Chapter 25: A World Within the Temple

Chapter 25: A World Within the Temple

The divine monk knelt and begged forgiveness.

It turned out he’d once been a disciple of Dharma Master Xingguang at Foying Temple on Taiwan Island. After violating the precepts, Master Xingguang expelled him, and he ran to the mainland to make his living by fraud. The invisible person was his twin brother.

I made him remove the invisibility device. It turned out to be a flexible AI invisibility suit he claimed to have bought for an enormous sum. The seller, he said, had also been invisible. He couldn’t describe the person’s appearance, only that they’d made contact online and completed the transaction in person.

As for the temple’s strange incidents, he swore they had nothing to do with him. They’d been happening before he arrived. He’d even witnessed objects moving through the air himself, which gave him the idea to exploit the phenomenon. He chose this place for two reasons: Tansong Temple drew crowds, and it was famous.

After driving off the fraudulent itinerant monk, I had the stewards post a notice explaining his tricks. This temple conducted itself with integrity, served the human world, and engaged in no crooked practices.

Privately, I had Senior Brother Guanghuai collect information on the incidents for my research.

After careful study, I discovered most strange occurrences happened along the mountain-facing side—around Guanyin Hall, Pilu Hall, Great Compassion Pond, and God of Wealth Hall.

First, I told Dharma Master Guanghuai not to hold Dharma services or sutra chanting in those halls for the time being. I wanted a quiet environment. Then I began spending time there myself—meditating, taking meals, studying.

After a week of observation and same-frequency sensing, I finally sensed something that shocked me.

The first three days were uneventful.

On the fourth day, in Guanyin Hall, I sensed someone entering and leaving, but saw no one. I meditated as usual and ignored it.

On the fifth day, several people moved through Pilu Hall. I still couldn’t see them, but I could sense their movement. I continued to ignore them.

On the sixth day, I sensed people communicating through thought—not language, but mental exchange of information. They even discussed me. I still ignored them. I wanted them accustomed to my presence.

On the seventh day, I clearly sensed someone standing directly before me, staring, while communicating with someone in the void. They said I seemed strange and wanted to observe me further.

I had no idea what was strange about me.

Still, the timing felt right. I suddenly fired a row of iron nails—the big kind carpenters use—at the person closest to me. I wanted the strike obvious.

“Oh, he’s trying to hit people.”

“This little guy’s kind of cute.”

“Leave him alone. Do your own work.”

“Understood.”

Bang, bang, bang—

The nails embedded themselves in the opposite wall.

I fired in different directions, wherever I sensed someone, even at places I predicted they might dodge.

Bang, bang, bang—

Every nail ended up in the wall.

I stared in utter disappointment, finding it hard to believe. These people conversing and moving through the halls weren’t invisible at all. They were formless and silent, yet communicated through thought. They existed in some kind of bodiless state.

Was that it? I couldn’t be sure.

If not, what were they?

Though I dwelt in a Buddhist temple and understood the six realms of reincarnation, I absolutely didn’t believe the realms could freely intermingle. The heavenly realm, human realm, asura realm, hell realm, hungry ghost realm, and animal realm—each carried different karma.

“He’s still at it. Tease him a little.”

“Zhang Xiao, can’t you settle down?”

I sensed their disdain. They considered me insignificant. Yet they had names—and if this involved the six realms, they wouldn’t use human names. Only the human realm used human names.

Were they human?

This might be something I still didn’t understand.

“Beep, beep, whoosh—”

“Hiss, hiss. Someone come here. Bring that—hiss—over. Hiss. Open the door.”

“Zhao Xirui, what’s happening? Beep. The Court Chief wants you to hurry and open the spacetime boundary, hiss—”

Chaotic, but I caught them saying “spacetime boundary.”

Boundary?

Could the so-called ghost walls very likely be caused by spacetime boundaries? I’d seen a brief description in the Sweeper files—something about barriers between different spacetimes. But the files recorded little, just a passing mention.

