Human-Body Buddha

In Nanyang, raising a ghost child isn't called "raising," it's called "offering."

The ghosts here are different from those in Heavenly Gate. They are closer to evil spirits. Their biggest characteristic is that they have a variety of mysterious and unpredictable ways of killing people. Moreover, once they are offered up, they are impossible to kill. Even if the person who offered them up dies, the little ghost can still wander around and kill people until it is sealed away by another Nanyang shaman using witchcraft.

Most of the major and minor factions in Nanyang have the ability to raise their own "evil spirits," so unless absolutely necessary, few people will actually take drastic measures against the core members of other factions, because everyone is afraid of being traded one for one.

Even a ruthless character like Zheng Qingbo, who betrays people without batting an eye, dealt with Liang Household Garden primarily through various forms of oppression: excluding people from his network, suppressing his businesses, annexing his territory, and bribing his members, rather than directly attacking Liang Household Garden.

As one of the first groups of monks to go to Nanyang, the Liang Household must have had similar methods.

Zheng Qingbo's actions were primarily aimed at acquiring the Liang Household's evil techniques. Of course, another goal was to force the other party to overturn the table.

Once the table is overturned, it won't just be Zheng Family Garden's family that will suppress Liang Household Garden.

"Moheda, is that the Liang Household's 'Sulu Wrapped Coconut Bone String'?" Zheng Qingbo asked.

The evil spirits of Nanyang can only be suppressed, not eradicated. And what can suppress evil spirits is often not a cultivator, but another evil spirit.

As he asked this, he rubbed the Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist; the prayer beads of the Demon-Body Buddha were believed to ward off evil.

"It doesn't look like a bone bracelet; it's more like a talisman. In the city, only Master A Pei's family can suppress talismans."

The old man spoke so fast that it was impossible to understand him, so his apprentice, a Chinese man, had to translate for him.

"Old A Pei, huh?" Zheng Qingbo frowned.

This is a bit troublesome. Evil spirits need to be suppressed, otherwise they will surely devour their masters. Therefore, blacksmiths who can forge suppressing artifacts are bound to be welcomed by major powers in Nanyang. Even the Java royal family has asked this old man to forge royal suppressing artifacts.

This also means that the old man has a lot of connections, which is why he didn't touch him even though he knew the other party was on good terms with Old Master Liang.

"The Liang Household's curse seal is nothing special," another old barbarian Foreign Granny, dressed similarly to the old barbarian but extremely fierce, stood up and chanted a spell. Soon, two ghost dolls crawled out of the darkness.

The two ghost dolls were about a foot tall, grayish-black in color, with dry and rough skin, like the bark of an old tree that had been dried for many years.

Their facial features were distorted and deformed, with one eye larger than the other, and their mouths were crooked, revealing several sharp, shark-like teeth.

Their limbs are long and thin, with their joints bent at an abnormal angle. They walk like two crawling spiders, leaving wet, dark brown trails on the ground. On the top of their heads, there is a rusty iron nail, with a wisp of black hair wrapped around the end of the nail, swaying slightly in the air.

"Go, kill those Seal Ghost!"

The two ghostly dolls crawled into the darkness and disappeared, and the chilling feeling vanished as well.

Zheng Qingbo watched this scene silently.

This barbarian woman was a wild barbarian, far more skilled than Elder Moheda, a mature barbarian. Of course, she was also more ferocious. Mature barbarians could at least interact with living people and conduct normal trade, while wild barbarians ate living people.

Although he invited this old woman, it was mainly because of his feud with the Liang Household.

Every century-old Lineage has its share of enemies, Liang Household is no exception.

The Incantation Ghost and the Seal Ghost were originally one family, but decades ago, a Chinese woman was stranded on this island inhabited by natives. She then used her intelligence and talent to steal half of the Seal Ghost's legacy.

This clever Chinese woman was none other than Old Mrs. Liang from back then, and the Foreign Granny Offal Knife and the Sulu Wrapped Coconut Bone String were originally Old Mrs. Liang's treasures.

"Elder Zheng, could you please go as well? I'm worried about some unexpected situations."

The monk surnamed Zheng, a member of the Demonic Machine Hall, stood up dismissively.

"What trouble could there be? The old ghost has been suppressed, and his disciples and followers have been killed and scattered. That Sealed Holy Son you mentioned? He doesn't even have the talent to be taken away. What threat could he pose?"

Despite his constant complaints, Elder Zheng, a Golden Core Realm cultivator, stood up and walked out.

The two Zheng families are not related, but if the money is right, even distant relatives can be recognized.

After the other side left, only two old barbarians, a Chinese apprentice Jiacha, the barbarian secretary, remained on the field.

Zheng Qingbo closed his eyes to rest, turning the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand. He felt no unease; he only wanted to know the news of the enemy's death, whether it was Liang Yanqiu's or someone else's.

About half an incense stick later, there was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me, is Boss Zheng home?"

Zheng Qingbo's eye twitched violently.

Neither Hu Mang nor Zheng Qingbo expected to meet again in this kind of setting.

