JOS Chapter 143

Buddhist Temple

There seemed to be only one way to allocate the rooms.

Chu Xuanliang pointed to the other side and said, “Huang Yu and the little one share a room, we’ll go next door. Call out if anything happens.”

Huang Yu said, “Why don’t you take this room instead? There are two larger beds here, while the ones over there are smaller.”

“That works too.” Chu Xuanliang didn’t expect Jiang Feng to squeeze in with others. “Jiang Feng, can you sleep on that sofa bed? I’ll sleep with my junior brother.”

Jiang Feng nodded.

The little Mountain God raised his hand. “But I’m also a boy!”

“I don’t mind.” Huang Yu picked him up with one hand, tucking him under her arm as she said, “They’re all grown men, you’re not the same as them.”

The little Mountain God kicked his feet. “Wah! Don’t carry me like this anymore! I’ve already grown up!”

Huang Yu tapped her forehead with two fingers in a salute. “Good night!”

The little Mountain God called out, “Dad!”

The three men replied, “Goodbye.”

There was no bathroom on the second floor, so Chu Xuanliang took his daily necessities downstairs first to wash his face and brush his teeth.

The room was obviously filled with many old miscellaneous items. Jiang Feng adjusted his pants and bent down to begin a detailed search of the room.

After watching for a while, the junior brother also tactfully went over to help.

The second-floor room shouldn’t have undergone much renovation.

Old underwear model posters were still pasted on the walls, and the hallway used pull-cord incandescent bulbs. The wooden boards outside creaked with every step due to their age.

An open space outside the room wasn’t enclosed, offering a view of the eaves and the scene below. But they couldn’t get close to the window because chairs and furniture were messily piled in front of it, and there seemed to be a beehive under the eaves.

Seeing him looking around while he himself had no clear target, the junior brother asked, “What are you looking for?”

Jiang Feng replied, “Looking for what things here were left behind from before.”

Junior brother: “…The house?”

Jiang Feng felt embarrassed to mock him, so he pretended it made perfect sense and said “Mm” in agreement.

The two had an awkward stare-off.

Chu Xuanliang came upstairs, and only then did the junior brother quickly wave his towel and rush downstairs.

Chu Xuanliang asked, “Did you find anything?”

“Let’s search around first,” Jiang Feng said, “Keep your voice down.”

He crouched on the ground and began rummaging through things under the bed.

There were several wooden boxes under the bed, and the contents inside seemed quite heavy. When Jiang Feng casually touched them, he found the box surfaces were slightly soft, completely covered in fallen dust that had accumulated into a layer.

He used both hands forcefully and carefully dragged the items out.

The first box contained some old clothes. Most were simple-styled sweaters in bright red or yellow, obviously hand-knitted, with several holes.

The second box seemed to contain toys. It had everything – stones, weeds, slingshots, various paper airplanes, and broken glass. One could imagine that children’s entertainment products in that era were both novel and monotonous.

Jiang Feng went to dig out boxes from under the other bed.

The third and fourth boxes were both quite large and contained books.

Chu Xuanliang studied the toys on that side while Jiang Feng sat at the foot of the bed studying the old books.

The junior brother quickly finished washing and returned, telling Jiang Feng to go down and take his turn.

Jiang Feng acted as if he hadn’t heard, holding a stack of papers as he sat on the bedside, carefully flipping through them. Seeing this, the other two gathered around.

The papers varied in material, size, and color. They were all drawings.

The artistic level also varied.

Some were done in pencil, simply depicting a few small figures standing together. The childish style showed they were drawn by a child’s hand.

Some had bright colors, clear lines, and relatively mature composition.

Others obviously showed two different artistic styles.

“These weren’t drawn by the same person, right?” The junior brother looked carefully and said, “Oh, there are signatures here.”

Although the writing was somewhat difficult to recognize, they could confirm there were at least three or four people’s names.

The junior brother said, “Elementary school students drew these. In that era, for a village like this to send them to school showed real love.”

Chu Xuanliang asked, “Did everyone in their family like to draw?”

