The temple's hall remained the same.
The scent of sandalwood lingered and the Buddha's gaze hung low.
Looking absolutely kind and empathic as the zen bells echo in the hall.
The Emperor's breath hitched. His chest rose and fell frantically until he felt his hands and they were wet, only then did he realize that he was drenched in sweat; it had even stained the cattail mat.
His soul was still intact, but it was still palpitating with fear.
He raised his gaze to study his surroundings. Once the statue of the Buddha came into his sight, he could still imagine the frenzied and sinister look on it from a moment ago.
Even that deep, evil laughter seemed to resound in his ears as clearly as one could imagine it.
"What… What happened to me just now?"
"Your Majesty practically got taken advantage of by the demon in your heart," said Grandmaster Lingcang. He had never seen such a strong demonic presence in the Emperor before. Even on such holy grounds, bathed in the sounds of sutra-reading, he could still birth such strong demons in his heart.
"A moment ago, I seem to be hearing the cries of a thousand ghosts who refused to be at peace. They practically dragged me into the abyss!" cried the Emperor in fear. He instinctively thought that this place was quite haunted, but knew that it wasn't too possible. The Daxingshan Temple had stood here for a long time; a famed temple for over three hundred years. It wasn't quite possible for a spirit to dally here for so long and refuse to return to the afterlife.
The Emperor didn't know what to say as his gaze met Grandmaster Lingcang's.
"Perhaps I was too tired."
Grandmaster Lingcang sighed and said, "When this humble zen wandered the lands back in those years, I discovered a method to soothe one's nerves. His Majesty could allow the Grand Physician to take a look at the prescriptions before using them."
The Emperor forced a smile and said, "Then, I've troubled you."
Watching how he wasn't in his best state, Lingcang knew that he had no heart to listen to sutras. And so, he let He Zhong open the doors to help the Emperor into the room to take a rest.
The festival of the Buddha's birthday would continue for three days. Another ritual would be taking place in the afternoon.
If nothing went wrong, the Emperor would be fasting here for three days during the ritual and reflect on himself. This will be how the events will be taking place.
All his subjects were waiting outside of the Hall of the Heavenly Kings. They didn't know what had happened inside the Mahavira Hall. They only know that after the ritual, the Emperor came out with a dejected look.
Daxingshan Temple had occupied an entire street on its own. It had enough empty rooms to accommodate all the Emperor's subjects that came with the Imperial Chariot.
When the next ritual took place in the afternoon, Yu Qingze and the others were all summoned to the Mahavira Hall to listen.
The Emperor, however, had not shown up.
He had a very long dream.
There was Yuwen Yong in his dreams, as well as his son-in-law Yuwen Yun; all the people that he had killed before had once more come to life in his dream. Blood flowed down their faces as they urged him to repay the debts of the lives he had taken.
The Emperor, who was constantly on the run in his dreams, had finally struggled awake. He looked once again outside the window and noticed that the dark colour of the night sky fully enveloped the kingdom.
Before anything could come to his mind, the gentle voice of He Zhong's reached his ears and answered his questions.
"His Majesty had slept too soundly. Grandmaster Lingcang said that it's a good thing for you to rest more often. As for the ritual, all prayers will be answered as long as one is sincere in his heart. This humble servant hadn't dared to wake you up. How are you feeling now? Would you like to have dinner?"
The Emperor touched his forehead and felt that his mind was still in a haze as if he hadn't yet completely woken up from his dream. However, he did look more lively than before.
He answered with an 'En,' before He Zhong ran out quickly. After a while, he brought a few people and some vegetarian dishes inside.
"Why is it so cold today?"
He Zhong answered as he brought a mantle for him. "Ah, snow began to fall."
"Send orders to the kitchen to make some ginger soup for Yu Qingze and the others."
He Zhong bowed and smiled, "How considerate His Majesty is. This humble one hasn't even thought of that."
He let a little servant remain behind while he ran the errand for His Majesty.
The Emperor casually picked up a sutra from the bookcase and as he ate, he flipped it open to take a look.
At this moment, from the edge of the world came a massive ring, followed by an earth-shaking roll of thunder.
What? There was snow, as well as thunder?
Taken aback by surprise, the Emperor turned his head to look outside.
The good mood he was in just now was destroyed completely.
