Chapter 603
What do you mean by being more abnormal than the abnormal?
The players didn't have a chance to ask any more questions.
The familiar white-browed old monk quietly approached from not far away.
Looking at the players kneeling on the prayer mats, he smiled kindly and bent down to ask with concern, "Did you all rest well last night? The temple quarters are not like inns, so please forgive the simple conditions."
Upon hearing this, everyone could only manage a forced smile in response.
"That's not true, you're exaggerating."
"The wooden couches in the dormitory are so calming to sleep on, how could we not be satisfied?"
"That's right, that's right. We are the ones who should be asking for your forgiveness for disturbing the monks' practice in the temple."
"Thanks to you, I had a nightmare all night. This temple must not be very clean, right? Should we ask someone to exorcise the evil spirits? I have quite a bit of experience in dressing up as a Taoist priest."
"..."
Amidst the usual conversations with NPCs, a seemingly casual remark suddenly appeared, delivered in a serious tone but containing a chilling message.
They didn't even need to look back to know who said those words.
rustling sounds—
As the sound of fabric rubbing came, everyone gained a new understanding of Wu Wang's bottom line.
Because this guy actually took out a Taoist robe from his backpack and put it on.
Holy crap! Dude! We're in a Buddhist temple!
You were wearing a Taoist robe and claimed you wanted to exorcise evil spirits for them.
Are you deliberately picking a fight?
"Oh right, I'm still missing a whisk. Baldy, I see your white beard is quite long, could you cut it off and tie it to a stick for me to use as a whisk?"
As Wu Wang pulled out a bare wooden stick, his gaze fell on his beard, which he had grown for who knows how many years.
The white-browed old monk remained unperturbed, simply smiling and saying, "You are quite witty and humorous, benefactor."
"Don't worry, our temple does not have any strict requirements on the attire of worshippers. As long as it is appropriate and not sloppy, it is fine."
"It doesn't matter whether you follow a different religion or not. Buddha is compassionate to all beings and saves them from all directions. Amitabha."
"The morning prayers are about to begin. If you wish to accompany us, please familiarize yourselves with the scriptures first."
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly began to examine the scriptures in front of his prayer mat.
This Heart Sutra is not very long.
It only has a little over two hundred words.
thump—
The chant master, who stands before everyone and is responsible for the rules, regulations, and laws of Buddhist rituals in the temple, strikes his ritual instrument to begin the chanting.
The opening hymn was soothing and long, and the monks closed their eyes slightly, their expressions serene.
"When all sentient beings are enlightened, the Buddha, practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, illuminates the emptiness of the five aggregates, thus transcending all suffering and distress."
The chanting of Buddhist hymns surged forth like a tide, prompting all the monks to sing in unison.
The players didn't understand Buddhism, but they knew that at this point they could only follow along with the chanting, so they kept up with the rhythm and began to read the scriptures.
However, after reading it, the fortress did not speak, and its expression became strange.
His gaze unconsciously drifted towards Wu Wang's direction.
They noticed that the other person also remained silent.
Judging from Wu Wang's explanation of the differences between the Five Sharp Envoys and the Five Dull Envoys yesterday, it is clear that he also has a considerable understanding of Buddhist culture.
As the first person to read the scripture, and who has just been studying it.
Surely the big boss has noticed the problem too, right?
The Heart Sutra is one of the most important classics in Buddhist culture.
The first sentence is not "Buddha among all sentient beings" at all!
It should be "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva"!
It refers to an enlightened being who is able to freely observe the mysteries of their own Buddha-nature, and also refers to the Bodhisattvas that people are familiar with.
However, it has now been replaced by something never heard of before: the "Buddha of All Beings".
The danger at Cibei Temple might be...
It's not just about the bizarre rules!
It has a problem from the very beginning!
As the fortress was filled with doubt, the rhythm of the Heart Sutra recitation suddenly accelerated, and the sutra poured out like a waterfall, as fast as a sudden storm.
Even the young monks in these halls were moving their lips rapidly, their brows furrowed in intense concentration.
Clearly, he had been through a lot of training, able to speak clearly and remain focused amidst the rapid sounds.
However, players do not have that level of familiarity with the scriptures.
Soon, some people couldn't keep up and experienced lag.
Moreover, in principle, the morning service should include the recitation of many scriptures, such as the Heart Sutra, the Shurangama Mantra, the Great Compassion Mantra, and the Ten Small Mantras.
