Chapter 14: Summon the Buddha Mother!
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Seeing Cao Yu’s refusal, An Li reminded him, “No need to hide it, we’re the same.”
“?”
Cao Yu looked puzzled. “Are you misunderstanding something? I’m not interested in dissecting corpses.”
“Oh, then maybe next time.”
An Li did not insist.
Friends who often dealt with dismembered bodies knew that anyone in the illegal medical field who could coldly and efficiently tear a human body into pieces without any psychological burden was either accustomed to it or mentally disturbed.
An Li guessed Cao Yu was the latter.
His rejection was probably due to shyness or because good friends were present, and he didn’t want to reveal such an obscure hobby… No matter, when the opportunity arose for them to be alone, they could do all sorts of things together.
“What does she mean by that?” Chen Ran nudged Cao Yu.
Cao Yu shook his head. “I don’t know.”
He recalled a rumor—that to awaken superpowers, one needed certain adaptive traits, possibly linked to spiritual talent and mental state.
Though unaware of An Li’s exact superpower, one effect was the creation of corpse puppets… Could this guy be a pervert?
As Cao Yu silently cursed, An Li had already finished forging three corpse puppets.
Without the “Eternal Wound Curse” hindrance, the broken body parts smoothly reassembled into humanoid forms and stood upright, emanating a chilling aura that reminded Cao Yu of the folk tales of corpse herders in Xiangxi.
The three corpse puppets each assumed bizarre postures—one tall and wide, one short and slender, and the last with long, noodle-like arms.
An Li drank a spirit-restoring potion and explained, “The wide and flat puppet moves slowly but gathers all the blood from the three bodies. Its ‘Blood Shield’ is specialized for defense, stronger than the one Du Ruo used before.
The dwarf puppet is the fastest, suited for frontal harassment attacks but has low defense.
The long-armed puppet can trap enemies with its arms but is fragile in other areas.”
“...” Chen Ran swallowed hard. “Your superpower… it’s so sinister! You can even retain the abilities they had in life?”
“Not just that… changing the body’s shape, sacrificing other attributes to specialize in one?” Cao Yu squinted. “This power isn’t simple.”
Sinister indeed.
Powerful indeed.
This superpower’s ranking must be quite high.
“Preparations are done,” An Li said, “We should prepare the battleground.”
“I’ve already chosen the location,” Cao Yu replied. “Let’s go.”
...
7:00 PM.
Inside a large gym on the first floor of the mall, An Li controlled the three corpse puppets lying on the floor, disguised as corpses.
This was the battleground the three had chosen.
If the “Tiyou Yuan” could fly, fighting indoors would let them use the ceiling to block its aerial advantage.
If they couldn’t win… just across from the gym was a cat café, whose owner had fled, leaving over twenty cats behind.
Cao Yu said to Annie, “The sun is about to set. Let’s begin.”
Annie nodded, sitting on a yoga mat, murmuring softly, “Ho Po Sa, Li Jia Duo Ji, Na Jia Jia…”
After reciting the Rebirth Mantra backward, she picked up a fruit knife she had gotten for free at the supermarket and stabbed her carotid artery.
She chose bleeding to death.
She had already stuck the image sticker of the Buddhist Mother on her back.
She had mentally prepared herself.
So she stabbed decisively and without hesitation.
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Soon, blood sprayed from the wound, splattering over a meter away and covering the floor.
Watching this, Chen Ran held her breath.
An Li felt intense pain at her neck, blood flowing profusely, growing dizzy with blurred vision and difficulty breathing.
Seconds passed.
She felt herself dying, slipping into hemorrhagic shock, pale face, cold limbs... With a thud, she collapsed onto the yoga mat, her hoodie soaked through with blood.
“Does this really work?” Chen Ran worried aloud.
Just as she spoke, An Li suddenly pushed herself up with both hands and sat up again.
Her eyes were clear and cold, calm as she said, “It worked.”
Her wound had stopped bleeding, her complexion returned to normal, and her aura deepened, exuding immense pressure.
Seeing this, Cao Yu immediately began reciting the Rebirth Mantra backward and then cut his own carotid artery.
...
Fifteen minutes later, all three had completed the Buddhist Mother ritual.
With the strength of a bear, the speed of a leopard, the eyes of an eagle… Cao Yu felt his physical abilities leap forward, comparable to a “Corpse Ghost” after absorbing massive blood.
His spiritual power was so strong it felt tangible, like limbs he could sense and instinctively control.
As if he had awakened telekinesis.
Cao Yu knew it was an illusion because when he tried to sweep his spiritual power outward, not even dust stirred.
He was not disappointed.
With immense spiritual support, from this moment on, his superpower could be used freely… and more than that.
Cao Yu grabbed a nearby 20-kilogram metal barbell, held one end, and swung it with ease, like wielding a wooden stick.
He invoked the “Immortal-Slaying Curse,” imbuing it onto the bar and swung at a dumbbell on his left, cleaving it in two—invincible and unerring.
