I thought I was screaming at the top of my lungs, only to realize later that it was all happening inside my head; in reality, I hadn't managed to utter a single sound.

But I wasn't aware of that at the time; I felt as if I were already in a semi-comatose state, wishing only to die and be done with it, yet everything persisted, no longer even feeling like my own experience. I could hear cries and wails ringing out—I didn't know who was making them, but I wasn't hearing them with my ears; rather, it was as if they were resounding directly inside my mind.

Each sound felt like it was tearing at every nerve in my body. I desperately wanted to scream along with those shrieks; it was clearly just a thought, yet it felt as though the cry had actually escaped, and I could even hear my own voice, filled with endless agony. I truly couldn't imagine being capable of emitting such a lament steeped in despair and helplessness, which only made my entire body tremble uncontrollably.

I felt I was on the verge of collapse, but the scene before me showed no sign of stopping. In the blinding light, I saw myself struggling desperately. Suddenly, I saw my own face, contorted in pain within that vision, lunge toward me, mouth wide open. Teeth were falling out one by one from its mouth, which was filled with blood. Seeing that mouth, I felt my nerves were about to reach their absolute breaking point.

Just then, everything instantly froze. Although I could still see that face, all sound vanished abruptly, replaced by a string of unintelligible sounds.

"...Gate, gate, paragate, parasangate, bodhi svaha."

As I heard this sound, I immediately felt myself gasping for breath, and with each breath, a dull ache pulsed in my chest. I realized this was due to holding my breath for far too long. I genuinely feared that if that terrifying sound hadn't stopped, I would have suffocated to death without even realizing it.

In truth, if that situation hadn't been interrupted in time, I would have absolutely succumbed to nervous failure and become an incurable lunatic.

"Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when practicing the profound Prajñāpāramitā deeply, perceived..."

As this voice sounded again, I suddenly understood: this sound was because someone was chanting sutras. Only then did I realize that I was actually capable of thinking again. The chanter was likely the old Abbot. Although I didn't know what he was reciting at the time, I later learned it was the Heart Sutra of the Prajñāpāramitā. It was precisely this scripture that shattered everything I had previously seen and heard.

Whether those were hallucinations or something else, I could no longer tell. The only thing I could surmise was that ghosts were dealing with us.

Harnessing the power of the sutra, I managed to concentrate my spirit. All the sights before me slowly vanished, and my own face was no longer visible. Everything returned to darkness. After a short while, I sensed the darkness had become much thinner than before. In a haze, I found I could see things again, and immediately, I saw everything, realizing at the same time that I was still sitting in the main hall.

Then, I turned my head to look and saw that everyone around me was soaking wet, as if they had been doused in water. Every person’s complexion was terrible—pale, slack, without a trace of color even on their lips. Pi Hou's hair was plastered to his face because it was wet, with beads of water continuously dripping from the ends. Uncle Ye’s grey monastic robe was also nearly drenched, and his head was slick with sweat.

Only the old Abbot seemed slightly better off. Although his face wasn't very pleasant either, he didn't seem to have as much sweat as the rest of us. His lips moved slightly, parting and closing; it was he who had been reciting the scripture. It was then I noticed that his voice hadn't been loud at all, yet I had heard every single word with perfect clarity, as if each one had drilled directly into my mind.

I checked myself; naturally, I was drenched from head to toe, with water droplets constantly falling from the tip of my nose. I licked my lips—it was indeed sweat.

In reality, in that moment, I didn't know what I was doing, but gradually, I felt my thoughts had essentially returned to normal.

Outside the door, the wail-like sound of the wind still roared in the courtyard, but thanks to the Abbot's chanting, we were no longer affected by it. In fact, what I had experienced seemed to last an eternity, though it had only been the span of a few moments.

The Abbot held the strange, violent wind in the courtyard at bay with the scripture. This standoff lasted the entire night, until the sky began to lighten, and the sound of the wind gradually subsided, finally vanishing into the air as a last gentle breeze.

We all let out a long sigh of relief; the crisis seemed to be over.

After another pause, the old Abbot finally ceased his chanting, and the main hall fell into a deathly silence.

I didn't know what to ask, but before any of us could speak, the old Abbot suddenly spoke, telling Uncle Ye to stay while Pi Hou and I went out to the courtyard.

Judging by his demeanor, the danger outside must have passed, but the two of us remained uneasy. We stepped out of the hall nervously, cautiously surveying our surroundings. The courtyard appeared perfectly calm.

He and I stood beneath a tree, discussing the events of the night. Besides being certain that it was related to the ghosts from that place and that the Abbot had averted the crisis, there seemed to be nothing else to analyze.

A short while later, Uncle Ye emerged from the main hall, his face grave, with what looked like dried tear tracks in the corners of his eyes.

He closed the hall doors and walked over to us, sighing softly as he looked at us both.

I was just about to ask him what had transpired inside, but before the words left my mouth, a flash of fire suddenly erupted from within the hall.

"It's on fire..." I cried out.

As I prepared to rush forward to help extinguish it, Uncle Ye suddenly grabbed us, shaking his head. "Don't go. My Master has entered Nirvana..."

"What?" Pi Hou and I exclaimed in shock simultaneously.

The fire inside the hall appeared ferocious. We could see it clearly through the holes in the doors and the window paper. The blaze had erupted suddenly and violently, yet it wasn't igniting the structure of the hall itself; it burned only within.

Great plumes of thick smoke billowed out from the cracks. We feared the entire hall would catch fire, but Uncle Ye held us tightly, keeping us from getting close. Amidst our anxiety and helplessness, Pi Hou and I watched as the flames inside gradually diminished, slowly dying out. The rolling smoke gradually dispersed.

At that point, Uncle Ye finally released his grip. I saw that his face was now streaming with tears, his lips pressed tightly together to keep from crying out loud.

The fire was out, but I wasn't in a rush to charge inside. Instead, I asked Uncle Ye, "What happened?"

"Let's... go see," he didn't answer me directly, but led the way toward the main hall.

Pushing open the heavy doors, Pi Hou and I were utterly stunned. Where the old Abbot had been seated, there was nothing left but a pile of ash resembling dust, with faint glimpses of the cushion he had sat upon showing beneath.

What astonished us further was that in the center of those ashes, three gems of varying sizes were clearly visible.

Even though I hadn't seen them before, witnessing the scene made me think of one thing: were those three the legendary śarīra (relics)?

Uncle Ye slowly walked forward, his hand trembling as he picked up the three "relics," and beckoned me over.

I walked closer, and he handed them to me. Then, he took off his own monastic robe and carefully spread it on the floor, placing the ashes, handful by handful, onto the cloth.

I tucked the 'relics' into my pocket. Pi Hou and I knelt down together, carefully cupping the ashes—the Abbot's remains. For some reason, the thought of it made me involuntarily shed tears.