Chapter 450: Karma

Chapter 450: Karma

Chapter 450: Karma
"Whose stuff is this?"

Meng Hui muttered to himself, but couldn't help but pick up the sign. It was cold to the touch, and it seemed to penetrate into his heart from his fingertips.

In a trance, it seemed as if something passed before his eyes.

But before he could catch those things, he heard the voice of "Amitabha":

"You are here indeed. Why didn't you wait for us today?"

Meng Hui shuddered and subconsciously put the sign in his arms.

Turning back, he saw two men and one woman walking slowly towards him. He clasped his hands together:
"Amitabha."

It's a return gift.

The people who came were his good friends in the village. The two men were brothers, although they looked nothing alike.

The eldest is called Zhang Damao and the second is called Zhang Ermao.

The girl's name is Cuihua.

At this moment, she was looking at him with compassion:
"Meng Hui, you're here so early."

The compassion on Cuihua's face seemed not only directed at him, but also at all living beings she saw.

Meng Hui nodded:

"I have a heart for Buddhism, and it is difficult for me to sit at home."

“Okay, Meng Hui is right.

"His devotion to Buddhism is very strong and he is a role model for us."

Zhang Damao climbed up another scaffolding, holding a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other, ready to start carving the statue.

This is what they do every day, day after day, year after year.

Zhang Ermao also climbed up to the scaffolding next to the Buddha statue he was carving, and while selecting tools, he said:
“It is said that Buddhism is vast, but it only saves those who are predestined to be saved.

“That’s true. If there is no destiny, even if you enter a mountain of treasures, you will return empty-handed.

“Some time ago, someone came from the Five Turbidities and Evil Times and should have been influenced by the Dharma.

“But this person’s demonic nature was so strong that it was difficult to convert him. Taking advantage of the night when no one was prepared, he ran back to the evil world.

"It's really ridiculous."

"You have violated the precept of anger. Everyone has their own choices, so why be so attached?

“As the saying goes, good words can hardly persuade a damned person.

"He has no affinity with my Buddha. Even if he has a compassionate heart, he can do nothing."

While carving the Buddha statue, everyone chatted casually.

If it were any other day, Meng Hui would have definitely discussed "Buddhist principles" with them, but today, for some reason, his mind seemed to be clear at one moment and confused at another.

I always feel like something is wrong...but I can't put my finger on it.

When talking to others, I am always a step behind.

Cuihua saw that he looked strange and couldn't help asking:
"Meng Hui, how are you?"

Meng Hui was in a trance for a moment, then shook his head:

"I am fine."

The remaining few people looked at each other and could see the uneasiness in each other's eyes.

Cuihua pondered and said:
"It's good that you're alright. Later, there will be a great Buddhist scripture from Tianfo Temple to pass down to the world, helping us dispel our karma."

After hearing this, Meng Hui looked around.

During the time they were chatting casually, many villagers had already come here. People were chatting and laughing casually, and all they talked about was Buddhism and Buddhist principles.

But the more Meng Hui listened, the more he felt something was wrong.

There was an indescribable discomfort, as if a huge rock was pressing on my chest.

It made it difficult for him to breathe and there was a buzzing in his ears.

He tried hard to keep himself from falling off the scaffolding, but the more he tried not to move, the harder it was for him to keep his balance. His body tilted and he instinctively reached for something around him to hold on to.

But the closest thing to him was this Buddha statue.

Subconsciously, I was about to touch it, but as far as I could see, this was a statue carved by me. No matter how many times I had looked at it in the past, I always thought it was a kind-looking Buddha statue. But at this moment, it was revealing countless hideous and evil qualities.

It was facing away from the light, and its entire face was in shadow.

Looks particularly gloomy.

There was only a pair of teasing and cruel eyes staring at him quietly, as if it was a ghost ready to devour someone.

"what!!"

Meng Hui subconsciously let out a cry of surprise.

"what happened?"

"Meng Hui!?"

Cuihua and the Zhang brothers beside him shouted, and Meng Hui turned around hurriedly:

"The Buddha statue, the Buddha statue..."

But before he could finish his words, he saw Cuihua.

Cuihua is one of the rare beautiful girls in the village. She has delicate features, a palm-sized face, and a pair of big eyes that are always filled with compassion.

When people see her, they will inexplicably feel peace and shame in their hearts.

