At midnight, the city became completely deserted, with only the Night Watchman, carrying a copper gong, making his rounds through the streets and alleys.
The Night Watchman was in his seventies or eighties. Although he rarely appeared during the day, he was still aware of the rumors and gossip that had been circulating recently.
It had been more than nine years since the last Laba Festival, when the number of Buddhist monks who ascended to the Pure Land was several times greater than usual.
With the coldest month approaching again, signs of the once-in-a-decade Laba Festival were already beginning to appear.
More and more people were committing suicide, and every morning, gang members could be seen pushing carts to the mass graves to dump corpses.
From the frequency with which the bodies were transported, he could guess that the number of monks ascending during this year's Laba Festival would be even greater than nine years ago.
The Night Watchman had at least lived for several decades, and he could vaguely sense the truth behind it all.
But as an ordinary commoner, merely protecting himself was already the limit of what he could do. How could he possibly have the courage to warn others to beware of the Buddhist monks?
"Life is difficult, with wolves and tigers always by your side."
The Night Watchman sighed and wrapped himself more tightly in his padded clothes, hoping only to get through the New Year safely and that the world would become a better place.
He headed toward the streets of the western district. Once he finished patrolling this area, he could be considered to have done his duty.
But just as the Night Watchman was drawing closer, he noticed several figures by the wall not far away. They were standing on wooden frames, seemingly dipping rags into paint and scribbling all over the wall.
"Who's there?!"
The Night Watchman was startled and struck the copper gong in his hand hard, then pulled a water-and-fire baton about the length of his forearm from behind his waist.
"Someone's coming, hurry up and leave!"
"Go, go, go! Don't get caught!"
The few figures by the wall hurriedly jumped down from the wooden frames and then darted into a small alley, clearly having planned everything in advance.
The Night Watchman frowned. The back of one of them looked more and more like the youngest son of the Li family, but hadn't that boy already passed the examination to become a Tongsheng? He was going to become an official in the future.
His body was old and frail, so there was no way he could chase after them.
The Night Watchman therefore raised his lantern and approached the wall to see what exactly had been painted.
He saw the words "Dragon King of the Four Seas" written in sweeping strokes across the wall, along with an immortal deity with the head of a dragon and the body of a man, as if it were about to step out from the wall.
He could not help shivering.
Over the past ten years, rumors of the Heavenly Court's many immortals and deities had indeed appeared in various places, but according to the Buddhist sect, they were all incarnations of evil ghosts from Hell.
How had the Heavenly Court managed to accomplish this? It was said that towns across the lands, from north to south and east to west, had already been infiltrated, only to remain suppressed by the Buddhist sect.
Now that the Laba Festival was approaching, could the Heavenly Court be making a comeback?
The Night Watchman did not dare think too deeply about it and hurried toward the Government Office.
Before the commoners went out to the morning market, the drawings covering the wall had already been completely cleaned away by the bailiffs, but many people had still seen them, and they secretly discussed the matter among themselves.
For nearly twenty years, the Buddhist sect had become increasingly unscrupulous in exploiting people for merit.
In truth, many commoners already knew about the filthy deeds taking place behind the scenes, but they did not dare say much, fearing that they would become another corpse discarded in the wilderness.
They had thought the drawings on the wall would eventually fade from people's memories, and that the Buddhist sect would have no way to find the people spreading the Heavenly Court's name in Sanxiang City and punish them.
But unexpectedly, it was not long before several people were escorted to the entrance of the market.
No matter how loudly they cried out their grievances, the moment the executioner's blade fell, hot blood gushed from their necks and splattered the surrounding onlookers.
The Night Watchman deliberately did not take a rest and went to the market entrance to watch the public executions.
But he stared at the corpses for a long time and did not think any of them were the figures he had seen that night.
When the Night Watchman noticed the youngest son of the Li family watching from the shadows, he became even more certain that the Buddhist sect was killing a few as a warning to the rest, and that the matter was not over yet.
Sure enough, in just one month, more than thirty people were beheaded.
