Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Demon-Suppressing Ground

At the old monk’s glance, Guan Wen looked down into the depths.

The crystal platform had once been gray, but when Guan Wen fixed his gaze on one point, the world beneath it slowly brightened. He saw that the crystal core was unfathomably deep, its edges lost to sight, without end. In that boundless void drifted a tuft of black cloud.

It was not truly still; yet the moment Guan Wen noticed it, it suddenly rose and sped straight toward the underside of the platform.

Now he could see clearly: it was a bewitching woman wrapped in black garments, smiling up at him with a sweet, enchanting charm. Her hair was exceedingly long, black as thick ink, and it coiled and danced in the air together with the hems of her dress.

Take me out. Take me away from here. Take me with you, please, will you? Take me away...

Her large eyes flickered as if they could speak. Though her lips never moved, Guan Wen heard a plea soft enough to seep into the bones. Good man, take me away. I only want to live well. I will serve you like an ox or a horse, forever and ever. I will obey only your commands and be only your woman... Take me away. I am yours, and yours alone...

Who are you? Guan Wen thought in confusion, unable to help asking with his eyes. He had never seen a woman so seductive, and found himself involuntarily enthralled.

I do not know. The moment I awoke from the nightmare, I was imprisoned here all alone. It is cold and dark, and I cannot find a soul to speak with. Good man, I know your heart is the kindest of all. Will you take me away? Please—she strained closer to Guan Wen, lifting her face to gaze at him with humility, single-mindedness, and helpless dependence.

Guan Wen’s heart ached. His gaze clouded, and in that daze the woman suddenly took on Bao Ling’s face.

Take me away, good man. You are my hero...

Faintly, it was Bao Ling’s voice.

Save me, Guan Wen, save me...

In the blink of an eye, that voice changed again into Gu Qingcheng’s.

Guan Wen came abruptly to himself, because Bao Ling’s voice and Gu Qingcheng’s were utterly different; he would never believe the two could be imprisoned together beneath the earth, their voices issuing from one body. In truth, it was Gu Qingcheng’s image that had taken deep root in his heart, like a sword charged with sacred power against evil. The moment he thought of her, his heart steadied and repelled the sorcery’s temptation.

You are only yourself. You cannot be Qingcheng. He answered with his eyes.

Good man, I know how humble I am. I only ask to remain by your side, only ask to leave this place. My heart hurts so badly; I only ask that you hold me, and give me a little warmth...

The woman’s eyes grew ever more pitiable. Suddenly she tugged open the cord at her chest, revealing a snowy white bosom.

You are only yourself. Man and demon cannot coexist. Save that act, Guan Wen said.

He was a man, and his nature inevitably carried the weaknesses of men; that was why he had fallen under her spell and nearly strayed into ruin. Yet his heart was already occupied by Gu Qingcheng and Bao Ling, with no room left for a third woman. Thus, by a hair’s breadth, he had broken the first assault of the Rakshasa witch.

Really not going to help me? Good man, are you truly that heartless?

The woman withdrew more than thirty feet, then suddenly lunged forward, raising both arms. From her ten fingers, nails half a foot long sprang out, sharp and abrupt. She looked as though she would pierce through the barrier in an instant and tear Guan Wen to shreds.

Her lovely, alluring face changed as well, suddenly becoming a green-faced, fanged demon mask that cackled obscenely at Guan Wen.

Won’t help me, won’t help me? Once my tribulation has run its course and I break free, I will slaughter every person and every living thing without mercy. Ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha...

The demon-faced witch laughed wildly, darting left and right in the air, yet always colliding with the barrier, until at last she was bloodied and broken, hideous beyond words.

As the witch turned midair, Guan Wen suddenly noticed that a man in a dark crimson monk’s robe was clinging to her back. His body was as gaunt as a skeleton. His hands clamped her throat, his legs wound around her ribs, motionless, half dead and half alive.

Help me now, and I can spare your life, give you all the treasures in the world, let you live the richest and happiest of days. If you do not help me, then when I cut my way out, I will seize you first and torture you with every cruelty until existence itself becomes worse than death, until you would rather be reborn as an insect in your next life than ever be human again...

