Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 340: Layers of Mechanisms in the Tower

The next day, Zuan went to see his father.

In the afternoon, he came back with a depressed look.

"So how about it, how much did your father reveal?" everyone asked impatiently.

"He said..." Zuan sighed and said, "The White Pagoda of Daming Temple is a mechanical tower built to store the Buddha's treasure, the 'Buddha's Bone Relics'. It has two floors underground and seven floors above ground, with each floor equipped with mechanisms based on arithmetic, music, astrology, illusion and mechanical arts."

"Your father is showing off his skills here?" Chen Baxian felt overwhelmed when he heard this.

"Yes, the essence of his life's learning is all in this tower." Zuan said with a wry smile:

"But he refused to tell us how the formation was set up. He said Xiao Zong saved his life, and he couldn't betray him."

Then he spat and said, "The person who is best at calculating in the world is also the one who can't tell right from wrong."

"Don't advise others to be good without experiencing their suffering. Let's understand each other more." Ren Yuan sighed lightly and said proudly:

"Besides, he also told us what we would encounter when we entered the tower. It's enough for us to break through the formation on our own!"

"When do we start?" everyone asked in unison.

"Tonight!" Ren Yuan said firmly.

~~
The moon was dim that night, and the spring weather was chilly.

The entire Guangling city was plunged into darkness, except for the seven-story pagoda in Daming Temple, which was still brightly lit and shining even more.

Ren Yuan used magic to hide his figure and came to the outside of the east wall of Daming Temple.

He first used the magical power of "Shapeshifting" to teleport into the temple, but a flash of golden light appeared in front of him and bounced him back.

Ren Yuan was not surprised, as this showed that the protective formation of Daming Temple had the same origin as the Jinling formation.

But this did not pose a problem for Ren Yuan. He transformed himself into Faxiu and went forward to knock on the tightly closed temple door.

After a while, the temple door slowly opened a crack, and the monk at the gate, holding a lantern, poked his head out and asked unhappily, "Who is it, so late at night?"

With the light of the lantern, he could see that it was a delicate and graceful little monk. His expression eased a little and he asked, "Where are you from? Why are you in Daming Temple?"

"I am the abbot's illegitimate son." Ren Yuan lied with an innocent look on his face.

"What nonsense..." The old monk was furious when he heard this. He didn't expect that he actually had some skills and was not like the others, helpless in front of Ren Yuan's magical powers.

But he only resisted for a moment. Before he could call for help, Ren Yuan used his great magical power "Reflection in the Forgotten River". His divine eyes were as fast as lightning and struck directly into the other party's heart. The old monk trembled all over and fell into a daze.

"Remember my identity." Ren Yuan's voice also carried a powerful magic that could imprint every word he said in the old monk's heart.

"Yes, you are the abbot's son." The old monk nodded slowly.

"But my identity is sensitive, so don't let anyone else know." Ren Yuan continued, "You can just call me Xiu Fa."

"Yes, Xiufa, please come in." The old monk responded again, unlocked the door and let him in.

"How many masters are there in the temple right now?" Ren Yuan walked in calmly and asked as naturally as possible: "Are there any nine-orifice masters or even demigods?"

“Puff…” Even though the old monk was controlled by his mind, he couldn’t help laughing and said, “Our small temple can’t accommodate great bodhisattvas. The strongest one is your…master, who has reached the state of Sakadagami, which is equivalent to the great supernatural power of the seven orifices to the eight orifices.”

"Yeah." Ren Yuan nodded, feeling relieved. Now, opponents with seven or eight orifices could not arouse his interest, even though he himself had only seven orifices.

Seeing that the front yard was completely dark and there was no one around, he asked the old monk again, "Has the prince been here recently?" "Prince Yuzhang? Yes." The old monk nodded and said, "He was here last night."

"Oh?" Ren Yuan was surprised: "Isn't he sick?"

"I didn't see him." The old monk replied, "I heard the disciples of the abbot chatting this morning. They said that the prince suddenly came in the middle of the night and wanted to perform a ritual, so everyone got up to accompany him."

"How come you didn't see it?" Ren Yuan said, "Isn't it only possible to enter and exit through the main gate at night?"

"Anyway, he didn't come in through the main gate." The old monk said confidently, "As for how he got in, we don't know."

"Okay." Ren Yuan nodded and ordered, "Continue to guard the door."

"Understood, sir." The old monk followed the order obediently.

After Ren Yuan disappeared, he felt a sense of absurdity, but he didn't know where the absurdity was. He could only shake his head and go to sleep.

Ren Yuanze followed the light and came to the seven-story white pagoda behind the main hall. He saw ninety-nine monks sitting cross-legged in the open space in front of the pagoda, chanting strange scriptures tirelessly.

Ren Yuan listened carefully to the obscure yet rhythmic chanting and discovered that it was neither Chinese nor Sanskrit, but the language of the ancient gods!

I guess the monks who were chanting the sutras themselves didn’t know that they believed in Buddha, but what they were chanting were the incantations of a great witch…

This was the same language as the spell he chanted when drawing the talisman. So he could understand it, meaning -

'Glorious and magnificent heaven, bright and shining imperial gatekeeper! Taiyi draws in qi, and the golden essence attaches to the spirit;

The wind screens the water, the fire refines the mountain, the North Star and the South Star lock the Jade Capital...'

One after another, the spells carried powerful magic power, covering the entire White Pagoda. After being magnified by the White Pagoda, they also covered the entire Daming Temple...

Ren Yuan was shocked, but felt it was absurd. He glanced at the Great Hall in the distance and wondered if the Buddha inside could hear the monks using the Buddha's name to deceive others.

It is said that the Buddha once said that the manifestations of the Dharma Ending Age are, "Monks have wives and children, temples become treasure houses, and the texts of Buddhist scriptures are corrupted."

Right now, every one of these is true...

He waited patiently until midnight, but the monks still did not stop chanting. It was obvious that they were just like the monks in Tongtai Temple, chanting from morning to night every day, without sleep, and chanting until they died.

Therefore, unless these monks are killed and the formation is stopped, even if the fifth dimension comes, it will still be restricted when entering, and only one-third of its full ability can be exerted.

But right now, the Buddhist sect has an absolute advantage, and Ren Yuan dare not seek trouble for himself... If the Buddhist sect really gets interested in it, the entire Taoist sect will be uprooted, not to mention him, a figurehead leader.

Just when he didn't know what to do, he saw an old monk coming out of the white pagoda carrying an oil can. He must be going in to refill the lamps.

Ren Yuan immediately came up with a solution. He saw the monk's appearance clearly, and when he walked away, he transformed himself into his appearance, imitated his movements, and walked towards the White Pagoda openly carrying the oil jar.

As expected, the chanting monks ignored him and did not stop him until he reached the tower gate, where he was stopped by the warrior monks guarding the gate.

"Why are you back again?"

Ren Yuan raised the oil can in his hand and said with a wry smile, "There was not enough oil just now, and there are still hundreds of lamps that have not been lit."

"Not enough? Didn't we just add it once before?" the leading monk frowned.

"Who knows, maybe there was a rat stealing the oil. I am old and confused, I didn't notice it before..." Ren Yuan said weakly. He performed the boredom and fatigue of working overtime during the night shift vividly.

The two monks stepped aside with sympathy on their faces.

(End of this chapter)