Chapter 144: The Eight Sufferings

Fang Mu reached out his hand, and a paper crane flew in from outside, landing gently on his palm.

A miniature projection lit up on the paper crane, displaying an image of a coffin—a coffin soaring through the night sky.

In the silent night sky, the coffin descended soundlessly, landing on the street in front of Wang Wu's house.

Wang Wu struggled even more violently, using both hands and feet to crawl toward the door, apparently trying to escape.

However, under Ghost One's foot, Wang Wu's efforts were entirely in vain.

Fang Mu released the paper crane and pushed open the front door.

On the street outside, there was nothing to be seen except the pitch-black coffin, not a single person in sight.

Instead of finding the so-called miraculous doctor, a coffin appeared instead. This miraculous doctor seemed exceedingly cautious.

Fang Mu turned his head and said, "Let him go."

Ghost One nodded and lifted his foot.

Freed from restraint, Wang Wu scrambled up swiftly.

He did not attack Fang Mu again, but instead ran purposefully toward the door.

Fang Mu made no move to stop him, allowing Wang Wu to leave freely.

Wang Wu reached the street outside the doorway, grabbed a corner of the coffin, and flipped the lid open.

A wisp of black mist billowed from the gaps in the coffin. Wang Wu climbed inside and pulled the lid shut over himself.

As soon as the lid closed, the coffin lifted off the ground and flew away in the direction it had come from.

"Follow them," Fang Mu narrowed his eyes, "Let's see what this fellow is up to."

The coffin flew through the sky while Fang Mu pursued on the ground.

Employing the Dual Shadow Evasion technique, Fang Mu darted across the rooftops like a nimble, swimming fish.

The coffin flew out of Jinglong County and headed toward the untamed wilderness beyond.

A moment later, a vast expanse of barren land appeared before Fang Mu.

The wasteland was pitch black, devoid of plants or stones, appearing utterly desolate.

The coffin hovered above the wasteland and slowly descended.

Fang Mu frowned slightly. "Can we conceal ourselves?"

Out here in the open wilderness, visibility was extremely high.

Being exposed in this wide-open expanse made them vulnerable to detection.

Ghost One nodded, and a black go stone materialized in his hand.

The go stone flew upward, hovering in mid-air.

The stone dissolved into nothingness as the surrounding air began to ripple and distort.

"My Lord, it is done," Ghost One said respectfully. "Using this formation as a barrier, the surroundings are completely isolated. As long as we do not make any loud noises, even someone in the True Dragon Realm would find it hard to detect us."

Shielded by the go formation, the two walked forward, stopping less than ten meters away from the coffin.

The coffin remained quietly stationed in the wilderness, showing no signs of abnormality.

Heavy clouds originally filled the night sky, veiling the moon. As time passed, the clouds slowly dissipated, allowing a sliver of moonlight to pierce through and shine directly upon the coffin.

The bright moonlight enveloped the coffin, causing it to begin trembling slightly under the illumination.

The moon possessed a strong yin attribute; if the coffin was exposed to its light, anomalies were highly likely to occur.

wisps of bluish smoke drifted from the coffin, and the trembling grew more violent.

Fang Mu looked around, still unable to detect any trace of another person.

"Boom!"

A loud crash echoed through the air as the coffin shattered into pieces.

Wang Wu, who had been lying inside, sat up, crossed his legs, and brought his hands together in a prayer gesture.

Bathed in the moonlight, the circle of scars around Wang Wu's neck began to fade until they vanished completely.

A moment later, Wang Wu opened his eyes. The tyrannical glare in his gaze was entirely gone, replaced by an expression of supreme compassion.

The sound of rushing wind reached his ears, and Fang Mu looked up.

In the distant sky, a monk dressed in white was walking forward at a leisurely pace.

With every step the white-robed monk took, he crossed a distance of dozens of meters.

After just a dozen steps, he had arrived directly in front of Wang Wu.

Fang Mu thought to himself, "It really is a monk. Is this the mastermind?"

Wang Wu remained seated cross-legged with his hands pressed together in prayer. Even as the white-robed monk approached closely, Wang Wu showed no expression.

"Damn it, I finally lured one in!" The white-robed monk spoke, his tone coarse and vulgar. "My Eight Sufferings Dharma hasn't improved in ages."

With that, eight ghostly figures materialized behind the white-robed monk.

The white-robed monk pressed his palms together. "There are eight sufferings in human life: the suffering of birth, the suffering of aging, the suffering of illness, the suffering of death, the suffering of parting from loved ones, the suffering of not getting what one desires, the suffering of encountering those one hates, and the suffering of the burning passions of the five aggregates. You represent the suffering of not getting what one desires."

Wang Wu, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, stood up, walked toward one of the figures, and opened his arms to embrace it.

The figure and Wang Wu gradually merged into one, after which Wang Wu disappeared entirely.

The white-robed monk recalled the eight figures and sighed. "If I had known, I should have just followed the mainstream and practiced the Ten Realms Dharma instead of forcing out this Eight Sufferings Dharma. It's truly asking for trouble."

Hiding in the shadows, Fang Mu pondered in silence.

He understood the Ten Realms; each realm was a grand illusion of the six dusts.

Yan Xian had once mentioned that the Evil Buddha entered the ranks of the anomalous through Buddhist teachings, and these Ten Realms were one of those methods.

The implication of "one of those" meant that the Evil Buddha was far more complex than just the Ten Realms.

He had heard a thing or two about the Eight Sufferings, but he was unsure what kind of illusionary technique this belonged to.

Ghost One asked in a hushed voice, "My Lord, shall I slaughter him?"

Despite looking like a gentle scholar, this Ghost One always harbored an eagerness to kill.

Fang Mu thought for a moment and was just about to reply when the white-robed monk made a new move.

The white-robed monk produced a small platter, a look of joyful surprise washing over his face.

"It's here, it's here! After all this time, this reading is the strongest yet!" Excitement flared in the white-robed monk's eyes. "Such intense Buddha-nature! This must be the entrance to the Vajra Bridge!"

Putting away the platter, the white-robed monk strode off in a specific direction.

Fang Mu did not stop him, a new thought forming in his mind.

The monk's identity as a follower of the Evil Buddha was now confirmed.

Yet, it seemed he had other objectives—the Vajra Bridge?

Fang Mu had no idea what this item was, but his curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

If it involved anything related to anomalies, Fang Mu believed he could reap considerable benefits from it.

In any case, the white-robed monk was under his surveillance and wouldn't be able to stir up any major trouble.

Fang Mu commanded, "Follow him!"

The white-robed monk walked swiftly, and under the cover of Ghost One's go formation, Fang Mu kept pace effortlessly.

Before long, the white-robed monk crossed the wilderness and entered a desolate mountain range.

The barren mountains were silent. The white-robed monk walked through them while keeping his eyes on the platter in his hand, eventually arriving beside a mountain cave.

Without hesitation, the white-robed monk raised the platter.

A flicker of light emerged from the platter, and guided by its illumination, the white-robed monk stepped into the cave.

Fang Mu followed closely behind.

The cave was quite deep, and the white-robed monk ahead proceeded with great caution.

After walking for roughly an hour, the white-robed monk came to a halt.

From Fang Mu's vantage point, the monk's shoulders were trembling uncontrollably.

Fang Mu shifted a step to the side, finally getting a clear view of what lay before the white-robed monk.

A clay-molded Buddha statue, utterly unremarkable in appearance, stood only half a person's height.

In front of the clay Buddha was a small bronze tripod containing three sticks of incense. Due to the passage of untold years, the incense sticks had long since decayed.

"This is... an artifact from the Vajra Temple of bygone eras!"