Chapter 70: Heavenly Buddha Pagoda

"After walking for such a long way, would the two of you like to follow me to the kitchen for a bite to eat first, or do you intend to cleanse yourselves with a bath first?"

A tall monk looked at the older and younger monks, asking with a smile.

The young monk bowed respectfully and said, "Amitabha, this little monk... this little monk would like to get something to eat..."

*Thump.* The old monk gently rapped him on the head, and the young monk instantly lowered his head with a wronged expression.

"Mingxin doesn't understand the rules. Please excuse him," the old monk said in a low voice.

The tall monk chuckled and said, "It's no matter. After walking all this way, hunger is inevitable. He's just a child, quite normal. After studying Buddhist scriptures for a couple more years and having his mind enlightened, he will naturally understand."

The old monk nodded slightly and said, "Then I must trouble your esteemed temple to make arrangements."

The tall monk nodded and said, "The temple happened to have a few minor matters to attend to. Since that's the case, please follow me first. I will arrange your quarters, and I'll have someone bring some food over shortly after."

"In that case, I am much obliged."

The tall monk walked ahead, leading the two slowly toward the inner grounds of the Heavenly Buddha Temple.

The Heavenly Buddha Temple was exceptionally vast. It was truly a marvel of endeavor that they managed to build such a colossal temple high up in the mountains. One could only wonder how much wealth had been expended and how many practitioners possessed of supernatural powers had been mobilized to alter the terrain and construct this immense sanctuary.

"How has your esteemed temple been faring these past few days?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Every day consists simply of eating vegetarian meals and chanting Buddhist scriptures. It has been thus for these many years."

"Ah." The old monk sighed softly and said no more.

The young monk, however, found everything novel. His eyes wide, he looked about in every direction, filled with intense curiosity.

With a single glance, he spotted three or five objects he did not recognize. Although he desperately wanted to ask, he feared being reprimanded by his master if he spoke up.

As they walked along, they passed through a remarkably empty space, which immediately piqued the young monk's curiosity.

"Eh? Why is there no architecture in this place?"

The structures built throughout the Heavenly Buddha Temple all appeared extremely luxurious, save for this vacant stretch where nothing stood at all.

This area cut across the path, dividing the front and back sections of the Heavenly Buddha Temple, though its purpose remained unknown.

Hearing Mingxin's query, the tall monk smiled faintly. Without hiding anything, he said directly, "This is because we need to separate the areas where the believers gather from the places where we reside."

"Separate them... and why is that?"

The tall monk chuckled and said, "The original intention behind the establishment of the Heavenly Buddha Temple was never to collect incense offerings. Master Yuanqing, have you never spoken of this to your disciple?"

"Monks do not gossip idly, so naturally I have never mentioned it to him. If you are so inclined, you may tell him; if you do not wish to, then let it be," the old monk said indifferently.

Upon hearing this, the tall monk came to a realization. He nodded and said, "Since Senior Brother can consider the interests of our Heavenly Buddha Temple, let me thank you first, Senior Brother."

The old monk shook his head and sighed, "We are all people of the Buddha's path. Helping one another is always better than walking the path alone."

The tall monk nodded, then turned his gaze to Mingxin, saying softly, "Since we are all within the Buddhist fold, there is naturally nothing that cannot be spoken of. When the Heavenly Buddha Temple was first established, its sole purpose was to suppress the wicked beings of this world."

"Wicked beings?"

"Precisely, wicked beings. The so-called wicked include demons, ghosts, malevolent cultivators, and followers of the demonic path. The founder of our Heavenly Buddha Temple was a monk of immensely profound cultivation. By his own strength alone, he suppressed a vast multitude of demons and monsters right beneath the very foundations of this Heavenly Buddha Temple."

"Look, do you see that small path over there?"

Mingxin looked in that direction and, sure enough, saw a narrow trail crossing the severed expanse.

"That path is guarded by the masters of our Heavenly Buddha Temple. The place it leads to is none other than the Heavenly Buddha Pagoda."

"The Heavenly Buddha Pagoda..." The young monk chewed on these three words before suddenly shivering and blurering out, "Is, is it an upside-down pagoda?"

"The little monk is quite clever. I merely mentioned it, and you guessed it right away."

An upside-down pagoda—rather than calling it a pagoda, it was more akin to a multi-layered abyss.

The pagoda was inverted, growing downward into the bowels of the earth, tier upon tier. Within each tier, a vast multitude of wicked beings were imprisoned. In this manner, the Heavenly Buddha Temple kept these demons and monsters suppressed at the base of the pagoda.

And every single day, the monks continually chanted Buddhist scriptures, channeling their Buddhist power to reinforce the suppression exerted by the Heavenly Buddha Temple, ensuring that those imprisoned beneath the pagoda would never be liberated throughout eternity.

Having heard this explanation, the young monk Mingxin shuddered once more and murmured, "To suppress them in such a manner is far too cruel. It would be better to simply grant them a swift release."

The tall monk's brow twitched, and he snorted coldly, "What do you know of cruelty?"

"In the third tier of the Buddha Pagoda, there is a man who slaughtered his entire family, stewing his wife and son for meat. Afterward, using the exact same methods, he tormented a dozen other households. Do you think he is cruel?"

"In the second tier of the Buddha Pagoda, there is also a woman who, driven by jealousy over another person's beauty, had that person abducted. She heated iron hooks and drove them into the victim's flesh, destroying the lives of dozens of people in this fashion. Do you think she is cruel?"

"People like them are merely petty criminals guilty of minor evils, placed only in the second and third tiers of the Buddha Pagoda. If you were to venture deep into the heart of the Buddha Pagoda, down to the very bottom, take a guess what kind of monstrous villains await there?"

Goosebumps erupted all over the young monk Mingxin's body, as if he could see countless sins manifesting right before his eyes.

"B-but... why not simply kill them..." he still couldn't help but ask.

"There is no 'why'..." The tall monk snorted coldly. "For every cause, there is an effect. Since they committed such sins, they must atone for them themselves. The Heavenly Buddha Pagoda was constructed precisely to suppress their demonic thoughts. Though it keeps them suppressed with unyielding force, should they manage to comprehend the crux of it all, they might yet attain rebirth and return to the mortal world as humans."

"If they stubbornly cling to their sins and refuse to let go, what is wrong with such people suffering torment for generation after generation?"

Mingxin did not dare to speak further and merely lowered his head.

The old monk Yuanqing, however, flicked his head once more and said, "There is no need to bicker with this child. At his age, how could he possibly understand the profound principles of the Heavenly Buddha Temple?"

Hearing Yuanqing's words, the tall monk realized that he had been arguing with nothing more than a child.

He smiled faintly, pressed his palms together, and said, "No, it was I who fell into attachment. When he grows older in the future, he will naturally understand these truths."

As he spoke, he suddenly halted his steps, pointed ahead, and said softly, "Ah, we have arrived. Please come in, both of you."