Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 19: The Precious Temple

The city outside the sightseeing elevator is rapidly descending.

Drones swept across the beams and rafters to the golden tiles, and countless monks in yellowish-brown robes moved back and forth, carrying the scents of sandalwood and yak butter far and wide.

As Suger stepped out of the elevator, his vision indicated that he had connected to the Pure Land Network.

This is the sky above Luyeyuan in Yingchuan City, the location of the "Chiming Baosha".

Yang Guan said this was the safest area, so Su Ge didn't wear an exoskeleton but instead put on binocular vision.

In the enhanced vision of reality, Buddhist temples, monks' quarters, and the forest of steles are bathed in fearless light, while a thousand-petaled lotus swirls in the void. Guardian deities fly among the five-colored altars of blue, yellow, red, white, and black, and raging flames define the boundary between this pure land, which is outwardly round and inwardly square, and the secular world.

He stepped into the faint, ethereal chanting of Buddhist hymns.

Yang Guan had been waiting for a while under the red wall in front of them.

"Isn't it spectacular?" Yang Guan said.

“Hmm.” Su Ge looked around at his surroundings. Half a month ago, he had looked up at this place from the bottom of the city.

"That's nothing. The Vidyadhara Temple is the present-day altar of the Huagu Temple. Its appearance in the spiritual realm is the true paradise."

Yang Guan spoke with a sigh, then chuckled and looked Su Ge up and down.

"How have you been lately? You seem to be in much better spirits than you were two weeks ago."

"I feel much more comfortable with it now."

"They adapted very quickly."

"Why did you arrange to meet here?" Soger asked.

"Didn't you want to know the test results of those burned brain-computer interfaces? That's why we're here today to get the results," Yang Guan replied.

"this?"

Suger was surprised; he had assumed the chips would be sent to research institutions or something similar.

"Of course, the position of the Fearless Thunder Buddha enshrined in the Vidyadhara Temple is to remove the fear of sentient beings, and He is also good at exorcising evil. I suspect that the reason those chips burned out was not because his accomplices implanted suicide programs, but because of the invasion of demons."

As Yang Guan spoke, he led Su Ge around the vermilion wall and through the five-colored mountain gate. Among the overlapping buildings, the spires of the sutra pillars and bell towers were revealed. A celestial dragon could be seen swimming by, revealing only its scales and claws, and peacock feathers brushed against the eaves.

"I also got that hacked vision device you used to wear; maybe it can help us find the trail of the demon that bewitched you. By the way, has that thing appeared recently?"

"No."

"You've been carrying the feather I gave you all this time, haven't you?"

"Take it with you."

Su Ge lied. He did activate the security system Yang Guan had given him most of the time, but since that thing could monitor demons and monsters, there was no reason it would miss him. When he came into contact with the city's gray areas through Shen Ke, he couldn't have carried it with him.

“That’s good.” Yang Guan nodded. “There’s another matter I came here for today, concerning the missing hibernator. I made an appointment for ‘Ksitigarbha Divination’ with the Vidyadhara Temple two weeks ago.”

"Ksitigarbha Divination?"

"In terms you can understand, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is one of the most powerful digital beings. He can capture all data and distinguish between true and false. If we can get guidance from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, we should have an answer today as to whether that hibernator is still alive."

Yang Guan's tone was matter-of-fact.

Suge understood; the so-called Ksitigarbha divination was like the Skynet system of the 21st century.

He found it absurd that the nation's Skynet system would be replaced by a religious digital life form, forcing an investigator from a national agency to rely on religion to investigate leads.

But Suger was more concerned about the hibernator's condition, to the point that he had a hope that this Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was really as omniscient as in myths and legends, and could help him find another hibernator.

……

The magnificent temple, built high above the city, was astonishingly large. Suge wandered among the overlapping red walls and yellow tiles, only knowing that he had passed more than a dozen pagodas and sutra pillars, and soon lost track of where he was.

Yang Guan entered a monastery and asked Su Ge to wait outside.

The eaves of the corridor outside the monastery are covered with barrel tiles, and it borders a large lotus pond that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see. Countless thick stems covered with fine hairs support the lotus leaves, and the plump and upright lotus petals are brightly colored, swaying in the breeze.

Having lived in this city since June or July, Suger was experiencing summer for the first time. The sun and hot wind hitting his face created a tingling, itchy sensation.

He didn't like wearing the Vision System, but now, smelling the faint sandalwood scent and watching the patrolling dragons and guardian deities, he felt a sense of peace and rested on the bench railing.

Suddenly, the lotus leaves in front of the railing began to sway more violently, and Su Ge cautiously stood up and backed away.