But at this moment, the face that appeared in Meng Hui's eyes became a Buddha face carved out of stone.

The Buddha's face has kind eyes and benevolent features, but when it appears on a human face, it looks grotesque and terrifying.

Meng Hui's pupils suddenly contracted, and the intense fear made his hands and feet tremble uncontrollably.

Cuihua’s face…how could it be?
He subconsciously looked for Zhang Damao, but when he turned around, he found that Zhang Damao's face had also turned into a Buddha's face.

However, his angry eyes did not seem majestic, but only ferocious.

Meng Hui subconsciously shrank his neck and looked around, and saw that all eyes were on him.

Every person and every face is a Buddha face.

They looked at themselves with a variety of expressions, including indifference, compassion, anger, etc.

“You are entangled in karma!”

"You are bewitched by your inner demons!"

"You need to cut off your own karma."

"Otherwise, how can one attain enlightenment?"

Voices swarmed into his ears, seeming to turn his mind upside down.

"No...no...that's not right. You are not...you..."

Meng Hui pointed at them, with excited emotions brewing in his chest.

But the words he wanted to say were interrupted by the sound of the bell.

I don’t know where the bell sound comes from...but it is the bell of Tianfo Temple.

They all knew that Tianfo Temple was here, but no one had ever actually seen Tianfo Temple.

They don't need to look for people who are qualified to enter Tianfo Temple. The monks of Tianfo Temple will come and take them away at the right time.

The sound of chanting was also heard at this time.

It's like a wind that calms the noise and blows into people's hearts.

Annihilate all distracting thoughts and delusions.

In Meng Hui's home, a girl who was eating noodles in the kitchen frowned:
“It starts again…

“I don’t know how today progresses, and whether he can see it.

"If this continues, I'm afraid there's really no hope. I can't stay here day after day. If I'm discovered by those monks, it will be troublesome."

As she said this, her chopsticks slid quickly and she finished the bowl of noodles.

After finishing, he threw it into the basin without washing it, then found a cushion to sit on and began to meditate.

Fine beads of sweat oozed out of her forehead, as if she was desperately resisting something.

……

……

Meng Hui shuddered, and when he came to his senses, he felt as if he had forgotten something.

But when he looked at the Buddha statue in front of him that he had carved, his heart was filled with inexplicable joy.

"One day, I will attain enlightenment and live in eternal peace."

Meng Hui whispered softly.

Then Cuihua said:

"Meng Hui, it's getting late, let's go together." "Okay."

He packed up his tools, patted his body lightly, and stone powder flew everywhere.

On the way back, I met a lot of people.

The people in the village are very kind and they chant Buddhist mantras when they meet each other.

Meng Hui believes that most of the time, everything is normal and ordinary.

Tianfo Village is such a place, like a paradise, peaceful and tranquil.

People ate vegetarian food, chanted Buddhist scriptures, and worked hard to carve Buddha statues.

Everything is normal.

Yes...it's normal.

Meng Hui's steps slowed down at some point because he suddenly felt something on his body.

Although he didn't know what this thing was, the moment he touched it, he suddenly had a very bad feeling in his heart...

Never let anyone see this thing!
This thought came to me out of nowhere.

And deep into the bone marrow.

His heart suddenly tightened. Why did this thought come to his mind for no reason?

Is karma playing tricks on me again?

He didn't dare to mention the matter of karma, nor did he dare to take out the things in his arms to look at them.

He was still chatting with Cuihua, Damao and Ermao.

But for some reason, the conversation that he thought was normal suddenly seemed abnormal.

Cuihua said:
"Tomorrow I will work as hard as I did today to carve the Buddha statue and enter Tianfo Temple as soon as possible."

Zhang Damao said:

"There is a real Buddha in Tianfo Temple. Cut off your karma and you will find eternal peace under the Buddha's light."

"I will attain the status of Arhat and gain great fortune!"

The last sentence was said by Zhang Ermao.

Originally it was Meng Hui's turn to speak. He thought carefully about what he had just said! ?
Yes, he said:
"Cut off the worldly affairs of the past, leave behind three thousand worries, accumulate merits in Tianfo Village, and enjoy peace in Tianfo Temple."

This is the exchange between the four of them...

Immediately following this moment, Cuihua spoke again:
"Tomorrow I will work as hard as I did today to carve the Buddha statue and enter Tianfo Temple as soon as possible."

