Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 652 Wine-stained
roar~
Before Qin Huai could think further, the fiery-faced Guangmu Heavenly King flung out the clay dragon and snake he was holding, which roared and expanded, filling almost half of the gatehouse in the blink of an eye, completely surrounding Qin Huai.

Faced with the shrinking, rock-hard clay snake body, Qin Huai mustered all his strength, and the green sword in his hand rang out, as three sword lights slashed down in a winding manner.

A sickeningly loud clang of metal clashing against metal rang out, and the shattered clay snake body crashed at Qin Huai's feet, scattering dust and smoke, before being burned to ashes by the rainbow fire.

"Controlling the earth to transform into snakes?"

Qin Huai narrowed his eyes and murmured softly. After he killed the earth serpent, the Seven Star Sword did not give the expected feedback, which proved that the earth serpent in Guangmu Tianwang's hands was not a fully formed evil spirit like the two generals Heng and Ha, but merely a mindless earthen puppet.

Seeing Qin Huai easily dismember his prized Dragon-Snake Binding Technique, Guangmu Tianwang was enraged. He let out a strange, inhuman cry, jumped off the platform, and his clay hand grew larger with the wind, reaching directly for Qin Huai.

At the same time, the Heavenly King of Growth, who had previously thrown the magic sword to ambush Qin Huai, emitted a faint blue light. The bronze magic sword stuck in the ground seemed to be drawn, spinning and piercing the air, slashing towards Qin Huai's waist from behind.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced Dhritarashtra, the Heavenly King, played his thighbone pipa, and together with Vaishravana, who was leaping towards Qinhuai with an umbrella as a spear, they formed an encirclement.

"I can't avoid it, so why should I?!"

The body that Qin Huai's thoughts were attached to was extremely strong. It would not be an exaggeration to say that its arms could run a horse and its shoulders could support a beam. Its broad shoulders and thick waist were comparable to the pillars of the Golden Palace. Suddenly attacked from both sides by these four evil spirits, it seemed that it had no way to escape.

But Qin Huai seemed oblivious to the numerous deadly attacks that were about to strike him. The giant sword on the door panel suddenly sharpened, and like a pool of autumn water, it severed the head of Guangmu Tianwang.

puff~

Slightly warm liquid splashed onto the fierce-looking mask, emitting a rich aroma of wine. Qin Huai continued his movements, exerting force with his wrist, and the Seven Star Sword was lifted from below and above, sending the bronze magic sword flying. Then, the blade swept upwards and lightly touched the throat of the Heavenly King Duowen.

thump!
The heavy mud body collapsed with a crash, instantly eliminating the wide-eyed and well-informed Qin Huai. He lowered his eyes to look at the place where he had just been stabbed by the magic sword and umbrella spear. Seeing that his skin and flesh were unharmed and there was not even a red mark left, he nodded and turned his attention to Chi Guo, who was playing the pipa and completely absorbed in his music.

The Judge's Skull possesses the Body of Inheritance, which grants the wearer immunity to pure kinetic damage. This is why Qin Huai was so fearless just now, using a strategy of trading injury for life to instantly kill two of the Four Heavenly Kings.

The rich aroma of wine wafted and spread through the hall. Qin Huai's feet touched the ground, but before he could rush to the side of the King of the Netherworld, the blue-glowing Heavenly King pounced down. His clay-like body suddenly softened, becoming sticky, heavy, and sluggish, enveloping and binding Qin Huai.

A pungent smell of alcohol hit him, and Qin Huai subconsciously tightened his rainbow flames, trying to use the terrifying heat to dry and crack the stagnant silt. However, he did not expect that the mud flow containing a large amount of alcohol would ignite with a purple flame as soon as it encountered the high temperature, turning Qin Huai into a giant torch.

As the purple flames burned, the stench of alcohol evaporated faster and faster, and some unknown substance drifted into the air. Qin Huai seemed to sense this, but most of his energy was focused on maintaining the rainbow flame defense and trying to save his body from the burning purple flames. He simply didn't have the time to deal with the strange stench of alcohol.

Just then, the pipa music played by Dhritarashtra became even more intense, and his pale features began to writhe and collapse inward, revealing a dark pit the size of a fist.

Through the raging flames, Qin Huai could even clearly see the shimmering liquid surface in the pit!

Considering everything that had happened before, Qin Huai could easily guess that these so-called evil spirits were actually sculptures made of fine wine and clay, but some accident had somehow turned them into man-eating evil spirits.

"Form is not me... If it were me, form would not be sick or suffer. I desire form as it is, I do not desire form as it is, according to my desires. Therefore, know this..."

As a vast and ethereal Buddhist chant arose, the previously jarring sound of the pipa in Qin Huai's ears softened, and what he saw began to distort and change.

Suddenly, the raging purple flames seemed to vanish, no longer radiating terrifying heat, and the pipa no longer played the clanging sounds of swords and spears, but instead the tinkling sounds of mountain springs rushing over rocks.

