QT- I’m Almost Died
Chapter 275. Tree Of Reincarnation
Meng Zhong had no idea about cause and effect, so he didn’t take it seriously. But Abbot Changjing was a good person, he protected Meng Zhong and several younger disciples and took them away without explanation.
They ran aimlessly through the black fog, thinking they would have to fight their way out with all their might, but then they discovered that many lights suddenly appeared ahead, and there was the buzzing of helicopters circling in the air.
“It’s the army!” A special forces soldier exclaimed in surprise after taking a look through binoculars.
Everyone held their breath and ran forward with even more determination.
Holding the dying Lin Nianci in his arms, Xuan Chengzi moved faster than anyone else, leaping out of the thick fog and reaching a grassy ground that exuded a fresh, slightly bitter fragrance. Rows of military vehicles were parked at the edge of the grassland, with lampposts standing there, trying their best to illuminate the thick fog, but nothing could be seen.
“Chief Yan, someone’s coming out!” Someone shouted.
Chief Yan immediately ran out of the mobile control center, his face showing anxiety.
“How is it? Is that demon tree taken care of?” He asked hopefully.
Xuan Chengzi ignored him completely and ran straight to the medical tent marked with a red cross, shouting sternly, “What are you standing there for? Save her!”
No matter how skillful the Taoist methods are, they can only barely keep Lin Nianci alive. To restore her mangled body to its original state, modern medical technology is still needed.
Medical staff rushed over, initially intending to put an oxygen mask on Lin Nianci, but were horrified to find her face mangled beyond recognition, her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth completely indistinguishable, just a bloody mess of flesh. They had no choice but to cut open her trachea and insert a breathing tube.
Xuan Chengzi stood aside watching, his handsome face shrouded in a layer of cruel killing intent.
“And the one who threw the explosive——where is he?” He looked at the disciples standing behind him.
“Still inside.” The group lowered their heads, barely daring to breathe.
Xuan Chengzi’s face tightened, as if he was about to explode, but he slowly closed his eyes and suppressed his anger. Even a expert like him dared not set foot in that place again.
Chief Yan was furious with these people from the Taoist sects. What kind of attitude was this? They promised to help deal with the demon tree, but they all ran away one by one, and when he asked a question, no one answered for ages.
Success is success, failure is failure. Why don’t you just say something? So arrogant! Do you really think you’ve become immortal just because you’ve studied Taoist arts for a few years? Chief Yan’s face had turned completely black. He was about to grab someone and interrogate them forcefully when he saw Meng Zhong supporting a lame special forces soldier as he staggered out of the thick fog, followed by the Abbot of Longyin Temple.
Chief Yan was secretly pleased and immediately went to greet them, but his expression turned even more unpleasant as he scanned the crowd. He couldn’t find Teacher Fan or Dr. Song.
“And they?” He only asked two simple words, but Meng Zhong already understood what he meant, and his eyes immediately reddened.
“They’re all inside. Teacher Fan was swallowed by that demon tree, and Song Rui is still trapped in Teacher
Fan’s space, unable to escape. I didn’t lead the team well, I’m useless!” Meng Zhong pounded his head in regret, a grown man of eight feet tall, yet he cried like a child.
Chief Yan swayed and almost fainted. After finally regaining his composure, he turned around and began to give orders, “Team One, Team Two, Team Three, assemble immediately and go in to rescue people!”
Now is not the time for accountability, nothing is more important than the lives of Teacher Fan and Dr. Song. Chief Yan, who hadn’t been on the front lines for a long time, even donned his gear, ready to go in personally. Meng Zhong immediately wiped away his tears and followed the group.
While they were busy, the people of the Taoist sects simply stood at a distance and did not approach.
Xuan Chengzi, after confirming that Lin Nianci was not in mortal danger, stepped out of the medical tent and coldly stopped them, “No one is allowed to enter this misty forest again!”
Abbot Changjing, leading a group of senior monks, sat cross-legged in the middle of that secluded path and sighed, “Don’t go anymore, it’s too late.”
Chief Yan didn’t take their words seriously at all. If the metaphysical methods couldn’t solve it, then he would try the military’s methods. More than a dozen armored vehicles and tanks drove in at once, crushing and bombarding the demon tree to see how it could survive.
However, a dozen minutes later, the dozen or so vehicles inexplicably drove back, and their navigation and weapon systems all malfunctioned due to the interference of this huge energy field.
