The Altar

"Call!"

The mountain winds blew even more fiercely, weighing down the wild grass on the slopes so much that it couldn't lift its head!

In the low-lying grass, the bones, fingernails, hair, and skull left by the deceased around the sky burial platform were all revealed!

A chill seeped into everyone's bones!

At this moment, the sky grew brighter and bluer.

Under the clear blue sky, it seemed as if only Zhou Yang and a few other living people remained in this world!

A deeper, more penetrating chill emanated from the very bones of these people!

"There's no Ghost Rhyme, no trace of Puppet Threads..."

Zhou Yang's brow Mindfulness with a gentle flow of mindfulness.

He did not detect the presence of the Ghost Rhyme Puppet Threads amidst the pervasive chill.

Zhuoma was still wriggling and struggling inside the sheepskin bag.

She is neither a puppet nor a ghost. Therefore, she is not someone who stands in opposition to a living person like Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang's expression remained serious, but his tense body relaxed slightly.

"Tsen Demon!"

At that moment, Gonpo stared at the constantly wriggling sheepskin bag and cried out in alarm, "Tsen Demon is coming out!"

"I've said it before, I've said it before!"

She died a violent death without skin, so she cannot be given a sky burial!

The tobacco they gave her reached for the sky like pillars, yet she refused to leave!

"Something terrible is about to happen! Oh no, something terrible is about to happen!"

"What kind of Tsen Demon!"

Deqin gave a cold shout and suddenly pulled a small iron seal from his neck:

"When the Tsen Demon came, my ' Songha Dharma Protector ' crushed it!"

"There is no Tsen Demon here either! Naren! Quzeng!"

"Tie the bags tight!"

"But Zhuoma still had a trace of life left, so she moved a few times."

"Just tie the bag tightly and it'll be fine!"

Zhou Yang looked up at the small seal hanging around Deqin's neck and saw a purple dot of light dancing inside.

Aji's consciousness flowed gently. "This is the Songha Dharma Protector Seal Prophecy..."

"By possessing this mudra, one can invoke ' Songha Mountain General Dharma Protector,' one of the guardian deities of Zongcha Gompa Temple, without the need for initiation rituals, mantras, or bindu practices."

"Legend Songha was an ancient general."

"After it died, it transformed into the Songha Mountain Zongcha Gompa Temple."

"It is a guardian deity of the world, but it is vicious and requires offerings made of horse and bear meat and the heart of a child to eliminate its viciousness and make it usable by people."

"It's too far away."

"Get closer, and let me call out the Mantra Point from the seal..." Zhou Yang was now more than ten steps away from Deqin.

Deqin gave instructions to the Naren Brothers while retreating.

Zhou Yang didn't want to chase after him directly, so he temporarily ignored Aji's nagging.

Naren and Quzeng repeatedly, agreeing with Deqin's words.

They trusted Deqin completely; a few words from Deqin dispelled any fear that had arisen in their hearts.

The two brothers looked again at the sheepskin bag in the meadow, their eyes suddenly turning fierce and resentful.

"Go to heaven honestly, Zhuoma."

"You went to the temple willingly, now go back to heaven and continue enjoying your life as a fairy..."

Naren and Quzeng, each holding a stick, approached the sheepskin bag.

Perhaps Naren's chanting had an effect, because "Zhuoma," who had been wriggling and struggling inside the sheepskin bag, suddenly stopped moving, and the raised hand and footprint marks on the sheepskin bag disappeared all at once.

"Good boy, good boy..."

Quzeng, all smiles, gripped the opening of the sheepskin bag tightly. Watching his actions, Zhou Yang's mind flashed with images—in a dimly lit mud house, Quzeng forcefully pried open a child's mouth and poured a bowl of murky wine into it!

"Zhuoma skipped and hopped along with the monks to the temple, showing how happy she was..."

Zhou Yang remembered the two brothers saying that.

Anyone who gets drunk will stagger and walk unsteadily.

To outsiders, it might seem like he's hopping and skipping around a bit.

"Good Zhuoma!"

Naren grinned widely, his mouth revealing a bright red patch.

He grabbed a handful of grass, deftly braided it into a makeshift rope, and wrapped it around the mouth of the bag again and again, puffing out his cheeks as he tightened the rope, tightening it even more.

