The Head

"Help me, help me!"

A faint, chilling cry for help echoed in my ears, like a call from hell.

Xu Qi'an's current cultivation level and perspective, he wasn't afraid, but he felt that the cry for help was far too eerie.

At the same time, the cry for help reminded him of the same cry for help he had heard from Shen Shu when he was in Sangbo.

However, the two voices are not the same.

"Help me, help me!"

The cries for help kept coming, lingering in my ears, but in reality, the sounds were transmitted directly into my mind, similar to telepathy, rather than actually being made.

After walking half a circle around the Bodhi Mother Tree, Xu Qi'an locked onto a spot behind the tree where vines hung down like curtains, obscuring the thick trunk.

He stretched out his claws, parted the thick vines, and saw the trunk of the Bodhi tree. He also saw a face imprinted on the trunk, a face covered with wrinkles, which showed that it belonged to an old man.

The features of this face are largely similar to those of the old monk Taling, with slight differences in the details.

The pagoda hanging above Xu Qi'an's head hummed, and then he heard the excited shouts of the old monk who was the pagoda spirit:

"Owner."

The old face on the trunk has a blank expression, like an unremarkable sculpture, and murmurs repeated incoherently:

"Help me, help me!"

It really is Bodhisattva Faji. What is he doing here? It must be related to this supreme being in Aranya. What exactly happened back then? Xu Qi'an stretched out his claw, pressed it against Faji's "face," and sensed it.

"Only a wisp of a soul remains."

He said this to the old monk Taling.

The old monk Taling could not leave the Pagoda, but as its current master, Xu Qi'an could sense its sorrow.

"Do you have any ideas?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Although he cultivated the Heart Gu, the Heart Gu was only a branch of the Primordial Spirit realm, and he could not offer any ideas or solutions to the current situation.

After a moment, the old monk Taling finally calmed down and replied telepathically:

"I can temporarily restore his sanity using the 'Great Wisdom Dharma Image,' but whether his soul can be repaired later requires the help of an extraordinary expert from the Daoist School."

But even if the soul is repaired, it's highly likely that the memories will not be restored.

Because of the current state of the Bodhisattva Faji, most of those souls have already vanished into thin air. Even if they are repaired, they will not be the same as before, essentially becoming a newborn with some memories of the past.

Xu Qi'an nodded, hoping that some of his memories might still remain.

"Let's begin!"

The golden light of the pagoda dissipated, and a figure emerged from its top, sitting cross-legged with lowered brows and hands holding a flower, with a seven-colored halo behind its head.

The light wheel rotates in the forward direction for the first time.

Like a rainbow, the light transformed into a long bridge, guiding the Bodhisattva of Dharma within the main trunk, allowing him to bathe in the light of wisdom.

The blank expression on the face of the Bodhisattva Faji visibly came to life, and his unfocused gaze gradually regained its spirit.

He first noticed the hairless bear in front of him, then looked at the pagoda floating in mid-air.

It's you.

"Where am I? How did you get here? Weren't you sealing away the remnants of the Divine Demon in Leizhou?"

Out of instinct, Bodhisattva Faji asked these two questions.

"Master!" The voice of the Floating Pagoda became excited again, trembling slightly:

"You've been missing for over three hundred years. All these years, the Buddhist School has searched far and wide without success. So you were here all along."

"Where is this?" Bodhisattva Faji asked again.

The tower spirit answered in a low voice:

"This is a Zen monastery, the place where the Buddha secluded himself. You, you are inside the Bodhi tree, only a remnant of your soul remains."

Bodhisattva Faji was stunned and murmured:

"Zen forest, within the Bodhi tree. Zen forest, within the Bodhi tree."

He muttered to himself over and over again, giving the impression of a living corpse who needed to be awakened.

Xu Qi'an then asked:

"Bodhisattva Faji, do you still remember what you encountered?"

The Bodhisattva Faji's face contorted, and his voice became sharp and shrill:

"Buddha is Shenshu, and Shenshu is Buddha."

"He ate me, He ate me!"

"Why would Buddha eat you?" Xu Qi'an hurriedly asked.

The Bodhisattva Faji did not answer, but cried out in a frenzied and mournful voice:

"He is not the Buddha, he is not the Buddha."

Xu Qi'an didn't know what the old monk Taling was feeling, but he could clearly feel goosebumps rising on his skin.

"Who is He?" Xu Qi'an asked loudly.

The cries of the Bodhisattva Faji gradually subsided, and the face protruding from the tree trunk once again became blank, with muttering sounds coming from it:

"Help me, help me!"

The old monk's voice came from inside the pagoda, filled with sorrow and loneliness:

"Time has come. This is all I can do. Please extract his soul and place it in the tower for nurturing."

As they spoke, the door of the exquisite little pagoda opened, and a stream of light was thrown out, transforming into a broken bronze mirror in Xu Qi'an's palm.

The bear's paws gripped the Heavenly Mirror, and it shone its light on the Bodhisattva Faji.

The face "carved" on the main trunk was gradually extracted. During this process, Xu Qi'an instinctively expanded his thinking and began to rack his brains.

"The Buddha is a divine being, which matches the information we received earlier. With so many Bodhisattvas in Buddhist School, why would the Buddha eat Bodhisattva Faji? Is he not the Buddha? Did Bodhisattva Faji discover this secret, or is there another reason?"