Chief Yan jumped out of the vehicle, his pale face contorted with fear. Meng Zhong took out a compass that was spinning wildly, looked at it, and then threw it into the thick fog in despair.
“Chief, what do we do now?” A lieutenant general asked, his face filled with panic.
Chief Yan waved his hand helplessly, then looked at Abbot Changjing, who was sitting on the ground chanting sutras, and asked in a trembling voice, “What kind of monster is it? Do you really have no way to deal with it?”
“It is a Bodhi tree that has gained sentience.” Abbot Changjing sighed, “The Bodhi is also known as the Tree of Enlightenment, a name that signifies complete and total enlightenment. Such a tree, after becoming a spirit, naturally has its extraordinary qualities. When I went there, I discovered that the fruit it bore was actually cause and effect.”
“What is cause and effect?” Chief Yan pressed.
“It is the law of Cause and Effect that governs all things in existence——and Karma, more often than not, is bound inextricably to ‘Samsara,’ the cycle of rebirth. A tree that can bear the fruits of cause and effect can naturally control the power of reincarnation. It is not a demon at all, but a tree of reincarnation. Reincarnation is originally the domain of the underworld, but it has taken over the underworld’s responsibilities and lives in the human world. You can imagine what that scene is like. It is hell appearing in the human world, and reincarnation is being played out in it. Hell and the human world will never be separated again from now on.”
Abbot Changjing then remembered Jian Ya, whose face was full of bad karma, and suddenly understood everything.
Chief Yan felt a chill run through his body. ‘Hell among the living.’ Just the sound of that phrase is enough to make a person’s flesh crawl with terror.
“No matter how powerful it is, it’s still just a tree, isn’t it?” Meng Zhong said through gritted teeth.
“The moment its fruits fell upon us just now, we were already tainted by Karma. We have taken its fruit, and now…… we must pay the price.” Abbot Changjing’s face turned ashen at a visible speed.
Not only him, but also the senior monks sitting with him, and even the exceptionally powerful Xuan Chengzi, all showed signs of fatigue.
Meng Zhong was also covered in those fruits, and now he felt a strong sensation. He exclaimed in horror, “My strength is rapidly depleting! What’s going on?” In the blink of an eye, he could no longer even stand.
The special forces soldiers who had gone in with him earlier also collapsed one by one. They were ordinary people, and their symptoms appeared much faster.
“You have been entangled in the karma of the Tree of Reincarnation, so you must repay it.” Abbot Changjing began to strike the wooden fish one strike at a time.
“So my strength was drained away by that tree?” Meng Zhong knelt on the ground, his cheeks quickly hollowing out.
“What you are repaying is not physical strength, but life force. Every soul that has consumed its fruit must repay the debt with their life——this is an immutable law of the heavens. Even if the Law of Heaven has a spirit, it will not judge it as guilty, because this is cause and effect, and the cycle of reincarnation never ends. It is justifiably depriving all the beings in the world of their lives in order to achieve its own divinity.”
“Damn it, another attempt to become a god! Why would even a tree want to become a god?” Meng Zhong now felt the same way as Fan Jialuo, hating all people and monsters who tried to become gods.
Chief Yan, however, realized the seriousness of the problem and asked urgently, “It seems that none of you can handle it?”
Abbot Changjing shook his head regretfully, “We are covered in its karma, and now it is constantly draining our life force. We can barely protect ourselves, so how can we possibly deal with it? Anyone who gets close to it will be tainted by its consequences and then pay with their life.”
Chief Yan was so frightened that he took two steps back.
Abbot Changjing added, “A Bodhi tree that governs reincarnation and is full of cause and effect is something no one can deal with. Even missiles cannot do anything about it.”
Chief Yan turned and left, actually asking his superiors for permission to send over a vehicle to launch the missile. However, he returned half an hour later, dejected and filled with despair, “The missile’s navigation system has malfunctioned, and it can’t be launched at all. This forest can’t even be found by a positioning satellite, it’s like a black hole existing in another dimension.”
Abbot Changjing closed his eyes and continued chanting the scriptures.
Xuan Chengzi stood not far away, staring intently at the thick fog. There was no longer a trace of the absolute arrogance he had held when he first arrived. Fine lines had appeared at the corners of his eyes, and his once-slender frame had thinned. The loss of vitality had inevitably led him into a state of old age.