The rope wrapped around the bag's opening was like a noose around his neck; with each tightening, veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes bulged out, and bloodshot veins seeped from the corners of his eyes.

There was no sound coming from inside the sheepskin bag.

The strong winds blowing through the mountains subsided.

A salty, stench of decay rose from the back of Narong Mountain. (Go to Bing search for the latest chapter!)

On the back side of Narong Mountain lies the "Cathay Forest".

"You! Carry it!"

Naren tied the rope and suddenly turned his head to look at Zhou Yang not far away.

His eyes were still bulging, and the veins on his forehead were standing out. He was facing Zhou Yang Zhou Yang, and his impolite tone conveyed a sense of dissatisfaction.

But then he grinned, showing his teeth.

The way he appeared earlier was not his intention.

"No, no!" Gonpo stood next to Zhou Yang and waved his hand, saying, "This little girl is going to become Tsen Demon."

We can't go!

"If we dismantle the body of the Tsen Demon, we'll die too!"

"There is no Tsen Demon here!"

Deqin suddenly shouted and strode towards Gonpo and his disciples. His eyes were filled with a terrifying ferocity.

That look in his eyes, which clearly showed he didn't care about human life, made Gonpo's legs go weak on the spot.

Zhou Yang looked at the small iron seal on his chest, which swayed from side to side as he strode forward.

Aji's consciousness began to flow again. "Sheya!"

Om! Arachana!

"Songha! Hum Phat! Soha!"

"Say it..."

As the mantra was repeated over and over, the pulsating purple light spot in the small iron seal on Deqin's chest suddenly began to wriggle like a purple water droplet, then flowed down from the seal and darted into Zhou Yang's brow.

The point of light slid down his brow and into his nasal cavity.

Zhou Yang immediately smelled a strong aroma of wine, mixed with the stench of blood.

The smell of blood is sweet.

The aroma of the wine tempted him. -- The "Songha Dharma Protector" habit condensed within the Mantra Point was also brought into Zhou Yang's nostrils.

A thought flashed through his mind!

The "Ghost Ten Hands" silently opened from behind his neck, rushed into his nasal cavity, and once again took away the Mantra Point attached to him.

"After striking eighteen Mantra Point, the vajra began to take shape."

"One can hold the vajra using the 'flower-picking' finger technique, and after the initial initiation, allow the subtle energy within the body to settle into the vajra, engaging in interactive practice with it to enlighten its inherent nature..."

Aji's voice gradually faded away.

Deqin strode over, and as he approached Gonpo and his disciples, he suddenly sensed the eerie aura emanating from the outstretched Ghost Ten Hands!

He stopped in his tracks, and at that moment, Zhou Yang also withdrew the Ghost Ten Hands.

Deqin's mind raced, and he felt that it was "Zhuoma's corpse" causing the disturbance. He clenched the "Songha's Seal Empowerment" on his chest, as if boundless courage and power were generated within him. He took a few more steps forward, almost face to face with Gonpo, and said sternly:

There are no Tsen Demon here!

"Zhuoma has gone to heaven, but her merits were so great that even though her physical body died, she still left behind a last breath of life!"

"Now Zhuoma has completely passed away! Go! Take her to the platform, dismember her body, and invite the Dakini!"

"Go and dismember her body; at least she won't die now."

"If you don't go, I'll push both of you down the mountain right now and make you sleep in the charnel ground!"

Gonpo was frightened by his fierce demeanor. With tears in his eyes, he nodded hurriedly and pulled Zhou Yang toward the square platform laid out in the middle of the hillside.

Now Zhou Yang doesn't need to carry that sheepskin bag anymore.

Naren and Quzeng looked at each other in bewilderment.

Quzeng pushed the sheepskin bag towards Naren.

Naren glared at Quzeng, Quzeng grinned and chuckled a few times before picking up the sheepskin bag and carrying it to the sky burial platform where Gonpo and his disciples had ascended.

"Warm mulberry leaves, warm mulberry leaves."

"Burning incense at this time is to send the deceased away."

"Light incense at all four corners of the table!"