Jiang Feng said, “Liu Menghong’s grandfather could draw, so he probably taught them himself.”

These drawings looked quite ordinary, mostly figure drawings.

The junior brother’s neck got sore from craning it, and not seeing anything significant, he simply gave up.

Just as he was about to walk away, Jiang Feng pointed to a figure and asked, “Is this male or female?”

“Female, right?” the junior brother said, “Don’t they all have breasts?”

Chu Xuanliang also asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Feng spread all the drawings flat and asked, “Then where are the males?”

The two were stunned for a moment, then lowered their heads to start searching.

Among the thirty-some drawings, there were individual portraits, family pictures, and group drawings in squares, but without exception, they were all women.

When children draw, they usually draw from life, so were their worlds filled only with women?

Cold sweat immediately broke out on the junior brother’s forehead.

“A… a kingdom of women?”

Jiang Feng said, “When I first entered the village, I saw an old man who also had… obvious feminine characteristics, with an androgynous voice, but he said he was male.”

Chu Xuanliang said, “But… but isn’t Liu Yu also from here? Does he have feminine characteristics?”

Jiang Feng replied, “He doesn’t, but he already moved away.”

The junior brother covered his mouth in shock. “So coming here makes your chest grow bigger? What kind of terrifying magnetic field is this?”

“Ah——” The junior brother thought of something else and cried out in alarm, “Huang Yu can stay a few more days, this is her paradise! But what about us? I don’t want big breasts.”

Chu Xuanliang said, “That’s not right, if everyone became women, how would the next generation reproduce?”

“Right, that old man just now was a traditional old man!” The junior brother clapped his hands, instantly relieved. “That scared me to death.”

Jiang Feng said, “It’s also possible that during Liu Menghong’s era and before, the villagers had these symptoms, which gradually disappeared later.”

Chu Xuanliang asked, “You mean the Mountain God?”

Jiang Feng nodded.

The room fell quiet again.

Jiang Feng said, “Let’s sleep first, we’ll ask the old man downstairs tomorrow morning.”

The two nodded.

The bed in the old house was uncomfortable and unfamiliar to sleep in, and the blankets and sheets carried a moldy smell from being stored too long.

Several people stayed awake all night, and went downstairs early the next morning to find someone.

Fortunately, elderly people generally don’t sleep well, so he had gotten up while it was still gray dawn.

Jiang Feng waited on the first floor for a while before the old man who had gone out for a leisurely stroll slowly walked back.

Chu Xuanliang handed over the cash first.

The man lay down on the rocking chair by the door, counted the bills three times back and forth, felt the texture of the paper money turning it around under the light, and finally nodded with satisfaction. “Good.”

He lifted his head and saw several people still sitting there. “Something wrong? Want to stay another night?”

Jiang Feng said, “We’d like to ask you about something.”

“Just say it directly,” the old man said, “What are you muttering about here?”

Jiang Feng asked, “About sixty years ago, was this village populated only by women? Or rather, did the men all have some feminine characteristics?”

The old man suddenly fell silent, rhythmically rocking his fan, then closed his eyes as if to fall asleep.

Chu Xuanliang patted him. “Sir? Old sir?”

The old man batted away his hand. “What are you shouting for? I don’t want to hear this.”

Chu Xuanliang looked sheepish.

Jiang Feng asked, “So how did the people here get better later?”

“Where did you hear this from?” the old man said with disdain, squinting, “You’re all young people, why are you so superstitious? After reading so many books, can’t you believe in science? Before, people were just sick, due to environmental reasons. Later, when science advanced and we connected with the outside world, the illness was cured. Really.”

Chu Xuanliang and the others found this explanation quite reasonable… their feelings were complex.

“What I heard wasn’t like that,” Jiang Feng said, “There was a young man who brought a little girl to your village. Essentially speaking, neither of them were human. They were the ones who cured what you call this illness.”

The old man fell back into that same mysterious detached state as before.

Jiang Feng said, “Can your avoidance make you forget this matter?”

“Most of those who knew are dead, and those who aren’t dead won’t tell you,” the old man opened his eyes and asked, “So what are you people?”

