"Old lady, isn’t the temple able to heal? Why not take the child to see a doctor there?" Yang Xiao asked.
The old lady’s face turned helpless as she spoke about it, "It’s all because of those ghosts in River Immortal Village. They repay kindness with malice and have killed several high monks. Now the temple no longer treats anyone."
Upon hearing this, Aisha pulled out a few pieces of silver from her bosom. These were forcibly stuffed into her hands by the townspeople before, as offerings. Yang Xiao and the others received so as well.
Pushing the silver pieces into the old lady’s hands, Aisha advised, "Granny, since the temple doesn’t treat illnesses anymore, find a doctor for the child instead."
"Truly, you are the embodint of a high monk, with a heart as compassionate as a bodhisattva. I wish you both long life..." The old lady accepted the silver and started to cry.
"Granny, you ntioned the child used to go to the temple for treatnt. What was she treated for?" Aisha asked.
The old lady wiped her tears, "This child, when she was little, was playful and got into a wooden stick fight with so other children, which left one of her eyes blind. It was the high monks in the temple who cured it."
"Which eye?"
"The right, the right one."
Yang Xiao leaned in to look at the girl’s eyes. He could vaguely see a scar at the corner of the eye, but the eye was fine — clear and bright, reflecting Yang Xiao’s face.
One could hardly tell that this eye was once blind, which was simply a miracle.
"Granny, may we have a mont with the child alone?" Yang Xiao pressed his hands together in a gesture of a high monk’s deanor. "I wish to have a word with her and pray for her dispelling and blessing."
Being able to invite the embodint of a high monk in for blessings was sothing the old lady never dared to dream of. She imdiately agreed and left.
After the old lady left, Aisha noticed the little girl staring at the shiny golden button on her clothes, and she promptly removed it, handing it to her.
The girl’s alertness faded significantly after receiving the button.
"Little girl, what’s your na?" Yang Xiao gave a gentle smile.
But the girl seed to see through Yang Xiao’s thoughts, avoiding his gaze and looking toward Aisha as if for help.
Aisha then reached out, gently holding the girl’s cold little hand, as though to convey strength.
"My... my na is Aduo," the girl whispered.
"Alright, Aduo, what about your parents?"
"They’re dead." The girl lowered her head, clutching the button, "It’s just and grandma now."
Yang Xiao glanced out the window; it was getting late. They needed to quickly gather clues and return to the temple; otherwise, they would delay tonight’s actions.
"Aduo, how did they treat you at the temple?" Yang Xiao asked with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Aduo showed fear, pursed her lips tightly, and just looked at Yang Xiao, saying nothing.
Not until the more compelling Aisha softly repeated the question did Aduo respond, "I... I can’t say."
"Why not?"
"They won’t let speak."
"Who?" Yang Xiao asked, "The high monks?"
Aduo nodded, her gaze evasive, and voice small: "They said if I spoke of it, I’d be guilty of blaspheming the Buddha, and after death, I’d go to the tongue-pulling hell."
To this, Yang Xiao smiled reassuringly, "Don’t be afraid, who am I? I’m the embodint of a high monk. With here, no one can harm you. Aduo is a very obedient child and won’t lie, right?"
Aduo seed to recall their identities at this point and nodded gently.
"How did they treat you?" Aisha continued to ask.
"They had kneel before the Buddha statue and told to close my eyes, never to open them..."
"But out of curiosity, you opened them a bit, didn’t you?"
Yang Xiao understood the minds of children well. The more you forbid sothing, the more they want to try it in secret, for the thrill.
Seeing the strange look in Aduo’s eyes, Yang Xiao pressed on, "What did you sneak a peek of?"
"A person appeared, soone... whose entire body was charred black, very thin, and there was..."
"There was what?"
"And... and the sound of chains clanking, clink-clink."
Yang Xiao: "!!!"
They matched!
Yang Xiao was certain that the creature Aduo saw in the temple was the Core Ghost of this replica world, the Painted Woman!
The ghost Shari encountered at noon was also it. The Painted Woman had been lurking around them all along.
This is the true aning of the Esoteric Sect Martyr’s prophecy; the ghost... is among them!
Unfortunately, the girl couldn’t provide more information; after all, she was frightened at the ti and just peeped, later getting threatened and warned by the high monks.
It was the ghost’s power that healed the townspeople’s diseases and disabilities, and it only appeared after River Immortal Village’s destruction. Yang Xiao had reason to suspect that the ghost likely erged from River Immortal Village.
Aisha stroked Aduo’s little head, gently telling her not to ntion this matter to anyone, otherwise, the old lady would surely punish her, scaring Aduo into nodding repeatedly.
Not long after, Yang Xiao and Aisha stepped out, with the old lady waiting at the door. Seeing them co out, she got up to greet them.
"Old lady, do you know the na of the temple in the town?" Yang Xiao asked.
At the ntion, the old lady pursed her lips and smiled, "Oh, Buddha, you’re joking. Everyone knows the temple here doesn’t have a na; we just call it the Holy Temple."
"So townspeople once wanted to ask the high monks to na the temple, but they said it was too small to contain the boundless Buddha heart, so it remained unnad. However..."
The old lady seed to suddenly rember sothing, pressing her hands together with a respectful expression: "However, the high monks did show compassion and renad the town to Tai Town."
"Tai Town..." Yang Xiao instantly thought of the materials given by the Esoteric Sect Martyr, which said this branch of the Cult was called Taixiao. They did not have their own doctrines, but could plunder others’ faith.
Looking at the old lady’s devout face, Yang Xiao felt shivers down his spine; this Taixiao was truly terrifying. They didn’t treat the temple as ho, but instead converted the whole town into their followers.
Yang Xiao subtly ntioned the abandoned temple on Mile Mountain, to which the old lady nodded, saying she’d heard about it. That temple was an evil temple, worshipping demons, and it was the high monks who led the extermination of it.
Not only that evil temple, but other cults within dozens of miles were also exterminated by the high monks. So of the monk slaves in the temple were originally mbers of these cults. The high monks, with their compassionate hearts, kept them in the temple for conversion.
These words made Aisha feel very uncomfortable. She realized the monks in the temple had brainwashed the townspeople thoroughly, marking any sect opposing the temple as a cult.
Of course, these townspeople weren’t foolish, as they truly benefitted from the temple’s ’kindness’ and witnessed so-called miracles.
But in Yang Xiao’s opinion, there’s no such thing as a free lunch; now the Painted Woman had started killing, and it’s highly likely its targets were those it once ’saved.’ Is this not another cycle of cause and effect?
Using the pretext of curing illnesses with Supre Buddha Skill, the high monks in the temple eliminated rivals, clearing out all other sects in town except their own, monopolizing the region for dozens of miles.
They also took the seized ’Buddha statues’ of foreign sects and reprocessed them into demons, imprisoning them eternally in the Outer Buddha Hall, while distorting scriptures to incorporate so doctrines.
Now Yang Xiao knew where the problem lay. The urgent task was to find the link between the ghost and River Immortal Village.
Yang Xiao wanted to inquire about River Immortal Village, unexpectedly, the old lady happened to know a bit, explaining that it was the high monks who nad it during a blessing ceremony. Originally it was a settlent where people had little connection with the outside world, being known for not aging or dying."
They only interacted with the shopkeeper east of the town at ng Da Tavern and he was the only one who knew the way to that village."
"Where is the tavern owner now?" Yang Xiao pressed, sensing a crucial lead.
"He happened to be washed away by a flood on the night of heavy rain, and neither his body nor he has been found alive. His poor old mother cried herself blind." The old lady said, "Really... it’s fate, isn’t it?"
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