The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 2: Chapter 17

Baying led Zhu Que and Fuying down, and his people followed behind.

The treasure site below was very spacious. Although many people have come down, it doesn’t feel crowded. The first to descend, Suo Du, stood at the innermost part. In front of him was a gigantic Buddha statue, and besides that, was nothing else.

Baying was very disappointed, looking around; although the room was large, one could see the end at a glance.

Since there were no treasure chests as imagined, just as he was about to get angry, he heard Suo Du say, “Leader, take a look. This Buddha was made of gold, and the Buddha’s eyes and jewelry were inlaid with gemstones.”

Baying hurried over to take a look upon hearing this and indeed found that this Buddha statue, larger than life, was made of gold. It was a statue of Guanyin, taller than an adult. If it were made entirely of gold, it would be a tremendous fortune.

Zhu Que suddenly felt that something was amiss. As the king of the Jingjue Kingdom, if he revered Buddhism, Guanyin should be placed in the temple above. Even if it were a golden statue, with his power, no one would dare to steal it. Why, then, was it secretly placed underground?

During the Han and Tang dynasties, Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains and inevitably passed through Jingjue Kingdom. The Tang dynasty monk Chen Xuanzang also traveled from the Central Plains to the Western Regions to seek the true scriptures, and the Jingjue Kingdom was a necessary stop on this journey. The Buddhist culture here should have been quite prosperous, perhaps even more so than in the Central Plains. Alternatively, it was possible that the teachings of Buddhism once benefited this place, but due to its small size and population, it did not receive much influence. Or perhaps the Jingjue Kingdom did not fundamentally adhere to Buddhism at all?

Zhu Que recalled the murals of the Jingjue Kingdom seen in the cave and suddenly remembered one particular motif: a figure resembling a Buddha but not quite one, with the front resembling Guanyin and the back resembling a devil, a two-faced Buddha. One side was about saving all beings, while the other side brought disaster to the world. The Jingjue Kingdom was both helped and harmed by this Buddha.

Thinking of this, Zhu Que said, “Take a look at the back of this Buddha; doesn’t it resemble a devil?”

Baying found his statement somewhat strange and said, “What you’re talking about is the Two-Faced Buddha. The people of Jingjue Kingdom greatly despise this Buddha. They often say that the Two-Faced Buddha is a smiling tiger, more terrifying than a devil, because it hides evil behind its good facade, causing harm far greater than encountering evil directly. Therefore, no one would worship the Two-Faced Buddha. How could the king use gold to create this Buddha?”

That said, Baying still ordered someone to turn the Buddha statue around to see what was behind it.

Due to the fact that the Buddha statue was cast in gold, it was exceptionally heavy, and only a few people together could slowly turn the Buddha. As the Buddha rotated, a faint rumbling sound could be heard coming from deep within the ground.

Hearing this sound, Zhu Que quietly took Fuying’s hand and slowly retreated backward while everyone was focused on the golden Buddha so no one noticed their actions.

When the Buddha statue turned around, everyone was surprised to find that the back of the statue indeed had the shape of a devil. Taking advantage of their astonishment, Zhu Que quickly jumped up the stone steps with Fuying and ran upwards.

At that moment, the entire underground treasure chamber began to shake.

As Baying turned to look at the commotion caused by Zhu Que and Fuying’s escape, the entire treasure chamber suddenly collapsed.

At this moment, Zhu Que pushed his lightness skill to the limit and finally escaped through the doorway. He then reached out to pull Fuying out, and the instant Fuying emerged, the entire treasure chamber was buried under a collapse, with faint cries of despair wails echoing from within, but in an instant, everything returned to silence.

Just as the two were about to take a break, the entire palace sleeping quarters also began to collapse. Zhu Que and Fuying had no time to rest and quickly used their lightness skills to run outside. The stone pillars supporting the palace were already tilting dangerously, and the stone slabs on the roof started to fall. They dared not pause for even a moment and ran all the way outside the palace before they could finally catch their breath.

The two turned around, and the entire palace had become a ruin.

The collapsed sand and dust made the camels outside the palace crouch down. Zhu Que and Fuying also wrapped their heads and faces in their clothes, waiting for a cup of tea time before the sand and dust gradually subsided.

Baying and his group of bandit gang that wreaked havoc in the desert with a burst of wind had been buried beneath, and it seemed they would never emerge to harm others again. 

The two of them led dozens of camels tied together, walking eastward.

Fuying asked Zhu Que, “How did you know it would collapse there?”

Zhu Que said, “This is something I’ve deduced bit by bit. When the black jade box was opened, toxic smoke came out, which made me suspect that the person who left this jade box and the map definitely had ill intentions. Then, thinking about the meaning of the Two-Faced Buddha statue in that cave, it was precisely when you were filled with hope that despair appeared. Therefore, the existence of that underground treasure room was also not meant to allow people to take out gold with good intentions. When they were turning the Buddha statue, didn’t you hear the rumbling sound coming from beneath the ground? I had a vague feeling that it was a deadly mechanism, but I didn’t expect it to make such a loud noise.”

Fuying praised, “Even so, your deduction is too profound, too incredible.”

Zhu Que nodded and said, “Hmm, you’re right. If it weren’t for the parchment in the jade box stating that the Buddha statue palace would collapse if turned, I really wouldn’t have thought of it.”

Fuying listened to these words, pointed at Zhu Que, and was left speechless with a strange expression. Unable to say anything for a while, then he suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.

Zhu Que also smiled gently.

The two retraced their steps along the route they had come.