"Ok?"

Qin Huai's vision blurred, and the sticky wine sludge that had been binding his entire body disappeared. In its place was a gigantic, blood-red hand that gripped him tightly.

Each finger of this giant hand was as big as a pillar supporting the sky, and every tendon and muscle was made up of densely packed blood-red tapeworms, intertwined and wriggling, which looked extremely creepy.

Qin Huai forced himself to look down and saw that each tapeworm was only two inches long, with red flesh all over its body, wriggling like a swimming fish, complete with mouth and eyes. Noticing Qin Huai's gaze, millions of tiny black eyes, no bigger than sesame seeds, all focused on him.

"Damn! What kind of nonsense is this?"

Qin Huai cursed angrily, then gathered all his strength and suddenly broke free from the restraints. Thousands of tapeworms flew out and exploded, scattering a rain of red liquid. The extremely rich aroma of wine immediately pierced through Qin Huai's seven orifices.

Immediately afterwards, the dark clouds in the sky parted, and a huge face, at least a hundred meters long, emerged. Hundreds of millions of tapeworms gathered to form a twisted, deformed, and ugly face without skin. Its bare cheeks, resembling the back of a toad, were covered with thick, crimson liquid.

Without a second thought, Qin Huai pulled out the gourd from his waist and poured the spring water mixed with a few drops of Jade Dew into his mouth. The bizarre scene before him vanished like a mirage.

Returning his gaze to the dimly lit hall, Qin Huai discovered that the mud yoke that the Heavenly King of Growth had transformed into had somehow crumbled into pieces of dry mud, like porcelain shattered by a raging fire, mixing with the spilled wine to form a muddy mess.

Looking again at the Heavenly King Dhritarashtra, who was holding a pipa made of thigh bone, the liquid in the hollow of his face had long since dried up, and the evil spirit was like an engine without fuel, completely motionless.

"There's something wrong with the wine at Wenshu Monastery; just smelling it can corrupt you with demonic influence. What about drinking it?"

Recalling the innkeeper's words earlier, Qin Huai felt a chill run down his spine, sensing the thorny nature of the situation.

While Qin Huai was oblivious, the pot-bellied Maitreya Buddha, who held a gourd of wine aloft, slowly opened his eyes.

"Drunken singing doesn't hinder Zen enlightenment; one is a wine immortal. If one understands the meaning of emptiness, one will find a golden lotus amidst a pile of rubble."

Hearing a faint, eerie chant coming from behind him, Qin Huai, who was already very alert, jumped back like a startled bird. At the same time, he twisted his waist and turned around, his sword light, more than ten feet long, bursting towards the source of the sound.

Call ~
The pot-bellied Maitreya Buddha, seated high on a lotus platform, opened his golden mouth, raised his gourd, and exhaled an extremely strong aroma of wine, instantly blurring his figure.

The billowing aroma of wine that brushed against the stone gourd ignited a bright, bluish-yellow flame, which collided directly with the clear, bright sword light, clashing and dissipating into nothingness.

"Drink!" Qin Huai exhaled and shouted, his tongue crackling like thunder. He gathered all his strength into one point, raised his foot and kicked, sending the thousand-pound bronze incense burner flying through the air like a cannonball, crashing down on the golden-bodied Maitreya Buddha with a violent gust of wind.

Unexpectedly, the pot-bellied Maitreya Buddha continued its movements, spewing out endless fumes of wine from its mouth, which were then ignited by the stone gourd. The surging flames directly neutralized the momentum of the bronze furnace, and molten gold and iron dripped all over the ground.

Looking at the raging flames that almost engulfed the entire hall, Qin Huai frowned. Knowing that this host body was fragile and could not be directly confronted, he immediately exerted his strength and rushed towards the empty door leading to Wenshu Monastery.

"Don't leave, letter traveler! Drink three more cups! Drink three more cups!"

Holding a gourd aloft as if it were a jetpack constantly spewing flames, the pot-bellied Maitreya Buddha saw Qin Huai being forced to defend himself and trying to escape in panic. He immediately opened his golden mouth and tried his best to persuade him to stay.

Just then, Qin Huai paused, bent over, and gripped the hilt of the Seven Star Sword with both hands. He then twisted it backward a full 180 degrees, and a streak of sword light flashed through the air, piercing through the waves of fire and stabbing precisely into the neck of the pot-bellied Maitreya.

Thump~
The mud body fell to the ground, and the flames immediately subsided. After the heat had mostly dissipated, Qin Huai, covered in soot, walked to the two broken pieces of the pot-bellied Maitreya's corpse, drew his Qingfeng Seven Star Sword, and after confirming that there was nothing else unusual in the hall, he began to examine the evil corpse, comparing the differences.

"Meat for flesh, wood for bones, wine for blood, and incense for gods? Is the spirit worshipped at this Manjushri Monastery related to wine and fire? But what are those blood-red worms in the demon-infected illusion?"

