Chapter 1524 - 563: The Winter Spell
Inside the Buddha Praise Heavenly Palace, many monks were busy.
There were only a few days left until the triennial Reincarnation Festival,
This grand festival required a lot of preparation,
Offerings needed to be prepared in advance; ritual implements also needed to be cleaned thoroughly. The construction and setup of the altar for the festival naturally required specialized personnel,
Thus, even in the heavy, dense snowfall where not a single sparrow could be seen, those monks, breathing white mist, donned their monk robes and worked fervently amidst the wind and snow.
Boba Golden Buddha sat in a spacious, steaming room, drinking tea.
A bright red charcoal stove dispelled the cold in the room. A beautiful, well-groomed female servant poured slightly salty tea for Boba.
While sipping the tea, Boba said to the person beside him, "Lord Longba, I’ve summoned you here for a matter."
"This year’s snow is much heavier than in previous years, and during such heavy snowfall when no birds or beasts are seen, for the Golden Buddha to seek me, it must be something significant."
Ning Jin Longba accepted the tea poured by the female servant, his brow tightly furrowed.
"In such cold weather, I’m afraid many people in Snow Plain Prefecture will freeze to death."
Boba did not directly discuss the matter but diverted the conversation.
Ning Jin Longba nodded, pointing to the ground, and said, "The will is asleep, but it sleeps restlessly. A mere sneeze from it brings floods in Mingjiang Prefecture,
If it exhales a warm breath, then Yellow Field Prefecture suffers a drought,
If it feels hot, it lightly waves a hand, and a cool breeze descends, and our Snow Plain Prefecture would then face disaster,
This year, with such heavy snow, it seems like the sleeping will is feeling agitated and restless, thus the cool breeze it fans is stronger, more piercing."
After complaining for a long time, Ning Jin Longba finally stood up, looked out the window, and said, "Our Six Great Families have already begun distributing grain. In these past days alone, we’ve slaughtered three thousand yaks,
I just hope that the millions of people in Snow Plain Prefecture can safely weather this heavy snow."
"Having only food won’t get us through this snowstorm, fuel for warmth and windproof shelters are crucial for winter,
Once the snow gets heavier, the ghosts hidden in the snow will emerge, and Snow Plain Prefecture, it’s hard to guard against."
Boba carefully analyzed the situation in Snow Plain Prefecture.
This year’s Snow Plain Prefecture was indeed different; the snow was excessively heavy, causing the temperature to be exceptionally low,
The true severe winter had not yet arrived, but already there were widespread incidents of "families freezing to death overnight in their homes" across the prefecture.
"If it is as the Boba Golden Buddha says, are we not able to survive this winter?"
"Winter is coming, I can even smell a scent of demise and destruction from the end times."
Boba Golden Buddha pointed to Ning Jin Longba’s forehead and said, "The prophecy from the last festival is about to be fulfilled."
"Prophecy?"
Ning Jin Longba was very tense, recalling the festival from three years ago when Boba Golden Buddha heard a murmuring voice through the Heavenly Spirit Magical Artifact during the festival.
This murmuring voice spoke in a language that was neither the language of Snow Plain Prefecture nor the common language of Jing Country,
It was an extremely ancient language, used by the oldest ancestors of Snow Plain Prefecture, the Dalang Language.
After the festival, he constantly consulted ancient texts, and after much effort, he finally deciphered that murmuring "Divine Language."
That murmuring whisper from the "Gods" was a prophecy — when the next freeze comes, Reincarnation Temple, the Six Great Families, and all the Robe Ghosts across the snowfield, the entire Snow Plain Prefecture would face annihilation.
Death,
was the divine oracle the Gods brought to Snow Plain Prefecture.
"Even our Six Great Families won’t survive this winter?"
Ning Jin Longba sighed deeply and said, "Our Six Families have wealth, have power, we can leave Snow Plain Prefecture."
"The roots of your Six Great Families are in Snow Plain Prefecture, what good is it if you run away?"
"Once the foundation rots, you will face the most brutal death."
Boba Golden Buddha’s tone carried a trace of sarcasm,
Ning Jin Longba’s eyes showed a flash of sorrow. He gazed outside the window, sighed, and said, "Can the entire Snow Plain Prefecture escape with just a snowstorm?"
"From my perspective, there is a way out."
Boba’s words, though not loud, kindled a fire of "hope" within Longba’s body.
Longba’s voice trembled, filled with excitement, and he asked, "Golden Buddha, may I ask, what is the way out?"
"A sacrifice of sufficient weight."
Boba Golden Buddha said, "The entire Jing Country was formed by will; there is a will above, and another below,
The two wills gave rise to this nation. They are the origin of this land,
With origin comes order, nurturing the people, with life and death’s cycle,
But the two wills did all this not without a price, Heaven and Earth nurture all beings,
How do all beings repay Heaven and Earth?"
"So?" Ning Jin Longba asked again.
Boba Living Buddha said, "We have offered too few sacrifices to the will, so few that they are angered, wanting to bring about a great catastrophe and freeze us who can’t afford the sacrifice to death in the snow."
"But the two wills are not only worshipped by our prefecture; the will is the will of the Nine Mansions, so why does the catastrophe only fall on our Snow Plain Prefecture? Is this fair?"
As Ning Jin Longba finished his words, he saw Boba’s fierce gaze sweep over.
He dared not directly face that sharp gaze and quickly lowered his head,