The witch crashed and whirled, yet she could neither break through the crystal barrier nor shake free of the monk’s restraint. Then, all at once, she plunged downward and vanished into the farthest distance.

Who is on the witch’s back?

Guan Wen suddenly felt a deep sorrow fill his heart, for he had already seen clearly: it was unmistakably Dodige Gyatso, the very same person who lay diagonally before him.

It is I. The old monk’s eyes were full of bitter, sorrowful amusement.

Slowly he sat up, straightened his robe, and folded his legs beneath him in meditation.

Xiao Huo and Gao Xiang, who had been behind Guan Wen all along, sprang up almost at the same moment and cried out, “That was close! Too close!”

“I saw the witch, evil and hideous beyond compare, rampaging madly beneath the earth. She was only a hair away from breaking through the crystal barriers and getting out. That means we do not have much time left!” Xiao Huo said with stern intensity.

“At first I saw a woman of astonishing allure, and in an instant she turned into a demon, terrifying beyond measure, terrifying beyond measure...” Gao Xiang added, still shaken.

“Demons are born from the heart. What you see are merely illusions formed when the witch’s power projects itself onto the mirror of your mind. Young man over there, your steadiness of spirit is first-rate; even the witch cannot tempt you. Good, very good.” The old monk fixed his eyes on Xiao Huo, his face showing approval.

Xiao Huo’s expression only grew more grave. “Senior, how should we banish this demon? Please enlighten us.”

The old monk smiled faintly. “I truly cannot help you... In truth, I have already—”

Guan Wen drew a deep breath and finished for him. “In truth, the ‘Mind-Linked Dragon Subduing Hand’ released by the seventy sages of the Land of Snows was forged from the lives of seventy men. The instant you struck the witch down into the earth’s veins, you all died, taking her with you. Their bodies and souls flowed away like sand, leaving only your soul to remain. Isn’t that right?”

That was the only explanation, because the real Dodige Gyatso had already been sealed beneath the crystal platform together with the witch.

The old monk nodded. “Exactly. The only thing that needs explaining is that the ‘Mind-Linked Dragon Subduing Hand’ was, from the beginning, a secret art that transmitted strength through thought. The seventy of us used the ‘Heavenly Mind Insight’ of Tibetan Buddhism to make our hearts one and our wills one; we used ‘Heavenly Eye Insight’ to prevent the witch from escaping and drive her back into the earth’s veins; we used ‘Heavenly Ear Insight’ to hear the sound of her breathing and determine where she hid. Then we struck with all our might, forming a crystal barrier that reached from heaven to earth, sealing the veins and imprisoning her. The reason my soul has not perished is that within my body reside the powers of seventy sages, allowing me to shoulder the final burden of exorcism and breathe with the witch, share life and death with her, until the last moment when my strength is exhausted.”

His existence was neither alive nor dead, worse than death itself, persisting only in a half-soul, half-illusion state.

I will slaughter the whole world... I will kill every living thing in the world... Whoever releases me shall gain eternal life...

The witch’s voice rose from beneath the crystal platform. The waters on all sides were stirred by her curses, surging into waves several yards high. The aquatic weeds, already poisoned to death by Xiao Huo, fluttered through the air like the gray tatters of the Rakshasa witch’s garments.

This scene was nothing less than a real-life version of “The Fisherman and the Demon” from The Thousand and One Nights. Having exhausted every art of seduction to no avail, the witch finally showed her true form and bared her original face.

I will draw the largest mandala array, lure the witch into it, and then ignite the explosives, reducing her to dust and fragments. That is the ultimate wisdom taught to me by the countless forebears who died to banish demons. Master, give me some time. I will construct the largest labyrinthine mandala in history, as the witch’s burial ground. When I give the signal, you release the seal on the Mind-Linked Dragon Subduing Hand and let the witch break free.

Guan Wen spoke with calm and steadiness.

In extraordinary times, there must be extraordinary people who cast out an extraordinary trump card to turn the tide and control the battle.