Zhang Damao continued, "There is a real Buddha in Tianfo Temple..."

Meng Hui felt as if every hair on his body stood up.

They...they keep repeating the same thing!
Including yourself, are you also repeating the same words?
Unprecedented fear gripped his heart tightly in an instant.

But at the same time, his reason told him... he must act like them and never let anyone see that he noticed something was wrong!

So, when it was his turn, he still said the same words as before.

The conversation moves on to the next round.

Although the rounds are different, the content is exactly the same.

It wasn't just them. Meng Hui saw that every group around them was having the same conversation.

It seems as if all of this must be implanted deep in memory and never forgotten.

Things that Meng Hui had never cared about began to emerge one by one.

He found that the expressions on the faces of those kind villagers were all the same.

There were no emotional ups and downs, and even Cuihua's face no longer had any so-called compassion.

Everyone's expression was dull, as if nothing they did came from their heart.

He also discovered that this was clearly a village... There were families in this village, but in his memory, he had never seen the next generation.

There are no children in the village.

There are no old people either!

It is reasonable that the husband and wife never showed any sense of intimacy. Although they are not monks, they seem to regard themselves as such.

Quit drinking, eating meat, and having sex…

But if that's the case, why start a family?

Things that I never thought about on a normal day, at this moment, inexplicably appeared in my mind one by one.

He felt like he was trapped in a huge whirlpool, but he didn't know how to escape from it.

In particular, there was a voice in his heart that kept telling him.

He must not let anyone find out that he had noticed something was wrong, otherwise, the end that awaits him would be extremely miserable.

Meng Hui didn't know what kind of torment he was in when he returned to his home.

After saying goodbye to the expressionless Cuihua, Zhang Damao and Zhang Ermao, he couldn't wait to return to his yard, opened the door, stepped in quickly, and then closed the door tightly.

This door seemed to be his only life-saving straw. Only at this moment did he dare to breathe deeply.

Cold sweat oozed out from his forehead.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, reached into his arms, and a sign escaped from his arms.

It is decorated with cloud patterns and has the word "xu" written in the middle.

"Oh, you brought it back?"

A voice suddenly came from my ear. It was a woman's voice, as sweet as the sound of an oriole chirping in a valley.

Meng Hui raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice, but all he could see was nothing:
"Who?"

He was so shocked that he almost fell to the ground.

"Still can't see it?"

There was a hint of disappointment in the woman's voice.

Meng Hui was in a trance for a moment, and suddenly he slapped himself hard on the face:

"No, no, everything is wrong... Karma, it must be karma!

"These things that are wrong may not be them, but me... The one who is wrong must be me!"

He curled up, as if this could give him a little sense of security.

The woman's voice did not come.

The night gradually deepened and everything around fell into silence.

Meng Hui slowly raised his head and looked at everything around him tentatively, as if observing whether there was anything unusual.
"What are you looking for?"

The woman's voice came again.

Meng Hui was so frightened that he stood up suddenly and subconsciously threw the thing in his hand towards the source of the sound.

With a puff, the thing in his hand broke the window and fell outside.

There was a hint of surprise in the woman's voice:
"You actually threw it away?"

"Throw away...what?"

Meng Hui's heart tightened:
"Oh no, it's that sign!!"

He turned around quickly and wanted to open the door to look for it.

But at this moment, the woman's voice came again:
"somebody is coming."

Meng Hui paused. He couldn't see the owner of the voice, and he didn't know who this person was... But she said, someone is coming?
Did you see the token you threw out?

Or did someone discover that he was entangled in karma, so he invited the monks from Tianfo Temple?

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the door. Meng Hui didn't want to open it, but he had to.

He tried his best to keep his expression calm and slowly opened the door.

When I looked up, I was stunned.

There were actually four people standing outside.

There were two men and two women. Both women were very beautiful. One was tall and held a sword.

A petite figure with an expressionless face.

Next to him, there was a burly man holding a knife and had a very hideous scar on his eye.

The last person standing in the front was a handsome young man. He was carrying a large black wooden box on his back. The thing in his hand almost scared Meng Hui to death.

It was the sign with the word "Xu" engraved on it!
“Is this yours?”

The young man raised his head slowly, and there was an indescribable calmness in his voice, which made people feel inexplicably peaceful when they heard it.

(End of this chapter)