The Painting

<Can you sense the location it is coming from?> Jia Bi Yu quickly asked Ian excitedly.

"I sensed it coming from somewhere below you," Ian replied after a bit of thinking.

[It should be somewhere underneath this ancient monastery then.]

Jia Bi Yu looked towards the Abbot and asked, "Abbot, what is below?"

The Abbot widened his eyes in shock.

If it were anyone else, they would have thought Jia Bi Yu was merely asking for further clarification about the underworld.

Wu Shang Tang had also assumed it was about the underworld.

The Abbot knew about the existence of the fissure below the monastery and assuming Jia Bi Yu was someone of the higher realms, it would not be surprising if he was able to sense the energy coming from the tear in time and space.

Wu Shang Tang pushed up his imaginary glasses and straightened his back, appearing like a scholar of the ancient times.

"Allow me, Master," he said to Jia Bi Yu. "I know a thing or two about the underworld."

"The Jade Emperor had put Yama in charge of overseeing the affairs in the underworld.

The underworld is divided into ten courts, with each being overseen by a different Yama King.

The Ten Yama Kings under Yama are Qinguang, Chujiang, Songdi, Wuguan, Yanluo, Biancheng, Taishan, Dushi, Pingdeng, Zhuanlun."

Seeing that Jia Bi Yu did not stop Wu Shang Tang, the Abbot just stood at the side waiting for him to finish.

"The eighteen levels of hell will cause sinners to feel pain and agony, but they will not be able to die as their bodies are repetitively restored to their original conditions before each round of torture.

Some tortures include being thrown onto a mountain of knives, dismemberment, and being fried in a cauldron of oil."

Then Wu Shang Tang looked towards the Abbot with a smile.

"That's why one should aim to do good, right Abbot?"

"Amitābha," the Abbot brought his palms together and closed his eyes for a moment. "Sins are created due to desire. When one is able to separate themselves completely from their desires, they will be able to attain enlightenment."

"So, what do you think?" Wu Shang Tang looked towards Jia Bi Yu.

"Our desires are so deeply engraved into our very souls. They are what defines us as individuals. How many can actually let them go?" Jia Bi Yu gave a soft sigh.

"Right right?" Wu Shang Tang exclaimed approvingly. "I for sure can't."

He seemed proud of himself.

"Abbot," Jia Bi Yu turned towards the Abbot once again.

Being brought back to the original topic, the Abbot bowed slightly and told Jia Bi Yu to follow him.

"Wait for us here," he said to Wu Shang Tang.

Feeling the seriousness in the Abbot's voice, Wu Shang Tang stopped in his tracks and stayed put where he was.

He watched as the Abbot led Jia Bi Yu back out of the training grounds.

They took quite a few turns before arriving in front of a wooden door.

The Abbot unlocked the door and urged Jia Bi Yu to go in first.

Inside was an empty small space with only an ancient painting hanging on the center of the back wall.

Closing the door shut, the Abbot then walked up towards the painting.

The painting seemed fully attached on all sides to the wall, laying flat against it.

The Abbot executed a few mysterious hand symbols while chanting something.

He pointed with his index and middle fingers at the painting, while his other hand held onto his wrist.

"Open!"

The painting started to give off a faint glow at his shout.

The painting itself seemed to be coming alive as the imagery in it moved about as though it wanted to fly out of the painting.

The light grew brighter and brighter and soon it encompassed the whole room.

Jia Bi Yu took a step back in shock, but was unable to get out of the light's field.

The small room soon turned all white and Jia Bi Yu had to close his eyes from the strong glare.