Zhuoma

Clang!

The flat-headed woodcutter's knife that Zhou Yang had pressed under his pillow suddenly emitted a resounding clang!

Amidst the deafening roar, a beam of white light leaped out from under Zhou Yang's pillow, suddenly striking the open third page of the "Knife Credit Ledger," causing the ink characters on it to boil and rearrange themselves!

"Swords on credit: A well-quenched iron sword."

Quality: Mediocre.

Customer who bought the knife on credit: Aji.

"Note: The quality of the swords provided on Blade-Credit Merchant this time is mediocre, which will cause little fluctuation in the causal connection between the Blade-Credit Merchant and the Karmic Retribution Body. The Karmic Retribution Body will not be able to voluntarily sever its causal relationship with the Blade-Credit Merchant."

"The quality of swords purchased on credit will affect Manifestation Body's life circumstances."

"Based on the 'mediocre' quality of the swords purchased on credit, Aji will likely encounter 'fortunate encounters' in his future life, with a moderate probability, and a relatively high probability, encountering 'dangerous situations'."

The quality of swords sold on credit will affect the "Imprinting" effect for the Blade-Credit Merchant.

"Due to the influence of the moderate quality of the sword, when Blade-Credit Merchant Imprinting a relatively ordinary ability onto the Manifestation Body, they can achieve an effect equal to the Manifestation Body ability."

... A mediocre wood-chopping knife...

When Zhou Yang saw the evaluation of the flat-headed woodcutter's knife in "The Knife Credit Ledger," he was slightly disappointed.

He had, after all, put in a lot of effort to forge this knife.

Although the probability of forging a divine weapon on the first try is extremely low, who wouldn't fantasize about obtaining a powerful and precious sword on their very first attempt when they actually begin forging a blade?

This slight disappointment quickly faded from Zhou Yang's heart.

He soon discovered that the "Knife Credit Ledger" provided an explanation for the arrangement of sword quality.

Below "mediocre" quality, there are three levels, from lowest to highest: extremely poor, very poor, and poor.

In comparison, the fact that his machete was moved from being classified as "inferior" to "ordinary" is a huge improvement!

At least with this ordinary-grade woodcutter's knife, he could now Imprinting the ordinary abilities he gained Imprinting the Karmic Retribution Body one-to-one!

He no longer needs to expend too much Good Karma for this.

I just don't know how "The Knife Credit Ledger" judges ordinary abilities?

Are "The Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting" and "The Breathing of the Ghost" considered ordinary abilities, or extraordinary ones? Zhou Yang made up his mind.

On the "Knife Credit Ledger" in his hand, the wood-chopping knife had cleaved a crack in the paper!

From the crack, a torrent of dark light surged forth like a vast ocean, completely engulfing Zhou Yang's vision and consciousness!

"Bite..."

A clear and melodious bell rang, piercing Zhou Yang's deep sleep.

His consciousness gradually returned.

I could smell the pungent odor of livestock excrement mixed with a richer milky aroma.

After the bell rang, Zhou Yang heard a series of incoherent, repetitive words—the words kept repeating until he finally understood them completely and found a matching homophone:

"Om Mani Padme Hum..."

"Om Mani Padme Hum..."

"This is the six-syllable mantra," Zhou Yang thought to himself.

He felt a rough hand rubbing his head and face, and that hand carried a faint stench—it was this stench that made Zhou Yang's consciousness clearer!

He realized that the stench was actually the smell of a corpse!

How could human hands be marinated in the stench of a corpse?

At this moment, the chanting of the six-syllable mantra stopped. The chanter withdrew his hand from stroking Zhou Yang's face and spoke to those around him, "We can't call him back, I'm afraid..."

"I recite the six-syllable mantra ten thousand times, and it works."

"The prayer wheel has been turned countless times, I don't even know how many tens of thousands of times."

"The Six Lotus Offering were set out, but the ghosts had nothing to eat."

He ate the Ganlu pills and drank the water used to detoxify.

"If I were truly under the curse of ' Eba,' I would have woken up by now."

"He wasn't poisoned by a curse; it's as if he was summoned away by the ' Esoteric Treasury Domain.'"

"It's no use, let him go, let him go... There's still one last spot on the platform tomorrow. Prepare yak butter and tsampa for you all. When the sun reaches its zenith, I'll offer him as alms to the Dakini. Let him go, let him go..."

Upon hearing the chanter's words, a woman's voice followed, tinged with sobs:

"My parents are gone, he is my only family..."

"Duobudan, please save him, please save him!"

"I'll give you all the money that's left in the house, please save him!"

"I'm his Ajia, I can't abandon him..."

"Ajia..." As that female voice rang out, Zhou Yang also heard another person's murmur in his mind, "Ajia who took me to collect cow dung, Ajia who made ghee, Ajia who carried me to watch the Buddha Exhibition Festival, Ajia who raised me..."

"My beloved Ajia, Ajia..."

Zhou Yang immediately realized that the incessantly murmuring voice belonged to the owner of his current Karmic Retribution Body — Aji!

He didn't know what the name "Ajia" actually meant.

Based on what Aji said, he felt that even if Ajia wasn't Aji's mother, she should be the eldest sister in Aji's family, playing a similar role to a mother.