"If the supreme being within Aranya isn't the Buddha, then who could it be? Oh no, Shenshu has entered the Demon-Suppressing Abyss!"

Arantha, the main peak.

When the Bodhisattva of the Gara Tree awoke from his meditation and opened his eyes, his first action was to form the Acala Mudra before he could confidently survey his surroundings.

In the eyes of this Bodhisattva, everything in Aranya at this moment is full of Buddha-nature. Even a tree, a stone, and an inch of soil possess profound Buddha-nature and emit a faint Buddha-light.

This is caused by the Dharma image of the Great Sun Reincarnation; wherever the Buddha's light shines, that is the Buddha's land.

At the same time he awoke, Asura, who was standing nearby, also awoke. Without a word, the traitor leaped away and quickly created distance.

Gara Tree did not pursue, remaining in a hand seal posture. He had not yet seen where Xu Qi'an was, nor did he know if Shen Shu was watching him from the sidelines.

"Shen Shu has disappeared!"

At that moment, he heard Liuli's melodious and ethereal voice, but one that lacked emotion.

Only then did Gara Tree withdraw the image of Acala, his face cold and dignified, as he rose and slowly surveyed the area behind him.

In sight was a charred human figure, still in a forward-running posture. Judging from the national sword clutched in the charred corpse's hand, it was indeed Xu Qi'an.

There was no sign of life. Was it dead? Gara Tree withdrew its gaze and noticed that Liuli and Guangxian's eyes were not on Xu Qi'an, but were fixed on a certain spot. It was a row of huge footprints, black and oily, and one could imagine that the owner had endured painful scorching as he walked forward.

The footprints disappeared deep within Aranya.

Shen Shu went to Zhenmo Gorge to find his head.

A thought struck Gara Tree, and he didn't let the opportunity slip by. His leg muscles swelled, unleashing a powerful burst of energy, propelling him toward Xu Qi'an.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Lapis Lazuli Bodhisattva unleashed a colorless lapis lazuli domain. The black and white domain spread along the ground like water, and wherever it passed, everything lost its color and turned into black and white.

Click!

A metal disc rose above the head of the Bodhisattva Guangxian, and the Sanskrit character representing the word "human" lit up. The swastika at the core of the disc was facing Xu Qi'an.

Leaving aside the escaped extraordinary beings for the time being, they must first join forces to eliminate this most threatening first-rank martial artist, and then head to the Demon Suppression Gorge to deal with Shen Shu.

Demon-Suppressing Gorge.

The headless deity dispersed its divine form, arrived at the bottom of the abyss, and stood at the cave entrance.

Shen Shu's body was covered in charred black, and a thin layer of ice gradually formed on it.

The temperature in the Demon-Suppressing Gorge is extremely low; if an ordinary person were to breathe in it, their lungs would be frostbitten.

The place was eerily quiet; there wasn't a single monk in sight, as if it were a frigid hell.

Without hesitation, Shen Shu stepped into the underground cave.

His steps were firm, neither fast nor slow, and soon he heard darkness emerge, accompanied by long, drawn-out breathing.

A gust of cold wind swept over us, like the breath of a giant dragon.

Shen Shu raised his finger, ignited the engine, and flames shot up with a "whoosh," dispelling the darkness and illuminating the surroundings.

He saw the scene around him, a scene that sent chills down his spine.

The cave walls are like tender, red flesh, covered with blood vessels, undulating rhythmically like a beating heart.

Directly in front of the divine figure, on that "flesh and blood stone wall," is a head embedded.

This is a typical Asura appearance: a square face, a high nose, lips that are neither too thick nor too thin, and prominent brow bones without eyebrows, making him look extremely heroic.

He must be a rare beauty among the Asura race.

The breathing sound was coming from this head, which was embedded in and growing within the flesh. To be precise, the breathing sound was coming from this enormous "monster".

You've come!

The head opened its eyes and stared coldly and indifferently at Shen Shu.

You shouldn't have come!

The head spoke again, its voice low and tinged with a sigh.

The two voices, one before the other, showed obvious emotional fluctuations and seemed to come from different people.

The voice that spoke next continued:

"He has waited for this day for five hundred years."

Then, the head coldly said:

"Are you ready to return to my body?"

The one who spoke later sneered:

"Return? It's more like eternal suppression. Five hundred years have passed; you've accumulated enough power."

The first voice said coldly:

You have no choice.

The divine body roared in anger:

"Shut up! I'm taking it with me today, and nobody can stop me."

He strode over, grabbed the head embedded in the flesh with both hands, and pulled hard.

The flesh walls were instantly stretched and deformed, but the head remained firmly embedded within, and even with its extraordinary strength, it could not be pulled out.

"Drink!"

His navel split open, he let out a loud shout, his muscles bulged instantly, and his energy surged through his meridians, overflowing with powerful force.

With all its might, the head, embedded in flesh and blood, was slowly pulled out, gradually detaching from the flesh wall.

Just then, the surrounding "stone walls" suddenly came to life, writhing violently, and the stone shells fell off with a "whoosh," revealing tender, red flesh beneath.

The entire cave seemed to be the interior of some enormous creature.

The flesh walls contracted violently, and tentacles extended out, wrapping around Shen Shu.

P. S.: Typos will be corrected later.