Gonpo patted Zhou Yang on the shoulder and directed him to light the mulberry and cypress branches at the four corners of the platform. The smoke drifted erratically with the wind, sometimes east, sometimes west, and was suddenly swept up by a gust of wind, rushing into the charnel ground on the other side of the mountain, which smelled of corpses and looked like a colorful mass.

Gonpo took out a knife and an axe from his bag and arranged them one by one on the stone slab in front of the platform.

He saw the two brothers lift the sheepskin bag onto the table, their lips trembling slightly. They then clasped their hands together in front of the bag, recited the Rebirth Mantra several times, and then took out several wooden bowls.

"Aji, Aji, come here!"

Gonpo shouted.

Zhou Yang lit the last pile of mulberry branches and then ran over following the sound.

All I saw was Gonpo scooping up a handful of soil from the ground and putting it into the first wooden bowl, then mixing in some wild grass roots. "Aji, these are the offerings to be placed during the sky burial. I'll teach you, and you must remember them carefully!"

The first offering was a clay offering.

"What is offered to the dead is to let them know that dust to dust, ashes to ashes, and that no one can escape the day of death."

"Let go of your attachments, like dust, let them drift away with the wind."

Zhou Yang nodded earnestly.

Aji's voice rang in his ears. "If you want a mud offering to be effective, you can't just arrange it like that. You have to collect the dust that the wind blows up and falls to the ground, mix it with five kinds of herbs and mushrooms that don't grow in soil, and roast them in a fire to make powder. Only a mud offering made in that way can be effective."

"The soul of the deceased can be placed in clay offerings."

"Grab some earth and ashes from the offering, scatter them in the wind, and the soul will disperse."

Aji is probably right.

However, Zhou Yang and Gonpo are currently unable to produce genuine clay offerings.

Zhou Yang carefully noted down Aji's words, preparing to try them out later.

The fact that clay offerings can harbor the souls of the dead—this efficacy might come in handy in the future.

The second offering is an offering to the heavens.

"It's for offering to the sky; all you need is an empty bowl." Gonpo then took out an empty bowl, recited a few incantations, and said to Zhou Yang.

"No monk created this offering called 'Heavenly Offering'," Aji whispered in Zhou Yang's ear.

Gonpo finally took out an empty bowl, which was still empty.

He said, "This bowl is for the ' Five Senses Offering.' The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and flesh of the deceased are placed in this bowl. By observing the wind direction, the sky, and the changing smoke from the incense, we can determine which spirit or deity is coming. Then, we place the Five Senses Offering corresponding to that spirit or deity's favorite item on top."

"If the spirits consume the offerings, they will not disturb the living for a while."

"This is the most important offering. You'll be with me then, so make sure you see it clearly."

"He's right," Aji said.

Zhou Yang nodded. "Okay, I've got it."

Gonpo then instructed Zhou Yang to carry two empty offering bowls to a small tower made of Shitou, clay figures, and bone fragments on the west edge of the platform. He placed the clay offerings and heavenly offerings at the bottom, and the empty bowls for the Five Senses Offering on top.

The three bowls form a triangular shape.

"Eba and the nuns have their own altars."

"The Eba have their own altars and temples, while the monks have mandalas and altars. We sky burial masters don't have that kind of orderly lineage, so we use the mani stones that are where the souls of the dead are placed as altars."

"Aji, this is our altar."

"We offer the bodies of the dead to the Dakini, and their souls are reborn in heaven."

"The wishes left behind by the deceased are placed in the mani piles; these wishes are also the blessings we accumulate. In this way, the mani piles will protect us."

Gonpo sat beside the mani stones, his hands clasped together, his expression devout. "We are the corpse dismantlers. We may look dirty and smelly, but life and death are not in our hands. We are just the ones who guide people to their respective destinations after they die."

We have no sins.

Zhou Yang looked at the small tower made of stones, clay figurines, and bones. With Aji's discerning eyes, he saw warm white light swirling and flowing inside the tower.

These white lights must be the power of vows that Gonpo spoke of.

Zhou Yang then followed Gonpo's example and sat down beside the mani stones.

Gonpo turned his head and glanced at him.

From this day forward, Aji has truly taken an important step into the world of sky burial.

"All mani stones are altars for sky burial masters..."

"How vast these altars are, spread throughout all the lands..."

Aji whispered his thoughts into Zhou Yang's ear.