荒墟牧神 - 第62章 損你陰德 - 錦書坊

affling. Previously, the bronze Buddha had been unable to distinguish Shen Mu from Sang'e; as long as Shen Mu uttered the demonic words, the statue would automatically respond with Buddhist mantras to refine Sang'e. But now that Shen Mu was trying to release Sang'e, the bronze Buddha was a different thing altogether—it actively attacked him. The thick chains shot back and forth; Shen Mu stepped on one chain to evade the attacks of the others. Meanwhile, the power transmitted through the chains from the bronze Buddha grew gradually stronger. The friction between chains sent tremors that made his footing unsteady, his legs numb and aching. His control of the Chubao sword became far less accurate than before. The bronze Buddha's power grew ever stronger, as if it held an inexhaustible force within, awakening bit by bit. Granny Zhu and Lame Grandpa had both mentioned this bronze Buddha before, saying it was very strange. Granny Zhu said she had once intended to eliminate Sang'e but had been stopped by the bronze Buddha and failed. Granny Zhu was naturally extremely powerful, yet she had not destroyed Sang'e—which showed that once the bronze Buddha's power fully awakened, it would surely be terrifying beyond measure! And now, the bronze Buddha's power was awakening bit by bit! Even a fraction of its awakening was more than Shen Mu could resist. At that moment, an earth-shattering roar came—the ice flood surging down from upstream had finally arrived. Towering ice mountains, driven by the torrent on the river, hundreds of feet high, appeared before the oasis, behind Shen Mu! Shen Mu was immediately cast into shadow. In haste he turned his head and saw countless blocks of ice being squeezed and tumbled, hurled to the peaks of the ice mountains, only to come crashing down and be crushed to the riverbed; then new ice blocks were thrown up again and slid down once more. The ice flood crushed everything in its path; the corpses on the ice had been ground to pulp, nowhere to be found. Only the tumbling, surging ice mountains remained, bent on crushing everything! "Bah!" The bronze Buddha seemed also to sense the impending danger. Forgetting Shen Mu, it spread its arms wide and pushed forward against the surging ice flood. Clang! At the edge of the oasis, a great golden bell formed of light unexpectedly materialized, covering the oasis within it. Countless ice blocks struck the golden bell a step ahead of the flood, clanging and shattering into fragments. Each block that hit the bell sent ripples of golden light spreading outward—from Shen Mu's angle, the sight was magnificent and resplendent. Then the ice flood surged in. The roar was like a thousand thunders bursting, rumbling endlessly in the ears, intermingled with the ringing of the golden bell. The force of heaven and earth collided with the bronze Buddha's Buddhist powers, shaking heaven and earth; even the oasis trembled violently, as if it might sink into the water at any moment. Meanwhile, the ice flood outside, blocked by the oasis in mid-river and the golden bell, piled higher and higher. The ice flood on both sides had already flowed downstream past the oasis; only where the oasis blocked it did the floating ice accumulate more and more, gradually threatening to overflow the oasis. Rattle—the chains shook and lashed toward Shen Mu. The bronze Buddha actually still had strength to spare, sending one chain after another darting like spirit serpents and pythons, pursuing him relentlessly. At the same time, the bronze Buddha's body moved, clanking with metallic sounds, its palms constantly striking the walls of the golden bell to reinforce it. The chains were wrapped around its body; as it moved, they flew about and attacked Shen Mu. Meanwhile Sang'e, in the form of the little girl Qixia'er, was dragged along stumbling, suddenly tripped and fell to the ground, pulled until its face was bruised and swollen, pitiful to behold. Shen Mu, stepping on the chains, immediately felt that t