Chapter 119: Divine Will
The seventh day arrived quickly.
During these days, the Mother Buddha Deity had been intermittently interfering, creating a deathly silence within several hundred yards of the temple.
All kinds of animals and insects had long since died, and the trees showed signs of decay.
However, with Marcus's protection, the corrupted blessed papers were quickly replaced with new ones, so the deity's power could not interfere with Master Yuan and Dodo.
At this moment, Dodo's face was pale, her lips were cracked and sunken, and her skin was yellow and dry, as if she had withered, looking like a corpse.
However, from the slight rise and fall of her chest, it could be seen that Dodo was still breathing, her breathing rhythm very slow, barely perceptible.
Marcus was also guarding inside the house. Time had reached the most critical moment, and he completely ignored the strange noises outside.
Until 7 PM, the atmosphere in the courtyard seemed to instantly become clear and pure.
All the noises outside the courtyard completely disappeared.
Creak!
The sound of a wooden door opening came from the courtyard.
Marcus understood that this must be the sound of Master Yuan successfully performing the ritual, overcoming the crisis, and opening the temple gates.
He opened the door and went out, where he saw Master Yuan dressed in ceremonial robes.
Master Yuan looked somewhat weak, but he was full of spiritual energy, like a hospital patient who could run a marathon, giving people a contradictory feeling.
"Have you prepared the sugar water and IV fluids?" Master Yuan asked.
"It's all ready, here it is." Marcus opened the backpack beside him to show it.
"That's good. If Dodo loses her connection with us later, we need to replenish her nutrition quickly, otherwise her life may be in danger." Master Yuan gave a lot of relevant instructions.
It must be said that Master Yuan was keeping up with modern medicine, combining spiritual practice and medical care together, including preparing a lot of emergency medicines in advance for some of the possible dangers Dodo might face.
"That's good, bring Dodo to the temple."
Master Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Dodo was carried into the temple by Ronan Chen and placed on the altar as instructed by Master Yuan. Dodo was limp, as if she only had one breath left. If you looked closely, you could see that her breathing rhythm was the same as Master Yuan's.
Marcus glanced at the altar statue.
The metal statue, about five feet tall, was covered by a red cloth, only revealing the area below the midsection.
This red cloth was not there before; it was obvious that Master Yuan had covered it after opening the altar.
'The divine cannot be seen directly. Could it be that divine intervention has already been invoked?'
Marcus was a little puzzled. This seemed a bit too subtle, but he didn't say anything and continued to watch Master Yuan's actions.
Master Yuan held another red cloth in his hand, bowing and offering incense to the altar.
Then, he covered Dodo's face with a red cloth, picked up a ritual staff, and began to wave it, chanting:
"Throughout all realms, above and below the heavens, omnipresent and without false form, I respectfully invite you to descend;
I now earnestly request divine intervention to preside over this child, to bestow upon her boundless protection and power. Your disciple, Yuan, thrice bows in reverence!"
After reciting the invocation, Master Yuan bowed three times before rising to gaze at Dodo.
The altar statue, covered with the red cloth, remained motionless, as if the so-called summoning of divine power was merely Master Yuan's faith.
Dodo's body, however, began to change at this moment.
Her abdomen slowly swelled, as if bloated, and then, starting from her feet, it seemed as if thousands of insects were crawling inside her, surging from her legs all the way to her abdomen.
Beneath the skin of her arms, it also seemed as if worms were wriggling, separating and crawling from her flesh.
A rustling sound could be heard.
The parasites seemed to be gathered in her abdomen, consuming something, before stopping their movement.
Master Yuan and his wife, also clutching their stomachs, sat on stools, trembling as if enduring immense pain.
With retching sounds, they both vomited up a fragment of the blessed herb.
The herb they had swallowed seven days earlier was now reduced to mere remnants, its edges marked with decay, and tinged with black.
Dodo suddenly rolled over and vomited as well.
The red cloth covering her face fell to the ground, spreading out naturally. She vomited up a pile of about thirty zebra-striped caterpillars, all of which landed dead on the cloth.
Master Yuan quickly stepped forward, wrapped the dead caterpillars in the red cloth, and threw it into the burning sacrificial brazier.
The bundle was consumed by the flames, seemingly emitting a woman's scream.
Marcus felt this was the voice of the Mother Buddha; clearly, this had caused her considerable harm—a backlash from her curse.
It seems divine intervention has indeed occurred, and the curse within Dodo should have been removed.
"Quick, save the child first,"
Master Yuan said, wiping his mouth and panting, his voice hoarse.
As he spoke, Marcus had already pulled out a syringe and, with precise aim, inserted the needle into a vein in Dodo's hand, starting an IV drip.
Ronan Chen, meanwhile, held a glucose solution and dripped it into Dodo's mouth, drop by drop.
Dodo had lost consciousness along with Master Yuan and was in an extremely weak state, but seeing a trace of color slowly returning to her face, it was clear she had been saved.
Marcus glanced at Dodo, then at the altar statue covered by red cloth, and asked Master Yuan,
"Master Yuan, Dodo's curse was caused by the Mother Buddha Deity. This evil spirit has harmed many children and now wants to use the internet to expand its power and harm even more children."
"Dodo is fortunate to have met you, but countless children have already suffered persecution, and even more will suffer in the future. Could you please invoke divine intervention to completely remove this evil spirit?"
Hearing this, Master Yuan's expression became worried. This was a truly kind-hearted old man, a good person who would risk his life to save others, not someone who merely preaches from safety.
"I will now pray for divine guidance."
Master Yuan picked up prayer paper, wrote down the reason for his request, and then lit it in the incense burner, along with three sticks of incense.
As Master Yuan finished his prayer, he looked at the incense burner, and his worried expression eased slightly.
"The incense burns true, divine permission has been granted."
"However, with my abilities this time, the divine power I can channel is limited. After saving Dodo, I'm not sure if I'll have enough strength to completely eliminate this evil spirit."
"Moreover, the divine will must be released the instant the red cloth is removed when the spirit faces the altar to effectively suppress the evil entity."
"If I could fast for twenty-one days, purify completely, and achieve sufficient spiritual cultivation, it might be possible to carry divine will in human form and go to destroy the Mother Buddha Deity. But in the current world, there are no masters capable of doing that."
Master Yuan sighed regretfully.
The divine force being invoked is a protective power, and can be considered significant.
However, it is ultimately just one aspect of spiritual protection.
The temple enshrines this power because higher divine forces are too difficult to invoke, so everyone works with what is accessible.
This power's foundation is ancient spiritual tradition, yet even invoking this much is so difficult, requiring seven days of fasting and risking one's life.
If they were to invoke higher divine intervention, even if Master Yuan were to die of exhaustion, it probably wouldn't be enough.
(End of Chapter)
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