It was as if this had opened the prelude to a war. Chaos simultaneously erupted in towns everywhere, and some small temples were even massacred overnight.
Blackwater Daoist saw all this, but he was not the instigator.
In fact, Ren Qing's instructions to him had been to spread the names of the Heavenly Court's immortals and deities, so Blackwater Daoist had never considered confronting the Buddhist sect directly.
But he had failed to realize that the number of Insect Warriors possessing the Closed-Mouth Gu was limited.
As the number of Heavenly Court supporters increased, Blackwater Daoist simply could not keep watch over more than a dozen towns at once, and could only allow the situation to gradually deteriorate.
Once they learned the truth about the Merit Monks, how could they possibly remain calm?
Especially with the Laba Festival approaching, which was when the Merit Monks acted with the least restraint. During the two months of the Buddha's Pre-Birth Days, it was perfectly normal for more than ten thousand people to die.
"Something's happened, Uncle."
Ma Shan approached Blackwater Daoist and softly interrupted his thoughts.
Blackwater Daoist came back to himself and looked at Ma Shan, whose youthful innocence had long since disappeared. He could not help asking, "Don't rush. What happened?"
"Someone in Linshan City let the secret slip. They've all been arrested by the authorities."
Blackwater Daoist pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and hurriedly gathered his things before heading to Linshan City. If the Insect Warrior who possessed the Closed-Mouth Gu died, the Heavenly Court supporters in every town would be purged.
They did not dare delay and traveled along the secluded mountain road they had opened.
They then entered through a side gate of Linshan City. The moment Blackwater Daoist stepped into the city, he felt an overwhelming sense of oppression. Reward notices of all kinds were posted everywhere.
Blackwater Daoist's expression was stunned. "The Buddhist sect must be insane, right?"
According to the reward notices, on the day of the Laba Festival, more than two hundred accomplices of the Heavenly Court would be dragged to the market and beheaded.
Aside from creating panic, what benefit could this possibly bring them?
"Could it be..."
Blackwater Daoist thought of the scene of the monks ascending to the Pure Land. Although it appeared ordinary on the surface, merely a process in which their bodies gradually vanished, it was still something unimaginable to ordinary people.
The Buddhist sect must intend to use this to establish its authority. With the Buddha-Ascension Ceremony as its backdrop, the resulting panic would become nourishment for the world's reverence toward the Buddha.
The Merit Monks had likely realized that they could no longer conceal their evil deeds and were preparing to do the opposite.
As long as they opened up the number of places available for Buddhahood and allowed a small portion of the populace to join the Buddhist sect, the rest would naturally become willing followers.
Blackwater Daoist felt a chill run through him.
He began gathering his companions in Linshan City, but there were only a few days left before the Laba Festival, and on top of that, Linshan City could only be entered, not exited.
In the end, Blackwater Daoist found only three people willing to go with him, which was nowhere near enough to influence the situation.
Blackwater Daoist did indeed consider contacting Ren Qing, but his methods were limited, and the Gu he had refined were all auxiliary Command Gu.
He had no choice and prepared to take things one step at a time.
A cold wind swept past.
The fragrance of Laba porridge filled the city. Compared with Sanxiang City, the Laba porridge in Linshan City contained considerably more nuts and mountain produce.
Linshan City's only platform for the Buddhahood ceremony was located at the market entrance.
Against the festive atmosphere of the crowd were men and women, old and young, bound hand and foot and hanging all around the area. Their number far exceeded two hundred, with at least five hundred people present.
It was clear that the Buddhist sect had not even spared the relatives and family members of those involved.
The commoners had complicated expressions, but most did not want to get involved in trouble.
Around noon, warm sunlight shone upon the streets.
The hundreds of prisoners greedily enjoyed this brief moment of peace, but that moment was soon shattered. A dozen elderly monks, surrounded by novice monks, walked toward the market entrance while greeting the commoners.
In the inner world, the Merit Monks were incarnations of the Buddha and represented supreme authority.
The leading monk was named Kong Xin. He was large and burly, wore an extremely ornate kasaya, and held a string of Merit Sarira in his hand.
