Chapter 198: Buddhist Hall

What was behind the door, anyway?

A torture chamber lined with instruments of punishment?
Or deadly traps like something straight out of Saw?

As a veteran shut-in, Lin Yu’s imagination had always been top-tier.
Before stepping over the threshold, she had already played out a hundred scenarios in her head.

However, reality was the exact opposite of what she imagined.

Th-this is…?

Beyond the door was a straight corridor paved with white marble.
The jade was warm and lustrous, polished as smooth as a mirror.

The walls on both sides of the corridor were covered in vividly colored murals of flying apsaras.
On the murals were celestial maidens playing reversed pipa and dancing with long flowing sleeves.
The lines were fluid, the colors brilliant.

Pretty tasteful, huh.
Holding an art exhibition in a casino of all places?

Lin Yu muttered to herself, like a curious country bumpkin seeing the world for the first time.
She looked left and right, trying to ease the tension in her heart.

The corridor was not level, but sloped downward the whole way.
One step, then another—
the air around them gradually became damp.

White mist seeped out from somewhere unknown, curling around their ankles.
That mist carried a strange fragrance.

Th-this smell…?

Lin Yu sniffed, frowning slightly.
It smelled… kind of nice?
Like old sandalwood incense from a temple?

Luo Shaotian frowned slightly and said nothing.

He raised his hand and lightly touched the arm of his sunglasses, trying to analyze the air composition through the built-in micro-sensors.

However, on the display behind the lenses, the signal bars began jumping wildly—
before turning into a glaring red X.

Signal lost.

Tsk. No signal.

He sighed softly.

That meant that from here on out, there would be no external support—
they couldn’t even send out a basic distress signal.

The danger level skyrocketed instantly.

In a place like this, where cries to heaven go unanswered and pleas to earth unheard,
if their identities were exposed, or if they triggered some mechanism…

Luo Shaotian subtly tilted his head, his gaze falling on the girl beside him.

She was craning her neck, carefree as could be, counting the number of arhats on the ceiling.

The dark blue cheongsam outlined her graceful curves.
Her delicate face was filled with curiosity, as if she had no idea how dangerous their situation was.

Luo Shaotian’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

From a certain point of view,
if something truly uncontrollable happened later…

he—a mere mortal who only knew hand-to-hand combat and shooting (and didn’t even have a gun)—
might really end up clinging to someone else’s thigh for dear life.

As much as he hated to admit it,
the only one he could rely on now
was this good “brother” of his—
wearing a cheongsam, stepping on high heels, looking delicate enough to topple with a push.

Her combat power…
should be okay, right?

But what if—

Hey, why are you looking at me like that?

Perhaps Luo Shaotian’s gaze had been too obvious.
Lin Yu noticed immediately.

She turned her head, brows knitting slightly, her watery eyes filled with confusion.

Your look is really weird, you know.

“Nothing.”

Luo Shaotian awkwardly withdrew his gaze and shook his head, trying to hide his concern.

“I just… feel like the atmosphere here is a bit…
Be careful.”

“Tch—”

Lin Yu rolled her eyes and muttered in a low voice.

“As if you needed to say that.
All these statues staring at you already make my skin crawl…
But don’t worry. If something really jumps out—”

She secretly clenched the small fist hidden in her trench coat sleeve, the corner of her mouth lifting into a confident arc.

“I’m not helpless, okay?”

“Mm.”

Luo Shaotian nodded and said nothing more.

In truth, he wasn’t confident at all.
He was even… a little scared.

That fear of the unknown was slowly gnawing at his nerves.

He was a criminal investigator.
He had faced vicious criminals head-on, stood at bloody crime scenes.

But those were all within the world of “people,”
things that could be explained with logic and law.

And here…

This belonged to the realm of the “inhuman.”

It was the darkest festering wound beneath this city’s glamorous surface.

If he could, he truly wanted to turn around right now and leave this hellish place with Lin Yu.

But…

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, using that faint pain to force himself to stay lucid.

This was the first time he was truly fighting alongside Lin Yu as a “teammate.”