Right now, Aji seems to be awakened by Ajia's words. Go to Bing search for "Deqi" to see the latest chapter!

But he just kept muttering the same words over and over, in a daze.

The murmurs gradually became like whispered dreams.

Outside him, the chant master known as "Duobudan" sighed and whispered, "They took all the silverware from your house."

"We'll also take away your carpets, tables, chairs, beds, and your entire house."

"Zhuoma, I remember you're getting married soon."

"I'm going to marry the eldest son of my Maji's family."

"You didn't bring enough dowry when you went there, and many people bullied you."

"Keep some money for your future, Zhuoma."

Droma Aja kept crying, only repeating, "Save him, save him..."

Marrying the eldest son of Maji's family?

"Is it the Maji family that ambushed you and your father?" Zhou Yang noticed that "Duobudan" had clearly mentioned "Maji family" in his words. He was puzzled and tried to ask Aji's dazed consciousness.

Aji murmured, "Yes, yes..."

"My poor Ajia, my poor father..."

You can't get any useful information out of him at all.

Outside, Duobudan sighed repeatedly, but still agreed to Zhuoma's plea, "They all just think of me as a Duobudan sky burial master. When my family is haunted by Tsen Demon, they invite me here and offer me butter tsampa and dried yak meat."

"Let me avert disaster and exorcise demons for them."

"When there's nothing to do, they see me as an ominous person and fear me even more than the lamas at night."

"Only your family has always treated me kindly."

"Alright!"

"I also have a secret mantra for appeasing karmic debts, pacifying disasters, and summoning souls to deliver the living. I learned it from a Eba with a family tradition when I was young, but for many years I have only recited this soul-summoning mantra in my heart and have never spoken it aloud."

"That Eba said that this secret incantation can only summon souls that are not yet in the cycle of birth and death. I wonder if Aji's soul has already entered the cycle of birth and death?"

Hopefully he's still on his way and can wait for us.

"Let's see if this secret spell can catch him..."

Duobudan means sky burial master or corpse dismantler.

The chanter who recited sutras and prayed for Aji in an attempt to awaken his consciousness was actually a sky burial master!

Zhou Yang suddenly understood.

No wonder he could smell the stench of a corpse on his hands.

The reason should be this.

Zhuoma wept, repeatedly expressing her gratitude to Duobudan.

Duobudan once again lifted Aji's chin with his hand, which was stained with the stench of corpses, and chanted the so-called "karmic pacification, soul-summoning and salvation" mantra. "Om... Amitabha, She..."

"Amridadha deja haramoo..."

As Duobudan continued to chant this secret mantra, Zhou Yang heard Aji's murmur again in his mind, "Mantra of Delivering Wandering Souls and Bestowing Life."

"It can save those who have not yet entered the intermediate state (bardo)."

Those saved by this curse will suffer at the hands of the "blood-drinking female ghost riding a wild mule's skin"...

"We can't accept this curse..."

Zhou Yang was horrified by Aji's murmurs!

If he was right, Aji heard the Duobudan chanting the secret mantra for summoning souls and immediately realized the secret within it!

Did he already know this secret incantation before?

Or perhaps—upon hearing this secret incantation, he was triggered by a sensation and began to mutter in his sleep?

Was what Aji said in his sleep true or false?

What "a blood-drinking female ghost riding a wild mule skin"? Zhou Yang had never even heard of it.

Zhou Yang felt that verifying his words would be very difficult.

What state is Aji in right now? He seems to respond to calls from the outside world, but his consciousness clearly cannot return to his body. It is still Zhou Yang who is controlling Aji's body!

Moreover, judging from Aji's murmurs alone, could he have had a very deep connection with these esoteric practices in the past?

However, the book "The Knife Credit Ledger" only states that Aji is the son of the silversmith Queji.

The two were ordered to go to the "Nengsheng Liberation Temple" to build a golden pagoda.

Golden Pagoda...

Was it that golden pagoda that caused this strange change in Aji's consciousness?

As Zhou Yang was pondering this, he heard Duobudan sigh helplessly, remove his hand from Aji's chin, and say, "Sigh!"

"There's no other way, let him go, Zhuoma."

He didn't come back even after I recited the secret mantra seven times.

"They can't come back... Nengsheng Liberation Temple is right next to the ' Esoteric Treasury Domain,' and the temples there are terrifying to begin with. He and Queji were building a golden pagoda there... They must have been tainted by the ghosts of the Esoteric Treasury Domain..."

Zhou Yang carefully pondered Duobudan's words.

Another large, rough hand began to groom his sideburns, and he could smell the butter on that hand. Some warm liquid dripped onto his face.

"Brother, brother..."

He heard Zhuoma Ajia's gentle call.

Aji was still talking in his sleep.

Zhou Yang sighed inwardly; it seemed that Aji wouldn't be able to wake up anytime soon.

He then took Aji's place, his eyelids trembling, and slowly opened his eyes.

What came into view was Zhuoma's dark red oval face. Tears wet her eyebrows and eyes, making her slender eyes appear very deep. Her rough face was etched with wrinkles by the wind.

At that moment, she suddenly smiled.

Like those lovely little flowers growing in cracks in rocks and barren land.