Wu Qiudao and He Qiong looked at each other, obviously very surprised.
He Qiong suppressed the disgust in her heart and asked, "Don't you think this is cruel?"
The merchant asked familiarly: "If the corpse is eaten by maggots and mold and turns into a puddle of corpse water, is this a kind of mercy?"
He Qiong was anxious: "Cannibalism, how vicious is it?"
The merchant explained: "Not all are eaten by priests. If you are lucky, the gods will appear in person and eat the fragrant corpses offered by believers."
He Qiong's eyes widened: "Which god would imitate the behavior of hyenas and vultures like this? Obviously he is not a god, but a monster that eats human corpses!"
"Be careful!" Wu Qiudao glared at He Qiong. The eldest brother, not to mention the second brother, Bisheze, the King of Hungry Ghosts, does have the bad habit of cannibalizing corpses. Is the Queen Mother of the West who you worshiped in Kunlun so high as a living sacrifice?
The merchant shook his head and was not angry. Instead, he continued to explain patiently that in the eyes of the residents of Magadha, the Hungry Ghost King Buddha was the most compassionate god. Zhuluo Huangqietian already existed. This was her dojo. The reason why the country of Magadha can survive to this day is also based on her kindness.
The Hungry Ghost King Buddha is as old as death. He has passed through the valley of death, but he has risen, conquered death, and hid in the shadows deeper than the crypts of his dark temple.
The merchant's eyes shone: "Through him we are protected from decay and maggots. When people elsewhere sacrifice their dead to the all-devouring flames, we in Magadha sacrifice our dead to the gods in the same way. , and when the last days come, we will all rise together with him, defeat the power of death, and rule the world for thousands of years!"
He Qiong wanted to say something else, but Wu Qiudao stopped him. He tried to make his expression less ferocious, and tried his best to relax his hand movements so that no one could see the urgency in his heart, and then asked: "So Boss, do you know if there is a secret passage leading to the human world near here?"
The merchant shook his head: "This is the Taixu Heaven Realm, how can there be a path to the mortal world?"
"Then have you heard of any traces of mortal comings and goings?"
"nor."
Then we can only try to find out clues from the Bishezhe Sect.
According to the businessman, the Bisheja Temple is open around the clock and anyone can come and go freely within its boundaries, but there are no believers gathering there to worship, only some private ceremonies performed by priests.
But few outsiders dare to enter the temple, because there is a local superstition: any living person who violates the darkness of the temple will soon return there with the food of the gods!
Wu Qiudao thanked the talkative merchant and prepared to explore the dragon's pond and tiger's den with He Qiong.
The charnel house is located in the center of the city of Balenfu. There is no need to explore secretly. The two of them just need to follow the crowd and walk to the center of the road network.
There is a strange beauty in Balen Fuyi under the setting sun. Above the city walls and domes, the sunset glow is like a purple rose, and the window lanterns on the high wall shine with golden light. The whole city is peaceful and quiet, and it is so beautiful. It seems like a fantasy city that only appears in dreams.
In fact, this is indeed a paradise in Taixu's dream. Maybe someone once created this city in a dream.
But when you are inside, this city seems to be no different from any other place in the world. Except that it is older and darker, the residents in the city live an ordinary life that can be seen everywhere. Only through the red, black or purple colors on their bodies
Wu Qiudao could distinguish the Magadha people from outsiders like himself by their cumbersome robes and their unique, thick accents.
The Magadha people's belief in the Bishecha religion is different from that of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Under the influence of this heretic belief, they do not attach great importance to worship and rituals. At the same time, the Bishecha religion
The clergy of the church are also secretive in their behavior. They live in charnel houses deep underground. Only when the dead body is brought in, they will appear to perform their funeral duties.
Therefore, after leaving the market, the further the two of them moved forward, the fewer residents they saw.
The crypt is open, and anyone can go to the temple of the Hungry Ghost King Buddha, but the rare visitors also make Wu Qiudao and He Qiong very conspicuous, along the well-maintained bluestone roads.
But it was sparsely populated, and only the two of them could be seen.
The road under their feet began to go down gradually, becoming narrower, darker, and more winding. This made them feel as if they were walking in an underground passage, and the end of the road led to a huge and deep tomb.
The setting sun gradually sets, and the remaining dim light is miserable and thin, as if it will sink into the underworld at any time, and the faces you occasionally encounter on the road are all a blur, as if there are evil faces lurking underneath.
After turning a corner, Wu Qiudao, who had keen eyesight, pulled He Qiong.
Four priests of the Bisheze religion appeared in the alley in front of the two of them, wearing thick purple burial clothes, like loose shrouds, and silver masks engraved with the image of skulls.
No skin is exposed, even the neck, ankles, and wrists are covered with clothes.
They were stooped and unnaturally thin, and together they were carrying a strange coffin made of bones and leather. The frame and handles were huge skeletons, and the leather wrapped was shiny and black. It seemed that it had been used to store corpses for many years.
The sesame oil filled in the coffin gave off a strong fragrance, which slightly covered up the stench of these Bishecha priests.
As soon as Wu Qiudao saw these four priests, he immediately remembered the description in the "Thirty-Six Paths of Hungry Ghosts Maharaja Sutra". Purple clothes, silver faces, stinking figures, they were high-level priests in the Bisheze Sect.
"That ghost of Fu Dan" never expected that at their level, he would personally perform funeral responsibilities.
The ghost Fudan is one of the ghosts taught by Bishe Zhe at the lowest level, a ghost general who leads the ghosts, and an important position above the fallen Jiu Pantu, far surpassing the flying yaksha Zhang Tianqin he met that day, Feifu
Those with profound retributions are not allowed to be promoted, and are second only to divine envoys and elders.
The elders are actually Fudanagai, but they live longer and are widely respected by the believers. Therefore, Fudanagai is actually the highest position that the followers of Bisheze can be promoted to.
The level of the divine envoys is different from that of other believers. The divine envoys must be personally selected by the Hungry Ghost King Buddha. They do not have to be selected from Fudanna ghosts or Fudanna elders. Most of them are directly promoted from the lowest level of ghosts.
, represents the will of the Buddha Bisheja, which means that their status is higher than that of all wealthy ghosts and elders.
The four Fudan Nagui priests obviously also saw Wu Qiudao and He Qiong and stopped.
The leading priest asked: "Who are you? Why are you contaminated with the breath of mortals!"
Another priest sniffed hard and then shouted: "They are not tainted with the smell of mortals, they are mortals!"