent reminiscent of incense burning with the stench of money.
"The curse has seeped deep into the soul; ordinary methods cannot break it." He twirled the golden thread. "To forcibly break it would mean the curse's destruction and death."
"Furthermore, one must use their own Magic Power to cleanse this trace of curse energy; otherwise, even if they manage to escape their physical body, they will still be entangled by this curse in their next life."
Xu Xiao gripped the hand tightly, his Magic Power snapping the golden thread and Oblivion the cursed power.
The rat spirit on the ground, no longer restrained by the curse, had its fur fall off rapidly, its originally hunched body began to straighten slowly, and its sharp teeth gradually retracted, transforming it into a weathered middle-aged man.
"I... I'm back! I'm human again! Thank you, Immortal! Thank you, Immortal!" The middle-aged man kowtowed and knelt in gratitude, unaware that his skin was still rapidly decaying.
Although Xu Xiao forcibly severed the Skin-Form Curse, even preventing it from continuing to entangle his soul in the next life, the body deeply poisoned by the Skin-Form Curse was beyond Rotation.
The curse can be broken, but the person cannot live; this is the malevolent nature of this Buddhist curse.
"I can't save you. You only have three days at most. Once that time is up, your body will decay and you will die, entering the cycle of reincarnation again," Xu Xiao sighed.
The middle-aged man on the ground was taken aback, then kowtowed even more respectfully, "It's alright, it's alright. As long as I can die with a human face, I can die in peace."
"I am a human being, not a rat. I do not wish to meet my ancestors in the afterlife while wearing the skin of an animal."
These sincere words made Xu Xiao sigh; this is the most basic pursuit of ordinary people.
But why would the renowned and benevolent Buddha punish sentient beings in this way?
What gives them the right?
They deserve to die!!!
The other rat spirits also kowtowed one by one, begging Xu Xiao to remove the curse from them and to die in human form, which Xu Xiao did.
When the rat spirit in front of him transformed back into a human, Xu Xiao waved to stop them from thanking him, telling them to seize the last moments of being human.
Xuanzang, standing nearby, was already in tears, his knuckles white, as he murmured, "Why... what did the Kingdom of Sahali do wrong to deserve this curse?!"
"Why are the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas so cruel? Where is the compassion in this?"
"Is this so-called Buddhist philosophy? This so-called compassion just something to be said for the world's benefit, or is it genuine?"
Xuanzang's beliefs were challenged, and he was in a daze, engaging in internal dialogue. His ideals and reality clashed constantly, and he dug up all his past Buddhist doctrines, wanting to see if he was wrong.
That Buddha... was wrong!
Xu Xiao looked at Xuanzang and decided to add fuel to the fire, " The Kingdom of Sahali, formerly known as the ' Golden Buddha Kingdom,' has seventeen great temples within its borders, enshrining golden statues from the Western Heaven."
"But mortals and mortal bodies need to be nourished by grains and vegetables, and they need to be bound by the ethical principles of heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teachers. If people only know how to worship Buddha, it will inevitably conflict with the world's royal power."
"The kings want to destroy Buddhism in the world, and Buddhism, naturally, must be punished."
He paused, his voice growing colder. "How laughable! Just because people don't offer their faith, they are threatened by insect monsters, and even need a weasel demon to save them. Is this what you call Buddha?"
The monkey scratched its head and said, "So, those Buddhas who were worshipped created a giant insect to threaten people because they weren't worshipped, and even cursed people, framing that rat demon?"
"Of course!" Xu Xiao sneered, "Fear breeds piety, and piety transforms into incense—ultimately, both will converge on the Western Heaven."
"I've finally witnessed the shamelessness of the Buddhist Sect. And you, Xuanzang?"
Xu Xiao stared intently at Xuanzang, who dared not open his eyes to meet his gaze, but kept muttering to himself.
The dim light of the oil lamp illuminated Xuanzang's pale face, making him no longer resemble a compassionate bodhisattva, but rather someone filled with human emotion and anger.
After a long while, he finally raised his head, looking at Xu Xiao as if he had made up his mind. "Immortal Official, I understand!"
"All beings suffer, and the Buddha cannot save anyone. This journey to the Journey to the West may have been a deception from the very beginning."
Boom!!
Thunder flashed outside, as if the world was about to be turned upside down at any moment.
Inside the room, Xuanzang's Buddhist beliefs had long since crumbled after several direct confrontations with the dark tactics of the Buddhist Sect, but his Buddhist heart had become even more steadfast.
"If I were a Buddha, I would traverse countless mountains and rivers, personally holding a lamp to illuminate the netherworld, transmitting the Dharma without relying on scriptures."
"If I were a Buddha, I would relinquish my golden body and lotus throne, refuse incense offerings and donations, and not use calamities to intimidate people."
"If I were a Buddha, I would build a pagoda with my own flesh and blood, and would rather shatter my golden body to save all living beings than sit on a cloud and wait for people to kowtow."
"If I were a Buddha, I would enter hell to save those who are drowning in suffering, never abandoning a single soul, never choosing a karmic connection, and never judging piety by blessings."
A series of grand aspirations began to spread from the dilapidated hut to the heavens and earth, surging in all directions!
The raging winds and thunder in the sky never ceased, and the calamity in the Journey to the Journey to the West World surged endlessly!
From the Thirty- Heaven Beyond Heaven above to the Netherworld Underworld below, from the Three Mountains and Four Great Continents and the Immortal Mountains overseas, all cultivators felt the tremor of the Great Dao.
In particular, on Spirit Mountain, within the Jin Chi of Merit, all the energy clusters representing the calamity of the Journey to the West quietly disappeared, as if the calamity of the Journey to the West had nothing to do with the Western Sect anymore.
The Tathagata Buddha was supposed to be chanting scriptures, paused, and for the first time, a look of surprise appeared on his usually calm face:
"This is... a born Buddha?!"