Chapter 605
The Suffering Unknown Monk
Everyone was startled by the name.
In other words, Abbot Kongbei knew all along who Abbot Duye had been.
But instead of revealing these secrets, he even showed a respectful attitude.
Then there's only one possibility.
Abbot Kongbei and Abbot Duye are birds of a feather!
The reason why Kong Bei is able to understand these things so clearly is likely because he himself was involved in them.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why he was able to record such details.
"And then what? How did such a wicked person become the abbot of the Compassion Temple?" Mug asked, frowning in confusion.
He was still rubbing his eyes.
Although the strange feeling from before has disappeared, the discomfort has not yet subsided.
Fortunately, this did not prevent him from pondering the strangeness of the situation.
In the end, Du Ye was just a warehouse manager.
Judging from Kong Bei's tone, he probably wasn't doing as well as Du Ye.
Logically speaking, even if these two guys were in cahoots, becoming the abbot wouldn't be an easy thing.
Wu Xiaoyou sighed and shook her head, saying, "I don't know. The log only records the evil deeds that Abbot Duye had done, and there's nothing after that."
The next second, Wu Wang chimed in, adding, "To be precise, it was torn off."
He pointed in the direction of the scripture pavilion and said calmly, "I looked through the other scriptures, and most of the notebooks used for copying were purchased from the same batch of materials. The diary was also made from the same kind of notebook, but it was thinner than the others. Obviously, a lot of the content had been torn out by someone."
"The person who tore out the second half of the diary did it very meticulously. If you don't consider the thickness, you can't tell that the diary has been torn out just by looking at the notebook."
This strange phenomenon surprised the other players.
In other words, there might be another monk in Cibei Temple who knows the log?
That's right, it was definitely other monks!
If it were Abbot Kongbei himself, he wouldn't have needed to tear it up at all; he could have just burned his own journal.
Abbot Duye is even less likely to do so. If he were to discover this diary that records his past scandals, not only would he not be able to destroy it, but Abbot Kongbei would probably also be unable to stand in front of everyone as abbot now.
Based on Du Ye's personality as described in the log, he would definitely kill Kong Bei to prevent future troubles.
"Wait... something still doesn't seem right." Passion Fruit frowned, puzzled. "If other monks in the temple discovered the log, why didn't they just expose it?"
Jinxin reacted quickly and said, "It's possible that when the monk discovered the log, Duye had already become the abbot and gained the trust and support of many people. At this point, it would be unrealistic to expose him based solely on one side of the story and this log that anyone could write. He might even face retaliation afterward."
Yes, it would have been fine before Duye became the abbot, but if the diary was discovered by then it was already too late to say anything.
Ruoshui immediately shook her head and said, "There are still problems that can't be explained. If the time in the log was discovered to be when Duye had already become the abbot, it would be fine if they didn't expose him. Why tear off the second half of the log? What is the point of doing that?"
Everyone fell into deep thought.
Yes, whether it's directly exposing it or pretending not to see it out of fear, it all makes sense.
But I don't understand why they leave half and tear the other half.
"Brother Wei, did you take the log with you? Could you let us take a look?" Fortress stepped forward and asked in confusion.
Wu Wang shook his head and said, "No, we put it back exactly as it was after reading the log. It seems to be a dungeon quest item, just like the guild key, which can't be put into the player's inventory. It's too conspicuous to carry it around."
Everyone expressed their understanding of this.
After all, if you carry around an item that can't be hidden, it could cause a huge upheaval if it's discovered by NPCs in the dungeon.
Especially since the things recorded in this log were something that couldn't be shown to anyone.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Abbot Kongbei still appears to be a compassionate monk.
If he were to discover that everyone was holding this thing, he would probably immediately have the idea of killing them to silence them.
“It’s a pity. When we have the chance to explore the library, please tell us where this thing is hidden so we can take a look.” After saying that, Fortress immediately explained, “Don’t misunderstand, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just worried that last night was a time of crisis and I was afraid that you might have overlooked some clues when you were checking, or that the words in the log are different in the daytime and at night.”
Everyone nodded silently upon hearing this.
After all, the Compassion Temple itself changes drastically between day and night, and the clues may present different content at different times.