After Kong Xin reached the platform, he first had tens of thousands of commoners recite scriptures along with him, and only then did he speak.
"Amitabha."
"These have been troubled times recently. Because of the influence of the Heavenly Court's evil anomalies, Linshan City has lost a total of twelve hundred households. This poor monk feels deeply ashamed."
Kong Xin shed a few tears, provoking furious glares from the prisoners hanging in midair.
However, they had not eaten for a long time and had long since lost all their strength. Even if they could speak, their voices were drowned out by those of the crowd.
They were like meat on a chopping board, completely at the mercy of others.
Blackwater Daoist's face was cold as he signaled with his eyes for his companions to spread out. Once the Merit Monks ascended to Buddhahood, they would immediately act to rescue the prisoners.
They waited patiently as the Buddhahood Ceremony proceeded according to its established rituals.
Every half an hour, the Merit Monks would swallow a sarira, after which their bodies would gradually begin transforming into a metallic color starting from the skin.
At the same time, their bodies would leave the ground, and they would sit cross-legged in midair.
Buddhist aura radiated from the Merit Monks' stomachs, making them appear as if they were true Buddhas reincarnated, and then their flesh and bones began collapsing bit by bit.
"I found you."
Kong Xin opened his eyes with a half-smile and stared at Blackwater Daoist among the crowd.
Blackwater Daoist did not hesitate to draw the soft blade hidden at his waist. As the commoners scrambled to flee, he charged toward the Merit Monks who were in the midst of Nirvana.
"Amitabha."
Kong Xin pressed his palms together and said, causing tens of thousands of people to inexplicably calm down.
"The Heavenly Court consists of 3,746 men and women. The temples in every city and town have already mobilized the moment you appeared. I imagine that by now, they have all been brought under control."
Blackwater Daoist felt a chill run through him, because he realized that when the Merit Monks attained Buddhahood, they seemed to truly possess divine abilities comparable to those of the Buddha.
Kong Xin's expression became fanatical. He spread open both hands, and hundreds of ordinary people clutched at their throats.
Their faces flushed red as the lack of oxygen caused insufficient blood supply to their hearts. Their limbs began twitching uncontrollably, and blood flowed from their mouths and noses.
Compared with the scene of the Merit Monks attaining Buddhahood, the hundreds of people on the verge of death appeared completely out of place.
Even ordinary commoners could sense the overwhelming absurdity of it.
Government soldiers surrounded the market entrance, like turtles trapped in a jar, and slowly closed in on Blackwater Daoist.
Blackwater Daoist suddenly became clear-headed. After looking around him, he activated the ability of the Command Gu, which could cause any living being that heard the sound to remember the words spoken.
"Plague-Bringing Immortal!!!"
"You don't really think there are Heavenly Court immortals and deities in this world, do you?"
Kong Xin smiled as he looked at Blackwater Daoist. When he noticed the absence of confusion in the latter's eyes, he suddenly realized something belatedly.
Why did it feel as if he had actually seen the Heavenly Court's immortals and deities?
Ma Shan and the others also began calling out the name of the Plague-Bringing Immortal.
Kong Xin could not help becoming panicked. He wanted to immediately execute the hundreds of prisoners and then focus entirely on ascending to the Pure Land.
At that moment, the sound of bones colliding came from the gaps between the bricks on the ground.
One bone hand after another reached out from within. Dust scattered through the air, and soon, under the witness of tens of thousands of people, the thick smoke took on the form of a tornado.
A graceful woman walked out.
"This humble one, of the Heavenly Court's Plague Department..."
"Plague-Bringing Immortal."
Lady White Bone swept her gaze over the Merit Monks overhead and saw that all of them, including Kong Xin, had actually twisted their own heads off.
The Merit Monks were still alive, holding their own heads in their hands as they welcomed the descent of the Heavenly Court.
At the same time, under Ren Qing's deliberate arrangements, the Heavenly Aberration realm cultivators began arriving in the inner world one after another.