Those members of the Taoist sects whose strength was inferior to his had already fled. However, even if they ran to the ends of the earth, the karmic ties would last for lifetimes, so how could they possibly shake them off?
“Is there really no way out?” Chief Yan pressed on, unwilling to give up. He had never truly believed that the cautionary tale of a living Hell would one day solidify into a waking nightmare. Has the world completely fallen apart?
Abbot Changjing slowly chanted the sutras and remained silent for a long time.
Chief Yan’s face continued to turn ashen, and his heart began to throb with pain. As he swallowed pills, he thought with dread—— Is my current illness caused by some kind of trauma, or is it because I once ate the fruit of that Bodhi tree? Am I now repaying a karmic debt? How many people in Beijing, and indeed the entire country, have borne that karmic debt?
While he was lost in thought, Abbot Changjing finally spoke up, “Perhaps there is someone in the world who can deal with it.”
“Who is it?” Chief Yan’s voice grew weaker and weaker. In fact, not only him, but everyone in the camp was already in a weakened state, which showed how effective the demon tree’s long-term scheme had been.
“Those who are not subject to the Five Elements, not involved in cause and effect, and not subject to reincarnation can deal with it.”
“Beyond the Five Elements, untouched by cause and effect, and unbound by reincarnation? Do such people exist in the world?”
“No, so we can only wait for our predetermined fate.” Abbot Changjing opened his eyes and advised, “Benefactor Yan, don’t be busy. Sit down and chant some scriptures. It’s good to have a moment of peace before you die.”
Chief Yan nearly collapsed, and said angrily, “After all that talk, it turns out to be nothing but absolute bullshit.”
“If you don’t chant scriptures, what can you do?” Abbot Changjing asked rhetorically.
Chief Yan froze, then slowly knelt beside the panting Meng Zhong, covering his sweat-drenched face with his cold hands, letting out a desperate wail. Modern technology and metaphysical methods couldn’t deal with that tree, what could he possibly do?
Meng Zhong ripped off the oxygen mask the medical staff had brought him and asked, “Abbot, what will happen to Teacher Fan, who was swallowed by that tree?”
Abbot Changjing’s lips twitched slightly, but he couldn’t bear to speak any further.
Standing not far away, Xuan Chengzi said in an extremely cold tone, “He will be pulled into the cycle of reincarnation, gradually losing himself. He may be trapped in a scene that terrifies him the most, repeating the most painful moment; or he may suffer life after life of torment, retaining all the tragic memories. In short, that tree will make him endure all the torment in the cycle of reincarnation, so that his soul will loosen and be quickly digested.”
In other words, during the time they were talking, Fan Jialuo may have experienced several reincarnations in that tree, and each reincarnation ended tragically, yet he remembered every single one of the most miserable experiences clearly.
He would endure all the suffering and sins of the world, and then, in endless despair, offer his soul to nourish the tree, seeking complete liberation. Such methods are countless times more ruthless than those of the most vicious humankind!
Meng Zhong was trembling with rage, muttering, “What sacred tree? It’s clearly a monster!”
Chief Yan took several more pills, not daring to think about what Teacher Fan had gone through.
Xuan Chengzi sneered, “Everything in this world has its cause and effect, that saying is indeed true. The endless cycle of suffering is the most suitable punishment for that wicked disciple. If I had known this earlier, why would I have come all this way?” After saying this, he turned and left.
“Hold on, you can’t leave! Haven’t you people of the Taoist sects always considered it your duty to slay demons and monsters? You must find a way——”
Chief Yan began coughing violently before he could finish speaking.
“I can’t handle that tree. You should find someone else,” Xuan Chengzi said without turning his head. All he wanted now was to take Lin Nianci back down the mountain to a large hospital for treatment.
“Don’t you want your Taoist temple anymore?”
Xuan Chengzi paused, seemingly hesitant, but still walked away without looking back. The question now wasn’t whether he wanted to, but whether he could.
Seeing his irresponsible behavior, Chief Yan was not surprised at all, but sneered, “Talking big beforehand and then ditching everything to run away——that is indeed a fine tradition of your Tianshui Sect. It serves you right that your Taoist temple was torn down. I was wondering why your sect churns out so much trash, turns out the rot goes all the way to the roots. Teacher Fan’s betrayal was the smartest move he ever made. If he hadn’t left, was he really expected to wallow in the dirt with a bunch of absolute garbage like you day in and day out?”
