Chapter 56: The Eight Sufferings

This was the first time Yang Sheng had ever set foot in Chen You's home.

As the weathered wooden door was pushed open, Yang Sheng looked inside with curiosity, only to find the room cluttered and piled high with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

There were talisman papers, cinnabar, Taoist robes, fractured peach wood swords, discarded ink markers, as well as copper coins, red strings, incense candles, joss paper, and various other chaotic odds and ends.

Only two areas in the entire room appeared relatively orderly.

One was a formation set up right in the center of the living room. At each of the eight trigram directions, a universe pouch wrapped in talisman paper was镇压 (suppressed/anchored), making five in total.

Chen You had also retrieved the remains of the ominous crying ghost from Yang Sheng, sealed them with talisman paper as well, and placed them in one of the directions.

This was the formation Chen You had mentioned, designed to suppress the ghostly remnants and their baleful yin energy.

The other orderly area was in Chen You's bedroom, where a spirit tablet bearing the characters Lin Jiu was enshrined.

The spirit tablet was set with offerings of roasted chicken and pastries, completely free of dust, clearly showing that Chen You tended and cleaned it regularly.

After rummaging through the pile of clutter for a long time, Chen You finally sighed and said, "It's gone. It really is gone!"

Yang Sheng asked in surprise, "What is gone?"

Chen You offered a wry smile and said, "I never expected that the root cause of the ghosts inside Golden Building actually originated from me."

Yang Sheng was stunned. "What!?"

"At first, I didn't pay much attention, but as we eliminated more and more ghosts, I suddenly realized they seemed to follow a certain pattern."

Chen You sighed. "Mrs. Ho entered a demonic state due to the premature death of her child—this is the suffering of birth.

Mrs. Poon wanted to regain her youth—this is aging.

Ah Kam is sickness.

Auntie Mei wanted to resurrect Uncle Tung—this is death.

Ah Mei is the pain of parting from loved ones.

Leung Tung, who transformed into the ominous crying ghost, represents the torment of being with those one hates.

Birth, aging, sickness, death, parting from loved ones, being with those you hate, not getting what you want, and the blazing fires of the five aggregates.

These eight are the eight sufferings of Buddhism.

Years ago, I happened to acquire a remnant volume passed down from a Buddhist heretical sect, which recorded a secret technique.

That technique utilized ghosts possessing the attributes of the eight sufferings to forge a supreme magical treasure known as the Sarira of Transcending Obstacles and Shedding Illusions.

It is said that once this object is successfully forged, it possesses immense power, capable of transforming life and death, allowing one to ascend to heaven in broad daylight."

Yang Sheng sneered, "Ascension is the domain of Taoism; what does Buddhism have to do with it? What a mess."

Chen You said in a deep voice, "Indeed, that Buddhist heretical sect itself practiced a syncretic blend of Taoism and Buddhism, stirring up chaos during troubled times.

However, they truly possessed genuine cultivation. To forge the Sarira of Transcending Obstacles and Shedding Illusions at such a troublesome cost—heaven knows what its ultimate effect would be.

Now that the secret technique is lost, yet so many related ghosts have appeared in Golden Building, this is definitely no coincidence!"

***

"Then who could possibly steal your secret technique, Brother You?"

Chen You pointed at his messy room and said, "Don't look at how chaotic my place seems; there is actually order within the disorder. I remember where every single item is placed.

I've also set up warning talismans around the house. Anyone who enters would instantly trigger them.

The only person who could bypass these talismans to enter my room and easily find the secret technique is someone specific."

At this, a look of remorse flashed across Chen You's face. "That person's name is Fong Wan-hoi. He is a sorcerer, a bit younger than me.

He only knows sorcery without understanding true Taoist magic. He opened a Taoist temple in the basement of Golden Building, specializing in exorcising ghosts, warding off evil, fortune-telling, and praying for blessings to make money.

Fong Wan-hoi once expressed admiration for the great reputation of my Maoshan lineage and wanted to discuss Taoist arts and sorcery with me, and I didn't refuse.

After all, in this age of the Dharma-ending era, meeting a fellow practitioner is already quite difficult, even though he could only be considered a lower-tier sorcerer rather than an orthodox Taoist priest.

Later on, however, I discovered that this man's intentions were crooked.

He ran the Taoist temple to swindle money, and even raised ghost minions to frighten certain wealthy individuals before posing as an exorcist to subdue them, thus earning massive ill-gotten gains.

Using mystical arts and divine powers for such deeds would sooner or later incur karmic retribution and backlash, so I stopped interacting with him altogether.

However, I remember casually mentioning the Sarira of Transcending Obstacles and Shedding Illusions to him during a chat back then, and his expression was already unnatural at the time.

