Chapter 1 Modern Society

In modern society, everything is developing and progressing rapidly.

Even tombstones can have QR codes now. In the future, when people pay respects to their ancestors, the younger generation who don't remember their elders can scan the QR code with their phones to read about their ancestors' lives.

If you find ancestor worship boring, you can even scan QR codes everywhere and greet the neighbors of your ancestors, getting acquainted with them.

But in Ying Gou's era, there was no such thing as QR codes, and there was no concept of garbage sorting.

Probably, Ying Gou would just throw away the bones after eating, piling them up randomly.

When bored, he would kick them, and voila, they became a chair.

No one would take a notebook to record that on such and such day, Ying Gou ate a certain beast and discarded its bones, noting the length, width, and shape of the bones...

You know, when ancient emperors favored a concubine or palace maid, eunuchs would record the date and time His Majesty favored so-and-so for two minutes...

So,

One generation plants the trees, and the next enjoys the shade.

But this planter was too lazy...

The bone throne is so huge, no one can count how many bones are in it, let alone choose one that looks like a horn.

There are too many that look like horns, because in that era, you'd be embarrassed to greet your peers without horns on your head.

Moreover, Ying Gou seemed particularly fond of the meat of ferocious beasts with horns. Each layer of the throne had sharp protrusions, as if the horns were used as nails.

And perhaps to pursue some aesthetic or out of obsessive compulsion, Ying Gou should have specially renovated the throne, polishing the edges or smoothing it out.

As long as Ying Gou wanted to do it, few craftsmen in the world could match his skill, because he could use methods that even Newton couldn't understand to change the shape and state of the original bones in various ways.

Zhou Ze put his hand on the bone throne,

For a moment,

He felt a little lost.

Lao Zhang also looked up at the throne, also feeling bewildered.

If it were just a math problem, that would be fine. Everyone could calm down, and no matter how difficult it was, there would be a single correct answer to strive for.

But this is a probability problem. Calculating the probability is not enough; you have to try one by one.

When would that be done?

Helpless, Zhou Ze could only turn to look at the xiezhi, who was about to break free from its chains, and beckoned to it,

Saying:

"Brother, can you smell which one is your horn?

Don't be polite. Whichever one you smell, it's yours. If you like, you can take a few more bones as souvenirs."

The response was the xiezhi continuing to roar.

Probably not going to work.

This is,

A real headache.

………………

The old Daoist looked at the stationary xiezhi and Ying Gou for a while, then looked at the Bodhisattva.

He noticed the Bodhisattva's hand on his mask, and the sight made his eyes twitch.

If the environment and conditions weren't unsuitable, the old Daoist would have gone up to persuade the Bodhisattva to control himself, that impulsiveness is the devil.

They were all players of the same level, so they naturally knew each other's ultimate moves.

The old Daoist naturally understood what it meant if the Bodhisattva took off his mask.

First of all,

It meant the Bodhisattva would die.

When they first met a thousand years ago, the old Daoist had asked the Bodhisattva why he wore a mask.

The Bodhisattva's answer was: "Before finding the true Buddha, I have no face to meet people."

In other words, once he took off the mask, it meant he had found the true Buddha.

However, forcing completion before things come to fruition often brings the most terrible side effects.

The true Buddha hasn't been found yet. All he can do is to transform himself into the true Buddha after taking off the mask, and then, like fireworks, shine for a moment and then disappear.

The current situation really meant a fight to the death.

Everyone was like a gambler, betting everything. No one could afford to lose, or rather, gamblers had lost their humanity. When they were about to lose everything,

Would they accept their loss, or would they drag the person across the table down with them?

In this world, no one can truly be all-knowing, because you are not the only one qualified to bet at the table.

The old Daoist had originally thought that the xiezhi would come out and destroy the Bodhisattva. He didn't care about the mask or any hidden moves. His one trick of letting the dog out was enough.

Who knew,

He would end up in such an awkward situation.

Inside, the xiezhi and Ying Gou were still confronting each other. Heaven knows what they were doing in the world of mental consciousness.

Outside, the Bodhisattva was still watching intently, even prepared for the final mutual destruction.

The old Daoist suddenly felt that life was so difficult.

Thinking about how he had been planning and preparing since a thousand years ago,

He originally thought he could have smooth sailing, but who knew that in the end, he still had to rely on gambling.

Like the Bodhisattva, the old Daoist didn't like gambling either.

Those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those with something to lose. "It's just a life, I'll be a good man again in eighteen years." These kinds of bold words sound good, but they are usually shouted by the lowest of the low.

What real prince or noble would shout this?

As for why the Bodhisattva hadn't taken off his mask yet?