Besides the above considerations, the fortress also wanted to check whether the abnormality on the widow and the spider lily was due to that log.
If that's true, he can remind the two comrades to be more vigilant as soon as possible to avoid any harm.
While the players were discussing, they also arrived at the dining hall on the west side of the temple.
It was a low, wooden building.
It looks unremarkable from the outside, but once you get to the door, you'll notice how incredibly large the space inside is.
When they entered, there were already more than thirty monks sitting at a long table, chewing their vegetarian meals in unison with expressionless faces.
The monks' vacant eyes were somewhat unsettling.
Jinxin pointed to an empty seat next to her, big enough for all seven of them, and said:
"You three ladies go and reserve your seats first, we'll go get the food."
More and more monks are now having their meals after finishing their morning prayers at this time.
It's still necessary to reserve seats in advance so that everyone can sit together in case of any unexpected situations and look out for each other.
The ladies remained seated, still discussing the topic of Ruoshui and passion fruit from earlier.
However, he did not explicitly name Duye and Kongbei by their Dharma names, but instead used some alternative names to avoid alerting the surrounding monks.
Wu Xiaoyou stared at Wu Wang's retreating figure as he went to get food, lost in thought.
Actually, I had the same questions that the players were asking last night.
And he took these questions to ask his younger brother.
When it comes to using their brains, Wu Xiaoyou firmly believes that her younger brother is incredibly strong.
This kid has always been very clever.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to come up with so many incredible things growing up.
Wu Wang's explanation for this was—
"That's a lazy bum who's neither good enough for high-level jobs nor good enough for low-level ones."
"He discovered that the timeline in the log was not only when Duye became the abbot, but it was even highly likely that he had already attained the fruition of the Buddha of All Beings."
"That foolish monk really didn't want Duye, this guy who tarnished the reputation of Cibei Temple, to go free forever, but unfortunately it was too late. Even if he exposed him now, he would be powerless to change anything. In addition, he was probably a bit cowardly and worried about retaliation. He could only choose to pretend that he didn't see it and let the evidence continue to hide in the hope that others would discover it and be brave enough to expose it to the public."
"As for why the second half was torn off, the reason is even simpler—"
"Since it's a log, the second half should not only record how Duye became the abbot, but also how he became the Buddha of All Beings."
"That monk also wanted to become a Buddha for all sentient beings, so he tore it up and kept it to ponder."
"He must be suffering from inner turmoil right now. He wants others to discover the log and clean up the stain on the Compassion Temple of Crossing the Way, but he also doesn't want others to discover the method to become a Buddha for all beings. That's why the strange phenomenon of leaving half of the log and carefully removing the marks of tearing it up has occurred."
"Not good enough, not bad enough."
"Getting stuck in the middle and suffering more and more, don't you think that's stupid?"
That's right! Last night, the siblings already knew about the matter of achieving the state of "Buddhahood for All Beings" through their karma.
After all, as the first abbot to attain enlightenment, his deeds were also recorded in the Sutra Repository. However, those records were all esoteric scriptures, not concrete things like diaries.
This is also why Wu Wang would ask Abbot Duye if he was still at Cibei Temple during the morning prayers.
The answer I got was "yes and no," which sounded like a truism.
In fact, when Wu Xiaoyou heard this answer, she understood why her brother didn't want her to reveal more information to the players.
Abbot Duye is still at Cibei Temple!
However, it is not in the form of a human being.
Instead, it exists in the form of "Buddha".
Previously, when they were outside Cibei Temple, Abbot Kongbei once said, "The Buddha observes sentient beings as if they were an amla fruit in the palm of his hand."
In other words, Abbot Duye, who has become the "Buddha of All Beings," may also be able to keenly perceive most of the things happening in Cibei Temple without realizing it.
Yes, that's only the vast majority.
Ah-di said that the "Buddha of All Beings" in Cibei Temple is definitely a fake Buddha, and cannot be truly omniscient and omnipotent.
Abbot Duye cannot know everything at all times.
Otherwise, that logbook shouldn't exist at all.
At least, their going through the logs last night went unnoticed; otherwise, Abbot Kongbei would have already dealt with them severely today.