Qin Huai picked up the intact stone gourd from the hands of the pot-bellied Maitreya Buddha and found the words "Shedding Dragon" engraved on the bottom. He shook it vigorously and could hear the clanging sound of water, indicating that it was indeed filled with liquid.

"Now that the 'Fleeting Glance' feature is gone, it's really troublesome to authenticate something."

Unscrew the lid and carefully sniffed the aroma. Qin Huai felt an extremely strong fragrance of wine wafting towards him, like the snake wine and bamboo leaf green wine sold at the foot of the mountain, or like the smell of burning purple flames that had just filled the gate hall. It was very complicated.

"The Dragon-Shedding Wine that the Killing Department requested should be this thing. It's possible that something awarded the Vermilion Prize was so easily placed in the Mountain Gate Hall, while this Manjushri Monastery..."

Qin Huai licked his lips. He had a premonition that there must be some great secret hidden in Wenshu Monastery.

"Shall we leave now, or go inside and take a look around?"

After only a moment's hesitation and weighing the pros and cons, Qin Huai slung the stone gourd engraved with the words "Transformation of the Dragon" over his shoulder and strode into Wenshu Monastery.

Through the brief but not easy battle just now, Qin Huai was certain that the monks in the Manjushri Monastery did indeed possess a kind of power of destiny. The level might not be comparable to that of the military strategists of the Great Western Kingdom, but since they could attract and utilize demonic influence, the rank of this destiny master was definitely not low.

Entering Wenshu Monastery rashly to explore is very risky, but Qin Huai doesn't care about the loss of the host body. Compared to the risks, he wants to use all means to understand the specific situation of this fruit as much as possible.

Although he could sever the connection between the host body and the original body by actively extinguishing his thoughts, thereby achieving the goal of shedding his skin, Qin Huai was ultimately unaware of the methods of those Sichen, making it difficult to perfectly conceal his whereabouts.

Just like that old lama Sashi in the Sixteenth Battalion of Anxi, if even he could detect Qin Huai's location through strange divination methods, then the methods of the divination masters are undoubtedly even more unpredictable.

"Those who pursue knowledge will also be pursued by knowledge. I hope Si Chen's gaze will come a little later."

Clearing his mind of chaotic thoughts, Qin Huai strolled through the quiet and deserted Wenshu Monastery, finding nothing unusual.

The meditation room was empty; the bedding, cushions, monk's robes, and shoes were all neatly arranged. The kitchen was empty; the stove was extinguished, not even a ember remained, and it was spotless. Pots and pans were all in their places, and even the woodpile and water vat were full.
Everything seemed as if all the monks of Wenshu Monastery had vanished overnight, leaving only an empty and rather desolate temple.

Upon entering the main hall with its single-eaved hip roof and seeing the tall glazed crystal niche inside, Qin Huai finally sensed something was amiss.

This is because the object enshrined in this glass shrine is not Shakyamuni, who should be worshipped by monks and lay Buddhists, but a charred sculpture whose body is engulfed in flames and who is drinking from a gourd.

The craftsman's skill is superb; everything, from the flickering of the flames to the wine flowing from the gourd's mouth, is carved from stone with remarkable realism.

However, the most lifelike features are the large, muscular hand tightly gripping the gourd and the unrestrained, thick mouth. But that's all, because this sculpture has no other six orifices besides the mouth.

"Illegitimate religion? But if it's a heretical cult, shouldn't the Great Western Army have already destroyed the mountain and temple, and ruined this Wenshu Monastery?"

Thinking of the bustling area at the foot of Qingyang Mountain, Qin Huai shook his head, dismissing his guess.

After circling the glazed Buddha niche a few times, Qin Huai suddenly noticed something. He wiped away the incense ash from under the offering platform and a line of words appeared before him.

"I have a pot of nectar wine, not brewed by the spring breeze, nor collected by the autumn rain, poured into the sea of ​​all beings' afflictions, transforming them all into a cool boat of wisdom. — Cidu"

Qin Huai raised his head again and looked at the faceless statue sitting cross-legged in the glass niche. He said thoughtfully, "Cidu? Is this the Buddha he believes in? Or is this himself?"

Unfortunately, only the mountain breeze blew through the main hall, and no one could offer Qin Huai an answer.

Suddenly, Qin Huai's nose twitched; he smelled a very familiar scent.

"liquor?"

After carefully sniffing the air and confirming that the wind was coming from behind the hall, Qin Huai rushed without saying a word to the open space between the main hall and the lecture hall.

At this moment, what came into view was a pool of water, each more than ten feet long and wide, filled with crimson wine.

In the center of the pool stands a tall pillar large enough to accommodate a person sitting cross-legged. A "person" whose entire body is charred by flames, with bones and flesh indistinguishable from the charred shell, sits quietly at the top, with his back to Qin Huai.

In the wine pools surrounding the pillars, there were many charred corpses that looked almost identical, but they had been soaked in the wine and had become bloated, making them look nauseating.

"Nirvana? Or demonic possession?"

(End of this chapter)