As thunder struck the snow, Yang Jian recalled that he had met such a sight before when he was young. Back then, he hadn't thought much about it, but as a series of incidents happened incessantly in the last few days, the Emperor found his mind wandering even at the slightest bit of oddity.
Especially after the scary illusion that had taken place in front of him today; the Emperor's instincts became sensitive even to the slightest sway of grass.
A thunderstorm was resounding outside. Since it began, the storm befell continuously as snowflakes toiled in the air.
The Emperor wasn't the only one. Even the common people might overthink about the thunderstorm after the eclipse just a day ago.
The Emperor felt uncomfortable in his heart. He no longer had the heart to read sutras.
He dropped the sutra onto his desk.
"Follow me out!"
The Emperor wanted to look for Grandmaster Lingcang.
At this moment, Grandmaster Lingcang was the only one who could soothe him, the only one who could bring him hope.
His sharp little servants knew what the Emperor wanted. Along the way, they asked a few monks who passed by and got to know that Grandmaster Lingcang was still in the Mahavira Hall.
The silence within Daxingshan Temple at night was unusual. Although there were guards patrolling around everywhere, as well as fire torches that lit the walls, the wilted trees that formed forests and the solemnity in the day turned into ghastly presences in the night that made one's heart thump with fear.
It was unknown whether it was the coldness of the weather or the effects of nature. The little servants felt a cold spasm in their hearts. The Emperor was just up on the side, and he dared not budge an inch despite feeling all his hairs standing on their ends.
The Mahavira Hall drew close.
Firelights lit the inside, yet its doors were shut tight.
Though, the firelights inside would certainly be extinguished by the snowstorm of the night if the doors were opened.
The little servant wanted to proceed to send word of the Emperor's arrival only to be stopped by the Emperor. Then, he slowly walked forward until he was just outside the hall to silently push the door ajar and reveal a slit.
It's already so late, and yet Grandmaster Lingcang was still in the Mahavira Hall. Most likely, he wanted to discuss some serious affairs. The Emperor didn't wish to interrupt him, so he wanted to take a look first.
Who could have guessed that this peak would forever stun him!
Grandmaster Lingcang was truly inside the hall.
The entire hall was empty yet lit, and he was the only one present in there.
Before Grandmaster Lingcang's crossed legs was a container.
It looked similar to the type of containers used to burn papers during a funeral, but that was not the Emperor's main focal point.
Because he had seen something even more terrifying.
That container was filled with bloody innards and flesh. Grandmaster Lingcang was just about to use his hand to scoop a handful of it to put it into his parted mouth.
His throat swallowed. Blood dripped down from the corner of his lips. He licked the blood from his hand without a second thought.
The Emperor's mind blanked. He even thought that he was still in his dream. He unconsciously took a few steps backwards and as his knees gave away, he collapsed and fell to the ground. The little servant wanted to help him up, but he had collapsed to the ground with the Emperor instead.
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty, what happened?"
Through the slit in the door, the Emperor could clearly see that Grandmaster Lingcang had discovered his presence. He had even turned around and looked into this direction with a sinister smile.
The Emperor was frozen on the spot.
He shouted, "Men! Men!"
The moment his voice rang, the sound of slaughter followed from behind the courtyard where the monks lived.
The ground of crossing swords dully reached them.
The Emperor abruptly turned around!
"What happened?!"
"Protect His Majesty!"
Quickly, the Royal Guards surrounding the Mahavira Hall gathered around.
This had made the Emperor feel a little calmer.
"Xiao Yong, go ahead and find out what is going on!" said the Emperor, as he paused momentarily and pointed into the inside of the palace, "Bring Grandmaster Lingcang out as well!"
The Royal Guards moved separately. There were a few of them who remained to protect the Emperor as he looked around nervously.
The Emperor's instincts told him that something huge has happened, but he wasn't especially worried because Yu Qingze and the others were present. These people had accompanied him through the hardest and most difficult moments of his life. They are famed generals who killed their enemies on the battlefield. A couple of trivial tricks like that wouldn't be a problem to them.
But just as he was thinking, all the servants around him suddenly collapsed to the ground. Before the Emperor could register what had happened, two people in nightgear lifted him up through his left and right and dragged him into the hall!