lcionline Chapter 377 The Cold and Pure Human Buddha Child VS The Adorable and Devoted Demon Cat Emperor [53]
Chapter 377 The Cold and Pure Human Buddha Child VS The Adorable and Devoted Demon Cat Emperor [53]
Chapter 377 The Aloof and Holy Human Buddha Child VS The Adorable and Devoted Demon Cat Emperor [53]
Jiang Xiyu planned to go into the city with Shijia to take a look. When the disciples of the Immortal Cultivation Sect saw this, they also volunteered to go along. After all, they thought that with the Grand Master here, they would be safe under his protection. Moreover, they were also very curious about how the disciples who went into the city were doing.
Upon hearing this, Shiga frowned slightly.
Jiang Xiyu understood, so he stepped forward and scared the disciples a little.
No one knows what's going on inside, so the fewer people there are, the better. Too many people will only make people hesitate and delay the investigation.
Moreover, the fact that an entire city could be turned into the living dead so quietly means that going inside might lead to certain doom.
There was nothing between him and Shiga; these disciples were all just ordinary people.
So, under Jiang Xiyu's intimidation, the disciples looked at each other and, after careful consideration, none of them dared to go in.
They prayed to Shiga and then returned to the clouds.
After the crowd dispersed, Shiga and Jiang Xiyu entered the city.
After the illusions were removed, the city was desolate and sparsely populated. Occasionally, a cold wind would blow by, carrying withered grass and a fishy, rotten smell, making the surrounding atmosphere extremely gloomy and cold.
Jiang Xiyu looked around and saw that some corpses were exposed to the sun.
The corpses were covered in filth and frost, and it was still possible to vaguely identify them as the bones of children. Moreover, the further one went in, the more corpses there were.
Jiang Xiyu frowned, covered his nose, and said, "Master, it seems that quite a few people have died here."
Moreover, these are the remains of children; such heinous acts are far more despicable than those of the snake demon.
Shiga nodded, gazing at the devastated scene before him, his brows furrowed as if covered in frost.
Jiang Xiyu said, "Could it be that there is some man-eating monster in this city that specifically eats children?"
"But didn't those posts say that people just fell asleep and became living dead?"
With so many skeletons, unless they were originally the living dead, but since there were no living people left in the city, they lay by the roadside, and over time, only their remains remained.
Jiang Xiyu was startled and suddenly looked at Shijia.
Shiga twirled his prayer beads without saying a word.
Jiang Xiyu ran into several houses, and without exception, they were all filled with corpses.
Just when he was about to give up looking, he unexpectedly discovered the corpses of the immortal cultivation sect disciples.
It was described as a corpse, but it didn't quite look like one.
Because the disciple had a smiling face and a rosy complexion, and Jiang Xiyu could even hear his breathing when he got close.
He called out tentatively twice, but the person lying on the ground did not respond at all.
Jiang Xiyu examined the situation for a moment, then softly called out, "Master, there are still living people here."
Shiga walked in, his robe spotless, like a lotus blooming from filth.
Ignoring the filth, he walked to Jiang Xiyu's side.
Jiang Xiyu pointed to the disciple lying on the ground and said, "He is still breathing, but no matter how we call him, we can't wake him up. Could this be a living dead?"
Judging from his condition, he is no different from a normal person sleeping.
Shiga's gaze swept lightly across the disciple's face, his Dharma Eyes flickered slightly, and after a moment, he said, "He does not wish to wake up."
"Huh?" Jiang Xiyu thought she had misheard.
What does it mean to not want to wake up?
Shiga explained, "He seems to be trapped in an illusion and unwilling to wake up."
“Trapped in an illusion…” Jiang Xiyu thought for a moment, his pupils trembled, and he said, “Could it be that these corpses are like this because they were trapped in an illusion and did not wake up for a long time?”
He was right, and Shiga hummed in agreement.
Jiang Xiyu paced around the disciple and observed, "Look at how he's smiling. I wonder what's in the illusion he's trapped in, that he doesn't want to wake up."
Shiga uttered two words calmly: "Pain."
Jiang Xiyu looked at him, somewhat puzzled: "Master, you said that his illusion is filled with suffering. If it is suffering, why doesn't he want to wake up?"
He paused, then laughed: "In this world, are there still people willing to suffer?"
The tone of his words was quite playful. Shiga lowered his eyes, his gaze seemingly softening, and still said in a calm voice, "Greed is suffering."
Of the three poisons, greed is the root of suffering.
People in the world often only see the pleasure brought by greed. They crave and cling to their desires excessively, but they don't know that the desires born from greed often bring great suffering. Their hearts can never be satisfied, and dissatisfaction means that they can never be at peace.
Greed breeds ego, and greed creates evil karma. Greed is like a poisonous snake, which will only entangle people more and more, causing them to live in worry and fear.
Those trapped in the illusion, consumed by their own greed, are unwilling and do not wish to awaken. Gradually, they become like the living dead, ultimately turning into nameless skeletons.
Jiang Xiyu understood; the illusion these people were trapped in was related to 'greed'.
These living dead must be unable to escape because their greed in the illusion is not satisfied, or because their greed is satisfied too much.
Buddhists believe that greed is suffering, but for those of them whose six senses are impure, greed may also represent pleasure.
After all, who wouldn't go crazy when their desires are fulfilled?
Jiang Xiyu shook his head with a sigh and asked, "Master, can you save him?"
Shiga remained calm and said, “Greed arises from the heart and can only be resolved by the individual. If others interfere, they may easily lead the individual astray and cause them to lose their mind.”
He can dispel illusions, but he cannot dispel the desires of the human heart.
When desires are not satisfied, even if a person is awake, they will only act like a madman.
"So we're just going to let him sleep like this and never wake up?" Jiang Xiyu's tone was somewhat grave.
Shiga said, "It seems that this is the only way for now."
Jiang Xiyu was somewhat taken aback and asked, "Master, is there any other way?"
Shiga said, "Finding the root cause may lead to a solution."
To find the root cause of this city's illusion, or to find out who created the illusion, we must find the one who created it.
If it weren't for the greed in people's hearts, Shiga could certainly save them.
But their greed had run deep. If Shiga rashly intervened to rescue them, it would only make them lose sight of reality and their surroundings, ultimately leading to their deaths in fear, making them no different from the living dead.
Jiang Xiyu breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that there was still a solution.
He was about to say that now that they knew the reason, they should hurry up and find out what made them like this.
But then I thought, don't I have a powerful sorcerer by my side? Why would I need him to go through all this trouble?
Jiang Xiyu glanced sideways at Shijia, a smile playing on his lips, and said, "Master, please calculate, where does this root cause lie?"
When Shiga met Jiang Xiyu's smiling gaze, his hand, which was fiddling with the prayer beads, paused. He softly uttered the word "Come," then turned and walked outside.
Jiang Xiyu hurriedly followed, only to find that Shijia had led him back to the city gate.