However, the morning service at Cibei Temple only included a copy of the Heart Sutra for repeated recitation.
Once, twice, three times...
The fortress quickly discovered that if any player didn't keep up with the rhythm of a certain verse from the other monks, it was a problem.
Then, when reciting the verse repeatedly, this verse will never be able to keep up, and the same mistake will occur in the same place every time.
"Therefore, in emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no mental formations, no consciousness, no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind..."
The mug was distracted and didn't catch up when that sentence was spoken.
When he couldn't keep up with the recitation on the fifth try, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
The handwriting on the copy in my hand seems to be starting to blur.
At first, he thought he was just tired because he hadn't rested well last night dealing with [Chenliao].
After rubbing his eyes, he found that not only the scriptures, but even his companions around him were becoming blurry.
In that instant, he realized that his vision seemed to be disappearing at an extremely rapid pace.
Immediately afterward, the faint sandalwood scent in the palace grew weaker and weaker, and I subconsciously swallowed and found that my tongue was also slightly numb.
"My five senses! My five senses are gradually disappearing!" The mug's face turned deathly pale.
[Without eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind]
This sentence is very likely the reason for the strange things happening to me!
Currently, it only includes the eyes, nose, and tongue.
As the scripture was repeated again and again, this strange feeling gradually intensified.
Once your hearing begins to fade, you will no longer be able to keep up with the pace of these monks who speak so fast while reciting scriptures.
There are probably more than just this one mistake.
The more mistakes we make, the more likely we are to make things worse, and who knows what might happen, but it certainly won't be a good thing.
Not to mention what if the sense of touch and consciousness begin to disappear.
That's basically no different from death.
He looked around at his companions in a panic, hoping to find a way out of the predicament.
Passion Fruit, sitting next to him, was the first to notice something was wrong.
She noticed that the mug's pupils seemed to be unfocused, and how could such a vacant, unfocused look appear when she was highly concentrated?
rustle--
The fortress sitting behind her suddenly placed its index finger on her back and slowly moved it to write.
Passion fruit immediately read out what the fortress wanted to say.
"Rhythm, don't get it wrong."
Her expression immediately turned serious.
Sure enough, the mug's current strange behavior started after he said something wrong.
Now, besides the mug, the characters "烬心" and "若水" are also misspelled.
But so far, it seems that their mistakes haven't caused any problems...
click -
Just as Passion Fruit was thinking about this, Ash Heart's arm was suddenly twisted off out of thin air, and the cracking sound sent chills down one's spine.
The intense pain caused him to break out in a cold sweat, and even his words trembled.
However, even under these circumstances, he still did not make any mistakes in the subsequent content, and he continued to recite the text in a rhythm despite the pain in his arm.
This level of resilience immediately inspired admiration in others.
No wonder he's a soldier...
Fortress, as a comrade-in-arms, also pondered where the problem lay in Jinxin's mistake. [Bodhisattva, relying on Prajnaparamita]
This is a quote from the Heart Sutra.
But when it came out of Jinxin's mouth, the four words "Bodhisattva" turned into "Asura demon".
This is undoubtedly a great insult to the Heart Sutra.
If these words were spoken by a widow, it probably wouldn't surprise anyone.
But Jinxin was clearly not the kind of person who would deliberately provoke the rules of the palace.
He might make mistakes in the rhythm of chanting, which is a matter of ability, but it should never be a mistake in the text; that would be utterly disastrous.
"The mind is full of attachments; because of these attachments, there is fear; thus, one enters into distorted dreams and cannot attain Nirvana..."
The next second, scriptures were suddenly recited unconsciously from the mouth of the fortress.
A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes.
Because I never intended to recite the Heart Sutra!
It seems that some unseen force is guiding my body to follow the morning practice.
Most importantly—what he said was wrong, just like what Jinxin said!
[With no hindrance in the mind, there is no fear; far removed from distorted views and dreams, one attains ultimate Nirvana.]
This is the original sentence!
The content that is now being read aloud by myself is completely the opposite!
brush brush --
When the incorrect scriptures were recited from the fortress's mouth, he could clearly feel as if countless invisible blades were slicing across his skin in the air, creating tiny wounds and gradually staining his clothes with blood.
"No! Stop! We have to find a way to stop it!" The fortress's brain quickly began to think.
Heaven knows how many times these monks will repeat the Heart Sutra before their morning prayers end.
Judging from the current situation, the players definitely won't last until the morning class ends normally.