Jiang Feng replied, “Taoist priests.”

“What are you here for?”

“To find someone.”

“To find him?”

“Of course,” Jiang Feng said, “If we can’t find the person, we won’t let this matter rest. We have other methods, but then everyone won’t be happy.”

The old man stood up, and behind him the rocking chair continued to creak back and forth.

“Over there,” he pointed to a location, “Go see for yourselves.”

Junior brother asked, “Where?”

“Our town’s Buddhist temple, just a little bit near the ancestral hall. You’ll see it when you go over,” the old man said, “It’s pretty much abandoned now, not many people go there. Look for an old, broken wooden house and you’ll be right.”

****

The wooden house he mentioned wasn’t hard to find. Its location was conspicuous, built on a mid-level hill. But obviously few people went there anymore, as the path up the mountain was overgrown with weeds.

Several people stood at the entrance of the Buddhist temple. They didn’t notice anything unusual, but out of respect, they still clasped their hands in prayer before entering.

Half the main gate had collapsed, and inside white spider webs were densely distributed. A yellow cloth covered the Buddha statue in the center.

The junior brother walked over, pinching his nose as he pulled off the yellow cloth.

Dust flew everywhere, and several people could see the original appearance of this Buddha statue.

“Holy crap…” Huang Yu exclaimed, “A Joyful Buddha?”

Chu Xuanliang said, “Don’t say ‘holy crap’ in front of the Joyful Buddha…”

Huang Yu: “…”

The Buddha statue should have been made of clay. Due to long-term lack of maintenance and repair, the surface had peeled off, but this didn’t prevent them from seeing its original form.

It should have been a naked man and woman embracing, legs spread, in a state of union. This form originated from Tantric dual cultivation of male and female.

Jiang Feng covered the little Mountain God’s eyes.

The little Mountain God called out curiously. “Ooh——shh——”

Huang Yu was completely distressed now, patting her forehead. “Why did I bow to the Joyful Buddha…”

Joyful Buddhas were traditionally only worshipped in Tibetan Buddhist temples. People who didn’t study or care much about Buddhism would usually only see them in tourist attractions that specifically displayed Buddha statues.

They hadn’t expected to see this Buddha in Liu Family Village’s Buddhist temple.

The junior brother said, “Wait, let me search online for what this is worshipped for.”

“Hmm…” After browsing for a while, he said, “It says that in Indian Tantrism there’s a legend that Shakyamuni sent believers disguised as beautiful women to seduce the cruel, murderous King Vinayaka who slaughtered Buddhists. In the end, Vinayaka was conquered by beauty and chose to convert to Buddhism, becoming the main deity among the vajras. This sect emphasized that the union of two sexes was the cause of all things in the universe and also the ultimate liberation of religion. The ‘Joyful Buddha’ was a graphic illustration of this philosophy.”

Several people: “…”

The junior brother put away his phone. “Can you all not be like this? It’s really awkward.”

Still no one spoke.

The junior brother said, “So they wanted to… use women to conquer someone? The person who made the men here become like women?”

Chu Xuanliang felt this topic was really too difficult to answer and was eager to skip it. “Anyway, what they didn’t lack here was women, right?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Many people are like this – they don’t even know what the Buddha statue is called or what deep meaning it has, they just randomly find some god or Buddha to worship. Whether it’s useful or not, at least it provides some psychological comfort,” Huang Yu said, “If you saw the village men all growing eighteen-plus rated big breasts, you’d lose your rationality too.”

Junior brother: “…That’s fine, I’m about to lose my rationality now.”

Huang Yu said puzzledly, “But under normal circumstances, who would think to worship some Joyful Buddha? At that time there was no internet, information didn’t flow freely, and the villagers would be doing well to know about Buddha, they might not even know Buddha’s name, so how would they build a Buddhist temple for the Joyful Buddha?”

Chu Xuanliang bumped her and glanced toward the platform with his eyes as a hint.

Huang Yu quickly clasped her hands together in apology. “Sorry, no offense intended. This junior spoke too much, please don’t take offense.”