Not as a protected victim.
Not as an ignorant outsider.

But as someone who wanted to understand that world—
a participant.

“I want to see it too…”

Luo Shaotian said silently to himself.

“Ah Yu, what kind of monsters…
are you usually fighting?”

“I also want… even if it’s just a little…
to be able to help you.”

He didn’t want to be that coward who only hid behind women…
or rather, behind his brother.

“Even if it’s hell,
I want to break through it with you.”

“Let’s go.”

Luo Shaotian took a deep breath.
The determination returned to his deep black eyes.

He took the initiative and reached out, once again tightly gripping Lin Yu’s slightly cold hand.

This time, it wasn’t for acting.
And it wasn’t to avoid suspicion.

It was simply…
to confirm each other’s existence
in this suffocating darkness.

“Haizao, stay close.”

“…Okay.”

Feeling the warmth in his palm, Lin Yu froze for a moment.
Then she didn’t pull away, instead tightening her grip in return.

As they went deeper, the surrounding light grew dimmer and dimmer.

The sunglasses meant for disguise and reconnaissance now became a hindrance to vision.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Luo Shaotian calmly removed them and clipped them casually to the pocket on his chest.

No one knew how long they walked along this jade road leading toward the earth’s core.

Suddenly, the white mist ahead dispersed.

Their view opened up abruptly.

Then, without any warning,
an extremely shocking scene slammed straight into their retinas.

Both of their breaths stopped instantly.

“Th-this is…”

Lin Yu’s eyes widened.

What appeared before them was a solemn Buddhist hall.
Before them stood—
a magnificent, awe-inspiring Buddhist sanctuary.

Above the main entrance of the hall hung a plaque.

“Mahavira Hall?”

Yes.
In the depths of this underground demon cave filled with desire, deception, and death,
there stood a place enshrining countless gods and Buddhas.

On the left were the Eighteen Arhats.
Some bore the visage of Vajra wrath, others the majesty of compassionate kings.
Their eyes, flickering in candlelight, seemed to stare at every sinner who trespassed here,
ready at any moment to unleash thunderous punishment
and cast them into Avici Hell.

On the right were the benevolent heavenly bodhisattvas.
Guanyin held a pure vase, Manjushri rode a green lion.
They wore jeweled necklaces and ornate sashes—
luxurious to the extreme.

Yet the posture of “bodhisattvas lowering their gaze”
brought not the slightest hint of mercy or peace.
Instead, it radiated a chilling indifference and detachment.

Thousands of ghee lamps burned quietly along the walls on both sides.
The flickering flames stretched the shadows of the massive statues long and distorted.

Lin Yu shuddered and shifted her gaze forward.

At the very center of the hall stood a towering seven-treasure lotus altar.

Upon it sat a Shakyamuni statue cast entirely of pure gold.
The Buddha was tall and full-bodied, dignified and majestic.
One hand formed the “fearlessness mudra,” the other the “wish-granting mudra,”
as if promising some form of liberation to all beings.

However—
in this underground chamber reeking of money and blood,
built upon a foundation of countless gamblers’ lives,

He slightly narrowed those long phoenix eyes,
the corner of His lips carrying a faint smile that seemed both mocking and compassionate.

That merciful gaze pierced through the drifting incense,
quietly watching these two “believers” who had come for money.

In that instant, Lin Yu felt a bone-deep chill spread through her entire body.

At the moment their eyes met,
the golden Buddha seemed to come alive, whispering in a soul-piercing voice beside her ear:

【All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows.】

“H-hey… what the hell?”

Lin Yu abruptly stopped, eyes wide open.

“Just now… did that statue speak?
I swear I heard it say something about… dreams and bubbles?”

She dug hard at her ears, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

“Could it be I’ve been staying up too late lately and started hallucinating?
B-Boss, did you hear it too?”

Luo Shaotian didn’t answer.
But the instant contraction of his pupils said everything.

He heard it too.

“Speak? What speaking statue?”

Xiao Zhu, who had been walking ahead, turned around.