Looking back now, Fong Wan-hoi must have already harbored thoughts of stealing the secret technique back then, intending to use Golden Building—a place where yin energy converges—to nurture the ghosts of the eight sufferings and forge the Sarira of Transcending Obstacles and Shedding Illusions!"

With that, Chen You immediately began rummaging through his room, gathering talismans, a peach wood sword, and other items, and grabbed Yang Sheng to head downstairs.

"Brother You, isn't it a bit too early to rush like this?"

Actually, what Yang Sheng was worried about whether this counted as his main quest.

Although the sky outside was already dark, it was still earlier than his usual patrol time.

Therefore, if Fong Wan-hoi truly was the culprit, would slaying him at this time count as completing the quest?

With a grave expression, Chen You said, "Not rush? That madman Fong Wan-hoi—heaven knows what else he might forge besides these eight suffering ghosts.

We've already delayed for so long; we can't wait any longer!"

Chen You and Yang Sheng took the elevator intending to go to the basement, but for some reason, the elevator refused to descend to the basement level, forcing them to take the stairs instead.

The basement of Golden Building was originally an underground parking garage. However, as the building fell into disrepair and most of the residents became elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, very few owned cars, so the garage had long since ceased to be used for parking.

Back then, Fong Wan-hoi had leased the entire first basement level at an extremely low price to build his Taoist temple.

When Yang Sheng finally laid eyes on the temple constructed in the basement, he was still somewhat shocked.

The entire temple was wide at the front and narrow at the back, extremely long and cramped. Viewed from above, it actually somewhat resembled a coffin.

Moreover, although the temple was built in the style of traditional architecture, it featured red paint and black tiles, with white lanterns lit at the entrance, giving off an extremely gloomy and eerie vibe.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Accompanied by a fit of violent coughing, a middle-aged man wearing a black Tang suit, with a pale complexion and a hunched, emaciated figure, walked out of the temple.

"Brother You, you arrived later than I expected."

***

Chen You frowned and asked, "Fong Wan-hoi, how did you turn yourself into this state? The ghosts inside Golden Building were indeed cultivated by you!"

Fong Wan-hoi let out an eccentric laugh. "Sorcery backlash, that's what. Now my heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys are all rotting; I probably won't live another month.

Brother You, you knew this day would come all along, right? Is this kid the helper you brought with you?

What a pity, we were just that close.

Brother You, let's join forces.

It's already very difficult to find a place where yin energy converges like Golden Building. My sorcery and your Taoist magic can both be unleashed without restraint here.

As long as you give us time, I can achieve ascension and cultivate an Yin God, and you can reverse life and death to resurrect him!"

Chen You said slowly, "Fong Wan-hoi, you have entered a demonic path!

When I advised you back then not to casually use those mystical arts to harm people, you wouldn't listen, and now the retribution has indeed arrived.

All those wretched souls were turned into evil ghosts because of you. I cannot spare you today!"

As Chen You's voice fell, talismans burned bright upon the peach wood sword in his hand as he thrust it straight toward Fong Wan-hoi. Thunder lightning instantly burst forth, illuminating the entire basement level in a brilliant flash.

Fong Wan-hoi gave a weird laugh, actually grabbing the peach wood sword bare-handed, letting the Five Thunder Spell crash against his pale palms.

"Entered a demonic path? If I hadn't entered the demonic path, I would already be dead!"

Fong Wan-hoi's condition at this moment was extremely unnatural.

His eyes had turned completely bloodshot, his eyeballs bulging, with tiny crimson veins spreading outward from his eyes.

His limbs and hands began to elongate, and thick black-red blood vessels bulged beneath his skin.

Almost instantly, the once emaciated and hunched Fong Wan-hoi bloated into a terrifying ghost with elongated limbs.

The clothes across his chest were ripped apart, and a ferocious, terrifying ghost face protruded from his flesh, with his limbs even faintly visible underneath.

"Refining a ghost into one's own body!? You maniac!"

A look of grave solemnity appeared in Chen You's eyes.

Sorcerers only cultivated magical techniques and not orthodox Taoism, but that did not mean they were weaker than Taoist priests.

Because they did not need to divide their focus on cultivating Taoist doctrines, they could devote themselves entirely to studying all sorts of bizarre and secretive techniques, making their combat prowess potentially even greater than Taoist priests of equivalent cultivation.

Fong Wan-hoi had fallen into the demonic path, and the might of his wicked sorcery had naturally become even more terrifying.

Chen You pulled back to retreat, retracting his peach wood sword.

He produced three golden needles and drove them directly into his own Dantian and the acupoints around his chest and abdomen.

"Ah Sheng, help me cover our flanks!"

After driving in the three golden needles, the spiritual energy fluctuations surrounding Chen You surged violently, reaching a degree visible to Yang Sheng's naked eyes.