Treasure Display

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Fangshan, Beijing. Deep within a mountain cave, a middle-aged man in his early forties sat cross-legged, hands and feet facing upward, eyes closed in meditation. The cave was filled with stone-carved Buddha statues. The man murmured an unknown incantation, a ring on his middle finger glowing faintly blue. The eyes of the surrounding Buddhas flickered with multicolored lights.

Suddenly, he ceased his chanting, opened his eyes, and stood. Slowly, he approached the statue at the center of the cave. Unlike the others, this Buddha did not bear a kindly expression; its face was twisted in grief, unsettling to behold.

He gazed at the weeping Buddha, recited another spell, and removed his ring, extracting the stone—resembling an eyeball—from it and placing it in the statue’s eye socket. At that moment, a trickle of blood-red tears flowed from the Buddha’s face, which slowly contorted into a sinister smile. A sharp crack echoed as the statue’s left arm lunged at the man. He dodged the blow swiftly. The Buddha’s head then jerked violently to the right with another crack, revealing a ghastly, demon-like visage.

The grotesque face opened its mouth and spat a steel spike at the man’s face. He jerked his head aside just in time.

A strange howl escaped from the statue, and its attacks ceased. The Buddha’s head slowly rotated, revealing a dignified expression once more. From outside the cave came a thunderous crash, and a grand door appeared at the center. The man nodded, stepped toward the abyss beyond, unaware that a group of shadowy figures, e