The most severely affected mugs were so badly damaged that they could barely read the scriptures by holding them up to their faces.
If it's repeated a few more times, he'll probably lose his sight completely.
"【Heart Cocoon】!"
Ruoshui vaguely sensed that something was about to happen to her as well, so she quickly raised her hand and placed it on her heart to activate her skill.
Immediately afterwards, strands of spiritual energy formed translucent, silk-like threads that enveloped her entire body at an extremely fast speed.
Her face also turned somewhat pale, and a slight sheen of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Clearly, this skill consumes a lot of resources.
The corresponding results seem to be quite good.
Ruoshui quickly caught up with the rhythm where it had gone wrong and returned to normal.
He glanced briefly at Mug, Ember, and Fortress, who were suffering.
After glancing at the passion fruit, she pulled a charm from her pocket and nodded firmly.
Passion fruit showed a hint of reluctance.
However, he still pulled out several identical amulets from his waist, quickly threw them into the arms of the three men, and gestured for them to hold onto them tightly.
Although they were somewhat puzzled, they couldn't worry about that in the current situation.
The moment I grasped the amulet.
A voice echoed in the minds of the three:
"The link to the [Resonance Amulet] is now open."
The next second, the three of them felt their mental energy begin to decline at a slow but steady pace.
At the same time, they also exhibit the same "cocoon of the heart" enveloping themselves.
This item allows Ruoshui to share her skills with them.
Everyone immediately felt much lighter, and the invisible force that had been pulling them to read the wrong words temporarily disappeared.
It seems this skill can resist this effect.
The mug quickly adjusted its chanting rhythm, and Ashheart and Fortress also recited the scriptures correctly.
The initial anomaly disappeared as they stopped making mistakes.
Even so, the fortress's expression remained grim.
He knew very well that this "heart cocoon" could only solve his immediate problem.
Once Ruoshui can no longer hold on, or once one of them has exhausted their mental energy, they will definitely continue to make mistakes.
That's right! There's an absolute possibility of making mistakes during this morning scripture recitation process!
Bastion knows his comrade Emberheart very well.
Although the other party was somewhat reckless, they were definitely meticulous in their work despite their rough exterior.
It contains a mere two hundred-odd words, which is less than the number of regulations and rules that need to be memorized in the military.
How could he possibly be mistaken!
Moreover, it's already strange that Ashheart, which had perfectly kept up with the rhythm and content several times before, suddenly had a content error.
In addition, I inexplicably started reciting scriptures with incorrect content.
The fortress was almost certain that, as the morning prayers went on, these non-monks would inevitably make mistakes.
Now you either need to find a way to quit the morning classes.
We need to find a way to get the monks to stop.
The fortress's pupils flashed with a cold light.
【Coding Vision】!
He once lost an eye in a dungeon.
At the same time, he also received a prosthetic eye as a reward at the time.
Using this prosthetic eye causes him to experience progressively increasing stinging pain, so he doesn't usually keep the prosthetic eye active.
But once enabled, he can visualize certain changes that are otherwise invisible.
For example—the degree of abnormality.
[Mug Abnormality Index: 37%]
[Ember Heart Abnormality Index: 29%]
[Ruoshui Abnormality Index 10%]
【…】
Data about the people and objects around them slowly appeared.
The greatest benefit of this skill is that it helps him quickly find the source of the anomaly, so that he can think of a solution.
But after his gaze swept around the palace...
He was completely stunned.
He discovered that the Heart Sutra in everyone's hands had an abnormality index as high as 90%.
Based on past experience in dungeons, items with an abnormality rate of over 85% are very likely to be the source of the abnormality.
The key to stopping these current chain of problems probably lies in the paper of scripture in everyone's hands.
However, that's not the most important thing.
The most important issue is the abnormal index above the heads of the widow and the spider lily!
[The abnormality index of the spider lily is 95%]
[Unidentified Person's Abnormality Index: 100%]
fortress:"?"
What do you mean my teammate's abnormality index is higher than the source of the abnormality in this palace?
And they're all incredibly tall!
Are they really human?
Could it be that the siblings who came back for morning class after entering the fog last night were not the same two people?
brush--
Wu Wang, who had not yet uttered a single word of scripture, suddenly stood up.
They approached the fortress step by step.
The fortress, however, was unable to move its posture or even stop chanting. It could only feel the danger signal brought by the 100% impact force, with cold sweat pouring down its forehead.
Danger!Danger!Danger!
I think I'm doomed... (End of Chapter)