It was simple. He was waiting, waiting for the "negotiations" to break down. If the xiezhi could take care of his target, he could take advantage of the situation and turn the tables.

The old Daoist simply sat down cross-legged.

Looking at the Bodhisattva, he even showed a simple and honest smile.

At the same time, the old Daoist pointed to the xiezhi and Ying Gou beside him and called out:

"Watching?"

After a while,

The Bodhisattva calmly responded:

"Watching."

………………

"Look at this one? And this one? Look at this one too?"

With Zhou Ze's fingernails, disassembling the throne wasn't too difficult. Zhou, the boss, was taking the bones one by one, letting the xiezhi take a look first.

Finding that the stupid dog had no reaction other than roaring, Zhou Ze had no choice but to knock each bone against the xiezhi's head.

If he tried the xiezhi's horn, the xiezhi shouldn't be completely unresponsive.

Lao Zhang helped deliver the bones. In this moment, the two seemed to have transformed into dog slaves, desperately trying to please their dog master.

One bone after another, one piece after another;

No success, no reaction, no effect...

Seeing with his own eyes that cracks were appearing on the chains binding the xiezhi,

Zhou Ze was finally starting to lose his grip.

It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but that he was afraid that before he died, he would still be doing such a silly thing.

The ground under him was already full of bones, but the throne over there was still majestic and towering.

What he had dismantled was just the tip of the iceberg.

What a pity, what a pity,

Zhou Ze really regretted now that he should have stopped Ying Gou when he burned all the demon gods inside the throne.

One reason was that some of them could be split off to be his underlings. They couldn't all be stubborn fools. The second was that if they were still in the throne, they might know which bone was made from the xiezhi's horn.

It's normal for long-term tenants to know the layout of the house better than the landlord.

"Boss, let's keep going. Maybe the next one is the one we're looking for?"

Lao Zhang was, after all, Lao Zhang, full of positive energy at all times.

Zhou Ze shrugged and took another bone from Lao Zhang's hand and poked it at the xiezhi's head.

Well,

Still no effect.

Throwing the bone away, Zhou Ze sighed:

"I just think it's stupid to try like this."

"But, boss, it would be even stupider to give up right before trying the next bone, which happens to be the one we're looking for."

"............" Zhou Ze.

Alright,

Keep trying.

"Crack... crack... crack..."

The black rock began to collapse, and there were faint cracking sounds from the chains.

The xiezhi, forcibly bound by Lao Zhang with iron chains, was very, very close to breaking free.

This feeling was a bit like a bomb disposal expert. The bomb's countdown was about to reach the end. The situation was very dangerous.

But Zhou Ze felt that he was much better than a bomb disposal expert. They were struggling with which wire to cut,

But for him, it was:

Damn, how long will it take me to cut so many wires?

Suddenly,

Zhou, the boss, smiled and stood up.

"Boss?"

Lao Zhang was really worried that the boss would give up.

In fact, Lao Zhang had no desires or demands. He had already merged into the xiezhi and become a thought within it, but he really didn't want anything to happen to the boss and the others, especially dying at the hands of..."himself."

"I've thought of a way."

Zhou Ze walked confidently to the side of the throne.

This time,

He didn't use his fingernails to dismantle the bones from the throne like before, and then carry them back one by one to try. Instead, he bent down and lifted the bone throne.

The bone throne wasn't that light, but this was the world of mental consciousness, so many of the rules were different from reality. In addition, Zhou, the boss, at the moment, had at least a lot of strength.

Lao Zhang just stood there and watched his boss lift the throne,

And then continued to watch his boss carry the throne back again;

"Boss, what are you doing..."

"Don't blame me, Lao Zhang," Zhou Ze smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe in a thousand years, if you have the opportunity to come down to earth and inspect, you might not like your own statues and portraits as much."

"Huh?"

"Bang!"

Just then, the chains locking the xiezhi snapped!

"Not good!"

Lao Zhang let out a cry of alarm.

And Zhou Ze, at this moment, held the throne in both hands and slammed it down hard.

"Puff!"

The base of the throne directly smashed onto the xiezhi's horn. The horn was very sharp and pierced into the base of the throne.

Zhou Ze then let go,

And took a few steps back.

"This should do it, right? Consider the rest as a gift for you, don't be polite."

At this time,

The xiezhi's image was like this:

A body like a Tibetan mastiff,

With a...chair the size of a small building on its head.

But strangely,

The xiezhi's originally ferocious gaze actually softened slowly at this moment,

The scarlet red was gradually fading,

First revealing sorrow,

Then transforming into loneliness,

Then turning into calm,

Finally,

It even showed a hint of joy,

And even barked happily twice:

"Woof woof!"