Ah-di instructed him to only share the contents of the log with other people.
But you absolutely must not reveal his speculations.
The reason is simple—players will definitely need to investigate various parts of the temple in order to find more clues in the logs.
In this process, once Du Ye becomes aware of the existence of the log, it will definitely cause some unexpected changes.
Wu Wang's goal is to observe when the players' actions will cause any unexpected changes.
This will help us find out where Du Ye is hiding.
And what kind of existence is the so-called "Buddha of all sentient beings"?
This operation is comparable to using a large group of people to bait a fishing spot.
And they absolutely must not know that they have been used as bait.
Only curiosity that doesn't know the truth is the most genuine.
The more truths you know, the worse the performance will be.
In Wu Wang's words—
"I will save the collapsing building, turn the tide, and rescue them from their dire straits."
"But you are not allowed to ask why the building is about to collapse, the raging torrent has already passed, and where the water and fire came from."
Previously, my brother's experiences in the dungeon were all told to me from his perspective.
Wu Xiaoyou doesn't really feel the reality of this yet.
Only now, as she was exploring the dungeon with him, did she realize how terrifying it was.
My brother is so smart.
As the saying goes, "Extreme wisdom is bound to bring misfortune, and deep affection is short-lived."
However, Ah Di's "immortality" prevents him from truly suffering physical harm.
The only thing that can be damaged or harmed is his mind.
In fact, Wu Xiaoyou had a vague feeling long ago that the whole world was like an amusement park for her brother.
If the various abstract things he did as a child were just for fun, then after gaining immortality, his fun was more about seeking a thrill.
Only these extremely crazy thrills can give him a real sense of being alive.
During this process, he and his older sister, whose soul is now expected to recover, became his tranquilizers, ensuring that he would not lose himself in these thrills and pleasures.
If the tranquilizer malfunctions, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Therefore, Wu Xiaoyou will do her best to protect herself, not only because she cherishes her own life, but also to protect her younger brother.
Under Wu Xiaoyou's complicated gaze.
After getting their food, Wu Wang and the others returned to the long table.
At first glance, it looks quite appetizing. In addition to the green vegetables, there is a dish of stir-fried wild mushrooms and a bowl of tofu soup as side dishes.
The rice is a mixture of five colors: white, yellow, red, green, and black, arranged in the shape of a lotus flower.
Everyone examined the food carefully but couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Only Fortress rubbed his temples slightly and said, "The dishes are fine, but this rice... seems a bit off."
Seeing the surprised looks from the others, he briefly explained the effects of his [Encoding Vision].
At this point, the abnormality index on the rice is displayed as around 10%.
Although it's not particularly serious, it still proves that there's something wrong with this thing.
Fortress was also quite puzzled; he felt as if his head was being hammered.
In the past, it would take quite a while before the [Coding Vision] system would experience this level of headache.
It didn't take long to walk from the main hall to this dining hall, did it?
This strange phenomenon has never occurred before.
His gaze unconsciously fell on Wu Wang again.
Ultimately, I had never detected an abnormality index of 100% before, so maybe this issue caused my skills to overload.
Forced by circumstances, the fortress had no choice but to shut down the [Code Vision].
I just took a walk around the dining hall and only noticed that the rice had an abnormal index; I don't think there are any other rules or anything like that.
Let's take a break for now.
Everyone held their rice bowls, but no one dared to take a bite, yet they couldn't find anything unusual.
It looks like just an ordinary bowl of five-colored rice.
Just then, Wu Wang spoke up: "Normal rice is dyed in five colors by soaking the rice in the juice of some plants."
After saying that, he picked up a clump of red rice with his chopsticks and raised an eyebrow, saying, "But this thing seems to have blood or something mixed in."
These words sent a chill down everyone's spine.
It seems we can't eat this rice.
Who knows what will happen if you eat this five-colored rice that's been dyed with some strange dye?
The next second, the mug pointed to the food serving area in the dining hall with a tearful expression.
There was a sign hanging above that read—
Vegetarian meals must be eaten completely.
"Oh no, how am I supposed to eat this...?" (End of Chapter)