With the ability to project spiritual power outward, his superpower extended to weapons he held.
His attack range was undoubtedly extended.
“So powerful! Cao Yu, so powerful! My strength has grown so much!”
Chen Ran’s voice brought Cao Yu back to reality.
He turned to see Chen Ran punching the air, producing a massive explosion sound and a visible shockwave that shattered a window seven or eight meters away.
Such a punch, if landed on a person, wouldn’t just tear through them; it would pulverize them into a blood mist.
“That strong?” Cao Yu asked in surprise. “Spirit? Has it increased?”
“Yes, spirit increased too,” Chen Ran replied. “The auditory hallucinations in my ears have vanished.”
The stronger the spirit, the better the resistance to mental interference.
The disappearance of hallucinations was normal; Cao Yu experienced the same.
Most likely, they wouldn’t be affected by illusions again.
Chen Ran continued, “But the spiritual increase isn’t as large as the physical increase.”
“It’s the opposite for me,” An Li looked at Cao Yu. “What about you?”
“Same as you,” Cao Yu said. “Those with superpowers get mostly spiritual increases; those without get mostly physical.”
“So considerate?” Chen Ran was a bit surprised.
“Since it’s a way to clear the stage, there must be balance,” Cao Yu guessed. “There’s no point in giving huge spirit boosts to players without powers.”
“We didn’t really die or become ghosts,” An Li said. “We completed the boost in a near-death state, skipping the revival step.”
They all understood this was likely a special privilege for players.
This trial wasn’t about actual death.
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One only needed to find the real way to clear the stage and muster the courage to act to gain everything.
“Have you sensed the locations of other ghosts?” Cao Yu asked.
“Yes,” Chen Ran replied. “It’s like having a full-map hack.”
“A ghost is rapidly approaching us!” An Li became alert.
The sun had completely set; outside the gym, darkness fell and light dimmed.
The time was now 7:25 PM.
They all realized: the “Tiyou Yuan” had come for their lives!
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, they looked west down the street and saw a massive black shadow spanning the concrete road, rapidly closing in.
As it drew near, the streetlights revealed its true form.
It was a writhing mass of red fur, through which two humanoid figures could barely be seen at the core.
The red fur extended from one of the figures, each strand over ten meters long, twisting like snakes across the ground and air, causing a wave of psychological and physical discomfort among the three.
“Hee hee... little mice, I found you.”
A hoarse, sharp voice emerged from the huge fur ball, entering their ears.
Then, strands of red fur lashed out like whips, each as sharp as swords, slicing through glass, cutting walls, smashing ceilings and floors… With a thunderous crash, the gym shattered into pieces, taking part of the mall down with it.
Damn… Chen Ran nearly cursed aloud, shocked.
One strike demolished the building!?
She hurriedly swung her massive staff.
The “Flame Staff” generated more heat the harder it swung.
With her current strength, every swing caused directional explosions, maxing out the output of this E-grade weapon.
Flames and shockwaves blasted away falling debris, destroying the red fur strands aimed at her.
Meanwhile, An Li shielded herself with the “Dust-Repelling Golden Ring.” This D-grade item fully activated under her strong spiritual power, generating intense repulsive forces that pushed away falling rubble and the red fur whips.
She silently maneuvered the three corpse puppets around, attempting a sneak attack from another direction.
Cao Yu was even more outrageous, seemingly abandoning all pretense, ignoring spirit consumption, and fully activating his superpower. Covered in the “Immortal-Slaying Curse,” he forged himself into an invincible weapon.
Debris hitting him shattered.
Ceiling tiles falling cracked.
Red fur lashes broke.
Unbreakable, unstoppable.
Though a corner of the mall collapsed, only Chen Ran had a bit of dust and dirt on her; An Li and Cao Yu remained unscathed.
Seeing this, the “Tiyou Yuan” stopped laughing, its face twisted in fury.
The long fur on it twisted like hemp ropes, entwining and merging into nine giant snakes.
This action dispersed the fur concealment, revealing the humanoid figure beside it… It was Song Shi’an! Except for a slightly translucent body and a vacant gaze, he looked almost identical to the photo they had seen before.
Song Shi’an was bound by one of the red fur strands from the “Tiyou Yuan”—no, from Xia He. The strand coiled around him, lifting him to float at Xia He’s side.
So that was Xia He’s meaning… the three understood.
The nine giant snakes writhed as Xia He roared, filled with hatred, as if tearing their eardrums:
“You three rats…! I’ll skin you alive and tear your flesh piece by piece!!”
Cao Yu, standing opposite Xia He, was the first to be attacked by the giant snakes. The terrifying force of the assault twisted the air, the shockwave blowing away all dust.
A dark shadow enveloped Cao Yu, but he remained calm, gripping one end of the barbell and slashing it like a sword.
The two-meter bar tore through the air, slicing the giant snakes, clearing everything ahead.
“Just a supernatural creature, yet so arrogant. Bring on the Buddhist Mother!” Cao Yu’s voice was icy cold.