A small boat emerged from the lotus leaves, and a young nun in a yellowish-brown robe reached out to pluck a lotus seedpod that was very close to the shore. Just half a hand's width away, she looked at Sug, smiled, and called out, "Thank you!"

This nun had fair skin, bright eyes and white teeth, and no implants were visible on her body.

Suge hesitated for a moment, then reached over the railing, plucked a lotus seedpod, and handed it to the nun.

The nun took the lotus pod, broke off a few lotus seeds, and stood in the boat, looking him over from across a few lotus plants.

"Never mind, since you picked it, it's your destiny."

She used her oar to push aside the lotus stems, rowed over, and entered the corridor through the gap in the railing, handing the lotus seeds to Sug.

"Thanks," said Suger.

The nun looked at his face and suddenly said, "You look strangely tired." "How could you tell?" Sug paused for a moment, then smiled.

“Your ego is too strong,” she said.

"Uh, I don't understand this."

"Then let me tell you."

The nun smiled slightly.

"Many people have 'ego' and feel that there is a 'self' or a complete 'soul' inside their body, but these are all concepts created by humans and do not actually exist."

"Human consciousness is actually a complex whole. Sometimes, one part of you feels that there are things that must be done, but other parts feel that they are burdens. You are conflicted, so you feel tired."

Suger listened with a mixture of understanding and confusion, and felt that he might be being proselytized.

On the one hand, he felt disgusted, but on the other hand, he saw it as an opportunity to learn more.

"You mean, if I let go, I won't feel tired anymore?"

“That’s your problem,” the nun said. “I’m just telling you that if you don’t want to be so tired, you need to regulate these thoughts.”

“What if they coordinate?” Soger asked.

“It’s not ‘them,’ it’s ‘you,’” the bhikkhuni corrected. “When you have fully harmonized your consciousness, you are perfected. This is the foundation of Nirvana, and only then can you reach the other shore.”

"The other shore," Suger paused, "is that the spirit realm?"

“Yes.” The nun smiled. “You have great potential.”

Socrates realized that Nirvana and Ascension meant uploading one's consciousness and becoming a digital life form.

"If I reach the other shore, will I have become a Buddha?" he then asked.

“If you want to become a Buddha, you are a Buddha; whatever you want to become, you are,” the nun said.

"So gods and Buddhas are just numerical beings?"

Socrates voiced his doubts, adding in his mind, "Silicon-based life."

"Oh, you're wrong about that."

The nun shook her head repeatedly.

“Many people used to think like you, that humans created digital life and then created gods and Buddhas. In fact, gods and Buddhas have always existed, just like mathematical formulas and physical laws existed in the laws of the universe before they were discovered. Humans developed technology, which only made gods and Buddhas discover and gave them a medium to manifest. Gods and Buddhas have no form. What goodness is in people's hearts is what gods and Buddhas are.”

Suger felt that what she said was a bit convoluted, and at the same time, he realized that people's perceptions in this era were completely different from those in the 21st century.

"What are those demons and monsters?" he asked again.

"The same applies; whatever evil is in people's hearts, that's what demons and monsters will look like," the nun said.

“You say that gods and Buddhas are the embodiment of ultimate goodness, but I see that those who have lost their intellectual value have been abandoned,” Sog retorted.

“They are drowning in suffering, so they need to be saved,” the nun said.

"Why isn't Buddha here to save me?" Sog scoffed.

“I am the Buddha, and I am here to guide you and dispel the confusion in your heart,” the nun said.

"I'm not confused."

“You have a question,” the nun said, pointing to his hand. “Don’t you want to know what that is?”

Suger opened his palm; there were no lotus seeds, only a burnt chip.

"what is this?"

He was stunned.

"Yes……"

……

"It's Yama Raja, the results are in."

Yang Guan came out of the monastery and said to Su Ge, who was sitting on the bench by the railing.

Su Ge was a little dazed. He shook his head vigorously, took off his glasses, and confirmed that the person in front of him was indeed Yang Guan.

He looked down, his hand empty of lotus seeds. For a moment, he couldn't tell if he had just dozed off and had a dream, or if his vision had been invaded again by that so-called Buddha...

He gathered his scattered thoughts and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yang Guan said in a deep voice, "The reason the chip burned out was indeed the invasion of the demons, and this guy is no ordinary person. The fearless thunder Buddha gave instructions, which is very likely the work of Yama Raja."

"Yama Raja?"

Suger was stunned; he knew very well that it was he who had invaded the gray-haired man's mind.

"Yamaraja is the name of the Ghost King. It is said to be the first demon to be born since the creation of the Spirit Realm, and is known as the Lord of All Ghosts. If your case is related to it, you will be in big trouble."

(End of this chapter)