Guan Wen believed that person was himself.

Perhaps when he first set out west from Jinan long ago, he had never imagined becoming a great hero whose loyal heart would shine through the chronicles of history. Yet fate had brought him here, and the times had thrust him into this place. He accepted the burden without hesitation and would never shirk it.

“Is that possible?” the old monk asked.

Guan Wen nodded, not saying a word.

The old monk shook his head. “This is an extraordinarily difficult decision, one that concerns the safety of the Land of Snows. I must answer to the seventy sages of that year. Young man, I have studied the oldest texts related to King Songtsen Gampo of Tubo. What he used was precisely a method like yours: centered on Lhasa, with the four surrounding mountain ranges as its veins and the five great sacred lakes of the Land of Snows as the core nodes of the array, he constructed a mandala of more than a hundred layers inside and out, above and below, with over three hundred facets. For this, his mental strength was nearly exhausted, and he shortened his life by fifteen years. But no matter how vast the mandala, it could not contain the witch. Her body could grow with the wind, reaching up to the blue heavens and down into the abyss, tearing the mandala drawn by the Tubo king into pieces. Only because Princess Wencheng cast down a twelve-year-old Buddha statue in the likeness of Shakyamuni, and Princess Bhrikuti cast down an eight-year-old Buddha statue in the likeness of Shakyamuni, was the witch suppressed and sealed within the earth’s veins. If you insist on using a mandala to banish the demon, I fear it may not go as you hope.”

Guan Wen thought for several seconds before replying solemnly, “Senior, I will spare no effort.”

Xiao Huo cut in from the side. “Senior, from the entrance of the black hole to here, we have placed more than four thousand explosive points. If Guan Wen fails to banish the demon, we will detonate the explosives at once and turn this place into a grave of death, taking everyone down with the witch.”

Only someone who had cast life and death aside could speak such fearless, towering words. For that reason, Guan Wen’s trust in Xiao Huo deepened by another layer.

“No confidence?” the old monk asked again.

Guan Wen answered with great caution, “Indeed, there is no certainty. But the senior’s ‘Mind-Linked Dragon Subduing Hand’ seal can no longer hold for long. We have no better choice but to risk releasing our trump card.”

As though to confirm Guan Wen’s words, the witch came roaring out of the distant darkness like a high-speed missile, crashing violently into the crystal barrier. The platform, the pool, and even the outer space beyond it, like some arena for beast combat, trembled with a thunderous shock, drawing cries of alarm from the crowd. With that impact, the monk clinging to the witch’s back was shaken loose and flung away.

“Oh no!” Gao Xiang cried out.

Beneath the barrier, the monk fell into the gloom, limbs flailing, with no sign of life left in him.

“I have done all I can.” The old monk gave a desolate sigh.

Guan Wen watched helplessly as the witch swooped down, caught the monk’s body in her hands, then wheeled back to kill again. Flying through the air, she roared in fury, tearing the body into more than a dozen pieces, even stuffing one arm into her mouth and chewing at it wildly.

Throughout it all, not a single drop of blood spilled from that body, because during the centuries-long imprisonment, all the monk’s strength and spirit had been poured into his two arms, leaving the rest of him entirely drained.

Everyone, prepare yourselves. We must begin at once.

Guan Wen stepped back and drew from his sleeve a fine brush of the highest-grade fox hair.

I am sorry, everyone. I have done my utmost. This is my final end. I must depart now, together with the souls of the seventy sages... into the eternal world of emptiness... leaving no trace, so that only you can prove that I... was ever here, that I was once one of the demon-subduers... that I once knew glory... that I once fought the Rakshasa witch to the death for the people of the Land of Snows...

With a sharp crack, the old monk’s body burst apart into hundreds of fragments. Like the finest white phosphorus, the fragments ignited the moment they touched the ground, becoming hundreds of wisps of pale smoke. That smoke was the final form of the old monk and the seventy sages’ souls. When the mist dispersed, Dodige Gyatso, the demon-subduer, vanished forever.