Chapter 114: Idealism
The reason the Hsu family never revealed the curse of the Mother Buddha Deity was that while they gained benefits from worshipping her, they also indirectly restricted and imprisoned her.
The Mother Buddha Deity couldn't spread her influence and could only obtain limited sacrifices from the Hsu family.
The relationship between them was more like a balanced parasitic one.
Later, as the Mother Buddha Deity's power grew stronger, and the children of the clan were sacrificed, the Hsu family could no longer afford to offer sacrifices. Only then did they try to limit the Mother Buddha Deity's evil intentions.
They developed incantations and hand seals.
They sealed the cave entrance with mirrors covered in blessed symbols and hung prayer cloths made of canvas covered in scriptures inside the cave.
Small mirrors throughout the cave reflected the deity's gaze and curse, causing her to lose her way within the passageways.
A huge four-sided mirror was erected in the center of the cave, inscribed with "Hou-ho-xiu-yi" to weaken the deity's evil power.
At each entrance to the passageway stood statues of sacrificial children favored by the deity, their fingers pointing in directions that led her to a dead end, at the very end of which lay an altar.
Each offering on the altar was incomplete.
Two of the three candles remained, two of the three teeth were gone, and only one of the two fingers was left.
The purpose of this was to force the deity to constantly search for the missing offerings, endlessly circling the cave and consuming her power in a cycle.
All these methods were aimed at weakening the Mother Buddha Deity's power.
Instead of these methods, why didn't they choose an easier way:
leak the Mother Buddha Deity's curse, making more people bear the curse and lessening the burden on the Hsu family?
Because of their benevolence?
No, it was because if they did that, they would be courting their own destruction!
Their parasitic method of worship had already offended the Mother Buddha Deity; it was only because the deity had so few followers—just the Hsu family—that she hadn't killed them.
Once the curse was leaked, the Mother Buddha Deity would have enough followers and offerings.
The consequences for the Hsu family, who had restrained her for so many years and knew her weaknesses, would be unimaginable.
Even an ordinary person trapped in one place for so many years, once they gain power, would probably seek revenge.
Let alone a demonic entity!
The Hsu family members are like those who raise bound demons, feeding and using them.
But once a demon gains sufficient power, the first target is its master, because insufficient support completely limits its development.
That's why the Hsu family members don't reveal the deity's curse.
The uncle's refusal of Li Ronan was also for secrecy, to prevent the curse from spreading and strengthening the Mother Buddha Deity's power.
It wasn't until the aunt took a liking to the child in Li Ronan's womb that she was allowed to participate in the sacrifice.
As a result, Li Ronan disrupted the cave's arrangements, causing the Mother Buddha Deity's power to completely spiral out of control. Under its influence, the Hsu family members were powerless to stop the deity's power, and Li Ronan left with the camera she was filming.
Otherwise, the Hsu family members would have easily retrieved the camera long ago.
This is also the reason for the Hsu family's relocation.
They understood that with their current methods, they could no longer restrain the Mother Buddha Deity, so they wanted to hide. They were sure they still had ways to evade the deity's detection.
What Marcus needed to do was to get Li Ronan to find the Hsu family members after their relocation.
He wanted Li Ronan to carry the deity's curse and continue to harm the Hsu family members.
After all, Li Ronan wasn't a good person, and the Hsu family members weren't good people either.
As long as the Hsu family members couldn't hide, they would definitely continue to try to restrain and seal the Mother Buddha Deity.
Because this was their only option to survive.
And anything targeting the Mother Buddha Deity would benefit Marcus.
Letting this selfish woman, Li Ronan, use her remaining strength to weaken the deity was just efficient planning.
Marcus didn't expect the Hsu family members to have much effect on the Mother Buddha Deity, but something useful was better than nothing.
"Marcus, that damned woman got away."
Ronan Chen, covered in sweat and panting, came up to the third floor and saw Dodo in Marcus's arms as he spoke.
"Dodo, Dodo, Daddy's here! Marcus... Is Dodo alright?"
Ronan Chen, forgetting his exhaustion, asked anxiously.
"She's fine, asleep. Here, take her."