Under the dim, flickering candlelight,
the sweet smile on her face looked strangely eerie—
like a painted mask stuck onto her skin.

“Oh my, are you two too nervous?
This is a Buddhist hall. How could statues talk?
It’s probably the underground air pressure causing tinnitus and auditory hallucinations.”

She walked lightly to the altar, picked up two white porcelain cups,
and filled them with steaming reddish-brown liquid from a large bronze urn engraved with scriptures.

“Come. Before the final gamble begins,
why not have a cup of red date water to warm yourselves
and calm your nerves?”

Xiao Zhu carried the tray over.
The rich, sweet fragrance of red dates instantly filled the air.

“Please.”

Looking at the two steaming cups, Luo Shaotian and Lin Yu exchanged a glance instinctively.

The meaning in their eyes was obvious—

Can this be drunk?

In a place full of unknowns and strange taboos,
accepting something handed over by a stranger—are you stupid?

Food given by others is no different from suicide.
Who knows if beneath that sweet red date water
there might be hallucinogens,
or even drugs that turn people into puppets?

“Hehe.”

As if seeing through their wariness, Xiao Zhu chuckled softly.

She wasn’t angry.
Instead, as if to prove her innocence, she casually picked up one cup and drank it all in one go.

“Gulp.”

Her throat bobbed as the red liquid went straight down.

She licked the moisture from the corner of her lips and smiled, showing the empty cup.

“See? There’s really nothing in it.
Relax—it’s just ordinary red date ginger tea, good for nourishing blood and qi.
I drink it all the time.”

“Then swear it.”

Lin Yu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

“Swear?”

Xiao Zhu froze, clearly not expecting this seemingly delicate girl to pull such a move.

“Yes. Swear it.”

Lin Yu pressed on relentlessly, pointing at the fierce-looking arhats in the hall, her tone sharp and fiery.

“Swear in front of all these gods and Buddhas!
Say it’s just ordinary water!
If there’s anything dirty in it—
then you’ll never have children, and your whole family will die horribly!
Dare you?!”

“……”

Xiao Zhu’s perfect smile froze instantly.

The corners of her mouth twitched a few times, clearly rendered speechless by such a vicious curse.

She looks so pure—
how is her mouth this poisonous?

“Miss Lin really loves joking…”

Xiao Zhu let out an awkward laugh.

But under Lin Yu’s aggressive stare, she could only sigh helplessly, raise three fingers, and say perfunctorily:

“Fine, fine. I swear.
If there’s a problem with the water, then I’ll…
never have children. Okay?”

After saying that, she rolled her eyes dramatically and slammed the remaining cup down in front of Lin Yu.

“Now you can drink it, right?”

“Hmph. That’s more like it.”

Seeing that the other party had truly sworn such a vicious oath, Lin Yu finally picked up the cup.

She leaned in like a wary little cat and sniffed it first.
After confirming there was no strange odor, she cautiously took a small sip.

Then another big gulp.

“Gulp gulp…”

The warm red date water slid down her throat.
The warmth rising from her stomach did, in fact, ease her tightly wound nerves a little.

“Mmm… pretty sweet.
The dates inside are really tasty too.”

Lin Yu smacked her lips and gave an honest review.

Seeing this, Luo Shaotian accepted another freshly poured cup from Xiao Zhu and drank it down.

Sweet. Warm.
There really was nothing unusual about it.

The dates were delicious as well.

Could it be… that he’d really been overthinking it?

“All right. The water’s drunk, and the oath’s sworn.”

Watching them finish, Xiao Zhu clapped her hands.
Her smile became bright again, even tinged with anticipation.

“Then… let’s not waste time.
Let’s get straight to the main event.”

She turned around to face the towering lotus altar.

“This is the deepest part of Elysium, and the place closest to the gods.”

“Here, we don’t play vulgar games like poker or roulette.”

“Because those only gamble on luck.”

“And here…”

“We gamble with life.”

Xiao Zhu pointed at the divination stick cylinder before the altar, her voice turning low and solemn.

“The rules are simple.”

“—Draw a lot.”

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