Chief Yan spat as he spoke.
Meng Zhong chimed in, “They’re total garbage! Some ‘number one cultivator under heaven’…… the moment danger hits, he runs faster than anyone, and on the battlefield, his head is still stuffed full of women! If you don’t have the skills, stop hyping yourself up so damn high, or you’re gonna fall and break your neck! How unlucky does Teacher Fan have to be to end up with a Shifu like you? Why don’t you take a fucking look in the mirror? You’re nothing but a fraud chasing empty fame, a hypocrite! A Shifu to someone like Teacher Fan? Are you even fucking worthy?!”
Abbot Changjing put his hands together in prayer, recited a Buddhist phrase, and seemed to agree with these words.
Xuan Chengzi’s face was contorted with rage, where was the slightest trace of his otherworldly demeanor? What made him even more embarrassed was that, apart from Taoist Zhi Fei speaking up for him, the younger generation such as Chang Sheng, Chang Zhen, and Lin Nian’en all lowered their heads in humiliation, feeling deeply ashamed of their sect.
They were always told that the Tianshui Sect stood to purge evil, champion justice, and deliver all living souls from suffering. Yet, in the hour of humanity’s greatest catastrophe, their esteemed Shizu just turns on his heel and leaves without a shred of hesitation! What could possibly be occupying his mind? What is his true purpose as Sect Master? To serve as a glorified babysitter for Lin Nianci?
Xuan Chengzi turned around and faced those pairs of eyes that were evasive yet full of reproach. For some reason, he felt a slight pain in his heart, and a clear thought emerged from his chaotic thoughts, posing a soul-searching question to him—— Xuan Chengzi, what are you doing? Are you still the real you now?
However, before he could figure it out, a large group of people with ashen faces suddenly appeared around the camp, walking towards the thick fog like wandering ghosts.
Chief Yan looked closely and was immediately horrified. Many of these people were familiar faces——his colleagues and superiors. There were also some wealthy businessmen and social elites, the orchard owners were also mixed in, trailing at the back of the group. They were like lambs willingly sacrificed, blindly venturing into the dark forest.
Chief Yan immediately sent people to stop them.
Xuan Chengzi suddenly circled back at this moment and loudly ordered, “Set up a barrier around the forest to stop these people!”
Chang Sheng and the others immediately agreed, their faces replacing the shame with fearless courage. Seeing their seemingly radiant faces, Xuan Chengzi’s mind cleared further, and he silently asked himself—— How could you completely forget the rule of the Tianshui Sect and the sacred duties placed upon your shoulders? What on earth has happened to you?
The barriers imposed by the Tianshui Sect were indeed very effective, but those people still tried to break in, letting out roars that were not human.
“What exactly happened to them?” Meng Zhong asked anxiously.
“The karma they carry is the most intense, so they are the first to hear the call of the Bodhi tree. They will sacrifice their lives, souls, and bodies. This is the debt they must repay.” Abbot Changjing said, shaking his head and sighing.
Chief Yan scrutinized these familiar yet unfamiliar faces, and suddenly everything became clear. Zhang Yang had once used those blue fruits to pave the way for his career, and these people had probably secretly received bribes from him.
At the time, Dr. Song said that this group of people was a hidden danger and had to be found. However, before the government could investigate them, they had already brought about their own demise due to the karmic consequences they had accumulated. They are all in a completely soulless state now, their life force continuously draining away as they wait to enter the forest and dissolve into fertilizer.
It’s retribution! This is all retribution!
Thinking this, Chief Yan felt even more desperate. After all those tainted by karma died, wouldn’t that tree grow even larger and eventually conquer the world? From then on, all humanity would live under its canopy, at its mercy.
Today you’ve become fertilizer, tomorrow it’ll be my turn, until the ground is covered with countless bones and the sky is completely covered by vines. What a dark and hopeless world that would be! Thinking of this, Chief Yan slowly collapsed.
Abbot Changjing quickly helped the man up and called for medical personnel, but to his surprise, Xuan Chengzi took out a pill from his pouch and put it into Chief Yan’s mouth. A warm feeling seemed to flow from his dark eyes, so compassionate and kind, just like the image that Abbot Changjing remembered most.
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