Marcus handed Dodo to Ronan Chen like passing a package.
Ronan Chen quickly took her and carefully cradled her.
Marcus then took out his phone and filmed a scene inside the attic.
"Let's go, let's move."
Marcus waved and walked downstairs.
"Where are we going?" Ronan Chen, holding Dodo, hurriedly followed.
"As the saying goes, 'You pray where it's holy.'
But we can't pray to corrupted statues in this house, let's go to a proper church."
"And while we're at it, let's invoke some divine intervention to watch over us."
Marcus had Ronan Chen drive, while he sat in the back, backing up ten copies of the camera footage sealed with blessed papers.
He didn't watch the footage, only glancing at the very end after covering it up, to facilitate his actions.
He could handle that amount of exposure.
Marcus suspected that the video was a combination of hypnosis and dark ritual, which was why ordinary people who watched it were driven to suicide.
The honeycomb-like fleshy holes on the face of the Mother Buddha were somewhat similar to the spiral props used in hypnosis.
After driving for about half an hour, they arrived at Saint Michael's Cathedral.
The entire cathedral gave people a feeling of ancient grandeur and spiritual majesty.
It was currently weekday working hours, and since it was neither a major attraction nor a holiday, there weren't many worshippers.
Marcus placed $100 in the donation box at the entrance, told Ronan Chen to wait there, and stepped inside.
The main sanctuary was 50 feet high, with a gilded statue of Saint Michael in the center.
The statue was 15 feet high and 10 feet wide, wearing armor, with a golden face and stern expression, dressed in flowing robes, and exuding a righteous presence.
"Today I witnessed an evil spirit blaspheming the holy. I couldn't stand it, so I've come to ask for divine judgment,"
Marcus said, lighting candles and bowing.
Many of these churches had become commercialized, and he didn't know if they were effective, but trying wouldn't hurt.
Marcus set up the camera, adjusted the angle, and played the video of the Mother Buddha Deity.
He waited beside it.
As the video played, the panicked screams of Li Ronan and her two companions could be heard.
The temperature inside the cathedral seemed to drop several degrees, and the faint sound of a baby crying could be heard.
As the deity's image ended, the video showed corrupted religious statues in Li Ronan's old house.
The camera exploded with a loud crack, emitting a puff of black smoke.
Marcus, expressionless, took out another camera and continued playing; he had made ten copies.
This time, it exploded even faster.
Seven times in a row, seven cameras were destroyed.
Until the eighth time, the footage finished playing, and nothing else happened.
The cameras didn't explode, there was no eerie atmosphere, and no more baby crying.
It was as if it were just an ordinary found footage film.
It seemed that the power of the deity, originating from the camera recording, had completely vanished.
Marcus looked up at the unchanging statue of Saint Michael. He wasn't sure if it was due to environmental influences or if divine intervention had truly occurred.
This world was far too steeped in the supernatural; he found it unsettling.
If there were no divine forces, some things were useful; if there were, evil spirits roamed freely, and he hadn't truly seen any divine manifestations.
Just as Marcus stepped out the door, a brick the size of a fist fell from the roofline, nearly hitting him.
What was this?
Marcus looked up. The crack in the masonry had indeed been there for quite some time; the mortar around it had peeled off and dried, and it was about time it fell off. It seemed natural, yet also very coincidental.
Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it and let things unfold.
"Marcus, is it all over?"
"Should I take Dodo inside to pray?" After experiencing these strange events, Ronan Chen felt a strong urge to seek blessing at every church he encountered.
"Maybe, you go ahead. When you're done, we'll go find Master Yuan."
"Only Master Yuan can solve Dodo's problem."
Marcus gestured and waited at the entrance.
First, he'd pray at Saint Michael's, then go to Master Yuan's temple.
He really wanted to know if Dodo could truly survive the seven-day ritual; would she really be able to persuade Master Yuan to help, and perhaps even deal with the Mother Buddha Deity?
(End of Chapter)
Let's push the story forward!
Rewards System:
500 Power Stones = New Chapter
10 Reviews = New Chapter
20+ chapters waiting on P3treon – DarkFoxx