Boss Zheng was still the same as before, dressed in a long robe and elegant attire, gentle and refined. He looked more like a modern schoolteacher than a gangster.

Compared to half a year ago, Hu Mang looks almost completely different. If someone didn't know better, they would think he had gone to Heavenly Gate for plastic surgery.

The once ferocious and ruthless thug who fought alone against many on the docks, covered in blood and with a hideous face, now stood before Zheng Qingbo with a surprisingly youthful appearance. After Subduing the White Tiger, his energy had become more restrained, and the ferocity and sharpness on his face were covered by a layer of warm luster. His skin had become much smoother, and even his features seemed to have softened a bit.

If it weren't for the lingering sharpness in his clear black and white eyes, one would hardly recognize him as the "Heavenly Blood Python" who once wreaked havoc in Java's Java.

Hu Mang grinned, and his figure vanished in an instant.

In the next instant, he appeared behind the two old barbarians, grabbing them by the back of the neck with one hand each.

Before the two old barbarians could even react to what was happening, they felt a tightness on the back of their necks as Demonic Qi surged into their bodies from that palm, freezing their spiritual power and Qi and Blood in an instant.

They opened their mouths, wanting to chant incantations, to summon ghost dolls, to mobilize the venomous insects within their bodies, to use other dangerous spells, but it was all too late.

Their skin, muscles, internal organs, and bones, like clay being kneaded by an invisible hand, disintegrated, peeled away, and pulverized layer by layer, turning into a fine, dark red fleshy paste that flowed down between the Hu Mang's fingers and dripped onto the ground with a soft pattering sound.

In less than two breaths, the two living people vanished completely, leaving only two pools of dark red flesh slowly spreading on the ground, emitting a strong smell of blood.

Zheng Qingbo picked up his handkerchief and wiped the blood splattered on his face. Although his expression was calm, the twitching corners of his mouth and eyes proved that he was not as calm as he appeared.

As for the barbarian named Jiacha, he simply spat it out.

He had dealt with many dead people, but never at such close range, nor so quickly.

"Boss Zheng, you taught me this. To deal with this kind of sorcerer, you have to grind him into mincemeat from head to toe. That way, no amount of Technique Method, or resurrection techniques will work."

Smelling the dense stench of blood in the room, Zheng Qingbo suppressed his urge to vomit and forced a smile, saying, "I was just using a metaphor. I've always had high hopes for you, Mangzai."

"Boss Zheng, I've been waiting for you for so long, but you didn't come to see me, so I had no choice but to come see you."

Hu Mang laughed:

"The Demonic Machine Hall, Nanyang wizards, remnants of the demonic path, gangster forces— Boss Zheng, your network of relationships is truly complex. But you've forgotten one thing: within three zhang (approximately 10 meters), life and death are nothing more than a matter of a sword or a spear. Oh, by the way, you said that too."

"So what do you have left to rely on? The Buddha statue behind you? And a very large one at that?"

In Nanyang, there are large and small Buddhas. The small Buddhas are said to be in the Demon-Body Buddha, while the large Buddhas are in the Human-Body Buddha. However, only the locals know that the Human-Body Buddha are much more mysterious than the Demon-Body Buddha.

The Hu Mang's vision pierced through the darkness, and it saw the Human-Body Buddha not far away.

The proportions of the Human-Body Buddha are extremely disproportionate. The head is too large, taking up almost a third of the entire body, while the limbs are thin and long like withered branches, bent in an abnormal posture, as if they had been broken off and then reattached.

The Buddha's face was blurry, as if half of its features had been erased, leaving only a slightly open mouth with the corners of its mouth turned upwards, revealing a smile that was not quite a smile.

Its hands were forming a strange hand seal; its left palm was facing up, holding a fist-sized, dark red bead; its right palm was facing down, with its five fingers slightly spread, as if it were about to grab something.

The Buddha statue is surrounded by fine, vein-like red lines that gleam slightly in the dim light, as if something is slowly flowing within those lines, like the blood circulation of a living being.

Zheng Qingbo revealed a strange smile, the same smile as the Buddha statue.

"Here, both evil and Buddhist objects need to be worshipped. Demon-Body Buddha are worshipped in animal forms, and Human-Body Buddha are worshipped in human forms. Moreover, the more bizarre and unpredictable the method of worship, the more powerful the Buddhist teachings that evolve from them will be. Mangzai, can you guess what kind of worship method my Blood Buddha uses?"

Hu Mang looked him up and down for a moment, then laughed, "A demonic cultivation method, huh? And it looks like a Blood Demon transformation. Is that the skill of that Elder Min from before?"

"You tricked that old man out of his demonic Cultivation Method, but instead of practicing them yourself, you used them to worship Buddha. If those five demonic sect leaders saw this, they'd probably be so angry they'd come back to life."

"I know you're a difficult person, Boss Zheng, so I've been waiting for the right opportunity. Coincidentally, I know a little bit about demonic arts and Buddhist Divine Ability."