If these people could open spacetime boundaries, was the time-stillness from my joined green jade tokens also related to them?

Following that thought, many ideas came to me. I felt I might have discovered an entirely new field. There really was another world hidden in this temple.

I kept walking along the route I could sense—from Guanyin Hall to Pilu Hall, from God of Wealth Hall to Great Compassion Pond. It felt like a line, a road I couldn’t see.

My god. What exactly had I sensed?

Could this be a new hidden realm? Why had it appeared at Tansong Temple? Perhaps other places had it too, and I simply hadn’t investigated thoroughly.

As I slowly walked forward, a cold hand suddenly slapped my forehead, startling me.

Who?

I reached forward. No one.

“Little guy, hurry back. Stop following. Otherwise, you might never return,” someone said.

Was that directed at me? I looked around but saw no one else.

“Senior, are you speaking to me? Where is this place I won’t be able to return from?” I asked toward the voice.

“Tch. What senior? I’m still just a little girl. Hee, hee, hee.” The voice turned bright and clear.

A moment ago she’d been pretending depth. Now she’d become mischievous in seconds.

“Little girl, what exactly are you people? Why can’t I see you?”

“Of course you can’t. If mundane people like you could see us, what kind of elite people would we be?” Teasing laced her voice.

Elite people?

Grandma had told me I’d one day face the Sweepers, elite people, and some organizational system. Could these be them? Some kind of invisible soul people?

“Are you elite people soul people? You seem to lack bodies.”

“You lack a body! Your whole family lacks bodies!” She sounded angry.

“Then why can’t I see or touch you?”

“You want to touch me? Let’s see if you dare take liberties again!” My forehead received another smack.

It didn’t hurt.

Low damage. Extremely high insult.

Too bad I didn’t care. So what.

“I think you’re pretty interesting. Why don’t we be friends?”

“Who wants to be friends with you? You’re all low-IQ lower people. How could you possibly be worthy of our friendship?”

Oh? So they saw themselves as highly intelligent elite people with bodies who could affect us—she’d slapped me twice—while we couldn’t affect them. Unwilling to associate with lower people, with distinctions of rank.

“Xiaoli, who are you talking to? Hurry up.”

“Wait,” I called quickly.

Getting someone to respond wasn’t easy. I didn’t want her running off.

“Don’t follow us. Are you the monk here? How did you discover us?”

Suddenly an older-sounding woman’s voice reached me.

I pressed my palms together. “Greetings. This humble monk’s Dharma name is Xuanchen, abbot of this temple. I meant no disturbance to the elite people. Recently, monks were affected by a spacetime boundary and thought they’d encountered ghost walls. That’s why I came to investigate and determine the cause.”

“You know about spacetime boundaries?”

“I don’t. I only overheard someone mention it.” I admitted the truth.

“Then how did you discover us?”

I didn’t want to give information for free. “May we exchange? I’ll tell you how, and you tell me what elite people are.”

“Dream on.”

Her voice carried clear superiority. “It’s only same-frequency sensing. We have that too.”

“You do?”

I was genuinely surprised. What I’d thought was a superpower was, to elite people, merely an ordinary skill.

“Stop asking about us. We won’t disturb you either. But since you know we are elite people, you should understand our relative status. I’ll have them relocate the spacetime boundary. Still, you seem strange. Why do you have same-frequency sensing without a Wisdom Capsule? How did you manage it?”

Curiosity entered her voice. But how had she seen whether I had a Wisdom Capsule? And her words suggested they all obtained same-frequency sensing through Wisdom Capsules.

“If you want to know, exchange information. I’ll explain, and you tell me what elite people are.”

I really wanted to know. Grandma had warned me to be on guard.

“Forget it. With your ability, you’re not qualified yet. Ask again when you are.” The voice drifted away.

Damn. How rude.

She left without even saying goodbye.